Practically all the material in this heterogeneous collection is in the German language. There are a good many letters, running from the beginning until nearly the end of the collection, from parents and relatives in Bermersheim, Germany, from German friends in other American cities (Chicago, Cleveland, St. Louis, Buffalo, and Davenport), and from a brother in New York City.
There are a few letters of the Knell children, written to their father during his trip to Germany in 1872, possibly in search of health at Carlsbad, and some letters from him, as well as a number of letters from Mary Reinganz, apparently a daughter of the Knells, written from Oshkosh, beginning about 1876.
There are two unbound ledgers for 1853, pertaining to a business in Louisville, with copies of letters by Knell from Louisville and Milwaukee in 1855 and 1856 appended. There are a few business papers in reference to the ninth ward school, and a reply to a committee which made certain charges against the street commissioners of the ninth ward in 1869. There are some rather lengthy letters from Knell's employers, the Rindskopfs, in regard to business matters.
In 1882 and 1883 the papers consist almost entirely of invoices of purchase and sale of merchandise in the store which a certain Reinganz and George Knell, a son of John Knell, con-ducted at 196 Reed Street. The firm dealt in carpets, oil cloth, wall paper, and home furnishings. A number of miscellaneous invoices, statements of account, and receipts are scattered throughout the collection.
With the opening of the Civil War, letters from friends in the army begin, and in 1863 Knell apparently was called to the army. Letters written by him came from Fort Halleck, Memphis, DeVall's Bluff (Arkansas), New Orleans, and Clarksville and Brownsville (Texas). Knell was a sutler for the 35th regiment, Wisconsin volunteers, and his letters tell of the difficulty of collecting accounts due, and pertain to his claim, filed with the government after the war. Several small account books from Civil War days are in the collection.
There is almost nothing in the correspondence in regard to artistic activities. There are, however, a number of manuscript volumes of plays in German, and some manuscript music. In the printed material were a number of pamphlets of collected writings by Ludwig Borne, published in Milwaukee in 1858, a copy of the constitution and bylaws of Schiller-Loge Nr. 3, of Wisconsin, 1880, and other miscellaneous pamphlets, interesting and valuable as illustrations of Milwaukee reading material of the fifties, sixties, and seventies.
A small folder of material comprising cancelled checks, general receipts and statements, and a few undated scraps was not preserved.
