San Antonio Express newspaper, Nov. 26, 1940, Tuesday.
Appropriations for national defense were harder to get in days when San Antonio Express was young than nowadays when Congress votes billions with little debate. Records kept in the archives of the William A. Menger family here disclose that in the 1870's the Army was unable even to pay regularly the $200 a month rent it had contracted for a building which the late W. A. Menger had erected in 1867 at the corner of Alamo Plaza, Crockett and Losoya Streets in order to keep the Army from moving away from San Antonio altogether.
Present value of Army properties and buildings in and around San Antonio long ago passed the $200,000,000 mark, and $10,000,000 is being spent this year, but up to 1870 the Army owned no land here. After the War between the States the Army had rented four stone buildings, one 114 x 30, and one 40 x 84, one 50 x 54 which was two stories high and used as a hospital; and one 15 x 30 used for a guard house. The Army owned a frame stable for 80 animals between Houston Street and the river on Losoya Street, but the ground was rented.
In 1867 the officers here were ordered to move the post to some other city because the Army could not afford to buy property and the rented buildings were insufficient. It was then that William A. Menger, eager to keep the Army headquarters here, volunteered to provide the needed building. The lease specified that "the Mengers were to be paid the rent of the property monthly when the Quartermaster's Department is in funds for the purpose or as soon as possible when funds are received for that purpose."
That this precaution was justifiable is shown by a copy of an order from the adjutant general (E. D. Townsend) in the Menger records. This order, signed by George W. McCrary, secretary of war, and Lieut. General Phil Sheridan, and dated May 14, 1877, advises that "disbursing officers are notified that there will be no funds available for the purchase of supplies for the Army after July, 1877. Under section 2732, Revised Statutes, contracts and purchases for clothing, subsistence, forage, fuel, quarters and transportation may be made to meet actual necessities until Congress shall have had time to act upon an appropriation bill." Officers were authorized to issue "certified vouchers" stating the amount due and that it had not been paid "for want of funds."
William A. Menger died March 18, 1871, but the Army continued to rent the building at Alamo Plaza and Crockett from his widow, Mrs. Mary Menger, until Fort Sam Houston was completed in 1878.
Fort Sam Houston started with a deed from the city of San Antonio May 6, 1870, of 40 acres. Subsequently up to 1878 the city gave three more donations of 43 acres, 9.07 acres and 92.79 acres, or a total of 184.86 acres. Other land was acquired from William W. Dykman, E. H. Cunningham and wife, Charles John Cunningham, Mrs. Caroline Kampmann and others until the reservation amounted to 574.93 acres. In 1907 this was increased by 350 acres. When the buildings at Fort Sam Houston were finished the lease on the Menger building terminated, the last lease made being June 25, 1878, to run to June 30, 1879.
Among other Army records kept by the Menger family is a bill of fare at the Menger Hotel, Sunday, March 28, 1880, honoring General U. S. Grant and party. The cut used to illustrate the menu is still usable after 60 years.
The late William A. Menger was born March 15, 1827, in Windecken bel-Hanau, Hessen, Germany. He came to San Antonio in the early '40s and became a citizen of the United States Nov. 12, 1852. Mrs. Catherine Barbara Menger, only surviving daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Menger, lived in Bluebonnet Hills. She was born in the Menger Hotel which was founded in 1858. W. A. Menger, general manager of the Southern Messenger, and his sister, Sister M. Gonzaga, secretary-general of the Congregation of the Sisters of Divine Providence in Our Lady of the Lake College, were also born in the Menger Hotel.
