Descendants  Celebrate 200th Birth Date of Johann  Valtin "Valentin" Hoch Sent by Ddrinsp@aol.com <Ddrinsp@aol.com> A  descendants reunion to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth date of Valentin Hoch was held on Saturday,  October 25, 2008 at Turner Hall located between Hochheim and  Yoakum.   Born on October 15, 1808 in the small village of  Oberschoenau, Germany, Valentin immigrated with the Adelsverein and arrived at  the port of Galveston in 1845.   Activities  for the day included a tour of the old Hoch Home (also known by area residents  as the "old stagecoach inn") and located in the community of Hochheim  in DeWitt County.  Completed in 1857, the two-story Hoch home was  constructed by Valentin using stones cut from limestone found along the  banks of the Guadalupe River and hauled to his home site by a horse-driven  sled.  The attending descendants also visited the recently repaired and  refurbished private cemetery where Valentin and some other early  descendants were buried.  A massive cleanup of the cemetery was  completed last year by a group of descendant volunteers;  photographs and slides of the cemetery clear-up project were shown during  Saturday's event.    A  total of 262 descendants and guests attended Saturday's event with many  family members from local communities.  Other attending family  members traveled from areas throughout the State of Texas and  also included family members from New Mexico, Arizona, Washington,  California and Panama.