time. The settlers refused to return to New Braunfels. Meusebach designated Dr. Friedrich A. Schubbert, also known as Friedrich Armand Strubberg, as director of the new colony, to lead a second expedition into Fredericksburg in June 1846. Schubbert designed the Vereins Kirche, the first public building in Fredericksburg. Without authorization from Meusebach, in 1846, Schubbert led an armed group of colonists into Comanche territory. Shawnee scouts reported seeing 40,000 to 60,000 Kickapoo at the Llano River, and Schubbert's group retreated to Fredericksburg. Meusebach decided to enter Comanche territory himself, resulting in the treaty with the Penateka. Ferdinand von Roemer arrived in Fredericksburg in January 1847, and described what he estimated to be a settlement of 600 people: Roemer described a diet of bear meat, corn, and coffee. He reported that dysentery was a common ailment. He also noted the disease of "stomachache" that engulfed the lungs and throat, was treated with citric acid, but still caused daily fatalities. Schubbert instigated a failed coup d'état against Meusebach. Ninety-five colonists signed a petition urging Meusebach to remain as Commissioner-General. On July 12, 1847, Meusebach sent Schubbert a letter of dismissal from his position as director of Fredericksburg. Jean Jacques von Coll was appointed his successor. Coll was a retired first lieutenant of the Duchy of Nassau, who had been appointed by Prince Solms as the first financial officer of New Braunfels. Coll was later elected mayor of New Braunfels in 1852. On December 15, 1847, a petition was submitted to create Gillespie County. In 1848, the legislature formed Gillespie County from Bexar and Travis Counties. While the signers were overwhelmingly German immigrants, names also on the petition were Castillo, Pena, Munos, and a handful of non-German Anglo names. The first sheriff of the county was Louis (Ludwig) Martin, who emigrated from Erndtebrück North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany with the first Adelsverein group aboard the Johann Detthard in 1844, and moved with the original settlers to Fredericksburg. He was one of the 1847 signers of the petition to create Gillespie County. He became district clerk in 1850. Wilhelm Victor Keidel, who emigrated from Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany, became the area's first doctor and the first elected chief justice in 1848. Theodore Specht became the first postmaster of Fredericksburg on December 7, 1848. Specht was from Braunschweig, Germany, and emigrated to Fredericksburg with his wife Maria Berger in 1846. The Spechts operated a store out of