Part 4

Part 4, Note 15

Colorado County Deed Records, Book D, p. 294, Book G, p. 489; Book H, pp. 566, 567, Book I, p. 78; Colorado County Commissioners Court Minutes, Book A, p. 101, Book 1, pp. 1, 9; Record of Appointment of Postmasters 1832-September 30, 1971, National Archives Microfilm Publication M841, Roll 122. That Frels had sold his store to Jürgens before he conveyed the property on which both it and Jürgens' home sat is deduced from the very low price that Jürgens paid for the fifteen acres: $25. Certainly, had the store been included in the deal, the price would have been higher. The two deeds by which Frels conveyed the small tracts to Heinsohn and Jordt are dated August 5, 1853; and that by which he conveyed the two tracts to Kross, February 17, 1854. However, one of Kross' tracts, and Heinsohn's and Jordt's tracts, are depicted on a map that is included in the deed to Heinsohn; and Heinsohn's and Jordt's deeds each refer to the other's tract as a landmark, suggesting that all three of Frels' deals had been made sometime earlier. One must imagine that Jordt's Store had certainly been constructed before December 21, 1852, the date on which he became postmaster.
On its first page, the booklet entitled The History of Frelsburg reports that at some point the locals took a vote to select a name for their community; that the contest was between Pipersville and Frelsburg; and that the vote was split along ecclesiastical lines, with the Lutheran Frels beating the Catholic Pieper by one vote. This story is attributed to "an unpublished manuscript detailing the recollections of Mrs. Otto Schneider." The woman in question was evidently Wilhelmina Marie Schneider, who, according to her tombstone in Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery in Frelsburg, was born August 1, 1885---more than thirty years after the name Frelsburg was first used. Her authority for the story of the election is unknown. Nowhere does it say who organized the election, or for what purpose the community needed an official name. Probably, the name Frelsburg was picked by Frels, who, in addition to being the postmaster was, after all, the owner of the town site. The place was not called Frelsburg in the Colorado County Commissioners Court minutes until May 18, 1852 (see Book 2, p. 65).