George B. Zimpelman

George Bernhard Zimpelman was a Bavarian born German-American who became an influential Texas statesman and businessman. After the Civil War he was often referred to as "Major Zimpelman", and as a Texas sheriff and business developer he helped to shape and secure land holdings in Texas. He was the previous owner of the now-famous LBJ Ranch.

George Zimpelman was born at Nussdorf near Landau, Bavaria, on July 24, 1832, son of John Jacob Zimpelman, a successful, influential farmer. His mother, Maria Salome Hochdoeffer, was also a native of Bavaria. He was raised in Bavaria until about the age of fourteen. His early education was in several of the best classical schools during that time.

In 1846, at age 14, he came to America with his uncle and aunt, who settled briefly in New Orleans, where he engaged as a clerk in a dry goods store. In 1847 he came to Texas with his family, locating in Austin. His uncle and aunt were stricken by an infectious outbreak they had picked up in Galveston and died shortly after arriving in Austin, leaving the adolescent George on his own with no immediate ties to his family overseas and no access to money. His first employment in Austin was as a carpenter, a trade which he mastered by 1854. In that same year he abandoned carpentry and took up gunsmithing. In 1856 he relocated to a farm just outside Austin and was engaged in agriculture and stock raising until the Civil War.

Upon the outbreak of the war in 1861, he promptly responded to the call, entering the Confederate service as a private in Colonel Terry's Texas Rangers, and remained in the army until the general surrender of the South. He served in the Eighth Regiment Texas Cavalry of the Rangers, who became famous on both sides of the conflict. Among his principal engagements were Forrest's capture of Murfreesboro; the fighting under Wheeler in 1862; the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Shelbyville, Chickamauga, Marietta, New Hope Church and Decatur. He was wounded six times in battle, three times during the Battle of Atlanta, and three times in other engagements.

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