Priceless Legacy

Franz Hausmann reminisces with justifiable contentment on the life hes carved out for himself in nineteenth-century Bavaria. By the time he is writing to his children, he has already served honorably in the infantrysurviving the disastrous 1812 march into Russia as part of Napoleons Grande Armeobtained a university degree in government, and earned universal respect in his current career as an increasingly important royal counselor. A Priceless Legacy offers a collection of his poignant letters showing how Franz devoted all his spare energy to educating his eleven childrensending them to the best schools he can afford, penning words of advice to be kept as reference, and always encouraging them to become self-reliant, honorable, and devout members of society. Mostly leaving the girls to his wifes care, Franz focuses on the boys. They cause him many headaches and heartaches, but he calmlyand sternlytries to steer them in the right direction. Franzs great-granddaughter Cynthia Joy Hausmann has translated these letters and provided useful background comments. After Franzs death in 1856, much of Europe went through a period of political and economic upheaval, causing half of Franzs children to seek their fortune in the United States, where their descendants still exemplify Franzs wise legacy.Portrait of Franz Hausmann as a civilian official, ca. 1830. He still proudly displays the red ribbon and white cross of the French Legion of Honor, which Napoleon awarded him in 1812