Memorials › Francois "Joseph" Mann

Francois "Joseph" Mann

24 Sep 1830 – 7 Dec 1903

Birth24 Sep 1830
Death7 Dec 1903
CemeterySaint Louis Cemetery
Castroville , Medina County , Texas , USA
Added byBarbara (Burns) Stone on 11 May 2009
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21014842

Bio

Francois Joseph Mann immigrated from France to America on the ship, "Brunswick". He arrived at the port of New Orleans, La. on March 17, 1851. According to FindAGrave.com member Luella Woodlee Duffner, he "traveled from New Orleans, LA. to Indianola, TX. via a smaller vessel." He then travelled by oxcart to the settlement of Castroville in Castro's Colony. Castroville was named after Henri Castro, whose family descended from Portuguese Jews, who had fled to France after the Inquisition. Castro immigrated to the United States in 1827. He returned to France and went into banking. In 1842 he negotiated and obtained a loan from The Republic of Texas to bring settlers to start a colony in SW Texas on the Medina River. He managed to charter twenty-seven ships to bring 485 families and 457 single men to America. He was very generous with the colonists, making sure they had what they needed to survive the harsh, untamed Texas wilderness (Added 2024 by Joan Oliver 48174922). Joan Oliver's sources: 1)Henri Castro Portugal, Texas Empresario, diplomat, world history (2024) AmericansAll. Available at: https://americansall.org/legacy-story-individual/henri-castro(Accessed: 27 June 2024). 2)https://www.sos.la.gov/HistoricalResources/PublishedDocuments/passenger.txt 3)Masse, Cynthia Leal (2014) Death of a Texas Ranger: A True Story of Murder and Vengeance on the Texas Frontier. Two Dot Books 4)Sowell, A.J. (2023) Early settlers and Indian fighters of Southwest Texas. Sharp Ink. All of Bartholomew Mann's ancestors and children were born in Oberhergheim dept du Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France, which has made it easy to trace the family records through the Catholic Church back to 1560. Source: https://talesfourpast.-com/hans-burki-a-story-of-persecution-and-perserverance Married Aug 9, 1855 Josephine Meyer. Death: Idlewide, Bexar Co, Texas Father: Bartholome Mann (1802-1847) Mother: Marie Agathe Trawalter (1807-1889) Francois and Josephine had 10 known children. Excerpt from the Bartholomew & Agatha Trawalter Mann Family History compiled by Wilhelmina Mann Andrew: "In the first years of his marriage to Josephine, Joseph Mann worked as a laborer, probably doing farm work, driving teams, and helping his father-in-law, Joseph Meyer, who was a carpenter. We have Joseph Mann's naturalization certificate issued when he became a US Citizen in April 1857. In 1862, the Confederate States Government in Richmond issued a call for national conscription (or 'draft') of 50% of all able bodied men into the military service. Most men of the Castroville Colony were opposed to the war, and a majority had voted against secession; however, most of the men in Castroville had just become Citizens, having sworn to uphold the United States Constitution and not to take up arms against their new country. These men were drafted into Confederate Service. Joseph Mann, and many others went to Louisiana. Both New Orleans and Galveston were captured by Federal forces in late 1862, and the soldiers from Alsace found themselves under Federal Army control around Baton Rouge or Morganzia, Louisiana." "Francois enlisted 1864 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was 33 when he enlisted. The average age was 26. His rank was private and he was in Company C. His regiment was 1st Regiment, Texas Cavalry. Most Union soldiers were farmers with no military training and had learned to shoot while hunting. Francois received about $13 per month for his service - about $200 in 2023. He survived the war since he passed in 1903." Source: Luella Woodlee Dufner Joseph was gone from home about three years during his Civil War service and Grandma Josephine was left at home with three small children. One night she heard something outside so she called out in German "Who's there" .. No answer... She then called out in Mexican, no answer... Finally, she called out in English, still no answer. So she got the gun down and shot out of the window. The next morning she found Indian tracks all around the house and corrals. Her milk cow and some other stock had been taken. There was a skip of six years between Josephine's sons, Louis and August, with no other children in between. When Albert Mann was young and looking in his Grandma's Family Bible he exclaimed about the long time between births, as all the others were rather close together. Grandma Josephine said, "Ya, that's when your Granpa was off in the War." Albert would tell his children this and get a twinkle in his eye. These little almost forgotten family stories were the only things we know about Granpa in the Civil War. Joseph Mann was described on several papers as being 5 feet 9-3/4 inches tall, and weighing 150 pounds, so he was a rather small man by today's standards. After the Civil War, Joseph bought a farm in Bexar County, 1868, and paid taxes on 150 acres of Abstract No 594 in 1869. In 1871, he bought a parcel of land, 153 acres on Medina River from John Vance. It was apart of the land patented to LN Luckie in 1850. In 1875, Joseph Mann deeded 153 acres of land, all his cattle, horses, wagons, ambulance, household and kitchen furnishings, and personal property to his wife, Josephine. Mainly due to his health, but since the Reconstruction Government of Texas had been voted out in 1973 and a new Constitutional Convention was meeting in 1875, there was much uncertainty among all the farm people of Texas as to just what property rights would be retained by the old freeholders under the new Constitution. Older Alsatians and Germans had seen many arbitrary changes overseas during changes in government in France and in the Rhine Provinces of Germany. As old age came upon Joseph Mann, he became more and more crippled with an arthritic form of rheumatism and pulmonary problems. He applied for a pension from the US Government on his Civil War Service on basis of the Invalid Pension Act of June 27, 1890. He applied on June 13, 1892, and for over nine years made affidavits, filled out, and mailed in forms before finally receiving $12.00 per month starting August 1, 1903. He died on December 7th of that same year. If you visit the graves of Joseph and Josephine, you will notice that they are not side by side. Reasons are that the ground was rocky and hard, the grave digger was slow, and there was no embalming at the time. Therefore, they always kept one grave dug and ready. When they had a funeral, they would start a new grave the next day. That way, burials would be made by row in order of deaths, much as is practiced in some parts of France and Germany, even today. Contributor: Luella Woodlee Dufner (48653284) • [email protected]

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A light from our household is gone A voice we loved is silent A place is vacant in our hearts that never can be filled

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