The Writing on the Wall
The document you see to the left is a report on “The activity of the committee since the last report of May 15 of this year [1849].” And although the tone is optimistic, the details spell out the future fall of the Adelsverein. The report begins by extolling the promise of development in Texas through the construction of roads and steamships as well as the beauty of the land and expected future immigration. However, the further you read, the more insight you get into the Adelsverein’s financial difficulties. Phrases jump out, such as “as soon as the society pays off its debt in Texas,” “the society got caught in liabilities that it cannot withdraw from with honor and without losing everything,” “business cannot continue as usual,” and perhaps most dramatically, “attempting to avert shipwreck.”
This in fact, does foreshadow what would happen in 1853. The Adelsverein would sell off its remaining property and their colonization rights to their debtors in Texas. Although the immigrants who were already settled could keep their property, the society was finished and remaining land was given back to the state of Texas.