Jacob Bickler (November 29, 1849 – April 30, 1902) was a scholar, educator, and president of the Texas State Teacher's Association. He was founder of the boys' Texas German and English Academy and the co-educational Bickler Academy, both located in
Austin, Texas. In 1969,
Recorded Historic Texas Landmark 6438 was placed at the site of the Goodman Building, noting the location on the second floor of Jacob Bickler's German and English academy.
Early life
Jacob Bickler was born on November 20, 1849, in
Bad Sobernheim,
Kingdom of Prussia, to Peter Bickler and his wife Katherine Schöffling Bickler. He received his early education in the public schools of Bad Sobernheim. Peter Bickler married a second time and moved to
Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, where the teenaged Jacob joined the new couple in 1863. From 1863 to 1867, young Bickler attended Milwaukee high schools and Milwaukee Markham Academy College Preparatory School. In 1870, Bickler earned his
Bachelor of Arts in
pedagogics from the
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. He became fluent in six languages. From 1871 to 1872, Bicker was a
principal in the educational system of
La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census w ...
.
Texas
On December 24, 1872, Jacob Bickler moved to Austin, Texas, and joined his uncle Philip Bickler in teaching at the Bickler German English Academy, where artist
Carl G. von Iwonski had also once taught. Land Commissioner
Jacob Kuechler appointed Bickler assistant draftsman and calculator in the
Texas General Land Office on April 1, 1873. On January 24, 1874, the date of Bickler's wedding, he resigned from the Texas General Land Office to resume his teaching career.
In 1876, Bickler founded the Texas German and English Academy in Austin, a boys' school that remained in operation until 1902. In 1880, the
Wahrenberger House
The Wahrenberger House is located two blocks from the Texas Capitol, at 208 W. 14th Street, in Austin, Travis County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The home was built between 1867 and 1868 by Friedrich Huster and sold to Charles Klein after complet ...
in Austin was leased to Bickler. He operated the academy at this house. According to the Texas Historical Commission, the school was located here until 1886. Conflicting information, though, states that the academy was located in the Texas Military Institute Castle in Austin from 1884 to 1887. Bickler conceivably started the academy in the Wahrenberger House and kept his headquarters there, while moving the institute to the larger location as enrollment grew. In 1887, Bickler was elected president of the Texas State Teachers Association. He served as superintendent of
Galveston public schools 1887–1892. In 1892, he founded the co-educational Bickler Academy in Austin, which was located in the
Goodman Building until 1897. In 1969,
Recorded Historic Texas Landmark 6438 was placed at the site of the Goodman Building, noting the location on the second floor of Jacob Bickler's German and English academy.
In summer months, Bickler taught classes at both
Fredericksburg and
Mason
Mason may refer to:
Occupations
* Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces
* Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...
.
Bickler was a member of the summer faculty at the
University of Texas. He was a leading proponent for establishment of the 1891 College of Education at the university.
Personal life and death
On January 24, 1874, Bickler married Martha Lungkwitz, daughter of artist
Hermann Lungkwitz
Hermann Lungkwitz (1813–1891) was a 19th-century German-born Texas romantic landscape artist and photographer whose work became the first pictorial record of the Texas Hill Country.
Early life
Karl Friedrich Hermann Lungkwitz was born on Marc ...
. The couple had nine children, eight of whom survived infancy.
Jacob Bickler died in Austin on April 30, 1902, and is buried in
Oakwood Cemetery in Austin, Texas.
Memberships
*
Ancient Order of United Workmen
The Ancient Order of United Workmen (AOUW) was a fraternal organization in the United States and Canada, providing mutual social and financial support after the American Civil War. It was the first of the "fraternal benefit societies", organizat ...
*
National Education Association
*President (1886–1887), Texas State Teacher's Association
Memorials
*1902 Jacob Bickler Medallion, artist
Elisabet Ney
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bickler, Jacob
1849 births
1902 deaths
American educators
American educational theorists
German-American history
Prussian emigrants to the United States
German-American culture in Texas
Burials at Oakwood Cemetery (Austin, Texas)
Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni