In Memoriam
FREDERICK BAUERNSCHMIDT. In
reviewing the names of native sons of
Maryland of German extraction who
have left an indelible mark by reason
of their individuality, the name of Fred-
erick Bauernschmidt deserves a promi-
nent place.
Mr. Bauernschmidt was born on Jan-
uary 10,1864, the son of George Bauern-
schmidt and Margaretha Wiessner
Bauernschmidt. Both the Bauern-
schmidt and Wiessner families were
even at that time engaged in the brew-
ing business. George Bauernschmidt,
the father, was born in Germany and
upon his arrival in this country had en-
gaged in the brewing business first as
a brewmaster and later in the brewing
of beer on his own account.
George Bauernschmidt's plant, at
first a small one, was located on the
Belair Road, in the vicinity of Schuetzen
Park, not far from the brewery which
Mrs. Bauernschmidt's brothers, J. Fred.
and Henry Wiessner, conducted.
Mr. and Mrs. Bauernschmidt had
seven children: four sons, John, Fred-
erick, George and William, one of
whom, George, died in early manhood.
All of the sons, upon reaching maturity,
took places in their father's business.
Miss Sarah Bauernschmidt, one of
Mr. and Mrs. Bauernschmidt's three
daughters, is at present, the sole sur-
vivor of the family; the other two
daughters, Miss Emilie Bauernschmidt
(who subsequently married Harry
Wehr) and Miss Elizabeth Bauern-
schmidt, both are dead.
With thrift and industry George
Bauernschmidt succeeded in his business
and as it grew his sons played active
parts in their father's organization.
When the George Bauernschmidt Brew-
ing Company was formed, the father was
President; the one son, John, was Vice-
President, and Frederick was Treasurer.
In this capacity he managed the finan-
cial interests of the brewing company.
In 1898 when the Maryland Brewing
Company was formed, the George
Bauernschmidt Brewing Company occu-
pied such a conspicuous position in the
industry that the Maryland company
found it necessary to acquire this plant.
George Bauernschmidt, the father, wel-
comed the opportunity to dispose of his
plant and retire. Frederick, however,
then only thirty-four years of age, was
too young and vigorous to acquiesce in
this plan and he and his brother Wil-
liam dissented, with the result that the
father bought out the interests of all of
his children in the brewing company
in order that he might carry out his plan
to dispose of his business and retire
from active participation therein.
This was perhaps the turning point in
the career of Frederick Bauernschmidt.
With a comparatively small capital, rep-
resented by the interest which he had
in his father's business, he undertook to
start into business in competition with
the powerful and wealthy "trust" which
had purchased and consolidated all of
the breweries in the City of Baltimore.
He chose as a site an old Inn near the
Belair Market, which had a large wagon
yard for the convenience of the farmers
who brought their produce to the mar-
ket, and which due to changing condi-
tions was no longer a profitable venture.
With great care and using the knowl-
edge of the business which his long ex-
perience with his father had given him,
Frederick Bauernschmidt undertook the
construction of a modern brewery after
the panic of 1897, when the business
conditions of the country were still very
[50]
unsettled. He borrowed considerable
sums in order to complete the plant
and in 1899 began in a small way the
operation of his American Brewery,
which he proudly insisted was "inde-
pendent of all trusts."
The years that followed were perhaps
the most difficult of his career, but slow-
ly he was laying the foundations for
a large, well-managed business. He ad-
dressed himself to the payment of his
obligations and thereafter to the exten-
sion of his plant
His business grew to such propor-
tions that in 1918 an English syndicate
is reported to have offered him three
millions of dollars for his business.
The adoption of the Prohibition
Amendment reduced and made practi-
cally worthless the large investment
which he had in his business. At the
time of the adoption of the Amendment,
he was brewing 350,000 barrels of beer
per annum—an output equal to the com-
bined produce of all of the other brew-
eries in the city. The wrecking of his
business was a terrible blow to the
owner, who was thereby faced with an
enforced retirement, although only fifty-
five years of age.
On January 30, 1895, Mr. Bauern-
schmidt had married Miss Agnes A.
Wehr, the daughter of August A. Wehr,
who had originally been engaged in the
manufacture of brick and who later also
had become identified with one of the
larger breweries in Baltimore. They
had no children, so that upon Mr.
Bauernschmidt's retirement from the
business, it was quite natural that he
should direct his attention to the ulti-
mate disposition of his large fortune.
In this connection it is interesting to
know that by his will, made on July 5th,
1921, shortly after his retirement from
business, he had set up a legacy of
$500,000.00 for various charities in
Baltimore, in addition to a trust fund
of $1,000,000.00 which was to be pay-
able after the death of his wife. It
therefore appears that his thoughts had
turned toward philanthropy immedi-
ately upon his retirement from business
and he gave much thought to the prac-
tical details of his charities to such an
uncommon extent that he became the
pioneer in the practical application of
his theories and ideas to the task which
confronted him.
It was quite natural that a man who
was making a large fortune would have
to devote himself exclusively to his busi-
ness. This fact of necessity would limit
his social activities and his friends
would likely be his business associates
and those with whom he was thrown in
contact in the management thereof. Mr.
Bauernschmidt was no exception to this
general rule. He was by nature reserved
and uncommunicative but he was observ-
ant and cautious in the management of
his own affairs and sought advice when-
ever he deemed it necessary. There can
be no doubt that he talked with his
physicians, particularly with Dr. J. M.
T. Finney, who was at that time, as now,
the Senior Surgeon and Chief of the
Staff of the Union Memorial Hospital,
in connection with the needs for hos-
pitalization in Baltimore.
The hospital had erected its new
building on Thirty-third Street, not far
removed from Mr. Bauernschmidt's
home, and had completed its arrange-
ments for the erection of the Johnson
Hospital for Children.
Mr. Bauernschmidt determined to
undertake the erection and equipment
of a building on the Guilford Avenue
front of the hospital property which is
now known as the Frederick Bauern-
schmidt Memorial Building of the Hos-
pital. In this undertaking Mr. Bauern-
schmidt's characteristics were empha-
sized. He shrank from publicity and
his self-effacement was carried to the
extreme that he would take no part in
the planning of the hospital, feeling that
the doctors were the best judges of the
needs in the new building. He also
turned over the details of the erection
and the financing of the structure to
those in whom be had confidence. He
even declined to be present at the exer-
cises incident to the opening of the new
hospital and the tablets commemorating
his gift were erected at the suggestion of
members of the Staff. He was generous
[51]
to the point of being lavish in equipping
the hospital throughout.
Mr. Bauernschmidt was about sixty-
five years of age when he determined to
put into effect immediately some of the
plans which he had theretofore hoped
to carry out by his will after his death.
It seems remarkable that his conceptions
of the ways in which these charities
were to be administered were so sound
that after an experience of nearly ten
years they have proven to be extremely
efficient in operation. He had long since
been persuaded that the very well-to-do
and the very poor received the best hos-
pital treatment. His ideal was to assist
those of the great middle class of his
fellow-citizens who were unable to meet
the cost of hospitalization when over-
taken by illness.
He constantly kept clearly before him
that his objective was not to assist either
the hospital or the doctor, but the pa-
tient, and his plans were shaped to this
end.
After a full consideration he finally
established a trust fund of one million
dollars in securities, the income of
which he directed should be devoted to
those who through unfortunate circum-
stances were unable to pay the cost of
their hospitalization in full. In his
letter dated March 12, 1925, to his
Trustees, he indicates the goal toward
which he is striving and gives practical
directions, born of his long and success-
ful business career, in the operation of
the Fund.
