Thursday, June 1, 2023

Charles Anton Giesecke & Family

Anton Karl Giesecke came to this world in Bockenem, Germany, in 1811. His parents were Heinrich Friedrich Giesecke (b. 1776 in Gittelde, Germany. 1831 in Bockenem), a merchant, and Luise Amalie Sanders (b. 1785/1871). Luise's father, Anton Christian Sander, was a merchant and Mayor of Elze, Germany.

Anton had three siblings:

  • Friedrich (b. 1809), a merchant and cottager. He married Marie Basse in Bremen, in 1844. They had four children.
  • Ernst Edward (b. 1815), and 
  • Sophie Dorothea Friederike (b. 1819). She married Mr. Johann Georg Adolph Ludecke (b. 1803), who was Royal Hanoverian Tax Collector.

By 1834 Anton Karl had been in Texas. By 1841, the man managed to establish himself quite well. He shipped cotton to Germany and had 6 town lots in Brazoria (1). Besides that, Charles (Karl) had 1107 acres of land (2).

His brother Edward had lived in Brazoria as well. The brothers ran a merchandising business together. Edward ran a store, and Charles ordered goods for the store (mainly from Germany).

On 26 July 1844 (3), Edward married 15-year-old Lisette Doby (b. in about 1829), a servant girl of Mecklenburg, Germany. The couple had one daughter (b. in about 1852), Lisette. 

After Edward's marriage, the brothers did not get on well as Charles disapproved of the younger brother's marital union. Soon, their business matters were separated, and Edward ran the store on his own.


Charles ran a farm. At first, he mainly grew tobacco. He also made and marketed cigars and ran a small distillery making whiskey from potatoes that were grown by local farmers.

On 26 July 1845 (4), Charles married Miss Sarah May (Mary) Davis (b. 1825, in Missouri), the daughter of Thomas Kincheloe Davis*, land and cattle owner.

Around that time, the oldest Giesecke brother Friedrich served as a German immigration agent and he also visited Texas. Friedrich and his brothers made some attempts to influence German craftsmen regarding their immigration to Texas.

In 1847, Charles (Karl) owned 1511 acres of land, oxen, a cart, and hogs, Edward had 1 town and a merchandise store there (5,6).

Soon, in 1848, Charles' first son Thomas Davis was born. 
On 8 June 1850, daughter Frederika (Reca) was born (7).

Census, 14 November 1850, 38-year-old Charles A, 24-year-old Sarah M, and their two children were recorded in Brazoria County. The record says, that Frederike's other name was Dorothea (8).

18 November 1852, Cornelius joined the family (9).
1855, another daughter of Charles and Sarah was born. They called her Jane.

In ♦ 1856, Charles' brother Edward passed. He had been in poor health for some time.

 A note from a local newspaper ("Civilian and Gazette"), 31 August 1858. The spelling of Charles Anton's surname was misprinted. 

 

Newspaper clipping: Civilian and Gazette. Weekly. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 22, Ed. 1 Tuesday, August 31, 1858, newspaper, August 31, 1858; Galveston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth177412/: accessed June 2, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.

20 July 1859, Henrietta (Netti) was born to Charles and Sarah (10).

 

12 June 1860, Charles Anton and his family were recorded during the census in Brazoria County, Post Office Columbia. Jane was still alive then (11). When the girl passed, it is not known.

23 March 1863, Charles Edward, the youngest son was born (12).

In that year, Charles Giesecke owned 3198 acres of land in Brazoria (13), he was also a cattle raiser.

Charles Anton Giesecke passed in 1865 at the age of about 55. His brother Friedrich died in Germany around the same year.


After Charles' passing

♡ Frederike married Joseph A Rhodes on 15 June 1871, in Brazoria (14).

In 1880, Thomas (age 30) was the head of the Giesecke household. His mother (age 54), sister Henriette (age 20), and brother Charles E (age 16) lived in the family home in Justice Precinct #2, Brazoria, TX as well (15).

Thomas Davis married Eliza Jane Clark on 3 December 1894, in Houston, Harris, TX (16).

Sarah May Davis Giesecke lived till the age of 70. She passed on ♦ 2 July 1895.

Cornelius married Emma Rhodes.
Henriette married William Overton King in 1905.

🎕

Charles Anton's paternal ancestors

✤ grandparents
Johannes Zacharias Giesecke (b. 1729/d.1796, farmer and trader + wife Johanne Christiane Boehlke (b. 1742), married in 1766, in Windhausen, Germany

great-grandparents
Hans Juergen Giesecke (b. 1690/d. 1749), Burger with brewing rights, farmer of Gittelde, Germany + wife Anna Orthia Muegge

✤ great-great grandparents
Hans Giesecke (b. 1657/d. 1714), blacksmith of Gittelde + wife Anna Dorothea Timme (d. 1718), married in 1689, in Gittelde

🎕


* Thomas Kincheloe Davis was related to William Kinchen Davis

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This post is part of our series "They Lived in Texas".
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Sources:

  • "German & Texans in the Days of the Lone Star Republic", Walter Struve, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1996.  
  • Findagrave.com

    1. "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBMB-8WD : 20 February 2021), C* A Giesecke, 1841.
    2. "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBMB-ZMD : 20 February 2021), Chas A Geseiche, 1840.
    3. "Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XLCL-HX8 : 10 March 2021), Edward Gieseke and Lisette Doby, 21 Oct 1844; citing Brazoria, Texas, United States, county courthouses, Texas; FHL microfilm 1,008,075.
    4. "Texas Marriages, 1837-1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V2MN-P6G : 22 January 2020), Charles A. Gieseke, 1845.
    5. "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBMB-6KF : 20 February 2021), Chas A Giescke, 1847.
    6. "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBMB-62W : 20 February 2021), Chas A Geiseke, 1847.
    7. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3MK-6LP : 5 April 2023), C A Giesecke in entry for Reca G Rhodes, 1939.
    8. "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXLV-S27 : 23 December 2020), Charles A Giesecke, Brazoria, Brazoria, Texas, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
    9. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K34D-LKF : 6 April 2023), C A Giesecke in entry for Cornelius Giesecke, 1934.
    10. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3S9-4QR : 27 March 2023), Charles A Gieseche in entry for Netti G King, 1949.
    11. "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXFY-SCH : 18 February 2021), Jane Giesecke in entry for C A Giesecke, 1860.
    12. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K39N-77P : 5 April 2023), Chas A Giesecke in entry for Charles Edward Giesecke, 1946.
    13. "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBMB-YP5 : 20 February 2021), Chas A Geisecke, 1863.
    14. "Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XLH1-Z5V : 10 March 2021), Joseph A Rhodes and Fredrica Giesecke, 15 Jun 1871; citing Brazoria, Texas, United States, county courthouses, Texas; FHL microfilm 1,008,071.
    15. "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFFP-QS9 : 15 January 2022), Henrietta Geisekie in household of Thomas Geisekie, Justice Precinct 2, Brazoria, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district , sheet , NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm.
    16. "Texas, County Marriage Records, 1837-1965," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2ZY-CBQ6 : 22 July 2021), T D Giesecke and Eliza J Clark, 03 Dec 1894; citing Marriage, citing Houston, Harris, Texas, United States, Texas State Library, Archives Division, and various Texas county clerks; FHL microfilm 25,226.

    • Photos taken during our walk on 31 July 2020.

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