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Freienmuth, Ernst E. (First World War correspondence)
2017.612.w.r
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Center for American War Letters Archives
Title: Ernst E. Freienmuth First World War correspondence
Creator:
Freienmuth, Ernst Edward, Private, 12/12/1894 - 12/1/1980
source:
Scott, Sandra
Identifier/Call Number: 2017.612.w.r
Physical Description:
.08 Linear feet
(1 folder)
Date (bulk): 1916 October 19 - 1919 April 30
Abstract: This collection contains fourty-three written correspondences from Pvt. Ernst E. Freienmuth, AEF mostly to his mother, Louisa
Marie Ernst Freienmuth, during the First World War.
Physical Description: All but four of the letters still accompany their original envelopes, but many of the envelopes are severely damaged and are
at risk of falling apart.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: WWI 4
Container: 7
Container: 1
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Sandra Scott.
This collection is arranged by material type, author, and date.
Private Ernst Edward Freienmuth, American Expeditionary Force (12/12/1894 - 12/1/1980) was born in Tonganoxie, Kansas and
graduated from the Tonganoxie High School in 1912. In 1917, he joined the AEF with Company D, 16th Engineers Regiment, and
was stationed throughout England and France until 1919.
After returning to the United States, Ernst worked in a laboratory. He married his first wife, Beatrice F. Fedderson, on 26
June 1926. The two later moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where Ernst worked as a salesman and a government clerk for Cuyahoga County,
Ohio. Fedderson died in 1941 and Ernst remarried to Helen E. Grotenrath on 1 July 1944. He had no children in either marriage.
Ernst Freienmuth died in 1980 due to complications from cerebral arteriosclerosis.
[Item title, Box number, Folder number], Ernst Edward Freienmuth First World War correspondence (2017.612.w.r), Center for
American War Letters Archives, Chapman University, CA.
This collection contains fourty-three written correspondences from Pvt. Ernst E. Freienmuth, AEF during the First World War.
The majority of the letters were addressed to his mother, Louisa Marie Ernst Freienmuth, but one letter each was addressed
to his brother Emil Jacob, and his father Jacob. In his letters, he writes about his voyages between France and England, criticizing
the two countries militaries and compares them to one another and the United States', the outcomes of his hunting trips, wanting
his family to send newspapers from home, his regiment's success playing sports against other American regiments, the changing
weather, inquiring about the family mill and how his brother enjoys high school, assuring his parents of his continued safety
but informing them that he has taken "out $5000.00 worth of life insurance" on himself, hoping for a nice Christmas, looking
forward to furlough, meeting with German prisoners of war and being surprised that "Quite a number of [them] can speak English
+ one of them is a Yale Uni graduate", receiving care packages, commenting on soldiers going AWOL, meeting Generals John Pershing
and Newton Baker, vowing to write more, having to cancel his furlough "on account of the Ger. offensive", expecting a grand
Fourth of July celebration, asking what his mother "think[s] of the Americans as fighters", exploring old buildings and ruins
dotted across the French countryside, anticipating the coming end of the War and eating "Xmas dinner of 1919 in the states",
asking when his father will retire, being gladdened by the War's end, telling his family his whereabouts over the previous
sixteen months and "Have been trying to get out of here ever since", and finally arriving at a military base and returning
home to the United States.
There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions. For further copyright information, please contact the archivist.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War (1914-1918)
Correspondence -- World War, 1914-1918
World War (1914-1918) -- France
World War (1914-1918) -- England
United States -- Army -- American Expeditionary Force.
Freienmuth, Louisa Marie Ernst, 2/7/1871 - 8/20/1958
Freienmuth, Jacob, 3/12/1858 - 7/2/1929
Freienmuth, Emil Jacob, 10/25/1904 - 10/22/1998
Scott, Sandra