Was a Texan the First Man to Fly in an Airplane?

It is believed that this glass plate negative shows Jacob Brodbeck's airplane after it crashed in 1865, although this information has not been verified. (SC14120)

One often repeated story of Texas history claims that German immigrant and Hill Country resident Jacob Brodbeck was the first man to fly in an airplane. Although accounts vary, the event allegedly occurred on September 20, 1865, approximately five months following the conclusion of the Civil War and almost four decades before the Wright brothers’ flight experiments on North Carolina’s Outer Banks between 1900 and 1903.

According to the Handbook of Texas Online, Brodbeck’s “aviation achievements remain shrouded in doubt.” This is primarily because documentary evidence is largely lacking, as Brodbeck’s drawings or blueprints for his airplane have not survived and descriptions from eyewitnesses (e.g. letters, journal entries, or newspaper reports) have never been found.

However, materials at the DRT Library do appear to suggest that, despite uncertainties about whether Brodbeck ever actually flew his airplane, he was working on a project aimed at accomplishing this feat.

A republished copy of Jacob Brodbeck's notice, which appeared in the Galveston Tri-Weekly News on August 7, 1865.

In her work Jacob Brodbeck “Reached for the Sky” in Texas, descendant Anita Tatsch includes a photocopy of an article written by Brodbeck that was printed in the Galveston Tri-Weekly News on August 7, 1865. In this article, Brodbeck wrote, “For more than twenty years I have labored to construct a machine which should enable man to use, like a bird, the atmospheric region as the medium of his travels.” Brodbeck’s main purpose in writing the article was to attract funding for the construction of a large “air-ship,” the design of which he intended to patent. “I have therefore concluded to collect subscriptions,” Brodbeck wrote of his financial plans.

“These subscriptions I shall not ask as donations, but as shares, to be refunded together with a part of the proceeds of the sale of the patent right, or the sale of air-ships, as the case may be. I have put the price of one share at five dollars. Every shareholder will receive a certificate, securing to him a proportionate interest in the proceeds of the enterprise.”

A document contained in the library’s archival collections demonstrates and verifies the financial strategy Brodbeck outlined in the newspaper. The document contains four stock certificates, each for a quarter share of stock that San Antonio physician Ferdinand Herff purchased in Brodbeck’s airplane venture. Discovered by Herff’s son in 1924, the stock certificates were donated to the library by granddaughter Zelime Herff Simpson in 1966.

Ferdinand Herff's stock certificates, which helped fund Jacob Brodbeck's efforts to develop an "air-ship."

At the same time, Simpson also donated a final item related to Jacob Brodbeck’s “air-ship”: a six-page typed document entitled “Detailed specifications written by Jacob Brodbeck of an airship made by him.” A note attached to the end of the specifications indicates that the copy in the library’s collections is a transcription and translation of the original, the location of which is not known. According to the addendum, the specifications were “carefully prepared and written in the handwriting of the late Jacob Brodbeck prior to the construction of his airship which worked successfully as far as it would at that time. It was translated from German to English by his granddaughter, Miss Annie Brodbeck…in 1932.”

The first page of a translated and transcribed copy of Jacob Brodbeck's specifications for an "air-ship."

While these documents offer tantalizing evidence that Texan Jacob Brodbeck spent many years working to develop, construct, finance, and patent a means for mechanical flight, whether historians can accurately consider him the first man to fly in an airplane remains a mystery.

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Texas Newspapers Report the Battle of Gettysburg and the Fall of Vicksburg

An illustration depicting part of the Battle of Gettysburg from Harper's Weekly, August 8, 1863. (This newspaper is not in the collections of the DRT Library.)

Many historians have labeled the Battle of Gettysburg, together with the fall of Vicksburg, as the major turning point of the Civil War. This assertion remains under dispute, as scholars and other experts on the conflict have offered alternative events and battles as possible turning points. Moreover, primary sources written during the war indicate that many people – lacking scholars’ hindsight and ability to see the implications of an event – did not necessarily identify the outcomes at Gettysburg and Vicksburg as turning points.

A scene from the siege of Vicksburg from Harper's Weekly, July 25, 1863. (This newspaper is not in the collection of the DRT Library.)

Indeed, editions of the Austin Tri-Weekly State Gazette from July 14 to July 30, 1863, in the collections of the DRT Library demonstrate that news of the battles traveled slowly to Texas, as reports published in eastern newspapers were reprinted in papers further west. When information finally did reach Texas, much of it was conflicting and inconsistent. As the newspaper’s editor admitted on July 18, a full two weeks after the battle of Gettysburg and the fall of Vicksburg, “the dispatches we have been receiving lately are so contradictory and confused that that we must leave our readers to draw their own conclusions.”

Front page of the Austin Tri-Weekly State Gazette from July 14, 1863.

As late as July 14, D. Richardson, the editor of the Gazette, argued that “from a careful perusal of all the dispatches, we are led to the conclusion” that news of the fall of Vicksburg “cannot be true.” Still, he notes, “it behooves us to prepare for the worst.” This arrived two days later when Richardson was forced to admit that he had received “full confirmation” of Vicksburg’s fall. Still, doubters remained, as the Gazette noted on July 21 that “notwithstanding the apparently well authenticated reports we have had of the fall of Vicksburg, there are many in this city who still have doubts on the subject.”

Some information published in the Gazette ultimately proved to be grossly incorrect. Throughout the latter part of July, the newspaper reported stunning Southern victories in Washington, D. C. and other northern cities:

• On July 23, “The news from Lee’s army is glorious – better than we at first anticipated. We have now every assurance that the news before published was true, and that both Harrisburg [the state capital of Pennsylvania] and Washington City are in our hands, with an immense number of prisoners.”

• On July 25, “The News says Johnston telegraphed Col. Carpenter at Natchez, that beyond a doubt Gen. Lee now occupied Washington City.”

• And on July 28, “The [Houston] Telegraph is in receipt of Northern papers as late as the 11th…the general impression everywhere seems to be that all the accounts of Lee’s victories are reliable, and that our successes in the North, so far as heard from already, are a full off for the loss of Vicksburg.”

During this same period, the Battle of Gettysburg appears to have been mentioned only once, in an article on July 18 stating “from Richmond we learn that a fight took place at Gettysburg on the 1st in which our losses are reported enormously heavy. It is said to have been a drawn battle. The battle reported in our last, at which Lee captured 40,000 prisoners[,] took place on the 4th at Martinsburg. It is somewhat singular we should have heard nothing at the time of the battle of Gettysburg.”

Front page of the Austin Tri-Weekly State Gazette, July 30, 1863. This edition of the newspaper also reported the death of General Sam Houston.

It wasn’t until July 30, almost a month after Lee was defeated at Gettysburg, that Texans learned of the loss. The newspaper reported that the Houston Telegraph “copies two official dispatches from Gen. Meade, who was in command at Gettysburg, which will be found below, showing that the fight there was not in our favor as first stated.” At the same time, Texans found that their exuberance over the fall of Washington D. C. and the capture of Memphis was unfounded. “It is evident,” reported the Gazette, trying for a cheerful tone, “that we have been ‘most delightfully humbugged,’ as the [Houston] Telelgraph says, in relation to the capture of Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia.”

Front page of the Austin Tri-Weekly State Gazette, July 16, 1863.

Front page of the Austin Tri-Weekly State Gazette, July 21, 1863.

While reports of far-away battles consumed the front page of the Gazette throughout July 1863, the newspaper also carried stories about events closer to home. Almost all of this news related to the war effort, showing glimpses of life on the Texas homefront during the Civil War. Such news included casualty lists; rewards for deserters from the Confederate army; notices seeking assistance for destitute families of Confederate soldiers; articles about the impressment of cotton, tax regulations, and elections; and notices describing runaway slaves, slave auctions, and ordinances governing the behavior of slaves and free African Americans.

