Ernst Fried Dannheim

Marilyn Dannheim Wyett (Milpitas, CA 95035) has been our source for names and dates of extended family and for many of the copies of documents pertaining to our direct line.

Georg Ernst Friedrich Dannheim. The Georg comes from LDS records.

At the time Ernst left Germany, his region, Hannover, was a kingdom of its own (from 1814 to 1866). It is now part of the state ofNiedersachsen in Germany. During those times, the German people faced the problems of revolution and war, industrial inequality, and lack of opportunity for economic advancement, and immigration to a new land seemed to offer a solution. Lack of politi,:;al freedom and heavy taxation also caused much dissatisfaction. The industrial revolution of the eighteenth century had brought about the use of machinery which replaced handwork in many trades, with the result that many were left jobless. A large percentage of the people turned to farming and were scarcely able to eke out a bare existence. Conditions such as these made immigration seem very attractive to the people of Germany during the middle of the nineteenth century.

After 1842, the Mainzer Verein, or Society for the Protection of German Immigrants to Texas, was formed. This "Verein zum Schutze deutscher Einwanderer in Texas," known to Germans in Europe and Texas by its shorter name, Verein, and what we now call the Society, was organized by a group of noblemen whose purpose was to secure land in Texas for Germans and other Europeans who wished to settle there, and to provide for their welfare. Between Oct. 1845 and Apr. 1846, thirty-six ships brought a total of 5,257 immigrants to Texas under the auspices of the Society.

Ernst signed an Immigration Contract (Einwanderungs Vertrag) in Germany with the Verein, or Society, on Oct. 6, 1845, as was required by each immigrant. This contract entitled him to 320 acres if he was a married man and 160 acres if he was single. Ernst signed this as Ernst Friedrich Dannheim from Walle, Hannover. We have the copy of this contract with Ernst's signature, witnessed by the Vice Consul of the Republic of Texas in Bremen.

There are four towns of Walle in what was Prussia: Walle (Bremen), Walle (Schwuelper), Walle (Verden/Aller), and Walle (Winsen/Aller). Because the records we have for his wife, Juliane Kalberlah, refer to Schwuelper, and some also list Rothemuehle, which is very close to Schwuelper, we are going with the Walle closest to Schwuelper, the one northwest ofBraunschweig. All of these are in the Hannover region. (Hanover is the English spelling, and Hannover is the German spelling. Because we are dealing with a German place, I have used the double "n" unless actually quoting from a source.)

Ernst's naturalization certificate puts him as a native of Burgdorf. There are also two Burgdorfs in this Hannover region, one a small city and one a small town. They are about equidistant from Schwuelper.

From the Galveston ship arrivals list, we have the following information on Ernst's family coming over from Germany: Departed: Bremen, 9/27/1845 Ship: Everhard Captain A Haake Family #4213 Arrived: Galveston, 12/9/1845 Destination: Mason Cty (A handwritten list of the Ever hard passengers, from the Texas State Archives, lists him as "Fredk. Danheim".)

The information we have on the actual ship, the 'Everhard', came from Johann Buchwald, curator of the Heimatmuseum Schloss Schonebeck (Im Dorfe 3 - 5, D 28757 Bremen, Germany). He photographed for me an original oil painting of the ship, Everhard, that has been stored in the Focke Museum in Bremen since 1914. It was painted by Fedeler, Sr. and was commissioned by Capt. Johann Heinrich Barlach, the first master of the Everhard, in 1836.

Basic information about the ship: built as a barque with two decks and two deckhouses, three masts (two of them fullrigged in contemporary style), square tuck. Built in 1830 & 1831. Built of oak, copper fastened and copper sheeted. It was 100 ft. long, 30 feet wide, and 18 feet deep, 450 tons. More details are included in his letter, as well as a list of all the trans-Atlantic trips the ship made. We also have a copy of the original German certificate for the ship. As listed in the Galveston arrivals log, Ernst came with his wife, Juliana., and his children, Johanne, Juliane, Otto, and Ernst. Which of these children was Wilhelm and which was Henry? One guess is that Ernst was Wilhelm, since so many Ernst names appear in the tree from here, while Heinrich (Henry) was probably Otto. As for the girls, which was Fredericke Mary and which was Wilhelmina? Since German children had three or four given names, not finding a perfect match is not necessarily a problem.

