The Germans in Texas: A Study in Immigration . By Gilbert Giddings Benjamin , Ph. D. Sometime Fellow and Assistant in History in Yale University, etc. Philadelphia: (Reprinted from German American Annals, Vol. VII, 1909), 1910, p. 161, Svo. 4 maps.
The opening chapter presents a brief survey of the great outpouring of German emigrants from Europe to America during 1815-1848. Some attention is given to the causes of this movement and to the character of the emigrants. Chapter II emphasizes the fact that Germans participated in the Texan revolution, and gives a brief account of those settling in Texas before 1844. The remainder of the book is devoted almost exclusively to a sketch of the “Mainzer Adelsverein” or German Emigration Company and to the early history of its colonists. Chapter III discusses the origin and objects of the “Mainzer Adelsverein,” and recites the history of its efforts to colonize a large number of Germans in Texas. In Chapters IV to VII are discussed the probable number of Germans in Texas, their industries, their character and mode of life, their relations with their American neighbors, their attitude toward slavery and secession, and the cultural agencies preserved by these immigrants.
The book is marked by a number of imperfections. Very annoying to the reader, and inexcusable in the publisher, are the numerous typographical errors; for example, “La Bohia” (p. 13), “Navasoto” (p. 14), “Grossmeyer” (p. 15), “Rocdel” for Roeder (p. 16), etc. The author, perhaps, is to be charged with the persistent use of New Braunfels Zeitung for Neu Braunfelser Zeitung, Olmsted's Texas Journeys for Texas Journey, 222 and “Guadaloupe” for Guadalupe. The book has no index. It is not as broad in its scope as the title suggests; Germans residing outside of Comal county, Gillespie county and the city of San Antonio are scarcely considered, and the history of those in the places mentioned is not traced beyond 1870.
The author's treatment of a portion of his subject is open to the broad objection that he did not use all the sources he should have used. The work is apparently well fortified with references at every point, but a careful scrutiny of the references will show how unsatisfactory they are in many cases. Moreover, the entire subject has been treated too much as if it were ancient history; the fact that the streets of New Braunfels intersect at right angles is repeated several times, likewise the number of tailors, shoemakers, etc., who had shops there. As an example of the author's failure to use all the proper sources, attention is called to his discussion of the political alignment of the Germans during 1854 and 1855 (pages 85-89); not one direct reference is made to a German Texas newspaper. Another example is the discussion of the Germans and abolitionism (pages 96-105). The editorial conduct of Dr. Adolf Douai of the San Antonio Zeitung is discussed at length, and excerpts are made from the San Antonio Ledger, the State Gazette and the San Antonio Herald, a Know-Nothing organ, but no reference is made to the columns of Dr. Douai's paper or to any other German paper published in Texas at that time. Another instance is the account of the attack on the German refugees on the Nueces river, August 10, 1862; the author cites Schem, Deutsch-Amerikanisches Konversations-Lexikon, vol. X, but appears not to have seen the account by John W. Sansom, one of the survivors, mentioned in The Quarterly, X, 110.
With all its imperfections, the book is the only recent work in English on the subject. The author had a proper appreciation of his task. His conclusions are usually correct. The book has an extensive bibliography (pages 133-139).
W .
How to cite:
"The Germans in Texas: A Study in Immigration", Volume 015, Number 2, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, Page 170 - 171. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v015/n2/review_25.html
[Accessed Sun Nov 23 12:24:21 CST 2008]
