Jacob Kuechler was a surveyor, conscientious objector during the American Civil War, and commissioner of the Texas General Land Office.
15 Facts About Jacob Kuechler
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Jacob Kuechler was born in Schoellenbach, Hesse-Darmstadt, on February 18,1823; his father was Albrecht Kuechler, an engineering and forestry official.
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Jacob Kuechler graduated from the University of Giessen with degrees in civil engineering and forestry.
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Jacob Kuechler arrived in Galveston on July 4,1847, on the ship St Pauli from Hamburg.
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Jacob Kuechler was part of the Darmstadt free-thinker fraternity of intellectuals from the universities of Giessen and Heidelberg and the Gewerbeschule of Darmstadt.
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The members dispersed to other communities, and Jacob Kuechler moved to Pedernales, Texas, to take up farming and ranching with the Lungkwitz and Petri families.
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The Jacob Kuechler study was published in 1859 as "Das Klima von Texas" in Gustav Schleicher's Texas Staats-Zeitung and 1861 in the Texas Almanac.
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Jacob Kuechler served as a guide for 61 conscientious objectors attempting to flee to Mexico.
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Jacob Kuechler remained in exile in Mexico, working as a surveyor until 1867.
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Jacob Kuechler returned to Texas in 1867 during Reconstruction and entered the political arena, becoming a leading German voice in the Republican Party.
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Jacob Kuechler was appointed deputy collector of customs at San Antonio.
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Jacob Kuechler was elected commissioner of the Texas General Land Office in 1870, holding the position for the entire four years of the administration of Governor Edmund J Davis.
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Jacob Kuechler became a surveyor along the Devils River and the Pecos River for the International and Great Northern Railroad and the Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific Railroad.
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In May 1856, Jacob Kuechler married Marie Petri, sister of painter Friedrich Richard Petri.
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Jacob Kuechler died in Austin on April 4,1893, and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery.