Engelbert Krauskopf (August 21, 1820 – July 11, 1881) was a German-American settler, gunsmith, and naturalist. Born in Bendorf, Germany, he emigrated to the United States in 1846, and became a settler of Fredericksburg, Texas. He was trained as a cabinetmaker and gunsmith, and during the American Civil War once made a gun barrel especially for Robert E. Lee.[1] He was also an inventor: when ammunition became scarce during the Civil War he and silversmith Adolph Lungkwitz developed a process for the manufacture of gun-caps.[1] In 1872, he patented an improvement to a throttle valve stand with John M. Compant,[2] and one of his last inventions was a microscope in the form of a magic lantern.[3][4] An amateur botanist, he described the species Hesperaloe engelmannii (commonly known as Engelmann's red yucca).[1][5] The standard author abbreviation Krauskopf is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[6]

Engelbert Krauskopf

References

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  1. ^ a b c Kohout, Martin Donell (15 June 2010). "Krauskopf, Engelbert". Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  2. ^ United States. Patent Office (1872). Specifications and Drawings of Patents Issued from the U.S. Patent Office. pp. 289–.
  3. ^ Döbbler, F. Wilhelm (July 15, 1881). "no title". Freie Presse für Texas (in German). San Antonio, TX. p. 4. {{cite news}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  4. ^ "Engelbert Krauskopf: Early Day Gunsmith". Fredericksburg Standard. April 28, 1971. pp. 1–2 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Herrmann, Maria (1977). "The Restoration of Historical Fredericksburg" (PDF). Rice University Studies. 63 (3): 119–139.
  6. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Krauskopf.