Correspondence FFL

Friedrich Franz Ludwig (FFL)

Friedrich Franz Ludwig (referred to here as FFL) von Schmalensee, was the only child of Major Friedrich Philipp von Schmalensee and his wife, Luise Ernestine von Puttkamer. He was born on November 1, 1813, and his mother died in childbirth. He met Bismarck in boarding school and they remained good friends for many years to come. He was a major in the Garde Landwehr Cavalry and knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. He was married twice, first in 1839 to Wilhelmine Amalie Georgine Alwine von Puttkamer. They had three children, Luise Alwine, Friedrich Alwin (Fritz) and Ottilie. They divorced in 1844. In 1846, he married his second wife, Wilhelmine Henriette Blanca von Studnitz (widowed von Frankenberg and Proschlitz). They had six children, including Curt, Blanca, Clara and Anna. After serving in the military, he lived on several different estates before building the manor house in Gross-Paglau, located in today’s Poland. According to Curt’s papers, the house burned down in 1862, leading to the family’s financial ruin. In 1877, he emigrated to the Americas to seek his fortune, first to Costa Rica and later to the United States, first living with his good friend, Heinrich von Flemming in Milwaukee. Later he lived in St. Louis, North Dakota and Chicago, where he passed away on April 4, 1891.