USA > Texas > History of the German element in Texas from 1820-1850, and historical sketches of the German Texas singers' league and Houston turnverein from 1853-1913, 1st ed > Part 5
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German Element in Texas
love of liberty and partly through the glowing accounts of travelers who had traversed Texas and in their reports did not hesitate to pronounce it the finest country on earth, suitable in every way for colonization by Europeans.
The government of Texas was confronted from the be- ginning with the constant low ebb of public funds and the difficulty of raising the State's revenues. Several ef- forts of securing public loans from the United States and England had either failed or proved insufficient, as Texas could pledge as security nothing but millions of acres of land that were of but little actual value at that time, as there was nobody to cultivate them. The import trade of Texas was insignificant and the receipts from import duties were hardly sufficient to pay for the expenses of collection. The public debt constantly increased and the authorities were in a quandary. The only possibility to raise sufficient revenues and put the administration on a self-sustaining basis, seemed to be in the rapid coloniza- tion of the vast and fertile lands belonging to the State. It may be added here parenthetically that the inherent rights of the Indians to certain territory were as ruthlessly disregarded by Texas, as anywhere in the United States. The Red men simply had no right whatever to their lands and hunting grounds, when the white man wanted them.
In harmony with the colonization plan of the adminis- tration the Texas Congress of 1837 passed a colonization law, similar to the Mexican law of 1824. Each immigrat- ing family was to receive 320 acres of tillable land, each single man 160 acres; large grants were to be made to promoters under the condition of bringing a certain num- ber of settlers to Texas in a specified time. If this con- dition was complied with to the satisfaction of the General Land Office, the State would give the promoter and the colonists full and undisputed title to the land granted. This liberal land policy proved successful, increasing the popu- lation of the Republic from 52,000 in 1836 to 150,000 in
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1845, with more than 20,000 Germans included in this num- ber. The actual number of inhabitants of German blood was far greater than 20,000, for this number does not in- clude the children of the immigrants born in Texas, who were considered Texans, and in the later census figures of the United States, were recognized as native born Americans.
In making of land grants the Government did not always act fairly and can not be spared the just criticism of par- tiality. The more valuable and better protected lands in East Texas were generally reserved for settlers from the United States, while the immigrants from Europe, in the main Germans and several thousand Frenchmen, were given lands in West and South Texas, to act as a bulwark against Indian and Mexican attacks.
The early German immigrants to Texas were mostly agriculturists, with an occasional mixture of mechanics and operatives, but, as Francis J. Grund, in his book, "The Americans," published in 1837, says: "The late unfor- tunate struggle for liberty in Germany has, within the last five or six years caused the expatriation of a more in- telligent class. Settlements have been made in America by a body of Germans whose education fitted them rather for the drawing room and the closet than for the hard- ships of cultivating the soil; yet they have cheerfully em- braced their new vocation."
Although Grund refers only to some German settlements in Illinois and the upper Mississippi Valley, his words ap- ply with the same force to Texas, and it was principally through the directing power of these educated men that the Germans exerted quite an influence in the days of the Republic of Texas.
In 1843 the Texas Congress ordered the laws of Texas to be published in German, and when the Germans began an active campaign for the founding of a German Uni- versity in Texas, the administration looked favorably on
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the project, which, of course, seems to have been somewhat utopian. On January 27, 1844, the Texas Congress granted a franchise to the "Herrmann University," which was to be the "alma mater" of philosophy, medicine, theology and jurisprudence. The professors of these four faculties must be competent to lecture in both the English and German languages, while the professors of theology should not belong to a special religious denomination nor teach doc- trines of any sect. Section 7 of the act authorizing the university stated the following, viz: "Section 7. Be it further enacted that no person shall be eligible to a pro- fessorship in said university who does not understand both the German and English languages, unless by a unanimous vote of the trustees such qualifications shall be disregard- ed." This shows plainly the influence and prominence ac- corded to the German element in Texas at this early period.
The location of the prospective university should be somewhere between the Mill and Cummings Creeks in the present Austin, Colorado or Washington Counties. To the board of regents of the university the authority was granted to levy an excise on spirituous liquors within a radius of 50 miles from the university and a large land grant was issued for its benefit. The management was to consist of one president and 12 trustees. As incorporators of the in- stitution are named: L. C. Ervendberg, F. Ernst, H. Schmidt, H. Amthor, J. G. Lieper, G. Stoehr, F. W. Hues- mann and E. Franke.
