A native of Germany, Leopold Schlinger immigrated with his wife Regina to Brownsville, Texas, around the 1830s. As a professional calligrapher, he received his training from the University Normal School of Vienna. He was fluent in several languages, including German, Hebrew, Spanish, French, and English. While residing in Brownsville, he imported and sold goods from New Orleans, owned a store in Matamoros, Mexico, and was appointed Commissioner of Cameron County in 1868. He sustained financial losses after General José María J. Carbajal’s occupation of Matamoros, for which Schlinger submitted a legal claim and was compensated.
Source:
Carbajal, Jose Maria Jesus. Handbook of Texas Online . Accessed April 8, 2011. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fca45 .
From the guide to the Schlinger, Leopold, Family Papers 92-196., 1833-1877, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)
