07/04/2026
I am very fortunate and thankful for me and my family to be Americans. My great grandfather George Guttenberger, at 38 years old, 5’ 1”, 150 lbs, left his wife and four children in New Sandez, Austria (now Novy Sanc, Poland) to migrate from Austria to the USA. He sailed on the ship, Pretoria, leaving Hamburg, Germany, on September 10, 1900 and sailed to Ellis Island, landing January 1, 1901. From there, he found his way down to Rosenberg (Needville)Texas, (Southwest of Houston) Texas, in Fort Bend County, where he is buried. I found his original naturalization papers the Declaration of Intent and Petition for Naturalization to the USA, at the George Memorial library. They were so brittle you could not touch the papers. They’ve now been digitized. In that second document he listed his immediate family wife, Katharina and five children, Conrad, Paul, George, Emelia, and August Earl, whom he had brought over just a few years later.
In those documents, he renounced his allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince or sovereignty, and particularly to Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria and Apostolic King of Hungary. Filing official petition December 12, 1910 stating he would support and defend the constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies foreign and domestic. He was awarded citizenship by the 23rd judicial District of Texas on April 11, 1912. 
Important to note George’s grandson Albert, my uncle, fought and survived D-Day serving in the US Army.
My mom‘s family, O’Neals from Ireland, came to America much earlier, settling in South Carolina and then Mississippi. Later, moving to Palacios, Texas. There, in high school, she met my dad. Her side of the family helped serve in many of the battles in the south.
Paul Ben and Anita Willene (Dollar) Guttenberger married in late 1956. On September 27, 1957 I was born in Victoria, Texas, Randy Paul Guttenberger. Now at 68 years old, I have been an American for 27% of its history, and I might say the most fortunate of US times. I am proud to be an American, and as such also a Texan. I hope you get to think about and appreciate your story. Randy Guttenberger