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Newspaper Accounts of the Battle of the Alamo

Last Friday, March 6, marked the 173rd anniversary of the final assault on the Alamo garrison. In 1836, those living in Texas and beyond learned about this event (and the general course of the Texas Revolution) through published newspaper accounts. The information contained in these articles was gathered from named and unnamed sources such as Almaron Dickinson’s wife, Susanna; William Barret Travis’s slave, Joe; Ben, the servant to the Mexican officer Colonel Almonte; and Andres Barsena and Anselmo Bergara, Tejanos who based their statements on testimony given by Antonio Pérez, who was in San Antonio on March 6.

The second page of the Telegraph and Texas Register from March 24, 1836. The article about the Alamo begins on the right-hand column under the heading "More Particulars Respecting the Fall of the Alamo."

The DRT Library’s newspaper collection includes papers published in the spring of 1836 containing “news from Texas.” While the majority of these materials were published in American cities, also included is a photocopy of the Telegraph and Texas Register published in San Felipe, Texas, on March 24, 1836. According to Todd Hansen, editor of The Alamo Reader, this document “is probably the most influential single account of the fall of the Alamo by virtue of being the first in print, its access to authoritative sources, and its near universal dissemination” (551). Indeed, argues Hansen, this account “would be the picture of the fall for Texans (and the United States) and the starting point for all later secondhand accounts” (565).

According to Todd Hansen, the casualty list included in the Telegraph and Texas Register account is "particularly valuable" because it was "based on the most authoritative sources known in Washington-on-the-Brazos" at the time (565).

Another important newspaper account of the fall of the Alamo in the library’s collections can be found in the Diario del Gobierno de la Republica Mexicana published on March 21, 1836. The draft of a 1968 press release announcing the library’s acquisition of the document states that it is “a rare copy of a Mexican newspaper containing the earliest known official announcement of the fall of the Alamo.”

Front page of the Diario del Gobierno de la Republica Mexicana from March 21, 1836.

As the official newspaper of the Mexican government, the Diario celebrated the bravery and success of Mexican officers and soldiers in achieving what is described as a complete and brilliant victory. “Long Live the Mexican Republic!” proclaimed the headline of this article, “Long live General Santa Anna and the brave army, victors of the Fort of the Alamo in Texas!”

The report on the fall of the Alamo appears on the fourth page of the March 24th Diario.

A supplement to this edition of the newspaper contained additional details about the Alamo, specifically General Santa Anna’s report about the battle, his March 5th General Order outlining the plan for the assault, and a March 3rd letter from General Urrea to Santa Anna describing the former’s victory over James Grant’s men at San Patricio. The article also includes a Spanish translation of Robert McAlpin Williamson’s March 1st letter to Travis. Taken from Travis’s body or his quarters, the letter concludes with Williamson’s impassioned statement, “For God’s sake hold out until we can assist you.” The Diario supplement may be the first printing of the text of the letter; since the original manuscript of this letter has never been found, the publication is significant for revealing its existence.

First page of the "Suplemento al Diario del Gobierno de la Republica Mexicana" for March 24, 1836.

Like other primary sources describing the siege and battle of the Alamo, newspaper accounts contain some confusing, problematic, and contradictory statements that researchers are still exploring, analyzing, and debating. For example, the report published in the Diario del Gobierno de la Republica Mexicana claimed that more than 600 Texans were killed, an estimation three times the actual number. Additionally, while only seventy deaths are attributed to the Mexican force, actual losses are estimated to be up to 600 soldiers.

An inventory for the entire newspaper collection can be accessed by visiting the DRT library; we are in the process of editing the guide so that it can be accessed and searched via the library’s online catalog.

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Telegraph and Texas Register, Early Texas Newspaper

The top of the first page of the Telegraph and Texas Register from January 6, 1837. Much of the paper on that date was dedicated to reprinting an act "organizing the inferior Courts," the first part of which is seen here.

