Editing Gillespie County, Texas (section)

==History==
Early native inhabitants were the [[Tonkawa]], [[Comanche]], [[Kiowa]], and [[Lipan Apache people|Lipan Apache]] peoples.<ref name="Gillespie County, Texas"/>  In 1842, the [[Adelsverein]] organized in Germany to promote emigration to Texas.<ref>{{cite web|last=Brister|first=Louis E.|title=Adelsverein|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ufa01|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref> The [[Fisher–Miller Land Grant]] set aside three million acres (12,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) to settle 600 families and single men of [[Germans|German]], [[Dutch people|Dutch]], [[Swiss people|Swiss]], [[Danish people|Danish]], [[Swedish people|Swedish]], and [[Norwegian people|Norwegian]] ancestry in Texas.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ramos|first=Mary G|title=The German Settlements in Central Texas|url=http://www.texasalmanac.com/history/highlights/german/|work=Texas Almanac|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207191825/http://www.texasalmanac.com/history/highlights/german/|archive-date=February 7, 2011}}</ref>
[[Henry Francis Fisher]] sold his interest in the land grant to the Adelsverein in 1844.<ref name="Gillespie County, Texas"/> [[Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels]] secured the title to {{convert|1265|acre|km2}} of the Veramendi grant the next year, including the Comal Springs and River, for the Adelsverein. Thousands of German immigrants were stranded at port of disembarkation, [[Indianola, Texas|Indianola]], on [[Matagorda Bay]]. With no food or shelters, living in holes dug into the ground, an estimated 50% die from disease or starvation. The living began to walk to their destinations hundreds of miles away. About 200 German colonists, who walked from Indianola, founded the town of [[New Braunfels, Texas|New Braunfels]] at the crossing of the San Antonio-Nacodoches Road on the [[Guadalupe River (Texas)|Guadalupe River]]. [[John O. Meusebach]] arrived in [[Galveston, Texas|Galveston]]. The first wagon train of 120 settlers arrived from New Braunfels. Surveyor Hermann Wilke laid out the town. Meusebach named it [[Fredericksburg, Texas|Fredericksburg]], in honor of [[Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (1828–85)|Prince Frederick of Prussia]].<ref name="Gillespie County, Texas">{{cite web|last=Kohout|first=Martin Donnell|title=Gillespie County, Texas|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcg04|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Indianola, Texas|url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasGhostTowns/IndianolaTexas/IndianolaTx.htm|publisher=Blueprints For Travel, LLC|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Block|first=W T|title=The Story of our Texas' German Pilgrims|url=http://www.texasescapes.com/WTBlock/Texas-German-Pilgrims-Death-March-to-Comal-County.htm|publisher=Blueprints For Travel, LLC|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Near River Crossing Used by New Braunfels' First Settlers – New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas|url=http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5091003561|publisher=William Nienke, Sam Morrow|access-date=November 13, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718162217/http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5091003561|archive-date=July 18, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Meusebach, John O">{{cite web|last=Smith|first=Cornelia Marshall|title=Meusebach, John O|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fme33|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010|author2=Tetzlaff, Otto W}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Kohout|first=Martin Donnell|title=Fredericksburg, Texas|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hff03|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref>

In 1847, the [[Meusebach–Comanche Treaty]] was made. About 150 settlers petitioned the Texas Legislature to establish a new county, suggested names "Pierdenales" or "Germania". The ''Vereins Kirche'' became the first public building in Fredericksburg. It served as a nondenominational church, school, town hall, and fort. Locals referred to it as “the Coffee Mill Church” for its shape. [[Wilhelm Victor Keidel]] was the county's first doctor. Mormon leader [[Lyman Wight]] founded the community of Zodiac.<ref>{{cite web|title=Comanche Indian Treaty|url=http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5411000991|publisher=William Nienke, Sam Morrow|access-date=November 13, 2010|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718162232/http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5411000991|archive-date=July 18, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Signers of Petition to Create Gillespie County December<!--SIC--> 15, 1847|url=http://www.txgenweb2.org/txgillespie/signers.htm|publisher=Texas Gen Web|access-date=November 13, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728141632/http://www.txgenweb2.org/txgillespie/signers.htm|archive-date=July 28, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Kohout|first=Martin Donnell|title=Vereins-Kirche |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ccv01|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref>

The Legislature formed Gillespie County from [[Bexar County, Texas|Bexar]] and [[Travis County, Texas|Travis]] Counties in 1848. They named it after [[Tennessee]] transplant Capt. [[Robert Addison Gillespie]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ |title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States |publisher=Govt. Print. Off. |author=Gannett, Henry |year=1905 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n136 137]}}</ref> a hero of the 1846 [[Battle of Monterrey]] in the [[Mexican–American War]]. Fredericksburg became the county seat.

