University of Arizona

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Papers of the Hein family

Exterior of the Brooklyn Branch of Hagedorn Family Hotel, circa 1900

The Hagedorn family was a German family who emigrated to the United States in the 1880s. One branch of the family settled in Brooklyn, NY and began a hotel business while the other half settled in Skull Valley, AZ and purchased part interest in the Prescott Coal Development Company in hopes of making money from coal prospecting. They maintained communication with other branches of their family living in the States, including the Hein family who also settled in Skull Valley a few years before and the Loske family. The Hagedorn family returned to their more prosperous hotel business in Brooklyn after their coal prospecting business proved to be unsuccessful.

The collection includes letters from the Hein Family and Paul Loske to the Hagedorn family pertaining to frontier life in Skull Valley. As well as documents relating to the family’s participation in the Prescott Coal Development Company. Also present are a passport and ship papers from William Hagedorn’s travels from Germany (1860-64), along with four photographs of the Hagedorn family in New York and other miscellaneous documents.