79R7881 MMS-D

By:  Kolkhorst                                                  H.C.R. No. 122



CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, Industry, in northwest Austin County, enjoys the 
distinction of being the oldest permanent German settlement in the 
State of Texas; and
	WHEREAS, The community dates to 1831 and owes its founding to 
Johann Friedrich Ernst and his family, who emigrated from Oldenburg 
to New York City in 1829; the Ernst family ran a boarding house in 
New York for several years before deciding to relocate to Missouri 
with a friend, Charles Fordtran; in the course of their move, 
however, they read a prospectus about Stephen F. Austin's colony in 
Texas and decided to make that their destination instead; and
	WHEREAS, On April 16, 1831, Mr. Ernst was granted a league of 
land on the west bank of the west fork of Mill Creek in Austin's 
colony, 28 miles northwest of San Felipe; Friedrich Ernst, his 
wife, and their children thus became the first German family to 
settle in Texas; and
	WHEREAS, Pleased with his new home, Mr. Ernst wrote a long 
letter in February 1832 to a friend in Germany, extolling its 
virtues; the letter was subsequently published in various Oldenburg 
newspapers and inspired a number of other Germans to pack their bags 
for Texas; and
	WHEREAS, Friedrich Ernst gave a generous welcome to those who 
found their way to his door, thereby earning the nickname "father of 
the immigrants"; in addition to providing lodging in his home, 
which served as a hotel and boarding house, he extended financial 
assistance to fellow newcomers, some of whom settled nearby; in 
1837 the young community received a post office, and the following 
year Mr. Ernst formally laid out a town on his league; and
	WHEREAS, The settlement took the name of Industry, possibly 
because of the residents' reputation for hard work, or because of 
the cigar-making enterprise that Mr. Ernst established there, using 
tobacco that he grew; and
	WHEREAS, Louis C. Ervendberg, who served as a pastor in 
Industry and the surrounding area, and Dr. Joseph Anton Fischer 
established the first school in Industry in 1840-1841; in 1842, 37 
local residents petitioned the Texas Congress for the creation of 
an educational institute, Hermann's University, and a charter was 
granted for the school in 1844, though the project was never 
realized; and
	WHEREAS, From the 1850s to the 1890s, the area around 
Industry was increasingly populated by Germans, Czechs, and African 
Americans; the economy centered on farming and cotton production 
until the mid-19th century, when ranching began to predominate; and
	WHEREAS, Today, a library, a municipal park created on land 
that once belonged to the Ernst family, and an active historical 
society are among the focal points of community life; the town 
supports several churches, among them a United Methodist 
congregation whose building, erected in 1867, is a Recorded Texas 
Historic Landmark; other historical markers are scattered  
throughout the area, and historical accounts of Industry have been 
collected in a published volume; and
	WHEREAS, Industry enjoys an exceptional heritage and a place 
of honor in the annals of our state, and it is fitting that its 
position as the first German settlement in Texas be appropriately 
honored; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 79th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby designate Industry as the Oldest German Settlement in the 
Lone Star State.