JAMES von SCHMITTOU

A HISTORICAL MYSTERY

The Prince
Who Didn’t
Die?

A Family Mystery and the Search for Truth

A Prussian prince. An American doctor. A family name that refuses to let go. Follow the records, the stories, and the questions between them.

BY JAMES VON SCHMITTOU

Discover the book Find your edition
Cover of The Prince Who Didn’t Die? A portrait of Louis Ferdinand against torn black and parchment paper.

HISTORY LEAVES QUESTIONS. FAMILIES KEEP THEM.

BERLIN SAALFELD NEW ORLEANS TENNESSEETurn the page
01 / THE BOOKA QUESTION ACROSS AN OCEAN

One life ends.
Another begins.
A question remains.

In 1806, Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia died at Saalfeld. Across the Atlantic, the story of Dr. Francis Frederick von Schmittou begins to emerge.

A search for a family’s European origins brings these two lives into the same frame. Letters, battlefield accounts, American court records, and inherited stories lead James von Schmittou through a mystery that has held his attention for decades.

This book introduces the man behind the prince, follows the doctor’s American life, and asks what the surviving evidence can actually answer. It also opens a clearly marked imagined history: ten minutes in a world where the prince lived.

Inside the story
1772A prince is bornPrussia
1806The battle of Saalfeld10 October
1806A reported arrivalNew Orleans · family tradition
1823A doctor in the recordTennessee · the Allmond case
02 / BETWEEN THE COVERSFOUR PARTS. TWO LIVES.

Meet the people.
Then weigh the evidence.

From music rooms and battlefields to family Bibles and court papers, the inquiry follows the people before it tests the possibility.

I

The life of
Louis Ferdinand

A childhood in Prussia, a prince at the piano, and the relationships that made his life larger than its ending.

II

Ten minutes

A clearly marked speculative reconstruction asks you to enter a world in which he survived.

III

A life in America

Dr. von Schmittou’s work, family, and American records, alongside the stories a family remembers.

IV

What the evidence
can answer

Witnesses, handwriting, and the questions for future research. The clues stay open to scrutiny.

FROM THE EPILOGUE

“I began with a surname.”

A family search becomes a place for the next reader to begin.

JAMES VON SCHMITTOU · THE NEXT PAGE
03 / THE AUTHORTHE NAME BEHIND THE SEARCH
James von Schmittou

AUTHOR · ARTIST · IT PROFESSIONAL

James
von Schmittou

It started with a name he wanted to understand.

James von Schmittou is an author, IT engineer, and family-history researcher. This book grew from his search for the European origins of his ancestor, Dr. Francis Frederick von Schmittou.

The inquiry takes him from remembered family conversations to archives across the Atlantic—and to the life of a Prussian prince he might otherwise never have met. Away from the archives, he creates electronic music as VONKOSM.

BEYOND THE BOOK

04 / YOUR NEXT READTHE BOOKSTORE

Make room
for the mystery.

The bookstore is coming. Return here for print and digital editions when they become available.

THE PRINT EDITION

For your bookshelf.

Explore the story one page at a time.

Coming soon
THE DIGITAL EDITION

For wherever you read.

Keep the inquiry close, wherever it takes you.

Coming soon

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