This collection contains 62 letters that members of the Stahl family exchanged from November 1, 1883-October 19, 1890. Most items are Albert W. Stahl's letters to his sister Emma and to his mother Henrietta, who both lived in New York City; he wrote to his mother in German. Stahl discussed aspects of his life in Lafayette, Indiana, such as his participation in the "Daisy Dancing Club," and commented on the health of his wife, Blanche Vinton, who also wrote to Emma about her social activities in Lafayette. Some of Stahl's early letters refer to his decision to marry Blanche, whom the family had not met. In his later letters, Stahl mentioned travel to Chicago, his life in San Francisco, and family finances; he enclosed a letter from the Northwestern Mortgage Trust Company in his letter of February 5, 1889, and provided a list of private finance-related telegraph codes in his letter of July 30, 1890, which pertains to the status of a mortgage.
The collection also contains letters by Emma Stahl, who discussed her life in New York City and, in one letter, reproached her brother for deciding to marry without consulting his family (April 29, 1884), and by David P. Vinton, who wrote to Emma about his regret at a missed visiting opportunity (September 7, 1887).
Albert William Stahl was born in New York City on May 12, 1856, the son of German immigrants Jacob and Henrietta Stahl. He had one sister, Emma (b. June 1862), who married Henry F. Kofahl around 1892. Albert W. Stahl graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1880 and went to sea. Around 1883, he moved to Lafayette, Indiana, where he helped found Purdue University's School of Mechanical Engineering. In 1887, he became a member of the United States Navy Bureau for Construction and Repair; he was stationed in San Francisco, California, and Norfolk, Virginia. Stahl married Blanche Vinton (1862-1947), the daughter of David P. and Eliza Z. Vinton, in 1884 or 1885, and they had one son, David. Albert W. Stahl died on September 19, 1942.