The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 50, July 1946 - April, 1947 Page: 91
582 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Early Times in Comal County
their hands and gave room for the seeds of dissatisfaction to
take root in some of the settlers. The Adelsverein's officials in
Germany either were guilty of poor financial management or
else they did not get sufficient financial support from the mem-
bers. At any rate, there was never enough money available to
the officials in Texas so that they could, on the one hand, readily
pay back the money which the immigrants had deposited with
the Adelsverein and, on the other hand, maintain credit with
reliable businessmen in Texas for the purchase of needed
supplies.6"
The dissatisfaction over the inability, to pay the deposits on
demand and the fear that the settlers might lose the lands in
the Fisher and Miller grant, which their contracts called for,
caused a small uprising against Meusebach. On December 31,
1846, notices appeared in several places calling on the people
to free themselves of Meusebach's rule. Threats of violence
were made against him by the leader of the group of about 120
men, women, and children, but Meusebach faced them in a
courageous manner and nothing happened. He made a six-
point agreement with a committee of the group, the sixth of
which was that he would resign, as he had earlier notified the
Adelsverein. When he requested Philip Cappes, whom the Adels-
verein had sent to Texas to make an investigation of its affairs,
to take charge of the work, Cappes refused, thus forcing Meuse-
bach to continue his services as commissioner-general.
The news of the uprising spread rapidly throughout the town.
On January 1, 1847, the American settlers and a number of
the German settlers assembled on the market square under the
leadership of M. A. Dooley and Conrad Seabaugh and adopted
resolutions assuring Meusebach of "the ample protection which
the constitution and the laws afford.""1
The most tragic episode of the early days of the settlement
was the terrible epidemic of 1846. Late in 1845 Meusebach
received notice that the Adelsverein was sending 4,304 settlers
to Texas. To move such a large number of people, even under
the most favorable circumstances, would have taxed the avail-
able means of transportation to the utmost. Early in 1846
"The difficulties which Meusebach had about the Adelsverein's financial
affairs in Texas are related in part in Biesele, Genuman Settlements in
Texas, 126-128, with supporting references.
"6Solms-Braunfels Archiv, XXVIII, 19-25, 160-167; XLI, 91, 101-105;
and XLIII, 77, contain ample details about this incident. See also Meuse-
bach, Answer to Interrogatories, 20-21; Kapp, Aus and weber Amerika, I,
264; Roemer, Texas, 219.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 50, July 1946 - April, 1947, periodical, 1947; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101117/m1/107/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.