Theodore Julius Brohm (1808-1881) Family Collection

Before processing, the papers of three generations of Brohms, with similar Christian names, were mingled together. These have been separated based on date, location, handwriting and content, but it is possible that some materials have been misattributed.

The collection is divided into four series: Theodore Julius Brohm (1808-1881); Johanna von Wurmb Brohm (c.1804-after 1882), Johann Theodore Julius Gotthold Brohm (1846-1926); and Children of Theodore Brohm.

The Theodore Julius Brohm (1808-1881) Series (f.1-10) contains ten folders. The biographical material includes an 1831 copy of Brohm’s baptismal record, two short biographies of Brohm that were prepared for his funeral (incorporating autobiographical material), an outline of the funeral sermon itself and a bibliography. There is also a translation of the full obituary that appeared in Der Lutheraner 37 (December 15, 1881): 188 and a typescript bibliography on Brohm.

Present in the collection is a manuscript confession of the Perry County and the Saint Louis congregations addressed to Lutherans in Germany (f.2). It is signed by the pastors F. Walther, Bünger, Lindner, Kuhn, Ahnert, and Koch, and then by C. F. W. Walther and the elders of the “German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in St. Louis.” This is apparently the confession drawn up by Brohm that was adopted by the Trinity congregation on 15 Nov. 1841. [See W.O. Forster, Zion on the Mississippi (Saint Louis: CPH, 1953), 528 n56, and “Erstes Protokollbuch des Dreieinigkeits Gemeinde” (CHI transcription), page 68 (November 15, 1841).]

There are three folders of correspondence (f.3-5). The first folder contains materials from before Brohm's call to New York. In addition to an 1842 letter to Brohm from G.A. Schieferdecker, this folder includes letters from G. Zahn to Loeber (November 27, 1828), and a copy of a letter from Stephan to C.F.W. Walther (July 5, 1833). Some of the material is transcribed.

The second folder of correspondence consists principally of letters from Brohm to Loeber. There are letters addressed to Keyl and Walther (April 13, 1847), one to Walther (July 24, 1848), a letter to Brohm and Loeber from Zahn (Easter 1845), a letter to Brohm from a nephew in Altenburg (August 23, 1849), and a letter from Brohm to Fürbringer (November 10, 1855). There are copies of two letters from Walther to Brohm; the originals have been moved to the C.F.W. Walther Papers. Most of the material has been transcribed.

The third folder of correspondence holds letters addressed to Brohm in his retirement, mostly from correspondents in Saint Louis and New York. All are transcribed.

Two of Brohm's diaries have survived. The first is a transcription (the original is in the Saxon Immigration Collection, f.23), and covers the voyage from Bremen to Saint Louis, 18 November 1838 to 14 February 1839. The second diary, from 30 May 1843 to 15 February 1859, covers Brohm's New York pastorate, with a partial transcription.

The remainder of the series contains Brohm's 1827 diploma from the Oberwinkel gymnasium and an 1827 certificate of matriculation at Leipzig (f.7), manuscript fragments that could not readily be identified (f.8), extensive notes on theology and church history from Brohm's days as a student at Leipzig (f.9) and photographs of Brohm from his mature years (f.10).

The Johanna von Wurm Brohm Series (f.11-13) contains correspondence to Brohm from her brothers, nieces and nephews and others, photographs of Brohm at an advanced age and a Bible that belonged to Brohm with her notes in the margins. The title page and publication information are missing; it contains prefaces by G. A. Francke and A. H. Francke, and the spine bears the date 1741.

The Johann Theodore Julius Gotthold Brohm Series (f.14-23, 26) documents his student days with student notes and exercises from his preparatory work (f.21). The polyglot New Testament (Bielefeld 1863), given to Brohm in 1864 while he was a student at the seminary contains his marginal annotations (v.2).

Brohm's work in Boston is amply documented by a collection of materials that includes the 1870 charter of the Martin Luther Waisenhaus in West Roxbury, Massachusetts (f.16), established with the help of William Passavant, and a large number of sermons (f.18-20). Also belonging mostly to this period is the group of theological essays composed principally for pastoral conferences (f.23). Among them is an essay presented to a conference of the California and Nevada District in March 1921 titled “Zur Geschichte der englischen Arbeit unserer Synode,” which was incorporated into the collection in May 2004.

