Born in a log cabin in Guadalupe County, Texas , to German speaking parents , Henry Theodore Brauchle began school in Comal County . At age nine he first learned to speak English . By age 20, he was clerking at Mumme's General Store in San Antonio and attending Alamo Business College were he studied bookkeeping and penmanship. Upon earning a teaching certificate , he taught at Agua Dulce in Ditto,Texas,for a term before moving to Helotes School in what is now Northside Independent School District. During summers , he continued his education at Peacock and Brackenridge Normal Schools.

Brauchle soon met Eleanor Jane 'Schatzie" Robinson and after a year - long courtship, presented her with a piano as an engagement gift. The couple resided in one room of the two Helotes School. Because Helotes was a German community, none of the Schoolmaster Brauchle's 48 students spoke English. For four years, he taught seven miles away at Los Reyes School before returning to teach at Helotes.

The Brauchles purchased a 200 acre farm near Helotes School and had ten children. Henry T. Brauchle played violin and made musical instruments by hand. In addition he created a family orchestra.

A pillar of the community, the Helotes teacher helped found Zion Lutheran Church of Helotes, served at Helotes School Trustee, election judge, and owner/ operator for the Helotes telephone system. He farmed, ran a dairy, raised livestock and kept and extensive apiary.

In 1990, Northside Independent School District's Board of Trustees voted unanimously to name its 34th elementary school in honor of the contributions of Educator Henry T. Brauchle.

This is Helotes School as it appeared in 1898 when Henry T. Brauchle started teaching.
Students rode to school on burros, not school buses!
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