The title of the Blucher Collection may be somewhat deceiving. “Charles F.H. von Blucher Family Papers” may not indicate to a researcher that other items exist in the collection. However, various artifacts can be found throughout the collection relating to surveying as well as everyday life in early Corpus Christi, TX. Paintings dating back to the mid 1800’s are among some of my favorite artifacts.
Painting given as a gift to Felix von Blucher in 1845.
A watercolor of Blucher Estate in Germany.
Oil painting by Felix von Blucher of their original house in Corpus Christi.
The defense of Corpus Christi upon being attacked by Union troops during the Civil War.
Working as surveyors, men from the Blucher family spent much of their time outdoors. As such, many of the artifacts deal with living on the trail and surveying. Because I’m not a specialist, I’m often unsure of what some of the items are. For example, what I once thought were items used for measurement turned out to be a collapsible sterling silver trail cup. Sometimes it takes a little bit of detective work to figure out what you’re looking at. It’s always exciting to handle such very old items that were used to lay out our region and state.
Some of the surveying tools look very similar to tools in the Blucher photos.
Photo of survey crew taken in 1876. Charles FH von Blucher top left, Richard Paul von Blucher top tight, George A. von Blucher bottom right. In the bottom center and top center are surveying tools very similar to ones we have found in the collection. In fact, I mistakenly thought the wooden box was one that we have in the collection because of how similar they are.
Survey tool with striking similarity to a tool shown in the survey crew picture.
Survey tool also like the one in the survey crew picture.
Eating utensils presumably used when out surveying.
A toothbrush.
A lighter and dice used by the Bluchers.
Collapsed trail cup.
Expanded trail cup.
The artifacts featured above are some of many, and it is somewhat unusual for collections to contain so many artifacts. Correspondence and photos are very exciting to process; they are extremely old and relate to major regional and world events. However, encountering pioneer-era objects that were used by the individuals we’ve come to know so much about adds an extra dimension to this fascinating collection. Not only does the collection contain documents signed by extremely prominent figures in American history, but it also contains early regional and state photos and postcards, vivid first-hand descriptions of major events written in real time, and an assortment of artifacts. You never know what you’ll come across in this extensive and multi-dimensional collection.
Andrew Karnes, Graduate Assistant
This project’s funding was awarded to the Bell Library’s Special Collections and Archives department through the U. S. Institute of Museum and Library Services to Texas State Library and Archives Commission’s TexTreasures Grant for the fiscal year 2020 through 2021 (Grant #TXT-21011).
