USA > Texas > A Twentieth century history of southwest Texas, Volume I > Part 18
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While Texas was benefitted by the arrival of Germans before the time of the organized enterprises now to be described, it is certain that those efforts first directed large numbers of this people to Texas, and set in motion the current of that immigration which flowed on for many years afterward and has resulted in making Southwest Texas one of the principal seats of German-American population.
"In the year 1842," wrote Olmsted in 1857. "among many schemes evolved in Germany by the social stir of the time, and patronized by certain princes, from motives of policy, was one of real promise. It was an association, of which Count Castell was the head, for the diminution of pauperism by the organized assistance and protection of emigrants. At this time, annexation being already almost a certaintv, speculators who represented the owners of large tracts of Texas land, appeared in Germany. with glowing accounts of their cheapness and richness. They succeeded in gaining the attention of this association, whose leaders were pleased with the isolated situation, as offering a more tangible and dur- able connection with their emigrants, and opening a new source of wealth and possible power."
The Mainzer Adelsverein.1
It was the nobility that undertook the organization of systematic emigration of German people to Texas. Among the officers who were fascinated with the idea of planting a colony in the independent and liberty-loving land of Texas, the one who gave the movement a start and practical direction was Count Castell, of Mainz. The exact mo- tives for the undertaking cannot be definitely stated, though a gener- ous philanthropy seems to have been the main end sought. with the furnishing of a safe home for the overcrowded German peoples and perhaps the upbuilding of an exclusive German colony on foreign soil as the practical results.
April 20, 1842, at Biebrich on the Rhine, about fourteen German princes and counts constituted themselves a society "for the purpose of buying estates in the Republic of Texas." Two representatives, Count Boos-Waldeck and Victor Leiningen, were despatched to Texas
1 "Fest-Ausgabe zum fünfzigjährigen Jubiläum der Deutschen Colonie Fried- richsburg." Robert Penniger. 1896.
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to select lands under the contract system as adopted by the Texas con- gress in February, 1842. Failing to secure a grant from con- gress on satisfactory terms, Count Waldeck finally secured a choice tract in Fayette county, and on his return to Germany in January, 1844. reported adversely to any extensive scheme of colonization, since the society did not possess the means to carry it into execution.
But in the meantime the Verein had been induced to buy a worth- less contract, offered by a .swindling Frenchman, and in spite of Wal- deck's disapprobation and subsequent withdrawal from the society, pre- parations were begun for the sending of the first colony. "The folly and shortsightedness that characterized the leaders of the Verein in this and subsequent transactions, were almost puerile. In fact, they possessed little business ability, and were completely taken in by intrigu- ing adventurers."
In the winter of 1843-44 the society was reorganized as a stock company, under the name of "Society for the protection of German emigrants to Texas." a name that soon yielded, in popular speech, to "Mainzer Adelsverein."
Prince Solms.
In May, 1844, Prince Carl Solms-Braunfels, as general agent, ac- companied by the wily Frenchman D'Orvanne, set out for Texas to pre- pare for the coming of the first load of emigrants in the following fall. On his arrival Prince Solms soon discovered the invalidity of the alleged land grant. "A troop of colonists coming and no land to settle them on," was the way he expressed his dilemma to the society. But even this ex- perience with the Frenchman did not teach the home company caution, and it immediately fell victim to even worse snares laid by an American. Henry Fisher, representing a firm of empresarios named Fisher and Miller, offered the society a colony contract, which had only eight months to run, and which designated a tract of land on the upper Colorado river, far beyond the frontier and in the midst of hostile Indian tribes. The prospectus of the grant was, however, most alluring, describing a beau- tifully undulating surface, richly supplied with water from the Llano, Colorado and San Saba rivers, and admirably fitted for agriculture. Ig- norant of the geography of the country and of the precise limitations and obligations implied in Texas colony contracts, the society bought the paper grant for nine thousand dollars. The same amount, wisely ex- pended, would have bought outright over a hundred thousand acres of good land, within easy reach, whereas the contract gave them nothing more than a privilege of locating a certain number of families in a cer- tain locality and within a certain period of time, and not until all the conditions were fulfilled did the society come into legal possession of the land. The plan was foredoomed to failure.
