LEHMAN
FAMILY HISTORY
by Vanessa Burzynski
Daniel Lehman was born to Gottfried and Anna Rosina Lehman on March 20, 1812 in Silesia, Prussia. His parents were from Friedersdorf, Laubnitz, Prussia. Daniel Lehman emigrated with his parents and his siblings Friederick, August, Moritz, Ernestine, Wilhelm and Samuel Lehman from the Port of Bremen, Germany on September 4, 1846 on the ship Louise and arrived at the Port of Galveston, Texas on November 2, 1846 which possibly went on to Indianola. They had travelled to join the Prince Solms Colony in Texas. He was one of the first settlers to arrive at Sandy Creek in Bastrop County, Texas from Germany. Daniel was accompanied by his wife Johanna Erdmuth and his children John Traugott "Ernst" Lehman, Auguste, Caroline and Pauline. Daniel Lehman purchased 175 acres in Bastrop County,Texas on January 31, 1857 and eventually built a log cabin. On June 10, 1858 John T. Lehman married Maria Anna Eichhorn. They had 5 sons, Julius Lehman, Philip Lehman, Charles Lehman, John Lehman and Martin Lehman. Maria Lehman died in 1871 shortly after Martin Lehman was born. She is buried in Meuth Hill Cemetery in Bastrop County, Texas. John T. Lehman later married Rosina Brasch and they had a daughter named Mary. After the Sacred Heart Catholic Church burned down in 1891 John T. Lehman donated 10 acres of land in Rockne, Texas to the church where it was rebuilt and where it still stands today. John’s youngest son Martin Lehman was Postmaster for the town of Rockne which was then called Lehmanville. He also ran a small general store. John T. Lehman died on July 14, 1892 and was the first person to be buried in the Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery.
Daniel's brother Ernst Moritz Lehman also came with him to Bastrop County, Texas in 1846 but later moved to Fredericksburg, in Mason County, Texas. Ernst Moritz Lehman married Augusta Johanna Adams in 1849. His sons Herman and Willie Lehman were captured near their home in Squaw Creek by Indians on May 16, 1870. Willie managed to escape after 9 days but Herman Lehman remained with the Apache and Commanche Indians for 9 years before returning home to his family on May 12, 1878. Herman Lehman was adopted by Quanah Parker, a well-known Commanche chief. In 1901 the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs declared him a Commanche Indian by Act of Congress and was entitled to 160 acres of land near Grandfield, Oklahoma as requested by the "Tribal Business Council". He lived there with his wife and children until he left them in 1926 and moved back to Loyal Valley where he died of pneumonia in 1932.
Augusta Adams's parents were Jacob & Petronelle Adams from Chelmo, Poland. They had 2 sons and 3 daughters. Augusta was 13 years old when she came to America, the eldest child. The others were August Jacob, Petronelle Dorthe, Emilie Marie, and Gustav Adolph the youngest being only 3 months old. They joined the Adelsverein (Society of Noblemen) to immigrate to America and the land of milk and honey. They boarded the ship Johanna in the Port of Bremen on October 12, 1846. Their ship was loaded with nearly 200 passengers. They encountered bad weather and it took 2 months to cross the Atlantic. Food and water ran out and many passengers became ill and died. Her mother died and was buried at sea. The ship landed in the Port of Indianola, Texas on December 22, 1846. There was a heavy backlog of immigrants waiting transportation inland and housing. No livable housing was available and a cholera epidemic had killed 100 people. Her father located an ox-cart for which he paid dearly and headed with another family to New Braunfels, Texas. Although barely a teenager, Augusta was responsible for keeping house in the one room cabin and looking after her younger siblings. Later her father took ill and died. The children were split up between neighbors. She worked as a hired domestic to help support her family. At the age of 16, she married Ernst Mortiz Lehman. Her husband died in 1862 and in 1863 she married Philip Buchmeier. After Indians had raided their home a second time in 1870 they moved to Loyal Valley where they owned the Stagecoach Inn. Soon after moving Indians burned their previous house to the ground. These were the same Indians that had captured two of her sons, Herman and Willie Lehman. They are all buried in the Loyal Valley Cemetery which is in Mason County, Texas.
Bibliography
Sources:
Solms-Braunfels Archives, The University of Texas by Prof. Rudolph Leopold Biesele
(1934)
"Rockne: Sacred Heart Parish, Bastrop
County, Texas 1876-1976" by Rev.
Alois J. Goertz published
by the Rockne Historical
Association (1976) updated in 1996
"A New Land Beckoned: German Immigration
to Texas, 1844-1847" by Chester
William and Ethel Hander Geue
"Pioneers in God's Hills Vol. 1" published by the Gillespie County Historical Society
(1960)
"Nine Years Among the Indians
1870-1879" by Herman Lehmann
(1927) republished in 1993 and 1999
"The Last Captive" by A. C. Greene
"The Life Story of John Martin Lehman"
by Martin Lehman (1940)