| Summary: | Part of the Institute of Texan Cultures' The Texians and the Texans series. THE TEXIANS AND THE TEXANS THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS INSTITUTE OF TEXAN CULTURES AT SAN ANTONIO . The University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio 1981 THE TEXIANS AND TEXANS A series dealing with the many peoples who have contributed to the history and heritage of Texas. Now in print: Pamphlets- The Indian Texans, The German Texans, The Norwegian Texans, The Mexican Texans (in English), Los Tejanos Mexicanos (in Spanish), The Spanish Texans, The Polish Texans, The Czech Texans, The French Texans, The Italian Texans, The Greek Texans, The Jewish Texans, The Syrian and Lebanese Texans, The Afro-American Texans, The Belgian Texans, The Swiss Texans, The Chinese Texans and The Anglo-American Texans. Books- The Irish Texans, The Danish Texans and The German Texans . . The Swiss Texans Principal Researcher: William T. Field Jr. ©1977: The University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio Jack R. Maguire, Executive Director Pat Maguire, Director of Publications and Coordinator of Programs Designer: Maria Eugenia Spencer First Edition, Second Printing, 1981 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 77-21386 International Standard Book Number 0-933164-92-0 This publication was made possible, in part, by a grant from the Houston Endowment, Inc. Printed in the United States of America. THE SWISS TEXANS The most cosmopolitan immigrants to come to Texas with the least reason for coming were the Swiss. Ideological oppression, ~conomic depressions and natural catastrophes caused many Europeans to immigrate to America during the nineteenth century. The Swiss, however, enjoyed a relatively high standard of living under a progressive and stable government. The great majority of Swiss who immigrated did so individually to seek even greater opportunities and to satisfy personal career goals. Switzerland was recognized as the banking center of Europe, it rivaled England in textile production , and it had attained a world-wide reputation as a manufacturer of precision instruments. The tiny country was a well-knit federation . It had compulsory education, welfare programs for its workers and firmly established traditions of civil and religious freedom. The Academy of Geneva, later the University, was respected as a world center of intellectual activities. Still the Swiss came, never in great numbers but always in a steady stream. Most of the Swiss immigrants prospered, and some revisited their homeland and persuaded others to follow. Wherever they settled -whether in the German and French communities where their familiarity with the language was helpful or in the AngloAmerican areas- they added their own distinctive cultural enrichment to society. 1 Immigrants departing for the West The Swiss have long been recognized as among those immigrants most readily assimilated into American culture . Having a common heritage of democracy and personal freedom , they found themselves at home under the American form of government. Some became identified as Germans or French when they moved into areas occupied by immigrants from those countries. The story of their residence in Texas has been marked by unusual success in a wide variety of occupations. The Swiss have been ranchers, newspapermen and natural scientists; religious, military and entertainment figures and one has been a president of the United States. THE SWISS COME TO SPANISH TEXAS As early as 1819 a group of Swiss merchants in Philadelphia conceived a plan to settle 10,000 of their countrymen in Texas, a Spanish possession. Their proposal was the first major non-Spanish colonization project approved by the Spanish government. The project, however, was never implemented since the Swiss settlers did not come. The following year the same group presented a similar petition to the United States Congress for I' I another colonization effort. No mention was made of the previous proposal to Spain. Relations between Spain and the United States were strained at that time; both countries laid some claim to Texas. The petition indicated that the Swiss wanted Again, the project was never realized. In 1821 , however, two enterprising Swiss did settle in Texas on their own . They were Henry and Louis Rueg of Rolle , Switzerland . Both had arrived in the United States in 1818, bringing with them several Dutch families to settle on the Red River near Compti, Louisiana. The colony was soon abandoned, and the Rueg brothers proceeded to Texas in 1821 as horse and mule traders. They opened a mercantile business at Nacogdoches and when the Department of Nacogdoches was created in 1834, Henry Rueg was appointed political chief. / Another early Swiss immigrant, Jean Louis Berlandier of Geneva came to Texas almost by accident. He was chosen by August Pyrame de Candolle , a prominent Genevese naturalist, to make botanical collections in Mexico. Berlandier arrived in December 1826 and became the botanist for the Mexican Boundary Commission which went north under the direction of Manuel de Mier yTeran in 1827. During March. April and May of 1828 the botanist made collections around San Antonio, Gonzales and San Felipe. In addition , he compiled the first major ethnographic study of Texas Indians. Berlandier proved himself as one of the most prolific and versatile writers of the American West. His manuscripts on the geography, natural resources, plant and animal life, and history and ethnology ofT ex as are masterpieces of detail. Berlandier's activities came as relations between Mexico and Texas had reached the breaking point. As early as 1828 General Manuel de Mier y Teran, leader of the Mexican Boundary Commission , reported that seeds of rebellion were being sown among Stephen F. Austin's colonists . A year later, when he had been made commondante general of the eastern provinces of Mexico, he offered a plan to control the situation: "The colonization of Texas with the Swiss and German colonists whose language and customs, being different from those of our neighbors, will make less dangerous the nearness of the latter." The Mexican government reacted to Teran's alarm with the Decree of Manuel de Mier y Teran April6 , 1830, designed to stem the Anglo-American influx. The Texians, as the Texas settlers were called, were infuriated . Where would their future population come from? Yet, the Texas Gazette editorialized that "a French , Swiss, or German emigration would greatly promote the prosperity of Texas by introducing at once the cultivation of the grape and the manufacture of wine." Perhaps the Gazette editor was unaware that individual Swiss were already making their way to this new frontier. Bernard Scherrer arrived in Texas from Switzerland in the spring of 1832. Before settling permanently, however, the young man sought his fortune in a journey up the Mississippi River, going as far as Missouri. The Texas frontier proved more to his liking, however, and Scherrer obtained his first land grant near New Ulm in Colorado County. He later secured a tract in Fayette County, near one of the earliest German settlements in the state. His industry, leadership and education earned the respect of his fellow colonists, and he was elected justice of the peace for Fayette County in 1838. Peter Fullinwider, of Swiss parentage, was the first Presbyterian missionary to visit Texas. Born and educated in Kentucky, he graduated from the Princeton Theological Seminary. He did not remain long in New Jersey, but came to Mississippi in 1831. Late that year he made a missionary tour through east Texas, probably from San Augustine to San Felipe . For the next decade he divided his time and ministerial efforts between Mississippi and Texas. Since Mexican authorities theoretically allowed no Protestant preaching, Fullinwider and his wife supported themselves in Texas by teaching and by distributing Bibles and other religious literature . A colleague remembered Fullinwider as a man of "rather robust form , five feet , ten or eleven inches tall, and strongly built. He limped a little in 3 walking , because of a defective foot. His eyes were of a light gray. His hair, which was never cut short, was sandy and curly. His face was round and full , with intelligent expression. He was a man of fine education and a good preacher." Another friend said of him that "his old horses and he were equal to any emergency. Cold lunch and blanket and saddlebags and grass for his horses were all he asked. 