In the 1850s, Mr. J.G. O'Grady built the Kendall House as an inn and stagecoach stop, and it was later replaced by the Vogt-Schoch House. A leader in settling the area, he came from Ireland, fought in the Native American battles in Boerne and Sisterdale, helped organize Kendall County in 1862, served as Boerne's postmaster from 1866-1869, contributed information to the Smithsonian for Texas history, and wrote about Boerne in the Texas Almanac. A 1873 excerpt from the Texas New Yorker praised O'Grady's character and means. In one of O'Grady's guest houses, Robert E. Lee is said to have spent the night while traveling from San Antonio to the outer forts as Commander of the Army of Texas before the Civil War. According to later recollections, during one evening at Boerne Lee said he would never take up arms against the Union but might be forced to defend his state, a sentiment he later expressed in letters. Alice O'Grady recalled that her father reported spending time with Colonel Lee, and quoted Warwich Tunstall as saying that at supper Lee walked the room with tears on his cheeks, declaring that he could not take arms against his own state or fight against the army he loved, and that he would return to his state, resign, and go home to live.