
On Monday, March 23, 2025, the DeWitt County Historical Society hosted a very successful and well-attended book signing and public release of the C.H. Waltersdorf’s, History of DeWitt County. Member of the DCHS, principally Beverly Bruns, Mary Gayle Brindley, Peggy Ledbetter, and Glen Ray, shepherded this project from the beginning in 2022 to the present, and the event the DCHA hosted was a fitting conclusion to a very long process. For more on the provenance of the book and the author, I refer readers to the “Books Published” tab on this website.
I translated and annotated the original manuscript and for this reason I was asked to give a short talk and to sign copies of the book. The event went off without a hitch and was held in the old German Free School building which has been faithfully restored and relocated to the compound that includes the Museum of the Chisholm Trail and other historic buildings. Among the hundred or so attendees, the crowd included the DeWitt County Judge, the Honorable Daryl L. Fowler, and the Vice President of the Texas Institute of Letters, Chris Barton. Refreshments in the form of homemade venison sausage, various German pastries, and an assortment of wines added a crowning touch to a very successful and personally enjoyable event for my wife Paulina and myself. We felt privileged to be a part of it!