Before the catastrophic Great Storm of 1900, tens of thousands of immigrants from all over the globe entered the United States through the Port of Galveston. Many of them were the nameless, faceless men and women who worked in Galveston’s growing shipping industry, on the railroads, or did the backbreaking work of constructing our homes and public buildings. Masses of people landed in Galveston between 1850 and 1900, most with high hopes, big dreams, and empty pockets.

On January 6, 1855, Jan (also called John) Reymershoffer and his family were among those arriving, but his pockets were hardly empty. In fact, Reymershoffer, a Czech merchant by trade, arrived with $25,000 in gold.

At that time, it was a fortune. When he finally settled in Galveston, he and his sons put this money to good use, boosting Galveston’s economy by creating several businesses as well as adding yet another dimension to Galveston’s already diverse population.

They entered through Galveston, but the family’s story in Texas begins on the mainland. Having maintained a correspondence with a Czech evangelical preacher named Rev. Arnost Bergman in Texas, the Reymershoffer family moved to be part of his congregation of Czech immigrants in Austin County.

Reymershoffer quickly bought a store and a farm, but did not stay long. The family moved to Allyton, in Colorado County, which was at that time a significant commercial and cotton-trading town. Unfortunately for the Reymershoffers, it was also a hotbed of violent secessionist activity, which they found frightening and unsafe.

 

Because many of the other Czech immigrants in the area were known for their pro-Union political leanings, Reymershoffer felt scrutinized and even threatened in his community. He went so far as to purchase a slave, hoping to throw off the lynch-mob suspicion of his neighbors, but the family found life in such a volatile climate too difficult. During the Civil War the young Reymershoffers moved to Matamoros, Mexico, where they found work with a German mercantile firm.

After the Civil War, Reymershoffer, his wife, and their two sons, Jan (called John, Jr.) and Gustav, and daughter Klara, moved to Galveston. On October 10, 1876, Jan Reymershoffer died in Galveston and is buried in the Galveston Old City Cemetery.

It is unknown exactly how the $25,000 in gold was spent, but if the success of Reymershoffer’s sons is an indication, the money must have been very well invested. The brothers built two elegant mansions side by side at 1302 and 1314 Postoffice Street. John, whose timber framed house at 1314 Postoffice was built first in 1871, became his brother Gustav’s next door neighbor after his house was built a few years later.

Reymershoffer’s house was typical for a prominent family of that time. It featured a French style Mansard roof and an upper tower that added an additional three stories to the two-story home. It had prominent ridge cresting, and as it was typical of the Victorian era, every surface was decorated in some way with moldings, trims and patterns.

John Reymershoffer and his brother Gustav became two of Galveston’s most prominent businessmen. Together, they founded the Texas Star Flour Mills, which was located at 20th Street and Harborside.

Ironically, the sailing ship Ammerland that brought the Reymershoffers to Galveston landed at the exact location where the Texas Star Flour Mills company would eventually stand. The building took up the entire block, and their business flourished during Galveston’s golden age of growth and prosperity prior to the Great Storm of 1900.

A post-Great Storm damage report published in a book entitled Galveston in Nineteen Hundred showed that the Texas Star Flour Mills had sustained little damage and ended with the quote, “The Reymershoffers are rich.”

Indeed, they were very wealthy. Although the massive building on Harborside and 20th Street is long gone, there are still remnants of the Reymershoffers’ impressive business prowess in Galveston.

The building currently housing Nautical Antiques, located at 2202 Ships Mechanic Row, was called Reymershoffer and Sons in 1876. At that time, the three-and-a-half story building was a pottery and textile wholesaling business and was one of many enterprises in Galveston owned by the Reymershoffers.

In the course of his career, John Reymershoffer became one of the first directors of the First National Bank, the president of the Galveston Brewing Company, and the founder of the first rice mill in all of Texas.

Influential, wealthy, and well-received on the international business scene, the sophisticated and multi-lingual Reymershoffer brothers brought a great deal of commerce to Galveston. Both brothers were also very involved in local politics, with both serving Galveston as aldermen.

The elder Jan Reymershoffer would have been proud to know his son John was appointed Consul of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to Texas. Emperor Franz Josef granted him the noble title of Baron, and decorated him with the Order of the Iron Crown. He held that post until his death on December 12, 1899.

In 1966, John Reymershoffer’s home with the Mansard roof and the striking chateau-style upper tower at 1314 Postoffice was sold and the new owner had it demolished. Although it could have easily survived, many people at that time felt that a house that size would be too difficult to maintain.

Unfortunately many of Galveston's grand residences were also demolished during this time especially during the 1950s and 1960s. The families who once lived in the houses had moved on and the remaining family members often had little desire or resources to maintain such large houses.

After demolishing the grand home, the new owner built five smaller rental houses on the property that still stand today.

Gustav Reymershoffer died on November 18, 1903 in Galveston at the age of 56. He was reportedly sitting in a rocking chair at his sister Klara's house reading a newspaper when he passed. Gustav’s home at 1302 Postoffice still stands today.

Both brothers were known as outstanding businessmen whose presence brought great benefit to the city of Galveston. With their great financial and political influence in Galveston, it’s strange to note that very few Islanders know much about them or their magnificent side-by-side homes on Postoffice.

It’s important to remember those tens of thousands of immigrants who entered this country through our port, and remain aware that the streets that we walk on and the buildings in which we live and work were built by people who came to us with nothing but hope for a better way of life.