Esther May VON ROSENBERG

Notes:

“Esther was born in Austin, baptized there in St. David’s Episcopal Church and confirmed in All Saints’ Chapel some years later. She learned her A B C’s at the private kindergarten and primary school of Miss Numbers. In 1904 she entered the private Whitis Prepatory School, affiliated with the University of Texas, and graduated in Jun 1911. She entered the University of Texas that fall and was soon initiated into the National Sorority, Pi Beta Phi.

“In September 1913 she entered the Domestic Science Department of Newcomb College, the co-ed division of Tulane University in New Orleans, La. There she affiliated with the Newcomb chapter of Pi Beta Phi. Weekends were for social life and taking advantage of the cultural side of that historical city, such as attending the French Opera, concerts, ballets, and the theater.

“The next year Esther elected to stay at home to join in the social life of young ladies. In 1916 she was a charter member of the Settlement Club, a charitable organization composed of her friends, that is still in existence. World War I found her helping with Red Cross work and other activities associated with the war effort and later taking part in civic and cultural projects. She is still an active member of the Austin Art League, Group II, organized in 1925, a small social and study group of old-time friends.

“From 1943 through 1947 she held a War Service position in the Austin Post Office. During the Korean War she was called back on War Service, remaining until 1963. The year 1973 finds her and her single brother living in the family home in Austin.”

Buried:
Sec 3, Lot 1160

Notes:

“Frederick Charles von Rosenberg, though not tall, carried himself with military bearing. His face, especially the large blue eyes, expressed intellectual vigor. He attended private schools in Austin until he entered the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, graduating in 1884 at seventeen with scholastic and military honors. In 1884-1885 he studied law at the University of Texas and helped organize Tau chapter of Kappa Sigma, a national Greek-letter college fraternity.

“The next two years he studied civil engineering at Maryland Military and Naval Academy, Oxford, Maryland, where he was student assistant in English, cadet colonel and assistant commandant. He entered the School of Law at Georgetown University in Washington, D. C., in October, 1887. At this time he became a charter member of the “President’s Troop,” District of Columbia National Guard. The summer vacation of 1888 was spent as a civil engineer with a silver mining company in Chihuahua, Mexico.

“The year 1889 had special import for him for in that year he received his Bachelor of Law Degree from Georgetown University and was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the Dist. of Columbia on May 13. He was elected Worthy Grand Master of the national organization of Kappa Sigma, and received as a graduation gift from his father a four month’s tour of Europe. In 1889 he also began his long and successful legal career in Austin.

“Frederick specialized in land title practice for which his engineering education particularly fitted him. Under Governor Campbell, he served as Chairman of the Board for the State School for the Blind, and later Chairman of the State Mining Board, resigning to fill an unexpired term as Commissioner of Insurance and Banking.

“On December 19, 1892, in Boise City, Idaho, Frederick married Miss Nina Electa Stephens, daughter of Dr. John Livingston Stephens and Cordelia Beatrice Greene-Stephens. Two children were born to them, Esther May and Frederick Gotthardt. Frederick Charles was confirmed in the Episcopal Church April 5, 1903, and for 28 years served as a vestryman of his parish church. He was a member of the A. A. S. R. Freemasonry, Thirty-Second Degree, and the Shrine.

“We quote from ‘The Austin American’ newspaper for November 18, 1931: ‘Fundamentally he believed in constitutional government and constitutional liberty. His ideals were of the highest and his practices of the best. He was cultured, dignified, broadminded, a man of sturdy convictions but ever generous in his charity and his criticism and his belief in justice between man and man.’”

Died:
at the Littlefield Building

Frederick married Nina Electa STEPHENS on 19 Dec 1892 in Boise, Ada, Idaho, USA. Nina (daughter of Dr. John Livingston STEPHENS and Cordelia Beatrice GREENE) was born on 28 Feb 1872 in Boise, Ada, Idaho Territory, USA; died on 6 Feb 1966 in Austin, Travis, Texas, USA; was buried on 8 Feb 1966 in Oakwood Cemetery, Austin, Travis, Texas, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

“Nina Electa Stephens-von Rosenberg possessed something of the spirit of her pioneer parents and grandparents, for when she was only nineteen she married and left her home in the far northwest to begin life in Austin, Texas, as the beautiful and charming young wife of Frederick Charles von Rosenberg. Her quiet charm, gentleness of character and agreeable personality soon won for her a warm place in the large family connections of her husband.

