Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1913-02-07
WAS OLD TIME RANGER

The following obituary sketch of the
late Charles Boch, ST., the father of Mrs.
Weller of this city, who died at Harlin-
gen last Sunday, appears in Thursdays
Harlingcn Star:
Charles Boch, Sr, one of the first Of
that early band of heroic Indian fight
ers, the Texas State Rangers a contem-
pOrary of big Foot Wallace" and those
othef gallant frontiersmen, whose cour-
age and skill with the rifle. made it pos
sible for white settlers to live in the Lone
Star State, died here Sunday morning,
at the home Of his daughter, Mrs. A. III.
Weller. at the advanced age of SO years.
Mr.. Boch was born in the village Of
yerncen. Braunzweig, Germanw, in1SS3.
AT the age Of 10 years, i'll 1913, he emf
grated to America, sailing from Bremen
for the port of Galveston in the ship
Seaona. Landing at that then small
and insignificant port, he Jared forth 10
SOCK his fortune in the new world, walk
ing from Galveston to the settlement at
Harrisburg, thence to the village OF
Houston, finally coming to a halt at Col
umbuS.
Texas was then the home and hunting
ground of great bands of blOOdthirsty
and warlike Indians, who found why
war mounts among the colossal herds
Of wild ponies that ranged free over
the wide plains and fertile prairies OF
Texas. Game was so abundant III the
Lone Star state then-from quail to buff
falO-that the redmen found the living
problem much easier Of solution than it
is among their Caucasian cOnquerors to-
day.
The abOrigincs viewed with alarm
the steady march of the whites toward
the Rio Grande. and strOve with all their
barbaric skill and cunning to stem the
overwhelming tide. Their aggressive
atrocities became so numerous that the
Texas State ranger were organized. in
1851. to guard the property and lives OF
the venturesOme pioneers and drive the
Indians further west and north, opening
up new fields of adventure and settle
ment.
GOliad was then a frontier post, and
at Goliad the rangers recruited. The
I first man to be enlisted was the German
Immigrant boy, Charles Boch, then IS
years of age, For two years ne fought
the Indians, in Captain Henry's com
pany, and did gallant and }mneritorious
Whom Tovoc caca1a1 from tho EnIon
AIr, Boch volunteered, and served with
distinction. during that fraticidaltMaEr
under the Bonnie Blue Flag, IN ,Sap1
der;s5's %cq2mP33hdY, Brow BFroSwRl's rs, battalion
At New IB~ralqnfeis, in 1ss5, trr. Boch
was united in marriage to Miss Kath-
crime Pelzer. Five children survive this
union. For 80 years Mr.. Boch had been
totally blind, and of late years his hear
ing has been seriously impaired. Not
withstanding his thirty years Of dark
ness, Mr.. BOch was q sunny OptimiSt,
and liked nothing better than visits from
his old comrades, ranger or Confederate,
when the veteran would dclightedly live
over again the strenuous days of his
carly LIKELIHOOD. lie was Il HlclllDcf Vi
Oakland Lodge No. IS F. A. A. NJ, and
was a communicate of the Lutheran
church. All his life he was noted for
the manifestation of an exemplary char
acter, and particularly was he diStin-
guished for his patient submission to the
will Of God during the thirty years that
sight was denied him.
The illness which preceded Mr.. BOch's
death. began about five weeks ago. The
funeral services were held Monday after
noon at 800 O'Clock, from the residence
Of A. H. Yeller, the religious exercises
being conducted by Rev. L. L. Burress.
There was a large attendance, and a pro
fuse contribution of flowers.
The body was shipped to Oakland, for
intcrment in Boch Home Cemetery. be
ing accompanied to its final resting
place by Mrs. A.. TIT. Weller Of this city.
and Mr.. and Mrs. ii. III. Weller of
Brownsville.
The pail bearers were L. :. Ross. III.
ID. SeagO. T.. w. Patterson. :. l.. Eaton.
A.. W. Gilmore and CISCO Morris.
Relatives from out of town who at
tended the funeral were. Mr.. and Mrs.
II. II. Weller, of Brownsville: Mr.. and
Mrs. II. II. Pcrrenot, Of KingsvilIe; Mrs.
ii. b. Nerhclle. Of Brownsville.