The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 82, July 1978 - April, 1979 Page: 402
496 p. : ill. (some col.), ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
war. Yet the vote of the German counties on secession, the contribution
of Germans to the Confederacy in the first few months of the war, and
the actions of other prominent German leaders like Gustav Schleicher
all confirm that on the eve of the Civil War Lindheimer and Flake were
representative of a range of opinion among Texas Germans which
should not be ignored."1
Even more importantly, Iindheimer and Flake illustrate how most
Germans came to hold their opinions on secession, and they show how
German Texans were both like and unlike the other citizens of the
state. Germans were not so radically different from other Texans. Lind-
heimer and Flake show that they often acted out of loyalty to their
adopted Texas homeland, or out of loyalty to state organizations like
the Texas Democratic party. Their editorials note the impact of local
conditions which influenced all Texans to vote for or against secession.
On the other hand, they illustrate the unique aspect of the German
Texans' reaction to secession: slavery was relatively unimportant as a
motivating force. Instead, ideological kinship to their fellow Texans, the
pressures of conformity, and the peculiar history of the Texas German
communities determined their position on secession. German Texans
were indeed unique, but this uniqueness should not obscure the fact
that their pattern of reaction to secession was quite similar to the reac-
tion of other Texans, even if the reasons for their actions were not
always the same. The German-born and their offspring were both Tex-
ans and Germans in 1861. They were Texas Germans with all the con-
tradictions that designation implies.
1For a list hand look at Austin County's Germans see Adalbert Regenbrecht, "The
German Settlers of Millheim (Texas) before the Civil War," Southwestern Historical Quar-
tely, XX (July, 1916), 28-,4. On Comal County see Oscar Haas, History of New Braunfels
and Comal County, Texas, 1844-1946 (Austin, 1968), 153-171. On Fayette County see Leonie
Rummel Weyland and Houston Wade, An Early History of Fayette County (La Grange,
1936), 244-245. On the Gillespie County area see Ransleben, A Hundred Years of Comfort,
125-126; Hall, "Texas Germans in Politics," 60-73. Also, see Ottilie Goethe, nee Fuchs, Mem-
oirs of a Texas Ponee) Grandmothe, x8o5-1915, translated by Irma Goethe Guenther
(Austin, 1969), 39-42. On Schleicher see Texas Staats-Zeitung (San Antonio), June 4, 1859,
Die Union (Galheston), Aug. 2, 186o; Neu Braunfelser Zietung, Jan. 11, 1861; San Antonio
Daily Herald, May 24, 1859; Alamo Expiess (San Antonio), Sept. to, 17, 186o; Christine
Schott, "Gustavus Schleicher: A Representative of the Early Emigrants in Texas," West
Texas Historical Association Year Book, XXVIII (Oct., 1952), 62.402
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 82, July 1978 - April, 1979, periodical, 1978/1979; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101206/m1/464/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.