The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-08-13
TEXAS COMMUNISTIC COLONY.

sO OVWuOlNtOUIV OVLVNt
tThe following account taken from IN
iexas Historical Quarterly for July. represent
the substance OF an Interview with Mr.. Rein
hardt, Of Arnockeville. Do witt, county, Tex
49, who is one OF the mrs. settlers In this com
} muni'y. The visionary undertaking here lie
, set'oed has become famous among German
americans In this State on account OF the con
neotion with 1t Of Hon. Gustave schieleher
! VI. Herf aud many other prominent men
rudolph Kleberg. Jr.)
ibis colony owed Its origin 70 the efforts o
fiinee solms- 5caunfels, Baron Won Mouse
zach and II. Spies. each successfully holdinI
Tue office OF general agent OF the Adelsver
eins
Ire colony was organised in 1876 In Darn
stndt IT received Its name In honor OF Bet
Una V. Arnin. German writer, but 1t wa,
letter known as the Darmstacdter Kolonit
~h'ie Its members were generally called the
V.uriger tmen of the forties)
Prince Solms had been In Texas as early al
lSii, and his accounts, as we'll as those Of
spies. In writing and speeches caused q SEN
eaten among the students OF the universities
OF Giessen and Heidelberg Solms also made
a 81 eech to the students OF the industrial
school tGewerbeschule) In Darmstadt, where
1 was studying, and his extravagant descrip-
tons made the students mad. He remarked
that there was no demand in tho old country
for all the professional men whom the uni
versitics were turning out, and that they
must find new and developing country
where their services would be in demand.
He glowingly described Texas as land OF
milk and honey, OF perennial flowers, OF crys-
tai streams rich and fruitful beyond measure.
where roamed myriads of deer and buffalo.
willie the primeval forests abounded in Wild
fowl OF every kind. And what he said was
t.ue. 1t is a glorious land; and am glad
that came here.
1t was in this way that Gustave schleicher,
a graduate of the University OF Giessen and
ALREADY an engineer on the Meinecker road,
and Wundt student of law. were for
the enterprise. A communistlc society was
organized of which friendship. freedom and
equality were the watchwords. II had no
regular scheme of government, so far as
know. In fact, being communistic the as
ISOLATION would not brook the tyranny OF
ruler. But the guiding spirits were by COM
mon consent Messrs. Wagner, Herf, Schleich-
er and Schenk. Being the youngest of the
NHVle CoIlpauy-l WAS tnlrteeu--l was, OF
course, rarely consulted. The general d.
rre'or of the industrial school had purchased
my freedom from my father with the under
standing that l should botanic in Texas.
was well satisfied at first; and Herff and
Schiecher treated me like son.
In February lSi7, we left for Hamburg and
rt mained there for several weeks until our
ship had discharged her cargo. In April we
men of whom remember the following:
DR.. Herff. physician |
DR.. Schulz. physician
SChleicher Observation-Disclosures. engineer |
1etSh 'arehitect
AceIlner .....-.................... .arcnitect
En- idrich Observation-Disclosures. lawyer
uhot .'..'.....s'.'........'.. lawyer
FuChs .................'...'... lawyer
otnIeuHiB ..'.................... lawyer
Amelung NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. lawyer
He. sc. Observation-Disclosures. lawyer
wagner ........'................. lawyer
rs rnan. forester
ST. enck NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. forester
uesier. forester
tgt 'Iorester
LOUIS forester
Strauss OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. mechanic
Flach ......................... .mecnanlc
Schnnk ........................ carpenter
Non OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. carpenter
Eeichert ......................... blacksmith
Hahn. Lieutenant of artillery
kappelhor. ....sh,p carpenter
Michel ................. brewer
Pub. hotel keeper
Nertins. Observation-Disclosures student Of theology
80. maker of musical instruments
L ndheimer OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES, ,hatutaiist
Mueller Observation-Disclosures. .agriculturist
sock. =. an American, who Joined in Victoria
~
There was no one in our party who could
peak English except the cook. who had been
u America several times DR.. Herif mad
earned the language from books and could
manage TO make himself understood
We had good voyage with no Incidents OF
general interest. We landed at Galveston,
July II, 1S47. DR.. Herff and Spies who had
allied ahead OF our party here met us, and
we're ,quartered in the William Tell hotel,
ept by Swiss and the only inn there at that
ime. grand reception awaited us; and, be-
ms a jolly company. We found no difficulty In
howing our appreciation
AS the schooner which was to carry us TO
ndlanola was under repairs. We waited sew
raj weeks. When the ship was at last in
on6ition to sail, she was pressed into ser
ice as transport by the United States gov
nment, the war with Mexico being then In
rogress. We finally succeeded in getting
nother ship; but when we were ready to sail.
ae captain was on spree" In spite OF
his, however. we started off; yet before we
IRE far out the ship struck a sandbank and
,me planks few out from behind. The cap t
lin began to lower the boat on the prctext !
going ashore and securing aid; but before
c could carry out his purpose, DR.. Herff with
rawn pistol informed him that II II came &c I
Iowning the captain would be compelled to s
ny and perish with us. Here Kappelhoff. C
no was ship-carpenter, took charge of the .
rssel, and by keeping close TO the shore, We b
ached Indianola after 1--WE days. v
~ n
Here twenty-four OK wagons had been walt II
" for us for three weeks; since Meusebach, Il
lie general agent OF the Adelsverein, had seen c
everything. In addition. he there bought Il
70 wagons of six yokes of oxen each. and h
70 mule teams OF eight mules each. for we c.
d an immense amount of baggage In adj o
ton to what we had brought from home p
ID had purchased at Darmstadt. we had laid q
a big supply at Hamburg and Galveston. O.
o had supplies OF every kind imaginable: 81
r instance. complete machinery for mill, 81
= fal.-