Julius Heinrich Remschel was born September 17, 1835, in Berlin, Germany, came to the United States about 1855 and settled in Indianola, Texas. On February 8, 1860, shortly before he joined the Confederacy, he married Clementine Eleanor DeMonet in Indianola and they later had ten children. Eleanor was born February 4, 1841, in Woodville, Mississippi, and came to Texas with her parents. Julius served in the Confederate army as a bugler in Company K, 33rd Texas Cavalry, which served in Texas, Arkansas and Indian Territory. He was with the regiment at the battles of Pleasant Hill, Mansfield and Yellow Bayou. At the close of the war, Julius returned to Indianola and opened his first lumber yard. Indianola was destroyed by a hurricane in 1875 and Julius moved his family to Charco, near Goliad. There the Remschels raised sheep for five years. He discovered that farming did not suit him and about 1880 moved to Cuero where he set up another lumber yard. Eleanor died July 19, 1880, in Boerne, Texas.
When the railroad came to Gonzales in 1882, Julius moved his family here and established another lumber yard. In November, 1883, Julius bought the property where his house now stands, immediately began construction and completed the house in 1884. The architecture of the original house was Victorian but during the 1930’s or 40’s a major remodeling project was undertaken, resulting in the current structure.
In 1887 Julius took a trip to Germany and the following spring he secretly went to Galveston. There he met the ship from Germany that carried his fiancée, Ella Mettelstadt, whom he had met on his trip the previous year. They married May 6, 1888, and returned to Gonzales where Julius operated the lumber yard until his death May 13, 1894. There is no record of what happened to Ella, but Julius and Eleanor are buried in the Gonzales City Cemetery. The Remschel family continued to operate the business until, after 111 successful years, it closed in 1993.