We know that on Sept. 27, 1845, Ernst and Juliane Dannheim and their children left Bremen, Germany aboard the ship, Everhard, enroute to America. The voyage took twelve weeks. On the trans-Atlantic voyage, the immigrants were huddled together in the holds, steerage, and on the decks of the ships like sheep, and when they reached shore, they were in a very weak condition and covered with vermin. The voyage of the large ships ended at Galveston. In Galveston they left the large vessel to board a smaller one to go to Indianola (also then known as Carlshafen or Indian Point). They arrived in Indianola, TX, on Dec. 28, 1945. If the dates we have are all correct, it took them 19 days between Galveston and Indianola.

From PIONEERS IN GOD'S HILL, by the Gillespie County Historical Society, 1960: "During the latter part of 1845, thousands of German immigrants landed at Galveston and Indianola. These people had found the ocean voyage long and hazardous but fortunately they did not know that the worst was yet to come. Conditions at the port of entry were horrible! The winter was an unusually wet one, and mosquitoes in great numbers spread malaria. Facilities for taking care of the immigrants were hopelessly inadequate, not only at the port of entry but also for the journey inland and in the new home. The noblemen composing the Society had simply lacked comprehension of the enormity of their undertaking.

Indianola consisted of a few houses. Barracks of boards were built which afforded refuge for only a few. The rest stayed in tents. They had to wait more than six months along the low, unhealthy shore. The war with Mexico had taken all means of transportation. Rain and north wind poured through the dwellings. Wood and water were lacking. They were surrounded by swamps in which mosquitoes swarmed and fevers arose. "Rum holes increased their misery and changed men into beasts. 11 Many fell prey to epidemics. The summer broke out with its terrible heat. Families took off on their own to New Branufels. That road to New Braunfels was lined with dead and dying people .

From MASON COUNTY'S HISTORICAL SOCIETY Book, 1976: "The Dannheims made the trip from Indianola to New Braunfels in three weeks and under extreme hardships. It was a journey of 152 miles. Here they found the New Braunfels station so crowded that they were forced to move on. It was in May, 1846, that the weary colonists finally reached the Pedemales River. They set up tents near a Delaware Indian village which later would be the town of Fredericksburg. This area had been scouted out by Meusebach in Nov. 1845 as another station on the way to the Miller/Fisher grant because New Braunfels was too crowded. It had good land, was well watered and with ample timber to supply the needs of the colonists. Conditions were very bad as there were no supplies, even if one had the money to buy them. The supplies that had been promised by the Immigration Society did not arrive, and the settlers were facing starvation. In desperation, Ernst Dannheim joined Ernst Jordan and others in a two­week walk back to New Braunfels--a distance of eighty miles. The men approached the Society storehouse and demanded their share of the supplies. They were promised the supplies and returned to their families with hope. Soon the supplies arrived by wagon. Cultivation of fields was started at once to assure a harvest before winter. Storehouses were built before homes so that the supplies would be protected.

Vera Koock owned the original trunk brought over from Germany by Ernst and Juliana. We don't know what happened to it after her recent death.

Ernst Freid rich was one of the first 600 heads of household to arrive in Fredericksburg. He was awarded lot #363 on San Antonio St between S. Milam and S. Orange. These lots were each 100 feet by 200 feet within the town. He was also given outlot #40, a ten acre plot.

From Fredericksburg Souvenir Program, 1996:

    "After the storehouse had been erected on the chosen site and the settlers had built their log houses, the struggle for survival began. It is not difficult to realize that it was a. rough, pioneer life replete with privations to which these people, as unaccustomed as they were to such frontier experiences, had to adjust. The homes were necessarily very primitive and provided very meager protection against the elements during the rainy winters. The provisions furnished by the Society were adequate, but, due to financial mismanagement, the supply became progressively more inadequate. Since there was almost a complete lack of vegetables and people ate mostly cornbread and meat, a diet to which they were not accustomed, sickness was not uncommon. 

    "Many of the immigrants who arrived later carried with them the diseases which raged among the immigrants on the coast, and soon an epidemic swept through Fredericksburg and New Braunfels. The sickness was 'scorbut', a scurvy-type disease associated with diarrhea. Its victims were many, and under prevailing conditions no effective resistance could be effected. The death toll grew so large that the two-­wheeled Mexican cart with which the corpses were carried to the Society's burial ground (now the Friedhof City Cemetery) made the sad journey day after day almost without interruption. Due to the shortage of lumber for coffins, bodies were wrapped in old clothes or covers and were placed in the ground without any burial rites. 

