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John Ottfried Hans Meusebach

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John Ottfried Hans Meusebach

Birth
Dillenburg, Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Hessen, Germany
Death
27 May 1897 (aged 85)
Loyal Valley, Mason County, Texas, USA
Burial
Cherry Spring, Gillespie County, Texas, USA Add to Map
Memorial ID
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Prussian Bureaucrat; German-Texas Leader, Settler, and Administrator; Founder of Fredericksburg, Texas; Peacemaker with the Comanches; Texas Senator: Born Baron Otfried Hans Freiherr von Meusebach in 1812 in Dillenburg, Germany, son of Baron Carl Hartwig Gregor von Meusebach and Ernestine von Witzleben Meusebach.

In 1845 Meusebach was appointed commissioner general for the Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas, the Adelsverein. Despite many obstacles, Meusebach worked diligently in the interest of the new settlers and founded the settlements of Fredericksburg, Castell, and Leiningen, Texas.

In May 1847, Meusebach negotiated and signed the historic Meusebach-Comanche Treaty with various bands of the Comanche tribe that protected the German settlers from tribal raids. In 1847, he retired from the office of commissioner general.

In 1851, Meusebach was elected to the Texas Senate representing three counties. While in the senate he advocated universal and compulsory education.

In 1852, Meusebach married seventeen-year-old Countess Agnes of Coreth. They had eleven children, seven of whom reached adulthood. Meusebach retired to his farm in Loyal Valley, Texas in 1869 where he died in 1897.
Prussian Bureaucrat; German-Texas Leader, Settler, and Administrator; Founder of Fredericksburg, Texas; Peacemaker with the Comanches; Texas Senator: Born Baron Otfried Hans Freiherr von Meusebach in 1812 in Dillenburg, Germany, son of Baron Carl Hartwig Gregor von Meusebach and Ernestine von Witzleben Meusebach.

In 1845 Meusebach was appointed commissioner general for the Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas, the Adelsverein. Despite many obstacles, Meusebach worked diligently in the interest of the new settlers and founded the settlements of Fredericksburg, Castell, and Leiningen, Texas.

In May 1847, Meusebach negotiated and signed the historic Meusebach-Comanche Treaty with various bands of the Comanche tribe that protected the German settlers from tribal raids. In 1847, he retired from the office of commissioner general.

In 1851, Meusebach was elected to the Texas Senate representing three counties. While in the senate he advocated universal and compulsory education.

In 1852, Meusebach married seventeen-year-old Countess Agnes of Coreth. They had eleven children, seven of whom reached adulthood. Meusebach retired to his farm in Loyal Valley, Texas in 1869 where he died in 1897.


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