Frederich Wilhelm Ludwig Luedecke was born on January 3, 1857 in Burgdorf, Germany. In October, 1873, at the age of 16, he emigrated to the United States where records seem to indicate that he settled in the small German community of Welcome in Austin County, Texas. Approximately a year and a half later, William Luedecke, as he was usually known, arrived in Austin, Travis County, Texas on Christmas Day, 1875 where he stayed only a short time before moving to Manor on March 1, 1876. There he is said to have operated a blacksmith shop. He would later buy land a few miles outside of the city, and over the next fifty years, would go on to become a successful farmer, merchant and leading citizen of Manor.
Emma Dorothy Henninger was the third of four children born to John and Magdalena Henninger. They had also emigrated from Germany, settling in Austin, TX in 1853. Emma was born September 9, 1864 and attended the German-American Ladies College in Austin during the 1870's. She is said to have ridden her pony from home to school and back each day.
On October 20, 1880 William married 16 year old Emma and they made their home at Manor. Over a period of nearly 22 years, six children would be born.
- Louis John - Sep 2, 1881 to Aug 24, 1976
- Henry Herman - Jan 18, 1883 to Apr 27, 1971
- William George - Jan 12, 1886 to Feb 4, 1945
- Magdalena Carolina (Pansy) - July 20, 1892 to Mar 20, 1988
- Katharina Philippine (Birdie) - Sep 6, 1896 to Aug 3, 1992
- Lourie Emma - Jul 25, 1903 to Jan 3, 1914
Louis John Luedecke started his career as Manager of the Mutual Lumber Company of Bartlett, TX and later became a salesman for International Harvester Company in Texas and Mexico. He retired in 1932 after the death of his father to look after personal and family interests.
Henry Herman Luedecke was employed by the Elgin Oil Manufacturing Company in Elgin, TX and then served as President of the Abernathy-Luedecke Company, a dry goods firm in Pittsburg, TX as well as a director of the Pittsburg National Bank. In 1922 he became co-owner of Luedecke-Moffat women's and children's department store at 902 Congress Avenue in Austin. In the early 1920's he served as President of the Austin Kiwanis Club. He was President of the Austin Retail Merchants Association in 1929. He was Chairman of the Board of the Mutual Deposit and Loan Company in the early to mid 1940's. He served as President of the Fidelity State Bank in Austin in the mid 1940's and as Chairman of the Board of City National Bank in Austin in the mid 1950's where he was promoted to Bank President beginning in 1960. He was active and involved in a number of other organizations in Austin.
William George Luedecke, at the age of 21, became an employee of the Farmers National Bank of Manor in September, 1907. In October of that year, the Assistant Cashier left for a new job and William was promoted to that position. By 1911 he was being listed as the Cashier at the bank. In February 1915, William is shown to be in the dual role of Vice President and Cashier. William was promoted to Bank President in May of 1916 and remained in that position until the bank closed down in 1926. By 1924 he had moved to Austin and from 1929 to at least 1933 he was the Owner / Manager of Austin Forwarding Company. The Austin City Directory for 1937 lists him as a bookkeeper for the Lower Colorado River Authority.
Pansy Luedecke was baptized at the Rose Hill Evangelical Lutheran Church on October 9, 1892 when she was 12 weeks old. She was one of four graduating Seniors at Manor High School on June 4, 1909. She attended Kidd-Key College (also known as North Texas Female College and Conservatory of Music) in Sherman, TX beginning in 1910. She took voice lessons in New York for one year. In the summer of 1923 she took a music methods course at Northwestern University School of Music in Chicago, IL and, upon returning to home, was hired as a teacher in the Austin public schools. Over the years, she taught music in Austin schools such as Pease, Woolridge and Becker. She was a world-traveler, visiting places such as England, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, Holland, Switzerland, Monte Carlo, the French Riviera, Spain, Jamaica and Costa Rica. During her career, organizations she belonged to included the National Educators Association, Texas State Teachers Association, Association of Childhood Education, State Classroom Teachers Association, Austin Classroom Teachers Association, State Educators Conference, American Association of University Women and the Alpha chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, of which she was at one time the president. The Austin Teachers Chorus was organized in 1934 with Pansy as their first President. In the mid 1960's she taught free English classes to the wives of University of Texas international students. In December, 1978, she donated 200 shares of First Texas Financial Corporation stock - valued at $10,800 - to establish the Pansy Luedecke Scholarship Fund at the University of Texas - this fund to be used to assist needy students of Travis County in the School of Music and College of Fine Arts at UT Austin.
Birdie Luedecke was baptized at the Rose Hill Evangelical Lutheran Church on January 10, 1897 when she was 4 months old. School records show that she was promoted to Manor High School in 1908. In her mid-teen years she attended school at Kenilworth Hall in Austin - newspaper accounts indicate she studied there in at least 1911 and 1912. From 1916 to 1920 she attended Brenau College in Gainsville, GA. graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1923 she was employed as Manager of the Ready-to-Wear Department at the Luedecke-Moffat Company, co-owned by her brother Henry, in Austin. Married to Eldridge Cary Moore in 1924, she was elected in 1928 as pianist to the Young Men's Business League of which her husband was a member. Her husband became owner of the Renfro Drug Company on Congress Avenue in 1928 and by 1939 he owned three drug stores in Austin.
