The Descendants of Karl Gottfried and Mariana Klapper of Silesia, Prussia

About the Book

This book documents the story of Carl and Mariana Klapper who lived in Prussia and later moved to London, England in the middle of the 1800’s. We want this book to be more than a listing of generations of Klappers but one that shows the times in which they lived and the hardships and successes that they dealt with during their lives. We see how families aligned themselves with each other and intermarried to maintain their social position (even when that position was not high). We see the bravery of Klapper men and women setting forth to Texas to find better lives for themselves when Texas was a wild country that needed to be tamed. These stories tie together this family history.

About the Author

Josie Driscoll (nee Klapper) is a mother of four, has 11 grandchildren, and lives with her husband, Jim, in South Wales, UK. She is a language graduate, fluent in French, Spanish and Russian with some knowledge of German. She began exploring the Klappers’ European family history independently of Richard and Fred Klapper about 15 years ago, before their paths crossed leading them to merge their findings and to work together to complete this book. Fred Klapper lives with his wife, Pam, and they have a son, Andrew. They live in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Fred has been an active genealogist for approximately 35 years, starting at a time where he could question and document stories from his grandparents, aunts and uncles. During that time he came across documents from his great aunt Lizzie which formed the basic information for portions of this book. Richard Klapper lives with his wife, Linda and their silky terrier. They divide their time between Alvin, Texas and Estes Park, Colorado. Richard has been an active genealogist for approximately 20 years. In addition to researching his family lines he has published two previous books on two of his other family lines.