Hermann Ferdinand Rogalla von Bieberstein
Hermann Ferdinand Theodor Rogalla von Bieberstein (born January 20, 1824 in Nahrten , Guhrau district , Lower Silesia ; † October 15, 1907 in Fredericksburg (Texas) , Gillespie County , Texas, USA) was a German-American civil engineer and geodesist in Texas . Many of the Texas county and state boundaries he surveyed are still valid today. His second cousin Hermann Rogalla von Bieberstein (1823–1906) came to the USA on the same ship; both settled in Texas and both were civil engineers and surveyors.
family
He came from an old 1440 Rogale Dzierzbia in Northern Masovia coming in Prussia besitzlich become and 1599 confirmed the nobility Prussian aristocratic family Rogalla of Rogale (Norman-Germanic-Baltic: Rogala Polish: Rogalski ) that the name in 1740 Rogalla von Bieberstein accepted, and was the youngest son of the royal Prussian major Ferdinand Rogalski (1771–1843), from 1785 Rogalla von Bieberstein , and Charlotte Trützschler von Falkenstein (1790–1850). Siblings: Maria (* 1819 Narthen), Robert (* 1820 Nahrten), Richard (* 1822 Nahrten).
Bieberstein's first marriage was on July 13, 1858 in Fredericksburg (Gillespie County) the German immigrant Carolina (Lina) Schuchardt (born April 8, 1834 in Hersfeld , Hessen-Kassel , † December 4, 1875 in Fredericksburg after the birth of their son Hermann ), the daughter of Conrad Schuchardt (1760-1853), Boyneburgischer general judge to Reichensachsen (today part of Wehretal ), then court clerk in Breitungen / Werra , Brotterode and finally Hersfeld (all four places formerly belonged to Hessen-Kassel), and his second Wife Wilhelmine Hartert († 1853). Carolina had only immigrated with brother August a year earlier (1857) ; her brother Julius (1822–1895) had been one of the first German Texas settlers in Fredericksburg since 1845; Brother Carl (1827–1882) had followed him in 1851. Hermann and Carolina had three children Richard (* 1859), Anna (1861–1870) and Hermann (1875–1876).
In his second marriage on August 26, 1879 in Fredericksburg, he married his cousin Constanze Rogalla von Bieberstein (born March 11, 1826 in Bohrau , Strehlen district , Lower Silesia ; † August 26, 1908 in Fredericksburg), the daughter of Salomon Rogalla von Bieberstein (1784 –1839) and Luise von Kulessa (1786–1857). Constanze had actually only come to Fredericksburg from Bohrau to visit. The marriage with cousin Hermann remained childless.
Life
First, on August 30, 1837, Bieberstein began a military career in the Kadettenhaus Köslin ( Pomerania Province ) in the 1st Company . On August 12, 1838, he was transferred to the Berlin Cadet House. Probably from there he comes 1842 in the infantry - regiment 22 of Neisse where he from 1843 to 1846 with his eldest brother Robert as a second lieutenant is mentioned. As before, Bieberstein and his second brother Richard (Infantry Regiment 17) are sent to the General War School in Berlin. In 1844 the brothers lived at Friedrichstrasse 114.
He must have quit his job there soon, because he decided to emigrate to the USA in 1846 with his cousin of the same name, with whom he was friends. It is not known whether both made this decision for political or economic reasons. On August 28, 1846, the Biebersteins traveled from Bremerhaven in a group of 120 emigrants (29 people with destination Galveston (Texas) and 91 with destination New Braunfels in Texas) on board the " Elisa & Charlotte " under the command of a captain Wendt and met entered Galveston on October 20, 1846, just a year after the state of Texas joined the Union of the United States .
Upon arrival, the two Biebersteins parted ways. The younger Hermann described here settled in the " Latin Settlement " Fredericksburg (Texas) in what would later become Gillespie County.