Colonizer Solms, in Texas while these transactions were taking place, was in a difficult predicament. The first lot of emigrants were due to arrive in the autumn of 1844, and with the Fisher and Miller grant lying beyond the boundaries of settlement, there was not a foot of land at the disposal of the colonists when they should arrive. Some temporary pro- visions had to be made at once. He began negotiations for a tract lying
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on the way from the gulf to the grant, situated on the Comal river, and also selected a landing place for the emigrants on Matagorda bay, at a place he called Carl's Haven (later Indianola). The first sailing vessel with its load of German homeseekers arrived November 23, 1844, and two others shortly followed. Altogether there were two hundred fam- ilies, or about seven hundred persons, among them a physician and sur- geon, surveyor, engineer, carpenters, masons, saddlers, millers, bakers, and other mechanics, and with a bountiful equipment of wares and sup- plies. From the other side of the ocean it appeared that the colony was undertaken with the most favorable auspices.
New Braunfels.
On arriving at Matagorda bay, the emigrants had to adapt their plans to existing circumstances, and soon the journey from the coast to the designated situation on the Comal was begun. Prince Solms closed a contract for this land on March 14, 1845, and a few days later the first company of colonists arrived. Encamping on this beautiful location, they eagerly went to work laying out residence lots, garden and fields for the new city, to which the leader gave the name New Braunfels, after his own home. On the hill overlooking the city Prince Solms had a large block house erected, to which he gave the name "Sophienburg." For protection the colonists built, where the Catholic church now stands, a sort of palisade fort, which they called "Zinkenburg." Such names, suggesting medieval fortresses, indicate some of the ideas of the rather visionary colonizer. He endeavored to give a military character to the colony, and to impress the Indians and make them keep aloof, he in- augurated military demonstrations and the firing of an evening salute, measures that indeed had their effect on the native tribes. It is thought that Solms tried to transplant in the western wilderness many of the autocratic customs and ceremonials of a medieval age, with the result that his position of authority was soon brought into contempt and ridicule. But no more serious fault can be found with his administration than that he did not possess sufficient business ability to overcome the shortsighted folly of the Verein's directors in Germany. Because of their overcred- ulous trust in Fisher's representations, they failed to make sufficient pro- vision for the support of the colony, and in consequence Solms was obliged to borrow large sums in America. Reaching the limit in this direction, and being pursued by his creditors, he was arrested by them in Galveston, and was only rescued from this dishonorable position by his friend and successor in office, Ottfried Hans von Meusebach (naturalized as a Texas citizen under the name John O. Meusebach).
The latter on his arrival in New Braunfels in the spring of 1845 found the financial affairs of the colony in a most deplorable condition. Reckless expenditures on the credit of the Verein had been made, no system of bookkeeping was maintained, and Meusebach found himself besieged by a host of creditors. But his executive ability and energy proved equal to the situation, bad as it was. To him belongs the credit of saving the colony, and he was so honored at the fiftieth anniversary celebration of the founding of New Braunfels and Fredericksburg.
Though already in debt to the amount of over $20,000, and without
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means properly to provide for the colony already established, the Verein, in the fall of 1845, sent out another expedition, of more than four thou- sand emigrants. Besides evolving order out of the chaotic affairs at New braunteis, Meusebach now had to prepare some kind of home for this new army of homeseekers. He bought, on credit, ten thousand acres of nead- right land, eignty miles northwest of Braunfels, on the Pedernales river, on the porder of the Indian country. This was laid off into small lots, and became the site of Fredericksburg. With the coming of the new lot of emigrants, the depts of the verein had mounted to over $140,000, to ineet winch Meusebach had the small sum of $24,000.
I ne nve tnousand poor people who landed on the Texas coast during the following winter and spring endured inconceivable hardships. The war Ior annexation having now begun, the country had been stripped of provisions and the means of transportation by the army. Neither tooa nor shelter had been provided by the association. l'estilence befell those encamped under the not summer sun along the coast. Many died, and wretchedness overtook all. Of the survivors, many reached the German settlements ; many settled as laborers in American towns. With some of them Meusebach founded Fredericksburg.