'Here!' was his reply when his name was called ." The Fullinwiders were living near present-day Palestine when the Texas Revolution began . For about nine years Fullinwider preached in various east central Texas communities. In each of these places he strived to awaken interest in a college; so, when Austin College was located at Huntsville, he called it home. At nearby Madisonville he organized the Bethel Church and ministered to its congregation twice a month until his death from yellow fever in 1867. SWISS SETTLERS HELP WIN INDEPENDENCE Many Swiss settlers contributed to Texas independence. Charles and Mary Amsler had settled at Cat Spring in 1834. Quickly they found themselves caught up in the Revolution. Years later Amsler recollected that "In the autumn of 1835 THE TEXAS GAZETTE. I II I I my wife and I were picking cotton on Piney Creek when I learned that men were needed to strengthen our army, which was then besieging San Antonio ." Borrowing a horse and rifle , he joined the action . After participating in the storming of Bexar, he followed the footbound expedition of Colonels Grant and Johnson to the Rio Grande , but sickness caused him to turn back near Refugio . Accommodating friends provided him with a Andrew Baldinger 1813·1880 4 horse, and he started home, spending the first night near Goliad. While boiling his predawn coffee, he was greeted by a sociable old gentleman who said he was bearing dispatches for Colonel Fannin. When Amsler brought their horses for remounting, the stranger aimed a cocked rifle at him saying, "You are my prisoner." Demanding to know why, Amsler was told, "for stealing that horse." The greatly surprised Amsler protested his innocence, showed a good conduct certificate from his commander at Bexar, and related his poverty-stricken condition. His capturer seemed moved and gave the Swiss immigrant two dollars saying, "This is all the money I have, but I can do without it and it may relieve you a little." Amsler recovered his astonishment. "I now enquired the name of my generous captor. He told me it was Smith - Deaf Smith!" Amsler was exonerated of the theft charge and was released . His homeward journey was a perilous one because Indian raiders were taking murderous advantage of the confusion aroused by the settlers' wild flight from Santa Anna's advancing army. When the war was over, Amsler farmed , operated a stagecoach stop, and ran a cotton gin at Cat Spring. He returned to Switzerland several times to bring back able-bodied men with their families. The men then worked for Amsler in order to repay the cost of passage to Texas. In 1866 he moved to Montgomery County, where he and his son, Charles, operated a prosperous lumber business. He died in 1872, leaving descendants who have made worthwhile contributions as educators and professional persons. One of them, Margaret Amsler, has had a distinguished career as a law professor at Baylor University. There is no doubt that Europeans followed the Texas Revolution with great interest. By an 1836 act of the Diplomatic Department of Bern Canton, Switzerland, no further immigration of Swiss citizens to Texas was permitted until the cessation of hostilities. With the establishment of the Republic of Texas, the ban must have been lifted, for in a short time Swiss immigration resumed. One of the first arrivals in Texas after the ban on Swiss immigration had been lifted was Andrew Baldinger, who came early in 1837. He settled in Galveston before the city was organized and opened one of its first two bakeries. There was rivalry between Baldinger and the other baker, Christopher Fox, as to which would bake the first loaf of bread in the new city. Fox, who hired the only brick mason in town, finished his ovens first and won the honor. Houston had its own Swiss baker, John Hermann. As a youth Hermann had gone to Paris to learn his trade. He was there when Napoleon returned from exile. The lad joined his army and fought under the great general at Waterloo. Hermann later made his first trip to America in 1821, stayed four years, then returned to Switzerland to be married. The couple lived in Vera Cruz, Mexico, until 1836 when they moved to New Orleans. There Hermann was supposed to administer his deceased father-in-law's estate, but he found that the property had already been sold far below its market value. After an unsuccessful court challenge, he was left almost penniless. Looking for a new start, Hermann arrived in Houston in 1838 with his wife , their three children and five dollars in his pocket. His wife sold her jewelry soon after their arrival , so that they could open a business. The sale of the jewelry enabled John to buy flour and sugar with which to start his bakery. He sold his products to passengers aboard the boats that plied Buffalo Bayou. The business prospered, but four years later he sold out to become a dairyman~ He continued this enterprise until his death in 1862. John and Verina Hermann were parents of several, children, but only their son George reached middle age . After a skimpy formal education , he enlisted with the 26th Texas Cavalry and participated in the Red River campaign during the Civil War. When the fighting ended George returned to Houston , where he operated a sawmill and sold cordwood in what is now Hermann Park, clerked in a store , and drove other people's cattle (and later his own) to market. He also began buying small parcels of land Drawing of Galveston waterfront, 1855 5 George Hermann, Houston philanthropist throughout the Houston area and after 1884 devoted himself exclusively to real estate. In the course of his business dealings George Hermann had signed the note of a man who bought a scrub oak thicket near Humble. When the buyer could not meet his payments, Hermann took over the note and acquired the land . Later he tried unsuccessfully to sell the property at 25 cents per acre. In 1903 oil was discovered on the tract, and he became rich beyond his wildest dreams. Nevertheless Hermann led a very frugal existence. While spending little for his own comfort, Hermann was secretively generous with others. He visited poor people when they were ill, taking food and often sitting up with them. With his great wealth he indulged himself in a single, consuming pastime: visiting doctors and hospitals wherever he traveled . As early as 1893 he offered his native city a choice of two sites for a charity hospital, but no action was taken. At his death in 1914, Hermann's will provided ~ I 6 $2.5 million for a hospital to be operated by a selfperpetuating board of trustees. Legal delays prevented its opening until 1925. He also left his old home site as "a breathing space" for his fellow Houstonians. This is Hermann Square, adjacent to City Hall. A few miles south, near Rice University, he donated 278 acres of wooded land to be known as Hermann Park . With later additions, that park now embraces 400 acres and is one of the most important recreational facilities in Houston . BAKERS, DAIRYMEN, FARMERS AND BANKERS BUILD TEXAS After Texas won her independence, keeping it proved a challenge. Strained relations with Mexico worsened after the Santa Fe Expedition of 1841. This disastrous adventure was organized by President Mirabeau Lamar to open trade with Mexico. Three natives of Switzerland - Nicholas Ladner, Conrad Meuly and John Rahm- were among those captured, force-marched to Mexico City and imprisoned . All three were later re leased and returned safely to Texa.s. Nicholas Ladner came to Texas originally to volunteer in the army of the Republic. After his release from the Mexican prisQn he settled in San Antonio and became a dairyman. Through the years he accumulated considerable property and local influence. He died in 1901 at his home on South Alamo Street. A son , August