Simon Menger

Simon Menger (formally Johann Nicholaus Simon Menger; b. June 6, 1807, Stadtilm, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Thüringia — d. May 1, 1892, San Antonio; buried Alamo Masonic Cemetery) — San Antonio German immigrant; founder of the Menger Soap Works (a soap, candle, and vinegar factory on San Pedro Creek, 1850 — San Antonio’s first industrial enterprise), a musician, and (per family tradition) founder of San Antonio’s first German men’s choir (Männerchor). Father of Dr. Rudolph Menger, and thus the paternal patriarch of the H&H Menger generation (Minnie, Gus P., R. W., T. J., L. B., et al.). He went by his middle name “Simon”; the formal “Johann Nicholaus/Nicolaus Menger” found in some records is the same man, not a separate person.

This is the “soap-works” Menger line — separate and unrelated to the Menger Hotel Mengers (founded by William A. Menger). The two San Antonio Menger families are linked only by Dr. Rudolph Menger’s marriage to Catherine Barbara Menger, William A. Menger’s daughter — which is why the H&H generation descends from both unrelated Menger lines (soap paternally, hotel maternally). A soap-side descendant ran the Eric(h) Menger filling station, 4901 Broadway (19 June 2026 Draves session) — distinct from the coffee/hotel line.

Family (from the 19 June 2026 Draves scans)

The 1857–8 Simon Menger family portrait + verso key and two obituary clippings (Draves scans) document Simon’s household:

• Wife: Augusta Louisa Menger — b. Stadt Ilm, Thüringen, Germany; d. in her 69th year (~40 years a San Antonio resident at death).
• Brother: Professor Emil Menger — music professor, Mississippi College, Clinton, MS.
• Children: (Julius) Oscar (Confederate soldier, 4th Texas Regt., wounded twice at Gaines’s Mill July 1862; d. Oct 12, 1887), Erich (ran the Soap Works after Simon, 1882–~WWI), Anna (m. Haubold; tannery), August (a “Soap Works, Houston” role is family tradition, unverified — see Menger Soap Works), Dr. Rudolph, and Ida (m. Henderson). These are the H&H generation’s paternal aunts/uncles — the soap-side Mengers (cf. the Eric(h) Menger filling station, 4901 Broadway).

Parentage of Dr. Rudolph — RESOLVED with documents

That Simon was Dr. Rudolph’s father is confirmed by contemporary documents in the 19 June 2026 Draves scans: a newspaper clipping (“He was the son of Simon Jonathan Menger who immigrated to San Antonio from Germany”), the 1857–8 portrait (Dr. Rudolph as child ⑦ in Simon’s family group), and Augusta Louisa’s obituary (naming Dr. Rudolph among her sons) — plus Nancy Draves’s 2024 interview and the family worksheet. This supersedes the old “Johann and Augusta” parentage (which was a mis-split of Simon Johann + Augusta Louisa). See TODO-49 (resolved).

Open questions

• (Resolved 2026-06-21: vitals — b. June 6, 1807, Stadtilm, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Thüringia; d. May 1, 1892, San Antonio. Source: TSHA Handbook + Find A Grave, via the Menger Soap Works research.)
• (Resolved 2026-06-21: Menger Soap Works history/location/dates — compiled to its own page, places/menger-soap-works.md: founded 1850 on San Pedro Creek, 410 N. Laredo St.; succession to son Erich 1882; ran to ~end of WWI.)
• Son “August” / a Houston Soap Works — the family note that August Menger ran a Houston branch failed external verification (rests on one secondary genealogy); the only confirmed successor is Erich. Needs primary evidence — see Menger Soap Works § Open questions.
• c.1871 U.S. government soap contract — Nancy Draves’s family account; not corroborated by external research. Needs a federal contract record or period source.
• Men’s-choir / German singing society — corroborate against SA Gebirgs-Sänger-Bund records (a Nachruf for an “E. Menger” appears in the same scrapbook).

See also

• Menger Soap Works — the business he founded (full history)
• Dr. Rudolph Menger — son; physician / family patriarch
• Rudolph W. Menger — grandson; names Simon as paternal grandfather
• Menger Family — synthesis
• William A. Menger — the unrelated Menger Hotel founder (maternal line)