From the Fredericksburg Standard News, Special Edition, 1996: "Today, a summer day in 1846, there are people building homes and breaking up new ground to plant crops. These are not the pioneers of myth and legend--huge, burly men; large, ample women; robust, apple­-cheeked children. These are people, by and large, smaller in stature than most people today, some weakened by disease and the ordeal of their travel from Germany to the Texas coast, to New Braunfels, and then to Fredericksburg. They grind acorns to substitute for coffee, take 'quinine with everything', hunt for their meat, eat a lot of salt pork, syrup, and sweet potatoes, and find fresh fruit a special treat.

John Meusebach, as the head of the Verein in.Texas, ventured into the lands of the Fisher/Miller grant in March 184 7 and was successful in arranging a peace treaty with the Commanche Indians. His treaty should be regarded as an achievement of inestimable value, not just for the Society, but for the state of Texas as well.

By 1847, the Mainzer Verein, or Society for Protection of German Immigrants to Texas, was bankrupt. Several reasons may be given for its failure: 1) the land selected by the Society was too far from the coast, 2)the grant was inhabited by Commanche Indians, 3) the war with Mexico in 1846 caused a critical shortage in transportation, and 4) there was a lack of sufficient funds for a project the size of the one planned. After the bankruptcy of the Society, the colonists were left to their own resources. Many were without finances and some were even in debt. About all that the settlers of Fredericksburg received from the

Society was a one hundred by two hundred foot townlot and a ten acre tract of land. Left to their own resources, there was no turning back. Each day brought new problems and the need to solve them. By surmounting these, strong and determined characters were built.

From MASON'S: The year following the Society' declaration of bankruptcy, the Texas legislature passed a law that enabled land commissioners to issue certificates for land in the Fisher/Miller grant, upon being given proof that the immigrants were entitled to the land. When the colonists received these certificates, they felt that they could not endure the hardships and expense of moving farther into the wilderness. Then, too, the land was not fertile, a fact which any of the members of the Society could have ascertained if an inspection of the lands had been made. However the greatest barrier to settlement of the grant was the presence of Commanche Indians on the land. As a result, many of the colonists sold their claims for mere trifles; some certificates covering a section of land were sold for less that $10. However, a number of the colonists kept their grants and later moved their families to Beaver Creek, Willow Creek, and the Llano River and established permanent homes on the land that was to become Mason County. Ernst was one of these, in the first group moving to Willow Creek in 1856 ..

In addition to his first grants, Ernst received other property from the German Emigration Society: 1849 Townlot 363, Gillespie (100 feet x 200 feet) 1849 Outlet 40, "(10 acres) 1850 Townlot 257, '(100'x200') 1850 Outlot 41, "(10 acres)

1850 Survey 151, 152, 171, Mason County, from Fisher/Miller (640 acres) ?? townlot 364, Gillespie (100' x 200')

Ernst's original townlot #363, and the one he later obtained next to it, #364, are located on San Antonio St., which is one block off Main St., between S. Milam and S. Orange. Outlots #40 and #41 were in a good location, very close to the town center, on the south side, by Baron's Creek. While their townlot was west of the courthouse square, the outlets are east of the square, still very conveniently located to each other, the closest group of outlying lots.

From Gilbert Jordan's YESTERDAY IN THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY, 1979: "The settlement of Fredericksburg was laid out on a farming plan similar to that of the German villages from which the immigrants had come. Each family received a townlot and a ten acre plot ofland nearby. This may have seemed to the newcomers an excellent arrangement, because a ten-acre plot was a large farm judged by the size of the landholdings they were familiar with in Germany. These settlers soon discovered, however, that such a small tract of land in this semi-arid Hill Country was totally inadequate, and the people were faced with starvation. To eke out a meager living they had to supplement the small scale farming with additional enterprises or wages. Cattle raising on the open range was the best choice available, but the German peasants were unfamiliar with ranching, and it took time to acquire herds of cattle. The more resourceful settlers tried other ways of making a living, at least temporarily.

