Organized German Settlement and Its Effects on the Frontier of South-Central Texas
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1968 Organized German Settlement and Its Effects on the Frontier of South-Central Texas. Hubert G. h Wilhelm Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Wilhelm, Hubert G. h, "Organized German Settlement and Its Effects on the Frontier of South-Central Texas." (1968). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 1523. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/1523 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 69-4506 WILHELM, Hubert G. H., 1931- ORGANIZED GERMAN SETTLEMENT AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE FRONTIER OF SOUTH— CENTRAL TEXAS. Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Ph.D., 1968 Geography University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan ORGANIZED GERMAN SETTLEMENT AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE FRONTIER OF SOUTH-CENTRAL TEXAS A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Hubert G. H. Wilhelm B.S., M.A., University of Illinois, 1958, 1960 August, 1968 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writer wishes to extend his appreciation and gratitude to all the people who helped in the completion of this dissertation. Special thanks are given to the members of the dissertation committee, especially its director Dr. Fred B. Kniffen, for their advice and valuable sugges tions. For her enduring help in typing the original drafts of the dissertation and for her never-failing encouragement, the writer's wife deserves extra recognition. ABSTRACT In l8>+5, organized settlement of German emigrants was concentrated in that part of Texas known as the hill coun try of the Edwards Plateau. Anglo-Americans coming primarily from states of the Old South had begun to settle the same general area. Both ethnic groups provided for initial per manent occupance of a region which had been thinly populated by roving Indian bands and the almost equally transient Spaniards. The introduction of several thousand German colonists to a new and strange habitat and their subsequent contact with the American frontiersmen poses the principal problem of the study--how did the immigrant react to the new influ ences and what, if any, is the evidence of a German cultural imprint in the landscape? •*» It was found that the German settlement effect is most evident in three hill country counties--Comal, Kendall, and Gillespie. The natural environment of this area provided the German settler with a number of desired features; among them water and timber, a base for his small-scale farming, and separation from the American socio-economic system of slavery and cotton production. Within the German settlement region a number of traits were identified and -selected for the purpose of cul- iii iv tural-geographical delimitation. Among these traits, language and certain social and economic practices though often no longer readily apparent in the landscape form a part of the total German culture complex. Architectural features, on the other hand, remain as indicators of the diffusion of traditional forms and practices and the influ ences of the new culture and environment. The evidence obtained from archival sources, field sampling, and interviews proved that the German immigrant during the initial settlement phase adopted the American building types and their simple log construction. However, he returned later to materials and methods of construction that reflect the diffusion of traditionally German traits. Half-timbering and the use of stone in construction became typical German landscape imprints. Rock houses, Mrns, and fences are all representative features of a German settle ment phase. An inherent feature of this phase was permanence in settlement, a characteristic which contrasted from the ephemeral nature of occupance on the frontier. Although the immigrants adopted many of the American cultural traits, including building types, they did continue to use a number of distinctively traditional traits which provided for diagnostic landscape elements. The recognition of material and non-material traits related to German settlement were basic to the delineation of a German cul tural landscape. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION......................................... 1 I. A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE FATHERLAND AND THE NEW LAND ............ 6 II. THE CULTURAL ANTECEDENTS OF GERMAN SETTLEMENT IN THE TEXAS HILL C O U N T R Y .................. 