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There is no correspondence in this file. It was created as a resource for a former novice of Gethsemani Abbey who lived on the edge of the monastery's property and about whom Merton had met and reflected upon in his journals. Documents are printouts of scanned documents including a immigrations records, draft records, census data, and a death certificate.
Herman Hanekamp was born in Oldenburg, Germany in 1884. After immigration to the United States in 1904, not much is known other than a couple of years he spent as a cowboy in Texas before riding a horse to Gethsemani when he entered in 1912 (account by Raymond DeSutter [formerly Fr. M. Robert in religious life during his time at Gethsemani]. Hanekamp had taken simple vows but was dismissed in 1917. After leaving vowed religious life, he contnued to live near the monastery. Whether Hanekamp was officially given land that was later reaquired by the abbey is uncertain. He had a small dwelling and raised crops, goats, and pigs. He died in 1958.
Please click here for general restrictions concerning Merton's correspondence.
See also an article in The Merton Seasonal, Volume 47, #4 (Winter 2022), pp. 17-26, by Gordon Oyer, "Hiking the Hallowed Ground of Herman the Hermit."
If the person in correspondence with Merton has full text records in the Merton Center Digital Collections, there will be a numeric link to them below.
This Record Sub-Group is not divided into Series and is arranged chronologically.
Click icons for links: ✓="Published | Library Record", ✉="Scanned" | 🗷="Scanned, Viewable Only at Merton Center"
| # | Date | From/To | First Lines | Pub ✓ | Notes |
| | y/m/d | Merton | | Scan ✉ | |
| 1. |
undated/no/no |
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[scans of various documents: immigrations records, draft records, census data, and a death certificate]
«detailed view» |
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