Ernst Raven

Ernst or Ernest Raven (1804–1881) was an immigrant from Germany who became a prominent resident of Texas; he served as consul for the German Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in the Republic of Texas and the state for many years. Married Johanne Freideriche AUGUSTA Mentzel on February 7, 1830 in Saxe-Coburg, Gotha Germany.

He was bookbinder to the Duke before moving to Baltimore, Maryland in 1838. Raven moved to what was then the Republic of Texas in 1844 and settled in Milam County. In 1846 he was one of the signers of a petition to the Governor of Texas for the relocation of trading posts with the Indian tribes. He relocated permanently to Austin, Texas in 1848, where he resumed bookbinding and served as a city alderman. In 1853 Raven was hired for contract work on furniture in the Texas State Senate chamber. Raven was mentioned in Frederick Law Olmsted's 1857 account of his journey through Texas. At the time of Olmsted's visit to Austin, Raven was offering a $100 reward for return of a stolen horse.

During the period when Texas was an independent republic, Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha had appointed Raven to the position of consul for Texas. He continued that role when Texas joined the United States in 1845. He was reappointed to Texas in February 1861, when Texas was again an independent country and before it joined the Confederacy. The Duke never appointed him to the Confederacy itself. Confederate Secretary of State Judah Benjamin reported to the Confederate Congress, on September 22, 1862, that Raven was the only consul to request permission to act from the Richmond Government:

Raven's appointment assigned him to Austin, Texas.

Did Saxe-Coburg-Gotha recognize the C.S.A.? The Confederate Secretary of State, Judah P. Benjamin, on October 8, 1863, describes the Confederate position on the status of consuls under international law:

Several other European nations (chiefly Great Britain) also maintained consuls in the Confederacy, but these were appointed previously to the United States Government; several acting consuls were, however, quietly accepted and permitted to act, before the Confederacy made an issue of this in May 1863.

Many in the south saw Raven's appointment as a recognition of the Confederate States. This item appeared in several newspapers-