Cullman County AlArchives Biographies.....Cullman, John Gottfried July 2 1823 - living in 1893
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Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
    JOHN GOTTFRIED CULLMANN, general manager of the North Alabama Land and
Immigration company, Cullman, Ala., was born on the Rhine in Bavaria, July 2,
1823, son of John G. and Julia (Schneider) Cullmann. The father was a
school-teacher in Rhine-Bavaria, and the son was a man finely educated; came to
America in 1865, settled in New York state, but remained there a short time
only. Thence he went to Philadelphia for a short time, and then to Cincinnati,
where he remained about three or four years, and was engaged in a book store;
next for about two years he traveled over the United States and visited the
different German colonies in America, with the view of gaining information for
the establishing of a colony in Alabama, and in 1871, arrived at Florence, where
he met the Hon. Robert M. Patton, ex-governor, who taking an interest in Mr.
Cullmann and his enterprise, furnished horses and men to explore the country,
which led to the establishing of a German colony. Col. Cullmann remained in
Florence for about one year, when he went to Tuscumbia, and there remained
twelve months. Having met in December, 1872, Mr. Fink, of the North & South
railroad, and with him traveled over the L. & H. railroad, and having succeeded,
through Mr. Fink, in closing a contract with that railroad company for about
349,000 acres of land, an arrangement was made by which Col. Cullmann should pay
all the expense of advertising and those incident to the bringing to America of
the desired immigration for this particular territory. In 1873 Col. Cullmann
located where now stands the town of Cullman; at the start, a small colony of
fourteen German families, and proceeded to lay out the town which thenceforth
had an existence. Col. John G. Cullmann has done more since he came to Alabama
toward building up and advancing the interests of Alabama and the south than any
other twenty men in the state. He has brought into the state and located over
100,000 people, and all under his immediate supervision. His son, Otto, came to
America in 1878, and was associated with his father for sometime in the
management of the Cullman Land company, but unfortunately Otto died in 1884, at
the age of twenty-six. An elder son, Theodore, however, had been associated with
him also, and was one of the original founders of Cullman. He was a young man of
extraordinary attainments, and died in 1873, at the age of twenty-six years.
Col. Cullmann received a thorough education in his native country, and was there
a man of marked influence. He was a wholesale merchant and exported large
quantities of goods to America, but entertaining some ideas not compatible with
those of the German government, and being a fearless advocate of his principles,
he was soon in the midst of a revolution, at least in an attempt at a
revolution, and he acquired his title of colonel, at that time by being as he
says, for the period of one day in the command of a regiment of revolutionists.
In 1878 Col. Cullmann entered into additional contracts with the L. &. N.
railroad company, whereby he came into possession of 500,000 acres of land,
lying along the railroad between Decatur and Montgomery, and to the sale and
settlement of these lands he gave his special attention. In January, 1886, he
organized the North Alabama Land company, with a paid up capital of $150,000. In
May of the same year he made a trip to Europe in the interest of immigration,
and returned in the fall to find the North Alabama "boom" at its highest tide.
Seeing his opportunity, in February, 1888, he organized the North Alabama Land
and Immigration company with a capital of $2,500,000, and the company at one
time owned 160,000 acres of land and 1,000 lots in Cullman. In 1876 he founded
Garden City. He also located immigrants in all settlements along the railroad
and at other places in the state. He was invited by Gov. Houston, during that
gentleman's administration, to formulate a plan of immigration. This he
proceeded to do, and the plan, though adopted by the senate, was defeated in the
house. At the succeeding session of the legislature the bill was again before
the general assembly and was at that time adopted by the house, but was defeated
by the senate. Col. Cullmann has - and will carry with him to the grave - a
large scar on his forehead that was made by the hand of an assassin. In 1874
some rough characters, thinking that the building up of the town in their midst
might operate in time to interfere with their vile practices, decided to put a
stop to its growth by removing its founder. The villain attacked Col. Cullmann
with a huge knife, plunging it twice in his forehead, destroying a large portion
of the skull, and exposing the brain. The villain made his escape, but it is
gratifying to know that he ended his life at the end of a rope in Macon, Ga.,
for horse stealing. In 1846, Col. Cullmann was united in marriage, in his native
country, with a Miss Josephine Loew; this union was blessed with four children.
The colonel and his wife are members of the Evangelical Protestant church, while
he is a member of the Masonic order. The colonel was, even before coming to
America, a democrat, and while he has been solicited on many occasions to become
a candidate he never would allow his name to be used in connection with any
office, but is a man that wields a large influence and is one of the hardest
workers in the county, during a campaign. He is an active, energetic, wide-awake
and progressive citizens, in full sympathy with the progress of Alabama and its
people. He is a substantial supporter of all legitimate enterprises, schools,
churches and all charitable institutions, and has done more than any other man
of foreign birth in the state to build up its material interest.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 798-800
Published by
Brant & Fuller (1893)
Madison, WI



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