1855: Recent German immigrant Carl Schurz wrote his wife, Margarethe Meyer Schurz, expressing hope for their future happiness. A political refugee from the tumultuous revolutions of 1848, Schurz soon gravitated toward political life in the United States. Exactly five years later, Schurz corresponded with his wife from Lincoln's presidential campaign trail. Schurz's efforts on behalf of Lincoln and his commitment to the nascent Republican Party resulted in his appointment as envoy to Spain. A year later, Schurz returned to America to serve as a brigadier general in the Union Army during the Civil War. After the war's conclusion and Lincoln's assassination, Schurz toured the South on behalf of President Andrew Johnson. He served as Secretary of Interior to President Rutherford B. Hayes and set up the U.S. Geological Survey, USGS. (Source: Library of Congress)