13. Edward Bierschwale

Thirteenth Sheriff of Kendall County - January 1919 - December 1938

In the 1918 election, Edward Bierschwale, a Comfort native, ran for sheriff against incumbent Joe Saunders.  Bierschwale won the position and became the thirteenth Sheriff, Assessor and, Collector of Taxes for Kendall County was sworn in on December 2 and he served in this office for twenty years.  During his tenure as sheriff, Bierschwale was ordered by the court to purchase a motorcycle to enforce the traffic laws of Texas. He investigated a robbery at B. Holekamp and Son in Comfort where the preparators used nitroglycerine to blow open the safe.  Another investigation that received lots of publicity happened in 1929 when Joe Graham, a well-known Boerne resident, was shot killed in his home.  Bierschwale was also active in the Kendall County Fair Association.  In 1938, Sheriff Edward Bierschwale was defeated by Sidney F. Edge by 44 votes.  After his defeat, Bierschwale accepted a job with the Gas and Oil Division of the Texas Railroad Commission in McCamey, Texas.  When he was promoted to deputy supervisor of District 7C of the Oil and Gas Division, he and his wife moved to San Angelo, Texas.  He died there in 1949 at age 63 and is buried in the Comfort Cemetery.

Source: McLarry, Nancy. "Edward Bierschwale" Keys to the Past. Vol. XXXVIII No. 2,  Fall/Winter 2019.