My name is Elaine Pappe Lawson and I am the primary researcher and webmaster for this site. I am the great granddaughter of Richard Pappe Sr. (1860-1919) granddaughter of Arthur Pappe. I live in Southern California.
I visited my Pappe relatives in Oklahoma many times as a child but never knew much about the family history. My father, Max Pappe, didn't know much about our history either, other than that my great grandfather was one of the original Oklahoma homesteaders in 1889 and that he came from Germany. So in 2000 I started actively looking for information about the family tree. By 2002 I'd accumulated quite a bit of information so I created this website to share my findings with family members.
The Pappe research has been a team effort from the start. Although my father had passed down some papers and photos from his parents and grandparents, many more were provided by my cousins. I am deeply grateful to all who have contributed to the information presented on this site. Several cousins in particular deserve special recognition for their efforts.
Nancy Jersak Henderson. Nancy is the great granddaughter of Richard Pappe Sr. and granddaughter of of Louise Marie Pappe Jersak. She sent me her entire extensive and amazing collection of old family photos and letters, as well as many items of memorabilia. She also graciously allowed me to photograph all of the personal and household possessions of our great grandparents, Louise and Richard Pappe Sr. that were passed down to her, and which she has lovingly preserved.
Sharan Pappe Carman. Sharan is the great granddaughter of Richard Pappe Sr. and granddaughter of Richard Pappe Jr. She scanned many of her personal collection of Pappe photographs and documents and allowed me to scan many others. And she contacted other cousins to access their collections. She also spent many hours digging through the basement of the Kingfisher courthouse, looking for legal documents and property deeds. And she visited the local history museum and scanned even more old photos.
Raymond Pappe. Raymond is the grandson of Albert Ludwig Pappe, who was the brother of Richard Pappe Sr. that settled in Union, Oklahoma. Not long after Richard and Albert died in 1919 and 1922, their descendants lost contact with each other. Discovering this "lost" branch was exciting for me. Raymond has sent me the entire family tree for the Albert Pappe branch and lots of old photos as well. Raymond's genealogy data included the research report generated many years ago by Eldon Meisinger in Nebraska.
Maranita Pettit. Maranita is the granddaughter of Arno Curt Pappe, who immigrated in 1919 and settled in California. Maranita has documented the complete family tree of this newly discovered Pappe branch and has graciously shared her data with me. She is also meeting with her relatives and scanning their family photos, letters and documents. Stay tuned to see what else she comes up with.
I extend my thanks to all the other relatives and volunteer researchers that have helped me piece together our amazing Pappe family history.