“Her father was Dr. John Livingston Stephens, who moved from his home state of Pennsylvania to begin a medical career in the progressive western town of Boise, Idaho. He became a prosperous and eminent physician, establishing a sanatorium at Warm Springs, Idaho. He maintained a beautiful home in the city, which was furnished in the manner of his ancestral home in Pennsylvania.

“Her mother’s parents were pioneers, also of the west. For, although they had been prosperous plantation owners in Louisiana and Alabama before the Civil War, cultured and educated in the professions-they moved to Idaho after the close of the war. Her maternal grandfather, John Hoyt Taylor Greene, supported the Confederacy and was a blood cousin of General Nathaniel Greene of American Revolutionary War fame. Her maternal grandmother was a Wilcox, descended from some of the distinguished old families of Alabama and South Carolina.

“When her mother died, Nina was only five years old. From that time until she was about thirteen, when her father remarried, she made her home with her grandparents. She was confirmed in the Episcopal Church at the age of fourteen. About the time she was sixteen her stepmother, of whom she was very fond, took her to Washington, D. C., to place her in school. It was there in 1888 that Nina met her future husband.

“Perhaps her most outstanding characteristics are her cheerfulness and kindness. Her soft brown eyes, delicate, regular features and lovely wavy hair seem to suit perfectly her small stature. The atmosphere of her home reflects this cheerfulness and even temper, tact and hospitality. Her son and daughter, Frederick and Esther, live with her in the family home.”

on Palm Sunday

Died:
at 7:30 p.m. at her residence, 1500 Lorrain St.

Notes:

Married:
Records on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org indicate 19 Dec 1893

Notes:

Carl Wilhelm, son of Peter Carl and Johanna von Rosenberg, was born on his father's estate, Eckitten, near Memel, East Prussia. He was tall, with piercing brown eyes and dark or brown hair.

Upon completing the course at the Memel high school, Wilhelm served as a government surveyor's apprentice. In 1838 he was employed as private secretary to an administrative land official and accompanied him to Saxony. He held this position until 1841. Wilhelm then entered the army and served his time as a soldier until 1844, when he was appointed lieutenant in the reserves.

Upon completing that assignment in June 1849, he was promptly discharged, proscribed because of outspoken democratic ideas and barred from further employment with the Royal Prussian government. This was during the time of political upheaval in Germany leaned toward despotism. Rather than have him receive a dishonorable discharge, Wilhelm's major allowed him to resign his commission as lieutenant in the Prussian Reserve Army.

Wilhelm realized that he would always be opposed by governmental influences because of his liberal ideas, so, like many other cultured Germans of that period, he chose a career in America. At that, his father tried to dissuade him, believing that the princely despotism would surely not last long. Therein he erred. Being liberal and democratic father Peter Carl himself may well have been having difficulties and, with his family, suffering unpleasantness. At any rate, they were all deeply attached to one another and concluded that all should emigrate together and seek happiness under freer institutions.

Wilhelm married Auguste Anders near Berlin shortly before sailing. The group of eleven landed in Galveston, Texas, in December, 1849.

Early in 1850 William purchased a small farm, part of Nassau Plantation, owned by his father, near Round Top, Fayette County. He farmed for six years, learned the English language and in 1855 became a citizen of the United States. Being a skilled draftsman, he was called upon to draw a design for the Fayette County Courthouse in La Grange. This work gave such general satisfaction that he was recommended by American friends to the Commissioner of the General Land Office of Texas. In consequence, William sold his farm and moved to Austin in April, 1856. He was appointed draftsman at the first vacancy in October.

