Muegge and Callaghan Families

The product of intermarriage among several of the many ethnic communities in San Antonio, Texas, members of the Callaghan and Muegge families played a prominent role in the city's political and social activities.

The family originated with Bryan Callaghan (circa 1812-1854), a native of Ireland who came to San Antonio about 1838. A businessman and mayor of the city from 1847 to 1849, Callaghan married Concepción Ramon (1829-1910), a member of a prominent local family. Bryan Callaghan Jr. (1852-1912), their youngest child, received his education at schools in San Antonio and France and obtained a law degree at the University of Virginia before embarking on a political career that would dominate San Antonio for over thirty years. Callaghan was elected city alderman in 1879 and served as city recorder before winning his first term as mayor in 1885. In all, he won the mayor's office nine times and was defeated twice. Resigning the office in 1891, he was elected to two terms as Bexar County Judge. He was active until his death, which came in 1912, the year following his final mayoral victory.

In 1879, Callaghan married his first cousin, Adele Guilbeau (1859-1924), the daughter of French immigrant François Guilbeau (1813-1879) and Rosaria Ramon (died 1861). The couple raised seven children, including Alfred Callaghan (1890-1959), who became the third member of the family to serve as mayor of San Antonio, winning one term in office in 1947 after holding the office of Tax Commissioner for two terms. A daughter, Concepción Callaghan (1881-1960), married Julius Theodore Muegge (1879-1942), a member of a pioneer German merchant family. The Muegge's (the Anglicized spelling of the name, which also appears in the German form Mügge) had two children, including Adele Muegge Doyle (1906-1994), an active member of a number of San Antonio organizations.

References

Bryan Callaghan biographical file, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

Chabot, Frederick C. With the Makers of San Antonio . San Antonio: Artes Graficas, 1937.

Adele Louise Doyle biographical file, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

Doyle, J. Kaaz. "Bryan V. Callaghan, Jr." Handbook of Texas Online . http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fcadw .

Muegge and Callaghan Families Papers, 1860-1978, Col 1274, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

Texans and Their State . Forth Worth: Texas Biographical Association, undated.