Adam Becker Homestead German native Adam Becker (1815-1901) journeyed to Texas in 1845 to join Prince Carl Solms-Braunfels in establishing a colony on behalf of The Adelsverein, also known as the German Emigration Company. Becker contributed to the building of Fredericksburg and assisted with other aspects of the colony. He married Elizabeth Monken and by 1852 had established his homestead on this site, where he raised cattle. The house he built for his family was constructed of locally quarried stone and hand-hewn cypress from the banks of the nearby Guadalupe River. Adam Becker became a United States citizen in 1860 and upon his death in 1901 was buried in the cemetery on his homestead.