[[Fort Martin Scott]] was established in 1848 at Barons Creek, a Pedernales tributary.<ref>{{cite web|last=Spurlin|first=Charles D|title=Gillespie, Robert Addison |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fgi23|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Brooks Jr|first=Paul R M|title=Fort Martin Scott|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qbf33|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref>
An angry mob of soldiers burned down the store-courthouse in 1850, destroying all county records. The melee apparently started when County Clerk John M. Hunter, who also owned the store, refused to sell whiskey to a soldier. Words were exchanged, and Hunter stabbed the soldier; about 50 soldiers stormed and burned the store, destroying all contents. Soldiers prevented townspeople from saving the county records.<ref>{{cite web|title=Angry soldiers burn Fredericksburg store, destroying early Gillespie County records |url=https://tshaonline.org/day-by-day/30442|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019085801/http://www.tshaonline.org/day-by-day/30442|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 19, 2012|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Beverly|first=Travis Wooster|title=Gillespie County Records Destroyed|url=http://www.txgenweb2.org/txgillespie/GillCoRe1850.html|publisher=Texas Gen Web|access-date=November 13, 2010|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728141636/http://www.txgenweb2.org/txgillespie/GillCoRe1850.html|archive-date=July 28, 2011}}</ref>

John O. Meusebach was elected to the Texas Senate in 1851 to represent Bexar, Comal, and Medina Counties,<ref name="Meusebach, John O" /> and in 1854, received a special appointment as commissioner from [[Elisha M. Pease|Governor Elisha M. Pease]] to issue land certificates to those immigrants of 1845 and 1846 who had been promised them by the Adelsverein. The Texas State Convention of Germans met in San Antonio and adopted a political, social, and religious platform, including: Equal pay for equal work, direct election of the President of the United States, abolition of capital punishment, "Slavery is an evil, the abolition of which is a requirement of democratic principles", free schools – including universities – supported by the state, without religious influence, and total separation of church and state.<ref name="Meusebach, John O"/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Biesele|first=R L|title=The Texas State Convention of Germans in 1854|journal=The Southwestern Historical Quarterly|date=April 1930|volume=XXXIII|issue=24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Nimitz, Charles and Sophia|url=http://www.fbgtxgensoc.org/photos/sta6/pages/Nimitz,Charles&Sophia_jpg.html|work=Der Stadt Friedhof|publisher=Gillespie County Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref>

In 1852, [[Bremen]] seaman [[Charles Henry Nimitz]], grandfather of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, built the Nimitz Hotel in Fredericksburg. In 1870, he added a steamboat-shaped façade.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kohout|first=Martin Donnell|title=Nimitz, Charles Henry|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fni04|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Nimitz Hotel|url=http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5171010089|publisher=William Nienke, Sam Morrow|access-date=November 13, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707071722/http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5171010089|archive-date=July 7, 2011}}</ref>

Surveyor [[Jacob Kuechler]] was commissioned as a captain by [[Sam Houston]] to enroll state militia troops in Gillespie County. Texas [[Ordinance of Secession|seceded]] from the Union in 1861, and joined the [[Confederate States of America]], and Houston was dismissed from office in March by the Confederacy. Gillespie County voted 400 -17 against [[Texas in the American Civil War|secession]] from the Union. Unionists from Kerr, Gillespie, and Kendall Counties participated in the formation of the [[Union League]], a secret organization to support [[Abraham Lincoln|President Abraham Lincoln's]] policies. Kuechler signed up only German Unionists in his frontier company, and was dismissed by [[Francis Lubbock|Governor Francis R. Lubbock]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Moneyhon  |first=Charles H|title=The Union League|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/wau01|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=McGuire  |first=James Patrick|title=Kkuechler, Jacob|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fku01|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref>

