Tiffany, Louis Comfort

(born Feb. 18, 1848, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Jan. 17, 1933, New York City) U.S. painter, craftsman, philanthropist, decorator, and designer. The son of the famous jeweler Charles Louis Tiffany (1812–1902), he studied painting with American painter George Inness and in Paris; he was a recognized painter before he began to experiment with stained glass in 1875. He founded a glassmaking factory in Queens, N.Y., in 1878. There he developed an iridescent glass he called Favrile, which achieved widespread popularity in Europe. After 1900 Tiffany's firm ventured into lamps, jewelry, pottery, and bibelots. He is internationally recognized as one of the greatest forces of the Art Nouveau style.

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(born Feb. 18, 1848, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Jan. 17, 1933, New York City) U.S. painter, craftsman, philanthropist, decorator, and designer. The son of the famous jeweler Charles Louis Tiffany (1812–1902), he studied painting with American painter George Inness and in Paris; he was a recognized painter before he began to experiment with stained glass in 1875. He founded a glassmaking factory in Queens, N.Y., in 1878. There he developed an iridescent glass he called Favrile, which achieved widespread popularity in Europe. After 1900 Tiffany's firm ventured into lamps, jewelry, pottery, and bibelots. He is internationally recognized as one of the greatest forces of the Art Nouveau style.

Learn more about Tiffany, Louis Comfort with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Comfort is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kendall County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,358 at the 2000 census.

Geography

Comfort is located at (29.969566, -98.907087). This is 45 miles (72 km) northwest of San Antonio and 72 miles (116 km) west of Austin. The town is at the junction of I-10 and State HWY 87. I-10 has two exits for Comfort and HWY 87 takes you to Fredericksburg if you go north.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 3.2 square miles (8.3 km²), of which, 3.2 square miles (8.3 km²) of it is land and 0.31% is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,358 people, 799 households, and 603 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 735.6 people per square mile (283.6/km²). There were 917 housing units at an average density of 286.1/sq mi (110.3/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 76.34% White, 0.51% African American, 1.19% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 0.21% Pacific Islander, 18.70% from other races, and 2.93% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 45.00% of the population.

There were 799 households out of which 38.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.7% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.5% were non-families. 20.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.26.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 29.3% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $28,799, and the median income for a family was $29,295. Males had a median income of $20,972 versus $15,000 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $12,687. About 27.1% of families and 29.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 39.2% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Comfort is served by the Comfort Independent School District. It is also the home of HIS HILL BIBLE SCHOOL located on a hill top overlooking Comfort.

History of Comfort

Comfort was established in 1854 by German immigrants which were Freethinkers and Abolitionists in the 1800s. The first churches were not established in Comfort till 1900. The downtown area is possibly one of the most well-preserved business districts in Texas. There are well over 100 structures in the area dating back to the 1800s, and seven of them were designed by the noted architect, Alfred Giles. Mr. Giles lived in San Antonio and he would ride horses, the stagecoach, and later the train to check his building sites in Comfort. Most of the population today are composed of the descendants of those original pioneer families of the 1850s and the 1860s. Ernst Altgelt, at the young age of 22, is credited with surveying and measuring the lots that would later be sold to the incoming German immigrants. He stayed and married Emma (Murck) Altgelt and they raised their nine children in the township of Comfort.

Comfort is also known for a not-so-pleasant event that took place during the Civil War. The Treue Der Union Monument was dedicated in honor of 35 men who died at the Battle of the Nueces which took place because they opposed the state's secession from the Union. The German settlers were killed on their way to Mexico during the Civil War. They were attacked by Confederate forces near Brackettville on August 10, 1862. The bodies were not buried and the bones were retrieved and placed here in 1865. The monument was erected in 1866.

In 1918, Albert Steves erected a bat roost on his family farm in Comfort. This roost was built to attract bats in an effort to control mosquito populations by natural means. It was originally researched and developed by Dr. Charles Agustus Rosenheimer Campbell of San Antonio. The idea was to use bats against malaria carring mosquito. At one time there were 16 bat roosts built in the United States and Europe, of which only two sites now remain—one in Comfort and one in the Florida Keys.

References

External links

• Chronology of Central European Colonization in Texas
• Freethinkers of the Early Texas Hill Country from the Freedom From Religion Foundation
• The Comfort Freethought Cenotaph Dedication from the Freedom From Religion Foundation
• German Americans during the Civil War Freethinkers and Turners