John O. Meusebach (May 26, 1812 – May 27, 1897), born Otfried Hans Freiherr von Meusebach, was at first a Prussian bureaucrat, later an American farmer and politician who served in the Texas Senate, District 22. Early years John O. Meusebach was born May 26, 1812, in Dillenburg, Duchy of Nassau, to Baron Karl Hartwig Gregor von Meusebach, a judge solicitor, and Ernestine von Meusebach née von Witzleben. He was the namesake of brother Orfried Isador (1806–1808) who died young. He had two older sisters, Ludowine and Caroline, and a younger brother Carl Bernhard. The children grew up in a home filled with music. Mother Ernestine was a pianist, and the family enjoyed entertaining visitors with the singing of poems, folk songs and hymns. The elder Meusebach, a poet himself, took delight in collecting German folk music and literature. As an adult, Meusebach stood 6 foot 2 inches tall with reddish-blonde hair. Waco Indians near New Braunfels called him Ma-be-quo-si-to-mu, (Chief with the burning hair of the head). Penateka Comanche Chief Ketemoczy (Katemcy) named him El Sol Colorado (The Red Sun). Education and career In 1828, the Meusebach sons were enrolled in parochial school in Roßleben, and at the Mining and Forest Academy at Clausthal-Zellerfeld in the Harz mountains to study geology and the natural sciences. During this period, grandfather Christian Carl von Meusebach in Vockstedt took the young men on outdoor excursions to share their common interest in botany. Otfried enrolled in the University of Bonn in 1832, majoring in law, cameralism, and finance. He transferred to the University of Halle, where he studied natural science. In 1836, he passed his bar examination at Naumburg. Meusebach was appointed administrator of Trier in 1836. He became an assistant judge in 1838 at Berlin and Potsdam. The Meusebach home was a gathering place for intellectual and political discussions of personal freedom and less government versus a nationalist state. Otfried was interested that some German intellectuals had emigrated to the United States, but also voiced opinions that the United States was in contradiction of itself by proclaiming liberty while allowing the institution of slavery. In 1841, Meusebach held a legal position in Stettin. Because of his expertise at handling a dispute between Stettin and Anklam, he was soon appointed as Bürgermeister of Anklam. Adelsverein Texas land grant The Adelsverein was formed in Biebrich, Germany on April 20, 1842, by a group of