Brune family papers

This collection of Judge Frederick W. Brune (1894-1972) papers consists mainly of letters written by or to members of the Brune family of Baltimore, Maryland, and range in date from roughly 1831 to 1897. The majority of the letters concern family and personal matters rather than business affairs.



The first Frederick W. Brune (1776-1860) emigrated from Bremen, Germany in 1799. He became a partner of the merchant and shipping firm Von Kapff and Brune, which had branches in New York and Baltimore. Eventually he and two of his sons, John Christian Brune and William H. Brune, formed the company F.W. Brune and Sons. A third son, Frederick William Brune [II], (1813-1878), became a lawyer. He formed the legal firm of Brown and Brune with his friend and eventual brother-in-law George William Brown, and Brown's two brothers Stewart Brown and Arthur George Brown. Brune s sister, Anna Henrietta Brune (known as “Nancy”) married Dr. George Cheyne Shattuck Jr. (1813-1893) of Boston. On February 2, 1853, Frederick W. Brune [II], married Emily S. [tone] Barton. Their four children were Frederick W. Brune [III], Herbert, Dr. Thomas Barton, Susan. There may have also been a fifth child, Ida. In 1884, Susan Brune married Blanchard Randall. Frederick W. Brune [III] (1854-189[9]), became a member of Messrs. Brown and Brune upon the death of his father. In 1885 he married Blanche Shoemaker. The youngest of their three children was Frederick William Brune [IV], (1894-1972), whose papers form this collection.