A native of Germany, Leopold Schlinger immigrated with his wife Regina to Brownsville, Texas, around the 1830s. As a professional calligrapher, he received his training from the University Normal School of Vienna. He was fluent in several languages, including German, Hebrew, Spanish, French, and English. While residing in Brownsville, he imported and sold goods from New Orleans, owned a store in Matamoros, Mexico, and was appointed Commissioner of Cameron County in 1868. He sustained financial losses after General José María J. Carbajal’s occupation of Matamoros, for which Schlinger submitted a legal claim and was compensated.
Source:
Comprised of correspondence, legal documents, and photographs, the Leopold Schlinger Family Papers, 1833-1877, chronicle Schlinger’s business endeavors in Texas, Mexico, and Louisiana as well as his family’s experiences in Brownsville, Texas. Correspondence concerns familial affairs, his travels in Europe, and his legal claim following damages to his store and theft of goods by the troops of General José Marí J. Carbajal in Matamoros. Legal documents consist of Schlinger’s testimonials and statement of claim concerning his losses in Matamoros as well as records pertaining to his acquisition of land in Brownsville; his appointment as Commissioner of Cameron County, Texas; his completion of calligraphy training at the University Normal School of Vienna; his acceptance into the Texas Masons; permission to engage in trade in Texas; and both an oath of intent to become a United States citizen and his certificate of U. S. citizenship. Additionally, the collection contains photographs depicting members of the Schlinger family.
This collection is open for research use.
Leopold Schlinger Family Papers, 1833-1877, 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