The von Bluchers of Corpus Christi

In August of 2020 Bell Library, Special Collections and Archives was awarded funds made possible by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission’s Tex Treasures grant for fiscal year 2020-2021 (Grant # TXT-21011). The funds were to cover the employment of a graduate student to help process the Charles F.H. von Blucher Family papers. It is a rewarding experience to be organizing these papers. Working with Andrew Karnes, Graduate Assistant, we have discovered many fascinating finds about the family and early Corpus Christi.

The Charles F.H. von Blucher Family papers are a historical treasure trove of letters, photographs, and land documents from a German family that settled in Corpus Christi in 1849 when the population was 550 people. Baron Anton Felix Hans von Blucher came from Berlin with his wife, Maria Augusta Imme von Blucher. They were well educated, both could speak four or more languages, he had received degrees from the prestigious Friedrich-Wilhelm-Universität in Berlin in law, civil engineering, and languages. She had been taught music and literature at home. They were known as Felix and Maria and would contribute to the city many gifts through the generations.

Felix had previously visited the United States and served as a surveyor and linguist for German Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels in negotiating a treaty between the Comanche Indians and the German settlers. Visiting Corpus Christi, he met Henry Lawrence Kinney a frontier promoter and founder of the settlement. He returned to Berlin to marry Maria and bring her to the new world.

They arrived on July 11, 1849; the last leg of the trip was by sea from New Orleans.  They started their home on eight acres purchased from Kinney which had previously been owned by Hiram Riggs. The property was enhanced by two wells, a high brush fence, a few good buildings, a drainage ditch, and stables. Felix set about building a house with the help of Mr. Busse, a builder who accompanied Maria and Felix from Germany.

Felix’s education and skills served him well and he was appointed as the Nueces County District Engineer (Surveyor). His son and grandson would follow him in that role. The job took him all over South Texas as Nueces County extended from the Nueces River to parts of the Rio Grande. In 1858 he received a 2nd appointment as Cameron County District Surveyor. He would travel with a small group of men surveying and camping on the prairie. At that time triangulation and use of a wheeled measuring device enabled them to span the distances across Texas. His absences from home became more frequent as his reputation grew.

julia-von-blucher,-2nd-daughter

Maria would refer to Felix in her letters home to Germany as “my Felix.” In the next fifteen years they would have six children. The last child born in 1864, Anna Elisabeth, died her first year, the others survived into adulthood. Two girls came, one in 1851, Maria Felicia, the second in 1853, Julia Augusta. Three boys followed, Charles in 1856, Richard Paul in 1858, and George Anton in 1861. The only one who did not marry and have children was Julia.                                                 

The children were young when the Civil War came to the Coastal Bend. Felix had been a member of the “Walker” Mounted Rifles and joined the Confederacy. He served as Major of Engineers, Captain of Artillery, and then Major of Artillery. He assisted in erecting fortifications in Corpus Christi and participated in the defense. Kittredge, a Union lieutenant gave the city 24-hour notice before the bombardment of Corpus Christi. Maria and the five children were taken out of the city in two buggies to stay in Nuecestown with Mr. and Mrs. Littig. At that time Maria Felicia, the oldest child, was 11 years, old, Julia was 9, Charles was 6, Richard Paul was 4 and George Anton was 1 year old. Maria was 34 years old. It is not known if Felix or Mr. Busse helped them make the journey.

Upon returning home after the bombardment cannon balls and bomb shells were displayed on the porch by the men folks who had stayed behind. The land surrounding the house was furrowed due to the heavy bombing. The house had been targeted and was badly damaged; Felix was known by the Union forces as a Confederate officer.  Confederate soldiers opened the cannon balls and bombs without exploding the caps and the powder inside was used by many people in their firearms.

