Family of
Joseph Louis Deutsch
 

Joseph Louis Deutsch
 

Joseph Louis Deutsch was born November 7, 1870 at Indianola, and spent practically all his life along the Gulf Coast. For many years he was an important figure in the fish and oyster industry of Matagorda County, and among other interests was the owner of the Liberty Fish and Oyster Company. His father, Simon Deutsch was born in Germany and was brought to Texas in 1845, landing at Indianola. The father of Simon Deutsch was a doctor and chemist, and in the early days in the absence of regular physicians a large community depended upon him for medical supplies and medical treatment. Simon Deutsch was a prominent man in Calhoun County, and held the office of sheriff there for a number of years. His wife, Emalia Stearne, was born in Stuttgart, Germany. These parents had five children, two of whom died in infancy. Dora, born in 1865, was the wife of Capt. George Raymond, of Houston, and they had three children, Alfred, Grace and Charles. Emanuel, born in 1868 was a stock man in Matagorda County, also conducted a butcher business, and died unmarried at the age of forty-five.
 

Joseph Louis Deutsch after his early schooling worked for a time in the dairy business, then became a railroad man, learning telegraphy, and was in the service of the railroad company eight years. He left the railroad to become assistant postmaster of Palacios, and handled a large part of the work of the office there throughout the Cleveland administration, during 1893-97.
 

During the next thirty years Mr. Deutsch's time and energies were entirely taken up with his increasing interests in the fish and oyster industry. For many years he was manager for the Ruthven Fish & Oyster Co., an organization that produces and supplies a considerable volume of the fish and oysters produced in Matagorda County. Mr. Deutsch was also for eight years a commissioner in the fish and game department of the state. He was one of the most valued citizens and for two terms was on the City Council. He was past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias Lodge, member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a Presbyterian and a Democrat.
 

He married Miss Maude Hill, daughter of Captain and Mrs. S. D. Hill. Her father was in the lighthouse service and Mr. and Mrs. Deutsch were married in the lighthouse near Palacios Point, Matagorda Bay, on August 17, 1904. Mrs. Deutsch died in 1910, leaving one son, Joseph Louis, born in 1906. The son was an assistant in the Palacios Bank.

Texas Under Many Flags, Clarence W. Wharton, American Historical Society, 1930

Matagorda County Genealogical Society Publication, Oak Leaves, Vol. 9 #2, February 1990
 

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