"Recently I read about this beautiful lily being one that the German ancestors brought when immigrating to Texas in the mid 1840’s and later. These were found at a little nursery in Seguin, Guadalupe Co. Texas, where I buy my nursery items for the yard. When these little bulbs were on display just having learned about their history, I just had to have some to put in my yard. The little lily naturalizes, and maybe next year I will be able to bring some to the reunion to share with those who would like one to plant. It just bloomed today, and wanted to share this history and picture with you. These lilies usually are late fall bloomers until frost. Also, the info from the book stated they brought “slips” [cuttings] of all kinds of fruit trees and seeds for their vegetables gardens. The early immigrants knew they would need these to have for food to feed their families. One of the first things that they did was plant a garden and their slips for trees, after building a shelter of some kind.
"Also, information that has been found is that some of the ancestors that landed in Indianola, made a short trip over to the Guadalupe River not far from Indianola, and rafted up the river to Seguin. Most of them went on to New Braunfels and on up to Fredericksburg to live. Other that landed in Galveston went overland to Washington, Lee, Fayette, Austin Colorado and Lavaca Counties.
"We owe a debt of gratitude to them for the hardships these new immigrants made to come to the new world and start a new life in America; some never returned home. If you have the opportunity to read about early Texas history please do, it is fascinating."
Mayme Hause