"Such was the unhappy beginning. But the wretchedness is already forgotten. 'Things soon mendea. Now, after seven years, 1 do not know a prettier picture of contented prosperity than we witnessed at New Braunfels.' ( Olmsted.)
July 20, 1847, having placed the colonies on such a basis that their existence could not be threatened from without, Meusebach resigned his office, and was succeeded by H. Spies. Spies and Herff while in Ger- many had entered into a contract with the verein to tound a new colony. This, the so-called "Darmstadt" settlement, which was located below Castell on the north bank of the Llano, was founded on a communistic basis and was given the name "Bettina ' atter the authoress Bettina von Arnim. The colony did not live long, and after a short time its members joined some of the older settlements.
The Bettina Colony.
The communistic colony of Bettina owed its origin to Prince Solms and H. Spies, whose writings and speeches caused a sensation among the students at the universities of Heidelberg and Giessen. In a stirring address before the students in Darmstadt, I'rince Solms pictured Texas as a land of wondertul but undeveloped resources, where talent that, in Germany, would receive little recognition, might reap great rewards.
"It was in this way1 that Gustav Schteicher, a graduate of the Uni- versity of Giessen and an engineer, and Wundt, a student of law, were won for the enterprise. A communistic society was organized of which friendship, freedom and equality were the watchwords. It had no reg- ular scheme of government, so far as I know. In fact, being commun- istic, the association would not brook the tyranny of a ruler. But the guiding spirits were, by common consent, Messrs. Wagner, Herff, Schleicher, and Schenck.
From an interview with Louis Reinhardt, reported in Tex. Hist. Assn. Quarterly, 1898.
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The party, consisting of about forty men, sailed from Hamburg in April, 1847, arriving in Galveston the following July. Thence they proceeded on to New Braunfels and to Fredericksburg, and from there to the tract set aside for them on the Llano.
"In the summer of 1848 our colony of Bettina went to pieces. As I have said, it was a communistic society and accordingly had no real gov- ernment. Since everybody was to work if he pleased and when he pleased, the result was that less and less work was done as time pro- gressed. Most of the professional men wanted to do the directing and ordering, while the mechanics and laborers were to carry out their plans. Of course, the latter failed to see the justice of this ruling, and so no one did anything. We had made a field and raised two hundred bushels of corn-our whole year's crop. According to our contract with the Adels- verein, this company was to furnish us supplies for the first year, but the iText we were to shift for ourselves." Foreseeing the ultimate failure of the colony, Mr. Reinhardt withdrew and thereafter made his home in De Witt county. "When, after forty-eight years, I met Dr. Herff in San Antonio, we found that as far as both of us could determine, ten of our company were still living."
FERDINAND HERFF, M. D., physician and surgeon of San Antonio, a scientist of great breadth of knowledge and research, has endeared himself to the general public by a large efficiency in affairs and through a kindly spirit and broad humanitarianism that has prompted many kindly acts and noble deeds performed in quiet unostentatious manner without seeking the reward of public applause.
Dr. Herff was born at Darmstadt, Germany, in 1820, a son of Chris- tian and Elizabeth (Meusenbach) Herff. The father was a distinguished member of the legal profession and in his native province occupied the highest judicial office, corresponding to that of chief justice of a state. The family belonged to the nobility. Dr. Herff acquired a gymnasium education in Darmstadt and his classical and medical education in the universities of Bonn and Berlin, and graduated at Giessen in 1842; in 1892. he received his jubilee diploma from that institution. After prac- ticing medicine at Darmstadt and other places in Germany, in 1846 he came to America as a representative of the German Immigration Com- pany, the leaders of which were, like Dr. Herff, of the better class of German families, representing the student and professional life of the fatherland. Dr. Herff at that time had already achieved considerable reputation not only as a physician but also as a writer. As agent for the colony he first considered a location in Wisconsin, but in 1847 came to Texas, and the German Immigration Company offering large grants of land, free transportation, etc., for the colony, it was decided to locate it in this state. This colony was therefore located in the vicinity of Llano, in what is now Llano county. This was one of the various colonies which about that time located in Southwestern Texas. All the German colonies comprised about seven thousand immigrants. The German colonization is an interesting feature of the history of Southwestern Texas, for many of these people of German birth . and their descendants have become
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Dr. Persian Hoff
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prominent in the history of Texas in connection with its business, pro- fessional, political and social life.
