August Siemering (1828 – 1883), was a notable

German Texan German Texan (german: Deutschtexaner) is both a term to describe immigrants who arrived in the Republic of Texas from Germany from the 1830s onward and an ethnic category that includes their descendants in today's state of Texas. The arriving Ger ...

educator, writer, publisher and political leader.

Early years

August Siemering was born in

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

, Germany, on February 8, 1828.

Texas

Forty-Eighters and Freethinkers

A liberal in politics, Siemering emigrated from Germany in 1851, Texas State Historical Association and was among the first

Forty-Eighters The Forty-Eighters were Europeans who participated in or supported the Revolutions of 1848 that swept Europe. In the German Confederation, the Forty-Eighters favoured unification of Germany, a more democratic government, and guarantees of human r ...

to settle in

Sisterdale, Texas Sisterdale is an unincorporated farming and ranching community established in 1847 and located north of Boerne in Kendall County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The community is located in the valley of Sister Creek. The elevation is . Community Si ...

, Texas State Historical Association a Free Thinker

Latin Settlement A Latin settlement (German: ''Lateinische Kolonie'') is a community founded by German immigrants to the United States in the 1840s. Most of these were in Texas, but there were "Latin Settlements" in other states as well. These German intellectuals, ...

resulting from the

Revolutions of 1848 in the German states In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

. The Forty-Eighters were intellectual liberal abolitionists who enjoyed conversing in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and believed in utopian ideals that guaranteed basic human rights to all. They reveled in passionate conversations about literature, music and philosophy. In 1853, Siemering was elected Secretary, and Ernest Kapp Texas State Historical Association the President, of the Freethinker abolitionist organization Die Freie Verein (The Free Society), University of the Incarnate Word which called for a meeting of abolitionist German Texans Texas State Historical Association in conjunction with the May 14, 1854 Staats- Saengerfest (State Singing Festival) in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. The convention adopted a political, social and religious platform, The Texas State Historical Association including:

1) Equal pay for equal work; 2) Direct election of the President of the United States; 3) Abolition of capital punishment; 4) Slavery is an evil, the abolition of which is a requirement of democratic principles...; 5) Free schools – including universities - supported by the state, without religious influence; and 6) Total separation of church and state.

Teaching

In 1856, Siemering became a teacher at the first public school in

Fredericksburg, Texas Fredericksburg (german: Friedrichsberg) is the seat of Gillespie County, in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census, this city had a population of 10,530. Fredericksburg was founded in 1846 and named after Prince Frederick of Prussia. O ...

a Catholic school.

Military service

Abolitionist Siemering was drafted into the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

in 1861, serving three years before resigning his commission as a lieutenant. He referred to that war as "...a nightmare."

Publisher

The ''San Antonio Express News'' was first published by Siemering in 1865, along with co-publisher H. Palmer. ''San Antonio Express News'' Siemering and Palmer also published the German language newspaper ''Die Freie Presse für Texas''. Texas State Historical Association

Public service

In 1866, Siemering was appointed Chief Justice of Bexar County, but only served until August of that year, when an act of the legislature changed the office to an elected office of County Judge. He chose not to run for election for the position. He was, however, the Republican Party's candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 1880, losing to Democrat J.D. Sayers.

Personal life and death

During his tenure as a teacher in Fredericksburg, Siemering met his future wife Clara Schütze, daughter of another teacher. They married in 1859. Siemering died September 9, 1883.

Works by Siemering

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References

External links

Briscoe Center for American History - A Guide to the Freie Presse Für Texas Records, 1867-1946
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siemering, August 1828 births 1883 deaths Freethought writers German emigrants to the Republic of Texas German emigrants to the United States German-American history German-American culture in Texas People from the Province of Brandenburg People from Texas