Aus Meinen Lebensführungen . Von C. Urbantke . Cincinnati: Druck von Jennings &Pye für den Autor. 1902. 12 mo., 168 Seiten; Leinwand.

This carefully written autobiography contains interesting material touching portions of the history of our State during the fifty years just past. A brief synopsis of this material may be of service, so the narrative is summarized as follows:

The great emigration of Germans to Texas in 1848-49 caused numerous reports of the excellence of the climate and of the fertility of the soil to be published in various parts of Europe. These reports caused the author to remove hither. He landed at Harrisburg in October, 1853. From Harrisburg he proceeded by rail to Walles Station, the terminus, seventeen miles distant; flat cars were used for transportation and four hours required for the trip. At Milheim he attended a German ball, and he gives a description of men's clothing and of the culture of the company. After serving for three years for hire, he purchased a piece of raw land and began to open up a farm. Barring Indians, he suffered nearly all the hardships of earlier colonists. The privations entailed by the Civil War are touched upon.

Exempted from service in the war on account of physical ailment, he came in contact with Methodist missionaries in 1862, was converted, and finally became a circuit rider in the M. E. Church, South. However, since the church published no church literature (catechisms, hymnals, disciplines, etc.) in the German language, the Germon churches of Texas used those of the Northern Church. The relations thus maintained and the outcome of the war prompted a movement having for its end the reunion of the German churches of the North and South. The German missionaries in Texas conferred with each other on this matter, laid the subject before their congregations, and in several instances reunion was determined upon. On January 3, 1867, the Texas Mission Conference was organized at Houston; Bishop Simpson presided and eighty or ninety ministers attended, of which number only eight or ten were white—three German. In 1873 the Texas Conference was divided into four annual conferences—two colored and two white; the Southern German Conference included the German missions in Texas and Louisiana. The growth of this conference (which is sketched briefly) created a demand for additional workers, and led to the founding in 1882 of Mission Institute at Brenham. The last chapter of the book gives an account of the history of this school over which the author presided for seventeen years.

E. W. Winkler .

How to cite:
Winkler, E. W., "Aus Meinen Lebensführungen", Volume 006, Number 3, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, Page 256 - 257. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v006/n3/review_16.html
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