Barbara Mehlheimer (1823-1906) married George Drechsel, apparently twice, once in Germany and once after their arrival in the US. They raised 6 children in Aurora Indiana, the eldest born in 1848 in Germany before their arrival, and the youngest born in 1862 a decade after their arrival.

I wrote about Barbara Mehlheimer and George Drechsel in their own stories back in 2016. When I publish these articles, it’s always with the hope that someplace, someday, somehow they will connect with the right person. Yes, the articles are cousin-bait. Over the years, these articles have been wonderfully effective. It always makes me feel good to provide another researcher with well-documented information.

I’d be fibbing if I told you my motives are entirely altruistic. They aren’t. From time to time, one of those cousins or a complete stranger has something absolutely wonderful to share with me.

Ernest Lent III, my newest cousin, found me recently by posting a comment on an earlier article. He descends from Barbara and George’s lost daughter, baptized as Teresa Maria Drechsel, known better as Mary. Born December 28, 1862, she was living and working at the Kirsch House in Aurora, Indiana in the 1880 census.

The Kirsch House, something akin to a hotel or B&B with rooms to rent, a restaurant and bar, located beside the train depot in the photo above, was owned by Mary’s sister Barbara Drechsel and her husband, Jacob Kirsch.

The building at 506 Second Street doesn’t look a lot different today. But Mary wouldn’t stay in Aurora long. She climbed aboard the train in the station and headed east.

In 1881, the Aurora Lutheran church records show that Mary was living in Cincinnati, then nothing. Radio silence. That is, until recently – 139 years later.

I’d like to share this wonderful journey with you, including our amazing discoveries.

Email from Cousin Ernest

I appreciate your detailed research so much. It certainly helped fill in some gaps in my family history that I assumed were irretrievable.

The few details that I can add to the information about my Great grandmother Mary Drexler are that she was married to Gustav Brehm on September 12, 1883 in Chicago and that she died on April 19, 1953 in Chicago.

I am attaching a photo of Mary Drexler taken around the turn of the century, one of her father George Drexler, and a photo of George at the cooperage where he was employed.

George is the person seated in the bottom row on the far left of the photo. I’m sorry, that particular photo is quite faded now and somewhat damaged.

Wait? What? There Are Photos????

Ernest, I hate to tell you, but these are not just a “few details.” I have never seen these photos before. There are no known photos of George Drechsel. That is, until now.

Do you have ANY idea how important this is to me???

Drum roll….Ernest’s photos….

There are, or were, no known photos of George Drechsel. George had obviously put on his good suit, shirt and bow tie, but his shoes look quite worn.

Here’s George, colorized and enhanced, courtesy of MyHeritage.

George died in 1908 and his wife, Barbara, in 1906. Since she’s not in this photo, and there doesn’t seem to be one of her, I wonder if this picture is George sometime between 1906 and 1908 when he would have been between 83 and 85. He doesn’t quite look that old to me. Maybe more like 60, which would have meant this photo was taken in the 1880s, probably about the same time a photo of Mary was taken. But where was his wife, Barbara Mehlheimer Drechsel, then? Maybe her photo has been destroyed, or yet to be discovered.

George Drechsel along with workers at the cooperage, bottom left corner. In the 1850s, there were at least three cooperage companies in Aurora, making barrels for the steamboats plying the Ohio River. The Wymond Cooperage spanned the entire two blocks adjacent Hogan Creek, behind the Kirsch House, beside the train depot. You can see one of their barrels in the photo.

Mary Drechsel probably circa 1881-1883, after moving to Cincinnati and before her marriage. The photo was taken by J.P. Weckman of Cincinnati, Ohio, listed on the back of the photo.

Mary would have taken the train back and forth from Aurora to Cincinnati as did many of the Aurora residents.

Jogging a Memory

Ernest’s photos jogged a memory for me. A couple years ago, another cousin contacted me. She had some photos too, and in those photos were some people I couldn’t identify.

