Hans Gammel

Background

Hans Peter Mareus Neilsen Gammel was born in Grenaa(Grenå), in Region Midtjylland, Aarhus County, Denmark. He was the son of Niels Hansen Gammel and Mittie Marie Brugger.

Career

He served as editor and publisher of a series of books reporting Texas legislation enacted by each congressional and legislative session. His first publication consisted of 10 volumes and covered 75 years of Texas legal history. The Laws of Texas 1822-1897 has long been a primary resource for the study of Texas legal history during the Nineteenth Century.

Gammel sent for the family, who eventually caught up with him in Austin, Texas.

Gammel rented a little place in Austin and he set up a stand. He sold writing paper, bits of jewelry, lemonade, and books

In 1881, the old Texas State Capitol burned to the ground. In order to earn a little extra money to help support his growing family, Gammel took the contract to haul away the debris.Gammel gathered papers and charred documents from the debris scattered on the Capitol grounds.

He loaded them in a wagon and took them to his home.

Gammel sorted and edited the crinkled papers, then published them beginning in 1898 as the first ten volumes of Gammel’s Laws of Texas, 1822-1897.

Achievements

• This work won acclaim and was supplemented by additional volumes after each legislature to bring the set up to date until 1937.