He approached the problem with the
view that the hospital would be doing
its part in dispensing charity in the re-
duction of its rates; the physician, in
modifying his charge; and the Trust
Fund would come to the relief of the
patient to the extent that he was not
able to pay.
Mr. Bauernschmidt was catholic in his
charities in that the Fund was not con-
fined to the Union Memorial Hospital,
of which the building he had erected
was a part, but embraced most of the
larger hospitals in the city. The list
includes those operated under Jewish,
Catholic and Protestant auspices and
covers hospitals located in every section
of the city. Under the law existing at
the time of the execution of the deed of
trust, the trust was limited to twenty
years, but the donor expressed the wish
that the trust funds might be kept intact
by the several hospitals so that the in-
come thereof might be devoted to the
care of deserving patients.
Mr. Bauernschmidt had the satisfac-
tion of seeing this plan put into effect
during his lifetime when he could still
criticize its operation and enjoy the sat-
isfaction of the great good that it accom-
plished. For four years after the crea-
tion of the trust, he took a personal
interest in its operations. The plan was
so successful that he was induced to
convey all of his holdings of real estate,
excepting only his home in Baltimore
and a country place on the Middle River
to trustees to manage for the benefit of
the Hospital for Consumptives at Eudo-
wood and the Home for Incurables. In
the case of the last-named institution, he
directed that the proceeds of the
sales of the real estate should be
applied to the erection of a Home
for Incurables for Men, the facil-
ities of the institution having there-
tofore been exclusively for women. The
value of his real estate holdings was
at one time estimated to be more than
a million dollars, but the shrinkage in
real estate values has probably reduced
it to less than half of this sum.
Upon his death the terms of his will
were made public and by the terms
thereof he gave one million dollars addi-
tional to the various hospitals in Balti-
more, payable upon the death of his
wife, and $500,000.00 to various other
charities, payable in the settlement of
his estate. He gave $50,000.00 each to
the General German Aged People's
Home and to the General German Or-
phan Association, and equal sums for
the Maryland School for the Blind and
the Maryland School for the Deaf. An
examination of the will discloses that
there are not less than thirty separate
eleemosynary institutions receiving sub-
stantial legacies. He naturally showed
a preference by giving larger amounts to
[52]
FREDERICK BAUERNSCHMIDT
HENRY G. HILKEN
THOMAS FOLEY HISKY
ANDREW H. METTEE
the institutions managed by German-
Americans, as these were uppermost in
his mind next to his plans for hospital-
ization. The amounts which he gave
during his lifetime to various charities
quietly and unostentatiously will prob-
ably never be known. As has been so
well said on his death: "He preferred
to do good by stealth, shunning as far
as possible the open expression of the
public gratitude, that his benevolence
well deserved."
The record of Mr. Bauernschmidt's
gifts surely entitles this native-born
Baltimorean of German extraction to a
leading place among the philanthropists
of his native city and the plans which
he proposed in dispensing his charities
will long be remembered because of
their departure from the pre-existing
standards, the ideals with which they
were conceived, the sound business prin-
ciples upon which he founded their op-
eration, and the success which attended
the execution of his plans.
As was so well said in the editorial
appearing in the Baltimore Evening Sun
on his death,
"Any man who has given away
nearly $3,000,000 must be regarded
as a notable personage, but it was
not merely the great size of his
benefactions that made Frederick
Bauernschmidt remarkable. The
way in which he gave was as dis-
tinctive as the size of his donations.
"He did more than merely give.
He made a study of the situation as
well. And because he was not mere-
ly an accumulating machine, but a
man with imagination and sym-
pathy he was able to understand
the problems that harass men less
fortunate than he was and to apply
his strength at a point where it
would help enormously.
"He had small respect for that
sort of charity that confines itself
to scattering alms among the beg-
gars. He believed that a little as-
sistance given a hard-working man
pursued by bad luck does more
good in the world than much larger
amounts spent in supporting the
worthless. Thus, when he made his
donations to the hospitals, he ar-
ranged it so that the benefit should
accrue, not to paupers, but to self-
respecting people accustomed to pay
their own bills but not in position to
pay the heavy bills that hospital
treatment runs up. He furnished
free treatment to nobody; but he
made it possible for people with
little money to pay with their little
for the best of treatment for their
loved ones.
"And he did his good work with
a quiet simplicity that added good
taste to its other fine qualities. To
say that he was a valuable citizen
is an absurd understatement; he set
up a standard of good citizenship
which future generations will find it
hard to meet and which is not likely
to be surpassed soon, if ever."
FREDERICK J. SINGLEY.
WILLIAM BAUERNSCHMIDT. Born
in Baltimore, Maryland, December 14th,
1874, the son of George and Margaretta
Bauernschmidt; he died December 23,
1938.
He was educated in the public schools
and at Deichmann's private school. He
entered the brewing business, owned by
his father, and later became associated
in business with his brother, the late
Frederick Bauernschmidt. After giving
up the brewing business he became own-
er of the New York Paper Company.
On January 29th, 1896, he was mar-
ried to Marie Oehl von Hattersheim, at
Old Zion Church by the late Rev. Julius
Hofmann. Of a retiring nature, Mr.
Bauernschmidt took no part in public af-
fairs but his was the silent, reserve force
which gave aid, counsel and encourage-
ment to the efforts of his wife, Mrs.
Marie Bauernschmidt, in her fight for
honesty and better administration in the
affairs of City and State.
With pride, he supported her civic
work—a work, done almost single-
handed, in succession to the beginnings
made by the Reform League and Muni-
[53]
cipal League of earlier days. The while
politicians swore, feared, and heeded
her, he approved and joyed in her ac-
tivity and results.
Mr. Bauernschmidt gave unstintingly
of his means toward the support of all
worth while projects in the city.
HERMAN BECKER came to Balti-
more in 1895 or 1896 and died here on
January 12, 1937. His coming was to
illustrate one of the major medical
works of Dr. Howard A. Kelly. After-
wards he did much of this class of work
for Dr. Thomas S. Cullen and other
well-known surgeons. He had been ill
and at the Hopkins Hospital for some
three years.
VICTOR G. BLOEDE. Born in Ger-
many, died in Baltimore on March 27,
1937. He came to America as an infant
one year old. His father, who was a
jurist and physician fled from Germany
in consequence of the Revolution. Mr.
Bloede was active in civic affairs in
Catonsville, as also in the Eudowood
Sanitarium for Consumptives, having
endowed the Marie Bloede Memorial
Hospital there.
DR. CHARLES EMIL BRACK, one of
the city's leading obstetricians, died on
April 4, 1935, at the age of 69. He
was born in Baltimore and attended the
Friends School and the Johns Hopkins
University.
Dr. Brack's father was the late Emil
Brack, a well-known figure in Balti-
more's "Old Town." The elder Brack,
a pharmacist of the old school, for
many years conducted his apothecary
at the corner of Ensor and Forrest
Streets.
In addition to his very wide practice
as obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr.
Brack found time to lecture and instruct
in clinical obstetrics at the University
of Maryland. He was also senior obste-
trician at Mercy Hospital and a mem-
ber of the board of governors of that
institution. A great number of the city's
obstetricians were trained by him.