In the 1850 federal census for Gillespie County, the family is listed as "Tannheimer". Ernst Tannheimer, age 44 turner $75 b. Germany Juliana, age 37 b. Germany William, age 13 b. Germany Wilhelmina, age 12 b. Germany Henry, age 8 b. Germany Sofia, age 3 b. Texas

Ernst's daughter, Fredericke Mary, is. already married to Fritz Winkel, and she is listed with him on this census. His occupation is "cabinet maker and turner". The definition of 'turner' is, "a person who shapes objects on a lathe". Putting together the note from Jordan's work, that the more resourceful settlers tried other ways to make a living, the fact that Ernst's son-in-law was a cabinet maker and turner, and that Ernst is now a turner, we might surmise that the son-in-law introduced Ernst to this occupation. The town probably had a sawmill by 1850 to produce rough-hewn boards. A cabinet maker would need smooth wood with which to work. Ernst could have been taught how to use a lathe to produce the quality of wood that his son-in-law would need in order to produce cabinets and furniture. Furniture was one of those things that often had to be left behind, so many of the pioneer families were beginning with very primitive pieces and then gradually accumulating the nicer pieces again.

Ernst became a naturalized citizen of the United States 1850. We have a handwritten document, dated Nov. 1850 and executed in Fredericksburg. It states: "Be it remembered that Ernst Dannheim, a native of Burgdorf in Germany, age about forty five years, bearing allegiance to the King of Hannover, who emigrated from Bremen and arrived at the Port of Galveston, on the 20th(?) of Decemb. AD. 1845, intends to reside in the Jurisdiction and under the Government of the United States of America .... "

In July, 1851, Ernst deeded all the previously listed properties over to his wife, Julia, "for the sum of $800 supplied by Julia since their marriage". Further land deals in Gillespie: 1851 bought townlot 257 for $25 1855 bought outlot 54 for $10 1855 bought outlot 53 for $10 1855 sold outlots 53 & 54 for $30 1856 sold townlot 257 for $25 Ernst may now be getting ready to move out to the Fisher/Miller grant in Mason County with the Methodist group.

From MASON'S: "The Art Community in Mason County began when the first settlers came from Fredericksburg in Oct., 18 56 and settled at Upper Willow Creek, a group composed of Methodists who had joined the church dming their stay in Fredericksburg. The journey, by ox wagon, took three days, for the roads were rough. In the first two groups were the Kothmans, Hoersters, Jordans, Hasses, Dannheims, Leifestes, Donops and Pluennekes. Upper Willow Creek -- never before had white men been in this country. The first Dannheim homestead was built close to Willow Creek, a fertile land heavily wooded with live oak and post oak. Their first home was a log cabin. These frontier times were days of tension and worry. William Hoerster was captured by the Indians while herding cattle. The Texas legislature paid $500 for his ransom.

Upper Willow Creek, or just Willow Creek on today's map, is south of the town of Art, formerly Plehweville. On the north side of the road at Art, it branches off into Little Willow Creek to the left and East Willow Creek to the right.

From YESTERDAY. .. : "German Methodists•--the very term seems self-contradictory. Discard all your stereotyped images of Germans, for these are, unlikely as it may seem, teetotaling Teutons who renounced dancing and belonged to no social or recreational clubs, who embraced pietistic Methodism with a fervor rarely found among Anglo-Texans. These German Methodists constitute a sort of separatist group in the German Belt of Texas. It is not easy to envision a Central European people who adopted an Anglo-American religion and an Hispanic-Mexican livestock economy.

  "Those immigrants who came to Texas directly from Germany around the middle of the nineteenth century were Lutherans, Catholics, and Reformed Evangelicals, certainly not Methodists. Within a few years, however, some of the newly arrived settlers were won over to the Methodists through the ardent endeavors of missionaries, partly because there were not enough Lutheran ministers and Catholic priests  available to serve the religious needs of the people on the Hill Country frontier.

The year 1856 (when the Dannheims and their group left Fredericksburg for Mason County) was one of the driest, so they probably were under no illusions about its climactic character. They knew that in some years it belonged to the Great American Desert to the west, while in others it was claimed by the humid east. Willow Creek was dry when they first saw it, and even the rock-strewn Llano River, a few miles to the south, was only a trickle.

Ernst was issued the patents for his three surveys in Mason County in 1859 (320 acres), 1861 (160 acres), and 1866 (160 acres). This would complete his full entitlement of 640 acres that the early immigrants had been granted. A patent is a form of land title issued by the government on land when it passes from public domain into private ownership. Regarding the issuing of patents, as long as the land had been surveyed and the filed notes turned in, the owner could wait years before he or she gets around to asking for the patent. The three land grants above had been surveyed in 1847, Ernst received the land certificates in 1850, but didn't actually get the patents until 1859 and 1861.

In 1866, Ernst deeded to Julia all his livestock, including 150 head of cattle, 50 hogs, 11 horses, 1 ox wagon, 4 yoke steers, one carriage. Was his health already suspect during these years? He had given Julia the land in Gillespie in 18 51, and riow he officially deeded the personal property to her. He did die five years after this, while Julia lived another 36 years.

From YESTERDAY ... : A greater contrast to the tightly clustered farm villages of Germany can scarcely be imagined. It must surely have been a traumatic experience when these immigrants settled on isolated ranchsteads after having been accustomed to frequent contacts with neighbors in European villages or even Fredericksburg. To adjust to dispersed dwellings was difficult for them, particularly since the change occurred simultaneously with their adjustments to a new religion, a new livelihood, a strange environment, and a new culture and language, not to mention the occasional Anglo opposition to these 11darnn Dutch" immigrants. The anti­ German prejudice was especially bitter during the Civil War and World War I, when there was persecution of German settlers.

From MASON'S: In 1866, most of the people were devoted to growing stock, which was more profitable and less laborious than farming. Cattle was selling at the pens for $15 per head. Butter was ten cents per pound, eggs were ten cents per dozen, honey was seventy-five cents to a dollar per gallon, and deer hams were twenty-five cents per pair. In early founding times it took the price of three cows for a sack of salt. Ten good steers would pay for one good cow pony, and the Indians would often steal the pony the first full moon after the purchase. Twelve yards of Mexican calico, or twelve pounds of Mexican coffee, could be bought for the price of one four-year-old steer. By 1866, the same kind of animal would bring 150 pounds of prime Rio coffee, or 400 yards of Mexican calico.

Ernst died at the homestead in 1871. Family stories have it that he was drinking a cup of tea at the table that he had made, when he keeled over from a heart attack. Helen Zesch of Mason owns this drop-leaf table, of which we have a photograph, that Ernst built and where he supposedly died.

Directions to Ernst's homestead and gravesite: From the town of Mason, take 29 east to Art Gust a church on right and two stores on left). Go past the church and past the Art-Hedwig's Hill Rd. Take the very next dirt road on the right, Lower Willow Creek Rd. Follow that past a white ranch house. As the road turns 90 degrees to the left, you want to continue straight along a very small dirt path. You will come to a locked gate. Climb over the fence, walk about 100 yards, and on the rise to the right, next to the creek, there is a wrought iron fence enclosing the tombstone for Ernst Dannheim. Next to that is a tombstone for Otto von Donop.

   If you are coming from Fredericksburg, it is shorter not to go into Mason. Look for the Art-Hedwig's Hill Rd. on your right. Take that all the way through to the town of Art. Go right, and then take the very next right on Lower Willow Creek. Continue as above. 

    To find the original homestead, where you will see the well and cistern, after seeing the gravesite, continue on that path. Before you get to the next fence, you need to go left up the hill. (There may be a deerblind up there as a guide.) At the peak of the hill is where the homesite was. There are only a few bricks left, besides the stone well and cistern. The actual homesite was above the cistern, on the east side, and the barns were a bit below that and slightly northwest of the well and cistern. 

Jim could tell how the land had been cleared from which original trees were left and which were new growth. He approved of the location of the home, being on top of the hill to benefit from all the breezes. It also would give a better view of any danger coming as this was Indian territory.

Other dispositions of Ernst's acquired land: 187 4 part of surveys 151, 152 sold by family to son:-in-law, Otto Donop, $50 1892 surveys 151, 152, 171 sold by Julia to son, Ernst, $1 1891 townlot 364, Gillespie sold by Julia & family to son, Wilhelm, $200 1897 part of survey 153 given by Ernst to brother-in-law, 0. Plewe 1896 townlot 363, Gillespie sold by Julia & family, $350

From THE TEXAS REPUBLIC, by William R. Hogan: "Continued predominance of the Germans in New Braunfels and other communities in which they originally settled resulted partly from their strong attachment to the soil, a quality not possessed by numbers of Americans who, in migrating westward, changed locations as many as three or four times."