The DRT Library has an extensive collection of newspapers dating from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. While this collection contains some papers published in cities around the United States and even Mexico, the majority were printed in Texas towns and cities. Included in this collection are some of the earliest newspapers available in the state.

According to Marilyn McAdams Sibley in her work Lone Stars and State Gazettes (1983), in the nearly fifty years between the first attempt to print a newspaper in Texas in 1813 and the Civil War, “more than four hundred newspapers appeared.” Notably, argues Sibley, while “in style and format those papers represented an extension of the Anglo-American frontier press,” they also “peculiarly reflected the course of history in Texas” (3).

Several short-lived newspapers were printing prior to 1830, but it was not until the eve of the Texas Revolution that Texans established sustainable enterprises for publishing. First was the Texas Gazette, which was published between 1829 and 1832; according to the Handbook of Texas, it was the “first enduring Texas newspaper” and the “earliest Texas newspaper of which more than one issue is now extant.” Second, the Telegraph and Texas Register, first printed in October 1835, was “the first newspaper in Texas to achieve a degree of permanence.”

Detail of page three of the Telegraph and Texas Register from January 11, 1837.

The DRT Library has almost one hundred volumes of the Telegraph and Texas Register dating from October 1835 to April 1838. Initially, the newspaper was published by Gail Borden, Jr., Thomas H. Borden, and Joseph Baker; by the spring of 1837, ownership passed to Francis Moore, Jr., and Jacob W. Cruger. Originally printed approximately once each week and measuring 19.5 inches tall by 12.5 inches wide, each volume was four pages in length (two pages front and back) and each page contained three columns of text.

Primarily, the newspaper covered activities of the government of the Republic of Texas by printing acts and laws, proclamations, election information, government reports, and minutes from legislative sessions. For example, the March 12, 1836 edition reprinted William Barret Travis’s famous letter written nine days previously at the Alamo in which he described the dire situation at the old mission, requested reinforcements and other supplies, and ended with the defiant declaration “Victory or Death!!”. Likewise, the Telegraph printed the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 12 and the Constitution on August 2. In addition to informing readers of governmental matters, the newspaper also included stories reprinted from American newspapers; descriptions of towns written to attract new residents; and letters, editorials, or other pieces submitted by readers. Finally, the Telegraph also contained notices or advertisements about a variety of subjects such as recent births, marriages, and deaths; goods and services available; land available for purchase or rent; lost items; and arrivals of steamboats.

Detail of page four of the Telegraph and Texas Register from January 11, 1837.

According to Sibley, this relative lack of local news was characteristic of Texas newspapers at this time. Editors considered much local news to be “unprintable” for several reasons. First, “most of the papers appeared weekly in towns of a few hundred population.” In towns of that size, newspaper editors had little need to print “sensational local news and important news from afar” because this information had already “circulated by word of mouth before the newspaper appeared.” Moreover, “prudence dictated that [an editor] handle local items with care. By merely noticing certain events, he could antagonize advertisers and subscribers or possibly involve himself in personal vendettas not his own” (7). As a result of these circumstances, argues Sibley, the average newspaper editor “seldom went in search of [news], and instead waited in his office for acceptable news to come to him.” Editors received news for their publications from several sources, including letters that were “sometimes addressed to him and sometimes [written] to local citizens who shared their news with him. Travelers from distant points stopped at the press office to inform him of happenings at their point of departure or along their route.” Most importantly, however, “fellow editors in other towns sent him exchange papers, from which he clipped enough items to fill his pages” (7-8).

For further reading about the history of the Telegraph and Texas Register and other early Texas newspapers, please see:

Imagining Texas: Pre-Revolutionary Texas Newspapers, 1829-1836 by Carol Lea Clark

Lone Stars and State Gazettes: Texas Newspapers before the Civil War by Marilyn McAdams Sibley

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