William A. Menger was born around 1827 in Windecken (present-day Nidderau) in what is today Germany. He immigrated to America aboard the Johannes, arriving in Baltimore, Maryland, in September 1847. He moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and then to San Antonio, Texas, in 1851. He became a naturalized citizen soon afterward. He married Maria Baumschluder on July 1, 1851, and they had at least three children: Louis, born around 1853; Peter, born around 1857; and Catherine, born around 1860. He worked as a hotel keeper in San Antonio, and by 1860, he owned $5,000 of real estate and $10,000 of personal property. He enslaved at least eight people.

 

He later testified that he “well understood the inestimable blessing of the Union and regarded his paramount allegiance as due to the United States, as his naturalization papers declared.” He claimed that he “opposed the [secession] movement with all his influence until after it was an accomplished fact. Then because of the threatened strife at home he yielded and acquiesced in things as they were.” At some point during the war, Confederate officials conscripted him into the army, but they declared him “unfit for field duty” soon afterward.

 

He received a parole from Union forces in August 1865, and he received a presidential pardon on September 20, 1865. In his pardon application, he claimed to accept emancipation, and he insisted that he “comprehends the full value of the Union and the wickedness of attempting to destroy it.”

 

He remained in San Antonio after the war and continue operating his hotel. By 1870, he owned $65,000 of real estate and $3,000 of personal property. He died on March 18, 1871. His wife continued operating the hotel after his death, and it remains in operation to this day.

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