Ottomar von Behr

Ottomar von Behr (alternatively spelled as Ottmar 1810–1856) was a meteorologist and naturalist, who became an Adelsverein colonist in Texas. He was the second settler at Sisterdale, Texas, and the person who gave the town its name.

Ottomar von Behr
Born	1810 Anhalt-Cöthen
Died	1856 (aged 46) Germany
Nationality	German
Occupation	Meteorologist Naturalist
Known for	Texas Adelsverein settler
Spouse(s)	Louisa Katzfass
Children	Four

Early years

Baron Ottomar von Behr was born at Anhalt-Cöthen in 1810 to Chamber President August von Behr.[1] He was a meteorologist and naturalist whose circle of friends included geographer-naturalist Alexander von Humboldt and Bettina von Arnim, for whom the Llano County commune of Bettina, Texas was named.[2]

Texas

Behr first came to Texas via New Orleans aboard the Itzstein and Welcker, date unknown.[1][3] During 1846, he was in Houston where he made the acquaintance of Hermann Spiess.[4] Gustav Dresel, Special Business Agent for the Adelsverein, sent correspondence in 1847 that Behr and his family had arrived from Germany and were staying with him in Galveston[5]

Sisterdale

Behr became the second resident of the settlement he named Sisterdale, which was founded by Nicolaus Zink in 1847 on the bank of the Sister Creek.[6] Ottomar von Behr first purchased a ranch two miles south of Sisterdale on what became FM 1376. Louise and Ottomar purchased an additional ranch, ten miles north of Boerne, with the same location.[7] He developed a cross breed of sheep by breeding imported German sheep with Mexican sheep. Behr was appointed the first postmaster of Sisterdale on October 23, 1851.[8] On October 16–17, 1853, Behr and three other vocalists represented Sisterdale at the first Texas Sängerfest in New Braunfels, sponsored by the New Braunfels Gesangverein.[9]

Sisterdale was one of the Latin Settlements, resulting from the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. Those who came were Forty-Eighters, intellectual liberal abolitionists who enjoyed conversing in Latin and believed in utopian ideals that guaranteed basic human rights to all.[10] They reveled in passionate conversations about literature, music and philosophy.[11] The free thinkers petitioned the Texas Congress in 1853 for a charter to operate a German-English college to be built at Sisterdale, but the petition did not come to fruition.[12] Visitors to Behr's Sisterdale home included Duke Paul Wilhelm of Württemberg, John Russell Bartlett, and Frederick Law Olmsted, who admired his lending library, pictures, and harpsichord.[2]

Among the other original settlers in Sisterdale were German geographer Ernst Kapp;[13] Anhalt Premier progeny[10] journalist Dr. Carl Adolph Douai;[14] August Siemering[15] who later founded the San Antonio Express News; author, journalist and diplomat Dr. Julius Fröbel; future Wall Street financial wiz Gustav Theissen;[10] Edgar von Westphalen,[16][17][18] brother to Jenny von Westphalen who was married to Karl Marx;[19] and Edward Degener, future Republican U.S. Representative from Texas during Reconstruction.

Personal life and death

Ottomar von Behr was married twice, and owned property in Germany to which he made regular trips to collect rents. Nothing is known about the first wife, except that the marriage resulted in daughters whom Behr accompanied to Germany to enroll in school. His second wife was Louise Katzfass. The Comal County census of 1850 lists Ottmar von Behr and wife Louise with three children, but it is not known if Louise or his first wife was the mother of any of the children. Behr died on a later trip to Germany in 1856. Louise von Behr and four children remained in Texas.[2]

Bibliography

• Behr, Ottmar von (1847). Guter Rath für Auswanderer nach den Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung von Texas (Good Rath for emigrants to the United States of North America, with special consideration of Texas). Leipzig.

References

1. Smith, Brenda and Clifford Neal (2009) [2006]. Nineteenth-Century Germans to America. Clearfield. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-8063-5271-8.
2. Ragsdale, Paul C. "Ottmar von Behr". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
3. "Immigration of Ottman von Behr". Galveston Historical Foundation. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
4. Ragsdale, Crystal Sasse. "Hermann Spiess". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
5. Freund, Max. "Gustav Dresel". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
6. Ragsdale, Crystal Sasse. "Nicolaus Zink". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
7. "Farms in Kendall County". Texas Family Land Heritage Registry. Kendall GenWeb. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
8. "Comal County Postmasters". Jim Wheat. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
9. Warner, Harry T (1913). "The Twenty-Ninth Biennial State Saengerfest". Texas Magazine. 7: 549–550.
10. Scharf, Edwin E. "Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country". Freethinkers Association of Central Texas. Archived from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2011. Freethinkers Association of Central Texas
11. Kennedy, Ira. "German Intellectuals on the Texas Frontier". TexFiles. Archived from the original on 11 May 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2011. TexFiles
12. Scharf, Edwin E. "Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country". Free Thinkers Association of Texas. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
13. Jordan, Terry G.: Kapp, Ernst from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 28 January 2011. Texas State Historical Association
14. Sibley, Marilyn M.: Douai, Carl Daniel Adolph from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 28 January 2011. Texas State Historical Association
15. Gold, Ella: Siemering, August from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 28 January 2011. Texas State Historical Association
16. Haarman, Viola; Conzen, Michael P (2000). Cultural Encounters with the Environment. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. pp. 39, 45, 56. ISBN 978-0-7425-0105-8.
17. "Edgar von Westphalen". Marxists.org. Retrieved 28 January 2011. Roe Hampton University-London
18. "Jenny von Westphalen". Marxists.org. Retrieved 28 January 2011. Roe Hampton University-London
19. Simon, B. "Marx, Karl-Julius Fröbel, Julius". Roe Hampton University-London. Retrieved 28 January 2011. Roe Hampton University-London