Dr. Brack served as treasurer of both
the Baltimore City Medical Society and
the Chirurgical Faculty. He was also
a member of the American Medical As-
sociation and the American College of
Surgeons.
GEORGE A. BUCHHEISTER was
born in Bremen, Germany, on Septem-
ber 15th, 1872. His father, Gustav
Adolph Buchheister, was a tobacco
broker in Bremen, well known and high-
ly esteemed by the tobacco interests of
his home town, Bremen.
After leaving school in Bremen,
young George Buchheister entered the
tobacco import firm of Papendieck &
Co. of Bremen, where he served his ap-
prenticeship of three years, during
which period he became thoroughly fa-
miliar with various kinds and grades of
tobacco handled in his home town.
Having ended his apprenticeship, he
left for Hanover and there served his
military year with the 74th Regiment of
Infantry and being a good soldier was
promoted to the rank of petty officer be-
fore the end of the military term.
Having an uncle in America, who held
a good position with the Standard Oil
Co. in New York City, he was easily
persuaded to cross the Atlantic and seek
his fortune in the United States. Hence
in 1892, in the spring, when in his twen-
tieth year, he embarked for America on
one of the steamers of the North German
Lloyd and landed in Hoboken, N. J.,
where he made his home, having ob-
tained a position as bookkeeper and of-
fice man with a German firm in New
York City.
However, having been well trained in
the tobacco trade, he was anxious to get
back into this line of business and when
he heard from his father in Bremen that
Mr. Henry Lauts, a tobacco merchant of
Baltimore, Md., was looking for a buyer
to assist him in his purchases for Amer-
ican and European firms, he promptly
applied for the position and was sub-
sequently accepted.
[54]
WILLIAM HENRY MEESE
RICHARD ORTMANN
GEORGE PRECHTEL
CONRAD C. RABBE
In the autumn of 1892 we find young
Buchheister employed with the tobacco
firm of Henry Lauts & Co. with which
he remained for over 41 years until his
death on February 3rd, 1934.
In 1897 he was married to Miss Mary
Koch, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wm.
Koch of Baltimore, by whom he had
six children, four boys and two girls,
all surviving him. The family lived in
Baltimore for a number of years, but
during the World War bought a tobacco
farm in Prince George's County, Mary-
land, where they spent many happy
years, surrounded by friendly neigh-
bors.
Outside of business, Mr. Buchheister
was always very closely identified with
all affairs of any importance, carried
on from time to time by the various
German-American Societies of our city.
For many years he was a director of the
Germania Club, and in his earlier years
he was active as the secretary of this
organization. Furthermore, he was Di-
rector of the German Orphan Asylum
and the "Greisenheim" and took great
interest in these and other beneficial so-
cieties. A man of jovial disposition and
noble impulses, he was ever ready to
assist any worthy cause, which presented
itself and was, therefore, looked up to
by his fellow men and particularly by
the German element of Baltimore, with
which he came in contact so frequently.
His untimely end, which resulted
from falling down a steep stairway,
came as a great shock to a host of
friends. His mortal remains are in-
terred in Prince George's County, near
his farm, which had become so dear to
him.
CARL W. PRIOR.
HERMANN COLLITZ. On May 13,
1935, Professor Hermann Collitz, whom
his colleagues at the Johns Hopkins
University and elsewhere called the
"Nestor of American philologists,"
passed away. His obituary in Modern
Language Notes states that he was "one
of the most distinguished students in lin-
guistics we have had in America."
Born in Germany, in the town of
Bleckede, Hanover, on February 4,
1855, he, at an early age, showed talent
for scholarship. Going to the Univer-
sity of Göttingen he specialized in such
classical philological branches as San-
skrit and Iranian. At the same time he
worked in the Slavic and Germanic
languages. In 1878, while at the Uni-
versity of Berlin, he made the acquaint-
ance of Maurice Bloomfield, who was
years later, to be associated with him
at the Johns Hopkins University.
Hermann Collitz came to America in
1886, accepting a call to Bryn Mawr
College. He had already won an inter-
national reputation in the field of com-
parative philology. Although he de-
voted himself assiduously to the subject
of Germanics at Bryn Mawr, he did not
neglect his researches and labors in the
broader fields which had originally en-
gaged his attention.
Profound and erudite were the sub-
jects of his many writings and of his
original contributions to the science and
art of linguistics. Some of his papers and
treatises were his work on Greek Dia-
lectic Inscriptions; his Das Schwache
Praeteritum, or Weak Preterite, which
monumental study included its Vor-
geschichte, or pre-history, with a treat-
ment of the Latin Perfect and the Greek
Passive. There were his studies in
vowels and palatals, and his research
work in the field of German vocalism.
In comparative linguistics he dealt with
such subjects as the phonology and
morphology of the Indo-European lan-
guages. He was also an authority on
Indo-European mythology.
In 1907 Professor Collitz was called
to the Johns Hopkins University to fill
the newly created chair in Germanics.
These were the days when the Hopkins
was winning a reputation for scholar-
ship which was world-wide.
Not only was he respected for his
scholarship but he was also liked for
his charming, naïve, quaint humor
among the students at the Hopkins as
also in the Historical Society of which
he was an interested member.
At the age of 72, after 41 years of
active college and university teaching,
[55]
Professor Collitz was made Professor
Emeritus of German Philology. A por-
trait of this pioneer in comparative lin-
guistics in America was presented in his
honor and placed in Gilman Hall.
As Emeritus Professor Collitz con-
tinued to write and study and contrib-
ute in his field until 1934, but a few
months before his demise. Besides being
co-editor of numerous philological jour-
nals, he had the honor of being the first
president of the Linguistic Society of
America, and he was an ex-president of
the Modern Language Association of
America. To his Ph.D. degree from the
University of Göttingen, the University
of Chicago added an honorary doctorate
in 1916. On his seventy-fifth birthday,
February 4, 1930, he was similarly hon-
ored by the University of Magdeburg.
To Dr. Klara Collitz, his wife and
helpmate, and a sympathetic influence
in much of his work, goes the honor and
credit for arranging the publication of
"Studies in Honor of Hermann Collitz."
MRS. IDA SCHULZ DOHME—Died
on December 16, 1937, after a long ill-
ness, at the age of 96 years and eleven
months. She was the widow of the late
Charles E. Dohme, a former member of
this Society, and mother of Dr. Alfred
R. Dohme. She was a woman of many
charities.
J. GUSTAV HELMICH. Born in
Brake, Oldenburg, Germany, died at the
age of 73 years in Baltimore, on March
20, 1936. He came to America at the
age of 22 years. As a portrait painter
he was well patronized by the elite cir-
cles of Baltimore and Washington.
DR. JOHN CONRAD HEMMETER.
Born in Baltimore in 1863, died here
February 25, 1931. In 1884 he gradu-
ated from the University of Maryland.
He acquired his Ph.D. degree at Johns
Hopkins University in 1890. His early
schooling and as an undergraduate was
at the Royal Gymnasium, Wiesbaden,
Germany. At the University of Mary-
land, Dr. Hemmeter, as Professor of
Physiology, lectured on clinical medi-
cine.
His medical writings and contribu-
tions were many; particularly on dis-
eases of the digestive organs, the stom-
ach and the intestines. The last book
appeared in 1927; it is a medical his-
tory entitled: "Master Minds in Medi-
cine."
