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Origins · Prussian-German Heritage
Three Immigrants, One Convergence: Building Dual Heritage in Texas
1819–1841
In the aftermath of Napoleon’s defeat and the Congress of Vienna, Prussia emerged as the dominant German state—but economic hardship and political repression drove thousands to seek new lives in America. Between 1819 and 1841, three Prussian-German immigrants from this collection crossed the Atlantic, eventually converging in Texas to create a unique dual heritage: immigrant ambition meeting colonial American roots.
This is the smallest of the five immigration narratives by count (just three immigrants), but it carries profound significance for James Doby Young’s family line. His paternal grandfather, Antone Young, represents this convergence—born in Prussia in 1841, he married Tekla Strelsky, daughter of two earlier German immigrants. Their union combined immigrant determination with the established American identity of colonial-descended families, creating the foundation for James’s dual heritage.
1819–1897 · Germany → USA
Born in 1819 in Germany, Leopold Strelsky represents the first wave of post-Napoleonic German emigration to America. He left during a period of economic upheaval following the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815), which redrew European borders but failed to address the poverty and political repression that plagued the German states.
Leopold eventually settled in Texas, where he raised his family during the state’s transition from Republic (1836-1845) to statehood (1845). His daughter Tekla would marry Antone Young, creating the immigrant-descended foundation of James Doby Young’s paternal line.
1821–? · Germany → USA
Born in Germany in 1821, Terese Satel left her homeland during the same era as Leopold Strelsky—the 1830s-1840s, when crop failures, industrialization struggles, and political restrictions drove German families to emigrate in unprecedented numbers.
Terese married Leopold Strelsky in America, and together they built a German-speaking community in Texas alongside thousands of other German settlers. Their daughter Tekla grew up speaking German at home, maintaining cultural ties even as the family integrated into Texas society.
1841–1927 · Prussia → USA
Born in Prussia in 1841, Antone Young represents the final Prussian-German immigrant in this collection. He arrived during the peak of German immigration to Texas (1840s-1850s), when approximately 30,000 Germans settled in the Texas Hill Country, creating a “German Belt” that maintained its language and culture for generations.
Antone married Tekla Strelsky, daughter of Leopold and Terese, creating a fully German-descended household. Their son, Joseph Marion Young (born 1878), would marry into a colonial American family with deep Revolutionary War roots—specifically, Margaret Antone Montgomery, whose line included Revolutionary War patriot John Mosley Montgomery.
This marriage united immigrant heritage (Prussian-German) with colonial heritage (English-colonial, Celtic), creating the dual foundation that flowed into James Doby Young (born 1915), grandson of Antone and great-great-great-grandson of patriot John Montgomery.
Joseph Marion Young (Antone’s son) married Margaret Antone Montgomery, who brought deep colonial American roots to the family. Her line included:
Born in 1915, James Doby Young carried both immigrant and colonial heritage:
After Napoleon’s final defeat at Waterloo (1815), European powers gathered at the Congress of Vienna to redraw the continent’s political map. For the German states, this meant continued fragmentation—39 independent states loosely organized into the German Confederation, with Austria and Prussia competing for dominance.
The Congress restored conservative monarchies and aristocratic privileges, disappointing those who had hoped the Napoleonic era might bring liberal reforms. Political repression increased with the Carlsbad Decrees of 1819, which imposed press censorship, university surveillance, and restrictions on political assembly.
The German states faced severe economic challenges in the decades following the Napoleonic Wars:
For families like the Strelskys and Satels (1819, 1821), these economic pressures made emigration the most viable path to economic security. For Antone Young (1841), born during the “Hungry Forties,” America represented opportunity that Prussia could not provide.
In 1848, revolutionary movements swept across Europe, demanding constitutional government, press freedom, and national unification. In the German states, the Frankfurt Parliament attempted to create a unified German nation with a constitutional monarchy.
The revolutions failed. Conservative forces reasserted control, and thousands of “Forty-Eighters”—political refugees and disappointed revolutionaries—fled to America. While Leopold, Terese, and Antone weren’t documented as political refugees, they emigrated during this era of upheaval when German emigration reached unprecedented levels.
Between 1844 and 1847, approximately 7,000 Germans settled in the Texas Hill Country, creating what became known as the “German Belt”—a region of concentrated German settlement including New Braunfels, Fredericksburg, and surrounding communities.
This German Texan community maintained its language and culture for generations. German was spoken in homes, churches, and schools well into the 20th century. The Strelsky-Satel-Young families participated in this German-speaking community while gradually integrating into broader Texas society—a process that accelerated after World War I, when anti-German sentiment pressured many families to abandon their language and cultural practices.
James Doby Young (1915-1999) embodied the convergence of immigrant and colonial American identities. Through his paternal grandfather Antone Young, he carried Prussian-German heritage spanning three generations of 19th-century immigrants. Through his paternal grandmother Margaret Montgomery, he inherited Revolutionary War service and colonial roots reaching back to the 1600s.
This dual heritage represented a common American pattern: immigrant ambition meeting established American identity, creating families that honored both their immigrant struggles and their colonial contributions to the nation’s founding.
Specific immigration dates and ports of entry for Leopold Strelsky, Terese Satel, and Antone Young are not currently documented in available records. Texas immigration records from this era are incomplete, and many German settlers arrived through Galveston or other Gulf Coast ports without detailed documentation.
The convergence of immigrant (Prussian-German) and colonial American heritage in James Doby Young’s line illustrates a common American pattern where 19th-century immigrants married into established colonial families. This created families with both immigrant stories of struggle and adaptation, and colonial stories of nation-building and Revolutionary War service.
The German Belt in Texas maintained its distinct cultural identity longer than many other German-American communities, with German language use persisting in some areas into the mid-20th century. World War I and II pressures to assimilate, combined with generational change, eventually led to the decline of German language use, though cultural traditions and food persist in many Texas communities today.