Karl Heinrich Nimitz Jr.

Tons have been written about Admiral Nimitz and his ancestors. I am adding just a few lines to it.

Karl Heinrich Nimitz built the first part of his hotel in 1846 which was a one-story, wooden building. Later he continued expanding the structure and gradually add another one-story part (made of stone) to the wooden section, and then "the steamboat" section was put on as well. The stone part was used as a saloon. The hotel had its ballroom too.

Don H. Bigges writes in his book "German Pioneers in Texas" (1) that Karl liked practical jokes and was a practical joker himself. According to a story mentioned in the book, once a guest died in his hotel. The man's relatives wrote to Mr. Nimitz and asked him to have the body of the dead man embalmed and sent him back home. The hotel owner wished to fulfill that request but since the embalmment was not available, he gutted the body himself and smoked cured the body. Afterward, the remains were shipped where the hotel guest came from. Of course, it was just a joke, told by Karl to his friends Mr. Mogford and Judge O. A. Cooley who were practical jokers too.

The story and the joke was described in the article published in The Banner-Leader on 12 May 911, after Karl's death. To enlarge the clipping simply click on it.

Clipping source: Shepherd, C.P. The Banner-Leader. (Ballinger, Tex.), Vol. 30, No. 35, Ed. 1 Friday, May 12, 1911, newspaper, May 12, 1911; Ballinger, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1184157/: accessed July 4, 2020), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Carnegie Library of Ballinger.

Karl Heinrich Nimitz, son of Karl Heinrich Nimitz Sr., sea merchant, and Miss Dorothea Magdalena Dressler was born on 9 Nov. 1826 in Bremen, Germany. Following his parents, Karl Jr. emigrated to America, South Carolina in 1844. Later, in 1846, he moved to Texas with other German colonists.

Karl H. Jr. married Miss Sophia Mueller on 2 February 1848 in Bexar County, TX(2).

He passed on 28 April 1911 and was buried in Fredericksburg.

Clipping source: The Houston Post. (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 27, Ed. 1 Tuesday, May 2, 1911, newspaper, May 2, 1911; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth604917/: accessed July 4, 2020), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .

The person who leads us in the family tree to that very, very distant and indirect branch line is again Mr. Rufus Monroe Angel - our 3d cousin once removed.

Here how it goes:

Karl Heinrich Nimitz
⇒ his daughter Anna Bertha (Nimitz) Nauwald
⇒ her daughter Anna (Nauwald) Luckenbach
⇒ her husband Friedrich Luckenbach
⇒ his brother Louis Karl Luckenbach
⇒ his wife Jeannie Katherine Hart
⇒ her sister Elizabeth (Hart) Angel
⇒ her husband Rufus Monroe Angel - our 3rd cousin once removed
⇒ his father James Monroe Angel
⇒ his mother Elizabeth Sarah (Gant) Angel
⇒ her father Benjamin Thomas Gant
⇒ his brother Jacob Rippy Gant - our great-great-grandfather.


Sources:
1. "German Pioneers in Texas", Don H. Biggers, Gillespie County Edition, Press of the Fredericksburg Publishing Co., 1925.
2. "Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XL83-XXL : 4 November 2017), Chas Henry Nimitz and Sophia Muller, 02 Feb 1848; citing Bexar, Texas, United States, county courthouses, Texas; FHL microfilm 24,917.