Gottlieb Burchard Dangers was born on 11 October 1811 in the town of Langenhagen, which was then, in the Electorate of Hanover.
 |
| Map data ©2022 Geo-BasisDE/BKG (©2009), Google United States |
At the time when Gottlieb was born, the Electorate was part of the Kingdom of Westphalia whose Elector was King George III, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and of Ireland. In 1814, the Electorate became the Kingdom of Hanover, King George III was still its official ruler, however, due to his mental illness, a regency controlled the state matters. Later, the sons of George III, George IV (in 1820), William IV (in 1830), and Ernest Augustus (in 1837) succeeded him on the throne of the Hanoverian Kingdom (1).
Gottlieb
Dangers became a pastor. In 1845 he married Miss Mathilde Max (born in
December 1822). Soon after their marriage, the couple went to Bremen (possibly by train), they were emigrating to Texas.
 |
| Map data ©2022 Geo-BasisDE/BKG (©2009), Google United States |
Mathilde and Gottlieb's journey most likely took them next (by the Wesser River?) to the port of Bremerhaven (operating since 1830).
 |
| Map data ©2022 Geo-BasisDE/BKG (©2009), Google United States |
Gottlieb and Mathilde were going to spend their honeymoon at sea, on their way to America.
At
the end of 1846, Gottlieb received financial help from his relatives in
Germany. The money he was sent was enough to buy land at the Guadalupe
River. In 1847, Gottlieb Dangers owned 16 acres there. The land was originally granted to AC Horton (2).
Gottlieb and Mathilde's first daughter ♦ Theodora was born on 16 March 1848. In the same year, Dangers had 17 acres of land which was worth $50. The man had one horse as well (3).
A year later Mr. Dangers was taking care of 25 acres (still worth $50), had one horse, and 4 head of cattle (4).
In 1849, Gottlieb and his family moved to Fredericksburg. He obtained a town lot at West Creek/West Peach Street. The man started his ministry service as Pastor of the Evangelical Protestant Church in the town.
1850 - Gottlieb owned 7 town lots in Fredericksburg which were situated at 4 blocks, no. 42, 60 (?), 61, and 30 (5). The man built a house in the area where the nowadays St. Mary's Catholic School is. Besides, being a pastor, he also farmed and taught (until the end of 1851) at the Vereins Kirche School as well.
♦ The second daughter Minna was born in about 1850.
On 13 May 1851, Pastor Dangers was granted American citizenship. Gottlieb and his wife brought a piano from the old country and they enjoyed making music together. Mr. Dangers played the flute and the zither. He not only organized a local male music quartet but also composed music pieces. Unfortunately, the compositions created by pastor Dangers were never published (most probably got lost ?).
♦ Mathilde was born in 1852.
♦ Another daughter, Franziska, was born on 29 September 1855 (6).
1855
- B Dangers had 160 acres of land (worth $160), owned 7 town lots (from
no. 307 to 310, no. 423, 441, and 442), had 1 horse and 16 head of
cattle (7).
The tax report from the next year shows a change - Burchard must have sold most of his land as, according to the record, besides the town lots mentioned above, he had only 20 acres, owned 2 horses, and 12 head of cattle (8).
1857 - that year, Mr. Dangers farmed 40 acres of land, had town lots from no. 307 to 310, from no. 423 to 426, no. 423, 441, and 442 had 3 horses, 18 head of cattle, and 1 wagon (9).
In the same year, ♦ the first son of Gottlieb and Mathilde was born. They named him Burchard.
Census 1860 - 21 June, the family of Burchard Dangers, protestant minister (his wife Mathilde and 5 children) were recorded in the 2 Precinct of Gillespie County (Fredericksburg). Their closest neighbors were Bernhard Meckel, a cooper + his family, and Ms. Barbara Meurer and her sons Peter (a wagoner) and Adam (10).
♦ The
year 1861 brought diphtheria and a tragic time to the Dangers family.
The disease took 3 of their children (including the only son) within 5
days in February. About a month later, another child died. Theodore,
Minna, Mathilda, and Burchard were no more. Of all Gottlieb's kids, only
5-year-old Franziska survived the plague. It is hard to imagine the pain the parents dealt with. Mathilda Dangers, the babies mother was pregnant
then.
During the Civil War, pastor Dangers taught at the Vereins school
again. He worked as the town minister for twenty years. At the end of
his life, Gottlieb Burchard contracted pneumonia. He had got socked wet, caught
by the storm and rain when he was coming back from the ministry service
in the country. The man passed a few days later, on ♦ 12 November 1869
(12). He was 58 years old. Pastor danger's body was interred in the City
Cemetery in Fredericksburg.
14 June 1870 - another Census - Mathilda Dangers lived with the two daughters - 14-year-old Franziska and 9-year-old Augusta. Their closest neighbors were the family of Paul Loeffler, William Jordan, his wife, daughter and mother-in-law, and Father Tarrillon (13).
10 months later, on ♡ 2 April 1871 (14), young Franzisca married about 8-year-older Mr. Peter Kraus (born 5 August 1848), the son of Anton and Elizabeth Kraus.
Augusta Wilhelmina H Dangers started her own family when she was about 23, on ♡ 12 June 1884 in Colorado, Texas (15). Her spouse was Mr. John Sandilands (born on 22 December 1855 in Edinburgh, Scotland). John was the son of Edward Sandilands and Agnes Gilbraith (16).
 |
The 1900 Census registered Augusta, her husband John, their 14-year-old Edward B (born in New York), Mathilda Dangers, and a boarder, Mr. David A Burchfield. They all lived in Galveston. The record reads that Mr. John Sandilands was a compositor (17).
Mathilda
Dangers, Burchard's wife, lived 83 years. She passed on ♦ 6 May 1906 in
Galveston and was buried in the city Lakeview Cemetery.
Source:
Google maps;
