Roots & Legacy
The Wendler Line
Audrey now rests in Boerne Cemetery among the people whose names and lives came long before hers. Around her are Wendlers, Luckenbachs, Toepperweins, and other relatives whose roots run through the Hill Country, into the founding of towns and settlements, the hardships and danger of the frontier, and the long memory of Texas itself. Some of those names still live on in blood, soil, and song. She is a part of that story now.
Ancestor Chart
This chart begins with Audrey and expands outward through eight generations of family. It traces the Wendler, Oliver, Luckenbach, Toepperwein, and related lines, marking relatives buried in Boerne Cemetery, some of the first settlers to central Texas, veterans, and ancestors from the Old World. It is not yet complete, but it is a beginning.
Pioneer Families
Jacob Luckenbach, Audrey's Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather, was born in Germany in 1817 and arrived in Texas in 1845, sailing on the Johann Dethardt as part of the Adelsverein, a society of German nobility that promised free land and passage to the frontier. His family was among the very first settlers of Fredericksburg, where he was allocated a town lot and ten acres southwest of town. By 1852 he had moved twelve miles southeast to land that would carry his family's name: Luckenbach was established there in 1849. A veteran of the Texas War of Independence, the fight to separate the Republic from Mexico, he helped create Gillespie County and served as county commissioner and school supervisor. He served in the Civil War's Home Guard under Captain Engelbert Krauskopf. He lived to ninety-three, and is buried in Boerne Cemetery alongside his wife Justina.
Some of Audrey's ancestors were among the early families who settled the Hill Country frontier, building lives in Fredericksburg, Luckenbach, Boerne, and elsewhere under hardship, uncertainty, and adventure. Their stories include persistence, public service, war, faith, survival, and the dangers of a wild frontier. Other branches came from far beyond Texas and carried histories shaped by upheaval, displacement, and loss. Together, those histories meet here.
This family history reaches into places that still carry its names. The Luckenbach line traces back to Jacob Luckenbach, one of the early settlers of Fredericksburg and the namesake of Luckenbach, Texas — a place that would later become part of country music lore. The Toepperwein line includes the famed sharpshooting family whose name remains well known in Texas history. These are not just distant names in old records. They are part of Audrey's family.
― Legend ―
The chart reads left to right, one generation per column. Audrey is at the far left; scroll right to move back in time. To zoom: pinch on mobile, use a scroll wheel or Ctrl + scroll on desktop, or use the + − icons in the top right. Click the reset icon in the top right to return to 100%.