It’s one thing to live in Austin and be from Austin. It’s quite another to live in western Travis County and be from Travis County. Craig Roberts, a Construction Superintendent at Ash Creek Homes is a 7th generation Texan with ancestors who quite literally built this area from the ground up.
From dirt to close, Craig’s work at Ash Creek Homes in the Serene Hills community is reminiscent of the old days, when a pioneering spirit and the desire to build things with your own two hands was the cornerstone of Texas living. If you say construction is in Craig’s DNA, you’d be correct.
In addition to being a 7th generation Texan, Craig is a 6th generation of Roberts from the hills of West Travis County. As he explains it, “my family has been in West Travis County since 1866, when my great, great, great grandfather Joseph Roberts, was granted 160 acres by the State of Texas on Barton Creek for his service in the Civil War.”
Today that land is Barton Creek West off of Bee Cave Road (or 2244). Inside of the Barton Creek West neighborhood is the Roberts Teague Cemetery that has been designated historic by the State of Texas and is where Craig’s ancestors are laid to rest, including his late father, Ronnie.
“It was a small world in the hills west of Austin on Barton Creek and on the Colorado River in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,” says Craig. His ancestors survived and made a living from making charcoal and harvesting cedar for lumber to make posts, fencing and railroad ties. There was very little farming and ranching due to the rough rocky terrain.
“My lineage is that of many of the old pioneer families of these hills including Hutson, Teague, Patterson, Ottens and Freitag families,” he explains. “Many of these families were German immigrants and among the first settlers of Bee Cave.”
By the mid 1860s, this little slice of the Texas Hill Country was welcoming more and more settlers. Fun fact! This is when they started to refer to this area as Bee Cave because of the Mexican honeybee colonies that lived along the banks of Barton Creek and Little Barton Creek.
Joseph Roberts married Henrietta Freitag and they are Craig’s great, great, great grandparents. His great (x4) grandparents lived in Freitag Homestead (behind Discount Tire and Schlotzky’s across from Bee Cave City Park.) The old stone Freitag House as it’s known, was built in 1874 and still stands to this day and is on the Wells Fargo Bank Mural in Bee Cave.
As Craig points out, it’s one thing to be from Austin, but it’s really unique to be from Travis County. This is an honor Craig holds near and dear to his heart, “I’m very proud of where I’m from and the hardworking people that came before me. All I want to do is make them proud and keep a good name for the generations to come.”
And speaking of names, 150 years after the first Joseph Roberts arrived in Austin, a second one arrived; Craig’s son, who is aptly named Joseph Roberts.
So glad you posted this, for my Roberts heritage.
I was told that my grand parents had owned Barton Creek. I’m a Teague and John Wesley Teague was my great great grandfather and my great great grandmother was Lucinda Esslinger. William Teague was my great grandfather and great grandmother Sophia Artilla Rayhay. Do you know those names.
Wow! Thanks for the information. My name is Linda Caves born Linda Roberts. My daddy’s name was Edward Roberts, his father my Grandpa’s name was Frank Richard Roberts, and he was from Travis County Tx. His father my Great Grandpa’s name was Joseph Roberts. He fought in the civil war. Afterwards he settled in Texas and married my Great Grandma Henrietta Freitag Roberts. My daddy had a brother named Joseph Roberts. Like your son he was named after his Grandpa.
Graig Roberts are you still in the. Bee Cave area? Your ancestors are also my ancestors. Joseph and Henrietta Roberts are my great grandparents. I along with my niece will be visiting Bee Cave May 24th-26th. We are planning to visit the Roberts Teague Cemetery and would love to see the old Freigtag house that my Great Great Gandpa Freigtag built. I have a picture of it on our Roberts Family Group page, but that’s really not the same as an in person tour. I would love to meet you if possible, but if not that’s ok. I really know very little about my family from Texas and would love to know more. Please email me at [email protected] I would love to here from you if you get the chance.