George Diehl (the father of George Thomas, John Wesley, Bertie Edney, Augusta Alton, Walter Everitt and Perry Chambers) was born on June 17, 1854 in the home of his parents. Their address was #83 Penn Street (between South and Shippen streets), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. George Diehl's father, who was also named George Diehl, worked as a laborer until his death on July 22, 1854. His widowed mother, named Catharine Steinhaeuser Diehl remarried a Mr. John C. Erickson. According to cemetery death records and The Philadelphia Department of Public Health: Registry of Deaths, a Cathrine (note the spelling is not Catharine) Erickson died of peritonitis on April 20, 1856 at the age of 22. Records indicate that she was buried at the Franklin Cemetery, Philadelphia. According to the records in The Office of Admissions at the Girard College in Philadelphia, established in 1848 as an orphanage, Mr. John C. Erickson, placed George Diehl in the orphanage on April 7, 1863. Their records further indicate that George's father, whose name was also George, and his mother, whose name is recorded as Catharine Steinhaeuser Diehl Erickson, were both dead. The records at Girard College also indicate that at the time of George's admission his only living relative was his mother's father who was living in Germany. George remained at the Girard College until his dismissal on September 10, 1868. No other records concerning his activities or whereabouts between the years 1868 to 1879 have been located; however, it was during these years that he came to Texas. The next positive record is his certificate of marriage which states that George Diehl of Philadelphia was married to Mary E. Grimes on January 26, 1879 at four o'clock in the afternoon with the Rev. D. W. Jackson presiding and M. L. McGinnis and family as witness. Federal census records indicates that George and Mary Elizabeth made their life and raised their family on a farm in San Jacinto County, Texas. The 1910 Federal Census indicates that they owned their farm free and clear of mortgage. It records that George's mother and father were from Germany (this and the Girard records are the only documentation that have been found concerning the origin of George's parents). George Diehl died on February 19, 1926 and his wife Mary Elizabeth died on June 15, 1931.