Lourie Luedecke died at the age of 10 years, 5 months, and 27 days. The cause of death was listed as cellulitis of the cheek. She was buried in the Oakwood Cemetery Annex where many other members of the family will later be buried.
Soon after arriving at Manor in 1876, William Luedecke picked out some farm land a few miles outside of the town, paid $5.50 an acre for it, and began to set up his farming operation. He would raise sheep and chickens and planted crops of corn, cotton and feed grains. Over the years he leased, rented and sold land to others who wanted to set up their own farms, and then he helped them in many way to become successful. He would later proudly state that in all the years of doing this, never once did he ever foreclose on any of them. Over the next 50 years he would purchase more land in Central Texas, West Texas, South Texas and Southwest Texas and became known as a "cosmopolitan farmer".
The 1880 Schedule of Manufactures shows Wm Luedecke engaged full-time as a blacksmith in Travis County. In 1913 he placed a classified ad in The Austin Daily Statesman newspaper desiring to hire a blacksmith. 
In both 1881 and 1882 he registered brands for his livestock in Travis County.
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| TRAVIS COUNTY MARKS AND BRANDS RECORD BOOK 1 |
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| TRAVIS COUNTY MARKS AND BRANDS RECORD BOOK 2 |
In November, 1885, he filed paperwork giving notice that he intended to be come a citizen of the United States, more particularly, of the state of Texas.
In addition to his farm, Mr. Luedecke set up a store in downtown Manor and became a dealer in hardware and implements. He had purchased Lot 4, in Block 30 from James Manor on December 20, 1880 and it seems that this was probably the location of his store. (Lot 4, Block 30 is today a vacant lot between the Golden Beijing Restaurant and the Anderson Coffee Co. on Parsons Street) Since there was no bank in Manor at the time, he became a private banker when his neighbors and farmers brought their money to him and asked him to keep it put away securely for them at his place of business. His family told of seeing farmers bring in kegs of silver dollars for safe keeping.
In December 1887, William Luedecke was one of three trustees of the Rose Hill Christian Union Society who were to be responsible for building a church in the Rose Hill community immediately north of Manor. This church was never built, but in May, 1890 the Rose Hill German Lutheran Church was constructed with Mr. Luedecke as one of five trustees responsible for this church. William and Emma remained active members of this church until it closed in 1924.
When the Manor Water Works Company was established in 1895, William Luedecke was one of seven men serving as the board of directors. Their goal was to furnish the citizens of Manor with an efficient water works system.
In 1898 he began construction on a new home described as a spacious two-story building of modern design and convenience. 
By the time that the Rose Hill German Lutheran Church closed in 1924, all of the Luedecke children had moved away from Manor and were living and working in Austin. William and Emma apparently decided to do the same. The 1924 Austin City Directory shows them living in a home at 1807 Congress Avenue, along with daughter Pansy. According to his death certificate, they were still living at that address when he died on April 7, 1932 at the age of 75. The cause of death, a heart attack, was officially listed as Myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart. He was buried in the Oakwood Cemetery Annex in Austin.
William Luedecke placed a classified ad in The Austin Statesman newspaper in March, 1913 offering his hardware store in Manor for sale / rent. 
A lengthy obituary printed in The Austin American newspaper on April 10th said this;
"Hundreds of friends from Austin, Manor and other Central Texas cities and towns paid their final tributes to William Luedecke, 75, for more than half a century a resident and farmer of Travis County, during the funeral services at the Thurlow B. Weed funeral home at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The final rites were said by the Rev. F.G. Roesener, pastor of St. Martin’s Lutheran church, who was assisted by the Rev. Virgil Fisher of the First Methodist church. Interment was in the Oakwood cemetery.
Following the simple funeral service at the funeral home, friends of the late farmer and merchant were given an opportunity to pass by the casket and secure a last glimpse of one who had befriended many of them during his lifetime.
The chapel was a mass of flowers sent by friends and organizations from the various Central Texas communities. Included in the floral tributes were those of the Luedecke-Moffatt company store and the Kiwanis club, of which Henry H. Luedecke, a son, is a member; from various school organizations and music clubs of the city; from several banks and from various churches and church organizations.
Pallbearers for the funeral were; Fred C. Morse, D.M. Moffatt, Emil Haenel, and George Templin, all of Austin, and Mayor W.H. Wentland and Justice E.I. Harris, both of Manor."
Emma Ludedecke lived as a widow for 28 years until her death on January 13, 1960 at the age of 95. At the time of her death, she was living at 1715 Cromwell Hill in Austin, apparently still with Pansy. She was buried in Oakwood Cemetery Annex alongside William.
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