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JEFFERSON CITY -- A German immigrant, Henriette Bruns, wrote to her brother Heinrich Geisberg at home in Germany that Provisional Gov. Hamilton Gamble was "an old, rather timid gentleman."
The letter, printed in "Hold Dear, As Always," is one of dozens that detail the life of Bruns, called Jette, from the time of her arrival in Missouri in the 1830s until her death in the 1880s. Her husband, Bernhard Bruns, was a prominent physician, and in 1861 they lived in a house on High Street across from the Missouri Capitol, where the U.S. Post Office now stands. In her letters, she called him "Bruns."
When Col. Henry Boernstein was left in charge of Jefferson City, Jette Bruns wrote to her brother, "Bruns was much occupied every day. The colonel always had to consult with him, the secessionists needed him as a negotiator, and the Home Guards needed him to organize things."
Bernhard Bruns was a major in the Home Guard regiment made up of companies from throughout the region.
Life outside cities with Union troops was dangerous, Jette...