In the meantime he made drawings of homes and buildings. His drawing of the Harrell home, one of the earliest in Austin, had hung in the Memorial Museum. He also made a drawing of the old Capitol, copies of which were in possession of several members of this family. It is his pencil drawings of Eckitten that we reproduced in the first von Rosenberg book (blue).

The land office then occupied a small frame building in the Capitol yard. In 1861 he was appointed chief draftsman, which position he held until 1863, when he left to serve as topographical engineer under General J. Bankhead Magruder in the Confederate Army. His rank was Captain, in Hood's Brigade.

Having known of slavery here before coming, William felt it his duty, upon the outbreak of war, to stand with the people of his adopted state. He participated in East Texas skirmishes near Sabine Pass. After the war ended, he resumed his position as Chief Draftsman in the General Land Office until the trying "Reconstruction" period.

Starting from scratch after the war, in order to buy a home for his large family, William borrowed $800 in gold from Jacob de Cardova, a friend in Marlin. In 1871 he built a substantial stone residence on the corner of Sixteenth and Guadalupe Streets, where he resided the remainder of his life. In about 1867 he entered partnership with Major C. R. Johns, J. C. Kirby, and F. Everett in a profitable land agency business, which lasted about ten years. When banking was combined with the land agency, however, the business failed. Broke again through no fault of his, William then opened a land agency of his own in 1877 and did very well. He knew sound engineering principles and advised correctly against the location of a proposed Colorado River dam site.

Once, when a newly arrived German immigrant came to his office, bowing and scraping with "Herr Baron" this and "Herr Baron" that, William declared emphatically, "This is America, where we don't have that." Though politically a Democrat, William ever reserved the right to follow the dictates of his conscience. He never sought nor desired public office. He was solicited to run for the legislature on the Horace Greeley ticket, but opposing Greeley's nomination, declined to enter the race. William von Rosenberg at all times manifested a deep interest in the prosperity and general welfare of Austin and Texas. He took a leading part in establishing the first free school in Austin.

He was tall, erect, and dignified in appearance and of a composed and gentle manner, which his piercing eyes seemed to belie.

He passed away at his home in December, 1901, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Austin.

Buried:
Sec 1, Lot 141

Carl married Auguste Franziska ANDERS on 5 Sep 1849 in Herzberg, Schweinitz, Sachsen, Prussia. Auguste was born on 6 Nov 1825 in Herzberg, Schweinitz, Sachsen, Prussia; died on 6 Oct 1897 in Austin, Travis, Texas, USA; was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Austin, Travis, Texas, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The Anders family made fine cloth, like fine linens. Father Anders was a dashing officer in the Prussian Army, and a heavy bettor on horses. After his marriage he is said to have bet away much of his wife's money, and finally disappeared. It is thought that he came to the United States, but that was never established.

Auguste's mother's people were flour millers in Herzberg, Saxony, and very wealthy. Auguste had two very handsome sisters, one of whom married a Koenig, of Koenig u. Verlag, publishers.

Of medium stature, Auguste herself was beautiful, with brown hair, and liquid blue eyes. A serious, devout girl, she doubtless inherited some typical Prussian sternness of cold countries, where life is hard. Or did the trials of her dear mother make her so earnest and conscientious? It is agreed, however, by all who knew her, that she was genuinely kind, sweet, and generous. Perhaps, too, she chose to share William's feeling of at least partial responsibility for bringing the family to Texas, and therefore a determination to help him make good here.

Aged twenty-four, she was newly married and en route to a strange, rough land, with a life mainly of hardships and pioneering ahead, after probably some affluence and elegance. This must have required courage and determination, and great love and faith. She never saw her beloved mother or sisters, or her homeland again.

A good thing, perhaps, that the next twenty years were far too busy for vain regrets. She bore twelve children during years of pioneering, Civil War, and "Reconstruction" days. And she raised them well; lost but one—little Marie at the age of one and a half years.

She and her dear William helped found St. Martin's Lutheran Church of Austin. She never forgot the prospective positions apparently in store for them in the fatherland at the time of their betrothal. If one considers it a fault, then she was certainly partly responsible for the William von Rosenbergs sometimes being called "those proud, aristocratic von Rosenbergs." Yet with their accomplishments, they surely had a right to hold their heads high. Sweet, patient Grandmother Auguste richly deserved the affluence that came their way in later life.