Ladner, was the well-known mayor of Yorktown, Texas, for many years. Conrad Meuly came toT ex as with $1 ,600 worth of silk dress goods and laces just in time to join the Santa Fe Expedition . His stock of merchandise was a total loss. After his release from prison he began his return to Texas with another Swiss frontiersman and expedition member, John Rahm. They suffered grave hardships, but both arrived safely. Meuly opened a bakery in Houston and a year later took leave to visit New Orleans where he married Margaret Rahm, sister of his friend John . In 1848 the couple located in Corpus Christi and opened a bakery on Water Street. Sales to General Zachary Taylor's Mexico-bound army gave the business a rousing start. He added groceries and dry goods to his stock and he became quite a successful Gulf Coast merchant. John Jacob Rahm's inprisonment in Mexico did not dampen his lust for adventure. He enlisted in Captain John C. Hays's Texas Ranger Com- 7 pany in 1843 and a year later survived capture by Indians on the Coma! River while accompanying a survey expedition. Soon after, he persuaded Captain Hays to aid a group of German immigrants bound for Castroville. This assistance was noted by Prince Carl of SolmsBraunfels, agent for the German Immigration Society and the prince recommended that the society present the Rangers with rifles as a token of their appreciation . Rham's rifle was inscribed: "Der Verein zum Schutze Deutscher Einwanderer in Texas als Anerkennung dem Schweizer Johann Rahm." It was on John Rahm's advice that Prince Carl purchased the 1265-acre Veramendi tract on the Guadalupe and Coma! Rivers where the town of New Braunfels was founded. Rahm was appointted the official butcher for the German Immigration Society and was given 4-1/2 acres of land for "Rahm's Butchery." However, he had not been settled long in New Braunfels when he meta violent and untimely death. Following the Santa Fe Expedition, a different sort of crisis faced the Texas Republic. On a crisp December day in 1842 "Dutch John" Wahrenberger overheard a group of men conspiring to remove the archives from the capitol at Austin. President Sam Houston wanted to locate the seat of government in the coastal city that bore his name. The Mexican invasions of 1842 gave him the excuse he sought. Quickly Wahrenberger spread word of the plot and the ensuing crisis became known as the "Archive War." Led by a doughty boardinghouse keeper, Mrs. Angelina Eberly, the Austinites tried to discourage the raiders. They fired an antiquated cannon filled with grapeshot at the Land Office Building, where the records were stored. Little damage was done the conspirators made their escape . A hastily organized posse followed and rescued the archives and returned them to Austin. No one knows how the Swiss-born Wahrenberger received the nickname "Dutch John ." History does relate , though, that he immigrated to New Orleans in 1836 and then became an Austin resident when the village was yet known as Waterloo. At first he made a living by selling vegetables from his garden on Waller Creek. One day, near the site of the present Governor's Mansion, he was attacked by Indian renegades. Their arrows were deflected by the sack of corn meal that he carried in his arms. Wahrenberger survived to become a widely respected businessman, owning a hotel , cafe- and bakery. Henry Rosenberg , who settled at Galveston in 1843, was a different type of Swiss builder. From his position as clerk in a dry goods store, he became the owner and by 1850 operated the largest mercantile outfit in Texas. A year later he married the young woman who owned an adjoining millinery shop. In 1874 Rosenberg organized the Galveston Bank and Trust Company. He also served as director of the Galveston City Railway Company and the Galveston Wharf Company. He was a city alderman from 1871 to 1872 and again from 1885 to 1887. In addition he was Swiss consul, president of the Galveston Orphans Home and owner of several downtown buildings . When Rosenberg died in 1893 his will provided bequests for the Episcopal Church, the orphanage, various charitable organizations and a free public library. Opened in 1904, that library today is one of the most prestigious in the Southwest, noted especially for its primary source materials on early Texas history. His will also provided for the installation of drin~ing fountains for men and beasts on condition "that the city of Galveston obtain an abundant supply of good drinking water within five years,after my death ." The town of Rosenberg, southwest of Houston, was named for this Swiss pioneer. The settlement was located on the route of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad, of which Rosenberg served as board chairman . The life of John J . Thomas was more adventurous than that of Henry Rosenberg. In 1844 the 45-year-old Swiss citizen obtained a passport for himself, his wife Elizabeth and his five children . The family sailed from Bremen, Germany, to New Orleans, then continued by way of Galveston to St. Joseph's Island, where they established a farmstead . In 1846, when Thomas learned that General Zachary Taylor's army was encamped at Corpus Christi ,he went there , enlisted in the Army Quartermaster Corps and served for the duration of the Mexican War. After the cessation of hostilities, Thomas returned to St. Joseph's Island . In October 1850 the family acquired a small ranch on Salt Creek in Aransas County. A son , John, Jr., became a sea captain and owner of a sloop that plied the waters of Aransas , Copano and San Antonio Bays. Two daughters , 15-year-old Eva and 11-year-old Sarah, were captured by raiding Comanches in 1850, soon after the family had moved to Salt Creek. Late one afternoon the two girls were driving home the milk cows when they saw riders approaching. Fearing Indians , the girls hid in the tall grass. All would have been well but for the barking of their small dog. Meanwhile the father had already spotted the Indians and tried to warn his daughters by blasting away on his alpine horn . Too late . The girls were forced to mount behind their Indian captors and were spirited away. The Indians traveled all night. Eva made several attempts to escape, until her captors grew impatient and threw her from the horse she was riding . As the remaining warriors galloped past, they stabbed at her with their lances, leaving her for dead. The next morning she was discovered yet alive by her brother and a neighbor. St. Chrischona Chapel and its surrounding buildings in Switzerland 8 Sarah, meanwhile, was forced to go with the Indians to their camp near Goliad . There she recognized a squaw who had visited her home a few weeks earlier. The squaw was a spy whose task it was to discover how many horses were in the neighborhood . The Indians soon moved on, Sarah with them . Her clothes were taken and nuts and horse flesh became her principal food . After a month of captivity, the Indians released her in exchange for an Indian boy being held by the government. In 1850 two missionaries from St. Chrischona, near Basle, Switzerland, Theobald G. Kleis and Christoph Adam Sager, arrived in Texas as the vanguard of the first large-scale Lutheran missionary effort. Six additional missionaries came the following year and by 1896 at least 85 pastors had come to Texas from St. Chrischona . The Texas mission field of the mid-19th century was not an easy one. The rigorous conditions of frontier life were difficult enough, but the young ministers also had to contend with indifference and sometimes outright hostility from many of the colonists. Later a St. Chrischona graduate, looking back over a 50-year ministry in Texas, observed: "So very many of those immigrants were most indifferent, hard , ungodly and defiant, as perhaps nowhere else in Amerrca." After statehood the number of immigrants to Texas more than trebled . In i850 one hundred and thirty-four native Swiss were listed in the Texas census. They comprised a wide range of occupations: physician , silversmith , druggist, wheelwright, merchant, teacher, baker, farmer and soldier, spread across the state in cities, towns, farms and frontier