In Memoriam
MRS. LOUISE C. DuBRAU was
born December 15, 1864, at Neu Strelitz
in Mecklenburg, the daughter of Leo-
pold Müller and his wife Louise M.,
née Hampmann. Her father was the
Director of Music at the Court of the
Grand Duke and Conductor of the or-
chestra at the local opera house. From
him, who was early in life afflicted with
blindness, she inherited her musical
talents and her gift of reciting. At the
age of ten she delighted audiences with
her readings from Fritz Reuter's works,
such as Hanne Nüte, Kein Hüsung, the
Läuschen and the Stromtied. Grand
Duke George and Grand Duchess Alex-
andrina became interested in the young
girl and provided for her education in
private schools. After her father's
death the mother was granted a pension
by the Grand Duke which was paid to
her until her death in Baltimore in 1915.
Mother and daughter came to Philadel-
phia in 1880 to visit the oldest son and
brother, but when here, decided not to
return to the homeland. Young and
most attractive, Louise Müller soon won
many friends by her recitals and read-
ings in church circles and at teachers'
meetings. She was gifted with a most
remarkable memory which she retained
to her very last hour. She chose the
teaching of German as her life calling.
Coming to Baltimore, she taught first at
old school No. 5, and later in our high
schools, gave piano lessons where she
had ten to twenty pupils at a time, and
continued her reciting and lecturing on
the German classics. On Sunday after-
noons she would be the center of a
group of "Wandervögel," hiking into
the hills and woods of Maryland, and
somewhere leaning against a tree she
would begin to entertain her friends
with poetry in German, Low German,
French and English, holding her hearers
spellbound for hours. All her youthful
ideals she nourished and kept all
through her life. With her husband,
Otto M. DuBrau, she lived in a true
union of life. Their interests in art, in
music, in literature, in religion har-
monized perfectly. Her house became
the center of a very representative
circle of persons of artistic and scien-
tific interests. There would be men of
all creeds and of no creed, from all
walks of life, all equally welcome and
all benefited by their association with
this home. Mrs. DuBrau was a frequent
contributor to the columns of the New
Yorker Staatszeitung, the Baltimore
Sun, Evening Sun and Post. She held a
lively interest in world affairs and was
one of the foremost workers in the Red
Cross circle at Zion Church as well as a
leader in the relief work for the stricken
poor of Germany after the first war.
Truly a woman of remarkable gifts
and rare charm, a true friend, a devout
Christian, a blessing for all who came
under her influence, she has lived a life
of grace and beauty. She fell asleep
after long suffering in the evening hours
of Friday, January 28, 1944, and was
laid to rest in Lorrain Cemetery.
F. O. EVERS.
CARL W. PRIOR, a former member
of the Executive Committee of this so-
ciety, died on July 2, 1943, after a
short illness. Born in Baltimore, Sep-
tember 7, 1879, he was the son of Ed-
ward A. Prior, partner of the firm of
Prior and Hilgenberg, leading import-
ers of toys and china. He received his
early education at Deichmann's private
school at Baltimore and later, when his
family moved to Hannover, Germany,
[51]
he was sent to Clausthal in the Harz, to
complete his education. After finishing
school he was apprenticed to the firm
of Fisher and Co. in Bremen and thus
had the opportunity to familiarize him-
self thoroughly with the buying of all
grades and kinds of tobacco. In 1900
he returned to America and his native
city of Baltimore where he was first
employed by Wm. Lohmeyer, haber-
dasher, and later by Gottschalk and Co.,
wholesale whisky dealers. In 1923 the
tobacco firm of Henry Lauts and Co.
was looking for a buyer; Mr. Prior
was employed and thus again entered
the line of business for which he had
been trained and was so eminently
fitted. After years of close application
and hard work his efforts were crowned
by his admission to the firm as junior
partner. Upon the death of the senior
partner, Mr. Robert Lehr, George
Buchheister and Carl W. Prior, the two
surviving partners, carried on in the
best traditions of the firm; at the death
of George Buchheister in 1934, Prior
became the sole surviving member and
owner.
For many years he was president of
the Maryland Leaf Tobacco Associa-
tion. He always took a keen interest in
all German institutions of Baltimore
and gave much of his valuable time to
further their cause. At the time of his
death he was a member of the Society
for the History of the Germans in Mary-
land, the German Society of Maryland,
the General German Orphan Associa-
tion, the Germania Club and director
and member of the Finance Committee
of the General German Aged People's
Home. He was a Lutheran and belonged
to Zion Church of Baltimore.
In 1908 he married Marga Christen-
sen, of Bergen, Norway, and is survived
by her and their three children, Borg-
hild and Carl Werner Prior and Mrs.
Frank Cummings.
A man endowed with a fine sense of
humor, great integrity, loyalty and de-
votion, he is sorely missed by his
family, his former business associates
and a host of friends.
C. L. NITZE.
JOHN GERHARD TJARKS was born
on February 5,1865, at Marz near Esens
in the Harlinger Land. All his life he
remained a typical "Ostfriese." His
parents were Siebelt Willms Tjarks and
Theda, née Janssen. After the father's
death, when he was but six years old, the
family moved to Hold in Oldenburg.
He received a good education in the
schools of Haage and Lahr and entered
a commercial house at Wilhemshaven as
apprentice. In January 1882 John
Tjarks landed in Baltimore.
He worked on a farm in Baltimore
County, was employed as shipping clerk
with a foreign forwarding concern, even
drove horse-drawn street cars until he
found his way into the restaurant busi-
ness. By 1886, then barely twenty-one
years of age, he had opened his own res-
taurant on Frederick Road, had married
Christine Kratz whose parental home
was in Oberfranken in Bavaria, and
five years after his arrival was granted
his citizenship papers. He later leased
and managed the well-known Darley
Park on Harford Road near 25th Street,
then at the outskirts of the city. He
owned Orchestrion Hall on West Lexing-
ton Street opposite the market, and in
1907 he purchased the Raleigh Hotel at
Fayette and Holliday Streets. In honor
of the defender of Fort McHenry the
house was renamed "Armistead Hotel."
Early recognized for his rare ability
of leadership, John Tjarks met with a
whole-hearted response to an appeal he
issued in 1900 which led to the organiza-
tion of the Independent Citizens Union
of Maryland. This was the central or-
ganization of all German-American so-
cieties who were represented in this body
by their regular delegates. The organi-
zation was imposingly strong from the
outset and, under Mr. Tjarks' leader-
ship, took a prominent part in civic and
political movements.
When the National German American
Alliance was formed at Philadelphia,
October 6, 1901, John Tjarks was one of
its founders. He held the offices of Vice-
President and Financial Secretary. A
close friendship bound him to the leader
of the movement, Dr. Charles J. Hex-
amer. He attended every convention of
[52]
the Alliance and fearlessly defended its
policies and course before a Congres-
sional Committee in the hectic days of
the first World War which finally led
to the voluntary dissolution of the or-
ganization. In answer to an appeal of
the Alliance nearly one million dollars
passed through the hands of Mr. Tjarks
for the Red Cross of Germany and Aus-
tria-Hungary during the period preced-
ing our own entry into the War. His
loyalty, sincerity and integrity could
never be questioned. When after the war
the Wagnerian Opera Group came to the
United States and opened its national
tour with a performance of the "Meis-
tersinger" at the Lyric in Baltimore it
was by the munificence of Mr. Tjarks
that this cultural mission was enabled to
begin and continue its artistic schedule.
In these years the Steuben Society of
America also won his support and active
interest. He served on the National
Council as vice-president and secretary.
In 1931 John Tjarks was instrumental
in the creation of the Julius Hofmann
Memorial Fund, a fund to encourage the
study of the German language in the
schools of Baltimore City. Annually,
bronze medals and books of the students'
own choosing were given as awards for
outstanding scholarship in German in
all Baltimore High Schools and Mount
St. Joseph College. He was the presi-
dent of the trustees until his death. His
fraternal, social and charitable associa-
tions were numerous. He was a 33rd de-
gree Mason, furthered the work of the
German Society, Greisenheim and Or-
phans home. One of his achievements
was the founding of the Hotelman's As-
sociation of Baltimore.
A faithful member of Zion Church
and loyal friend of Pastor Hofmann,
Mr. Tjarks purchased and donated the
collection of theological works in the
Hofmann Memorial Library of Zion
Church and dedicated it to the memory
of his mother. When in the fall of 1942
Zion Church opened the Parish House
for week-end lodging of soldiers and
sailors of the armed forces, he, by a
large initial gift, enabled this patriotic
enterprise to get under way.
For over forty years our Society had
his keen interest as an esteemed mem-
ber. Advancing age forced him to retire
in later years. John Tjarks fell asleep
on the fourth day of September, 1943.
The funeral services at Zion Church
were attended by a large and repre-
sentative congregation, a well-merited
tribute to a man of outstanding gifts and
accomplishments.
F. O. EVERS.
ANTHONY WALTER KRAUS was
born in New York City on April 15,
1888. He was the seventh child of Anton
Kraus and Katherine Walter, who had
been born and raised in the same local-
ity in Baden, Germany. Born in 1849
in Mosbach, his father had left his
native city to engage in business in
Hamburg, from which he had sailed to
New York City only a short while
thereafter. His mother, born in 1853
in Sulzbach, a village about one hour's
walk from Mosbach, had come to this
country in 1870, residing first in Balti-
more and then in New York City.
After the death of his father in New
York City in 1894, A. Walter Kraus
and his mother moved to Baltimore, a
city with the legal affairs of which he
was concerned in one way or another
for the greater part of his professional
career.
He attended the public schools of
Baltimore until 1899 when he was en-
rolled as a student at McDonogh
School, for which during the rest of his
life he always maintained a keen and
lively interest.
Upon graduation from McDonogh he
obtained a position as a stenographer in
the office of Honorable Morris A. Soper,
who was at that time practicing law in
this city. It was largely upon Judge
Soper's recommendation that Mr. Kraus
undertook the study of law, entering
the University of Maryland in 1908 and
completing his course with distinction
some three years later.
The early days of Mr. Kraus' pro-
fessional life were spent in the public
law offices of Baltimore City. In 1908
he obtained a law-clerkship in the office
of the Honorable John C. Rose who was
at that time United States Attorney for
the District of Maryland. Upon grad-
[53]
uation from law school he served as an
Assistant District Attorney under John
Philip Hill, leaving this position in
1913 for one as an Assistant State's
Attorney for Baltimore City. He served
in this capacity until 1919 when he
entered the office of the City Solicitor
of Baltimore as an assistant to the late
Roland R. Marchant, then City Solicitor.
In 1923 he entered the private prac-
tice of law, forming with his erstwhile
superior the firm of Marchant & Kraus.
However, only four years later he left
private practice to accept an appoint-
ment as City Solicitor of Baltimore dur-
ing the regime of the Honorable Wil-
liam F. Broening, then Mayor of
Baltimore City. Completing his term of
office four years later, he returned to
the general practice of law, but again
left this field in 1938 to assume a posi-
tion on the legal staff of the New Am-
sterdam Casualty Company.
During the early part of his life Mr.
Kraus was very active in fraternal cir-
cles, being particularly prominent in the
Masonic order. For twenty years he
was Clerk of the Session of the Second
Presbyterian Church. He always dis-
played an active interest in the affairs
of the General German Aged People's
Home; he was a director of the General
German Orphan Home and a member
of the Society for the History of the
Germans in Maryland. He belonged to
the American Bar, Maryland State and
Baltimore City Bar Associations, the
Association of Insurance Counsel and
the Barrister's Club.
Mr. Kraus was married to Marie
Strohmeyer, of Baltimore, by whom he
had two sons. He began to suffer from
ill health in December, 1942, and
passed away on April 8, 1944.
A. W. KRAUS, JR.
EMIL BUDNITZ, who for many
years took an active and prominent part
in the legal and political life of Balti-
more, was the son of Henry Budnitz,
who was born in the town of Hirschfeld,
Bavaria, and who came to America in
or shortly after the year 1848. He set-
tled in Baltimore, and established him-
self in business as a manufacturer of
cigars.
His son, Emil Budnitz, was born in
South Baltimore on July 28th, 1862.
He attended the public schools of Balti-
more, and graduated from the Baltimore
City College. It was his ambition to
become a lawyer, and, upon leaving the
Baltimore City College, he attended the
Law School of the University of Mary-
land, receiving his law degree in 1881,
when he was but 19 years of age. Upon
being admitted to practice at the Bar,
his efforts were rewarded with much
success, and he soon established a
flourishing law practice. In his early
years at the Bar, he was associated, in
the practice of his profession, with the
late Peter J. Campbell, a well known
attorney of that day, who was active in
politics and at one time President of
the Maryland State Senate.
Entering into the political field on
his own account as a member of the
Republican party, Mr. Budnitz was suc-
cessful as a candidate for office and was
elected and served as a member of the
City Council of Baltimore in the years
1887 to 1890.
Thereafter he abstained from holding
office, as he preferred to devote his en-
ergies to the practice of law, but for
many years he was one of the leaders of
the Republican party in Maryland.
Forming a law partnership with his
younger brother, Edmund Budnitz, he
enjoyed a large practice, and became
counsel for a large number of building
and loan associations. He was one of
the most active and best known attor-
neys in that field of the law, and was
recognized as an authority on the law
of real estate in Maryland. He took an
active part in many civic and social or-
ganizations. For many years he was a
member of the German Society of Mary-
land, and of the Society for the History
of the Germans in Maryland. He was
fond of the out-of-doors and was an
ardent devotee of the game of golf.
Emi] Budnitz died in the eighty-
second year of his life, on January 13,
1944.
C. F. STEIN, JR.
[54]
OUR CONTRIBUTORS
DIETER CUNZ
,
Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland.—Born in
1910.
Ph.D. in History at the University of Frankfurt a.M. 1934.
Published a European Constitutional History, a biography Ulrich
Zwingli; contributed to Maryland Historical Magazine, William and
Mary College Quarterly, Tyler's Historical Quarterly, American Ger-
man Review, South Atlantic Quarterly, Publications of the Modern
Language Association, New York Times Book Review, Pennsylvania
Magazine of History and Biography, American Historical Review, and
others. Preparing a History of the Germans in Maryland.
AUGUSTUS JOHN PRAHL
,
Associate Professor at the University of Maryland.—
Born in 1901, studied German and Comparative Literature. M. A. at
Washington University, St. Louis, 1928; Ph. D. at Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity, Baltimore, 1933. Taught at Indiana State University (1928-
1930), at Johns Hopkins University (1930-1936), at the University of
Maryland since 1936. Published Gerstäcker and the Problems of His
Time, contributed to Modern Language Quarterly, Modern' Language
Notes, Comparative Literature News-Letters, Monatshefte fur Deutschen
Unterricht, German Quarterly, American German Review, Books
Abroad.
EDWARD FERDINAND ENGELBERT
,
Pastor of Martini Lutheran Church, Balti-
more.—Born at Cullman, Alabama, in 1889. Studied Theology at Con-
cordia College, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Concordia Seminary, St.
Louis, Missouri, 1908-1911. Reverend at St. Paul's Lutheran Church,
Birnamwood, Wisconsin, 1911-1918; at Martini Lutheran Church in
Baltimore since 1918. Vice-President of the Southeastern District of
the Missouri Synod; member of the Board of Directors of the Aid As-
sociation for Lutherans; Regional Chairman Valparaiso University.
PAUL
G. GLEIS,
Head of the Department of German and Indo-European
Philology of Catholic University, Washington, D. C.—Born in 1887.
Ph. D. in Germanic Philology at the University of Minister, Westphalia,
1911.
Connected with Catholic University since 1911. Editor of
"Catholic University Studies in German," and the "Washington Jour-
nal"; contributed to scholarly periodicals, reference works, and other
publications, including Germanic Review, Catholic Historical Review,
Journal of American Folklore, American German Review, Primitive
Man, Fortnightly Review, Commonweal, a. o.
CHARLES RAYMOND GELLNER
,
Lt. (j. g.) in the U. S. Navy.—Born in Balti-
more 1918. Studied at Loyola College, Baltimore; B. A. in 1940. Re-
ceived fellowship in history from the Graduate School of Georgetown
University in Washington, D. C. M. A. in History at Georgetown Uni-
versity 1942. Interrupted his work for a Ph. D. in history when he
joined the navy in 1942.
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