RODE, DIEDRICH JOHANN GOTTLIEB (1828-1905). Diedrich Johann Gottlieb Rode, rancher and businessman, was born to Karl Friedrich and Marie (Bousmann) Rode on July 8, 1828, at Koelzow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany. He immigrated to Texas in 1846 under sponsorship of the Adelsverein,qv a corporation organized by a group of German noblemen in 1842. Records of the Gillespie County Historical Society show that Rode arrived in Galveston in January 1846 and was one of the first settlers of Fredericksburg. He married Katherina Phillippine Klaerner in Fredericksburg on July 27, 1851, and was a director of the original Zion Lutheran Church of Fredericksburg for several years. He moved to nearby Cherry Spring in 1852 to take charge of a section of land he purchased with a relative, Wilhelm Kothe, for twenty-five cents an acre. The Rodes raised three children.
As civic leader, minister, teacher, and rancher, Rode worked tirelessly to improve the lives of settlers in his area. He kept a diary and journal of his various business activities. He taught school in neighborhood homes at night, and through thrift and hard work he continued to expand his sheep and cattle ranching operation. He built a three-story limestone-block ranchhouse at Cherry Spring in 1879. The third floor was set aside for storage of baled cotton and wool, which was hoisted through a large side door by block and tackle fastened to a steel beam extending from the roof. The second floor of the house was used as a school and community church, where he practiced as a Lutheran lay minister. Rode later built a two-room rock schoolhouse in Cherry Spring, which was converted to a family residence many years later. He died on July 13, 1905, and was buried with his wife and other family members in a private cemetery on the ranch a half mile from his old ranchhouse, a majestic landmark in this small village.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Gillespie County Historical Society, Pioneers in God's Hills (2 vols., Austin: Von Boeckmann-Jones, 1960, 1974). Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin.
Garland Perry
