Margaret Reuther Bischoff was born on June 1st, 1849 in Bavaria, Germany. When she turned 7 in 1856, she and her family migrated to the United States and landed in New Orleans, Louisiana, the first of many of her migrations in the United States and around the world. From New Orleans, they migrated to Hamilton, Ontario, where she would meet Oscar Bischoff, her future husband. Oscar was a United States Consul to Sonneburg, Germany. They met in Ontario, where he was on business for about 5 years. This led to another great trek across the United States, as Margaret made her way to Topeka, Kansas with her new husband. Margaret and Oscar were considered to be pioneers at the time.  

Dora Hazen was one of their four daughters and the owner of the autograph album; she was a lifelong Topekan and the only one of her siblings to marry. Margaret, her mother, gifted her this autograph album when Dora was a young girl and it was filled to the brim with loving inscriptions from family members. It was also full of German inscriptions, as they stayed close to their German heritage. All four of Margaret’s daughters could read, write, and speak German and English. 

Their family was heavily involved in the Topeka community. Margaret was a member of the German-American Church in Topeka, a connection that helped promote the Bischoff family psychic medium business. As described in a local newspaper: “Spiritual work and readings being given by the Bischoffs are the most remarkable ever given in Topeka, and during the past week at least four hundred people were unable to secure appointments with them. The class of people visiting the Bischoffs included the best educated and refined.” Along with their psychic medium business, her husband Oscar was a successful real-estate business owner and he and his brother helped create the bureau for German Immigrants in Kansas.

Here's a look at some pages inside her autograph book: