He definitely spelt Carl with a “C” as can be seen from his perfectly scripted signature on his son’s old report cards from the late 1800’s.

From his son, Karl Bruno Franke’s memoirs: “My father (Karl) was born on the fourth of November 1837. He had to go through a strict apprenticeship in his father’s business. Already as a small pupil he had to work every day after school to fill the spools for the journeymen for a whole day’s work. But that didn’t prevent him from getting into close contact with Nature, and he kept this forever. Out of his experiences much has come over to me concerning the world of birds and so on....After the death of the grandparents, he married the daughter of the mill owner Peter, in Laubach near Bibra. From this marriage three children remained alive...My father in the meantime had switched from his work into some gardening and beekeeping. Only in the winter he did some work for friends. In July 1881 my mother died, when I was not quite four years old. My father did not marry again. A day help looked after the household.....In Laucha I have a clear remembrance of the theater club called Thalia, which was founded by my father, Carl Scheibe senior and Friedrich von Kanetzki, after they together bought the stage properties of a university fraternity in Jena. They included spears, halberds, (hellebarden),many historical uniforms and other clothing for city and country folk. Yes, there were tuxedos (Fracks), and skirts in all possible colours and vests with shiny buttons, gaiters, stockings and so on. Even old drums and horns for night watchmen. In sheer admiration I have often as a young boy gone with my father into that chamber with stage props, to admire the old weapons. For decades, supported by clubs, they played everything possible, especially comedies and dramas. In the beginning, before my time, they even performed Die Räuber (Schiller) with Karl Schwab as Karl and my father as Franz. Many plays had to be repeated. I remember the Luther festival and the Gustav Adolf festival.”75