Meuly-Daimwood Family papers
Seven early South Texas families figure prominently in this collection. They include the Meuly, Daimwood, Magnenat, Blucher, Creglow, Rahn, and Humphreys families. The Meuly-Daimwood family papers contain an extensive number of documents, photographs, and books related to the daily lives of several prominent, related families in Corpus Christi, Texas, and its surrounding area during the 19th and 20th centuries. These family names include Meuly, Daimwood, Magnenat, Blucher, Humphreys, Rahn, and Creglow. As such, the collection reveals much about the growth of Corpus Christi from its earliest days as a frontier community through the boom times of the modern era.
The documents begin with Corpus Christi settler and merchant Conrad Meuly (1812-1865) and carry forward with his in-laws and descendants. They contain early correspondence of German residents of Corpus Christi, land deeds, legal documents, personal and professional papers, as well as tax records. The papers reveal the families' involvement in the local community through items such as invitations, church function pamphlets, tax and estate records, Blucher survey maps, pamphlets from World War I and World War II, certificates from the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, depression era correspondence, voluminous newspaper clippings, issues of local newspapers, items dealing with Hurricane Celia in 1970, and artifacts.
Of special note, the Meuly-Daimwood Family Papers illustrate the area's wild and diverse nature. Documents in this collection dealing with Indian raids, Texas Rangers, the Santa Fe expedition, and local legends of buried treasure demonstrate the flavor of this part of the Texas Coastal Bend in the late 1800s.
The Meuly-Daimwood Papers likewise contain over 2500 photographs and negatives, some of which date from early Texas photographers Louis de Planque and Fred W. Bartlett.
The complete Meuly-Daimwood family papers comprise approximately fourteen linear feet of documents and artifacts as well as nine oversized boxes of early newspapers.
Dates
- 1812-1970
Creator
- Meuly family (Family)
Language of Materials
Materials are in English, German, and French and German.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use
This material is made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to taking precautions against infringement of copyright and respecting the publication rights of reproduced materials. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards. Any materials used should be fully credited with their source according to the example given in the Preferred Citation note. Requests for assistance with citations and images of publication quality should be directed to specialcollections@tamucc.edu
Extent
14 Linear Feet
Abstract
This is a remarkable collection of historical materials documenting the lives of early South Texas settlers and merchant Conrad Meuly, the Daimwood family and their multiple descendants.
Biographical / Historical
Conrad Meuly was born in Splugen, Switzerland on April 12, 1812. It is believed he arrived in New York City either in 1833 or 1836. After learning English, he moved to Austin, Texas. He joined the Texas Troops on May 20, 1841 and embarked on a commercial and military expedition to secure the Republic of Texas’s claims to parts of Northern New Mexico for Texas. It came to be known as the Santa Fe Expedition. Conrad Meuly met Margaret Rahm in New Orleans. She had emigrated to the US with her father and brother from Unterhallan, Switzerland in 1844. Her brother John Rahm accompanied Conrad Meuly on the Santa Fe Expedition. On June 19, 1847 Conrad and Margaret married in New Orleans. They arrived in Corpus Christi by boat on July 4, 1847. They opened a general merchandize store. They had four children, Ursula born in 1848, Herman born in 1849, Charles Andrew born in 1856, and Alexander Humbolt worn in 1878. Conrad Meuly was a supporter of the Union Army during the Civil War, caught Yellow Fever in July 1865 and died in Brownsville. Margaret Rahm Meuly attended the Lutheran Church, both she and Conrad were of German descent. She died in 1912 after a long illness and was buried in New Bayview Masonic Cemetery in Corpus Christi. Ursula Meuly was born in Corpus Christi on June 14, 1848, she was the daughter of Conrad and Margaret. William H. Daimwood was born in Columbia, Tennessee in 1845. He moved to Corpus Christi in 1875 with dry goods supplied by his uncle, Col. N.C. Gullett of Galveston to open his own men’s clothing store. Forced to close his store due to poor economic conditions he joined Mateo Meuly in a bakery business for several years. Daimwood married Ursula Meuly on August 8, 1878. They had four daughters and a son. Ursula died of measles on May 14, 1895. William withdrew from business for a time. He married Emily Camp on February 14, 1900. William Daimwood died in Corpus Christi on August 4, 1902 from a stroke.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into 14 series and sub-series. Series I: Correspondence Sub-Series: German Correspondence Sub-Series: English Correspondence Sub-Series: French Correspondence Sub-Series: Estate Correspondence Series II: Land Records Series III: Personal Papers Sub-Series; P.W. Humphreys Sub-Series: Personal Papers of other Family Members Series IV: Financial papers Series V: Medical Records Series VI: Social Events Series VII: Educational Papers Series VIII: Birth, Marriage, and Death Notices Series IX: Ranching Papers Series X: Published Materials Series XI: Religious Materials Series XII: Materials Pertaining to Corpus Christi Series XIII: Photographs Series XIV: Military Papers
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Robert and Jo Creglow donated the Meuly and Daimwood historical materials to Director Dr. Thomas Kreneck at the Mary and Jeff Bell Library Special Collections and Archives Department at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi on July 28, 1997. Jo Creglow had previously donated materials to the archives when she was an art student at the university.
Processing Information
The Meuly-Daimwood Papers were initially arranged and identified by Jo Creglow. Michael D. McDaniels completed the archival processing, folder labeling, and inventory of the documents in 2009. Students created records in ArchivesSpace in 2022. Lori Atkins created finding guide in 2022.
Creator
- Meuly family (Family)
- Daimwood family (Family)
- Magnenat family (Family)
- Blucher family (Family)
- Creglow family (Family)
- Rahn family (Family)
- Humphreys family (Family)
- Meuly, Conrad, 1812-1865 (Person)
- Daimwood, William Henry, 1845-1902 (Person)
- Daimwood, Ursula Meuly, 1848-1895 (Person)
Source
- Meuly, Margaret Rahm, 1848-1912 (Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Meuly-Daimwood Family Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- The Meuly-Daimwood Papers were initially arranged and identified by Jo Creglow. Michael D. McDaniels completed the archival processing, folder labeling, and inventory of the documents in 2009. Students created records in ArchivesSpace in 2022. Lori Atkins created finding guide in 2022.
- Date
- August 2022
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections and Archives, Mary and Jeff Bell Library, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Repository
6300 Ocean Dr.
Unit 5702
Corpus Christi TX 78412 United States
361-825-4500
361-825-5973 (Fax)
specialcollections@tamucc.edu