Barbara Mehlheimer Drechsel’s daughter, Margaretha (1851-1889) married Herm Rabe and had 7 children before she died. Margaretha’s granddaughter contacted me and sent along photos, some of which neither of us could identify.

In this picture, taken in July of 1898, we know that the tallest young lady in the center rear is Eleanor Rabe who would have been 13 in 1898. But who were the rest of these people. We know they were all Barbara’s grandchildren, according to the note with the photo.

I immediately identified the female at bottom right as my grandmother, Edith Lore, born in 1888, but the rest remained a mystery.

Eleanor Rabe had older siblings, but she is clearly the oldest or at least the tallest here. Her one younger sibling was John who was born in 1887, but this boy’s name is Curt, not John.

Let’s make a list of the first names in the photo:

Back row, left to right.

• Nora – a child, definitely NOT Nora Kirsch born in 1866 who married Curtis Benjamin Lore. I think this is actually Curtis L. Lore, born in 1891, daughter of Nora Kirsch, sister to Edith on the bottom row. They lived in Rushville and it wouldn’t make sense for one daughter to be in Aurora without the other daughter.
• Eleanor Rabe (identified by her daughter)
• Lilly – This is probably Lilly Giegoldt, born in 1883, daughter of Lou Drechsel who married Johann Georg Giegoldt.

Front row, left to right:

• Stella – Stella Brehm born in 1884 to Mary Drechsel and Gustav Brehm, identified by Ernest.
• Edna – Edna Brehm born in 1888, daughter of Mary Drechsel.
• Curt – Curt Brehm born in 1889 to Mary Drechsel.
• Edith Lohr (misspelled, it’s Lore) who is actually Barbara Melhleimer’s great-granddaughter

Before Ernest’s email, I had absolutely NO IDEA who Stella, Edna and Curt were.

Conversely, Ernest had never seen this photo before either.

Look what arrived next:

Well, Roberta, this is getting a bit surreal – first a picture of your grandmother Edith and my grandmother Edna in the same picture – and now this!

Obviously taken within minutes of your photo….

As you might imagine, we chattered back and forth for a few days.

I asked if Ernest thought this unidentified photo might be Mary.

Ernest replied with the genealogists lament that most of us are all too familiar with:

Unfortunately, I never spoke to my grandmother Edna about her family, my interest in genealogy came too late, I’m afraid.

My Dad told me very little about his grandmother Mary Drexler Brehm. He said she was a very strict lady who practiced, in his words, “tough love.” He said that as a young woman in Chicago she would ride streetcars to pick up big baskets of laundry which she would wash and fold and then ride back to return them. I don’t think he ever knew her well, she lived in Chicago and he grew up in Columbia, South Carolina.

I’m sending a photo of Mary when she was elderly, holding my Dad. My grandmother Edna is standing behind her as is my aunt Edna Louise Lent. Mary lived to be 89 years old.

The second picture (below) is of Mary perhaps in her 30’s – I’m not good at telling someone’s age.

The third picture is a family group. I think Mary is second from the right, my grandmother Edna standing in the center, my aunt standing next to her. I’m wondering if you recognize any of the other women.

The Branch Blossoms

Of course, I was excited to add Mary’s family information to my tree. I had always wondered what happened to the “lost sister.”

Ernest noticed:

Thank you for adding Mary Drexler’s information to your family tree, it seemed to me that it somehow symbolically reunites the family.

Rest assured that I asked Ernest if he has done a DNA test. He has, and we match. He’s in the process of transferring his DNA file to Family Tree DNA where so many of our family DNA tests reside, including Kirsch lines and other family members, along with my Mom.

The Letter

Then, almost as an afterthought, Ernest added something very important:

I have an old letter, written in what appears to be an archaic German script, that I’ve been unable to get translated. It was among the effects that my Dad left when he died and I’m not sure to whom it was written or who sent it.

