Nicolaus Zink
Nicolaus Zink (born February 4, 1812 in Bamberg ; † November 3, 1887 in Comfort , Texas , USA ) was a German-American civil engineer and farmer . He led the beginning of 1845 the first settlers - trek of Adelsverein to Texas and built Fort zinc Castle , the precursor to the town of New Braunfels in Comal County .
family
While in Germany, Zink married his first wife Luise von Kheusser. The marriage was divorced in Texas in 1847. Soon afterwards (1848/1849) Zink married his second wife Elisabeth in Sisterdale ( Kendall County ). Finally, before 1870, he married the Englishwoman Agnes Williams in his third marriage .
Life
Zink was initially an officer in the Royal Bavarian Army and, as a military man, was involved in the planning of the first Greek railway line , later he worked as a civil engineer.
At the end of 1844, the “ freethinker ” Zink emigrated to Texas with his wife and the first group of settlers organized by the Mainz Adelsverein. In December they reached Indianola landing site on Matagorda Bay in Calhoun County . Under the command of the then General Commissioner of the Nobility Association, Carl Prinz zu Solms-Braunfels , Zink led the trek from countless carts and wagons for more than 3 months up the Guadalupe River via Victoria , McCoy's Creek and Seguin through unpopulated Texas. On the way, Prince zu Solms separated from his trek and left the command to his deputy from Coll and Nicolaus Zink. On March 21, 1845, the German emigrants reached the area on the east bank of Comal Creek, where the settlement of New Braunfels was later founded. There they met their namesake Prince zu Solms-Braunfels again.
During a light snow storm, Zink had a fort built as quickly as possible to protect the temporary tent city from the weather and above all from the Comanche Indians , which was named Zinkenburg after him . The fort even had two bastions armed with cannons. The Germans lived in this fort until permanent houses could be built. As an engineer, Zink developed the plans according to which the later settlement of New Braunfels was built and the adjacent farmland was divided. Zink Street was later named in his honor in the city . As early as 1850, New Braunfels was the fourth largest city in the state of Texas.
In return, Zink received 25 acres of land in the city and 100 acres of farmland outside, which he divided into smaller lots for sale. In 1846, he transported passengers and merchandise between Houston and New Braunfels.
After separating from his wife in 1847, Zink wanted to move to Fredericksburg , Gillespie County , but ended up on Sister Creek in neighboring Kendall County. There he built a two-story log cabin, the first building exactly where the Sisterdale settlement will later be built and which will go down in Texan history as the most famous Latin Settlement .
Zinc prevailed all alone against the Comanche, became a successful farmer over the next few years, and fetched a good price for his wheat, which he sold to the quartermasters of the nearby army accommodations. During this time, Zink married a second time - Elisabeth.
During this time around 1850 a group of German Forty-Eighters and free thinkers lived together with Zink in Sisterdale, z. B. the former politician Eduard Degener and the educator Adolph Douai . In 1850, Zink sold his house and some land to Eduard Degener and built a mill on Baron Creek south of Fredericksburg, from which he lived as a miller. In 1853, the Zinc couple lived in the new village of Comfort, a Latin settlement also founded by German intellectuals.
Twenty years later, in 1870, the 58-year-old lived as zinc shingle maker (shinglemaker) with his third wife in Kendall County in a two-story farm house on the Spanish pass between Comfort and Boerne - at today's Don Strange Ranch . The house has been a listed building since 1984 .
Honors
- Zinkenburg , the name of the fort on whose grounds the town of New Braunfels was later built.
- Zink Street , the name of a street in New Braunfels
Individual evidence
Web links
- Biography in the Handbook of Texas
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Zink, Nicolaus |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German-American engineer and farmer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 4, 1812 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bamberg , Bavaria |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 3, 1887 |
| Place of death | Comfort , Texas |