The English translation of the full name was "Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas". Organized in 1842 by 21 German nobleman, the society represents a significant effort to establish a new Germany on Texas soil by means of an organized mass emigration. In 1842 it sent two of its members to investigate purchasing land for the settlement of German immigrants. In January 1843 they purchased their first tract of land, in what is now Fayette County, near Industry. It consisted of 4,428 acres. The first group of immigrants arrived in Texas in December 1844, no preparations had been made for their arrival. Eventually the first colony was established on land at Comal Springs, and named New Braunfels.
In November 1845 preparations began for the arrival of 4,000 immigrants for their second colony, Fredericksburg, which was officially established in 1846. It was in 1846 that my father's ancestors arrived. Frederich Ernst Findt was my father's third great grandfather, and he was close to 60 years of age by the time he and his wife Marie Sophia Pfeffer arrived in Texas. Their oldest, possibly only, son Daniel Findt also came to Texas in connection with the Adelsverein as a single man. He was born 11/17/1827 and was married 4/1/1853 to Wilhelmine Michaelis.
This hard working group of German immigrants settled with others of their kind in an area of Central Texas between Austin and Houston.
Daniel Find, born 11/17/1827 in Germany, married Wilhelmine Michaelis 4/1/1853, she was also born in Germany. They had at least nine children, we descend from Karl or Charles Find, born 12/9/1856 in New Ulm, Texas. Sometime before 1888 Karl married Bertha Marie Schramm, born 1859 in Texas. Our ancestor, Ernest Find, was born 3/16/1896 in Wharton, Texas. His father Karl died when Ernest was just a few years old on 10/1/1899. There is no indication his mother ever remarried, she died in 1936.
I have not been able to locate a marriage record, but Ernest Find and Alice E. Burttschell had their first child in 9/1917, when Alice was just 15 years old. According to the census they lived with Ernest's mother. Alice gave birth to my grandfather,Thurman J. Find, 3/14/1919 in Nada, Colorado Co., Texas. Alice and Ernest had at least one more child before they split up. I do not know the story behind it, but some how Alice and the kids ended up in Merced, California. At the time this was a small farming community and it is my understanding Alice may have been married a couple more times. She died 12/1/1950 in Merced, her surname at the time was Odom.
My father, Ronald P. Finn, was mostly German on the paternal side of his family tree, and largely Scotch-Irish, but with a mix of English and northern European ancestors that were common to families that came to this country before the American Revolution, on the maternal side of his tree. Speaking in generalities, both ethnic groups have been known to enjoy alcoholic beverages, and more specifically, he had a number of ancestors who were known to drink too much or too often. This included his father, Thurman J. Finn, who was a heavy drinker until his second wife, Winnie Finn, managed to turn him away from alcohol and towards the church. Thurman Finn's mother was an alcoholic and continued to drink until she died, before the age of fifty. Ronald Paul Finn, son of Thurman J. Finn, died less than six months after his father died, at just fifty-five years of age, due to the effects of a lifetime of drinking.