Mother Ernestine was a pianist, and the family enjoyed entertaining visitors with the singing of poems, folk songs and hymns.

[3] Penateka Comanche Chief Ketemoczy (Katemcy) named him El Sol Colorado (The Red Sun).

[4] In 1828, the Meusebach sons were enrolled in parochial school in Roßleben, and at the Mining and Forest Academy at Clausthal-Zellerfeld in the Harz mountains to study geology and the natural sciences.

During this period, grandfather Christian Carl von Meusebach in Vockstedt took the young men on outdoor excursions to share their common interest in botany.

The Meusebach home was a gathering place for intellectual and political discussions of personal freedom and less government versus a nationalist state.

[7] The Adelsverein was formed in Biebrich, Germany on April 20, 1842, by a group of noblemen to promote German colonization in Texas.

[14] On October 24, 1844, Meusebach wrote a letter to Count Castell to express his interest in moving to the Republic of Texas in order to pursue his love of geology, botany and horticulture.

Fisher had badly mis-managed funds and assets entrusted to him, with Prince Solms lending more money to the expedition.

[18] Count Castell replied to Meusebach's October 24 letter by stating that he could buy a share in the Verein for $2,000 and have a chance at becoming Commissioner-General in Texas.

The two negotiated a contract for Commissioner-General: Meusebach would receive a $2,000 allowance for equipment and books, an annual salary of $790 plus 2% of the net profits of the Verein, and 500 acres of land in Texas.

[24] Verein agent D.H. Klaener greeted Meusebach's arrival at Galveston and immediately apprised him of the desperate straits of the colonists.

To a larger degree, the financial situation happened because the Adelsverein was an organization of noblemen with no practical backgrounds at running a business.

Meusebach found Prince Solms in Galveston trying to return to Germany, detained by authorities for unpaid bills.

[27] In May 1846, Meusebach received a letter from Count Castell informing him 4,304 emigrants were on their way to Texas, with the Verein unresponsive to pleas for more funding.

In order to settle the Fisher-Miller land grant, Meusebach successfully negotiated a non-government peace treaty with the Penateka Comanche in 1847.

Meusebach and Hermann Spiess of the Darmstadt Society of Forty chose the location for Bettina in 1847 on the banks of the Llano River.

Meusebach had considered leaving Texas as early as November 1845, when he wrote to Count Castell and announced his intention to resign and return to Germany.

While in Germany, Meusebach had been elected to represent Bexar, Medina and Comal counties in the Texas State Senate.

His first act as Texas senator was to request that the inaugural address of Governor Peter Hansborough Bell be printed in English, Spanish and German.

[40] In 1854, Meusebach was appointed by Governor Elisha Pease as a special commissioner to settle colonist titles to land promised by the Verein between 1845 and 1846.

[42][43] After resigning as Commissioner-General of the Adelsverein, Meusebach moved from New Braunfels to some 2,577 acres he had bought for $2600[44] at Comanche Spring in Bexar County, believed to have been in the vicinity of current-day Camp Bullis.

[47] During the American Civil War, Meusebach sold his Comanche Spring property and moved to Fredericksburg, where he operated a mercantile business to support his family.

Leonie von Meusebach–Zesch became a dentist, living in both Texas and Arizona and providing dental services to military personnel.

When her mother Elizabeth was no longer able to care for herself, Dr. Zesch returned to California and spent the rest of her life and career there.