John O. Meusebach
Otfried Hans Freiherr von Meusebach ( born May 26, 1812 in Dillenburg, Lahn -Dill-Kreis, † May 27 1897 in Loyal Valley, Mason County, Texas, USA) was first Prussian Government Assessor, in the United States from 1845 farmers, botanists, 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 nobility " of Meusebach " with the same name headquarters in Stadtroda and was the son of Carl Hartwig Gregor Freiherr von Meusebach and Ernestine joke of life.
His first bride, Elisabeth von Hardenberg, died of typhoid fever.
He married on 28 September 1852, the 17- year-old Agnes Countess of Coreth (* September 18, 1835, † December 15, 1909 ), who came from Tyrolean nobility and was called after the wedding Agnes Coreth Meusebach. The couple had eleven children, of whom only three sons and four daughters survived infancy.
Life
After his schooling in Roßleben ( Thuringia) Meusebach studied at the Mines and Forestry Academy in Clausthal. In 1832, he finished at the University of Bonn, among others, the subjects Kameralistik and finance. During this time he learned to read five languages and speak fluent English. Maybe he studied also at the University of Halle, in 1836 before he got his degree at the University of Naumburg. After his studies, he worked in various positions including in Trier, Berlin and Potsdam.
In 1845 Meusebach was appointed successor to Prince Carl of Solms- Braunfels as commissioner general of the Association for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas and went straight in May 1845 order of this association to Texas. There he founded in 1846 the town of Fredericksburg ( Fredericksburg ) in Gillespie County, Texas, which he named after Prince Frederick of Prussia; later he founded in Texas nor the places Castell and Leiningen, named after the club members Carl Graf zu Castell- Castell and Viktor Graf zu Leiningen.
After wars with the Comanches, he closed on March 2, 1847 in San Saba with the Indians peace, signed on May 9, 1847 his famous peace treaty and was thus not only the two major German settlements in Texas, New Braunfels and Fredericksburg, a solid basic and safety, but also enabled the further settlement of the country, so that could be established as a result of the County Concho, Kimble, Llano, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, San Saba, Schleicher, Sutton and Tom Green.
Meusebach was inspired by William Penn's Indian policy in Pennsylvania and the conditions for its success in negotiations with the Indians were sure his positive attitude and his friendly behavior towards them. Meusebach said after the peace negotiations with the Comanches, "If my people have lived for a time with you and if we are to know each other better, then it may happen that some want to get married. Soon our warriors will learn your language. If they then want to marry a girl out of your trunk, I see it at all no obstacle, and our people are so much better friends. .... My brother speaks of a barrier between the red men and the pale-faces. I guess my red brothers not less, because their skin is darker, and I no longer thought of the people of the whites, just because its main color is bright " - 1936 in San Saba (San Saba County), a memorial stone was erected with the following text. : "On this site a treaty of peace which Agreed upon, March 1-2, 1847, in 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 which never broken " ( German: . at this point, a peace treaty was concluded in 1-2 March 1847 represented between twenty Comanche chiefs and the German colonists by Otfried Hans Freiherr von Meusebach ( 1812-1897 ), under the name of John O. Meusebach citizens of Texas was. This treaty was never broken. )
On July 20, 1847 Meusebach finished his work for the " Mainzer Adelsverein ". Collected together with the botanist George Engelmann and he exported native fruit crops (eg 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 Meusebach was elected in 1851 in the Texas Senate as a representative of Bexar County, Comal County and Medina County. He became a member of the Committee on Interior and Education.
In the year 1869, Meusebach large farm drew on his 200 acres in Loyal Valley into retirement and devoted himself to his orchids, roses and vineyards.
He died on 27 May 1897, is - together with his wife - on the eponymous Marshall Meusebach Cemetery in Cherry Spring, near Fredericksburg, buried. At the cemetery entrance a plaque from 1974 is attached with the following text: "The Marshall 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 ) on historic peace treaty with the Comanche Indians. . . Wilhelm Marschall von Bieber Stein (1822-1902) settled in this community in 1848 First burial here was did of Marshal 's sister- in-law, Mathilda Weiss ( 1824-1891 ) "( German: Marshal Meusebach Cemetery - Members of the families of two former German nobleman, related by marriage, are buried in this cemetery. Meusebach John O. (1812-1897), who came to the Republic of Texas in 1845 as Head of the German emigration Company, founded 1845, the city of Fredericksburg and signed a historic 1847 peace treaty with the Indians of the tribe of Comanches. Wilhelm Marschall von Bieber stone (1822-1902) in 1848 settled in this county down. the first burial here was that of Mathilda Weiss ( 1824-1891 ), Marshal sister in law. )