James Hauesler, Part 2: A Mystery Solved

James Haeusler with daughters Christine and Lydia.

I remember sitting with my Granny - Christine Repschleger - at her little breakfast room table, listening to her share memories on her life growing up in Breslau, a small town just north of where I now live in Lavaca County. Granny told me that she was her Dad's favorite, and that he died in an insane asylum. Even as a young girl, I remember INSANE ASYLUM hitting my brain in all caps. When I think back to it now, I can imagine the sadness in her heart as she linked those two stories - that she was his favorite and that he was insane.

I didn't press Granny for details about that story or talk about it with my Mom. Instead, for years I imagined that Granny's father - James Haeusler - must have had a substance abuse problem and spent time in a facility to help him with his addiction. Granny was very opposed to drinking alcohol, and I guessed that she must have grown up in an alcoholic family. You can imagine my shock when years later, my geneology research yielded his death certificate and obituary and learned that yes indeed - he died in a state mental hospital in San Antonio.

My thought was to contact the hospital and get access to his records. I quickly learned that the hospital has been closed for years and that records from those years - 1911 to 1918 - if they still existed, could not be accessed. I saw information posted by others who were looking for family records from this facility and talked to our someone connected with the Texas State Historical Commission and learned that even a letter from a state senator could not unlock such records.

Finally, my research took me to the committal proceedings. Surely, there were records in our county archives that would confirm that he was declared insane and shed some light on the circumstances behind that declaration. An important clue surfaced when I was perusing University of North Texas' Portal to Texas History database - searching old newspapers for any mention of James Haeusler from Lavaca County. Since Haeusler had been modified to Heisler during this time, I searched for many name variations - Haeusler, Heisler, Hausler, Heusler, Haussler, Hauesler, Hauessler - finding tidbits of his life with each search. Finally, I came across two short articles - one in the January 13, 1911 Hallettsville Times Herald, and one in the January 8, 1911 Galveston Daily News that referenced the court proceedings that led to the asylum.

Hallettsville, Tex, Jan 7 - Friday afternoon in the county court James J Haeussler was adjudged of unsound mind and ordered sent to the asylum. Mr. Haeussler for many years resided at Breslau, about six mil north of here where he conducted a gin. (Galveston Daily News)

James J. Hauessler, who for many years resided at Breslau and conducted the gin there was adjudged of unsound mind Friday by the county court and ordered sent to the asylum. Sheriff Houchins escorted him to San Antonio Tuesday. (Hallettsville Times Herald)

Brenda Fiessler, head librarian at the Friench Simpson Memorial Library in Hallettsville, helped me locate the court records for this proceeding. The records include testimony from five witnesses, including James' brother-in-law, Charles G. "Gus" Pagel, the sheriff, marshal, a shopkeeper, and a former employer. All stated how long they had known James and that his mind was weak (bad, affected, unbalanced) and getting worse. The shopkeeper said that he doubted James would steal if he was in his right mind, but that he had caught him with two boxes of cigars under his arm. The former employer said that James claims he has lost some tools and keeps coming to him to look for them. Several say that James talks a lot about losing his manhood, with one saying that he blames that condition on drinking soda water. The sheriff mentioned that he had been separated from his wife for two years. Several mention that he is German and that there is no known insanity in his family. All conclude that he should be restrained for the welfare of himself and others.

The court documents include questions posed to jurors - 1) Is the defendant J. J. Hausler of unsound mind? 2) If the defendant is of unsound mind, is it necessary that he be placed under restraint? 3) If you answer both the foregoing questions in the affirmative, what is the defendant's age and nativity? 4) How many attacks of insanity has he had, and how long has the present attack existed? 5) Is insanity hereditary in defendant's family or not? 6) Is defendant possessed of any estate, and if so, of what does it consist and its estimated value? 7) If the defendant is possessed of no estate are there any personals legally liable for his support? Six jurors responded yes to the first two questions, answered that there had been one episode of insanity that had lasted for about two years, and that he had no estate or persons liable for his support. His age was listed as 49, and his nativity was listed as German. The court documents also include transmittal papers, showing that the sheriff accompanied him to the state mental hospital in San Antonio and that someone there signed that he had been received.

Wow. That's all it took for a declaration of lunacy (thankfully a word that is not commonly used in our time) and a committal for life to a mental institution. James Hausler died there seven years later at the age of 56. His death certificate lists cause of death as chronic nephritis, with epilepsy as the underlying condition. Our county historian suggested that he may have been a victim of the Spanish infuenza which was sweeping through the area at the time - with death certificates rarely stating this as the cause of death because so little was known about the disease.

A mystery has been solved, yet so many questions remain. My newspaper search showed an enterprising man who had a finger in many pies. He ran a cotton gin in Breslau and dug wells, including the well that was part of the first municipal water system in Hallettsvile. He was President of the Breslau School Board and made an unsuccessful run for county sheriff. He headed a committee that looked into cure for the boll weevil that was decimating cotton crops in the area. He organized a parade of 31 wagons, decorated with flags and loaded with cotton seed, from his gin in Breslau to downtown Shiner. He and his wife entertained 300 guests at a barbeque at their Breslau home. He and his wife Elizabeth Pagel had eight children.

it is obvious that James Haeusler was a hard-working, civic-minded man who led a colorful life. I wonder what contributed to his separation from his wife in 1909, the year that they sold their Breslau property. At age 47, was he beginning to show signs of mental illness or was this when epilepsy appeared? Was epilepsy viewed as a mental illness, or evidence of a weak mind? I was surprised to learn that until 1956, people in the US with epilepsy were forbidden to marry in 17 states, and that the first effective drug therapy for epilepsy (phenobarbital) was not discovered until 1912. James, if he indeed did have epilepsy as his death certificate suggests, obviously had the wrong disease at the wrong time.

My mom told me that if I had been born a boy, I would have been named James. Before I knew that James was her grandfather's name, I assumed that James was another "J" name that would go well of Johnston. But now I like to think that I would have indeed been named after James Hauesler, a man who had a tragic ending to an otherwise well-lived life. I will think of James as the leader of a train of 31 wagons, the congenial host of 300 guests at his Breslau home for a big barbeque, a visionary who helped bring a school to Breslau and water to the citizens of Hallettsville, and the loving father to my Granny and her sisters and brothers. Here's to you, James, my great-grandfather Hauesler!

James J. Hauesler

born October 4, 1861 in New York

died May 25, 1918 in San Antonio

buried in the Carl & Johanna Pagel Cemetery in Lavaca County