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George E. Kessler
from Our City--Dallas; by Justin F. Kimball (1927)
(click image for a larger view)
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Summary:
Research in the local archives of Dallas, Texas show that
George E. Kessler is indeed living in Dallas during the 1870s. But
evidence of the Kessler family during George's boyhood years is scarce and contradicts prior biographies.
The most significant documents found are Edward Ernst Kessler’s application for US Citizenship (1876-1879).
Though 1905 passport applications refer to his Certificate of Naturalization, no record of it is indexed
for the archives of the District Court in Dallas.
No direct evidence has been found that George’s father, Edward E. Kessler, died in Dallas – no newspaper obituary, no grave site, no probate record.
As a possible year of Edward Kessler’s death the usually cited date of 1878 is contradicted by County records he signed in 1879. 1905 passport
applications say Edward lived in the USA until 1882.
No Dallas County real estate deeds of that period are indexed under a Kessler name, and no District #14 Court case records are indexed for any Kessler name.
No record of the Kesslers' "cotton plantation", "near Dallas", can be found.
The date the Kessler family arrived in Dallas County is not known.
There is only one edition of a Dallas city directory (1878-1879) in which Edward Kessler and his son George are listed,
and between 1875 and 1880 a Kessler name (E. Kessler) appears only once (1879) in the Tax Rolls of Dallas County.
No record of the George's departure to Germany from Texas was found, and contrary to the usual story that George's mother accompanied George and his
sister to Germany in 1878, she is still present in Dallas newspapers in 1880. In 1925 Rudolph Einsenlohr recalled that George
was "sent" (not taken) back to Germany. The 1881 ship's log listing the return of George and his sister Antonie to America
does not include their mother Adolphe Clotilde Zeitsche Kessler (1832-1911).
In hopes of assisting future researchers, I have copied here are all pertinent original evidence documents, a list of archives in which I have searched,
and some discussion of several specific research problems, including my list of possible future places to look for further evidence.
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Searches:
During 2017 I have searched the following archives --
Dallas County real estate deeds: The Series 1 Index volumes (1 Jan. 1842-31st Dec. 1913) were
searched (including Grantor, Grantee, Corporation & Firms -- Grantor, and Corporation & Firms -- Grantee indexes).
No Kessler name was found, nor any approximate spelling.
It is possible that the Kesslers' "cotton plantation" was deeded to
a coporation or partnership using a different name, had been leased (without a filing), was in a different county, or never really existed.
For the possibility, the names "Goslin" and "McIlhenny" who affirmed Edward E. Kessler's application for Citizenship, were searched; but
no deed records filed under their names appear as possible "cotton plantations" shared with the Kesslers.
Dallas County Immigration and Naturalization files: As shown above, 4 pages
were filed by Edward Ernst Kessler expressing his intent to apply, and petitioning the District Court for U.S. Citizenship.
While the Dallas archives include no record of Citizenship ever having been granted to Edward Kessler,
a 1905 passport application by George E. Kessler states that he is presenting, as proof of his own U.S. Citizenship,
his father's Certificate of Naturalization,
issed on the same 9th May 1879 date as the final Dallas records. Since George E. Kessler's citizenship was
derived from his father's Naturalization, presumably he would have kept that document throughout his lifetime.
Texas District Court # 14: Indexes of Minutes and Case Notes: No Kessler name is found in the Indexes of Plaintiffs or Defendants
for the local courts of Dallas - 1870-1888. No divorce for any "Kessler" is listed in modern indexes of that period's cases.
Dallas City Directories: No Kessler name is listed in the 1873, 1875, 1877,1880-1881,
editions of the city directories for Dallas (or other archived directories prior to 1889).
In a Dallas County directory of 1881-~1882
(including all the rural areas of the county) no Kessler name is listed.
Edward Kessler, along with his son George, appear only once in a city directory --
in the 18789-1979 edition shown above.
