Nicolas and Catherine in Texas

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CELEBRATE ANTOINE SCHOTT ... THE MAN!

(note: if you have early records on Antoine, such as ship manifiests, pls send to toni.schmid@gmail.com to be added to this website)

Many of us are daughters and sons of the Republic of Texas through ANTOINE SCHOTT, Grandfather of Kathrina MEYER Tschirhart who married Nicholas TSCHIRHART. 

Francois Antoine SCHOTT 1773–1854  - OUR ELDEST GENERATION IN TEXAS

Birth 27 Sep 1773, Wittelsheim, Département du Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France

Death 25 Feb 1854 (aged 80), Castroville, Medina County, Texas, USA

Burial, Saint Louis Cemetery, Castroville, Medina County, Texas, USA

See below for info abt his wife and children

Medina County, Texas 

We do not know how Nicolas and Catherine met, however, we do know that they took out a marriage license on December 31, 1845 in San Antonio, and were married by Louis Huth, JP, in Castroville on February 7, 1846.  They were ages 31 and 19.  

And so the story of the Texas Tschirharts began..... 

Nicholas received a town lot from Henry Castro, and a land grand grant of 640 acres, located about 6 miles SW of Castroville.*  He immediately deeded ½ of his grant, 320 acres to Henry Castro, as per the agreement of his immigrant contract.  (MC deed records, Vol. 2, Pp 465-466)

* There is no evidence that the Tschirharts every lived on the remaining 320 acres of their land grant, and the land was sold to Joseph Carle in the 1880’s by Leo Tschirhart for the family.

By 1850 the census shows them in Castroville with two children, Joseph is 3 years old, and Sebastian is 1 ½.    The parish census recorded in 1854 by Rev. Leopold Mocyzgeba reflects the addition of two more sons, Edward, and Leo.   This activity continued until there were eleven children in the family by 1866, when Nicholas was struck down by the dreaded cholera, which was rampant in the community that year.   He was 52 years old when he died in November, 1866.   (No church burial record or actual date of his death has been found). 

The 11th child, Michael died as an infant Nov. 9, 1866, and the following year, on July 6, 1867, the 12th child, Catherine (Katie) was born, almost seven months after her father had died.   This left Catherine Meyer Tschirhart with eleven children to raise.   Luckily, the older boys, who had already helped their father with his business, took the reins and continued hauling freight and stock raising.   We must assume the Tschirhart brood was of hardy stock, that they survived, and kept the family together, later all marrying and producing prolific families of their own.   

Nicolas | Nicholas | Nicolaus TSCHIRHART - OUR FIRST TSCHIRHART IN TEXAS

Born  4 May 1814    Soppe-le-Haut, Departement du Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France

Married:  7 Feb 1846, Medina County, Texas

Died 12 Nov 1866 (age 51–52)  Castroville, Medina County, Texas

Burial:   Saint Louis Cemetery,  ,  Castroville, Medina County, Texas,

Nicolas died in the fall of 1866 during the cholera epidemic and there was no church record for him.  We suspect that because the cholera was so feared, that many were buried immediately without a service, which might account for no record in our church burial record .

Catherine was 13 years younger than Nicholas, and she lived in the house they built on the corner of San Jacinto and Petersburg St in Castroville, until her death November 10, 1890.  After her death, the children erected a  tombstone for Catherine in St. Louis Catholic Cemetery, and Nicholas’ death was noted on the gravestone. (St. Louis Cemetery #1, left side, row 8 near to Cemetery #2)

Catherine aka Kathrina MEYER | MEIER  -  CAME TO TEXAS

Born 2 Feb 1827, Wittelsheim, Departement du Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France

Married:   7 Feb 1846, Medina County, Texas

Died 10 Oct 1890 (age 63), Castroville, Medina County, Texas, USA

Burial: Saint Louis Cemetery,  Castroville, Medina County, Texas, USA 

PARENTS of Nicolas TSCHIRHART  - NEVER LEFT FRANCE

Nicolas was the only son of Pierre TSCHIRHART and Elizabeth LUGENBUHLER

Father:  Jean Pierre TSCHIRHART  -  a School Teacher

Born 17 Sep 1780 Soppe-le-Haut; Died 19 Jan 1817 Soppe-le-Haut, Haut Rhin

Married 7 Feb 1812  Soppe-le-Haut, Haut Rhin, Alsace, France

Mother: Marie Elizabeth LUGENBUHLER

Born 23 Nov 1780 Soppe Le Haut, Haut Rhin, Died 25 Jul 1846

PARENTS of Catherine  MEYER Tschirhart

Catherine MEYER Tschirhart is the daughter of  Joseph Stephen MEYER, b. 1801 and his wife Kathrin / Catherine SCHOTT, b. 1804, of Wittlesheim, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France. 

