Degener, Edward (1809–1890)
Edward Degener, German settler and politician, was born in Brunswick, Germany, on October 20, 1809. He was twice a member of the legislative body in Anhalt-Dessay and was a member of the first German National Assembly at Frankfurt-am-Main in 1848. He immigrated to the United States in 1850 and settled at Sisterdale, Texas, where he farmed. During the Civil War Degener was court-martialed and imprisoned by the Confederate Army because of his devotion to the Union cause. After his release he engaged in the wholesale grocery business in San Antonio. He was a member of the Constitutional conventions of 1866 and 1868–69; upon the readmission of Texas to representation in Congress he was elected as a Republican to the Forty-first Congress and served from March 4, 1870, to March 3, 1871. Degener was a member of the city council of San Antonio from 1872 until 1878. He died in San Antonio on September 11, 1890, and was buried in the City Cemetery.