Not only was he a physician of inter-
national reputation, but he also pos-
sessed a deep love for the arts, both as
a connoisseur and as a creative person-
ality. Further, he was an ardent lover
of music, and composed scores for or-
chestra, voice and piano.
At various times he served as presi-
dent of the American Castro-Enterolog-
ical Association; the American Section
of the International Association for the
History of Medicine; and the American
Therapeutic Society. The Hemmeter
medical library was given to the Univer-
sity of Maryland by his widow, Mrs.
Helene Hemmeter.
HENRY G. HILKEN—died Saturday,
March 20th, 1937, in his 90th year. He
was born near the Free and Hanseatic
City of Bremen, July 16, 1847. There
he received his education and worked in
an export and import house. In 1867
he reached Baltimore, being 47 days on
a Baltimore Clipper, the "Carl." After
a year of other work he entered the em-
ployment of A. Schumacher & Com-
pany, tobacco exporting firm and ship-
ping agents, later continuing the firm
as its head. For many years this firm
was the local agent of the North Ger-
man Lloyd S. S. Company. This firm
was agent for the German submarine
which, running the blockade of the Al-
lied fleets, arrived in Baltimore on the
10th of July, 1916, under command of
Captain Paul Koenig. Mr. Hilken was
consul of the German Empire from
1925 to 1933.
Mr. Hilken was active in many civic
and communal enterprises. A director
in many banks and financial institutions;
[56]
a member and a founder of the Ger-
mania Club; president emeritus of the
German Aged People's Home; a vice-
president of the German Society and of
this Society; as also a member of the
General German Orphan Home, the
Maryland Club and other organizations.
Having bought up the valuable collec-
tion of old Bibles from the estate of
Pastor Julius Hofmann, he presented
this to the Johns Hopkins University.
On the occasion of Mr. Hilken's 81st
birthday he was honored with the pres-
entation to him of a set of testimonials
of appreciation of Baltimore Trade
Bodies, from the Governor of the State,
and others. Mayor William F. Broening
spoke for the City of Baltimore.
THOMAS FOLEY HISKY. The
Society for the History of the Germans
in Maryland sustained a real loss in the
death of its President, Thomas Foley
Hisky, on September 7th, 1936.
Mr. Hisky was a lineal descendant of
Joseph Hisky, who immigrated to Amer-
ica from Vienna in the early part of the
Nineteenth Century and established his
home in Baltimore. Here he was a pio-
neer in the manufacture of pianos; his
example was followed by others and the
city eventually became well known for
the instruments which were made here.
Mr. Hisky took a pride in his Aus-
trian and German ancestry and it was
natural, therefore, that he should find
his intimates among those of German
extraction. He chose the law for his
profession and entered the office of
Hinkley & Morris in 1883 as a student
of law. His entire career at the Bar,
extending over a period of fifty years,
was spent with this firm, first as an asso-
ciate and later as a partner.
Upon admission to the Bar in 1886
he soon won a place of distinction; he
was vigorous in expression, was an ar-
dent advocate and espoused the causes
of his clients with zeal. His high sense
of integrity, his frankness in his deal-
ings with his brethren at the Bar, as
well as his clients, were outstanding
characteristics. While casual acquaint-
ances regarded him as austere, to his
intimates he was known as the most ten-
der-hearted of men and easily touched
by the appeals and the distresses of the
poor and unfortunate. A devout Cath-
olic, he took active part in the charities
of the Church, in the interest of which
he gave generously of his time and tal-
ents. He was a close friend and one of
the legal advisers of the late Cardinal
Gibbons.
In his later years his rugged manner
had softened, and his sympathy and
understanding made him responsive to
the needs of the unfortunate. These
qualities caused his selection as Chair-
man of the Executive Committee of the
German Society of Maryland, a position
which he held for many years and to
which he devoted himself unsparingly.
He had a wide circle of friends in all
walks of life, not limited to his pro-
fessional associates and business ac-
quaintances, but also among those with
whom his many-sided charities brought
him in contact.
He was active in the affairs of the
Society for the History of the Germans
in Maryland from its inception and
justly proud of the part which the early
Teutonic settlers had played in the es-
tablishment of this State. He was widely
read and was at his best in the company
of his intimates. It was natural, there-
fore, that his sudden death, after a very
short illness, came as a great shock to
his many friends.
FREDERICK J. SINGLEY.
HENRY WILLIAM HOFFERBERT
was born September 17, 1866, in Lin-
denberg, im Odenwald, Thuringia, Ger-
many, and died in Baltimore, November
13, 1936. Coming to this country at the
age of 16 years he learned the trade of
custom tailoring, later branching out for
himself. Taking up the manufacture of
ice cream he extended the business (the
Horn Ice Cream Company) to such pro-
portions that after a number of years it
[57]
was sold to a national concern in 1925.
In his youth he was active in the Ger-
mania Turnverein, of which his cousin,
also named Henry W. Hofferbert, was
for many years president. At the time
of his death he was president of the
Pearl Street Perpetual Savings and
Building Association and active in many
German organizations and charities.
THEODORE FREDERICK KRUG—
a vice-president of this Society, died on
New Year's Evening, January 1st, 1938,
after a short illness. He was born in
Baltimore on December 24, 1854. His
parents were Gustav A. and Fredericka
Engel Krug. His father was a member
of the firm of Merker & Krug, workers
in ornamental iron. He entered this busi-
ness early, later becoming a partner
therein. When his father died he took
over the business. Mr. Krug was a direc-
tor of the Maryland Institute, was also
actively interested in financial institu-
tions and in Masonic and other fraternal
orders.
JOHN P. LAUBER was president of
the Central Fire Insurance Company
(before the war the German Fire Insur-
ance Company), at the time of his death
which occurred on January 8, 1930.
He was born in Baltimore on January 10,
1870. Mr. Lauber was also connected
with that "sister institution" of the in-
surance company, known as the National
Central Bank. Elected a director of the
bank in 1905, he was chosen vice-presi-
dent in 1915, and in 1926 he became
chairman of its board of directors. He
was also a director of the Eutaw Sav-
ings Bank and was long the secretary
of the Equitable Building and Savings
Association. Mr. Lauber served on
Governor Ritchie's Committee on Gov-
ernmental Efficiency and Economy.
GEBHARD LEIMBACH. Born Octo-
ber 3, 1846, in
----------------
Germany,
died August 3, 1935; was with the B.
& O. R. R. for more than fifty years as
General Emigrant Agent. He also served
in the same capacity for the North Ger-
man Lloyd. He was a veteran of the
Civil War, having been in the Navy,
serving on the U. S. ships Mystic and
Minnesota. He was active as a member
of the Republican party. He was a di-
rector of the American Bank and later
the Equitable Trust Company; he was
also president of the J. D. Lucas Print-
ing Company.
WILLIAM HENRY MEESE, born in
Michigan City, Indiana, in 1883, died in
Baltimore after a brief illness on March
26, 1939. Born of German parents, he
worked his way through the University
of Michigan. His first work was with
the Western Electric Company at $10.00
a week. Six years later he was sent to
London, England, as chief inspector of
the International Western Electric Com-
pany.
During the World War he directed
the installation of telephone systems
throughout Scandinavia, Belgium,
France and Switzerland. His work in
these countries gave him, in addition to
his command of German, a working
knowledge of French, Flemish and
Dutch, and Norwegian and Danish.
In December, 1928, Mr. Meese be-
came a vice-president of the Western
Electric Company and soon after he was
appointed manager of the Point Breeze
branch. At one time he was in charge
of thirty-eight thousand employees.
