The land on which the schoolhouse sits was owned by Friedrich Wilhelm von Wrede Jr (1820–?) who was born in Germany. Friedrich Jr. first came to Texas as a teenager with his family in 1836. He returned alone to Germany in 1843, but came back to Texas in 1844 as Adelsverein secretary to Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels. He helped settle New Braunfels, and was one of the group who accompanied John O. Meusebach on the trip to make the 1847 Meusebach–Comanche Treaty. Wrede remained in Fredericksburg to establish a business enterprise. From 1850–1851, he served as County Clerk of Gillespie County. He married Sophie Bonzano, and the first four of their children were born in Fredericksburg. During the Civil War, Wrede served in the Gillespie Rifles, Thirty-first Brigade, under Captain Charles H. Nimitz, grandfather of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz. In 1865, the Wrede family returned to Germany.