A few years later he moved to neighboring Mason County (Texas) , which was not officially established until August 2, 1858. Probably after the place of origin of his wife, his town was named Hersfeld (Texas) . Bieberstein acquired a small farm, became an American on March 17, 1858 citizen, was with the founding of Mason County on August 2 as the County Officer for official surveyor ( County Surveyor selected) and re-elected to this position on August 6, 1860 in 1862 and 1866 ( A History of Mason County , Ed .: Mason County Historical Commission) . At least from June 2, 1858 to August 13, 1861, he was also the postman of the first post office in Hersfeld.
During the American Civil War (1861-1865) Bieberstein was not a soldier in the Army of the Southern States , but served from at least March 1861 to 1864 as a captain and company commander in the Minute Companie of the Texas State Troops , comparable to the German Federal Border Guard , in the second border section (Mason County and Kimble County ) and was stationed at Fort Mason , the precursor to the city of Mason (Texas) .
After this mission, Bieberstein was initially a county clerk (civil servant) of Mason County in 1864 , but was soon reappointed a county surveyor by the provincial governor in 1865 (see above).
He was actually re-elected in 1869, but during the Texan independence, Bieberstein also had to join the Texas Rangers and served there from 1869 to May 31, 1871 as a captain in Company G of the Texas border troops at the camp on Spring Creek in Gillespie County was stationed.
From 1871 to at least 1902 (when 78-year-old) Bieberstein worked to its traditional position as a surveyor (County Surveyor), but this time not only in Mason County, but also for the Llano County , Menard County and the Gillespie County.
In 1877 he signed a brokerage agreement on a large piece of land measuring 17,704 acres on the New Mexico border , which he wanted to resell in smaller units and keep 10% as brokerage . After he had inspected the country, however, he asked a few months later to be able to withdraw from his contract, since this land was unsuitable for settlers and was inhabited by hostile Indians. Today, right there are the largest oil fields in Texas.
He bought a small farm near Fredricksburg; the farmhouse (see drawing) was built around 1885. The six cows (1896) were looked after by his wife Constanze .
Bieberstein was also involved in local politics. In July 1880, he was a founding member and became first vice president of the Gillespie County Association and Live Stock Raising , an agricultural association. In April 1886 he was a founding member of the “ Casino ” art association in Fredericksburg.
From June to November 1890 Bieberstein was Justice of the Peace of Gillespie County.
Bieberstein died on October 16, 1907 - just like his cousin of the same name in Washington County - at the old age of 83, and on August 26, 1908, his wife Constanze died. Like his first wife Carolina, both were buried in the Fredericksburg City Cemetery.
literature
- Compilation by R. von Bieberstein jun., Direct descendant in the USA (unpublished manuscript).
- Archive of the genealogist Kuno Rogalla von Bieberstein. Hamburg (unpublished).
- German gender book. Volume 47 (Hessian Gender Book Volume 2). Starke, Limburg (Lahn) 1926, p. 362f. (Schuchardt family).
- Brno Genealogical Pocket Book of Noble Houses. Brno 1884, p. 27f.
- Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the noble houses. Gotha 1925, p. 742f.
Web links
Footnotes
- ^ Gillespie County Marriage Records. Book 1, 1850-1865
- ↑ German Gender Book. Volume 47 (Hessian Gender Book Volume 2). Starke, Limburg (Lahn) 1926, p. 362f. (Schuchardt family).
- ^ General housing gazette for Berlin. Berlin, 1844, p. 382f.
- ↑ Possibly a brother or relative of the famous circumnavigator, discoverer and inventor Johann Wilhelm Wendt (1802–1847)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rogalla von Bieberstein, Hermann Ferdinand |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Rogalla von Bieberstein, Hermann Ferdinand Theodor |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German-American civil engineer and geodesist in Texas |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 20, 1824 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Nahrten , district of Guhrau , Lower Silesia |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 15, 1907 |
| Place of death | Fredericksburg (Texas) , Gillespie County , Texas, USA |