His executive abilities were such as
to cause him to be drafted in many
civic movements. As president of the
Community Fund in 1932, he was happy
in raising the sum of $2,000,000. He
served as chairman of the Committee on
Industrial Rehabilitation for the Fifth
Federal Reserve District; he was a mem-
ber of the Educational Committee of
the Y. M. C. A., the Municipal Com-
mittee of Governmental Efficiency and
Economy, besides many other bodies.
He was actively interested in the Gen-
eral German Orphan Home at Catons-
ville. From 1933 to 1935 he served as
president of the Baltimore Association
of Commerce. Many were his other
activities. He was a man of strong
[58]
character, yet withal genial and com-
panionable. Proud of his German blood,
he always insisted that his name be
given its German pronunciation.
CARL F. MEISLAHN, born at Achim
near Bremen, August 27, 1847, died in
Baltimore, September 5, 1935. As a
youth he served his apprenticeship in
the workshop of his father, who was a
maker of fine furniture. As a journey-
man he wandered through the German
lands and spent several years in France;
in 1865 he went to London, and in 1870
came to Baltimore. These Wanderjahre
gave him a competence and thorough
knowledge of his craft which enabled
him to begin business in Baltimore in
1886, as a master in the designing and
making of high-class furniture. For
many years he was a member of the
Harmonie Singing Society, and took
keen interest in all local German and
civic activities.
ANDREW HARTMAN METTEE.
Secretary of the Society for the History
of the Germans in Maryland from 1918
until his death on September 30, 1933,
was born in Baltimore City on Novem-
ber 27, 1871, his father being Mezick
Corner Mettee and his mother Helen
Elizabeth Gardner. He attended school
here, graduating from the Baltimore City
College in 1889. From the University
of Maryland Law School he received the
degree of LL.B. in May, 1892. For a
number of years he engaged in the ac-
tive practice of the law the while also
serving as assistant librarian of the Bar
Library. In 1899 he was elected to the
post of librarian and also acted as sec-
retary to the Library Company of the
Baltimore Bar, both of which positions
he held at the time of his death, having
served at the Bar Library exactly forty-
three years.
A scholarly contribution, involving
much reading and cataloguing is his
"Subject Index" of books in the Bar
Library. A work of importance to
every user of the library.
Becoming interested in the genealogy
of his family, he traced his forbears
back to a Mettee in the ancient city of
Quedlinburg, Germany, where members
of the family are yet prominent whom
he visited and with whom he corre-
sponded.
At the time of his death he was en-
gaged in the task of indexing and en-
deavoring to trace and fix the arrival
of early German immigrants to our
state. This was a task involving much
patient search of church and other rec-
ords. Unfortunately this remained un-
completed.
Active in all library work, he was a
charter member and one-time president
of the American Association of Law
Libraries; ex-president of the Maryland
Library Association and ex-president of
the Alumni Association of the Univer-
sity of Maryland School of Law. He
was also a past master of Monumental
Lodge, No. 96, A. F. & A. M. His funeral
services were conducted according to
the simple rites of the Society of
Friends, of which he was a member.
He left surviving him his widow, Mrs.
Irene Gifford Mettee, and a daughter.
DR. CHARLES H. A. MEYER. Born
in Bremen October 25th, 1860, died in
Baltimore January 1, 1939. His father
was John D. Meyer, for many years
agent of the German Society of Mary-
land. Young Meyer came to Baltimore
with his grandfather, Captain Carl
Fechter, master of the sailing ship
"Shakespeare"; he was then sixteen
years old. As a boy he found employ-
ment with a druggist, studied pharmacy
and for years conducted a drug store of
his own at the northeast corner of Gay
and Dallas Streets. During this time
he studied medicine and took up the
practice of a physician, which he suc-
cessfully continued to his death. His
hobby was animals, he having pets of
many kinds. As a pigeon fancier he
often was called upon to act as a judge
at shows and exhibitions.
[59]
FERDINAND A. J. MEYER was born
April 14, 1848, in the little village of
Zwischenahn in the Grand-Duchy of
Oldenburg, the son of B. H. Meyer and
his wife Friederike, née Kuehl. In Zwi-
schenahn, the home of his parents, their
graves, the church bells, the chandelier
and the interior restoration of the seven-
centuries-old house of worship tell the
story of his filial affection for the place
of his birth and youth.
When about twenty years old he immi-
grated to America and made Baltimore
his home. Here he entered upon a suc-
cessful career as a business man. He
found employment with the house of
Goldsborough, Pitts & Co. Eventually,
he became the head of the firm, then
known as Meyer, Pitts & Co. He re-
mained in active connection with his
business to the end of his life. He died
at the age of eighty-five years on Novem-
ber 27, 1933, at the Union Memorial
Hospital. His earthly form was laid to
rest in Woodlawn Cemetery.
Mr. Meyer was tall and erect in his
bearing, almost soldierly; of quiet de-
meanor, courteous and attentive to all,
quick to perceive intent and point of the
many who sought something or other
from him. A keen kenner of men with
a knowledge born of the gathered ex-
perience of years, many of which were
spent as a traveller in his line through
the South Atlantic Seaboard, with days
of sojourn in towns, large and small,
and the various folks met in business
and hotels along the way.
Mr. Meyer's estate aggregated nearly
three million dollars. To the German
Orphan Home he gave $100,000; to
Zion Church and to the German Aged
Home he gave each $50,000; to the Ger-
man Society of Maryland $20,000, and
to our Historical Society $10,000.
Though he had through his long life
generously taken care of his relatives
in Germany, and had again richly pro-
vided for them after his death, they
challenged his intent by a threat of con-
test of his testamentary capacity, so
forcing a compromise, by which all or-
ganizations not mentioned in a prior
will, or receiving a larger bequest under
his last will, were constrained to give
up to them a considerable percentage of
their bequest.
Always charitable in an unostenta-
tious way and manner, his Last Will
and Testament revealed him as a man
of widest charitable interests. Agencies
and institutions for the care of the sick
the poor, the orphaned, the aged, the
crippled, as well as others devoted to
cultural spheres, became beneficiaries of
his generosity, and neither creed nor
race were barriers to his truly human-
itarian inclinations.
For years Mr. Meyer took an active
interest in the work of the German Or-
phan Home at Catonsville, giving a
cottage and also providing other evi-
dences of his good will. He was a Direc-
tor of the German Society of Maryland
and other charitable organizations.
Mr. R. Walter Graham, Comptroller
of the City of Baltimore, the friend and
business associate of Ferdinand Meyer
for fifty years, gave a memorial window
to Zion Church, of which Mr. Meyer was
a member for some forty years, as a
tribute to a man whose presence was
an inspiration and whose memory re-
mains a blessing to untold numbers.
MICHAEL MEYER—Born in the vil-
lage of Schoenbichel, near Freysing,
Upper Bavaria, January 4, 1878. Died
in Baltimore, August 17, 1938. Came
to America in 1895. He studied for the
priesthood but gave this up to enter
business. Later he was employed on the
staff of the Baltimore Correspondent.
He delighted in and wrote much poetry.
JOHN C. MUTH was the senior mem-
ber of the wholesale drug firm of Muth
Brothers & Company (founded by his
father, John P. Muth). He died March
4, 1937, at the age of 71. He was a
graduate of Calvert Hall and of Rock
Hill College. Mr. John C. Muth was a
charter member of the Knights of Co-
lumbus, and for many years a director
of St. Mary's Industrial School. He
had also held the office of president of
the Baltimore Drug Exchange.
