Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 25

Repository:

German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library

Extent:

0.2 linear feet

Language:

German

Preferred Citation:

Henry Voelcker, Catherine Rabe and Frederick Martin Rabe family papers, Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library, German Society of Pennsylvania

Date:

1871, 1879

Creator:

Rabe, Catherine, 1848-1943, Rabe, Frederick Martin, and Voelcker, Henry, 1842-1879

Form:

Autograph albums, Diaries, Letters (correspondence), Manuscripts, German--19th century, and Notebooks

Abstract:

The collection consists of 12 letters written by Henry Voelcker, of Philadelphia, to his wife, Catherine Voelcker (later: Catherine Rabe), over several months during a trip to Germany, in 1879, along with a small notebook containing a draft of another letter. Henry and Catherine were both German immigrants, and the destination of Henry's trip was Durkheim, Germany, his hometown; he was very ill at the time and died shortly after his return to Philadelphia. The collection also includes a diary (partly resembling an autograph album) belonging to Frederick Martin Rabe, whom Catherine later married. Rabe, also a German immigrant and resident of Philadelphia, wrote the diary in 1871 when he was living in Lawrence, New South Wales, Australia.

Henry Voelcker was born in Durkheim, in the Palatinate, in 1842, and emigrated to the United States before 1868. His wife, Catherine Voelcker (later: Catherine Rabe), was born in Wurttemberg, Germany, in 1848, and immigrated to the United States as a child in 1853. The Voelckers owned a bakery in Philadelphia. After Henry Voelcker's death in September 1879, Catherine continued to operate the bakery. Around 1885 she married Frederick Martin Rabe, who was also a German immigrant and resident of Philadelphia. Catherine died in Philadephia in 1943 and was buried in Mount Vernon Cemetery.

The collection consists of 13 letters written by Henry Voelcker, a resident of Philadelphia, during a trip to Germany, between 28 April and 11 August 1879, to his wife Catherine Voelcker (later: Catherine Rabe), who had remained at home in Philadelphia with their three young daughters. Henry and Catherine were both German immigrants, and owned a bakery in Philadelphia. Also included is a small notebook of Henry, containing an additional draft letter to Catherine, circa 23 August 1879.

Henry Voelcker was very ill when embarked on the trip to Durkheim, Germany, his hometown; according to family information, he took the trip in the hope of obtaining medical treatment that would lead to his recovery; however, he died on 18 September 1879, not long after his return to Philadelphia.

The collection also includes a diary of Frederick Martin Rabe, whom Catherine Voelcker later married. Rabe was also a German immigrant and resident of Philadelphia. He wrote the diary in 1871 when he was living in Lawrence, New South Wales, Australia, apparently working as a waiter in a hotel; the diary seems to consist mostly of poetic entries that are transcriptions of remembrances written to him, as in an autograph album, not long before his departure for Australia, as well as a few reminiscences of his own.