outposts. Two years after this census was taken , Reuben Holbein came to Texas. Born in London , England, of Swiss ancestry , he became a Nueces County rancher. Soon after his arrival he was employed by Colonel H.L. Kinney, the founder of Corpus Christi , to return to Europe and stir up interest in the firstS tate Fair ofT exasand to promote immigration to the state. Holbein later formed an association with Captain Richard King and moved to the Santa Gertrudis Ranch as an accountant and secretary. He remained as King's chief executive for a quarter century. SWISS CHEESE MAKING IN THE HILL COUNTRY Johann U.Anderegg, a man of diverse interests, 9 brought the art of cheese-making to the Texas Hill Country . His father was a prosperous Swiss lawyer and the boy traveled throughout Europe , developing language skills in German , Italian and English . In his early 30's he decided to settle in Texas . He chose a homesite on Beaver Creek between Fredericksburg and Mason. His house was of rock and timber , two stories high . The ground floor was divided into two rooms, while upstairs was a single large open area. A part of this dwelling was a cubicle from which the home could be defended against Indian attack. With the heavy door bolted, a withering fire could be directed from a series of narrow loopholes in the wall. Sixty yards from the house was a spring over which Anderegg built a rock structure that served as a cooling room . Inside, flat stones were arranged to form walkways, around which water flowed. Above these walks were shelves on which cheeses and other foods were kept. The thick walls and cool spring water created an ideal environment for curing the cheeses for which Anderegg became locally famous . His cheeses were shaped into large discs 2-1/ 2 feet in diameter, 5 inches thick , and weighing nearly 50 pounds. Although most early Swiss immigrants arrived singly or with members of their immediate families , in 1855 a group of 25 settled for a short time at La Reunion , a year-old French colony near Dallas. The Swiss, led by Carl Burkli, sailed from Bremen to Galveston aboard the Francisca . T Ship Francisco They traveled by foot and oxcart to the Dallas area , arriving at La Reunion on about July 4th. The group, composed of educated merchants and skilled artisans, soon disbanded as the Swiss settlers formed their own neighborhood in the thriving city of Dallas. They were joined by I ~ '' I~I I I' Benjamin Long "increasing numbers of their countrymen, the largest group, about 50, arriving in 1870. Their civic and cultural influence was impressive . Swiss Avenue , William Tell , Adolph , Nussbaumer, and Roll Streets are tangible evidence of their presence." Henry Boll One member of the La Reunion Colony, Ben Long, was mayor of Dallas in its early days . When he first arrived from Switzerland, his name was Benjamin Lang, but he soon Americanized the spelling. When the La Reunion Colony dissolved he, his Belgian-born wife and their children moved to Dallas. Active in civic affairs, he was appointed mayor in 1868 by the military government during Reconstruction. He was so respected that he later served by election. In 1870 Long returned to Switzerland for a visit. While there he praised Texas so highly that about 30 more Swiss returned with him . When he died in 1877 he was United States Commissioner for the Dallas district. 10 Jacob Boll Another member of the La Reunion Colony became a prominent Dallas realtor. Born Henri Boll , a native of Switzerland, he joined the French in north Texas in 1854. At La Reunion he took charge of meat processing for the community kitchen. Upon enlisting in the Confederate army in 1862, Boll was assigned to the commissary at Post Waco. He returned to Dallas at the end of the war and became a real estate agent. He was appointed city alderman by the military governor of Texas, and in 1869 he was elected county treasurer. Boll's brother, Jacob, became a Texas naturalist. His special emphasis was the state's animal life, both living and fossilized , and the rock formations which yielded those fossils . He probably collected over 200 species of animals new to science, and late in his career he scientifically identified the oil-rich Permian formation . During his university days in Switzerland , Jacob was trained as a pharmacist. More importantly, he met Professor Louis Agassiz, later a world-famed scientist, philosopher and teacher at Harvard. This friendship was to play a crucial role in his subsequent career. Jacob operated an apothecary shop in his native Swiss village for 16 years. In 1869 when his shop went bankrupt and his wife suffered a nervous breakdown, he sailed for America hoping for a fresh start. En route to Texas he stopped in Boston to visit his friend , Professor Agassiz. When Boll learned that the professor was interested in obtaining a comprehensive collection of the animals of Texas, he asked for the assignment. Boll spent most of 1870 collecting in Texas and then delivered what he had gathered to the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. He continued the work in Cambridge and Switzerland, writing articles and cataloguing specimens found on his expeditions in Texas and in Europe. After Professor Agassiz's death , Boll returned to Texas and made his home in Dallas. From that time until his death , Boll investigated Texas's animal and mineral resources. Once there was a plan afoot to establish a geological survey of Texas· with Boll as its director. Boll was remembered as a gentle , soft-spoken , pleasant man, much loved by the children of his neighborhood . They visited him at his home on the corner of Swiss and Germania Avenues, bringing him their own collections of insects. SWISS ENTERPRISES AND INVENTIONS A decade before the first patent on barbed wire was issued, a foundry worker named John Grenninger invented and used a form of barbed wire near Austin . Swiss-born Grenninger constructed his prototype in 1857 by twisting two 11 smooth wires tightly together and inserting sharp pieces of hoop iron between the wires at regular intervals. Some say he added bits of broken glass. Then he nailed the completed strand along the top of a wooden fence surrounding his small garden and orchard at the confluence of Waller Creek and the Colorado River. Grenninger's invention was so effective that his neighbors complained about livestock being cut by the barbs. Small boys were also being lacerated as they attempted to escape with watermelons and peaches. No record exists that Grenninger ever attempted to patent his wire , so it passed from use . It was not until 1875 that the first spool of commercially made barbed wire was introduced and sold in Texas. Swiss-born Getulius Kellersberger was chief engineer for the Confederate forces in Texas. As such he was project officer for one of two rocket batteries established at San Antonio. In his command was a cantankerous German mechanic, who claimed to have mastered the science of rocketry while serving in the Austro-Hungarian War. After pestering Kellersberger to give him a chance , the mechanic was allowed to build the rockets although many substitutes had to be made for critical ingredients. GetuJius KeJJersberger I' Finally the time came for testing. On a Saturday afternoon in the summer of 1864, the test began before a select group of officers and men. Kellersberger remembered the test vividly and the public diplay that followed . "The first rocket went correctly a hundred steps, hit the ground by a tree, ricocheted and fell directly behind my horse and sank into the ground. I had great difficulty in holding my horse and proceeded to take up a more conservative spot from which to observe . The second sank to the earth immediately, making three or four zigzags -none of which were in the proper direction . A number of our men ran away- there was a hellish smoke and a deafening noise , which put fear into man and beast alike . Our lieutenant was unperturbed. I suggested to the General that the time set for the maneuvers be delayed. It was, however, just at the most beautiful season of the year, and he had already invited many officers and ladies, and a grand