This collection consists of letters sent by three siblings, Charlotte, Sophie, and Theodor Engelmann, to their sister Margarethe. The three Engelmann siblings emigrated to Illinois with their parents, Friedrich and Elisabeth Engelmann, in 1833. Margarethe Engelmann, whose married name was Hilgard, remained in Speyer, Germany. This group of letters is drawn from the Engelmann-Kircher Family Papers, a collection held by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois.