Inventory of the Las Moras Ranch Papers Texas MSS 00137 ., 1869-1913 (bulk: 1900-1913)
Title:
Inventory of the Las Moras Ranch Papers 1869-1913 (bulk: 1900-1913)
The Las Moras Ranch (1879-1913) was located mainly in Menard County, Tex., but also included property in Comal, San Saba, Tom Green and Concho counties. The genesis of the Las Moras Ranch can be traced to about 1875, when a French immigrant, Ernest Carlin, purchased 30,000 acres of land at the head of the Las Moras Creek in Menard County, Tex., where he established a ranch, sometimes called King Carlin's Ranch. On 21 Dec. 1879 Carlin's property was forclosed upon by the Galveston, Tex. banking firm of Kaufmann and Runge, owned by Henry Runge (1816-1873), head of a prominent German family, several members of which had emmigrated to Texas in the 1840s. After Henry Runge's death, his oldest son, Henry J. Runge (1859-1922) took over running most of his father's businesses. Louis Hermann Runge (1861-1936), youngest brother of Henry J. Runge, and his family took over the Carlin property soon after the bank foreclosure, making Carlin's ill-fated mansion house the headquarters for the newly christened Las Moras Ranch. Most of the rest of the ranch properties added to the Carlin land to form the Las Moras Ranch by the Runge family was originally owned by the Adelsverein, or German Emigration Company. Upon the Adelsverien bankruptcy in 1847, its lands had also been confiscated by Kaufmann and Runge. The Las Moras Ranch was managed by Louis Hermann Runge (1861-1936), youngest brother of Henry J. Runge, from Sept. 1888 until 27 February 1897, when management of the ranch was assumed by Walter Tips (1841-1911), a German emigrant and Texas businessman who, after the death of Henry Runge, had formed the Las Moras Ranch Company on 21 December 1879, with his wife's aunt, Julia Runge, wife of Henry Runge, and Runge's sons Henry J. Runge, and Louis H. Runge. Tips was in charge of the Las Moras Ranch when liquidation was intitiated, though he died in 1911, and the ranch properties were not completely dispersed until 1913. The Las Moras Ranch Papers (1869-1913 (bulk: 1900-1913)) consist chiefly of correspondence regarding the Runge family of Galveston, Tex. and Menard, Tex., including Henry Runge, his sons Henry J. Runge and Louis Hermann Runge, their cousin Julius F. Runge, as well as family members in Hannover, Ger., including heirs Hans Eyl and his wife Meta Eyl; German emigrant and Texas businessman Walter Tips (1841-1911) who, after the death of Henry Runge, had formed the Las Moras Ranch Company 21 December 1879 with his wife's aunt Julia Runge, wife of Henry Runge, and Runge's sons Henry J. Runge, and Louis H. Runge; German Emigration Company lands, lawyers and law firms in Austin, Tex. and San Antonio, Tex., including C. A. Goeth, the firm of Webb & Goeth, Adolph Goeth, business partner of Walter Tips and brother of C. A. Goeth. Also present are: legal documents, including deeds, wills, powers of attorney; some ranch operations records, including ranch inventories, accounting ledgers, and handwritten notes, as well as oversize plat maps.
ArchivalResource:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tamucush/00137/00137-P.html View
View in SNAC