picnic had been planned. "On the day set I became strangely ill with such a headache that I had to excuse myself from attending. Our inexperienced lieutenant went about his work in complete oblivion to the crowd. The 50 men and officers eagerly and happily anticipated the time when the~ would be actively recognized for their work. I anticipated no good, and I sent my servant out to· watch the affair and to report to me. Unfortunately the whole maneuver turned out to be worse that I had thought it would- one rocket burst on its stand, one tore the stand down with it, and a hellish chaos broke forth . No horse could be held and the picnic turned out to be a general flight to safety! "On the same night I received an order from the General containing the following : The Rocket Battery No. 1, the professors' army of Texas, is herewith dissolved .' " Getulius Kellersberger was in and out of Texas for most of his life. On reaching America in 1849, he stopped for a time in New York where he became the surveyor of Central Park. A year later he married Caroline Bauch, and the couple sailed around the Cape to San Francisco. While in California he laid out the cities of Oakland and Berkely. From 1857 to 1860 Kellersberger surveyed in Mexico. Learning of the impending Civil War, he advised his wife to go with their children to Texas to live with her sister. A few months later he left his work unfinished in Mexico and took a boat to Galveston, arriving just before it was blockaded. 12 Gustav Duerler Pecan shelling was a pioneer industry in San Antonio. The man who turned it into big business was · Swiss-born Gustav Duerler. He was immediately taken into the army under General John B. Magruder's command. At the end of the war he helped engineer a railroad from Vera Cruz to Mexico City. He sent his family back to Switzerland so that his children might be educated, following them late in 1867 or early 1868. Again he worked as an engineer, building the first steel bridge over the Lin nat River in 1871. The family returned to Texas in 1885, making their home near Cypress Mill. Pecan shelling was a pioneer industry in San Antonio. The man who turned it into big business was Swiss-born Gustav Duerler. Born in 1841 , he came with his parents, John J. and Elizabeth Duerler, to San Antonio in 1849. The Atlantic crossing required 60 days. At Galveston the immigrants re-embarked in a small steamer for Indianola, and from there they came in a prairie schooner (covered wagon) to their new home. For 22 years, from 1852 until his death in 1874, John Duerler leased and operated San Pedro Springs Park, one of the oldest public parks in America. As part of his lease agreement he was required to plant trees and shrubs. He also developed five artificial lakes stocked with fish , a small zoo and a private museum. In 1872 famed poet Sidney Lanier visited San Antonio and described Duerler's handiwork: "Or, being in search of lions, one may see the actual animal, by a stroll to the San Pedro Springs Park, a mile or so to the northward. Here , from under a white-ledge rocky hill, burst forth three crystalline springs which quickly unite and form the San Pedro (creek) . "With spreading water-oaks, rustic pleasure buildings, promenades along smooth shaded avenues between concentric artificial lakes, a race course, and aviary, a fine Mexican lion, a bear-pit in which are an emerald-eyed blind cinnamon bear, a large black bear, a wolf and a coyote, and other attractions. This is a very green spot indeed in the prairies." Gustav Duerler, the son, attended St. Mary's College, then spent five years learning the printer's trade. During the Civil War he served four years in the 3rd Texas Infantry, C.S.A. After the war he set up his own confectionery establishment in San Antonio and then a pecan-shelling business that became one of the largest and most productive in the Southwest. Duerler bartered 13 with the Indians for the pecans, then hired Mexicans to crack nuts with railroad spikes and to pick the meats with tow-sack needles. In 1882 when the company was producing more shelled pecans than could be sold locally, he shipped the first 50 barrels of pecan meats to an Eastern market. Duerler began using a mechanical cracking device that was invented in 1889 and acquired the first power-driven cracker in 1914. Duerler was vitally interested in civic affairs and served two terms on the San Antonio City Council - terms that were 25 years apart: 1872-75 and 1899-1900. He also devoted a quarter century of service to the San Antonio Volunteer Fire Department, acting as chief for 13 years. PATTERNS OF SWISS SETTLEMENT IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY Swiss immigrants to Texas continued to arrive slowly until the 1880 census showed 1, 203 residing in the state . Some of them put down roots in north Texas communities. Within these communities the Swiss retained informal ties through social organizations. In Dallas the Gruetli Verein , or Swiss Society, was formed in 1874 with 84 charter members. In addition to its social aspect, the group aided the sick and needy and provided education scholarships. Sam Hiltpold, who was secretary for 45 years, also organized Swiss societies in other Texas cities. Although the old Swiss Hall has been torn down , the Dallas society still functions as does the Swiss Ladies' Aid, founded as an auxiliary group in 1907. By 1882 Houston had 160 Swiss settlers. Twenty of these formed a benevolent society, the Kranken-Unterstutzungs-Gesellschaft, much like the Gruetli Verein in Dallas. At about this time a Swiss Houstonite named Henry Gygax began publishing a satirical news sheet called Den Socia/en Nebelspalter. Probably encouraged by the success of the Swiss settlers in Texas, a group of capitalists in Basle, Switzerland, organized a land company called Bas/e Land Gesellschaft which backed the founding of a Swiss colony on the Guadalupe River three miles from Seguin . About 7,500 acres of land were acquired and in 1880 ten Swiss families settled there. Each was provided with 60 acres, a log house, a horse , a cow, chickens, hogs and $200 a year to get started. Samuel Probst was the first administrator of the colony, followed by W.H. Naumann, who was I I , given 400 acres of river bottomland for his services. But the colony failed , and many of the original settlers moved away. The dairy business was a popular and often a most profitable one for Swiss settlers. Three pioneer dairies in Dallas were owned and operated by Swiss. The earliest was established by Christian Moser who came from Langenau in 1873. The second was begun by Jacob Buhrer, who arrived five years later. His dairy was located on pasture land now inundated by White Rock Lake. The third dairy was founded by Jacob Metzger of Bern, who settled at Dallas in 1889. Soon after Moser's arrival, he formed a partnership with a fellow countryman, Chris Roedlesperger. Their dairy was located on the eastside of town . Later Moser established his own operation on the northeast side. Moser died in 1893, survived byhiswifeAnna BuhrerMoser and aneight-year-oldson, Christian , Jr. The boy grad-uated from Texas A&M College in 1904andafter serving briefly in the employ oft he college and the United States Department of Agriculture , returned to Dallas to assume charge of the family dairy . In 1912thebusinesswasincorporated as theN orth Texas Creamery Company. Among his countless services to agriculture , Moser served as county agent for Dallas County , president of the T exasState Dairymen'sAssociation, presidentoftheTexasFarmBureau Federation , president and general manager oft he American Cotton Growers Exchange and other agricultural organizations. In 1934 Moser moved to Washington , D.C. , to head the Institute of American Fats and Oils. The Swissalsofound opportunities for farmingandranchingin north Texas. AmongthepioneersofWilbargerCounty were a number of families drawn by the prospect of virgin land . In 1882 Christ Streit, his wife Anna and their children immigrated from Switzerland. The Streits began farming and raising livestock in the southwestern part of the county. Tragedy overtook them a year later when a tornado struck their home, killing Mrs. Streit. But the family carried on , working strenuously to improve their farmstead . It is interesting to note that the nearest supply point for all lumber and building materials was Wichita Falls, a two-day trip with loaded wagons. As their efforts prospered they , in turn , made important contributions to the development of Wilbarger County. . . . . >*4.