So far everything seemed propitious for the undertaking, but when the trustees tried to sell the "university shares" they met with insurmountable obstacles. The shares at the par value of $50 could only be sold for land in exchange ; nobody paid in-cash, money being too scarce. But it was ready cash that the trustees needed, and not land, of which the university had plenty. The attempt to raise the neces- sary funds proved a failure, and in January, 1846, the fran- chise was annulled, but was renewed on April 11, 1846.
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This time the incorporators were: H. Amthor, E. Franke, II. Draub, H. Ernst, Jacob Rien, E. Miller, E. H. Yordt, Dr. E. Becker, William Trieb, Charles Yordt, Hermann Frels and Ed Ruhmann.
To make the shares more attractive, the subscription price was reduced from $50 to $15. The trustees succeeded in obtaining enough money to build a large, two-story stone building in Frelsburg, but that was all. This building was later used for the public school of Frelsburg, and thus ful- filled its mission in some way, even if it did not bear the proud name of "university."
The plan of establishing a higher institution of learning in Texas in 1845 was premature and not feasible. The Lone Star State had then but a few years ago emerged from the darkness of primitive existence and the magic wand of civilization had but lightly touched it. Even if the trus- tees had succeeded in procuring sufficient funds for the equipment of the university, there would have been a re- markable scarcity of students. There were no schools in Texas that could prepare pupils for college or universities.
CHAPTER XII. The Society of German Noblemen. (Mainzer Aldesverein.)
The German literature about Texas was constantly grow- ing. In a preceding chapter the publications of Hecke, Duden, Arends and Bromme were mentioned, all published between 1821 and 1833. To these were now added the books of F. Hoehne, "Reise Ueber Bremen Nach Nord Amerika und Texas" ("Voyage Over Bremen to North America and Texas, From 1838-1841"), "Das Kajueten- buch" ("The Cabinbook"), by Charles Sealsfield (Carl Postl), published in Zurich, 1841; Hermann Ehrenberg's "Der Freiheitskampf in Texas" ("The War for Texas' In- dependence"), Leipzig, 1844; G. A. Scherpf's "Origin and Present Condition of the New State of Texas," published in Augsburg, 1841, and numerous other works of travel. Texas was better advertised and discussed more in Ger- man, than any other State of North America. All these books were eagerly read, and as the political, industrial and social conditions in Germany had not improved since 1830, "the mania for emigration," as it was called, in- creased, and many people were preparing to leave different parts of Germany.
In the novel, "Nathan, the Squatter," published in 1837, Sealsfield dwelt with much emphasis on the picturesque life of the pioneer and the idyllic scenes of life in the thinly populated territory of Texas. We quote the following glowing description of a settlement: "On the level summit of the ridge were situated the plantations of the wealthier planters, and a more beautiful or more favorable settle- ment you could not imagine. On one side lay what are called clearing lands, from which the primitive forest had just been removed ; on the other, immense prairies with the
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tall grass waving about the heads of the browsing cattle, and horses that were pulling and tumbling against each other like rolling stones; the sound of tinkling cowbells came to our ears in the gentle breeze, and in the far blue distance a thick fog was seen glimmering in the sunbeams through every opening of the vast forest. There was something charming and irresistible in the landscape."
"With the wreck of our fortune, as little as it was com- petent to support us at home, here it was amply sufficient to gratify every wish of the heart-here I could prepare a home for my betrothed, far from the injuries and storms of the world."
"I found the rudiments -- the A B C of squatter life-in the clearings, in the woodland and in the live oaks; the spelling book in the rude and artless dwellings, in the rough furniture made by the backwoodsman himself, in the horses and in the corn stubbles. I saw plainly that I had only to do as the squatters had done to accomplish the same ends. He only, who has to solve the difficult prob- lem of getting along in the backwoods, can form an idea of the childish haste with which I pounced on every object. The log house had irresistible charms. I was in an ecstacy at the thought of the time when my beloved family, in their plain and simple robes, would come to meet me at the cabin door, as I returned from the field."