32 Spanish Influence .......................... Anglo-American Influence .................... ^7 III. THE GERMAN CULTURE BACKGROUND FOR ORGANIZED SETTLE MENT .......................... 59 IV. THE FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE ORGANIZED GERMAN SETTLEMENTS IN TEXAS . 82 V. THE CULTURAL-GEOGRAPHICAL EFFECTS OF GERMAN SETTLEMENT..................................... 105 The Linguistic Element ...................... 106 The Socio-Economic Element .................. 119 The Architectural E l e m e n t ..................... 1*+3 VI. FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE MODIFICATION OF THE GERMAN CULTURAL SCENE ...................... 208 CONCLUSION............................................. 217 BIBLIOGRAPHY.................... ................. 231 VITA ................................................... 238 v LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE I. Origin of Anglo-American Settlers in Comal, Guadalupe, Hays, and Kerr Counties, i860 . 52 II. Origin of German Settlers for Comal, Gillespie, Kerr, and Mason Counties, Census of i860 . 68 III. Population Make-Hp of Texas Counties Affected by Organized German Settlement, i860 .... 89 IV. Distribution of Votes Cast by the "German Counties" on the Ordinance of Secession . 98 V. Occupations of Anglo-American and German Set tlers in Comal, Gillespie, Guadalupe, Kerr, Mason, and Blanco Counties, i860 128 VI. Percentage of Tenancy in the German Settlement Area, 1959 ‘'33 VII. Grain Production in Comal and Gillespie Counties, 18 5 0 ............................... 13*+ VIII. Total Land and Its Value for American and German Farms in Comal, Gillespie, and Guadalupe Counties, 18 5 0 ............................... 1 38 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1. Texas and the Settlement Area of the Adelsverein .................................. 9 2. Contour Pattern in the Immediate Vicinity of New Braunfels.................... 13 3. Comparison of Average Monthly Temperature and Precipitation for Cologne, Germany, and Fredericksburg, Texas ........................ 16 Comparison of Average Monthly Temperature and Precipitation for Hanover, Germany, and New Braunfels, Texas ............................ 17 5. Texas Hill Country T e r r a i n .................. 2b 6. Dry Stream Channel or " D r a w " ................ 2b 7. Typical Vegetation Cover of the Hill Country . 29 8. Mesquite Bush (Prosopis juliflora) ....... 29 9. The State of Texas in 18^0 with Adelsverein Grant A r e a ............................... 36 10. Gravestone on the Protestant Cemetery in- Fredericksburg .............................. 38 11 . Gun Slot on House Near New B r a u n f e l s ........ *+1 1 2. Single Log Cabin of the American Building Phase . b'l 13. Saddle Notching.............................. 55 1b. German Einhaus from the Ore Mountains........ 73 15. Farm Village from Hesse showing Characteristic Fachwerk Construction ........................ -73 16. Distribution of the Predominantly German Settle ments in the Texas Hill Country........... 85 vii FIGURE PAGE 17. Relative Concentration of Germans Among the Population of the Texas Hill Counties and the Area of Most Distinct German Settlement Imprints ................................. 90 18. Direction and Distance Marker in Gillespie C o u n t y ......................................... 112 19. Graveyard at Honey Creek in Comal County .... 11^ 20. Catholic Graveyard in Fredericksburg .......... 11V 21. German Memorial in Comfort, Kendall County . 117 22. New Braunfels Target Shooting C l u b ........... 122 23. Gun Rest at New Braunfels Target Shooting Club' . 122 2 h . Road Signs near New Braunfels................. 125 25. Beergarden in New Braunfels ............. 125 26. Old Catholic Church in Fredericksburg .......... 139 27. Log Cabin of the German Building P h a s e .......139 28. Double Log Pen of American Building Phase .... 1 *+9 29. Log Cabin of German Building Phase . .......... 1*+9 30. Corner Notching and Plastering Effects on Log C a b i n ....................................... 1 51 31 . Log Cabin and Rock House in Gillespie County . 1 51+ 32. Restored Half-Timber Cabin in Fredericksburg . 15^ 33. Restored Half-Timber Cabin in Fredericksburg . 156 3*+. Half-Timber House in New B r a u n f e l s .............. 156 35* Half-Timber House near New B r a u n f e l s .............158 36. Half-Timber House in New B r a u n f e l s ...............158 37. Half-Timber Double Pen in Fredericksburg .... 160 38. Half-Timber Double Pen in Fredericksburg .... 160 39. Two-Story Rock House in Fredericksburg ........ 163 ix FIGURE PAGE