About the Germans
A Bibliography Supporting "Geh Mit Ins Texas"
and Related Studies of German Settlement in Texas
By Robert G. Schultz, Jr.
Below is an abbreviated list of reference material I used in compiling "The Verein Project," "Crisis at Indian Point" and much larger sections of my own family history. Of the twenty-three sources listed, seventeen contain descriptions of the Texas German colonization activities. No two of these books are consistent in the chronology and content of these activities. A number of articles about German settlement in Texas that appeared in Ira Kennedy’s late and lamented excellent Hill Country historical publication, Enchanted Rock Magazine, further contradicted the source books and, sometimes, each other as well. Dates for the founding of the various German communities in Texas vary as much as plus-or-minus two years. Even the names of the emigration company during its several incarnations – Mainzer Adelsverein, Verein zum Schutze Deutsche Einwanderer in Texas, German Emigration Company – are tossed about interchangeably and without regard to the status of the company at a specific point in history. These sources vary even more widely in their descriptions of the character and the moral fiber of the Verein executives and their commissioners in Texas. All of these inconsistencies are probably due to the fact that the Verein records, though voluminous and well-preserved, are inconsistent themselves and acknowledged as "reeking with errors." Furthermore, the records are, of course, in the German language, and the only complete, scholarly translation of the entire record set is a staggering, ten-volume back-breaker laboriously compiled by former University of Texas professor Rudolf Biesele and now held in the University of Texas Library archives. Though the seventeen books noted above list common sources, the interpretations of even these common sources vary widely – again, from book to book. In my own research, I constructed a chronology based on the "best elements" and most-commonly-cited dates and places extracted from all seventeen books. I will further note 1) that the books by Biesele and Benjamin – if one has the patience to wade through Benjamin’s convoluted presentation and long passages of German-language footnote references – and Mrs. Marschall-King represent direct, first-party translations of "selected" Verein and Meusebach family records; 2) that Dr. Roemer’s book, though a translation itself, is taken directly from his own journal, and that the journal entries were written and dated as Roemer participated first-hand in many of the more significant events in German colonization in Texas; and 3) that the best chronicle of the colonization company’s initial efforts in Texas is that compiled by the first commissioner-general himself, Prince Karl of Solms-Braunfels, in the eleven reports he sent from Texas to his executive council in Germany. The reports are translated in total in A New Land Beckoned: German Immigration to Texas, 1844-1847, by Chester W. and Ethel Geue. So be forewarned: Even a brief venture into the history of the German Texans will soon uncover the fact that just about every Texas German has an opinion about "what really happened" – records or not!
Bibliography