Mike J. Koch was born March 19, 1864, in Galveston, Texas, the son of William and Mary Kallus Bohac Koch from Germany. On March 3, 1903, Mike married Dora Houston Tinsley. Dora was born October 14, 1854, in Caldwell County, Texas, the daughter of James Andrew Dunn Houston and Julia Harris Houston of Mississippi and the sister of J.D., R.A. and W.B. Houston.
Dora’s first husband was J.W. Tinsley who built a house on the lots about 1883 and died August 22, 1901. Mike and Dora razed the Tinsley house and the current structure was completed in 1907. This Bungalow style house is another creation of local builder Fred Meisenhelder. The floor plan is a mirror image, but slightly larger than the house on the opposite corner of the block, built in 1918 by Jim Robert Tinsley, Dora’s son.
Koch was a farmer most of his life but had extensive holdings throughout the county. Dora died March 5, 1935, and Mike died November 9, 1938. They are buried in the Gonzales I.O.O.F. cemetery.
