Otfried Hans von Meusebach

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John O. Meusebach
Hans Freiherr von Meusebach at a young age
John O. Meusebach statue.jpg

Otfried Hans Freiherr von Meusebach (born May 26, 1812 in Dillenburg , † May 27, 1897 in Loyal Valley , Mason County , Texas , USA) was initially a Prussian government assessor , in the USA from 1845 a farmer , botanist , politician and member of the Senate of Texas . He was the founder of the city of Fredericksburg in Gillespie County , Texas.

family

Meusebach came from the old Thuringian noble family " von Meusebach " with the parent company of the same name at Stadtroda and was the son of Carl Hartwig Gregor Freiherr von Meusebach and Ernestine von Witzleben.

His first bride, Elisabeth von Hardenberg, died of typhus .

On September 28, 1852 he married the 17-year-old Agnes Countess von Coreth (* September 18, 1835 - December 15, 1909), who came from Tyrolean nobility and named herself Agnes Coreth Meusebach after the wedding . The couple had a total of eleven children, of which only three sons and four daughters survived childhood.

Life

After attending school in Roßleben (Thuringia), Meusebach first studied at the mining and forestry academy in Clausthal . From 1832 he studied at the University of Bonn, among other things, the subjects of cameralistics and finance . During this time, he learned to read five languages ​​and speak fluent English. It is possible that he also studied at the University of Halle before taking his exam at the Naumburg Higher Regional Court in 1836 . After completing his studies, he worked in various positions in Stettin , Trier , Berlin and Potsdam, among others .

In 1845 Meusebach was appointed to succeed Carl Prinz zu Solms-Braunfels as General Commissioner of the Association for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas and went to Texas on behalf of this Association in May 1845. There he founded in 1846 the town of Friedrichsburg ( Fredericksburg ) in Gillespie County in Texas, which he named after Prince Friedrich of Prussia ; later he founded the towns of Castell and Leiningen in Texas , named after the club members Carl Graf zu Castell-Castell and Viktor Graf zu Leiningen .

On July 20, 1847, Meusebach ended his work for the " Mainz Adelsverein ". Together with the botanist George Engelmann, he collected and exported local fruit plants (e.g. grapefruit and wine ) to Europe and within America. He also worked with the botanist Ferdinand Lindheimer and the geologist Ferdinand von Roemer .

During a trip to Germany in 1851, Meusebach was elected to the Texas Senate to represent Bexar Counties , Comal Counties and Medina Counties. He became a member of the Committee on Home Affairs and Education.

In 1869, Meusebach retired to his 200- acre farm in the Loyal Valley and dedicated himself to his orchids, roses and vineyards.

He died on May 27, 1897 and - together with his wife - is buried in the Marschall Meusebach cemetery in Cherry Spring , near Fredericksburg, which is named after him . At the entrance to the cemetery there is a plaque from 1974 with the following text:

“The Marschall-Meusebach Cemetery - Members of the families of two former German noblemen, related by marriage, are buried in this cemetery. John O. Meusebach (1812-1897), who came to the Republic of Texas in 1845 as leader of the German Emigration Company, established (1845) the town of Fredericksburg and signed (1847) an historic peace treaty with the Comanche Indians. Wilhelm Marschall von Bieberstein (1822-1902) settled in this community in 1848. First burial here was that of Marschall's sister-in-law, Mathilda Weiss (1824-1891). "

“Marschall Meusebach Friedhof - members of the families of two former German aristocrats, related by marriage, are buried in this cemetery. John O. Meusebach (1812-1897), who came to the Republic of Texas in 1845 as head of the German Emigration Society, founded the city of Fredericksburg in 1845 and in 1847 signed a historic peace treaty with the Comanche Indians. Wilhelm Marschall von Bieberstein (1822–1902) settled in this community in 1848. The first funeral here was that of Mathilda Weiss (1824-1891), Marschall's sister-in-law. "

Meusebach – Comanche Treaty

After armed conflicts with the Comanches , he made peace with the Indians near San Saba on March 2, 1847, signed his famous peace treaty on May 9, 1847, thereby not only giving the two important German settlements in Texas, New Braunfels and Fredericksburg, a solid one Basis and security, but also enabled the further settlement of the land, so that as a result the Counties Concho , Kimble , Llano , Mason , McCulloch , Menard , San Saba , Schleicher , Sutton and Tom Green could be founded.

Meusebach was inspired by William Penn's Indian policy in Pennsylvania and the prerequisites for his success in negotiations with the Indians were certainly his positive attitude and his friendly behavior towards them. Meusebach said after the peace negotiations with the Comanches:

“When my people have lived with you for a while, and when we know each other better, there may be some who want to get married. Soon our warriors will learn your language. If they then wish to marry a girl from your tribe, I see no obstacle at all, and our peoples will become so much better friends. ... My brother speaks of a barrier between the red men and the pale faces. I don't value my red brothers any less because their skin is darker, and I no longer believe in the white people just because their main color is lighter. "

In 1936 a memorial stone was erected near San Saba (San Saba County) with the following text:

“On this site a treaty of peace was agreed upon, March 1–2, 1847, between twenty Comanche chiefs and the German colonists represented by Otfried Hans Freiherr von Meusebach (1812–1897), who became a citizen of Texas under the name of John O. Meusebach… this treaty was never broken. "

“At this point, on 1-2. March 1847 a peace treaty concluded between twenty Comanche chiefs and the German colonists represented by Otfried Hans Freiherr von Meusebach (1812–1897), who became a citizen of Texas under the name John O. Meusebach. This contract was never broken. "

literature

  • Irene Marshal King: John O. Meusebach. German colonizer in Texas . University of Texas Press, Austin 1967.
  • Cornelia Marshal Smith: Meusebach-Engelmann-Lindheimer . In: Texas Journal of Science . Issue 34, 1982.
  • Cornelia Marschall Smith, Otto W. Tetzlaff: Meusebach, John O .. In: The Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), 1999 ff (English, tshaonline.org ). Biography with bibliography

Documentaries (films)

Web links

Individual evidence

Commons : John O. Meusebach  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
  1. ^ Official Journal of the Royal Government of Erfurt , July 23, 1836. Ohlenroth, Erfurt, p. 128 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  2. ↑ This treaty is known in the United States as the “ Meusebach – Comanche Treaty ”. The original of the contract was in Germany until 1970 and Meusebach's granddaughters Irene Marschall King and Dr. Cornelia Marshal Smith brought the contract back to Texas that year. In 1972 the document was given to the Texas State Library as a gift: Otto W. Tetzlaff, Meusebach – Comanche Treaty . In: Handbook of Texas Online
personal data
SURNAME Meusebach, Otfried Hans von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Meusebach, Otfried Hans Freiherr von (full name); Meusebach, John O.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German government official
DATE OF BIRTH May 26, 1812
PLACE OF BIRTH Dillenburg ,
DATE OF DEATH May 27, 1897
Place of death Loyal Valley , Mason County , Texas