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John O. Meusebach
John O. Meusebach (born Otfried Hans Freiherr von Meusebach; May 26, 1812 – May 27, 1897) was a Prussian-born American bureaucrat and politician who served in Texas Senate, District 22.
Meusebach was born May 26, 1812, in Dillenburg, Duchy of Nassau, to Baron Karl Hartwig Gregor von Meusebach, a judge solicitor, and Ernestine von Meusebach née von Witzleben. He was the namesake of brother Orfried Isador (1806–1808) who died young. He had two older sisters, Ludowine and Caroline, and a younger brother Carl Bernhard. The children grew up in a home filled with music. Mother Ernestine was a pianist, and the family enjoyed entertaining visitors with the singing of poems, folk songs and hymns. The elder Meusebach, a poet himself, took delight in collecting German folk music and literature.
As an adult, Meusebach stood 6 foot 2 inches tall with reddish-blonde hair. Waco Indians near New Braunfels called him Ma-be-quo-si-to-mu, (Chief with the burning hair of the head). Penateka Comanche Chief Ketemoczy (Katemcy) named him El Sol Colorado (The Red Sun).
In 1828, the Meusebach sons were enrolled in parochial school in Roßleben, and at the Mining and Forest Academy at Clausthal-Zellerfeld in the Harz mountains to study geology and the natural sciences. During this period, grandfather Christian Carl von Meusebach in Vockstedt took the young men on outdoor excursions to share their common interest in botany. Otfried enrolled in the University of Bonn in 1832, majoring in law, cameralism, and finance. He transferred to the University of Halle, where he studied natural science. In 1836, he passed his bar examination at Naumburg.
Meusebach was appointed administrator of Trier in 1836. He became an assistant judge in 1838 at Berlin and Potsdam. The Meusebach home was a gathering place for intellectual and political discussions of personal freedom and less government versus a nationalist state. Otfried was interested that some German intellectuals had emigrated to the United States, but also voiced opinions that the United States was in contradiction of itself by proclaiming liberty while allowing the institution of slavery. In 1841, Meusebach held a legal position in Stettin. Because of his expertise at handling a dispute between Stettin and Anklam, he was soon appointed as Bürgermeister of Anklam.
The Adelsverein was formed in Biebrich, Germany on April 20, 1842, by a group of noblemen to promote German colonization in Texas. Co-founder Count Victor August of Leiningen-Westerburg-Alt-Leiningen was president of the society, and Count Carl of Castell-Castell became vice-president and business director.
The Republic of Texas issued colonization land grants totaling 4,494,806 acres. These grants were with individuals and conditional upon said individuals establishing settlements in a stated geographical area of Texas, and were limited to a given time period in which the colonization had to take place. On June 7, 1842, Henry Francis Fisher and Burchard Miller received a colonization land grant to settle 1,000 immigrant families of German, Dutch, Swiss, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian ancestry, known as the Fisher–Miller Land Grant. The contract was renewed on September 1, 1843 by the Republic of Texas House of Representatives. On June 26, 1844, Fisher sold an interest in the grant to the Adelsverein. On December 30, 1845, both Fisher and Miller sold their grant rights to the Adelsverein, conditional that Fisher be on the Verein's colonial committee. On April 7, 1844, a second land grant acquired by the Verein was the Bourgeois-Ducos grant, which had actually expired December 3, 1843. The Verein appointed the grant's namesake Alexander Bourgeois d'Orvanne as Colonial Director, who sold them on the promise he could get the grant's deadline extended. In the end, the Bourgeois-Ducos grant was not extended.
On October 24, 1844, Meusebach wrote a letter to Count Castell to express his interest in moving to the Republic of Texas in order to pursue his love of geology, botany and horticulture. He had become fascinated by Texas and had been reading everything about the area. At the suggestion of his brother Carl, he read Texas: The Rise, Progress, and Prospects of the Republic of Texas by author William Kennedy and became intrigued by a place named Enchanted Rock.