[60]
RICHARD ORTMANN was born on
May 24, 1844, at Gusterhain, Herborn,
in Hessen-Nassau. He was the son of
Wilhelm Ortmann, who, as teacher,
trained his son for the same profession.
Richard studied at the Teachers' Semi-
nary in Usingen from 1860 to 1863,
after which he held various teaching
positions, chief among which was that
at the female college at Dillenburg. A
change in the control of the Nassau
schools, which passed into Prussian
hands in 1866, caused him to resign
rather than subscribe to an administra-
tion with the policies of which he
could not agree.
At the urging of an intimate boy-
hood friend, Emil Dapprich, who was
at that time teaching at Scheibs Schule
in Baltimore, Richard came to America,
arriving on September 16, 1869, in New
York. Shortly thereafter he was ap-
pointed by Pastor Scheib to teach chem-
istry and history at the Zionschule in
Baltimore.
Upon the death of Pastor Scheib Mr.
Ortmann and August Schmidt became
joint directors of the school until,
through the establishment of German
schools in the public schools of Balti-
more, the school was finally closed. Mr.
Schmidt returned to Germany, continu-
ing there his teaching activities, and Mr.
Ortmann, who had for some years been
acting as music critic for the German
Correspondent, became Editor of this
daily on July 2, 1901, succeeding Edu-
ard F. Leyh.
On July 18, 1883, Mr. Ortmann mar-
ried Elisabeth Krüger, who was, at the
time and for many years later, one of
the leading church and concert sopranos
of Baltimore. There were two sons,
Edward William Ortmann, born Decem-
ber 17, 1885, and Otto Rudolph Ort-
mann, born January 25, 1889. The older
son, after making an enviable record
at the Johns Hopkins University, died
of typhoid fever on September 6, 1907.
The death of Edward materially
changed the father's philosophy of life
and was followed by the beginning of
a physical decline, and a desire to with-
draw from public life. A diabetic con-
dition developed and although he con-
tinued his editorial duties until three
weeks before his death, which occurred
at five o'clock on the morning of May
30, 1912, he plainly showed the effects
of his illness for several years previous.
Mr. Ortmann was honorary member
of the Turnverein "Vorwärts," the "Har-
monie," "Germania Männerchor," and
"Arion;" member of the "Funken,"
"Liederkranz," and "Liedertafel."
The death of Richard Ortmann took
from life a man of unimpeachable hon-
esty and fairness. He lived throughout
his life according to a strict code of
ideals, and a sense of duty to the finer
things of life that is seldom encoun-
tered. Coupled with this was a con-
scientiousness of highest degree. He was
a stern disciplinarian, yet the kindest
of men, a fact reflected in the high es-
teem and deep fondness with which his
pupils regarded him. In all his writ-
ings he was careful to present a sane
perspective, avoiding all sensationalism.
These editorials attracted wide atten-
tion through their literary style as well
as through their serious content.
For a number of years he continued
to write musical criticisms. In this field
a keen ear, early musical training in
voice, violoncello, piano and organ, and
a keen critical insight were valuable
qualifications—and his criticism won
the admiration of soloists and orchestral
conductors, among the latter, Arthur
Nikisch, director of the Boston Sym-
phony Orchestra.
A life devoted to the stern and ex-
hausting activities of teaching failed to
diminish a keen sense of humor and a
genial friendliness. His love of nature
dated back to his early boyhood in the
Westerwald, where among the peasants
he learned to know the beauties of field
and forest. While living in Baltimore he
satisfied this lasting fondness by spend-
ing a few weeks each summer vacation-
ing in the Blue Ridge Mountains of
Maryland.
[61]
KATHARINE PFAFF was the young-
est child of George Pfaff and Maria
Katharina Pfaff, née Noll, and was born
in Baltimore on March 1st, 1865. Her
parents were both born in Germany, the
father at Hesse-Cassel and the mother
at Hesse-Darmstadt (Kreis Beaden-
kopf). The father was a cooper by
trade; both he and Mrs. Pfaff were
originally members of Trinity Lutheran
Church where they were married. Mr.
Pfaff shortly thereafter engaged in the
grocery business with which he was
identified until the time of his death.
For nearly half a century the family
were residents of Waverly where they
were well known for their kind and un-
ostentatious charities.
There were four children surviving
their father and mother: Miss Henrietta
Pfaff, who still resides in the family
home on the Old York Road; Henry C.
Pfaff, who for many years was well
known in the cigar and tobacco busi-
ness; George Pfaff, who was associated
with his brother, and Katharine Pfaff.
None of the members of this family
ever married and the two brothers and
two sisters lived together until the death
of George Pfaff, followed subsequently
by the death of the brother, Henry C.
Pfaff. Miss Katharine Pfaff, who was
named after her mother, died at her
home on September 15, 1935.
As children, they were members of
the Lutheran Church on Calvert Street
between Lexington and Saratoga
Streets; when they moved to Waverly,
the two sisters were identified with St.
John's Protestant Episcopal Church for
many years. At the time of Miss Pfaff's
death, she had become a member of
Epiphany Protestant Episcopal Church
which was located near their home.
After Miss Pfaff's death, her will dis-
closed the wide scope of her charities.
Twenty-seven hospitals, churches, or-
phan asylums and charitable institutions
were bequeathed a total of $77,500.
The many individual gifts which she
made from time to time; the large num-
ber of the needy who were constantly
in receipt of gifts from her will never
be known; suffice it to say that no one
who applied to her for aid was ever
turned away, and in her death the
needy, the ill and the afflicted lost a
true friend.
FREDERICK J. SINGLEY.
WILLIAM ALBERT POTTHAST,
who died on August 2, 1935, was born
October 25, 1862, in the village of Borg-
holz, Westphalia, Germany. His father,
Franz Potthast, a cabinetmaker, was
descended from a long line of schooled
furniture craftsmen.
After serving his apprenticeship with
his father, young Potthast went to Ber-
lin where he was employed as a jour-
neyman cabinetmaker with a prominent
firm, largely patronized by the nobility.
He not only gained valuable experience
from his daily work but he also devoted
his evenings to the study of furniture
designing under the guidance of mas-
ters of the craft. The creations of the
great English designers such as Hepple-
white, Sheraton, and Chippendale won
his admiration; and his long and promi-
nent business career here in America
was noted for his fine reproductions of,
and adaptations from, the styles of these
masters.
After his military service he came to
America, settling in Baltimore in the
year 1892. Before many months had
elapsed, he founded the firm of Pott-
hast Brothers. The business maintained
a steady growth and soon enjoyed a de-
served reputation. His brother Vincent
had been associated with him from the
outset; a few years later Theodore and
John Potthast joined the firm.
Mr. Potthast was interested in all
matters concerning his fellow racials
and German-American organizations.
He served as a director of St. Joseph's
Hospital, as a director of St. Anthony's
Orphan Asylum, and as treasurer of the
Schley Unit of the Steuben Society. He
was a member of the Third Order of
St. Francis, of the German Society, and
of the German Aged People's Home.
