§ 3.
However, since my daughter has obviously suffered an encroachment through delayed entering into the enjoyment of this sum, I therefore direct, in order to give her some indemnity for it, that the following parts of my estate shall finally also go to my daughter:
A. all furniture, in which shall be included
(a) all linens
(b) all silverware. As regards the latter, that part of the silverware which came from Therese’s mother was bequeathed to my daughter as her full property in the will of the former, and therefore by the above disposition a division of the silverware according to origin is unnecessary [in pencil:] the silver medals do not belong in this rubric.
B. All books which are kept upstairs, since a large part consists of gifts which I made to Therese and which are consequently already her property.
§ 4.
If he so desires my oldest son may choose as a special souvenir up to 30 volumes of my books. [In pencil:] for whose education many very significant costs did not occur as in the case of his brothers.
§ 5.
Everything else that belongs to my estate shall be divided in equal shares among my four children. Hereby forbidding all judicial sealing and inventory, I convey the execution of this division to my oldest son Joseph, who is already provided by his brothers in America with full power of attorney for looking after all their interests in Europe, which he has also partially used in several cases.
The above document was held to be valid as Gauss’ will and was followed in settling his estate. Weber, Listing, and Ludwig Schweiger (1803–1872), librarian and professor of literature, were appointed to appraise Gauss’ library for the Hanoverian government. Klinkerfues prepared the catalogue.
Joseph Gauss thought that the appraisal of 2,500 thalers for the entire library and manuscripts was too low, and also too low as to single items. Yet he was willing to let it go for that low price, because it would not be scattered and would thus be permanently preserved in the University of Göttingen library. Joseph demanded the atlases of Württemberg, Hessen, and Hanover (the latter a gift from him to his father). He picked duplicates of his father’s works and other books which Schweiger assessed very low. Joseph decided that if the amount of 2,500 thalers did not stand after his choice, he would not limit himself to 50 or 60 volumes. Actually the family finally removed 226 volumes.
The manuscripts and correspondence going to the library were to be only those of “scientific content.” Joseph undertook the sorting of the letters. The instruments and telescopes were not listed in the inventory and did not go for the 2,500 thalers. Manuscripts of nonscientific content (references to finances or family matters) were given back to Joseph. In this way a number of important items, including Gauss’ scientific diary, lay hidden among family papers until 1898. Before his death in 1927 Gauss’ grandson Carl August finally placed in the permanent care of the archives in Brunswick and Göttingen practically all manuscript material touching on his ancestor.
Gauss’ heirs refused a number of other offers from the outside in order that his literary papers might go to the university and be available to the editors of his Collected Works. Joseph agreed not to remove books with marginalia in Gauss’ handwriting. Later the editors made a thorough study of all such marginalia and made many important discoveries in this way. Joseph claimed he would be willing to return any books he had taken if they were found on examination to have value for the scientific collection. Eight bookcases and three astronomical instruments were placed at the disposal of the observatory by Joseph.
On May 29, 1856, the Hanoverian government turned over the manuscripts and library to the observatory. All the titles not already in the university library were placed there, and the remainder were set up in the west wing of the observatory. Therese donated her share from the sale of the library, 6,000 marks, to cover the cost of bookcases and binding.
The task of accurately cataloguing Gauss’ library and combining it with the observatory library did not begin until 1897. In this way the accession list grew from 3,769 to 5,865—a gain of 2,096 volumes. If we count brochures and other miscellaneous items, the total mounts to 11,424. In 1899 the library was in an orderly condition for the first time in forty-four years.
On September 22, 1855, Joseph made a division of the various medals and related articles which Gauss possessed. Those sent to Eugene and Wilhelm are designated “America.” Except for three major orders which had to be returned to the princes who conferred them, Joseph’s inventory reflects the following items:
1. The old Westphalian Order of the Crown, not returned because the kingdom no longer existed (America)
2. The small Dannebrog Order (private property; it was a gift from Schumacher and was only a miniature copy of the real order) (America)
3. A small buckle of the Guelph Order (Joseph)
4. An exact duplicate of #3 (Joseph)
5. Gold pocket watch with chain and signets (Therese)
6. A very old silver pocket watch
7. The gold Copley Medal of the Royal Society (Joseph)
8. The gold Dalberg medal (Frankfort) (America)
9. Silver medal of Olbers (America)
10. Silver medal of the Berlin scientists’ convention (America)
11. Silver medal of Jean Paul (America)
12. Silver medal of Blumenbach (America)
13. Silver medal of the Pulkova observatory near St. Petersburg (Joseph)
14. Copper duplicate of #10 (Joseph)
15. Copper medal of Bonn University, 1848 (America)
16. Copper medal of the Danish Society of Sciences, 1842 (America)
17. Copper medal of Napier, Edinburgh (Joseph)
18. Copper medal of Olbers (Joseph)
19. Duplicate of #18 (America)
20. Copper medal of Leibniz (Joseph)
Therese received No. 5; Joseph considered No. 6 not worth sending, since Gauss never wore it. He also sent Wilhelm and Eugene two pairs of spectacles and a lorgnette which Gauss wore.
