A New Land Beckoned

This work is the answer to an increased interest in the Verein colonization in Texas, a movement that brought thousands of German immigrants into Texas from 1844 to 1847. A short history describes the beginnings of the Verein movement in Germany, its development into the largest colonization project in Texas history, and the fulfillment of its goal to create a settlement of German immigrants on the 3,800,000-acre Fisher-Miller grant and in a number of other places in Texas. Published in English for the first time are the twelve reports made by Prince Karl Solms of Braunfels, who was the leader of the expedition in Texas. These reports describe the activities of the Verein and the first phase of German colonization in Texas. Of special interest to the descendants of these early Texas settlers is a list of over 4,000 immigrants compiled from German and Texas ship passenger lists, which provides such information as age, names of accompanying family members, place of residence in Europe, name of ship, and dates of departure and arrival.