The above may suffice as a fair example of how Texas and the settlers' life were praised in the different publica- tions of that time. The sentimentality expressed was in full accord with the trend of German feeling during the first half of the last century. It was the age of affected sensibility and lyric poetry, and these books could not but leave a deep impression on their numerous readers.
We have now reached the most interesting stage of the German immigration to Texas. On April 20, 1842, 14 German Princes and noblemen met at Biebrich, on the Rhine, in a conference, the result of which was the form-
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ing of a provisional association for the purchase of lands in Texas. The following document was signed by those present :
"We, the undersigned, hereby make known that we have today associated ourselves and are constituted as a society for the purpose of purchasing lands in the free State of Texas. Biebrich, April 20, 1842."
This was the beginning of the society for the protec- tion of German emigrants to Texas, which was formed at a general meeting held at Mainz on March 24, 1844. As only princes and representatives of the higher nobility could become members of it, the society became generally known as the "League of the Nobility" (Adelsverein), of which the following 21 noblemen were the original members, viz. :
Duke Adolf of Nassau, Duke Bernhard Erich of Mein- ingen, Duke August Ernst of Saxe Coburg, Prince Frederic William Ludwig of Prussia, Prince Günther of Schwarz- burg-Rudolstadt, Prince Carl zu Leiningen, Prince Her- mann von Wied, Prince Ferdinand von Solms-Braunfels, Prince Franz von Collerado-Mansfield, Prince Otto Victor von Schoenberg-Waldenburg, Prince of Solms-Braunfels Rheingrafenstein, Prince Alexander von Solms-Braunfels, Count Christian von Alt-Leiningen-Westernburg, Count Carl von Isenburg-Mecrholz, Count Edmund von Hatzfeld, Count Carl William von Inn und Knyphausen-Lutelsberg, Count Armand von Rennessee, Count Carl von Castell and Baron Paul Scirnay.
The Duke of Nassau accepted the protectorate of the society, Prince Leiningen was elected president and Count Castell secretary and general manager. By a ministerial rescript of the Duchy of Nassau the society was incorpor- ated on March 3, 1844. It was capitalized at 200,000 gul- den ($80,000), consisting of 40 shares at 5000 gul- den ($2000) each. Shortly after the first meeting at Bie- brich in 1842, the "Adelsverein," as this galaxy of princes and noblemen will henceforth be called, had dispatched
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Counts Victor von Leiningen and Boos-Waldeck to Texas with ample funds and full power to purchase land from the Texas Government. They arrived in Galveston in the beginning of September, and in Houston on September 13, from which place both went to San Felipe de Austin and Industry. From there Count Leiningen went to Austin to confer with President Sam Houston in reference to land grants and special concessions he expected to receive for the colonization project of the Adelsverein. It is very probable that he would have succeeded if he had not made the mistake of asking too much. One of his demands was that the colonists should be exempt from taxation for a number of years. This, of course, could not be granted, as the liberal land policy of Texas had for its main ob- ject the quick increase of the State's revenues, of which the Administration was sorely in need. If Count Leinin- gen had been properly advised, or if he had shown some business ability and consideration for existing conditions, there can be but little doubt that he would have succeeded in obtaining the desired land grant from President Hous- ton and thus a great deal of expense and trouble would have been saved the Adelsverein. But fate had decreed differently. After his negotiations at Austin had termi- nated without any results, Leiningen returned to Germany in 1843, and reported favorably for a wholesale coloniza- tion in Texas. A wholesale colonization without a foot of ground belonging to the Verein!
Count Boos-Waldeck in the meantime, following the advice of Mr. Ernst, the founder of Industry, had bought in Fayette County a fine plantation of 4428 acres for 54,- 000 gulden ($22,000), which he christened "Nassau." and which was destined to play an important part in the history of the Adelsverein. A large dwelling house, stables, barn and outhouses were on the farm, which was cultivated by negroes, who also became the property of the Adelsverein.
Boos-Waldeck returned to Germany in 1844 and in his
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report advised against a colonization on an extensive scale because the expenses of such an undertaking would be too high. Unfortunately his warning voice was disregarded and the vague proposition of Count Leiningen adopted. The unpardonable carelessness, not to say imbecility, of the managers of the Adelsverein, in carrying out their plan will be demonstrated in succeeding chapters.