Appendix D — Children of Gauss
The eldest child of Gauss, (Carl)150 Joseph, was born August 21, 1806, in Brunswick; his mother was Johanna Osthoff, the first wife of the mathematician. Joseph was named for Piazzi, the discoverer of Ceres. All the other children of Gauss were born in Göttingen. Joseph attended the high school in Göttingen and for a short time was a student at the university. Early in November, 1824, he enlisted in the Hanoverian Foot Artillery. Eventually he became a first lieutenant in a battalion of the foot artillery stationed in Stade. He soon became dissatisfied with the rather idle life of a soldier and also realized that chances of promotion were slight—his father’s fame did not seem to help him in this respect.151 Joseph had already served as his father’s assistant in the triangulation of the Kingdom of Hanover, and Captain August Papen used him as a principal aide in preparing the topographical atlas of the Kingdom of Hanover and the duchy of Brunswick.
Joseph believed that by participating in the construction of the railroad in Hanover he could make good use of the knowledge he had thus gained. He considered it necessary to study the new railroad system in America, and that was the purpose of the trip which he took in 1836 at his own expense. A leave of absence was granted him, and he was away most of a year. In the United States he met leading statesmen, engineers, and military officers.
Returning home in December, 1836, Joseph resumed his military service as adjutant of a battalion in Stade. After being engaged for several years, on March 18, 1840, he married Sophie Erythropel (1818–1883), daughter of a Stade physician.
Joseph played a prominent role in fighting the great Hamburg fire of May 5–8, 1842. A telegram was sent to the artillery battalion garrisoned in Stade, requesting cannon, large quantities of powder, and the necessary man power to blast the burning structures, in order to stop the fire from spreading. Major Pfannkuche was in command of the expedition, and Joseph Gauss was h
is adjutant. He reported fully to his father about these experiences in a letter dated May 22, 1842. The Senate of Hamburg conferred on him a medal with a white and red ribbon in recognition of these services.
In April, 1845, Joseph resigned from military service in order to participate in the construction of the Hanoverian railroad. At first he was in charge of the line from Burgstemmen to Hildesheim. In October, 1846, he received his final discharge from the Hanoverian army and simultaneously became the fourth member of the Hanoverian railroad directorate,152 to which he had actually belonged since December, 1845. This was a goal toward which he had been working for eleven years. His new position was full of responsibility and he was soon overworked to such an extent that he aged prematurely.153
Joseph retired when he was about to be transferred to Münster in Westphalia after the annexation of Hanover by Prussia. Politically he was a loyal adherent of the royal house of Hanover, especially because the King had granted his father so many honors. His only son fought in the Franco-Prussian war, and Joseph wrote to his brother Wilhelm on August 12, 1871: “Since France’s superiority has now been broken for a long time and in Germany the unity so long striven for is attained, we can be well satisfied with the result of the war. Really a better time for Germany than you ever knew seems to have dawned.”
Joseph resembled his father in appearance and had many of Gauss’ traits of character. He died in Hanover at the home on Wilhelmstrasse on July 4, 1873. His only child was Carl August Adolph Gauss (1849–1927), who lived in Hamlin, Germany.
Wilhelmine Gauss, second child of Carl Friedrich and his first wife, was born in Göttingen on February 29, 1808. She was named for his friend Olbers and always used the name Minna. Gauss stated that she was the image of her mother, and in 1837 Alexander von Humboldt wrote Gauss that she was beautiful. In mind and spirit she was also like her mother—clever, kindhearted, loving, open, and happy. While Gauss was on a trip, his second wife wrote thus to him about her stepdaughter on September 29, 1814: “The older she gets, the more lovable the little girl becomes, and certainly she is the crown of our children.” When her stepmother’s health failed, she loyally aided her in every way possible. She nursed her, carried on the correspondence with her father during his absence on the survey, kept house, and cared for her grandmother Gauss as well as two younger brothers and a sister, to whom she became a second mother.
The following incident is said to have occurred in 1813 when Minna was only five years old. Gauss had explained to his little daughter that the small, rosy clouds in the evening sky are called cirri or fleecy clouds (Schäfchenwolken). One evening when these clouds again appeared and Gauss prepared to leave the family circle and make some observations, Minna attempted to hold him back with the remark: “Papa, stay with us, the sky is so belämmert today.154
Minna very early had many suitors for her hand. Eventually her choice fell on Heinrich Ewald, young professor of theology and Oriental languages. They became engaged in February, 1830, and were married on September 15, 1830. It was a marriage which brought genuine happiness to both.
Ewald was a very absent-minded scholar, and his friends had been advising him to marry in order to have domestic order. Ewald agreed but did not know whom he should marry. Since he was well acquainted with both Gauss’ daughters (Minna and Therese), it was settled that he should decide at the next evening tea in the Gauss home, for the two daughters would alternately serve tea, Ewald was to accept tea from the one who pleased him better, and a colleague would then discuss the whole matter with father Gauss. Ewald promised to do everything as agreed upon. On the way home from the evening tea when the matchmaker congratulated him and explained to him that Gauss had agreed to everything, Ewald did not know what it was all about. He remained just as ignorant of the matter when it was explained to him that his wooing was intended for Minna, from whom he had accepted tea. Furthermore it has been related that he could not be found on the day before the wedding and had to be summoned from the ladder in front of his book shelves. Again he had forgotten a nonacademic matter.