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John O. Meusebach
John O. Meusebach (born Otfried Hans Freiherr von Meusebach; May 26, 1812 – May 27, 1897) was a Prussian-born American bureaucrat and politician who served in Texas Senate, District 22.
Meusebach was born May 26, 1812, in Dillenburg, Duchy of Nassau, to Baron Karl Hartwig Gregor von Meusebach, a judge solicitor, and Ernestine von Meusebach née von Witzleben. He was the namesake of brother Orfried Isador (1806–1808) who died young. He had two older sisters, Ludowine and Caroline, and a younger brother Carl Bernhard. The children grew up in a home filled with music. Mother Ernestine was a pianist, and the family enjoyed entertaining visitors with the singing of poems, folk songs and hymns. The elder Meusebach, a poet himself, took delight in collecting German folk music and literature.
As an adult, Meusebach stood 6 foot 2 inches tall with reddish-blonde hair. Waco Indians near New Braunfels called him Ma-be-quo-si-to-mu, (Chief with the burning hair of the head). Penateka Comanche Chief Ketemoczy (Katemcy) named him El Sol Colorado (The Red Sun).
In 1828, the Meusebach sons were enrolled in parochial school in Roßleben, and at the Mining and Forest Academy at Clausthal-Zellerfeld in the Harz mountains to study geology and the natural sciences. During this period, grandfather Christian Carl von Meusebach in Vockstedt took the young men on outdoor excursions to share their common interest in botany. Otfried enrolled in the University of Bonn in 1832, majoring in law, cameralism, and finance. He transferred to the University of Halle, where he studied natural science. In 1836, he passed his bar examination at Naumburg.
Meusebach was appointed administrator of Trier in 1836. He became an assistant judge in 1838 at Berlin and Potsdam. The Meusebach home was a gathering place for intellectual and political discussions of personal freedom and less government versus a nationalist state. Otfried was interested that some German intellectuals had emigrated to the United States, but also voiced opinions that the United States was in contradiction of itself by proclaiming liberty while allowing the institution of slavery. In 1841, Meusebach held a legal position in Stettin. Because of his expertise at handling a dispute between Stettin and Anklam, he was soon appointed as Bürgermeister of Anklam.
The Adelsverein was formed in Biebrich, Germany on April 20, 1842, by a group of noblemen to promote German colonization in Texas. Co-founder Count Victor August of Leiningen-Westerburg-Alt-Leiningen was president of the society, and Count Carl of Castell-Castell became vice-president and business director.
The Republic of Texas issued colonization land grants totaling 4,494,806 acres. These grants were with individuals and conditional upon said individuals establishing settlements in a stated geographical area of Texas, and were limited to a given time period in which the colonization had to take place. On June 7, 1842, Henry Francis Fisher and Burchard Miller received a colonization land grant to settle 1,000 immigrant families of German, Dutch, Swiss, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian ancestry, known as the Fisher–Miller Land Grant. The contract was renewed on September 1, 1843 by the Republic of Texas House of Representatives. On June 26, 1844, Fisher sold an interest in the grant to the Adelsverein. On December 30, 1845, both Fisher and Miller sold their grant rights to the Adelsverein, conditional that Fisher be on the Verein's colonial committee. On April 7, 1844, a second land grant acquired by the Verein was the Bourgeois-Ducos grant, which had actually expired December 3, 1843. The Verein appointed the grant's namesake Alexander Bourgeois d'Orvanne as Colonial Director, who sold them on the promise he could get the grant's deadline extended. In the end, the Bourgeois-Ducos grant was not extended.
On October 24, 1844, Meusebach wrote a letter to Count Castell to express his interest in moving to the Republic of Texas in order to pursue his love of geology, botany and horticulture. He had become fascinated by Texas and had been reading everything about the area. At the suggestion of his brother Carl, he read Texas: The Rise, Progress, and Prospects of the Republic of Texas by author William Kennedy and became intrigued by a place named Enchanted Rock.
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