Her death was caused by apoplexy at the age of seventy-two, and she is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Austin, Texas.

Buried:
Sec 1, Lot 151

Notes:

Dr. Stephens married Ida D. Story in Feb 1884 in Boise, Idaho.

John married Cordelia Beatrice GREENE on 7 Nov 1867 in Boise, Ada, Idaho, USA. Cordelia was born on 22 May 1844 in Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee, USA; died on 4 Nov 1877 in Boise, Ada, Idaho Territory, USA; was buried on 6 Nov 1877 in Pioneer Cemetery, Boise, Ada, Idaho, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
headstone: 4 Nov 1878

Buried:
Block 4 Lot 61 Space 1

Notes:

Peter Carl Johann von Rosenberg was the third son of Otto von Rosenberg and his second wife, Maria Wilhelmine von Stempel-von Rosenberg, of Raddeilen and Eckitten Estates. He was nine years old when his parents were divorced and we know nothing of his early life and education. He enlisted in the Prussian Army at an early ago and at twenty-one he became a lieutenant in the cavalry. He was a member of the Uhlans and on the old scroll he is called a Jager, which was a title given to certain German cavalry regiments.

He later told his grandson Arthur von Rosenberg that in the Battle of Leipzig his horse's mouth was shot away, but he quickly mounted another horse whose rider had been killed.

He fought with the Prussian guards under Bluecher with Wellington. When Napoleon faced the English on Belgian soil at Waterloo, with the remnant of the once-defeated Prussians and the fresh Prussian forces under Bluecher, the tide of the battle turned on June 18, 1815. The histories tell us this Prussian Guard knew how to die but not how to surrender.

The Uhlans fought with lances. They were chiefly employed for reconnoitering, skirmishing, and outpost duty. Originally they were light cavalry. Peter Carl was a Lieutenant in this company at Waterloo, we learn from the old scroll and from letters.

In 1819 he inherited Eckitten Estate after the death of his widowed stepmother, and the same year he married Johanna Dorothea Froelich. They had four children before she died at the age of twenty-nine, six weeks after the birth of Johannes.

Peter Carl was a "Frei Denker" and in the disturbing days of 1848 was severely criticized for his political views. The consequent humiliation of the family was the direct cause of the immigration to Texas.



The family of Carl von Rosenberg departed from Bremen, Germany on 1 Oct 1849 and arrived at Galveston, Texas on 2 Dec 1849. They travelled on the ship Franziska.

Peter married Johanna Dorothea FROELICH on 2 Jun 1819 in Memel, Memel, Ostpreußen, Prussia. Johanna (daughter of Christoph FROELICH, Jr. and Johanna Dorothea VEITHOFER) was born on 12 Jun 1797 in Tilsit, Ostpreußen, Prussia; died on 30 Apr 1826 in Memel, Memel, Ostpreußen, Prussia; was buried in Memel, Memel, Ostpreußen, Prussia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From the Froelich book of 1909--

The very best line that has been established for the Johanna Dorothea Froelich line dates back to three brothers, born near Insterburg in about 1610-Michael, Jacob and Christoph Froelich.

Christoph was our Stamm Vater, according to church archives in Koenigsberg, Insterburg and Ragnit in East Prussia, definitely dating back to 1610. They were all churchly people and the ministry was the choice of men, as found in one generation after another.

The coat of arms is pictured in the Froelich book by Reinhold Froelich. The origin is rather indefinite as twelve different sorts and colors have been found. Reinhold Froelich, the compiler of that book, engaged an expert on heraldry, a Herr von Hasken, who advised him to be satisfied with that one picture as it had been handed down and should be right. The colors were faded but the design surely right.



Johanna Dorothea Froelich was born in Tilsit, East Prussia. Her father was the Pfarrer Christoph Froelich, a devout churchman and very prominent in that town. He died when she was ten years old.