West of San Antonio a Frenchman by the name of Henry Castro had received a land grant and established there a colony of Alsatians and Belgians. North of it another Frenchman, Bourgeois (d'Orvanne) had received another grant that was forfeited in 1843 for noncompliance with its conditions. North of this grant, in the present counties of Kendall and Gillespie, Count Leiningen was offered a grant, but refused to accept it on the ground that it was too far west and too far from the sea. While this objection was well founded, still he should have either accepted the offer, as he was told that he could receive no other grant, or his advice to the Adelsverein should have been against a wholesale colonization.
CHAPTER XIII. The Adelsverein Buys a Land Grant Which Proves Worthless.
When the recommendations of Count Waldeck were re- jected by the officers of the Adelsverein, he withdrew as a member of the society. This was rather unfortunate for the "Verein," as it seems that he was the only mem- ber with a fair understanding of the conditions in Texas and the proper requirements for a successful colonization. The affairs of the Adelsverein from now on were exclu- sively in the hands of its general manager, Count Castell. It is a mooted question whether his boundless enthusiasm for the project carried him beyond the limits of prudence and caution, or whether he possessed any business ability at all, acting simply under orders of his superiors. Be that as it may, his business transactions proved ruinous for the Adelsverein. During the summer of 1843 there arrived in Germany a Frenchman, named Bourgeois, who had come directly from Texas and who had a land -or colonization-grant from the Republic west of San San Antonio. He had ennobled himself by adding the suffix d'Orvanne to his name. Presenting himself to Count Castell as the Chevalier Bourgeois d'Orvanne, he quickly enthralled Castell by his eloquence and the glow- ing description of his grant, which, as he stated, had un- limited possibilities for colonization. This concession he offered to sell to the Adelsverein. When he did that the time limit for colonization under his grant had almost ex- pired. The grant to Bourgeois was dated July 3, 1842, and under its conditions he had to settle 400 families on the land during the 18 months following. The time, there- fore, expired on December 3, 1843, but he declared it would be an easy matter to receive an extension of the time limit
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on application, from President Sam Houston, who was his personal friend. After many conferences deferred through the customary procrastination in official matters, Bour- geois' land concession was finally bought by the Adels- verein on April 7, 1844, after it had virtually expired four months previously and contrary to the advice of Count Waldeck.
Then the Adelsverein issued the following program, which was published in many newspapers of Germany: "An association has been formed having for its aim to guide as much as possible immigration into one favor- able direction, to support the immigrants during their long journey, and to secure for them new homes across the sea.
"The association does not publish this announcement with a view to procure funds for their undertaking-the necessary capital having already been signed-but, con- scious of a righteous cause, the association feels in duty bound to itself and the public, to lay before the latter the motives that have called this association into existence, the ways and means by which they hope to effect their object and the principles by which they are guided.
"The association neither means to further, nor excuse the tendency for emigration. That the exigency exists can neither be denied nor checked. Many causes are at work to bring this condition about. Manual labor being suppressed by machinery ; the great, almost periodic, crises that overwhelm commerce; the increasing poverty as a re- sult of over population and lack of employment, and finally perhaps the much lauded richness of the soil in the new world; but, above all, an expectation, sometimes real- ized, but just as often deceived, of a happier life across the ocean.
"Under such circumstances the emigrants would cer- tainly better their lot, if, by keeping together in a well or- ganized body, they could find proper guidance and pro-
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tection in the foreign land. Thus the necessity for the as- sociation and its aims are at once explained. It wishes to regulate and guide emigration for the purpose of the Ger- mans finding a German home in America, and that by main- taining an unbroken connection between themselves and the Fatherland, an industrial and commercial intercourse may arise that must be materially and intellectually bene- ficial to both. In this manner the association wishes to contriblute its share to Germany's glory and honor, in order to afford to the German poor in future a field of fruitful labor, to open new markets to German industry and to give to German sea trade a wider expansion.
"After long and careful deliberation the Verein has reached the conclusion that Texas is pre-eminently the country that will suit the German emigrant best. The association has sent experienced men to Texas, who have traveled through that country far and near and have given such information that the Verein could make its selection conscientiously and unhesitatingly.