His mission accomplished in connection with the colony, Dr. Herff, early in 1848, returned to Germany for the purpose of wedding the lady to whom he had previously plighted his troth. He was at that time a member of the army, having come to America on leave of absence and upon his return to Germany was made an assistant surgeon in the gov- ernment army which contended with the revolutionists of 1848. This lasted, however, only a short time, and in 1849 Dr. Herff again came to Texas to settle permanently and become an American citizen, bringing his wife with him. He located for six months in the German town of New Braunfels, Comal county, and then came to San Antonio, where he has since continuously practiced medicine. At that time the city con- tained a population of only about two thousand inhabitants. His busi- ness has grown with the city's rapid development and for many years he has occupied a foremost place here as a physician and surgeon.
During the period of the Civil war Dr. Herff was surgeon of a brigade of Home Guards in the Confederate service. Notwithstanding his advanced age, for he has now passed the eighty-sixth milestone on life's journey, he still does considerable office practice, his office being in his old home at No. 308 East Houston street, which he built in 1856, although there had been no street cut through at that time. The resi- dence is now surrounded by big business blocks in the commercial center of the city and stands as a relic of former days and a mute reminder of conditions which existed here a half century ago. Dr. Herff belongs to numerous medical societies, including the American Medical Association and the American Gynecological Society, and he has contributed many articles to the professional press on surgery and gynecology.
As stated, Dr. Herff on his return to Germany was married, the lady of his choice being Matilda Klingelhoefer, who was born in Giessen in 1823. They have five living children and lost one son, Dr. John Herff, who was a physician and died in San Antonio in 1882. The latter's son, Dr. John B. Herff, is a young physician of San Antonio, who was grad- uated from the medical department of the University of Michigan in the class of 1902 and is a representative in the third generation of the Herff family connected with the medical profession in San Antonio. The sur- viving members of the family of Dr. Herff, Sr., are: Ferdinand, who is cashier of the San Antonio National Bank; Charles, a ranchman; Adolph, a physician of San Antonio; August A., an architect of this city; and William L., who is secretary for the San Antonio Loan & Trust Com- pany.
Dr. Herff has done much benevolent and charitable work in the line of his profession, all of which has been performed unostentatiously, prompted by humanitarian principles and with no desire for public notice or commendation. Moreover, he is a scientist and in Europe studied under the famous Alexander Von Humboldt. Although he has led a busy life he has an extensive knowledge as a botanist and naturalist. He possesses a mind of rare compass and his life record is another proof of the statement that old age is not necessarily a synonym of weakness and need not suggest as a matter of course idleness or want of occupation.
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On the contrary there is an old age which grows stronger and better in- tellectually and spiritually as the years go by, giving out of its rich stores of wisdom and experience, and such has been the life of Dr. Herff. He has long been accounted one of the distinguished members of the medical profession in Texas and is today honored and respected by all who know him.
Castro Colony.
Another important colony of the republic was that founded by Henry Castro. Since he obtained his immigrants from Alsace and the Rhine provinces, many of them being French or of the so-called Alsatian race, it is usual to distinguish Castro's Alsatian colony from the other German colonies, although the distinction is not important.
All the contracts for the settlement of this state made with Mexico, or with the government of Coahuila and Texas, ceased to be of force and effect when on March 2, 1836, Texas declared her independence. For five years, until February 4, 1841, there was no law authorizing col- onial contracts and grants. Then a law was passed authorizing the president under certain conditions to enter into contracts for the colonization of wild lands in Northwest and Southwest Texas, and under this, grants were made and contracts entered into with Peters, Henry F. Fisher and Burchard Miller, Charles Fenton Mercer and Henry Castro. Castro's colony lay west of the Medina river -its eastern boundary, strange to say, being four miles west of the stream named. But Mr. Castro at once bought the land between his eastern boundary and the Medina from the private parties then owning it, and thereby secured a front on what was then, if not now, a stream of con- stantly running water. The Castro contract was entered into on the 15th day of January, 1842. About the same time Mr. Castro, who was an edu- cated and most accomplished gentleman, was appointed by President Houston to the position of consul general to France. Owing to the in- vasion of Texas in 1842 and other obstacles, Mr. Castro's contract which was originally only for five years, was extended three years. This ex- tension was not granted, though, until at his own cost he had brought over and landed seven hundred immigrants on the territory assigned him.
