12 Facts About Betty Holekamp

Betty Holekamp was a German colonist and pioneer in Texas.

Betty Holekamp is recognized for several "firsts" as a Texas pioneer, such as being the first to sew an American flag upon Texas's acceptance into the Union, and thus is known as the Betsy Ross of Texas.

Betty Holekamp was among the first residents in four Texas Hill Country communities: New Braunfels, Fredericksburg, Sisterdale, and Comfort.

Betty Holekamp was born Betty Wilhelmine Abbenthern in the Kingdom of Hannover.

Betty Holekamp was schooled with the king's daughter, and was being trained to be a governess.

On September 16,1844, Fritz Betty Holekamp entered into a contract with the German Immigration Company, and soon thereafter the couple boarded the ship Johann Dethard, arriving at Galveston and then at Indianola in November 1844.

Not to be outdone by anyone, Betty Holekamp immediately followed and successfully crossed the river to the astonishment of her fellow colonists and perhaps to the chagrin of the prince.

When word first broke of Texas being admitted to the Union in 1845, Betty Holekamp gathered pieces of cloth from her home and from her neighbors and used them to sew a 6-by-3-foot United States flag that was unfurled and flown in the town square of New Braunfels.

Betty Holekamp added his signature to the December 15,1847 List of Petitioners to Create Gillespie County.

Betty Holekamp hunted bear and panthers, and suffered regular raids from Indians who became adept at stealing food from settlers.

Fritz Betty Holekamp worked with surveyor Ernst Altgelt in the laying out and founding of the city of Comfort.

Widowed, Betty Holekamp took in boarders and opened a sewing and washing business to provide for her seven children.