A Guide to the Godfrey Flury Collection, 1887-1981

Biographical Note

Dorothy Agnes Flury, daughter of Godfrey and Alvine Flury, gathered the materials in this collection to document her father's life and artistic achievement. She then wrote his biography entitled Our Father, Godfrey, published in 1976.

Dorothy Flury assembled such items as her father's naturalization papers, land deeds, correspondence, pictures, marriage and divorce papers, as well as his drawings and sketches. In addition, she corresponded with people who might have known her father, and with anyone who might supply her with information on her father or his work. She intended to establish through historical documentation that her father was the artist who painted the interior of St. Mary's Church in Praha, Texas.

Godfrey Flury (1864-1936) came from Switzerland to New York in 1881 where he worked as a house painter and decorator. After traveling and working in various locations, he came to Texas in 1895, the year in which Dorothy Flury believes he did the decorative painting for St. Mary's Church. She determined that during the 1890's, her father made his living painting houses as well as doing interior decorative painting in private homes, churches, and public buildings. He is known to have painted the Lavaca County Court House about 1899. During this period of his life, he worked in Moulton, Runge, Falfurrias, and San Antonio. By 1911 he had moved to Austin where he established a successful sign painting business.

Godfrey Flury was an active citizen in Austin. He was a member of the Masons, Red Cross, Chamber of Commerce and Saengerrunde. In 1923, he secured an exclusive contract with the Travis County Commissioners to do billboards for county roads. He engaged in painting with oils and water colors, in sketching, and he designed floats and street decorations for civic celebrations. He also invented an archery device which he patented.

Godfrey Flury was married three times; first to Margaret Elnettie Shafer, then to Agnes Valchar, lastly to Alvine Glismann. The eight children of these marriages are noted in Flury's biography.

Godfrey Flury died in 1936. His eulogy was delivered by his longtime friend and fellow Austin artist, Peter Mansbendel.

Return to the Table of Contents

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of manuscripts and the research material used by Dorothy Flury in writing the biography of her father. The documents reflecting her research are organized in two scrapbooks which have been unbound and placed in folders with their original order intact. One is titled "Praha, Texas" and includes correspondence, pictures and clippings related to the painting in St. Mary's Church, Praha. The other scrapbook is composed of documents pertaining to Godfrey Flury indexed by Dorothy Flury. This index is located in the first folder of scrapbook materials and provides a numbering system for topics covered by the scrapbook. In addition to correspondence, clippings, notes and pictures, this scrapbook contains copies of legal documents such as deeds, naturalization papers, divorce papers, and a will. Genealogical records for the Flury family collected by Dorothy Flury are also in this scrapbook, as is a complete outline of Godfrey Flury's life in chronological sequence. Files of correspondence, clippings, and miscellaneous materials related to the compilation, publication and distribution of Our Father, Godfrey, follow the research materials.

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents

Detailed Description of the Collection

Return to the Table of Contents