-.--•" --- ·. . 11£ . . . ~-·--::,._ ~ . . .,¥" • -H.!.r< • Chris tian Moser on his dairy wagon in Dallas, 1880's 14 Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Hoffman of Bern , Switzerland, migrated to West Virginia in 1881 and in two years moved to a farm near Vernon . They came by train as far as Wichita Falls, then continued on a "buffalo wagon," which transported settlers one way and hauled buffalo bones to market on the return trip. The Hoffmans built a home of lumber and adobe, which tragically was destroyed , along with all of their personal belongings, by a prairie fire that began five miles north of their farm. With hard work came recovery, and the Hoffmans became substantial citizens of the county. Louis N. Hofer, born of Swiss parents in Guadalupe County, was an educator in Victoria. His father had immigrated to Texas in 1846 as a member of Henri Castro's Alsatian colony west of San Antonio. Hofer's childhood was spent in New Braunfels. He attended St. Mary's College in San Antonio and St. Joseph's College in Victoria, where he was teacher and later principal. In 1891 Hofer purchased the Victoria Advocate, the state's second oldest newspaper in continuous publication. He served as publisher until 1895, when he resumed teaching at St. Joseph's College . In 1901 he again obtained ownership of the Advocate, but sold it within the year to George H. French. He was city alderman in 1897, later serving as acting mayor of Vi~toria and district clerk. In Mason County, a colorful Swiss native achieved a reputation for frontier justice rivaling that of Judge Roy Bean. John Fleutsch served as justice of the peace at Fort McKavett in the difficult period following abandonment of the fort by governmenttroops in 1883. The abandoned buildings became headquarters for stockman , freighters and cowboys, along with an insurge of drifters , including desperadoes and refugees from other states. A climate of lawlessness prevailed, and citizens of the area overwhelmingly elected Fleutsch as justice of the peace because of his reputation for bravery and fair mindedness. On one occasion a young couple came to the judge to be married. The ceremony was delayed while the judge hunted for a copy of the Methodist Church discipline which contained the ritual. The nervous groom left for the nearby saloon to reinforce his courage and promptly got into a fight. Arrested by the constable , he was brought back before the judge, who by this time had found a copy of the wedding ceremony. When the 15 marriage had been performed, the judge proceeded to try the bridegroom on a charge of fighting in a public place. The defendant demanded a jury but was told that this was not possible since every available juryman was a witness in the case . The groom was fined $25 and an exceedingly large amount of court costs, which the judge divided among the witnesses. Judge Fleutsch decided that such an approach would make ungentlemanly conduct highly unprofitable in Fort McKavett. The wife of United States Vice-President John Nance Garner, Mariette Elizabeth Rheiner, was the daughter of a Swiss immigrant. Her father , Peter J . Rheiner, came to Texas at 21 and established a 40,000 acre ranch in Uvalde County. Young "Etty" Rheiner first knew of the future vice-president through his reputation as a poker playing lawyer. When he announced as a candidate for county judge, Miss Etty, recently graduated from college, voiced loud and frequent opposition to him. Although women did not then have voting privileges, they nevertheless had influence . Garner survived his challenge, however, and assumed the office. Later he met his pretty opponent aboard a passenger train to San Antonio. He so disarmed her that they were married five months later. Etty' s father was born in St. Gallen, Switzerland. He had visited the California gold fields before settling in Louisiana on the eve of the Civil War. Wounded while serving in the Confederate army, he drifted west to Uvalde in search of a healthier climate when the war ended. There he married Mary Elizabeth Watson. Etty was born in a home constructed of upright cedar logs, plastered inside and out, and shuttered with heavy timber - a veritable barricade against raiding Comanches. At nightfall her father always rode around the premises to see that all was well. One night he found a herder lying dead and scalped. The event made a life-long impression on his three-yearold daughter. Rheiner's wife died soon after the girl's birth, and Etty grew up with three half brothers born to Rheiner's second wife . The children attended a ranch school built by their father. Rheiner himself died when Etty was only 12. She continued her education in San Antonio and at a seminary in Tennessee. Back in Uvalde she found life so dull that she attended a secretarial school in San Antonio simply to alleviate her boredom. She became an expert 'I .I Arnold Family coat of arms stenographer. Although she did not realize it at the time, she was acquiring skills-that she would use later as her husband's secretary. After her marriage to Judge Garner, Etty became an integral part of his political care-er, following him first to the state legislature and then to Congress. She continued to handle his mosfimportantsecretarial chores until his retirement from politics in 1940. In most Texas counties a peak of Swiss born population was reached in the years from 1890 to 1910. At this time there were Swiss settlements in Bexar, Dallas, Austin, Fayette, Travis and Williamson Counties. Theodor Arnold was born at Solothurn, Switzerland, in 1848, the son of a doctor. After receiving his medical education, he practiced in Zurich until a patient, Henry Boll, enticed him to Texas. Arnold was an ophthalmologist in Dallas until he was 75. He had great faith in the future of Dallas as a great medical center. His son , Charles, made his own distinctive contribution to that future . He was a pioneer medical photographer who specialized in microscope photos. Charles returned to Zurich to study medicine but soon switched to photography. Returning to the U.S ., he trained in St. Louis, Missouri. Charles' professional reputation was secured at a 1927 international medical convention in The Hague, Nederlands, where there was an extensive display of his slides. Since color film was not in general use, many of those slides had been hand-colored by his young daughter.He 16 Edward Eberle was later an instructor in microscope photography at Baylor University College of Dentistry. Many of his pictures are on display in medical colleges throughout the world. THE SWISS TEXANS DURING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY Between the Spanish-American War and World War I, there were far-reaching changes in the doctrines of naval warfare. Some of the most significant changes were the work of a Texan whose parents were Swiss. Edward Walter Eberle was a native of Denton , born there in 1864. After graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1885, he served in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets and took part in the maintenance of treaty obligations during the Panamanian Insurrection of 1890. His primary interest was in tactical innovations to increase the effectiveness of the growing United States navy . The Spanish-American War provided him with combat experience. On July 4 , 1898, Eberle directed fire from the forward turret of the U.S. S. Oregon against the Spanish fleet as it attempted to escape from Santiago Harbor. Later, while the Oregon was refueling in Guantanamo Bay, he employed naval gunfire on the Spanish stronghold at Caimanera five miles away. Following the war Eberle put his experience to good use. As an instructor at the Naval Academy he wrote Guns and Torpedo Drills