Nitzsche from Philadelphia

"Though George E. Nitzsche of Philadelphia did not express Bachmuller's sense of debased surroundings, his letter [to Nietzsche's sister] similarly shows a self longing for exaltation and connection. It was quite literally, Nietzsche to whom he sought to cleave himself: 'My name, as you will see from the above letterhead, is one of the few Nitzsches in America--probably the only one. Unfortunately, my grandparents, in a legal document, left out the "e," and the error was perpetuated. However, I am proud of the name, and that probably my ancestors came from the same stock as you and your illustrious brother.' In an effort to sketch out the possible trunk of their mutual family tree, Nitzsche went on to tell the woman he hoped was a not-so-distant cousin about the Moravian and Bohemian roots of their people, and how his branch of the Ni[e]tzsche family immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1739."

~~ from American Nietzsche: A History of an Icon and His Ideas 

        by Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen

The "Ohio Country"

"Helene Bachmüller of Dayton, Ohio, wrote to let Förster-Nietzsche know that her brother had inspired the belief that human greatness was still possible in the modern world. Though unworthy of his greatness, he nevertheless awakened in her a longing for something deeper in herself. Nietzsche, Bachmüller confessed, had saved her from her 'own inner emptiness.' The 'Ohio country' she called home had become 'tame and commonplace,' filled with lives 'trivial and . . . essentially ugly, for they are engrossed with matters of money and motors, not work or faith or art.' Though disgusted by the offensive mediocrity around her, she was also chagrined by her own limitations: 'It would be, probably, impossible for you to imagine anything more superficial than I am.'"

~~ from American Nietzsche: A History of an Icon and His Ideas 

        by Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen