El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-03-08
TEXAS H0H0R5
MEMORY Of
KLERER6
County Is Named For Man
Who Established First
German Colony.
MEMOIRS TELL OF
EARLY HARDSHIPS

A USTIN. Tex. March S-As q
n means Of honoring and perpet-
L \ uting the name Of Robert EIe-
berg, the legislature has created a new
county in south Texas and given it the
name OF KIeberg It is a coincidence
that the area Of this new county is
almost wholly made up OF a part OF
the 1880 00O-acre ranch O. Mrs. Hem
rietta N. King, which property is man
aged by Rudolph KIeberg, a son OF
the late Robert KIeberg. whose wife is
a daughter of Mrs. King.
The man for whom the new county
was named was German who helped
to make Texas history His career and
experiences were remarkable in many
respects. He became dissatisfied With
the military and administrative despOt-
ism Of Germany at that time and de-
cided, in the year 1884 to emigrate to
America He states his reason for this
| change.
Seeks Liberty In Texas.
'I wished TO live under a republicans
! form Of government, with unbounded
personal religious and political liberty
/ free from the petty tyrannies and the
many disadvantages and evils Of the
old countries. Prussia smarted at that
: time under an offensive military
/ despOtism- was and have ever re-
| manned an enthusiastic lover Of republi-
| can Institutions, and 1 expected to find
| in Texas, above all other countries, the
| blessed land Of my most fervent hopes
On September 4 1884, keberg mar-
/ ried Miss ROSalia Won ROeder. daughter
! Of former lieutenant Ludwig Anton
Siegmund Won ROeder, who, too. was
| anxious to emigrate to Texas with his
family. The party had first cOntem-
plated going to one OF the western
states, but principally through the infOr-
nation gained about Texas, from a. let
ter Of F. Ernst, it was now determined
to go to Texas. His memorandum con-
'As soon as this was decided, We
sent some Of our party three unmar-
ried brothers OF my wife, LOUIS Al
brecht and Joachim, and their sister,
Valesca, with q servant ahead Of US to
Texas for the purpose Of selecting =
place where we could all meet and be-
gin operations They were well pro-
vided with money, clothing, a light
wagon and harness, tools and generally
everything necessary to commence a
settlement Six months after our ad-
vance party had left and after we had
received news Of their safe arrival we
followed on the last day Of September
1884, in the ship Congress- captain =
Adams"
The emigrants on this ship. all bound
for Texas, consisted OF the following.
namely: Robert Kleberg and his wife,
lieutenant Won ROeder and wife, his
daughters, Louise and CarOl1ne5 his
sons Rudolph, Otto and william Won
ROeder; Louis Kleberg, Mrs. Otto Won
Roeder, nee Pauline Won DOnop, and
Miss AntOinette Won DOnOp, afterWard
the wife OF Rudolph Won ROeder- me
other passengers were nearly all from
Oldenburg, one Of them brother-tn-
law of Mr. Ernst: John Reinermann and
family William Frels and others They
were all bound for San Felipe de Aus
tin. and after a voyage OF 90 days land
ed in New Orleans
Here we heard very bad accounts
about Texas" wrote klebergs and
was said that Texas was infested with
robbers, murderers and teroclous IN.
dams. But we were determined TO fisk
it, and could not afford to dlsappolnu.
our friends who had preceded US As
soon therefore, as we succeeded IN
chartering the schooner Sabine, about
two weeks after We had landed IN New
Orleans, we sailed for BrazOria, Tex
After a voyage OF eight days We were
wrecked off Galveston island on De-
cember p. 1884
Galveston a Wilderness.
'sThe island was a perfect wilderness
inhabited only by deer, wolves and
rattIesnakes. All the passengers were
safely brought to shore and were pro-
vided with provisions. partly from
those on board ship and partly by the
game on the island
Two or three days after our vessel
was beached, the steamer Ocean hove
in sight, and observing our distress sig
nal. anchored opposite our camp and
sent a boat ashore with an officer to
find out the situation. The captain
agreed to take a few of rs to BraZOrias
charging doublOon each 1. with Hu-
dOlph Won ROeder, took passage on te
as an agent Of the remaining passen-e
gers to charter a boat to take them
and their belongings to the mainland
Finding no boat at either Brazoria or
Bells landing, the only Texas ports at
that time, I proceeded on foot to san
In san Felipe I heard for the first
n 80 IL
tives who had preceded US. Here also
made the acquaintance Of colonel john
son and Capt MOsley Baker, under
whose command 1 afterward fought at
the battle Of san Jacinto. These in
formed me that my two friends Louis
and Albert Won ROeder, had located
about IA miles from San Felipe on q
league of land. the present Cat spring.
but that Joachim and Valesca Won
ROeder had died I found Louis and
Albert in a miserable hut and IN pitt
I ful condition. They were emaciated by
disease and want Of proper treatment
streamed from their eyes when they
beheld me and my companion After
a few days of rest I continued my
search for boat succeeded in char
tering a small vessel from Mr.. Scott
the father Of Mrs. Williams, for three
trips to Galveston, for $780, and imme-
dtately returned to Galveston. landing
on the bay side. opposite the camp of
the stranded passengers, lust four
weeks after / had left it. found all
4 the passengers in good health and
spirits They had spent most Of their
time in hunting and fishing. Those
VINO could not shoot were employed to
. drive the deer TO the hunters There
were deer by the thousands"
Suffered Many HnrdShips.
While only the main incidents We're
related by Kleberg. they are sufficient
TO show the difficulties and privations
TO which Texas emigrants in those
early days, were subjected But their
troubles We're by no means ended.
I From Harrisburg they had TO travel
in OK carts for more than so miles over
/ almost impossible roads before they
reached their point Of destination in
Austin county. Then their first task
was TO erect some houses. but as m
kleberg writes. Not being accus-
TONED 10 manual labor. we proceeded
very slowly" Fortunately for tbess
settlers the indian tribe living in their
netghbOrhOOd, the EickaDOOs. vvera
/ friendly, and of great help to them
I They furnished them with game Of an
kinds and the squaws would hunt an1