By: Kolkhurst Senate Sponsor-Hegar H.C.R. No. 6
       (In the Senate - Received from the House March 28, 2007;
April 3, 2007, read first time and referred to Committee on
Government Organization; April 18, 2007, reported favorably by the
following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 18, 2007, sent to printer.)
 
 
HOUSE 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
German 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 historic post office, a memorial 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 a library and 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 80th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby officially designate Industry as the Oldest German
Settlement in the Lone Star State.
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