Meixner Family History #12 - Texas: Their New Home

The Meixner family probably arrived in Texas sometime in Sep. 1881.

On Oct. 26, 1881 at 3:00 in the afternoon a gunfight broke out in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, with Marshall Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp, Virgil Earp and Doc Holliday on one side and the Clanton brothers and Mclaury brothers on the other side.  This gunfight would later be known as the "Gunfight at the OK Corral". (1)

Tombstone, Arizona Territory (2)

On Dec 25, 1881 in Waco, TX, The Waco Daily Examiner published a newspaper where Sanger Brothers was advertising clothes, boots, shoes, and carpet for sale and R.S. Mills advertised "Staple and Fancy Groceries".  (Sanger Brothers was started by Isaac Sanger in 1857 in McKinney, TX and later was joined by his brothers to open stores along major railroad lines in Texas.  Sanger Brothers would later become Sanger-Harris a prominent part of Dallas business and Texas history. (3))

The Waco Daily Examiner. (Waco, TX), Sunday, Dec. 25, 1881. (4)

"The Meixner family settled on the Brazos River bottoms.  I am sure that they were very poor and that they had to live in impoverished quarters.  Dad said that the water snakes, perhaps some of the poisonous, would slither round on the rafters and often fall down on the beds.  It makes one shudder to think of such uncomfortable conditions."  This quote is what my dad wrote in his unpublished book titled "Memoirs of Robert Harmon Meixner, Sr., July 10, 1910 - June 13, 1994" describing what his dad had told him about living on the Brazos River bottoms.  One article I read about Robertson County confirmed there were ..."numerous snake species, including the poisonous copperhead, cottonmouth, coral snake, and rattlesnake"... (5)

I would think living conditions were very bad  for the farm laborers on the plantation. This thought is basesd on the fact the plantation owners first used slave labor, then ex-slaves and convict labor.  I can't imagine the working conditions were much better for immigrants and other workers in the 1880s.  Wages were $12 to $15 per month plus "keep". (6)

Rasche Hearne's home was located in the community of Sutton 5 miles south of Hearne, TX.  (7)  Hearne traveled from his home to the several farms located in the bottom lands.  I assume the Meixners lived in the bottoms near the area where they worked.  I don't know for sure that Frank Meixner worked as a farm laborer.  Claudia suggested he might have worked as a butcher for the plantation, since that is the occupation listed in the ship's records when he came to the U.S.

As you look at the map below, Hearne is located in the center of the map.  The light area from upper left toward the lower right is part of the Brazos River bottom lands.  I'm guessing that somewhere to the left of Hearne and Sutton would be where the Meixner family lived.

Google Earth Maps.

Up to this point it seems to me the Meixner family's new life in America had been pretty difficult.  Unfortunately it would get worse.

In the 1800's typhoid was very prevalent.  Typhoid fever is an acute illness associated with fever that  is most often caused by the Salmonella typhi bacteria.  The bacteria are deposited in water or food by a human carrier and are then spread to other people in the area.  Symptoms include:  confusion, abdominal pain, generalized aches and pain, fever (often up to 104 degrees), intestinal bleeding, diarrhea, etc.  Death occurred from overwhelming infection, pneumonia, and intestinal bleeding.  Prior to antibiotics the fatality rate was 20% or more.  From 1880 to 1920 typhoid killed an estimated one million people.  (8)

On Good Friday, April 7, 1882, all the family was sick with typhoid fever.  The two little girls, 6 year old Herminia and 7 year old Theresia, died.  (9)

Claudia said her mother "heard it was raining the day they tried to bury them and the little coffins floated up in the graves".  "Frank was ill with the fever and kept calling for one of them to bring him some water, not knowing that they were dead."  My dad wrote in his book:  "All of the Meixner family were in bed with the smallpox."  (He remembered hearing it was smallpox though typhoid seems to me to be more likely the cause.)  "Two of the girls died.  There was no help to be had so grandfather Meixner had to bury his own daughters."

In two weeks:  Another Move for the Meixner Family

References:
1) & 2)  Wikipedia.org, wikipedia/gunfight_at_the_O.K._corral.
3)  Diana J. Kleiner, "SANGER BROTHERS," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ijsqi), accessed September 22, 2012.  Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
4)  The Waco Daily Examiner. (Waco,Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 249, Ed. 1, Sunday, December 25, 1881, Newspaper; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ ark:/67531/metapth112235/ : accessed August 23, 2012), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.
5)  James L. Hailey and Christoher Long, "ROBERTSON COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcr09), accessed August 20,2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Associaton.
6)  http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txrober2/Carson_Thesis/ CarsonChapterV.html
7)  Richard Allen Burns, "Sutton, TX", Handbook of Texas online (http://www.tshaoline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvsdf), accessed September 09, 2012.  Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
8)  www.medicinenet.com
9)  Family sources said the girls died on Good Friday in 1882.  According to www.timeanddate.com Good Friday fell on April 7 in 1882.

