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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Industry, in northwest Austin County, enjoys the |
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distinction of being the oldest permanent German settlement in the |
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State of Texas; and |
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WHEREAS, The community dates to 1831 and owes its founding to |
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Johann Friedrich Ernst and his family, who emigrated from Oldenburg |
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to New York City in 1829; the Ernst family ran a boarding house in |
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New York for several years before deciding to relocate to Missouri |
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with a friend, Charles Fordtran; in the course of their move, |
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however, they read a prospectus about Stephen F. Austin's colony in |
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Texas and decided to make that their destination instead; and |
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WHEREAS, On April 16, 1831, Mr. Ernst was granted a league of |
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land on the west bank of the west fork of Mill Creek in Austin's |
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colony, 28 miles northwest of San Felipe; Friedrich Ernst, his |
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wife, and their children thus became the first German family to |
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settle in Texas; and |
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WHEREAS, Pleased with his new home, Mr. Ernst wrote a long |
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letter in February 1832 to a friend in Germany, extolling its |
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virtues; the letter was subsequently published in various Oldenburg |
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newspapers and inspired a number of other Germans to pack their bags |
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for Texas; and |
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WHEREAS, Friedrich Ernst gave a generous welcome to those who |
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found their way to his door, thereby earning the nickname "father of |
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German immigrants"; in addition to providing lodging in his home, |
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which served as a hotel and boarding house, he extended financial |
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assistance to fellow newcomers, some of whom settled nearby; in |
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1837 the young community received a post office, and the following |
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year Mr. Ernst formally laid out a town on his league; and |
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WHEREAS, The settlement took the name of Industry, possibly |
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because of the residents' reputation for hard work or because of the |
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cigar-making enterprise that Mr. Ernst established there, using |
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tobacco that he grew; and |
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WHEREAS, Louis C. Ervendberg, who served as a pastor in |
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Industry and the surrounding area, and Dr. Joseph Anton Fischer |
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established the first school in Industry in 1840-1841; in 1842, 37 |
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local residents petitioned the Texas Congress for the creation of |
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an educational institute, Hermann's University, and a charter was |
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granted for the school in 1844, though the project was never |
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realized; and |
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WHEREAS, From the 1850s to the 1890s, the area around |
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Industry was increasingly populated by Germans, Czechs, and African |
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Americans; the economy centered on farming and cotton production |
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until the mid-19th century, when ranching began to predominate; and |
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WHEREAS, Today, a historic post office, a memorial park |
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created on land that once belonged to the Ernst family, and an |
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active historical society are among the focal points of community |
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life; the town supports a library and several churches, among them a |
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United Methodist congregation whose building, erected in 1867, is a |
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Recorded Texas Historic Landmark; other historical markers are |
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scattered throughout the area, and historical accounts of Industry |
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have been collected in a published volume; and |
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WHEREAS, Industry enjoys an exceptional heritage and a place |
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of honor in the annals of our state, and it is fitting that its |
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position as the first German settlement in Texas be appropriately |
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honored; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 80th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby officially designate Industry as the Oldest German |
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Settlement in the Lone Star State. |