b'Once one of the most powerful South Texas families, four generations of tragedy and misbehavior have brought the MorganTarltonFarenthold era to a dubious end.G eorge Farenthold was not born into any of the deep, Southdrafted into the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942 to fight the Nazis, Texas, dynastic clans that owned and controlled the regionsending up a decorated captain by the end of the war. George plentiful natural resources, ran its industries and dominatedwas the grandson of a successful Belgian inventor and indus-its politics, by the first half of the 20th Century. Some of themtrialist and lived an apropos life. He was educated at a Swiss date back to Spanish conquistadores who discovered what isacademy like the kind Kim Jong-Un went to, was chauffeured today the southern United States over four hundred years ago,most places he traveled, and enjoyed the service of a personal and who still own land that was originally granted to their an- manservant. By the time German tanks were rolling through cestors by the King of Spain. Others can trace their roots tothe streets of Brussels in May, 1940, thousands had already the original Texians who came here from the United States andfled to the countryside, or out of Belgium entirely, depending Europe in the 1830s when this land was part of Mexico. Theyon their means. For George Farenthold, his timely emigration fought for independence and won, forming the Republic of Tex- to America led him to a new home in South Texas, where his as in 1836, that a decade later became the 28th state. namesakes would achieve fame, and infamy, over the ensuing George was not born into any of that, but he was smarteighty years of high peaks, and very deep valleys.enough to marry into ittwice. Borne of Belgian aristocracy,Georges first marriage was to Annie Blake Morgan, the George Farenthold left Europe in 1936 to work in the oil busi- daughter of Randolph Rand Morgan, the wealthy landown-ness in Corpus Christi, became a U.S. citizen in 1940, and waser and oilman whose name is familiar to modern day Corpus 42 THE COOASASTTAL BEND MA TheC omTheCooasastalBend.c72 THE C AL BEND MAGAGAZINEZINEFEAMarTch/URED: The StApril 2018ories that Mattered talBend.com'