Christoph Froelich had just become a teacher and rector in Memel when he married Johann Dorothea Veithofer in 1793. He lived only fourteen years longer, leaving three children whose ages in 1807 were Christoph thirteen, Johanna ten, and Reinhold six. Christoph soon began his studies in medical school in Koenigsberg; his life was filled with hardships which caused much sadness to his widowed mother.

Little Hannchen lived at home but also spent much time with her Uncle George Froelich and the Aunt Dorothea (Ogilvie) at their beautiful home "Aschoff Estate" near Memel. At Aschoff many children of the family were often invited on weekends to visit Hans, Herman and Heinrich. It was called the "Tummel Platz" of the families' children.

Johanna Dorothea's younger brother, Reinhold, was reared by his mother's beloved stepsister. They spared nothing in the care of this boy and for his education. This Reinhold was the grandfather of the man who published the "Familie Froelich" in 1909. After finishing at the university he served a year in the army, and soon thereafter his uncle died. Then his mother, the Frau Pfarrer Froelich, and his aunt, the Frau Pfarrer Holdschue, bought the estate Paul-Narmund and called young Reinhold to manage it.

He soon married Carolina Allbrecht and had then the opportunity to buy back her family estate Collaten, which had been lost by her father after a war. He bought it for only 12,000 marks, the value being 200,000 marks. This estate was near Paul-Narmund, so he managed both. The home at Collaten was very large. They invited four of Carolina's sisters to live with them and also Tante Holdschue when she was very old. The teacher Schiemann, an old friend of Pfarrer Christoph Froelich in earlier years, was invited to live at Paul-Narmund with the Grandmother Froelich as tutorfor all the grandchildren who spent years at a time with her. Here they had a lovely schoolroom and all the children from neighboring estates such as Eckiten, Colaten and Bertulischken attended. They owed much to this fine man for all the good he inspired in their young minds.

Christoph, the young doctor, married Eleonore von Rosenberg; she brought with her the "Gut" or estate, Bertulischken, the very old von Rosenberg home (possibly Raddeilen). It was later lost by fire, and they suffered many other reverses.

Little Hannchen Froelich married Peter Carl Johann von Rosenberg of Eckitten, and died after seven years of marriage, leaving two sons and one daughter. She was buried in the church-yard at Collaten Estate, the old Froelich burial grounds. Johanna was twenty-nine at the time of her death, which six weeks after the birth of Johannes. The children were then cared for by Grandmother Froelich at Paul-Narmund, and their uncles at Aschoff and Reinhold at Collaten.

For years a fine family life centered around these homes. Every Wednesday was family day at Paul-Narmund with Grandmother Froelich; all the relatives came no matter what the weather. If it rained they walked, as the roads were too bad for vehicles. Every Sunday all went to Collaten to be with Uncle Reinhold and Tante Carolinnchen. Eckitten was farther away, but Hannchen's children were always sent for after they again lived at home with their father and stepmother, Amanda.

The birthdays were always grand affairs when all the neighbors were invited. Long tables were arranged in their beautiful gardens, children played games on the lawns, and all had a merry time.

This Grandmother Froelich remembered the children of her daughter Hannchen in her will so that each received his share in his mother's part of her estate. She asked that "der Rosenberg and Amanda" take care of the money for young Johannes, as Wilhelm and Hannchen were older and could take care of their own.

The three children of Johanna Froelich von Rosenberg's brother Christoph and his wife Eleonore were double cousins of Johanna's children who later immigrated to Texas, with their father and stepmother. One of these double cousins, Libussa, was adopted by Peter Carl and Amanda and came to Texas with them. Adolph and Gustav Froelich, Libussa's brothers, came later.

Libussa, who lived in Hallettsville in her old age, had in her possession two lovely keepsakes from her Aunt Hannchen: a dainty cap, crocheted of linen thread, worn by baby Johannes at his christening in 1826, and her autograph album. These were very graciously given to Alma von Rosenberg Tomlinson after her death.



Buried:
in the churchyard at Collaten Estate, the old Froelich burial grounds