Relations between Gauss and Ewald were always extremely cordial. After Minna’s death he married again, and Gauss fully approved. In 1850 a daughter was born to Ewald and his second wife. Gauss regarded her almost as his own grandchild; especially because she bore the name Minna. One day Ewald’s young (second) wife had to go downtown to attend to some urgent errands. She found her husband busy with his Arabic grammar. Since the maidservant was not available, she asked her husband to baby sit, which he did against his will. When she came back, the baby had disappeared. Ewald seemed to know nothing about it. An anxious search was instituted. Owing to a gentle whimpering, the baby was finally found in a closed dresser drawer, where Ewald had placed it, thinking that was the safest place.
Unfortunately Minna’s health was bad almost from the beginning of her marriage. It was lung trouble and one must assume that she contracted tuberculosis in nursing her stepmother. Treatments at Bad Ems and Franzensbad helped her, but of course were unable to cure her. The exile of Ewald and Minna to Tübingen in 1838 affected her mental condition unfavorably and thus caused her illness to become aggravated.155 In Tübingen she was confined to the house most of the time. Her ardent desire was that political conditions would allow her and her husband to return to Göttingen, but she died on August 12, 1840, before this wish could be fulfilled. She had visited Göttingen in the autumn of 1838 and also of 1839, and carried on an extensive correspondence with her father and her sister Therese. The bond of love between Minna and her father was a strong one.
Louis, third child of Gauss, was born September 10, 1809, and died March 1, 1810. He was named for the astronomer Harding. Aftereffects of Louis’ birth brought death to Gauss’ first wife.
By far the most interesting child of Gauss and the one who deserves more attention here than the others was Peter Samuel Marius Eugenius Gauss—always known as Eugene. He was born in Göttingen on July 29, 1811, and reached the age of eighty-five, the last surviving child of the mathematician. The name Peter was taken from his maternal grandfather, since he was the first child of Gauss’ second wife.
There is good reason to believe that Eugene was the most talented of Gauss’ children, both in mathematics and languages. Certainly he inherited much from his father. In his earlier years his life assumed the proportions of romantic adventure.
Gauss at first built high hopes on what Eugene would do. As the infant reached boyhood he displayed far more than ordinary ability, especially in languages. His father once took a French book, examined him in the knowledge of French, and then said that he knew that language well enough and need not study it any further.156 Another time Gauss took the boy from Göttingen to the town of Celle, to place him in a school. While stopping at an inn Eugene stated to his father his delight in having solved some little problem in grammar. His father, with eyes brightened with pleasure, replied: “Yes, my son, the pleasure one gets from the solution of such problems is very great, but it is not to be compared with the similar pleasure one derives from the solution of mathematical problems.”
When Eugene reached adolescence, it seems that Gauss did not want him or his brothers to attempt mathematics, for the father felt that none of them would surpass him, and he did not wish the name lowered. Apparently he felt the same way about any other line of scientific work, for, while Eugene, after completing the secondary school in Göttingen, desired to make the study of philology his lifework, the father wanted him to take up law. Hence he enrolled in the University of Göttingen law school.
Eugene indulged in the gay life of a Göttingen student of that day. His principal weakness was gambling. A scar on his face, though not conspicuous, bore witness of his participation in a student duel. He was tall and slender, had blue eyes, and in his youth intensely black hair, which became white in later years. In appearance Eugene strongly resembled his mother.
Eventually Eugene gave an elaborate supper to some of his fellow student
s and sent the bill to his father. A scene ensued when Gauss rebuked him for this. The hotheaded Eugene suddenly decided that he would leave Germany and go to the United States. He was naturally of a restless disposition and was guided by the spirit of adventure. He wished to be independent and to make his own way in a new country. Eugene started off without bidding the family good-by or making any preparation for the journey. His mother was seriously ill at the time, and Gauss felt that this behavior of his son hastened her death. In her will she placed a clause stating that he should not inherit his share unless he gave evidence of good conduct. At the proper time he was able to produce such evidence. Yet Gauss never fully forgave his son for this rash conduct, even though in later years there was reconciliation of a sort. They never saw each other again. The incident deeply affected Gauss for many years.
When Eugene left. Gauss wrote to his friend Schumacher, requesting him to have the Hamburg Chief of Police157 institute a search for Eugene. This was in early September, 1830. But Eugene was not found in Hamburg. Gauss was so disturbed at the time that he stated he never wanted to see his son again. Later, of course, this strong emotion was modified.
Gauss followed Eugene, who had gone to Bremen, and urged him to return, at the same time telling him that he had brought his trunk and if he was determined to go to America he would furnish him ample funds. Father and son were guests in the home of Olbers. Eugene refused to return, and the two parted. Gauss felt sick when he returned home, so upset was he emotionally.
Carl Friedrich Gauss, Titan of Science_A Study of His Life and Work Page 41