In 1862, 54 Gillespie County men joined the Confederate Army. Eventually, 300 enlisted with the CSA to avoid conscription. The Union League formed companies to protect the frontier against Indians and their families against local Confederate forces. [[Conscientious objectors]] to the military draft were primarily among [[Tejanos]] and Germans. Confederate authorities imposed martial law on Central Texas. The [[Nueces massacre]] occurred in [[Kinney County, Texas|Kinney County]]. Jacob Kuechler served as a guide for 61 conscientious objectors attempting to flee to Mexico.  [[Scottish people|Scottish]]-born Confederate irregular James Duff and his [[Texas Civil War Confederate units|Duff's Partisan Rangers]] pursued and overtook them at the [[Nueces River]]; 34 were killed, some executed after being taken prisoner. Jacob Kuechler survived the battle. The cruelty shocked the people of Gillespie County. About 2,000 took to the hills to escape Duff's reign of terror.

The [[Treue der Union Monument|''Treue der Union'' Monument]] ("Loyalty to the Union") in Comfort was dedicated in 1866 to the Texans slain at the Nueces massacre. It is the only monument to the Union other than the National Cemeteries on Confederate territory. It is one of only six such sites allowed to fly the United States flag at half-mast in perpetuity.<ref>{{cite web|title=Treue der Union Monument|url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasHistory/Treue-Der-Union-Loyalty-to-the-Union.htm|publisher=Blueprints For Travel, LLC|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=List of Dead-Treue Der Union Monument|url=http://www.txgenweb2.org/txkendall/treue.htm|publisher=Texas Gen Web|access-date=November 13, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226175800/http://www.txgenweb2.org/txkendall/treue.htm|archive-date=February 26, 2012}}</ref> Spring Creek Cemetery near [[Harper, Texas|Harper]] in Gillespie County has a singular grave with the names Sebird Henderson, Hiram Nelson, Gus Tegener, and Frank Scott. The inscription reads “Hanged and thrown in Spring Creek by Col. James Duff’s Confederate Regiment.” <ref>{{cite web|last=Shook |first= Robert W. |title=Duff, James|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fdu06|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Spring Creek Cemetery|url=http://www.txgenweb2.org/txgillespie/spring.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202123507/http://www.txgenweb2.org/txgillespie/spring.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 2, 2008|publisher=Texas Gen Web|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref>

[[Kiowa]] raiders massacred residents of the McDonald farm in the Harper vicinity in 1864.<ref>{{cite web|title=Site of the McDonald Massacre |url=http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5171010077 |publisher=William Nienke, Sam Morrow |access-date=November 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928144304/http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5171010077 |archive-date=September 28, 2011 }}</ref> During 1865, Gillespie County suffered a war-time crime wave, as 17 individuals were convicted of murder.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fugutives from Justice|url=http://www.txgenweb2.org/txgillespie/fugitives.html|publisher=Texas Gen Web|access-date=November 13, 2010|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003175007/http://www.txgenweb2.org/txgillespie/fugitives.html|archive-date=October 3, 2011}}</ref>

In 1870, [[Herman Lehmann]] and his brother Willie were captured by Apaches, but Willie escaped within days.<ref name="Nine Years Among the Indians, 1870-1879: The Story of the Captivity and Life of a Texan Among the Indians">{{cite book |last=Lehmann |first=Herman |last2=Hunter |first2=J Marvin |last3=Giese |first3=Dale F |title =Nine Years Among the Indians, 1870–1879: The Story of the Captivity and Life of a Texan Among the Indians |url=https://archive.org/details/nineyearsamongin00herm |url-access=registration |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-8263-1417-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Savage Life Of Herman Lehmann |publisher=Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC. |author=Hudspeth, Brewster |url=http://www.texasescapes.com/They-Shoe-Horses-Dont-They/The-Savage-Life-of-Herman-Lehmann.htm |access-date=April 30, 2010}} Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC.</ref> Herman Lehmann, escorted by soldiers, was finally returned to his family in 1878.<ref name="Nine Years Among the Indians, 1870-1879: The Story of the Captivity and Life of a Texan Among the Indians"/>

In 1881, Gillespie County became the first county in Texas to hold a fair.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gillespie County Fair|url=http://www.gillespiefair.com/aboutus.htm|access-date=November 13, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117170056/http://www.gillespiefair.com/aboutus.htm|archive-date=January 17, 2010}}</ref>