JOHN CONRAD BECKMANN, one of the oldest residents of San An- tonio, who died April 12, 1907, aged ninety-two years, was born at Ruelle, Westphalia, not far from Osnabrueck, where the celebrated German university is located, June 13, 1815. His father was keeper of the monastery and brewed and baked for its Monks. His uncle was a Cath- olic bishop and he was reared a very devout Catholic. He left Germany in 1839 and landed in New York, where he spent a couple of years. On his way from Germany here he met and became betrothed to Regina Mueller, a Swiss maiden whose home was in Zurich. She was a Lutheran and he a Catholic, and he stated he had a world of trouble in getting mar- ried. The authorities in Switzerland would not perform the marriage ceremony until he should have first become a citizen of Switzerland. He concluded to try the German authorities and they would not perform the ceremony until his bride had become a member of the Catholic church, which she declined to do, so they concluded to wait.
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He left her beside the beautiful mountains in Switzerland and sailed away to New York. He learned that the wedding could take place there without any more trouble, so he sailed back to Switzerland, got his bride, brought her to New York and they were married. They came to Texas in 1841, stopping a short time en route at New Orleans. He was a locksmith and also very expert at forging and fashioning iron and other metals. In those days most locks were made by hand.
The United States government soon after occupied the Alamo. It em- ployed him and he set up three forges there, doing all of the locksmithing and blacksmithing for the government, for which he received a good pay. He was also very skilful in woodwork and built a residence adjoining the Alamo at Crockett and Alamo Plaza. He assisted in repairing and restoring the Alamo as he came to San Antonio shortly after it had been captured by Santa Anna. He stated that at that time the Alamo was surrounded by cottonwood trees and he frequently slept in their shade and beneath them, everyone in those days taking a noonday siesta. The house which he built beside the Alamo was the first one here with glass windows and doors. Metal beds which are the vogue nowadays were in style in those days, but they were very scarce. He was induced by Dr. F. Herff, Sr., and several other German settlers, who were his personal friends, to fashion with his own hands iron bedsteads and did so. Some of these beds which he made are still in use here in San Antonio.
He also wrought the first chandelier used in the Casino and it did duty there for a great many years and until displaced by a more modern one wherein gas and electric lights superseded the old candle lights. This chandelier he remodeled for oil lamps. It was used after removal from the Casino for a flower stand in front of the house built at Market and Casino streets, opposite the Casino. This house he built in the latter part of the '50s. Then it was considered a very large and almost palatial residence. It was built by the late Major J. H. Kampmann.
The old smithy where Beckmann, after he left the Alamo, forged iron and worked from early morn until the sun was low, stood at Casino and Commerce streets, where Hewitt now has his store. Hummel had his place on Commerce street, where the large building next to the San Antonio National Bank stands. Baetz had his at Market and Nueva streets, opposite the old Lewis mill. They all toiled hard but enjoyed life, even with the hardships and dangers that almost constantly con- fronted and menaced those who dwelt here in the early days.
German-English School.
On the anniversary of the birth of the poet Schiller in 1859 Beck- mann and his friends above mentioned, all of whom were among its founders, participated in the ceremonies incident to the laying of the cornerstone of the German-English school, one wing of which was built by Major Kampmann. He was, as they were, likewise one of the founders and charter members of the Casino, the Turnverein and Krankenkessen- verein as well as the Arbeiter Verein, all German social, athletic and benevolent societies. He was a charter member of the Beethoven Maen- nerchor and on the occasion several years ago of the sixtieth anniversary
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