Louis Kleopfer and his wife, Elizabeth and Jacob Kleopfer, and his wife Maria, all traveled together by wagon train to California in 1852. In her book, Louis’s granddaughter suggested that the two families eventually settled some distance apart and that perhaps there was an "estrangement" between the two women. Another granddaughter of Louis Kloepfer stated that the women had always been close. Maria and Jacob Kleopfer left California in 1859 and apparently sent one letter during the journey back to Indiana. For reasons unknown, that was the last contact the two families had.
However, thanks to the book written by Louis’s granddaughter (Anne Luneman Baldwin - see Books and References ) in 1975 and the curiosity of Jacob’s great great grandson (the author of this web site, Robert Douglas Kleopfer) the two families finally communicated in December of 1996, more than 137 years later. I searched an Internet directory for various names which were referenced in the book and finally found what I thought was a relative. I sent a letter and a few days later received an enthusiastic phone call from Louis’s great grandson, Francis Carpenter who lives not far from where the Kloepfers originally settled in Rescue (formerly Pinchem-Tight), California. Mr. Carpenter is active in the local historical society and we agreed to exchange information and to continue to research the Kloepfers of California.
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