Eversmann Family, Papers, 1810-1982 (C3743)

.3 linear feet

RESTRICTED

INTRODUCTION

Family history and genealogy of the Eversmann family in Germany. Biographical sketches of Alexander, Ludwig, and Julius Eversmann. Correspondence, financial and legal records of Ludwig Eversmann and Gottfried Duden of Warren County, Missouri. Also poems, home remedies, and other miscellaneous items. Mostly in German with some English translations.

DONOR INFORMATION

Maybelle Pearson donated the Eversmann Family Papers to the State Historical Society of Missouri on 26 September 1939 (SHS Accession No. 676). She made an addition to the papers on 24 January 1983 with George Pearson and Ruby P. McChesney (SHS Accession No. 2461) and another addition on 3 March 1983 (SHS Accession No. 2466). Adolf E. Schroeder donated additional items on 16 November 1982 (SHS Accession No. 2451).

RESTRICTIONS

The translation by Elsa Nagel of Adolf Sellmann's book in folders 4-6 may not be copied in toto without the written permission of the Director of the State Historical Society of Missouri. Contact the reference staff for more information.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Alexander Friedrich August Eversmann (1759-1837) was a mine surveyor and government official in Germany and Russia. His son Ludwig (Lewis) (1799-1858) traveled to the U.S. with Gottfried Duden in 1824; they settled on adjoining farms near Dutzow in Montgomery (now Warren) County, Missouri. Ludwig's brother, Julius (1805- ) lived for a while in Mexico where he had business interests, but later moved back to Germany. Gottfried Duden (1785-1856) returned to Germany in 1827 and published his influential book Report on a Journey to the Western States of North America in 1829. Ludwig married, raised a family, and became a successful farmer; he looked after Duden's farm and financial interests in Missouri after Duden returned to Germany.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The Eversmann Family Papers are arranged by type of material: biographical sketches, correspondence, family papers, land and tax records, financial records, legal records, medical records, and miscellaneous. Folders 1-7 contain biographical sketches of various family members. The "Eversmann Family History" by Alexander Eversmann contains biographical sketches of members of the Eversmann family in Germany in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. There are also genealogies of the Eversmann family; Alexander's mother's family, the Richards; and his wife's family, the Lobbeckes. This material is in German with an English translation edited by Adolf E. Schroeder of the University of Missouri in March 1982.

Adolf Sellmann wrote "Alexander Eversmann: Factory Commissioner and Councilor of War and Revenue in Hagen, A Contribution to the History of the City of Hagen" in 1940. The original work was in German. There is an English translation made in 1969 by Elsa Nagel of the University of Missouri.

There are also biographical sketches of Ludwig Eversmann, in English translation; and Julius Eversmann, in German with an English translation by George Kellner, then a graduate student at the University of Missouri, 1969.

The correspondence is to Lewis Eversmann in Missouri from relatives and acquaintances in Germany, Mexico, and the U.S. The letters deal with family and personal matters, inheritances, crops and farming, German politics and the economy in 1848, business in Santa Fe and Tampico, Mexico, and the sale of Gottfried Duden's land in 1857. All letters but one are in German.

The family papers include records of the births of Alexander Eversmann's children, 1810; an academic course completion statement, 1820; graduation notes from friends of Ludwig, 1820; corrections for a book by E. Eversmann about his trip to Buchara, Afghanistan, 1824; a pass for Ludwig Eversmann to leave Prussia, 1824; and an undated petition for a school at Lake Creek for Ludwig's children.

The land and tax records include land and school tax receipts from Warren County, for Ludwig Eversmann and Gottfried Duden, 1834-1855; tax valuation lists; land plat drawings, 1834; and a land deed for Sarah and Daniel Bankson, New Madrid, Louisiana Territory, 1810.

The financial records are made up of a book of expenditures, which covers Ludwig's accounts in Germany and Missouri, 1824-1826, including journal entries about his stay with the Haun family during the first year or so in Missouri and his dealings with Duden and other early settlers of the area. An account book and papers, receipts, and farm records (1827-1859) include information about Ludwig's accounts and his transactions for Duden after he left the U.S.

The legal records include a power of attorney from Gottfried Duden to Ludwig Eversmann, Warren County, Missouri, 1827; a power of attorney from Franz Ritter, Bonn, Germany, executor of the estate of Gottfried Duden, 1857, appointing Ludwig Eversmann as attorney to dispose of Duden's land in Missouri; and a record of various transactions by Ludwig Eversmann for Gottfried Duden, 1827-1856.

The medical records include a prescription, medical remedies and treatment, a book of home remedies, recipes for vinegar, etc., and biological and botanical definitions. These items are in German.

The miscellaneous folder contains an undated book on agriculture, livestock, and home remedies, in German; a report entitled "Concerning the Skinning and Stuffing of Birds According to the Directions of Professor Lichtenstein, Director of the Zoological Museum in Berlin," 1826, in German; a report in the form of a letter from Alex Eversmann to his son Lewis; "Is there an intermediary between God and us?," in German; chapter twelve of an unnamed, undated book; and poems in German, unsigned and undated and dated 1831.

FOLDER LIST

f. 1-7Biographical sketches
f. 8-9Correspondence, 1842-1858
f. 10Family papers, 1810-1824, n.d.
f. 11Land and tax records, 1810-1855
f. 12Financial records, 1824-1859
f. 13Legal records, 1827-1857
f. 14Medical records, n.d.
f. 15Miscellaneous

INDEX TERMS

These index terms are the subjects, people, places, etc. under which this collection is listed in all available indexes at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia. If you are interested in a specific index term, please contact the reference staff.

  • Bankson, Daniel
  • Birds--Collection and preservation
  • Duden, Gottfried
  • Eversmann family
  • Eversmann family--Genealogy
  • Eversmann, Alexander Friedrich August
  • Eversmann, Julius
  • Eversmann, Ludwig "Lewis"
  • Folk medicine
  • German Americans--Missouri
  • German language
  • German poetry
  • Germany, Hagen
  • Lobbecke Family Genealogy
  • Richard Family Genealogy
  • Taxidermy