In 1854, Wilhelm F. Kempe, 26, and his sister Auguste, 20, left their native Kingdom of Saxony in Europe for a new home in Texas. Remaining in Saxony were their aging, widowed father and a 10-year-old sister and an 8-year-old brother. Their letters to Wilhelm tell, often painfully, of the emotional toll this disruption took on the lives of family and friends who remained in the Fatherland.
