The son of August Eduard and Auguste Elwine (Giesecke) Schlick, Ernst Friedrich Richard Schlick (1839–1867) moved with his family from Andreasberg, Germany, to Galveston, Texas, where he worked as a merchant. Richard and his brother Frederich Albert Schlick fought in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Albert later served in the Texas Legislature.
Comprised of German personal correspondence, a diary, and legal records, the Schlick Family Papers, 1831-1908, 1986, document the Schlick family’s lives in Germany, the merchant business of Richard Schlick, and his experiences in Galveston, Texas. Schlick’s original 1867 German diary, an English translation, and an 1986 diary index describe his mercantile business and local events in Galveston, such as a Fourth of July celebration; the arrival of the body of Albert Sidney Johnston; the laying of the first track of the city railroad in Market Street and its first use; and the devastation of a yellow fever epidemic that claimed Schlick's life. Recommendation letters and Clausthal Mining Bureau minutes, 1831-1850, relate to Eduard Schlick’s mining career in Germany. Additional correspondence, 1853-1908, discusses Schlick family affairs and business activities. Legal records include an 1865 amnesty oath; two 1865 registration certificates; and Schlick family marriage and baptismal certificates, 1838-1846. The collection also contains German riddles, poetry, songs, a cantata, a pamphlet, and a photograph of Richard Schlick.
This collection is open for research use.
Schlick Family Papers, 1831-1908, 1986, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s “History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project,” 2009-2011.