Gustav Schleicher
| Gustav Schleicher | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 6th district |
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In office March 4, 1875 – January 10, 1879 |
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| Preceded by | Asa H. Willie |
| Succeeded by | Christopher C. Upson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 19, 1823 Darmstadt, Hesse |
| Died | January 10, 1879 (aged 55) Washington, D.C. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Tinsley Howard |
| Profession | engineer |
Gustav Schleicher (sometimes spelled Gustave) (November 19, 1823 – January 10, 1879) was a German-born Democratic United States Representative from Texas. He was an engineer who served briefly in the Texas legislature, and was a veteran of the Confederate Army.
Schleicher was born in Darmstadt in the German principality of Hesse in 1823. He attended the Giessen University and studied engineering. He assisted in the construction of early railroads in Europe.
He, Hermann Spiess and Dr. Ferdinand Ludwig Herff were among the leaders in a group of intellectuals who immigrated to Texas and founded a Fisher-Miller Land Grant commune, named Bettina after the German literary figure and social visionary Bettina von Arnim, on the banks of the Llano River in 1847. According to the Handbook of Texas Online,"The community was intended to prove the truth of communist ideals and light the way for relief of the troubles in Europe, which had led to sporadic attempts at revolution and were later to lead to the abortive German revolt of 1848."
Schleicher became disillusioned with the experiment in Bettina (he is said to have remarked that "the bigger the men, the more they talked, the less they worked and the more they ate.") and moved to San Antonio. In San Antonio, he worked with others to begin the Guadalupe Bridge Company to build a toll bridge across the Guadalupe River on the main road between San Antonio and New Braunfels. He also was instrumental in forming the San Antonio and Mexican Gulf Railroad and he began to build a railroad from Port Lavaca to San Antonio with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston who was stationed in Texas.
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