Colorado Vacation

In July Kay and I were so excited to have all our family with us on a trip to Breckenridge, Colorado.  Wes, Jeoffrey, and Maggie from California and Kristina, Dan, Connor, and Caleb from Texas.  It was a fantastic trip!  Seeing the 3 grand kids play together was a great treat for us.

We went trout fishing but were shut out.  We still had fun trying our hand at it.  I had not been trout fishing since I was in high school.  Connor stuck with it longer than I did.  He is quite the fisherman.

We also went hiking on the side of a very steep mountain.  (Which I must add scared PaPa greatly).

We visited a local gold mine.

Went up the mountain in the gondola (also scared PaPa).

Visited the theme park and some rode the rides (yep, that bob sled thing scared me as well, no I didn't ride it, just watched Kristina, Dan, Connor, and Caleb ride it).  (I have now also seen Brice's scars from when he crashed riding this ride.)

Toured the town.

Had breakfast outside with a view of the mountains.

Saw the sled dogs with Connor.

And much more.

Kay and I loved every minute.  Thank you to our children for letting us share a great time with them and our grand children on vacation.

Meixner Family History #11 - The Journey (Part 6)

Frank Meixner was able to turn a disastrous situation at Castle Garden, where he was swindled out of his money, into a workable situation of having a job in Texas and transportation to get there.  I wonder if he and Theresia were able to stay excited abut being in a new country?  Were they looking forward to Texas or dreading it?  Were they already second guessing their decision to come to America or were they pushing forward with hope and optimism?

I don't know how long it took to ride the train 1650 miles to Waco, Texas.  I'm sure they didn't take the same route Google prescribes (as shown in this picture) and I would think the distance was most likely longer than the 1650 miles shown on this map.

Google Map

How many train changes did they have to make?  In late August it would have been hot.  It couldn't have been a pleasant ride.  Hot, dirty, crowded, poor accommodations all come to mind though I do not know that as a fact.

In 1880 Texas had a population of 1,591,749.  Hearne, Texas had a population of 1,421.  Located in the south west section of Robertson County (pop. in 1880 22,383), Hearne is some 90 miles north east of Austin and 65 miles south east of Waco.  Robertson County is named after Sterling Robertson.  In the 1830s Robertson received a contract for colonization from Mexico to bring colonists into Texas.  He worked diligently for many years to bring settlers into a part of Texas that became known as Robertson's Colony.  The first Texas Congress established Roberson County in 1837.  The present limits were set by The Texas Legislature in 1846. (2)

In 1852 the Hearne family, led by their patriarch Christopher Columbus Hearne, settled in Robertson County.  Hearne, Texas was named for the elder Hearne.  They owned 10,000 acres of land and operated large cotton plantations on this very fertile Brazos River bottom land.  Horatio "Rasche" Hearne's plantation consisted of 3600 acres of land. (3)

Cotton was a major crop in the mid 1800's.  Crop production was limited by how long it took to get the crops to market.  In 1869 the railroad line made it's way in to Hearne.  This momentous event set off a significant change in the way the plantation owners would work their plantations.  Bales of cotton could now be shipped the 50 miles to the nearest market in one day instead of the two weeks it took 1000 ox carts to get the same amount of cotton to market before.  This development meant the owners could plant more acres of cotton, however there was one small hitch, they had to have laborers to work these additional acres.   The plantation owners tried working local convicts but this practice didn't last long before it was stopped. (4)

In the early 1870's Rasche Hearne and other owners solved their labor problem by traveling to North Carolina to hire laborers to transport back to Texas to work the plantations.  This worked well until the North Carolina plantation owners started running short of laborers.  One source said this practice stopped when Mr. Hearne was "escorted" out of the state. (5)  We know that by 1881 Rasche Hearne had found a new source for labor:  immigrants.  So Rasche Hearne ended up at Castle Garden on Aug 26, 1881 and hired my great grandfather to come to Texas to work.

The Meixner family got off the train in Texas after 35 days of traveling.  This time frame came from my cousin Henry Meixner who said he heard the story from his father Frank, Jr. I'm assuming this is the time from their homeland to Texas.

Finally the Meixner family was ready to settle down in Texas and their long journey was over.

Next:  Texas, Their New Home

References:

1) Google Maps

2) James L Hailey and Christopher Long, "Robertson County," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcr09), accessed August 20, 2012.  Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

3) James L. Hailey, "Hearne, TX: Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hfho2), accessed August 27, 2012.  Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

4) Robertson County books, Masters Theses -  Early Development of Robertson County, by Ivory Freeman Carson, 1954, North Texas State College Master's Thesis, taken from U.S. GenWeb Project - hosted by Roots Web an Ancestry.com community.

5) Hearne, by Melissa Freeman, Copyright 2012, Published by Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, S.C.

Meixner Family History #10 - The Journey (Part 5)

In late August, 1881, the Meixner Family was at Castle Garden in New York harbor.  They were ready to make a new life in their newly adopted homeland.  But realizing their dream was not easy.

Castle Garden was the entry point for emigrants coming to the United States, the melting pot of the world.  In 1881 some 455,600 immigrants came to the United States.

Collection of Maggie Land Blanck.
Castle Garden.  Photographed by and Published by B.W. Kilburn - Littleton, N.H., 1891.