From 1874 to 1875, Andreas Lindig built the county's first lime kiln.<ref>{{cite web|title=Site of The Andreas Lindig Lime Kiln |url=http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5171010071 |publisher=William Nienke, Sam Morrow |access-date=November 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928144334/http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5171010071 |archive-date=September 28, 2011 }}</ref>
The original Gillespie County Courthouse was constructed in 1882; it later became the Pioneer Memorial Library.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gillespie County Courthouse |publisher=Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC. |url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasHillCountryTowns/Fredericksburg-Texas-Gillespie-County-Courthouse.htm |access-date=April 30, 2010}} Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC.</ref>

[[Chester W. Nimitz]], future [[Commander in Chief]], [[United States Pacific Fleet]], was born in 1885 in Fredericksburg. His father, Chester B. Nimitz, died before his birth, leaving his seaman grandfather as role model.<ref>{{cite book|last=Potter|first=Elmer Belmont|title=Nimitz|year=2008|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-1-59114-580-6|page=26}}</ref>
John O. Meusebach died at his farm at [[Loyal Valley, Texas|Loyal Valley]] in [[Mason County, Texas|Mason County]] on May 27, 1897, and was buried in the Marschall Meusebach Cemetery at [[Cherry Spring, Texas|Cherry Spring]].<ref name="Meusebach, John O"/>

In 1908, future President of the United States [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] was born in a small farmhouse on the [[Pedernales River]]. Johnson became the [[Vice President of the United States]] in 1961 and subsequently [[President of the United States]]. His ranch at Stonewall was known as the Texas White House. Tourism became an important industry.<ref name="President Lyndon B. Johnson's Biography">{{cite web|title=President Lyndon B. Johnson's Biography |url=http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/biographys.hom/lbj_bio.asp|publisher=LBJ Library|access-date=November 13, 2010|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118090054/http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/biographys.hom/lbj_bio.asp|archive-date=January 18, 2012}}</ref> [[Ranch Road 1]] was designated in 1963. On January 22, 1973, President Johnson died at his [[Stonewall, Texas|Stonewall]] ranch. He, and later [[Lady Bird Johnson]], were laid to rest at the family cemetery on the ranch.<ref name="President Lyndon B. Johnson's Biography"/>

The Gillespie County Historical Society was formed in 1934,<ref>{{cite web|title=Gillespie County Historical Society|url=http://www.pioneermuseum.net/|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref> and the [[Pedernales Electric Cooperative]] was formed to provide rural electrification four years later.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wentsch|first=  George |title=Pedernales Electric Cooperative|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/dpp02|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref>
In 1948, the county began its annual Easter Fire event to commemorate the Meusebach treaty signing.<ref>{{cite web|title=History of the Easter Fires|url=http://texaslesstraveled.com/easter_fires.htm|publisher=Texas Less Traveled|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref>

Admiral Nimitz died February 20, 1966. The next February, the Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Memorial Naval Museum opened in the old Nimitz Hotel on Main Street in Fredericksburg.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pacific War Museum |url=http://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/PlanYourVisit.asp |access-date=November 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101109233703/http://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/PlanYourVisit.asp |archive-date=November 9, 2010 }}</ref>

The [[Japanese Garden of Peace]], a gift from the people of Japan, was dedicated on the 130th anniversary of the founding of Fredericksburg at the Nimitz Museum on May 8, 1976.<ref name="Nimitz Museum">{{cite web|last=Kohout |first= Martin Donell |title=Nimitz Museum|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/gkn02|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref> In 1981, the state legislature placed the Nimitz Museum under [[Texas Parks and Wildlife Department]] as [[Admiral Nimitz State Historic Site|the National Museum of the Pacific War]].<ref name="Nimitz Museum"/>

The [[State of Texas]]  opened [[Enchanted Rock|Enchanted Rock State Natural Area]] after adding facilities in 1984. That same year, it is also added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]],<ref name="Enchanted Rock State Natural Area">{{cite web|last=Kohout |first=Martin Donell |title=Enchanted Rock State Natural Area|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/gie01|work=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref>

The Texas White House officially opened to the public August 27, 2008.<ref name="President Lyndon B. Johnson's Biography"/> In 2009, the [[George H.W. Bush|George H. W. Bush Gallery]] opened at the Nimitz museum.<ref name="Nimitz Museum"/>