Herman Czeikowitz (1858 - 1946) was a professional actor, working under the stage name of Henry Harmon. He worked as an actor from 1884 through 1918, acting in both traveling troupes, and the well-known productions of New York and London. Czeikowitz grew up in New Ulm, MN, where his father, Francis Xavier von Czeikowitz, was a farmer and fur trader to the Indians. Following the attack on New Ulm, Czeikowitz moved his family to St. Paul, where he established a fur business. Herman was the second of four children. He had one older brother, Richard, and two younger sisters, Juliana and Mathilda. It was to Mathilda that the letter which makes up this collection was originally addressed.