Augusta Forrer Bruen (1833-1907)*
The Catharine Mitchill ‘31 Collection of Family Letters held in
Wellesley College Special Collections contains correspondence from the Bruen and Forrer families of Dayton, Ohio, the bulk of it spanning from 1845 to the end of the 19th century. In 1853, Augusta Forrer married Luther Barnett Bruen. Augusta came from and married into affluence. Her father, Samuel Forrer, was the engineer and general superintendent in charge of building, among other infrastructure projects, the turnpike system of canals in Montgomery County, Ohio. Luther Barnett Bruen was the son of Luther Bruen and Susan Barnett, also prominent members of the Dayton community. He was the editor of the Cincinnati Gazette before moving to Dayton to practice law.
At the dawn of the Civil War, Luther enlisted in the Union Army and was appointed Major of the 12th regular infantry. At the prolonged Battle of the Wilderness, on the 13th of May, 1864, Luther was wounded by enemy cannon fire and died of his injuries at Douglas Hospital in Washington, D.C. on the 21st of June. In addition to providing an intimate look at the impact of the Civil War on the wealthy northern family of Augusta Forrer Bruen and Luther Barnett Bruen, the collection has a strong focus on domestic life in the mid to late 19th century. The family correspondence surrounding Augusta Bruen details family finances, the education of children, rules of social conduct, and the care of the elderly, among other topics. The online collection comprises letters written letters from 1861-1865.
Additional Resources:
Luther B. Bruen (1822-1864)*
Visit the
Wellesley College Digital Scholarship and Archive online repository.
Lisa P. Rickey, an archivist and local history reference librarian at the Dayton Metro Library (Dayon, OH), has created a
Bio Sketch of Luther and Augusta Bruen containing more information about the family history.
*Portraits of Luther and Augusta Bruen provided by
Dayton Remembers 