There are several accounts about the Meixner's journey that were given to me by relatives.  They are:

 - A child died of typhoid in their homeland.
 - A child died of typhoid on the trip.
 - Once the family was at Castle Garden a crook stole or swindled them out of their money and they were left with only $40.
- The family came to Texas and worked on the Horatio "Rasche" Hearne plantation.

First I think it is very likely the first or second accounts, and possibly both, are true.  If you look at the pattern of ages of the children: 2, 5,6,7,8,10.  The gap between 2 and 5 is obvious.  Given the frequency of births at that time in history and the gap between these two ages, I think it is quite possible a child was born between those two children.  Also, it is quite possible a child was born after the child that was then age 2 and a half.  Possibly Theresia was pregnant and lost the child at birth on the trip or maybe they had a small baby that died on the trip.  Those things I don't know but it would not be unusual for them to have lost a child by this time due to the high mortality rates of that era.

The third  story above I had always discounted a little just because I didn't think they would let that happen.  In reading stories in the New York Times newspaper and other accounts of the time I can better understand how that could have happened.  These accounts tell of large numbers of people that stayed around Castle Garden working every type of thievery and swindling that you can imagine.

The last story has always held the most mystery for me.  Why did they come to Texas?  Through the years, as I did research, I became quite puzzled as to why this family would come to Texas number one and secondly why would Frank be working on a man's plantation instead of having his own farm.  The majority of immigrants from the area they came from settled in Wisconsin and Minnesota.  Very few came to Texas.  Many Germans from other areas came to Texas but not ones from this area of Bohemia and usually they started farming their own farm or farmed for others.

Only last week I e-mailed my cousin Claudia Brown.  She is Alberta (Meixner) Neve's daughter.  Alberta is my dad's younger sister and was known to me as Aunt Peaches.  Claudia has been researching longer than I have and we used to collaborate on researching our family history.  I mentioned to her I was doing a blog and told her about my desire to know why the Meixner family came to Texas.  Well to my surprise she wrote me back with the answer.  Here is the story she sent to me written as she had heard it from her mother:

 "The story goes like this:  When they landed in New York on the SS Ohio, they were taken by some con artists who came to them, spoke their language, and said, 'Let us exchange your money for you.  You can't spend this money in America.  We will bring you American money.'  Well, they didn't come back.  Grandmother Meixner (Theresa) had some money hidden in between the quilts she had packed to bring to America and they survived on it for a while."  

When I did my post a couple weeks ago I did not know this story.  I did not include in the description of the trip through Castle Garden about the exchanging of money, the legitimate exchange.  There were legitimate people on site that did money exchange at a discounted rate that allowed them to make money off the transaction and converted the immigrant's money into dollars.  However, articles in the newspapers of the time and other first person accounts talked about the fact the new immigrants could not speak our language and did not always know what was going on.  They were barraged by people trying to sell them things and trying to swindle them in some way.  If someone came to them and spoke to them in their language and offered to help exchange their money for U.S. dollars I can see they could easily have been taken in.  They knew they had to convert their money and would have thought this was what they needed to do. I can see how this very easily could happen and how it must have happened to thousands of immigrants.

Caption:  "Castle Garden"
Source:  Puck Magazine
Date:  June 14, 1882
Artist:  Frank Opper

"The prevalence there of various cheats and swindlers was one of the principal arguments for development of Ellis Island in 1892."

museum.msu.edu/exhibitions/virtual/immigrationandcaricatue/exhibitionsection.html

Now the second part of the story:

  "A man from Hearne, Texas named "Rasche" Hearne owned a plantation.  1881 was enough years after the end of the Civil War that the field hands who stayed with their masters after being freed had died out, and the young ones had left the farm, so to speak.  Mr. Hearne went to new York City to recruit farm hands from the scores of immigrants who were coming to America and would pay passage on the train to Texas.  Some how Frank Meixner got in on this deal.  They rode the train from New York to Waco (per Herman Meixner who heard the story from his father Frank Meixner, Jr.)  and then took wagons and buggies to Hearne.  Hearne, Texas is named after the Hearne plantation.  They lived and worked on the cotton farm."

Remember in the last post I wrote about the Labor Exchange at Castle Garden.  My guess is that Hearne went to the Labor Exchange and Frank, desperate for a job now that his money was gone, went to the Labor Exchange and received an offer of work from Mr. Hearne.

Print Collection of Maggie Land Blanck.

The Labor Exchange - Emigrants on the Battery in Front of Castle Garden, New York.  Harper's Weekly, August15, 1868.


This is an amazing story.  Think about it.  A random act by a swindler in New York City is probably the reason I am here today.  If Frank had not lost his money and had to take a job with Mr. Hearne and maybe gone on to Minnesota I would not be here.  WOW!!!  Let that sink in a little.  Who knows but it is very interesting to think about.

Next time we'll continue the 1650 mile journey across the United States and finally get the Meixner family to Texas.

Google Maps

Reference:
maggieblanck.com/immigration
Immigration, Dennis Wepman, New York, N.Y.: Facts on File Inc. , Copywright 2008.