A Guide to the Julius Tengg Papers, 1859-1972

Biographical Note

Born into the thriving German-American community of San Antonio, Texas, Julius Tengg was an active member of the city’s business and social circles throughout his long life. His parents were Nicolas Tengg, a native of Austria who immigrated to Texas with his family as a child, and Louise Plumeyer Tengg, member of a German-immigrant family. The elder Tengg was employed in the book and stationery store established in 1854 by family friend Julius Berends, purchasing the business when Berends returned to his native Germany in 1874. Nic Tengg’s bookstore became an institution in downtown San Antonio and remained a family enterprise throughout its ninety-year existence, eventually involving several of Nic Tengg’s sons.

The eldest of nine children, Julius Tengg was born in San Antonio in 1867. He attended San Antonio schools, including the German-English School established by Berends and other members of the immigrant community. In 1891 he married Anna Deussen (1870-1955), also born in San Antonio to German-immigrant parents. The couple had four children: Louis, Lorine, Else, and Carl.

Julius Tengg was a member of a number of organizations and was particularly active in the Sons of Hermann and the Knights of Pythias. His entire working life was devoted to the family business, and he remained active into his nineties, a few years before Nic Tengg’s was closed by the family in 1964. In his later years Julius Tengg lived with his daughter Lorine Shepherd. He died after a short illness in 1966, shortly before his 99th birthday, and was buried in the family plot in City Cemetery No. 1.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, material related to the significant events of family members, school records, property records, records of organizations, printed material, photographs, and artifacts provide an overview of the interests and activities of Julius Tengg and some members of his immediate family.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

One folder of Tengg family estate records is closed to researchers. The rest of the collection is open for research.

Usage Restrictions

Please be advised that the library does not hold the copyright to most of the material in its archival collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to secure those rights when needed. Permission to reproduce does not constitute permission to publish. The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming to the laws of copyright, literary property rights, and libel.

Separated Material

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Julius Tengg Papers, 1859-1972, Col 831, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Loraine C. Perry, 1982 August, 1989 April, and 2000 October.

Processing Information

Processed by Warren Stricker, 1999 January.

Finding aid edited and encoded by Caitlin Donnelly, 2011 December.

Detailed Description of the Collection