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Carl Julius Adolph Hunnius papers

 Collection
Call Number: RH MS 153

Overview

Transcripts of the diaries kept by Carl Julius Adolph Hunnius documenting his surveys of the Red River, January 10, 1876 to January 24, 1876, and April 25, 1876 to June 30, 1876. The collection also includes the original diary of the second survey, a biography of Ado Hunnius, and two tintypes and print copies of Hunnius and his guide Billy Dixon.

Dates

  • Creation: 1876

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

No access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Spencer Library staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials.

Biography of Carl Julius Adolph Hunnius

A German emigrant to the United States in 1861, Hunnius settled in New York. Carl Hunnius, known as "Ado," was born on October 24, 1842 in Leipzig, Saxony. After serving in the US Civil War with the 1st New York Volunteer Infantry and a secondary stint with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (during which time he was stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas), Hunnius worked as a civil engineer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Missouri, Fort Leavenworth. His surveying and map-making duties required that he travel throughout Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, the Indian Territory (later Oklahoma), and northern Texas.

Hunnius married Bertha Baechle in Leavenworth, Kansas in December 1869. Together they had four children: Ado Benno Carl J., Herman A. Oscar, Ernst or Ernest, and Elisabeth (Elizabeth).

Hunnius retired from government service in 1877 and established a book and stationery store in Leavenworth, also serving as an agent for the anthropological and ethnological museum of Leipzig, gathering donations and information for the museum from the United States. He remained in the stationary buisness until his death in 1923 from pneumonia.

While in the employ of the Corps of Engineers, Hunnius maintained at least two diaries. These diaries, which fully detail his work in 1876, are meticulously written and illustrated with pencil drawings.

Extent

.25 Linear Feet (1 document case + 1 volume, 4 folders)

Language of Materials

English

Scope and Contents

The transcripts of Hunnius' two diaries regarding his surveys of the Red River, which were the result of an abortive attempt to publish them by one of Hunnius' relatives, are not authoritative.

The diary transcripts are housed in one box with a biography of Hunnius by Mary Alice Lange Jones. Tintype photographs of Hunnius and Billy Dixon, his guide during the two surveys, as well as the original diary for the second survey, have been housed separately.

Physical Location

RH MS 153

Physical Location

RH MS-P 153

Physical Location

RH VLT MS C49

Physical Location

RH VLT MS-P VLT 153

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchase, F. C. Bannon, 1971.

Related Materials

Bertha Baechle Hunnius Collection, RH MS P171, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas.

Ado Hunnius papers, 1861-1926, Manuscript Collection 397, Kansas State Historical Society.

Title
Guide to the Carl Julius Adolph Hunnius Collection
Subtitle
Carl Julius Adolph Hunnius papers
Author
Finding aid compiled by lgg 3 January 1974; revised 1976. Finding aid encoded by mg, 2004.
Date
2004
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Finding aid written in English.
Finding aid permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/10407/6484641675
Preferred citation
Carl Julius Adolph Hunnius papers, Kansas Collection, RH MS 153, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas.

Repository Details

Part of the University of Kansas. Kenneth Spencer Research Library Repository

Contact:
1450 Poplar Lane
Lawrence KS 66045-7616 United States
785-864-4334