Dallas County Tax Rolls: No Kessler name is listed in the 1876, 1877, 1878, or 1880 County tax registers. The name
"E.Kessler" was found only once, in the 1879 tax rolls (shown above).The 1879 Dallas County tax roll was not divided into separate precincts, only a single list.
Texas newspapers: Pertinent articles found are all copied above.
Local deaths were almost always reported in the Daily (or Weekly) Dallas Herald . Omissions are rare and the absence of an obituary for
Edward Kessler seems odd. (County Coroner's inquests prior to 1889 are not in today's archives.)
Dallas County probate case records: No Kessler name appears in the Dallas County probate records of those decades.
Edward E. Kessler's grave: No "Find-a-Grave" listing for George E. Kessler's father could be found anywhere
in the United States (as of October 2017). No evidence that he died in Dallas County has been found; but there are still
many uncataloged cand unmarked burials of the 1870-1880s in Dallas County.
Membership in the Jewish Community: One current online webpage includes George E. Kessler's name on a list of
prominent members in the history of the Dallas Jewish Community. I find no evidence to confirm that.
George Kessler's maternal grandfather was a minister in the Lutheran church,
his parents were married in a Lutheran ceremony, and George E. Kessler's
funeral was an Episcopal Church service. But George E. Kessler spoke at Dallas
civic luncheon programs along with rabbi David Leftowitz
(Jewish Monitor; Vol 10, 10; 19 Nov 1920--Portal of Texas, online); and in an 1878 newspaper
story (above) George's father seems to be the "Professor Kessler" playing organ at a Temple Emanu-El wedding.
In such manner the Kesslers may be said to have been affilitated with
the Jewish Community of Dallas (though not necessarily as congregation members).
Sister and Uncle: In none of the above archive searches have I ever encountered any records from the 19th century with
any mention of George E. Kessler's sister (Antonie Louise Kessler: 1863-1947), or his uncle (Jacob Frederick Kessler), living in Dallas.
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Sources Not Yet Searched:
Dallas Public Library:
Special archives (Acheson Collection, etc.)
Dallas Times Herald obituary--1923
Dallas Historical Society
Kansas City archives
Missouri Historical Society archives
Indianapolis archives
THANKS for research assistance provided by:
John Lawler Drye, Carol Roark, Harry Joe, Kurt Culbertson, Bob Dunn, Paula Bosse, Dallas County deed records,
Dallas Public Library downtown 7th and 8th floors, William H. Wilson, and Mike Hazel.
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Why is George E. Kessler’s youth in Dallas important?
What prompted Clotilde Kessler to direct her son George toward his unique and special program
of education in landscape engineering?
In Dallas County, Texas during the 1870s there
were scientists with advanced knowledge and international reputation; and if the Kesslers
had arrived in Dallas in 1872, and they had lived in the
countryside out near the former “La Reunion Colony”, they
would have been neighbors with the likes of Emile Remond
geologist, Maximilien Reverchon agronomist and his son
Julien Reverchon botanist, Jacob Boll naturalist, Dr.s John Stevens
and William Armstrong antiseptic surgeons — highly educated persons
who could have been both a significant inspiration to young George,
and given reliable advice to his mother about a European training program for her son.
Instead, if the Kessler family had arrived in Dallas in 1875 and had lived only in town,
then the influence of Dallas might have been relatively insignificant on George
E. Kessler’s future career choice. Having re-examined the meager available evidence,
I’m now inclined to feel that the greater inspiration to George Kessler would have been
seeing the newly completed Central Park in New York City while he was a boy.
Contact with the Reverchons in Dallas would have been
theoretically possible (and some brief encounters might have indeed occurred)
but the evidence (as it now stands) shows that it was downtown Dallas merchants
Alex Sanger and Rudolph Eisenlohr, not the Reverchons, who had befriended young George E. Kessler
during his boyhood years in Dallas. The Eisenolhr family and Alex Sanger “kept in close touch with
him in the years since” ; while, prior to his death in 1905, Julien Reverchon
had been regularly visited by the Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden
– not by George Kessler.
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