He was born on July 17, 1832 at Duesseldorf on the Rhine. He was the son of a privy consular of the city. He served in the military and immigrated to New Orleans where he worked shortly for a cotton firm. In 1854, he led a surveying party into the Texas hill country and laid out the town of Comfort and Germans began to settle in this area. He began both Lumber and Gristmills but neither was successful. He married an immigrant from the Rhineland, Emma Murck, in July 1855. He served in the Confederate Army and helped in the Battle of Palmetto Ranch after Lee's surrender. He moved to San Antonio in 1866 and continued to practice law.

He built his first home in 1866 on King Williams Street. This new neighborhood rapidly attracted successful German families. In 1877-78, he built a second more elaborate home at 226 King William Street. Then on March 28, 1878 at the family ranch in Wassenberg he died. He had 9 children, but only 7 of them grew up.
 

Bibliography:
Steinfeldt, Cecilia. San Antonio Was...(1979)