The Meyer family appears (as Meyers) in the 1850 US census for Castroville.  A parish census done by Father Leopold Moczygemba, includes the entire Meyer family.   

Nicholas and Catherine appear on both of the censuses.  The Meyer family does appear in the 1860 US census, and in 1870, Joseph Meyer is listed living alone.

     Family stories put the death of Catherine SCHOTT Meyer in 1866 or 1867, or 1879, but it is not recorded in the St. Louis burials for those years.  Joseph Stephen Meyer died March 29, 1883, and both are buried in St. Louis Church Cemetery.   No tombstones were found for this couple, but at some point, family had flat ground grave markers

     In April of 1883, the children of Joseph Meyer, filed a deed waiving their rights to and bequeathing the homestead of the Meyers on Lot 6, Block 2, Range 9 in Castroville, to Michael Meyer, their brother, for caring for their father Joseph until his death.

Joseph Stephen MEYER 1801–1883 - OUR FIRST MEYER IN TEXAS

Birth 4 Jul 1801, Wittelsheim, Département du Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France

Death 29 Mar 1883 (aged 81), Castroville, Medina County, Texas, USA

Burial Saint Louis Cemetery, Castroville, Medina County, Texas,

Married 9 Nov 1824 Wittlesheim, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France.

Catherine / Katherin / SCHOTT Meyer 1804–1879 - CAME TO TEXAS

Birth 12 Feb 1804, Wittelsheim, Département du Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France

Death 1879 (aged 74–75) Medina County, Texas, USA

Burial Saint Louis Cemetery, Castroville, Medina County, Texas, USA

Both are buried in St. Louis Church Cemetery. no headstones, only flat ground grave markers

PARENTS OF Catherine SCHOTT Meyer were Antoine + Rosine SCHOTT 

** ANTOINE SCHOTT is our first GENERATION to live on TEXAS soil **

When Francois Antoine Schott was born on September 27, 1773, in Wittelsheim, Haut-Rhin, France, his father, Joseph, was 44 and his mother, Anna, was 43. He married Rosine Egler (Schott) in 1799. They had nine children in 12 years. He died on February 25, 1854, in Castroville, Texas, having lived a long life of 80 years, and was buried there. - source, Ancestry.com

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/152969404/person/142028980311/facts

Francois Antoine SCHOTT 1773–1854 - OUR FIRST GENERATION IN TEXAS

Birth 27 Sep 1773, Wittelsheim, Département du Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France

Death 25 Feb 1854 (aged 80), Castroville, Medina County, Texas, USA

Burial, Saint Louis Cemetery, Castroville, Medina County, Texas, USA

He was the son of Joseph Schott and Catharine Miesch.

Antoine SCHOTT married Rosine EGLER on 18 Jan 1802 in France

Rosine EGLER Schott 1776–1817 - NEVER LEFT FRANCE

Birth 30 Aug 1776, Wittelsheim, Département du Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France

Death 12 Dec 1817 (aged 41), Wittelsheim, Département du Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France

Burial Details Unknown

Additional info at this Meyer genealogy page:

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~margaretsimpson/genealogy/meyer-o/p22.htm

Francois Antoine Schott

M, b. 27 September 1773, d. 25 February 1854

Francois Antoine Schott was christened on 27 September 1773 at Wittelsheim, Haut Rhin, Alsace, France.

He was the son of Joseph Schott and Catharine Miesch.

He married Rosine Egler on 19 February 1802 at Wittelsheim, Haut Rhin, Alsace, France.

Francois Antoine Schott appeared on the census of 1836 at Wittelsheim, Haut Rhin, Alsace, France.

He and Marie Anne Schott immigrated on 29 January 1845 at New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, departing Antwerp 19 Oct 1844 on the "Probus."

Francois Antoine Schott and Joseph Bader Sr appeared on the census of 1850 at Medina County, Texas, household #23 on the Medina River above Castroville.

Francois died on 25 February 1854 at Medina County, Texas, at age 80.  He was buried on 26 February 1854 at St Louis Catholic Cemetery, Castroville, Medina County.

4 of the 9 Children of Francois Antoine Schott and Rosine Egler

Jean Michel Schott

Marie Anne Schott+ b. 3 Oct 1802, d. Aug 1852

Catherine Schott+ b. 12 Feb 1804, d. c 1866

Francois Antoine Schott  b. c 1805, d. 13 May 1845

SOURCES:   Medina County records, Hondo courthouse, and some of the information on the Joseph Meyer family is taken from the Mann Family History, researched and written by Wilhelmina Mann Andrew in 1979.  Wilhelmina was descended from Josephine Meyer, sister of Catherine Meyer.   The marriage certificate of Joseph Meyer & Catherine Schott, and the birth record of Catherine Meyer, was obtained from the Colmar Archives in Alsace, by Connie Rihn in 1983. 

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