Conrad Wegefarth was a German-American
oil refiner and prospector who helped forge the market for
coal oil in Europe.
Wegefarth County, Texas
Wegefarth County was a List of counties in Texas, Texas county established on June 2, 1873, from Bexar and Young territories and abolished on August 21, 1876. The county shared boundaries with Hardeman County, Texas, Hardeman County, Indian Territ ...
was named after him, and he was the father of
Harry M. Wegeforth
Harry Milton Wegeforth (born Harry Milton Wegefarth, January 7, 1882 – June 25, 1941) was an American physician who founded the Zoological Society of San Diego and the San Diego Zoo. As a doctor he operated a thriving practice in San Diego, se ...
, founder of the
Zoological Society of San Diego
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is a nonprofit organization, not-for-profit organization headquartered in San Diego that operates the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Founded in 1916 as the Zoological Society of San Diego under the ...
and
San Diego Zoo.
Biography
A
court stenographer
A court reporter, court stenographer, or shorthand reporter is a person whose occupation is to capture the live testimony in proceedings using a stenographic machine, thereby transforming the proceedings into an official certified transcript b ...
in southwest Germany, Wegefarth traveled over 300 miles on foot through winter snow to
stowaway
A stowaway or clandestine traveller is a person who secretly boards a vehicle, such as a ship, an aircraft, a train, cargo truck or bus.
Sometimes, the purpose is to get from one place to another without paying for transportation. In other cas ...
on a ship bound for the United States.
Arriving in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
, he traveled by foot to
Pittsburgh, where he took a job as a clerk in a
dry goods store.
Twelve years later he launched his own oil refining business and traveled to
London and
Paris to demonstrate coal oil lamps, helping to forge the market for coal oil in Europe.
Twice a
widower, with six sons by his first two marriages, Wegefarth married Mary Elizabeth MacArthur in 1867.
The couple settled in Baltimore and had seven children: Sons Arthur, George, Paul, Harry, and Charles; and daughters Emma and Ellen.
[Wegeforth and Morgan, p. 18–19.] Wegefarth served as president of the Texas Immigrant Aid and Supply Company, and Wegefarth County, Texas, which was established on June 2, 1873, was named after him (the county was abolished August 21, 1876 by an act of the
Texas Legislature which established new counties across the
Texas Panhandle).
He gambled heavily in oil development, and was
bankrupt by 1873.
All five of Wegefarth and MacArthur's sons went into the field of
medicine.
Charles drowned in the late 1890s, while Arthur, Paul, and Harry all relocated to
San Diego between 1910 and 1915 to open medical practices.
[Wegeforth and Morgan, p. 32.] There, Harry changed the spelling of the family name to Wegeforth and went on to found the Zoological Society of San Diego and San Diego Zoo in 1916.
Emma also moved to San Diego, to work as Harry's medical secretary.
[Wegeforth and Morgan, p. 22.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wegefarth, Conrad
Year of birth missing
Year of death missing
Businesspeople from Texas