The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 15, July 1911 - April, 1912 Page: 170

170 Texas Historical Association Quarterly
The Germans in Texas: A Study in Immigration. By Gil-
bert Giddings Benjamin, Ph. D. Sometime Fellow and Assistant
in History in Yale University, etc. Philadelphia: (Reprinted
from German American Annals, Vol. VII, 1909), 1910, p. 161,
8 vo. 4 maps.
The opening chapter presents a brief survey of the great out-
pouring of German emigrants from Europe to America during
1815-1848. Some attention is given to the causes of this move-
ment and to the character of the emigrants. Chapter II empha-
sizes the fact that Germans participated in the Texan revolution,
and gives a brief account of those settling in Texas before 1844.
The remainder of the. book is devoted almost exclusively to a.
sketch of the "Mainzer Adelsverein" or German Emigration Com-
pany and to the early history of its colonists. Chapter III dis-
cusses the origin and objects of the "Mainzer Adelsverein," and
recites the history of its efforts to colonize a large number of Ger-
mans in Texas. In Chapters IV to VII are discussed the prob-
able number of Germans in Texas, their industries, their character
and mode of life, their relations with their American neighbors,
their attitude toward slavery and secession, and the cultural
agencies preserved by these immigrants.
The book is marked by a number of imperfections. Very an-
noying to the reader, and inexcusable in the publisher, are the
numerous typographical errors; for example, "La Bohia" (p. 13),
"Navasoto" (p. 14), "Grossmeyer" (p. 15), "Roedel" for Roeder
(p. 16), etc. The author, perhaps, is to be charged with the per-
sistent use of New Braunfels Zeitung for Neu Braunfelser Zeitung,
Olmsted's Texas Journeys for Texas Journey,- and "Guadaloupe"
for Guadalupe. The book has no index. It is not as broad in its
scope as the title suggests; Germans residing outside of Comal
county, Gillespie county and the city of San Antonio are scarcely
considered, and the history of those in the places mentioned is not
traced beyond 1870.
The author's treatment of a portion of his subject is open to
the broad objection that he did not use all the sources he should
have used. The work is apparently well fortified with references
at every point, but a careful scrutiny of the references will show
'This is the binder's title for Olmsted, A Journey through Texas.