Second Sheriff of Kendall County- August 1862 - August 1864
Richard Brotze, the second sheriff of Kendall County, was sworn into office on 27 August 1862. He posted a $5000.00 bond two days earlier with sureties Julius Fabra, Johann Bickel, and Philip Zoeller who were well-known men in the county. During his term of office, the pressure was mounting in Texas for all able-bodied men to join the Confederacy. Since the federal forces were no longer maintaining the western edge of the frontier, Indian raids became more frequent. Many men joined the Texas State Forces, so they didn't have to leave their homes and families unprotected. Records have not been located showing if Brotze served in the Confederacy, although it was recorded in the Commissioner Court minutes in February 1864 that the county clerk and sheriff had been absent for three months. The sheriff's office was declared vacant, and Deputy Sheriff Charles F. Schuchardt was elected to complete Brotze's unexpired term. Once he returned, he was elected Kendall County District and County Clerk. Before the Civil War, Brotze served as a private in Captain William R. Henry's Unit, Company C of the Texas Mounted Volunteers to pursue Indians. Brotze, born in Prussia, came to Texas as a small boy and grew up in Guadalupe County, Texas. After serving as deputy sheriff to J. F. Stendebach in 1870, he moved his family to Austin, Texas, where he worked for the Land Office as a clerk.
Source: Tomlinson, Richard. "Richard Brotze" Keys to the Past. Vol. XXXVIII No. 1,
Spring/Summer 2019.
