{{Short description|American pioneer (1803–1888)}} {{for|his son, the manager of the King Ranch|Robert J. Kleberg (King Ranch)}} {{More footnotes needed|date=September 2025}} {{Texas History}}

'''Robert Justus Kleberg''' (September 10, 1803{{spaced ndash}}October 30, 1888), christened Johan Christian Justus Robert Kleberg, was a German Texan from Herstelle, Westphalia, then part of the Kingdom of Prussia. He was a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto<ref>[http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/kleberg.htm Texas A&M University on Kleberg Family]</ref> and the brother of Louis Kleberg. He arrived in Texas in 1836 with his wife Philippine Sophie Rosalie "Rosa" von Roeder, who was a child of the at one-time aristocratic von Roeder family, which was allied with the wealthy and aristocratic Sack family of Nordrhein Westphalia. Robert and Rosa had eleven children, seven of whom lived to adulthood; Clara, Johanna, Caroline, Rudolph, Marcellus, and Robert II (commonly known simply as Robert). He is the namesake of Kleberg County, Texas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hck10|title = TSHA &#124; Kleberg County}}</ref> His sons also achieved success. Rudolph Kleberg (1847-1924) became a United States congressman, Marcellus Kleberg (1849-1913) studied law and served as city attorney for Galveston, Texas, and the youngest Kleberg son, also named Robert Justus Kleberg (1853-1932), managed the King Ranch and later married Alice Gertrudis King, the youngest daughter of cattle baron Captain Richard King.

==Sources== <references/> *John Henry Brown, ''Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas'', 1880 *{{cite journal |last=Kleberg |first=Rosa |date=April 1898 |title=Some of My Earlier Experiences in Texas |journal=The Southwestern Historical Quarterly |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=297–303 |access-date=2009-05-27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zd41AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA70}}

* [https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fkl06 Kleberg, Robert Justus] at ''Handbook of Texas Online'' * [https://tshaonline.org/publications/journals/shq/online/v034/n4/contrib_DIVL4701.html The First German Settlement in Texas] at ''Handbook of Texas Online''

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kleberg, Robert J.}} Category:1803 births Category:1888 deaths Category:People from the Province of Westphalia Category:People of the Texas Revolution Category:Emigrants from the Kingdom of Prussia to the United States Category:Immigrants to the Republic of Texas Robert J.