"The association has acquired in the healthiest part of the country a continuous, uncultivated territory of con- siderable extent, where it will assist, as much as possible, the settling of those Germans who wish to leave their na- tive country, and to that end will use those means best adapted to existing conditions.
"Before departure a tract of good land will be guaran- teed in writing to each emigrant, which he receives as a present from the association without any compensation whatsoever."
The program then contains certain conditions under which the emigrants are to be carried across the sea, the rules and regulations of the prospective colony and the statement that each single man must deposit with the as- sociation 300 gulden ($120) and each head of an average family 600 gulden ($240). It concludes with the following admonitions :
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"The new fatherland across the ocean can only thrive, when the Germans there continue to be as they were at home; thrifty, painstaking and loyal to sound morals and the laws. Although the association has no doubts in this regard, it will only admit to emigration 150 families during this year, and only after these emigrants have established a well secured settlement, will the Verein assist in further cmigration."
The executive committee :
(Sig.) Prince zu Leiningen, Count Isenburg-Merholz, for the absent Count Castell.
Mainz, April 9, 1844.
(For full text of the program in German see Appen- dix C.)
After the Adelsverein had thus made its intentions known to the German people, Prince Carl Solms-Braunfels was ap- pointed commissioner general for the colony and Bourgeois d'Orvanne as his assistant with the title of colonial direc- tor. Both departed for Texas in May to make the nec- essary arrangements for the expected first shipload of emigrants. Bourgeois tried to obtain an extension of his forfeited land concession from President Sam Houston, but failing in this, Prince Solms was constrained to write in a private letter to Count Castell "that they were in the embarrassing position of having emigrants coming with no lands to grant them." If the prince had added, that land in West Texas could then be bought at from 5 to 15 cents per acre, the prospects of the enterprise might have been different, from what they became through another hasty and senseless purchase of a second land grant, of which we shall speak in the next chapter. Bourgeois d'Orvanne had been informed on August 24, 1844, that he was no longer a member of the association and that his services as colonial director were no longer required, while
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Prince Solms with his suite was traveling over Texas in search of suitable lands for the expected colonists. In his reports to the directorate of the Adelsverein, Prince Solms had declared the large plantation, Nassau, bought by Count Boos-Waldeck in Fayette County, to be undesirable for the colonization projects of the Verein, because it was too close to other settlements, and, therefore, not adapted for a German colony, that should be established where the German colonist would be unmolested from interference by other settlers, in order to preserve their National cus- toms and religion. This decision of the prince was very unfortunate, as the plantation would have furnished an admirable stopping place for the immigrants on their long road to the land grant in West Texas that the Adels- verein bought after the Bourgeois grant had been for- feited. The latter's concession had not been favored by Prince Solms either, "because it was too far from the coast in order to carry on trade with Mexico," as he wrote to the Verein. Despite this Count Castell negotiated the purchase of a land grant still 100 miles further northwest, thus dooming the colonization enterprise of the Adels- verein to failure, before it had actually begun.
CHAPTER XIV.
Purchase of a Second Land Grant by the Adelsverein.
In the spring of 1844 there arrived in Bremen a German Texan by the name of Henry Francis Fisher (Heinrich Franz Fischer), commissioned as consul for Texas. Fisher came from Houston, where he was engaged in the general land business, being also a notary public and secretary of the German Society for Texas. He and a certain Bur- chard Miller (Burkart Mueller), also of Houston, had ob- tained an immense land concession in West Texas from President Sam Houston on September 1, 1843. The grant provided, among other conditions, that Fisher and Miller should settle on that land 600 families from Europe in 18 months, with a later total of 6000 families. The time limit expired on March 1, 1945, and all the lands of the grant remained property of the State until the conditions were fulfilled. If Fisher and Miller should bring the required number of immigrants from Europe in the specified time, then the State would give proper title to these immigrants after they had lived on the claim for three successive years, built a house and fenced in at least 15 acres. Each family would receive title to 640 acres (one section), each single man 320 acres. But the contractors had permission to make contract with each emigrant for transfer of not more than half of this land to the contractor.
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