Four Books About Texas

 

The German Texans by Glen E. Lich is what I would call a monograph.  It is part of a series put out by the Institute of Texan Cultures of the University of Texas.  It is not excessively scholarly, but tells the story of the German immigrants in the Texas Hill Country with facts and figures and pictures, but never enough maps.  In fact there are none.  Still, this book was very good reading for understanding the three phases of German immigration and the German history of Fredericksburg, Kerrville, New Braunfels and the many other towns and areas of German settlement in Texas.

German Seed in Texas Soil by Terry G. Jordan

This book, which does have maps and very good ones, is Mr. Jordan’s Phd dissertation in Geography.  I can’t claim to having read it word for word but I did go through it page by page;  it’s got to be one of the most readable dissertations to be found anywhere.  Made me want to study geography.  Really!  

The author gives a fairly detailed account of German immigration patterns in Texas to introduce his thesis question which is how did the German immigrant farmers differ from their Anglo-American counterparts.  In general, the author shows that many of the presumed differences (German dairy production exceeded Anglo, greater German diversity in vegetable gardens, Germans were abolitionists and Unionists) don’t hold up under examination.  A few differences do come to mind: the Germans initially had much smaller farms than Anglos, they were more often landowners than tenants, they tended not to use slave labor and they adapted to southern American agricultural ways to a greater degree than they preserved their European ways.  That includes their architecture and lay-out for their farms.  They were industrious and marketed their produce but they introduced no new plants or animals (except greater use of the mule!) into American agriculture.  

There are numerous charts to support these various claims. Mr. Jordan’s descriptions of the East Texas area where Germans settled as well their settlements west and north of San Antonio is good reading and enhances and amplifies the other three books mentioned here.  Lastly, his Conclusion had a thought-provoking discussion of cultural rebound or artificial assimilation whereby a group initially conforms to a new environment out of necessity or expediency and then later incorporates or reverts to its own cultural ways. 

De Brett’s Texas Peerage by Hugh Best (1983) 

Apparently, De Brett’s Peerage and Baronetage has been around for ages.  As the Foreword to this book explains, it is “a directory of the titled patricians of the United Kingdom. . . .”   How funny that this first foray of the Debrett directory into the nabobs of American society would be a foray into the world of Texas nabobs.  The editors found Texas a logical choice because Texas is free and independent and “has never been conquered.”  I guess. 

This book often reads like Page 6 or People magazine though the writing is far better and the celebrity gossip content is more than balanced by a good amount of history and actual facts.  Here, one encounters the Kings, the Klebergs, the Hoggs as well as lesser lights like the Schlumberger de Menils, the Connallys and the Kempners.  There is a chapter devoted to real heroic Texans like Crockett, Bowie and Travis as well as profiles of some of the original 300 settlers of Texas and other historical figures.  It’s a good book, one you can pick up at leisure and not feel you’ve lost your place. 

People and Places in the Texas Past by June Rayfield Welch (1974) 

This is a history coffee-table book with 72 entries on the people and places that have had a significant place in Texas history.  The author takes us from pre-historic Indian pictographs to 20^th century Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn who died in 1961.  There are nice large black and white photographs with accompanying entries of about 800-1200 words.  It’s all well-written and highly readable, overall an enjoyable book to which I would expect to return again and again.  Like the Debrett book, it can be picked up at whim and you can start reading at the middle, end or beginning of the book as you wish.  Each entry is a separate topic.