The battle was fought on the ground and from the sea. Thirty-two soldiers were landed with a howitzer a mile from the battery. They were supported by fire from the ships. Six hundred yards from the battery they were overcome by a cavalry charge led by Captain James A. Ware. One Confederate was killed in the battle and Hobby and one sailor were wounded. It was a victory for the Texans and Blucher received a field promotion. (From TSHA – Handbook of Texas).

two-civil-war-soldiers-postcards

Maria did not spare the rod as she raised her five children. All had been paddled, or later the raw hide whip had been employed. Frederick Busse, the builder friend who traveled with them from Germany lived with the family for a while. He became known as “Uncle Busse.” Well educated from a high German family, he had a store of fairy tales and a talent for making wooden toys for the children. He built a small Noah’s Ark and filled it with animals, including all the family’s pets, horses, cattle, and barnyard animals. When he died, he was buried in the same plot as Felix and Maria.

In the summer of 1869 when Julia, the second daughter, was 16 years old, she went to Berlin to live with her maternal grandparents. Neither Maria nor Felix accompanied her on the journey. It was decided she would get a good education in Germany. She remained there for twelve years.

On August 28, 1869 Maria writes to her daughter,My dearest child,Today, two months ago, you left us, and I can hardly realize that you have been home (in Berlin) over a month already. I received today your second letter and hope that you will not leave off to write often…

postcard

On September 13, 1869, Maria writes again to Julia,

Mr. Wheeler received your decision last week. It astonished me to find him so quiet and collected about it. I know he feels the blow; I cannot blame you for the steps you have taken. But you have waited all this time and make it by that so much worse for him. I have long ago understood this to be your sentiment and try often to encourage you to do him that much justice to be honest to him. I would never have spoken about his faults as I did if I had entertained the least hope that you might love him. I feel sorry for him, I may tell you so now, since it is past redemption….

Maria would make the trip to Berlin in 1875 to see her parents and daughter, Julia returned home to Corpus Christi in 1880. She had been gone for 12 years. Her nephews, Charles’ children, teased her about her love for automobiles. She was one of the first women to purchase a car and to be seen driving around Corpus Christi. She often lamented to the boys the earlier automobiles were not capable of higher speeds. Other than her penchant for whipping around the city’s streets she lived a quiet life, playing music, gardening, and living alone in the family home.

maria-von-bluchers-letter-to-her-daughter-in-germany,-1869

She had considerable financial interests in oil, land investment, and development. She died a very wealthy woman at the age of 84 on June 25, 1937. The service was held at her brother’s residence, Charles F.H. von Bluchers’ home at 123 North Carrizo Street. It was officiated by Reverend George West Diehl, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Corpus Christi. She was interred at Old Bayview Cemetery at 6:00 pm on June 26, 1937.

The Blucher name has special meaning to Corpus Christi due to the family’s many contributions to the city and people. The Bluchers gave the Junior League of CC their original home to be a museum. To the city they donated a tract of land near the bay to create a park of natural flora. A substantial gift came from Conrad and Zula blucher to TAMU-CC in the donation of their home on Ocean Drive and all their assets, after death, to create the Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science. Lastly they gave their papers to the archive. The Bluchers helped lay the foundations of Corpus Christi, leaving their legacy of fabulous maps and family papers which illustrate the past Texas landscape of the 1800 and 1900s.

Photo 1: U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, Texas State Library and Archives Commission Logos
Photo 2: Julia von Blucher, 2nd daughter. (Charles F.H. von Blucher Family Papers, Special Collections and Archives, Mary and Jeff Bell Library.  Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)
Photo 3: Two Civil War soldiers’ postcards.(Charles F.H. von Blucher Family Papers, Special Collections and Archives, Mary and Jeff Bell Library.  Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)
Photo 4: Postcard. (Charles F.H. von Blucher Family Papers, Special Collections and Archives, Mary and Jeff Bell Library.  Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)
Photo 5: Maria von Blucher’s letter to her daughter in Germany, 1869.  (Charles F.H. von Blucher Family Papers, Special Collections and Archives, Mary and Jeff Bell Library.  Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)