A folder of lecture notes documents Brohm's subsequent work as a professor in Wisconsin and California (f.22). A large number of photographs follow Brohm from youth to old age along with several picture postcards which also preserve most of Brohm's correspondence (f.17). Of greater interest is a small collection of copies of sermons by others, including at least two by Walther (f.20).

A photo album with the signature “Theo Brohm” was transferred to the Institute in November 2001 from the California-Nevada-Hawaii District Archives and incorporated in this series (f.26).

Dr. August R. Suelflow investigated a story that Brohm possessed a gold-headed cane that had belonged to Martin Stephan. This cane had allegedly been lost inside the walls of the president's residence at the Addison college (f.15).

A few items associated with two of Brohm's children are contained in the Children of Johann Theodore Julius Gotthold Brohm Series (f.24-25). The material for Arthur C. Brohm (1882-1968) includes a cartoon and poem written in protest of the Saint Louis Seminary's decision to forbid the students from participating in a chorus organized for the world's fair in 1904. There is also a letter and photographs of A. C. Brohm in middle and advancing years. Removed to the library was a copy of the Teutsch Kirchenampt (Erfurt 1527), signed on frontleaf “Arthur Brohm / San Francisco 1958.”

The material on Theodore Brohm Jr. (1879-1957) consists of a photograph of him as a boy and a photograph of him performing with his brother Arthur in the "1899-1900 Salmagundi."

Theodore Julius Brohm (1808-1881) series

• f.1 Baptismal Record, Biographies and Funeral Sermon
• f.2 Confession of Saxon Emigrants
• f.3 Correspondence, 1828-1842
• f.4 Correspondence, 1843-1849
• f.5 Correspondence, 1879-1880
• f.6 Diaries, 1838-1839 and 1843-1859
• f.7 Diplomas, 1827
• f.8 Miscellaneous
• f.9 Notes, 1827-c. 1830
• f.10 Photographs

Johanna von Wurmb Brohm series

• f.11 Correspondence, 1835-1882
• f.12 Correspondence, no date
• f.13 Photographs
• v.1 Bible

Johann Theodore Julius Gotthold Brohm (1846-1926) series

• v.2 Bible, 1864
• f.14 Brohm house and cane
• f.15 Correspondence, 1875-1914
• f.16 Martin Luther Waisenhaus, 1870
• f.17 Photographs
• f.18 Sermons, 1867-1892
• f.19 Sermons, no date
• f.20 Sermons by others
• f.21 Student notes, c.1859-1859
• f.22 Teaching notes, 1871-1925?
• f.23 Theological essays, c.1867-1921
• f.26 Photo album containing the following images:
• Frau Tschirpe (Saint Louis, Missouri)
• Frau P. Brauer (Saint Louis)
• Frau Schroeder (Saint Louis)
• Frau Lambrecht (New York, New York)
• Frau Louis Lange
• Anna Lange
• Joachim Birkner (New York)*
• Frau Joachim Birkner*
• Herr Weihe (New York)
• Frau Weihe (New York)
• Teacher Erck (Holy Cross Lutheran: Saint Louis)
• H. Erck, son of Teacher Erck
• Unidentified building on waterfront*
• Sondershausen*
• Wernigerode Castle*
• Christuskirche (Hannover)
• Zion Lutheran Church (Boston, Massachusetts)*
• * images are on CD in folder

Children of Johann Theodore Julius Gotthold Brohm Series

• f.24 Arthur C. Brohm, 1904-1958
• f.25 Theodore Brohm Jr., 1900

Loose items

• Brohm Family Oral Tradition by Robert Jay Brohm (August 2008)
• Vermeldungen (handwritten) by Arthur Brohm (Saint John Lutheran Church, San Francisco, California: May 1912)
• Comparative Dispositionen der evangelischen Texte des Kirchenjahres by Theodor Brohm (1871)