Robert Justus Kleberg (September 10, 1803October 30, 1888), christened Johan Christian Justus Robert Kleberg, was a

German Texan Texas Germans () are descendants of Germans who settled in Texas since the 1830s. The arriving Germans tended to cluster in ethnic enclaves; the majority settled in a broad, fragmented belt across the south-central part of the state, where many be ...

from Herstelle,

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

, then part of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. He was a veteran of the

Battle of San Jacinto The Battle of San Jacinto (), fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day La Porte and Deer Park, Texas, was the final and decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Samuel Houston, the Texan Army engaged and defeated General A ...

and the brother of Louis Kleberg. He arrived in Texas in 1836 with his wife Philippine Sophie Rosalie "Rosa" von Roeder, who was a child of the at one-time aristocratic von Roeder family, which was allied with the wealthy and aristocratic Sack family of Nordrhein Westphalia. Robert and Rosa had eleven children, seven of whom lived to adulthood; Clara, Johanna, Caroline, Rudolph, Marcellus, and Robert II (commonly known simply as Robert). He is the namesake of

Kleberg County, Texas Kleberg County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 31,040. The county seat is Kingsville. The county was organized in 1913 and is named for Robert J. Kleberg, an early settler. Kleberg County is ...

. His sons also achieved success. Rudolph Kleberg (1847-1924) became a United States congressman, Marcellus Kleberg (1849-1913) studied law and served as city attorney for Galveston, Texas, and the youngest Kleberg son, also named Robert Justus Kleberg (1853-1932), managed the

King Ranch King Ranch is the largest ranch in the United States. At some it is larger than the area of the European country Luxembourg. It is mainly a cattle ranch, but also produced the racehorse Assault (horse), Assault, who won the United States Tri ...

and later married Alice Gertrudis King, the youngest daughter of cattle baron Captain Richard King.

Sources

John Henry Brown John Henry Brown (October 29, 1820 – May 31, 1895) was an American journalist, military leader, author, politician, and historian, who served as a state legislator and as mayor of both Galveston (1856) and Dallas, Texas (1885–1887). Brown w ...

, ''Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas'', 1880 *

External links

Kleberg, Robert Justus
at ''

Handbook of Texas Online The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

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KLEBERG, LOUIS
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The First German Settlement in Texas
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'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kleberg, Robert J. 1803 births 1888 deaths People from the Province of Westphalia People of the Texas Revolution Emigrants from the Kingdom of Prussia Immigrants to the Republic of Texas Kleberg family