for the U.S . Cesar Lombardi Navy, the first work to deal with drill procedure for modern naval weaponry. Later he was instrumental in establishing the first wireless telegraph aboard naval vessels. When destroyers began to replace the old torpedo boats about 1910, it was Admiral Eberle who"'organized these craft into battle units. He also developed smokescreen tactics that were used by destroyers in maneuvers against battleships. Then in 1913 he used the infant naval air force off Guantanamo, Cuba, to determine the depths at which submarines should remain submerged to avoid detection . While attending a short course at the Naval War College in Newport, he devised mine-sweeping and mine-laying tactics for the navy. Following a secret mission to Europe in 1913, Eberle returned and took charge of the U.S.S. Washington. He and his command were detailed for duty in Santo Domingo. They suppressed the revolution that was taking place in that country and supervised the election of a new president. In September, 1915, Eberle became superintendent of the Naval Academy for the duration of the First World War. As a result of his work there , Eberle was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. When the war was over he was assigned again to the Atlantic Fleet. In 1921 he was designated commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet and promoted to the rank of admiral. From 1923 to 1927 he served as chief of naval operations. He retired in 1928, died a year later and was buried 17 Frederick Eby in Arlington National Cemetery . The world of entertainment was significantly influenced by Karl Hoblitzelle. His direction for the development of the commercial theater in 20th century Texas was strong and lasting. His contribution to philanthropic and humanitarian works, however, was even greater than his business achievements. Hoblitzelle was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on October 22, 1879. His ancestors came from Switzerland, where the name Hoblitzelle was borne by governors , scholars, judges and military leaders. As a youngster he was employed by the St. Louis Exposition Company, which staged the St. Louis World's Fair celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. Hoblitzelle helped organize the Interstate Amusement Company, which operated four theaters in 1905 and grew to an eventual175 . His efforts began at a time when a theater "enjoyed about the same public standing as a good saloon." Hoblitzelle moved to Dallas in 1905 and within three years was made president of the St. Louis-based company. In 1917 the main offices were moved to Dallas. In 1920 Hoblitzelle married Esther Thomas, a nationally known star whose stage name was Esther Walker. As his business prospered Hoblitzelle began philanthropic programs that benefitted universities , museums and organizations of many different kinds. His contributions aided in dividuals involved in education, religion , art, agriculture, music, history and the theater. He I' ,, ' was largely responsible for the development of Republic National Bank of Dallas, one of the major financial institutions of the country. He served as board chairman 1945-1965. Another major accomplishment was creation of the Texas Research Foundation for the advancement of scientific agriculture at Renner, Texas. Before his death at age 87 in 196 7, he was honored by Pope Pius XII , by many national organizations, newspapers and by state and local leaders for his contributions to human welfare. A Swiss immigrant set the editorial policy which made the Dallas Morning News one of Texas's most widely read newspapers in the early 20th century. Cesar Lombardi reached Texas in 1871. Arriving in Houston from New Orleans, he worked in a firm of wholesale grocers and cotton factors, eventually becoming general manager of the company. He also acquired banking and railroad interests. A staunch supporter of education , Lombardi served as president of the Houston School Board and was a trustee of Rice Institule . He is said to have suggested the idea of the institute to his friend , William Marsh Rice . Lombardi also helped establish the Texas Academy of Science . In 1906 Lombardi bought an interest in the A.H. Belo Corporation , publishers of the Galveston News, Dallas Morning News and Dallas Evening Journal. He moved to Dallas where he served as vice-president, then president, of the firm until his retirement in 1913. During this period he was an early supporter of Woodrow Wilson for the presidency and urged America's entry in the League of Nations. As early as 1907 he advocated the then radical idea of insuring customer bank deposits against loss. Lombardi's most lasting influence on Texas may have been through the young men he trained and who carried on his philosophy in the pages of the Dallas News. One of them was Ted Dealey who remembered Lombardi as a man of medium height and build with a gray goatee, who had a youthful bounce in his step and an appetite for gourmet food . He claimed that Lombardi was unable to digest a meal without wine. About 1918 when he saw that Prohibition was coming, he filled his cellar with cases of wine . Death in 1919 deprived him of the chance to fully enjoy his investment. Frederick Eby, a nationally known Texas educator, was born in Canada of Swiss ancestry. His 18 scholarly works- particularly Education in Texas: Source Materials and Development of Education in Texas- are basic references and have inspired other volumes on similar subjects. The first family member to immigrate from Switzerland was Theodorus Eby of Zurich . On August 15, 1715, Theodorus, his wife and their children , began their journey to America, eventually establishing a home near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. A branch of the family moved to Ebytown (now Kitchener) , Ontario, where Frederick was born in 1874. He received his doctorate from Clark University in 1900 and moved to Texas to become professor of philosophy and education at Baylor University. In 1909 he was appointed professor of history and philosophy of education at The University of Texas at Austin , where he soon achieved prominence as teacher and author. John U. Zuberbueler was an enterprising Swiss native who became a successful rancher in South America, Mexico and west Texas before moving to San Antonio in 1910, to begin a new career as a land and business developer. Born in 1842, by age 18 Zuberbueler decided to begin a career on his own. With a loan of 100 francs from his father he rented a small cheese factory and bought a few hogs to raise . "In six months my small capital was gone and I closed my business career with 50 francs indebtedness. Deeming it beneath my dignity to work for others again, after having been my own master, I asked my father for money to go to America, the land of which one thought that all smart people were able to return to Switzerland as rich men in about 10 years ." Zuberbueler decided now to seek his fortune in South America, since the United States was in the midst of the Civil War. Zuberbueler spent seven years in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay working as a cowboy, mercenary and dairyman . On a visit to Switzerland he married and he and his bride returned to America, living in Missouri, Colorado, New Mexico and Chihuahua, Mexico. In 1895 he sold 1,000 head of cattle and moved 2,000 head to Texas. The family eventually settled in Val Verde County where Zuberbueler controlled large ranch holdings. In 1910 Zuberbueler retired from active ranch life, turned his property over to his sons and moved to San Antonio. In a short while he became one of the foremost real estate and investments executives in Bexar County. The ancient art of woodcarving, often associated with Swiss craftsmen, reached unusual perfection in the work of Peter H. Mansbendel. Born in Basle, Switzerland, he began to carve when still a child. Part of his formal training was in Paris and London . On coming to the United States he practiced his trade in Boston and New York. Later he taught at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. His reputation grew steadily. Mansbendel met his