By Barbara Walker
Historians do not change the world; they serve as witnesses to the forgotten, erased, lost, unknown, and sometimes seemingly insignificant. History requires no stopwatch. Sometimes, it can be re-worded for the sake of adding drama, making for a better story. But true history facilitates insight into our past and can often reshape how we handle our future.
Locally, researchers such as Fran Hoerster follow in the footsteps of a long line of historians; their efforts continue breathing life into the past. Not only does she keep up with Mason history, she also participates in the Edwards Plateau Historical Association. Fran’s mother, Grace Davenport was also a Mason County historian. Fran’s husband, Harold Hoerster, had an aunt, Jane Hoerster, who was deeply involved in preserving Mason history. Mrs. Davenport, along with her husband, were druggists and owned a local pharmacy and her research was instrumental during the publication of the Mason County Communities book.
Fran herself was a history major. She received her degree and taught history part time. Moving from San Antonio, to Dallas, to Midland and, finally, back to Mason, she took up the mantle in the preservation of local history where she remains fully committed today. As Jane Hoerster aged and could not continue to pursue historical research, Fran says she just fell into it. “There is a long line of people stretching back and. as one leaves, another steps up,” she states.
As Fran explains, Mason was “not just a county on its own in the beginning. There were several counties, and Mason broke off. There was a spotlight of fifteen or sixteen core families; the Fort, the Llano River Germans; those from the valley, the north where McCullough County is now, and those from what is now Gillespie County.”
“One of the most formative and instrumental local historians was Margaret Bierschwale,” explains Fran. She continues, “she was a writer, very well educated.” And as previously mentioned, Jane Hoerster through the years. “There was the Mason County Historical Group in 1975 and then the Mason County Communities in 1986 rounding out the 200th year of Mason. There are the family researchers such as the Kothmanns where so much has been written.”
“At one point,” states Fran, “what began as bits and pieces became the archives – old newspapers, a 1917 telephone book, newspaper publishing and a 1931 almanac, along with old interviews by J.M. Hunter and the Frontier Times were such a great resource.” She laughs, “sometimes there have been tall tales and one couldn’t be sure if the story was really true,” but it can make for a better story when necessary.
Collecting and curating local history has become a life-long passion for some. Insights, culture, discovery and preservation are of vital importance to a community such as Mason. The chronology of events combined with architecture and yes, even the “tall tales” make for insights into the past that can be shared from generation to generation. As James Baldwin states, “People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.”
