Matt Richards

When did they get here and why did they come?  Germans in Texas

When did the Germans immigrate to Texas and why did they choose the lone star state over all of the places in what now is the United States of America?  I’ve often wondered why Texas history, tradition, and culture are so heavily influenced by German Immigrants.  I was born and raised in a small town called Lake Jackson which is off the Gulf Coast of Texas.  Lake Jackson didn’t have many people of German heritage, but my grandfather was from a town in Kentucky that was primarily German.  As a boy, he would often tell me of how the German people moved to the U.S. in search of the “American Dream” (Objective 3).  He would always talk of how our ancestors came to this country and quickly adopted the American way of life.  He used to say, “In those times all you had to do was work hard and you would get what you worked for” (Grether).   My grandfather continued that tradition of his fore-fathers by working his way to his dreams.  This ethic reminds me of these German immigrants and really most of the immigrants and minority groups that we have read about.  These immigrants left their countries in pursuit of a better life and wouldn’t take no for an answer.  I chose this topic because of my German heritage that I share with my grandfather.  I believe that if I understand them a little better than I will understand myself better as well.

As I searched for answers, I began to think of other questions especially when I found articles that answered my two starting questions.  When I found those answers, I stumbled upon other things that I wanted to know.  For example, why did the German immigrants leave Germany, who or what was the driving force behind this decision, did they get a land settlement like many other settlers did, where did they settle, when was the first German settlement in Texas, and what kind of life did they have in Texas?  I started my research much as a graduate student is expected to do.  I searched the library databases, JSTOR and MLA International Bibliography, but was unable to find much that could get me started.  I then decided to turn to the place I usually go for info when I have trouble finding a starting place.  I went to Wikipedia, which provided a bit of history about the first German-Texans and some key words to use to find things at ask.com. 

            I quickly found several articles that answered and explained my questions, but two articles stood out as the most helpful in my crusade for knowledge.  Theresa Gold’s article “German Immigration to Texas” started out by talking about the first German settlement, which was established in the early 1830s in Industry, TX by Fredrich Ernst and Charles Fordtran.  She goes on to say that Ernst wrote a letter describing Texas.  This letter was the force that attracted the Germans to Texas.  Ernst is called the “Father of German Immigration to Texas” (Gold 1).  Gold continues her essay by mentioning the counties and cities that were either settled or started by German-Texans who later became German-Americans.  These include the counties of Austin, Colorado, Fayette, and Washington and the towns of Mill Creek, Biegel, La Grange, Fayetteville, Cat Spring, Bellville, Frelsburg, New Ulm, Bernardo, Shelby, Ross Prairie, Millheim, and Berlin (Gold 1).  She also manages to answer my questions, why did they leave Germany and why was Texas so appealing?  Gold says, “In the 1840s, the social, economic, and technological conditions in Germany, coupled with the availability of lands in frontier Texas, created an ideal climate for an influx if immigrants” (Gold 1). 

        Gold’s essay was probably the most helpful and informative, but the article “German Texas Families” by Ingeborg H. Ruberg McCoy provides a picture of the German-Texans that neither Wikipedia, Texan Cultures, nor Gold’s essay could do.  It reminded of the way my grandfather spoke of his heritage.  I liked this article because McCoy is an immigrant from Germany who has only been living in Texas for 20 years.  Her essay is more like the immigrant narratives that we have been reading in class.  McCoy says, “Elderly and young, women and men informants were agreed in their description of the essence of their German-Texan ethnicity—German language, good food, feasts, music, hard work, frugality, and close family times” (McCoy 1).  The reason I brought this quote up was that it looked as if the German-Texans were acting like a minority group because they held on to many different things in their culture (Objective 1d).  This reminded me of the Native American stories especially the one about the old man who sends rain clouds.  They had assimilated to the dominant culture, but kept their own values and customs.  For example, they painted the old man’s face and put a feather in his hair.  The German-Texans seemed to hold on to the culture in retaining their language, family ties, hard work, and how they came together to feast. 

            Did my research help answer my questions?  Yes, I now understand why the German Immigrants came to Texas.  They came in search of what we call the “American Dream,” but they didn’t come to America.  When they came to Texas it was newly independent from Mexico, but the dream and way of life they sought still rings true to that dream of a better life that many immigrants were now finding in America.  The reason that these immigrants came to Texas was to start a new life away from the social and economic problems of their mother country.  In the 1840s, a group of noblemen called the Verein got a land grant that promised settlers large quantities of land, transportation across the sea to the land, a home, furnishings, utensils, farming equipment, churches, hospitals, roads, and provisions.  These German-Texans came by the hundreds for a chance at this new life.   The new question that I have is if the Germans retained there culture for many generations and developed their own communities are they an immigrant group or a minority group?  Or are they both? 

Conclusion

            In my next posting, I am going to try and figure out if the German-Texans are immigrants or minorities or both?  I plan to dig deeper to see what kind of people they truly were.

Works Cited

Gold, Theresa G. “German Immigration to Texas” June 20, 2008

http://hostville.com/hoelscher/gortex.htm

Grether, Donald. Interview

 McCoy, Ingeborg H. Ruberg. “German Texan Families” June 20, 2008

http://www.humanities-interactive.org/texas/lonestar/german_texas_families.htm

German-Texan Cultures June 20, 2008

http://texancultures.utsa.edu/publications/texasoneandall/german.htm

Wikipedia June 20, 2008

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Texan.htm