# Hilpert correspondence — current working timeline

Revised September 24, 2026 after comparison of all historical translations in UW folders 1–13. This replaces the accumulating earlier timeline, preserved in the review-history folder. “Planned” does not mean completed. Historical editorial information is distinguished from a letter's own wording.

| Date | Letter | Supported event or report | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1845, recalled in 1850 | 5 | Friederike Winkler sent August a song in Cologne. | Retrospective statement; not proof she composed it. |
| February 20, 1849 | 1 | August writes from Cologne about work, reunion, politics and possible America journey. | Ballenstedt corrects a place misreading; California gold is reported rumor. |
| 1849, recalled January 1850 | 4 | August describes Landwehr refusal and subsequent problems with papers. | Exact call-up/reporting dates unresolved; his own account, not a service record. |
| December 16, 1849 | 2 | Brühl letter to Mother and siblings; employer shelters August despite papers problem. | Holland is cover story. Brassel is the coat borrower. |
| December 16, 1849 | 3 | Separate letter to friend Leukroth/Lenkroth asks for contact with David. Land under attachment. | Not an arrested father; concealed address uses Meyer. Brother Heinrich/Friedrich disputed. |
| January 12, 1850 | 4 | August receives his brother's letter. | Outgoing letter itself not identified. |
| January 13–20, 1850 | 4 | Letter written and later posted; emigration conditional on papers and money. | Conditional March port proposal is not a voyage. |
| January 28, 1850 | 5 | Date of brother's letter answered in February. | Evidence of the missing side of the correspondence. |
| February 17–22, 1850 | 5 | August cannot join brother's March plan; hopes for later reunion. | By-May visit and June Leipzig move also proposed. Mother's promise is about a bed. |
| May 30 [possibly June 30], 1850 | 6 | Recipient back in Königslutter after time at home; Friedrich leases August's field. | Heading/internal dates conflict. July 7 reunion is proposed only. |
| November 24, 1850 | 7 | August intends to report next morning and makes arrangements for possessions. | No subsequent service confirmed. Closing prose expresses discouragement. |
| September 17–28, 1852 | 8 | August reports travel from Cologne to Wiehe, eleven days. | Complete historical translation agrees. |
| September 29, 1852 | 8 | Mother wishes to emigrate; house sold for 450 thalers; Christel unwell after childbirth. | Last secure dated August letter here. |
| October 10/mid-October 1852 | 8 | House payment expected, followed by planned travel and Bremen embarkation. | No verified ship/sailing; August says he cannot yet go. |
| November 18 [1857] | 9 | Mount Vernon brother-in-law replies to California news; family and shoe business described. | Year/Indiana editorial; 700 dollars and Cincinnati preferred. Unnamed brother in Europe. |
| Approximately January 1857 | 10 | Selma's approximate birth period inferred from age in June 1859. | Not birth record; Letter 9's “spring” daughter report not forced into agreement. |
| June 11, 1859 | 10 | Mother living, sister recovered; Reinhold and Selma well; Friedrich still in Alsleben. | Selma replaces Paulina. Does not establish August alive. |
| Following summer, proposed | 10 | Recipient intends a visit. | No farming plan or actual visit demonstrated. |
| December 25, 1863 | 11 | Lancamp/Laucamp writes Sawall from Pleasant Hill, Iowa, about farming, politics and funds. | Separate friendship correspondence, not Hilpert brother exchange. Third translation image belongs to Letter 12. |
| February 17 [1877] | 12 | Friedrich writes sister and children from Poplitz, mourns deaths, asks for contact. | Date provisional; sons preferably Eduard, Karl and Franz; support-payment type unresolved. |
| Before Letter 12 | 12 | Emilie reportedly died aged twelve and a half; four children lost, three sons remain. | No automatic match with Emilie born Halle November 1865. |
| May 28 [1880] | 13 | Carl reports father's disabling stroke. | Not necessarily exact death date. |
| November 14, 1880 | 13 | Carl, second son, 31, three children, writes uncle from Beesenlaublingen after father's death. | Historical annotation identifies father Friedrich and uncle David. |

## Family relationships and surviving exchange

The user-supplied siblings remain David, Christel/Christina, August, Ernst and Friedrich. The revised Eduard reading concerns Friedrich's SON, not this sibling group. Reinhold and Selma in Letters 10 and 12 belong to the sister's household. A historical annotation says David later used their names for his own children; it must remain attributed as a family tradition.

Hilpert Letters 1 contains duplicate manuscripts of UW 3, 4, 8, 9 and 11. The combined groups preserve acknowledgments of replies but no identified complete outgoing David letter or matched pair of his letter and its answer. No new source here proves August's later fate or completes the emigration itinerary.

For the connected account see Hilpert correspondence - connected narrative 1849-1880.md. For all 13 comparisons, manuscript disagreements, source coverage and filing anomalies see Hilpert correspondence - historical translation comparison 1-13.md.