future wife , Clotilde Shipe of Austin , at one of his New York exhibitions. They were married after a brief courtship and moved to Austin in 1911. Mansbendel set up his studio in the old Swedish Consulate and quickly proved himself a master carver of all types of objects in many kinds of wood. Portraits, carvings of flora and fauna , bas relief panels, furniture and decorative motifs for mantles , stairways and doors were produced for a variety of patrons including The University of Texas at Austin , Southern Methodist University, the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs and the Princeton University Library. Many of the fine homes built in Austin during the twenties and thirties contain examples of his work . Mansbendel died in 1940, bttt friends remember that he was short of stature, with dark hair and eyes and had a flair for the dramatic . He was intense and hardworking, yet personable and clever. Asked how he made his living, he would reply with a straight face: "I'm a chiseler." Peter MansbendeJ Alamo Scene by Peter MansbendeJ 19 ,; 1: A close friend of Mansbendel who was also a resident of Austin for many years was Godfrey Flury. Flury was born in Solothurn, Switzerland, and immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1881 at the age of 17. In 1891 he moved to San Antonio and embarked upon an unusual but rewarding career, that of painting church murals and frescoes. He painted the interiors of churches in Praha, Cestohowa and St. Johns. Flury moved to Austin in 1909 and became active in civic affairs, pioneering the construction of elaborate floats for Austin parades. He organized the G. Flury Advertising Company in 1918 and in that year became a naturalized citizen of the United States. After retirement his inquiring mind kept him busy for the remainder of his life. At the age of 68 he enrolled in The University of 20 Godfrey Flury Texas at Austin as a freshman engineering student. He died in 1936, rich in years and in the esteem of his friends and colleagues. A son of Swiss immigrants, John Hirschi arrived in Wichita Falls in 1886 as a young and struggling farmer. When he died in 1958 at 93 he was respected as one of the state's noted philanthropists and humanitarians. Leaving his bride-to-be in Illinois in 1885, Hirschi traveled with his brother, Christian, to drought-stricken Kansas. They homesteaded for a year until they were "dried out." A year later in Texas, the brothers purchased a portion of the Box K Ranch. Christian remained to work on the farm, while John obtained employment as a railway section hand to make enough money to develop the land. He followed Drawing by Godfrey Flury the construction of the railroad from Henrietta through the Panhandle and into New Mexico . In 1889 he returned to Illinois to marry his sweetheart, Louisa , and to bring her to Texas. Over the years , Hirschi and his wife built three houses on their Wichita County farm , each bigger and better than the last. By 1922 he had established a real estate and investment business. Later he became president of the First State Bank of Iowa Park and of the Wichita National Bank in Wichita Falls. He won the affection of many north John Hirschi, farmer, banker and philanthropist 21 Texans during the great depression by refusing to foreclose on mortgages on several hundred homes, farms and other types of property. Instead, he cut interest rates, extended the term of his loans and sometimes lopped amounts off the principal owed. In 1939 the Hirsch is left the farm and moved to town. Today Hirschi High School in Wichita Falls commemorates their community service and the esteem in which they were held by their contemporaries. Dwight David Eisenhower with parents and two brothers. 1901 22 The most noted Texan of Swiss descent was Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of Allied Expeditionary Forces during World War II , army chief of staff after the war, president of Columbia University, supreme allied commander in Europe to organize NATO forces , and president of the United States from 195 2 to 1960. He was born October 14, 1890, in Denison . His father was of German extraction . His maternal ancestors were German Swiss immigrants who arrived in America before the Revolutionary War and settled in Pennsylvania. Eisenhower often identified himself as a son of the Lone Star State, although his family moved to Abilene, Kansas , when he was only a year old. He was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio , as a second lieutenant after graduation from West Point in 1915. He met his wife , Mamie Geneva Doud of Denver, in San Antonio and, after their marriage , brought her back to Fort Sam Houston where they made their first home. He was again stationed at Fort Sam Houston when he learned that he was to command Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe . As soldier, educator and statesman , he left a legacy of integrity rarely equaled in any nation's history. . Swiss immigrants to Texas brought with them an unusually rich and varied cultural background. Nineteenth century Switzerland, with its stable, 23 democratic form of government, exemplified the long-sought political ideal of unity in diversity. Although the country was comprised of people speaking different languages and dialects , they had, nonetheless, learned to live and work in harmony. In the process they developed a high regard for freedom , tolerance for minorities and awareness of individual responsibility. These characteristics- combined with traditional respect for industry, learning and close family ties - made the Swiss welcome in Texas. Their numbers were small. The 1930 census indicated that the state's Swiss-born population had declined to 1,410. At that time , however, Texas had more Swiss residents than the surrounding states of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana combined . By 1970 this figure had climbed to 4 ,300. This collection has presented only examples of Swiss settlement and achievements- it is not a complete recording of the Swiss story. The beneficial effect of the Swiss presence continues to be felt in every major city and many smaller communities across the state . In the worlds of finance , industry, agriculture , science and the arts , they have demonstrated enormous enterprise and creativity, combined with an instinctive good will that has always been the hall- . mark of Swiss immigrant families . READING LIST There are no general published works on the Swiss in Texas. Much of the information contained herein was obtained from various county histories and newspaper accounts. The following specialized sources were particularly helpful. Flury, Dorothy Agnes, Our Father Godfrey: A Biography. Hart Graphics, Austin , 1976. An interesting and informative work; a labor of love by a daughter of Swiss immigrant Godfrey Flury. Geiser, Samuel W., Naturalists of the Frontier. Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas, 1948. Includes excellent studies of Swiss naturalists Jacob Boll and Jean Louis Berlandier. Grueningen, John Paul von , The Swiss in the United States. Swiss-American Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin , 1940. Good general reference. Contains only a small amount of material on Texas. Rosenberg Library, Henry Rosenberg, 1824-1893. Galveston , 1918. This commemorative volume by the Rosenberg Library in Galveston contains a short biography of Henry Rosenberg along with much detailed information concerning his philanthropies. Numerous illustrations. Santerree, George H., White Cliffs of Dallas: The Story of La Reunion , the Old French Colony. The Book Craft, Dallas. Includes references to several important early Swiss settlers. Swiss-American Historical Society, Prominent Americans of Swiss Origin . James T. White and Company, New York, 1932. Contains short sketches of Jacob Boll, Edward Walter Eberle, George Hermann and Henry Rosenberg . . Whittaker, Dorothy Urech , Ruc;iolf Urech: A Workbook for Future Reference and Study Concerning the Family of Rudolf Urech of Switzerland and Conroe, Texas, U.S.A., 1855-1922. Houston, 196
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