Recognizing the pioneers of Kendall County The recent "First Families and Early Settlers" celebration honored the pioneers - many of them German - who settled in Boerne and the region in the late 18th and early 20th centuries.

The Genealogical Society of Kendall County sponsored the 26th annual event, held at St. John Lutheran Church Sept. 26. Organizers said the celebration commemorates the families of Kendall County who came before December 1862 as founders and those who came before Dec. 31, 1900, as early settlers.

Waves of North European immigrants - many of them from Germany - traveled overseas to the Hill Country in the 1800s to begin new lives, historians say.