[62]
GEORGE PRECHTEL. Born in Ba-
varia, May 5, 1843, died in Baltimore,
May 18, 1931. Of Mr. Prechtel's career
we know little, but hope to be able at
some future time to give a fuller ac-
count. As it is, he served in the Civil
War on the Union side; later continu-
ing in the service out West. For a time
he lived with his sister, near Manches-
ter, in Carroll County; here he taught
school for many years. While on a trip
to Germany, his sister died. In a fire,
which destroyed his house, he was se-
verely burned, and his manuscripts and
papers were destroyed. Upon recovery
he came to Baltimore City to live. He
was keenly interested in the work of
the Historical Society and at the time
of his death was its president; also he
was the treasurer of the J. F. Wiessner
Orphans' Home. He was prominent in
the Grand Army of the Republic up to
the time of his death.
He was small of stature, of a kind
and friendly disposition, simple and un-
pretentious.
CONRAD C. RABBE, for many years
an active and leading spirit among the
German element in Baltimore and a
well and favorably known figure in
banking circles, died at his home in
Catonsville on February 2, 1939, after
a lengthy illness.
Mr. Rabbe was born in Baltimore on
July 26, 1868, the son of Herman and
Regina Rabbe, who had come to Balti-
more from Germany. He was educated
at an English-German public school and
in later years took a commercial course
at a business college.
His father dying when Conrad was a
young boy, he was called upon to help
his mother as a breadwinner.
He began work as a clerk with the
Hopkins Place Savings Bank, subse-
quently serving in various official capac-
ities with the Federal Savings Bank, the
St. James Savings Bank and the German
Bank, then taking up the position of
treasurer of the Broadway Savings Bank,
which though old-established, had been
going back for years. Under his energetic
management he placed the bank upon
a sound basis; he later served as its
president.
When the bank holiday in 1933 was
proclaimed, immediately following
Roosevelt's inauguration as President,
the Broadway Savings Bank, as one of
the smaller mutual savings banks of
Baltimore, was kept closed by the State
Bank Commissioner, until all of the
larger savings banks had reopened.
However, before being permitted to re-
sume, the Commissioner required Mr.
Rabbe to borrow $250,000 from the
RFC, for use in an emergency. The
confidence of the depositors in their
bank and its officials was such that not
a penny of this sum was needed. The
same authority further insisted that the
bank's assets should be segregated into
fluid and frozen assets, and withdrawals
restricted accordingly, to the end that
a depositor withdrawing any part of
his account would stand to lose a pro-
rata part of the withheld funds. To this
Mr. Rabbe positively refused to assent.
His judgment was right, for, several
years after, when the bank was liqui-
dated, it paid every depositor dollar for
dollar, with interest, plus a final divi-
dend. This achievement was outstand-
ing in banking circles in those hectic
days, and brought forth commendatory
editorial comment in the press.
Upon completion of the bank's liqui-
dating, Mr. Rabbe joined the staff of the
Equitable Trust Company as a Vice-
President.
During his life Mr. Rabbe served on
many boards and committees; he could
always be relied upon to conscientious-
ly perform the duties thereof. One of
the positions wherein he was ever active
was that of a director of the General
German Orphan Home. For nearly forty
years and until his last illness he was
active in its management.
Among some of the many offices filled
and work done by him were—as a di-
rector and member of its executive com-
mittee of the German Society of Mary-
land; and respectively as treasurer of
the Germania Club, the Julius Hofmann
Memorial Fund, this Historical Society,
[63]
and of the Independent Citizens' Union,
in its early days, when it was a power-
ful influence and factor in the life of
our city. His connections and affilia-
tions in trade, social and welfare organ-
izations were many. He was active in
civic affairs and shortly after moving
to his home in Catonsville he promoted
the organization of the Catonsville Im-
provement Association, which still flour-
ishes.
He was devoted to music and early
joined the old Baltimore Liederkranz—
in its day one of Baltimore's leading
singing societies. At all musical events
of note, he was to be seen, together with
his consort, the former Louise M. Rai-
ber, also of a family of musical en-
thusiasts and a singer often appearing
as soloist; the daughters also being
musical, the family frequently gave de-
lightful evenings of musical entertain-
ment to their many friends at their hos-
pitable home.
Mr. Rabbe was a man of medium
height and weight; of a mercurial dis-
position (ergo: Er hatte kein Sitz-
fleisch) and, ever alert, seldom sitting
still through a dinner. He delighted in
arranging a program or banquet, and as
host supervised all arrangements from
kitchen to the festal table.
His pleasure was in travelling and he
not only toured our country, but a few
years ago had the supreme satisfaction
of journeying to the land of his fore-
fathers and visiting the scenes of their
being.
AUGUST ROEDER was born in Arm-
stadt, Thuringia, September 30, 1843.
Died in Baltimore March 6, 1939. Grad-
uating from the normal school he took
up the trade of a barber and surgery.
As a journeyman he travelled through-
out the European countries. In 1867
he emigrated and after staying a year
in New York came to Baltimore. Here,
together with his brother, Fritz Roeder,
he engaged in the restaurant business.
Theirs was a well-known and well-pat-
ronized resort; the meeting place of
the German merchants of those days
who were many; it was situated on the
south side of Lombard Street, near
Charles.
Rich and interesting were his stories of
the "Gross-Kaufmann," of the eighties,
who frequented the restaurant of
the Roeders. Though his quips and
jests at their expense, were many and
merry, and oft robust, there was never
a tinge of malice therein. Had we but
been able to get him to put down his
reminiscences it would have left us with
a lively picture of the "Prominenten"
off parade, of the last two decades of
the past century.
August Roeder was a character pos-
sessing a unique and original person-
ality. Tall of stature, broad of shoul-
ders, having a long, flowing beard, and
possessing smiling and appraising eyes.
In appearance, in his prime, he might
have doubled for Frederick VII, late
German emperor. Of a presence unfor-
gettable to those who met him; genial
in his manner, in his utterances wise
and witty, and of sociable disposition,
he easily made friends and held them.
Though he had many interests, none
were directed to the accumulation of
worldly goods. A great lover of music
—he sang for near sixty-five years with
the Harmonie Singing Society. As a
card player he attended many tourna-
ments of "skat" players and often re-
turned with prizes. No movement af-
fecting the German-Americans but
found in him a warm and helpful sup-
porter. His pleasures were simple and
many. He had a huge capacity for en-
joying them to the full. He loved flow-
ers and spent much time in his garden,
he grew grapes and pressed them into
good wine; he delighted in verse and
many a piece he penned—never a
friend's birthday passed, but he would
send poetic greetings forming an acros-
tic of the person's name. He had large
collections of butterflies.
Unfortunately, the last years of his
life were spent in darkness, his sight
having failed, also his health and
strength of body gave way—so death
came as a welcome relief.
[64]
AUGUST ROEDER
AUGUST F. TRAPPE
HENRY G. VON HEINE
HISTORICAL EXHIBIT – ADLER-SAAL, ZION CHURCH
DR. JOHN RUHRÄH, born at Chilli-
cothe, Ohio, September 26, 1872, died
in Baltimore, March 10, 1935. His
parents were Daniel Conrad and Marie
Finckenauer Ruhräh. The name was
presumed to have originated from some
ancestor (AHN) coming from the Ruhr
regions. His father was a native of
Bremen. Dr. Ruhräh had studied in
Baltimore and practiced here for over
forty years. His reputation was of inter-
national eminence in his specialty of
pediatrics. He was a man of learning
and culture, interested along many
lines. At the time of his death he was
a member of the Baltimore School
Board. He was a past president of the
American Academy of Pediatrics.
ALWIN J. RUPERTI, born in Balti-
more, September 6, 1872; died on Octo-
ber 30, 1936. He had been but a short
time a member of our Society. He gave
great promise of becoming one of its
most interested members, for he had a
keen fondness for history, particularly
for that branch which deals with the rec-
ords and deeds of the Germans in Mary-
land.
Mr. Ruperti's father, who founded
his bookbinding business in 1872, was
a well-known German bookbinder, en-
joying a merited reputation. The Ru-
pertis executed important commissions
for Congress, the Pratt Library, and a
number of universities. In the field of
scientific subjects, particularly in that
of medicine, the house of Ruperti pro-
duced much excellent work.
Mr. Ruperti's hobby was the collec-
tion of early Baltimore imprints of
books and pamphlets.
THEODORE A. STEINMUELLER was
born in Baltimore and died on Septem-
ber 13, 1935. He was a son of Stephan
Steinmüller, in his day one of Balti-
more's well known teachers of vocal mu-
sic. Theodore A. Steinmüller was presi-
dent of the firm of Lucas Brothers. Some
years previously he was severely injured
in an automobile accident. He was a
member of the Rotary Club, as also of
many German organizations, including
the Historical Society. He was consider-
ate and courteous, quiet and modest in
demeanor and a genial companion.
AUGUST FREDERICK TRAPPE.
Born in Stockhausen, Thuringia, Sep-
tember 6, 1857, died in Baltimore, No-
vember 26, 1935. He left home at the
age of fourteen to learn printing and
typesetting at the Leipzig University
Press. Having served his apprenticeship
he travelled as a journeyman. In time
he reached Schleswig-Holstein; here, in
company with his future brother-in-law,
J. Peter Pruess, he founded the "Brahm-
städter Nachrichten," which recently
celebrated its 50th anniversary, as also
the "Ahrensboeker Nachrichten," which
is also in existence. Later he became
editor of a paper published at the Mis-
sion's Anstalt in Bredstedt. His experi-
ences were many, always interesting,
but seldom profitable to himself. To-
gether with his brothers-in-law, John F.
Pruess and J. Peter Pruess, he landed in
Baltimore in the month of May, 1882.
Bound for the West, they got as far as
Cumberland, when their funds were so
low that it was decided the brothers
should go on and that Trappe should
foot it after. They were bound for Mich-
igan. Trappe started off along the high-
ways and got as far as Granite, Mary-
land, when, footsore and weary, he gave
out and was taken in by a German
farmer and given rest and nourishment
until he received $10.00 each from two
friends. Deeming this more money than
he needed, he returned the one $10.00
and started off, finding only too late that
the retention of the other $10.00 would
have saved him much hardship.
In October of the same year his wife,
with their two children, came to Amer-
ica. Farm life in the Western wilder-
ness not appealing to her, they returned
East and came to Baltimore in 1883;
here he secured work as a typesetter on
the Baltimore Wecker; then to the Bal-
timore Correspondent as a typesetter,
later taking up reporting.
In 1891, Trappe and John M. Pruess
[65]
began a German weekly, the Cumber-
land "Freie Presse," in Cumberland,
Maryland, which continued until the
World War. The life as editor of a
weekly paper in a small town proving
too tame for the energetic Trappe, he, in
1892, returned to his former position on
the Correspondent in Baltimore, cover-
ing for many years the proceedings of
the Baltimore City Council, the Legisla-
ture in Annapolis and politics in general,
J. F. Pruess continuing the Cumberland
venture alone.
During the War, Mr. Trappe, an
ardent supporter of the German cause,
wrote many letters to the forums of the
English language press, controverting
the oft unjust and absurd accusations
made against the Germans.
For over forty years he acted as the
Maryland correspondent of the New
Yorker Staatszeitung.
On the permanent organization of the
Independent Citizen's Union of Mary-
land, he became its secretary and
through his labor and sane counsel con-
tributed much to start that organiza-
tion on its early prominent course as a
community factor of great worth in
civic and political affairs.
In 1905, Trappe, together with John
Gfeller and Max Weissenborn, formed
the German Publishing Company, and
he was the editor and chief collaborator
in the issuing of a 320-page publication
entitled "Das Neue Baltimore," which
is a valuable repository of information
concerning the German-Americans from
1729 to 1905. In addition to historical
and statistical information, therein is
given many short sketches of the lives
and careers of his contemporary fellow-
countrymen. This venture netted him
a loss.
From 1906 to 1912 he efficiently
served as secretary to the Bureau of
Immigration; as such he travelled often
through the western section of the
United States; through his efforts many
farmers were induced to settle in Mary-
land.
August F. Trappe possessed a nobility
of character and a heart kindly to the
point of self-abnegation. He was ever
ready to serve his fellow men. He never
wrote an unkind word and stayed many
an item which, though considered news,
might blast a reputation or injure man
or woman. His friends were many,
enemies he had none.
HENRY G. VON HEINE died on
August 12, 1936, at the age of 78, fol-
lowing by less than a twelvemonth his
wife Emma, whose demise occurred on
July 20, 1935. Mr. Von Heine, born
in Baltimore, attended the Scheib school.
He entered the coal business which he
made his career. For 54 years he was
president of H. G. Von Heine, Inc., and
was during all this time one of the most
active members of the Baltimore Coal
Exchange. He was active in Masonic
circles, and a prominent member of
Zion Church.
Of a genial and kindly disposition, he
was a member of many German social
organizations and delighted in active
participation in all affairs affecting Ger-
man-American life of our city. For
years he was secretary of the Unkel
Braesig Vereen; he was a director of
the General German Orphan Home,
whose interest he zealously promoted
and guarded, and which, in his will he
generously remembered. This interest
in the parentless children has been con-
tinued by his surviving daughter, Mrs.
James P. Wilcox, who but recently do-
nated a swimming pool to the Orphan
Home at Catonsville. Further, he was
a director of the Aged People's Home
and of the German Society. His com-
munal activities were many and diverse.
GEORGE LOUIS WAGNER, oldest
son of George William and Dorothea
Marie Wagner, was born in Baltimore,
June 29, 1856. The father was a baker
with a place of business on Gay Street,
which was conducted as such for nigh
unto sixty years. The younger Wagner
was educated at Scheib School. As a
boy he was employed in the office of
the German Correspondent. Later he
[66]
went into the business of Francis
Schleimes, importers of woolens. In
1882 he married Miss Emma Engel.
Leaving Schleunes he established his
own business under the style of G. L.
Wagner & Company. From his earliest
youth he was connected with Zion
Church, for more than thirty years as
its treasurer. He was also the Super-
intendent of Zion Sunday School. For
many years he was a director of and
member of the Executive Committee of
the German Society.
MAX F. W. WEISSENBORN. Born
in Berlin, Germany, died in Baltimore,
February 10, 1937, at the age of seventy-
nine years. He came to Baltimore in
1882 and shortly after was employed on
the Baltimore Journal as a reporter, go-
ing over to the German Correspondent
in 1902. In 1909 he was appointed a
tax assessor in the City Hall, which po-
sition he held, even after reaching the
age of retirement. He was careful, exact
and conscientious in all his work, well
liked and helpful; active as a director
of the Greisenheim, and a trustee of St.
John's Evangelical Lutheran Church.
He also was secretary of the German
Publishing Company, which produced
"Das Neue Baltimore." His life was
made up of hard work and much sorrow.
[67]