Adelsverein (Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas)
The Adelsverein was initially organized on April 20, 1842, at Biebrich on the Rhine by twenty-one German noblemen interested in founding a German colony in Texas. The organization was officially dubbed Verein zum Schutze deutscher Einwanderer in Texas (Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas).
It is varyingly referred to as the Texas-Verein, the Mainzer Verein, and the German Emigration Company.The noblemen who founded the Adelsverein were heavily influenced by positive news about life in Texas spread in Europe by authors such as Carl Postl, who wrote historical novels under the penname Charles Sealsfield. During a prolonged illness, Prince Carl of Leiningen, a leading light in the Adelsverein, read several works expounding the virtues of Texas, serving to shape his favorable opinion of the newly minted republic. Further, early immigrants such as Friedrich Ernst sent glowing reports of Texas back to their friends and families, which received wide circulation. As a result, a limited amount of German immigration was already underway in Texas. In the minds of the noblemen who founded the Adelsverein, Texas presented itself as the perfect laboratory for their colonial experiment.
In May 1842 Counts Joseph of Boos- Waldeck and Victor August of Leiningen- Westerburg-Alt-Leiningen were given the assignment of traveling to Texas, surveying the land firsthand, and purchasing property on which to build a colony. Republic of Texas president Sam Houston had been authorized under a law of February 5,
1842, to provide generous grants of land to those willing to bring settlers to Texas. The counts entered into negotiations with Houston for a colonization grant but ultimately declined the president’s offer when he refused to provide an exemption from taxation to the colonists.
Boos-Waldeck and Alt-Leiningen spent some time exploring Texas.
Impressed by the lands in the vicinity of Ernst’s settlement at Industry, in January 1843 Boos-Waldeck purchased a league of land nearby, which he dubbed Nassau Farm in honor of the Adelsverein’s protector, Duke Adolf of Nassau. Alt-Leiningen returned to Europe in May 1843, while Boos-Waldeck remained in Texas to develop his farm. The two men split their decision on whether to recommend a colonization effort in Texas. Alt-Leiningen heartily backed the adventure, whereas Boos-Waldeck, fearing the expense, recommended against it. Although unable to receive official backing from the Prussian government, the Adelsverein was reorganized as a joint-stock company on June 18,1843, and was capitalized at 200,000 gulden ($80,000) for the purpose of purchasing land in the Republic of Texas.
The Adelsverein was approached in September 1843 by Alexander Bourgeois d’Orvanne, a speculator, who along with his partner, Armand Ducos, had received a colonization grant in Texas. The Adelsverein was interested in purchasing the right to settle Bourgeois’s cession, which was situated to the west of San Antonio. The Adelsverein formally organized itself under its official title on March 25, 1844, naming Prince Carl Emich III of Leiningen president and Count Carl of Castell-Castell vice president and secretary, a position that was the equivalent of business manager.
Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels was selected as commissioner-general and put in charge of the colonization project, and Bourgeois was named colonial director. These two men arrived in Texas to begin the colonization project on July 1, 1844.
Shortly after his arrival in Texas, Prince Carl realized that Bourgeois’s colonial grant was worthless. It had expired, and it quickly became clear that the Republic of Texas would not renew it. However, the Adelsverein had already negotiated a replacement. The Adelsverein had been approached in May by Henry Francis Fisher, who along with his partner Burchard Miller held the right to colonize lands between the Colorado and Llano rivers in what is today known as the Hill Country of Texas.
Fisher was himself a German native and had been appointed by Sam Houston to serve as Texas consul at Bremen. On June 26, 1844, the Adels- verein purchased the right to the FisherMiller Colony, and Castell-Castell acted quickly to inform Prince Carl of these changes. On August 28, 1844, Bourgeois resigned as colonial director, with Fisher taking his place.The first colonists began arriving at the port of Carlshafen (later Indianola) in December 1844. Prince Carl had established the port on the Texas coast as a central point of entry for the immigrants. The Fisher-Miller Colony was some 300 miles inland and thus too far for an easy trek by the would-be settlers. As a stopgap measure in order to handle the influx of immigrants, in March 1845 Prince Carl established the hamlet of New Braunfels along the Comal River north of San Antonio to act as a way station. He named this new settlement for his home, Braunfels, on the Lahn River.
Baron Otfried Hans Freiherr von Meusebach succeeded Prince Carl as commissioner-general in May 1845. It quickly became apparent to the new commissioner-general, who took the egalitarian name of John O. Meusebach, that the Adelsverein had deep financial troubles. He was allotted only $5 per person to transport colonists from the coast to the FisherMiller Colony. Nevertheless, Meusebach went to work immediately. In August 1845 he established another village, dubbed Fredericksburg, for Prince Friedrich of Prussia, this time closer to the Adelsverein’s colonial cession.
It was under the very capable leadership of Meusebach that the Adelsverein enjoyed its greatest success. During his tenure as commissioner-general (May 1845—July 1847), over 5,000 German immigrants made their way to Texas. Five small settlements (Bettina, Castell, Leiningen, Meer- holz, and Schoenburg) were established within the Fisher-Miller cession, and the towns of New Braunfels and Fredericksburg were on their way to great success by the time Meusebach stepped aside.
His successor, Hermann Spiess, functioned as little more that a caretaker. By the close of 1847 it was apparent that the Adelsverein was facing financial ruin. Although a special business manager was appointed to deal with the crisis, very little could be done to save the company. Henry Francis Fisher attempted to keep the enterprise going as the German Emigration Company, but in September 1853 it was finally forced to turn all of its assets over to its creditors.As a financial venture, the Adelsverein was a disaster. However, it accomplished its chief goal of inspiring German immigration to Texas. Germans became the largest European immigrant group to settle in Texas, a process of continual colonization that lasted into the twentieth century. The Adelsverein was built on a foundation of ideals. The noblemen who created it sought to build a satellite state of Germany in Texas that would better the lives of those who chose to settle in the colony and strengthen Germany proper with expanded access to goods and trade. Ultimately, it was the noblemen themselves who undermined the enterprise through simple lack of experience in the complex business matters of building a foreign colony. For the most part, the settlers prospered, building lasting communities in their new homeland.
Jerry C. Drake
See also Darmstaedters; Ernst, Friedrich; Fredericksburg, Texas; Meusebach, John O.; New Braunfels, Texas; Sealsfield, Charles; Solms-Braunfels, Prince Carl of
References and Further Reading
Benjamin, Gilbert Giddings. The Germans in Texas: A Study in Immigration. Austin: Jenkins Publishing, 1974.
Biesele, Rudolph Leopold. The History of the German Settlements in Texas, 1831—1861. Austin: Von Boeckman Jones, 1930.
Jordan, Terry G. German Seed in Texas Soil: Immigrant Farmers in NineteenthCentury Texas. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1975.
King, Irene Marschall. John O. Meusebach: German Colonizer in Texas. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1967.
Lich, Glen E. The German Texans. San Antonio: Institute of Texan Cultures, 1981.
Lich, Glen E., and Dona B. Reeves, eds. German Culture in Texas: A Free Earth; Essays from the 1978 Southwest Symposium. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1980.