Andreas Friedrich Trenckmann

Andreas Friedrich Trenckmann (born July 17, 1809 in Wefensleben near Magdeburg , Province of Saxony , Prussia ; † 1883 in Millheim , Austin County , Texas , United States ) was a teacher and headmaster in Magdeburg, later a farmer and president of the oldest agricultural association in Texas.

Life

He was the son of master carpenter and double Kossath (farmer) Johann Gottfried Trenckmann (1782-1837) and Anna Elisabeth Schneider (1781-1816), both from Wefensleben. Trenckmann married Johanna Jokusch. His youngest son was the writer William Andreas Trenckmann (1859-1935), publisher of the German-language newspaper Das Wochenblatt and a Texan MP.

After graduating from school, Trenckmann also worked as a private teacher. He later founded a private school in Magdeburg that taught up to 500 students.

In 1844, the Protestants began to revolt against Pietism in Magdeburg . Trenckmann was open to reforms, but not a rebel. He sympathized with the reform movement. Through his school he was appointed in 1848 as one of the delegates who were supposed to demand reforms from the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV (see also: March Revolution ).

After a successful mission, Trenckmann emigrated to Texas in 1853. First he moved to Colorado County , then he bought a piece of land in neighboring Austin County in the Latin Settlement Millheim (Texas) near Catspring (Texas) , where he established himself as a farmer and pub owner.

In 1856 40 farmers (including Heinrich Amthor from Gotha , Thuringia ) founded the Agricultural Association (until 1906) in Catspring , the oldest agricultural association in Texas, of which Trenckmann became its first president. Trenckmann spoke out against secession , but accepted the laws of the Provisional Confederate Government under its President Jefferson Davis on February 1, 1861, and accepted the fact that two of his sons joined the Southern Army at the beginning of the American Civil War ; one of them fell on the battlefield.

literature

• Adalbert Regenbrecht: The German Settlers of Millheim before the Civil War . In: Eugene C. Barker (ed.), Herbert E. Bolton (ed.): The Southwestern Historical Quarterly , Volume 20 (July 1916 - April 1917), Partial Volume 1 (July 1916), pp. 28-34, Texas State Historical Association , Austin TX 1917 ( University of North Texas Libraries)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Clara Trenckmann Studer: Trenckmann, William Andreas. In: The Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), 1999 ff (English, tshaonline.org ).