David August Hilpert
Husband of Magdalena Gebhardt and father of Reinhold, Selma, Hannah, Pauline, Hattie, Otto, Phillip and Helen. Follow his story from Germany to the Washington farm.
Read the biography →People, generations & family stories
The Hilpert family guide
Find your way through the family, from David and Magdalena to Otto and Milly and the generations that followed. Follow a name to a life story, or explore the photographs, letters and memories they left behind.
Earlier generations
David and Magdalena are the parents of the eight Hilpert siblings below. David’s brothers and sister connect his American story with the family letters from Germany.
Christel (Christina) Hilpert
David’s sister, also known as Christel.
Read the biography →August Hilpert
David’s brother, whose letters describe work, family and the upheavals of 1848–1849.
Read the biography →Ernst Hilpert
David’s brother. Follow the family connections preserved in the correspondence.
Read the biography →Friedrich Hilpert
David’s brother. Explore his story and the questions that remain.
Read the biography →Magdalena’s story also appears in David’s marriage and family chapter and the family album.
Otto’s family · Hilpert
The eight children of David August Hilpert and Magdalena Gebhardt. Familiar names and married surnames are kept together.
Reinhold Hilpert
Lilla Dora Harrison · children: Hamlet, Lowell, Shirley and Eileen
Selma Anna Hilpert
Carl Pitzer, later William J. Wagner · children: Apolonia (Big Lona), Leonora and Carl Jr.
Johanna (“Hannah”) Hilpert Schaefer
Frederick Schaefer · also called Johanna
Paulina (“Pauline”) Hilpert Reece
Frederick H. Reece · also called Paulina
Elizabeth (“Hattie”) Hilpert Teeter
Robert H. Teeter · also called Elizabeth
Otto Frederick Hilpert
Milly Dortzbach · daughter: Eileen Marie Hilpert Townsend
Phillip Hilpert
Alice C. Padham · children: Freddie, Evelyn and Beulah
Helena (“Helen”) Hilpert Schaefer
Herbert C. Schaefer · also called Helen
Milly’s family · Dortzbach
Parents: Jen Peter Dortzbach and Ida Falkenrath. Their families connect Schleswig, Racine, Colorado and Washington.
Milly (Emilie Kirsten) Dortzbach
Otto Hilpert · daughter: Eileen
Annie Hulda Helen Dortzbach
Harry Otto Schmidt · daughters: Dorothy and Valetta
George Karl Dortzbach
1893–1900 · Milly’s brother, who died in childhood
Carl (Karl) George Dortzbach
1906–1985 · Matilda (Tillie) Kinney; later album photographs include Doris and their family
Explore the Dortzbach family · Explore the Falkenrath family
The next generation
These biographies and family groups help connect the children and grandchildren who appear throughout the collections.
Eileen Marie Hilpert Townsend
Daughter of Otto and Milly. Married Francis Abbott Townsend, known as Frank or Bud; their children are Martha, Bill, Albert and Betty Lou.
Read the biography →Leonora (Pitzer) Hartshorn
Daughter of Selma and Carl Pitzer. Explore her life in music.
Read the biography →Beulah Carol Hilpert
Daughter of Phillip and Alice Hilpert. Her childhood memoir brings the family farm to life.
Read the biography →Reinhold’s children and grandchildren
- Hamlet and Garnet Lenore Perkins → David Cary Hilpert
- Lowell and Doris Althea Rutherford → Renee, Gregory and Michelle
- Shirley and Steven Fuller → Marise
Reinhold and Lilla’s children were Hamlet, Lowell, Shirley and Eileen. This Eileen is distinct from Otto and Milly’s daughter.
Read Reinhold’s family story →Explore the family collections
Otto and Milly’s album
Browse the family photographs and stories in their album order.
Pictures from Linda Hilpert
Explore Linda’s photographs, individual captions and enlarged images.
Letters from David’s family
Read the German family correspondence and its translations.
Otto and Milly’s letters
Follow their correspondence in a dedicated collection.
The Hilpert family farm
Explore photographs of the farm and Isaac’s memories of growing up there.
Beulah’s childhood memories
Visit Beulah’s biography and her illustrated memoir.