Christian Frederich Schulle, Sr.

Relationship to Randy Hill: Paternal Great-great grandfather

Birth: January 8, 1834, Germany
Death: March 26, 1899
Maxwell, Caldwell County, Texas, USA

Andrew Christian Schulle born 1805; married Elizabeth Heuer 1832 in Wolmirsleben, Prussia, Germany. Christian Frederich was first of eight children born to the couple. Christian Frederich married Maria Dorothea Elisabeth Bunke 1858 in Magdeburg, Prussia. Since their marriage occurred in Altenweddingen, he probably left Wolmirsleben before 1857 and settled in Altenweddingen where his wife was born. During the 2008 search for birth records from Germany, it was discovered that fourteen (14) children were born in Germany to Christian and Dorothea:
Heinrich Andreas 1860, *Frederich Christian 1861, Christian 1862, Friederike 1862, *Carl 1864, *Frederick 1865, *Marie 1868, Fredrich Fritz 1869, Marie Mary 1871, Minna Louise 1873, Gustav Albert 1873, Anna Marie 1876, Wilhelm Christian 1878, and Emma born 1880. The * denotes the child died before maturity.

Two major ports of departure in Germany were Hamburg and Bremen. Usually, the emigrant chose the port which was closest to their home. The voyage from Hamburg to New York shows Christian Schulle, Sr. to be a passenger on the "America" landing in New York May 12, 1884. Often the family was not listed, only the head of the household, as was in this case. A known fact is that four of the children had already arrived in America, so that must mean that Christian, Sr. and Dorothea arrived with their six younger children. No manifest of their trip from New York to Texas was found, however, after arriving in Galveston they completed the trip to New Braunfels, Texas, by ox drawn wagons with their children and the family possessions. Later, they were known to migrate to Maxwell, Texas.

There is no family history to explain why Christian left his homeland and traveled with his wife and family for weeks on a ship bound for America. Three sons and a daughter of Christian and Dorothea had come to America earlier (1883 and 1884). Perhaps they gave a glowing picture of the possibilities for an immigrant. Earlier immigrants had a much more difficult time on arrival, but even in 1883 and 1885, the prospect of landing in an unknown territory, in a country where a different language was spoken and food was only available if land could be obtained and vegetables could be grown, was daunting! Christian and Dorothea established a home in Maxwell,Texas and joined others as Charter members in the Ebenezer Lutheran Church there. So much Schulle history can be found in the Church and the cemetery nearby.

 Christian Frederich Schulle, Sr. and family