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Collection: Dorothea Handel (Schuhmacher) Family Letters
Author: Peter Schuhmacher
Recipient: Gottfried Handel
Description: Letter from Peter Schuhmacher to Gottfried Handel, August 1872.
Peter Schuhmacher to Gottfried Handel, August 1872
English Text
To your, and our, Father Johann Gottfried Handel!
It is your sacred obligation to rebuke the mother of 7 living children, and your responsibility, in as much as it is a Christian responsibility, to not ignore the need of a mother. I urge you, in the name of fairness, to write to me and tell me what has become of my wife and child, and what the reason is for your silence. No good Christian, not even the wildest Indian, would do this.
I am also letting you know that if I do not hear from you, I will contact the authorities there, or the American Consulate. I will need information before I travel.
You may ask yourself, where to would he travel? Well, yes, I will travel to Germany, and not under any false pretenses, but to see to justice, and therefore I beg you one more time —
I have thought carefully about what to do, and am ready to auction off my cows and horses, and to leave the four boys, and Georg and Luise, in a boarding house, and then you can expect me in Germany.
I remain your husband, faithful until death do us part, and your son-in-law.
I send my heartfelt greetings
Peter Schuhmacher
Letter metadata
