Jacob Kuechler (1823–1893) was surveyor, conscientious objector during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

, and commissioner of the

Texas General Land Office The Texas General Land Office (GLO) is a state agency of the U.S. state of Texas, responsible for managing lands and mineral rights properties that are owned by the state. The GLO also manages and contributes to the state's Permanent School Fund. ...

. Kuechler pioneered the science of

Dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atm ...

to date natural events.

Early life and education

Jacob Kuechler, was born in Schoellenbach,

Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse be ...

, on February 18, 1823, to engineering and forestry official Albrecht Kuechler. Jacob Kuechler graduated from the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von ...

with degrees in

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

and

Forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

Texas

Kuechler arrived in

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Ga ...

on July 4, 1847, on the ship ''St. Pauli ''from

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

. He was part of the

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse ...

free-thinker Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other methods ...

fraternity of intellectuals from the universities of Giessen and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

and the Gewerbeschule of Darmstadt. They founded the Fisher–Miller Land Grant community of

Bettina, Texas Bettina is a vanished community founded in 1847 by German immigrants as part of the Adelsverein colonization of the Fisher–Miller Land Grant in the U.S. state of Texas. It was located on the banks of the Llano River in Llano County, and no trac ...

after John O. Meusebach negotiated the

Meusebach–Comanche Treaty The Meusebach–Comanche Treaty was a treaty made on May 9, 1847 between the private citizens of the Fisher–Miller Land Grant in Texas (United States), who were predominantly German in nationality, and the Penateka Comanche Tribe. The treaty was ...

in 1847. Bettina failed after the Adelsverein funding expired, and due to conflict of structure and authorities. The members dispersed to other communities, and Kuechler moved to

Pedernales, Texas Pedernales, Texas was an early settlement of German immigrants in Gillespie County, and was part of the Adelsverein colonization of Texas. No trace of the settlement remains today. It was located southwest of Fredericksburg near what is now Texas ...

to take up farming and ranching with the Lungkwitz and Petri families. As Gillespie County surveyor, he pioneered

dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atm ...

at Fredericksburg during the drought of the late 1850s by comparing tree-ring sequences for dating natural events. The Kuechler study was published in 1859 as "Das Klima von Texas" in Gustav Schleicher's ''Texas Staats-Zeitung'' and 1861 in the Texas Almanac.

Nueces massacre and exile

In 1861, Texas seceded from the Union, and joined the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

. Upon recommendation by Samuel Maverick, Jacob Kuechler was commissioned as a Captain by

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

to enroll state militia troops in Gillespie County. Kuechler signed up only German Unionists in his frontier company, and was dismissed by Governor Francis R. Lubbock. In 1862, Confederate authorities imposed martial law on Central Texas. Jacob Kuechler served as a guide for sixty-one

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to objec ...

s attempting to flee to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. In what later became known as the Nueces massacre, Confederate irregular James Duff and his Duff’s Partisan Rangers pursued and overtook them at the

Nueces River The Nueces River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas, about long. It drains a region in central and southern Texas southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the southernmost major river in Texas northeast of the Rio Grande. ''Nueces' ...

.Thirty-four were killed, some executed after being taken prisoner. Jacob Kuechler survived the battle. The cruelty shocked the people of Gillespie County. Two thousand took to the hills to escape Duff's reign of terror. Kuechler remained in exile in Mexico working as a surveyor until 1867.

Return to Texas

Kuechler returned to Texas in 1867 and entered the political arena, becoming a leading German voice in the Reconstructionist

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

. He was appointed deputy collector of customs at San Antonio. Kuechler was elected a delegate to the state Constitutional Convention of 1868–69. He was elected commissioner of the

in 1870, holding the position for the entire four years of the administration of Governor Edmund J. Davis. In 1873, he appointed Jacob Bickler as assistant draftsman and calculator. Kuechler's wife's brother-in-law

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 March ...

received an appointment for the Texas General Land Office, and Lungkwitz's daughter Martha Lungkwitz Bickler became a clerk with the office. He became a surveyor along the Devils River and the

Pecos River The Pecos River ( es, Río Pecos) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexic ...

for the

International and Great Northern Railroad International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

and the Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific railroads. In 1878, he was appointed principal surveyor for the

Texas and Pacific Railway The Texas and Pacific Railway Company (known as the T&P) was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California. History Under the influence of ...

Personal life and death

Kuechler became an American citizen on October 10, 1853. In May, 1856, Kuechler married Marie Petri, sister of painter

Friedrich Richard Petri Friedrich Richard Petri (1824–1857) was a German-born Texas painter whose works recorded life in the original German immigrant settlements, and portrayed Native American tribes in family settings. Early life Friedrich Richard Petri was born on ...

. The couple had three sons. In 1887, the Petri family returned for a visit to Germany. Kuechler died in Austin on April 4, 1893, and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery.

Notes

References

External links

"Jacob Kuechler"
by Robert Kuhmann, Find a Grave.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuechler, Jacob 1823 births 1893 deaths American conscientious objectors American foresters Burials at Oakwood Cemetery (Austin, Texas) Commissioners of the General Land Office of Texas German emigrants to the United States German-American culture in Texas University of Giessen alumni Forestry researchers German foresters Texas Republicans 19th-century American politicians