Listers, to learn about the colonization of Texas by Germans and the reason why there are few or no passenger ship list available for the early years - 1845 to 1853 - you need to aquaint yourself with the "Mainzer" or "Texas Adelsverein". The Adelsverein was organized on April 20, 1842, by twenty-one German noblemen at Biebrich on the Rhine. The society represented a significant effort to establish a new Germany on Texas soil through organized mass emigration. In Germany the society is commonly referred to as the Mainzer Adelsverein after the city of Mainz where it was officially registered in. Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels was appointed commissioner general by the Adelsverein in May, 1844 to lead its colony in Texas. The first Adelsverein sponsored immigrants arrived in Galveston in July, 1844. They traveled from Galveston to Indianola in December, 1844 and then moved inland to land grants acquired by the Adelsverein near Comal Springs. The settlement was named New Braunfels in honor of Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels. New Braunfels was the first colony set up for German immigrants in 1845. The second colony, Fredericksburg, was established on May 8, 1846 near the Pedernales River. Fredericksburg is named after Prince Frederick of Prussia, who was a member of the Adelsverein. Baron Otfried Hans von Meusebach was appointed the second commissioner general of the Adelsverein in April, 1845, after Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels left New Braunfels. Between 1842 and 1845, Shelby, Texas became a small German farming community in Austin County. In 1843, Count Ludwig Joseph von Boos-Waldeck bought a plantation in Fayette County to be used in the Adelsverein effort. Nassau Farm, a "manor house" retreat for the Society's officials, was built during this period. In 1853, due to a large amount of debt, the Adelsverein ended its colonization campaign in Texas. It was succeeded by the German Immigration Company. Ursula ____________________________________________________ There'll come a time, when you'll have no more time.