Several people who speak German have looked at it and were unable to make out the gist of the letter, just pick out a few words. If I can attach a photo of the letter do you know someone who might be able to help?

It could be just a “having a good time, wish you were here” letter but it could also contain valuable information.

OMG a letter? Seriously?

Ernest, send it right away!!!!

Here is the letter in 4 parts – sorry some are upside down and sideways, I couldn’t reconfigure them.

I’ve been wondering what it may say for years now, I’m very hopeful that you can get them translated.

Perhaps an epiphany lies within!

OMG!!!!

Ernest continued:

I’m quite eager to learn what the letter says! I’ve been trying to get an accurate translation for years, thinking that having been preserved for over a hundred years it may have something important to tell us. And even if it doesn’t, I’m excited about it because it’s such a direct connection to our family and our past.

In Her Own Hand 

As it turns out, the letter is from Barbara Mehlheimer Drechsel (1823-1906) to her daughter, Theresa Marie Drechsel (Drexel, Drexler), known as Mary, who lived in Chicago at the time.

I had to sit for a while and just stare at this handwriting – holding space with Barbara. This is HER very own handwriting. Not only that, but she COULD write, probably having attended Lutheran school in Goppmansbuhl, Germany in the late 1820s or 1830s. Clearly, she raised her children to speak fluent German. My grandmother, three generations later, still understood German.

These letters to her much-missed daughter were scribed by candlelight using a quill pen dipped in a bottle of ink, at night, when Barbara was bone-tired from dangerous physical work like boiling clothes at 65 years of age. Work, of course, that was never ever done because clothes simply got dirty again and had to be boiled all over again a week or so later. She was “retirement age,” but there was no such thing as retirement.

It looks like Barbara prepared to write by drawing faint lines across the pages to keep her sentences straight – except for page 4 where she stopped drawing guidelines about halfway down the page – and sure enough, her sentences began to list to right. We don’t think about things like that today.

Yet, Barbara’s writing is beautiful, old-world script, despite the fact that she was fatigued and writing in the dark when she had trouble seeing. Other than her photo and fragments of DNA shared by her descendants, this letter is likely the only tangible thing that was actually physically, personally hers that remains on this earth some 132 years after she wrote those pages and almost 197 years after her birth. For most of us today, that’s the equivalent of someplace around the year 2160, with our great-great-great-grandchild unearthing a 4-page handwritten letter we sent today and sharing it with another great-great-great-grandchild – the two of them not previously knowing that each other exists.

Indeed, a mother’s hand – still healing after almost two centuries.

Barbara Mehlheimer Drechsel’s Family

Before going further, here’s a list of Barbara Mehlheimer Drechsel’s children and grandchildren. These relationships are important in sorting out the contents of the letter.

• Barbara “Babbit” Drechsel 1848-1930, married Jacob Kirsch in 1866 and operated the Kirsch House, a hotel and restaurant/tavern beside the train depot.
  • Ellenore “Nora” Kirsch 1866-1949, married Curtis Benjamin Lore in 1888 in Aurora. Their first child, Edith was born in 1888 and their second child, Curtis, a daughter, was born in 1891. Two additional daughters, Mildred and Eloise were born in 1899 and 1903, respectively.
  • Georg Martin Kirsch 1868-1949, married Maude Powers in 1888 in Aurora, died in Shelbyville, Indiana in 1949. Son Edgar was born in 1899 and daughter Cecile born in 1892.
  • Johann Edward Kirsch 1870-1924 married Emma Miller in 1891 in Dearborn County, Indiana and lived in Aurora during the 1890s. He died in 1924 in Edwardsport, Knox County, Indiana. They had Juanita born in 1892, Deveraux “Devero” born in 1899. Two daughters born later died as infants.
  • Caroline “Carrie” Kirsch 1871-1926 married Joseph Smithfield Wymond in 1902 in Aurora. The wealthy Wymond family owned one of the cooperage companies and whoo-boy, is there a story about this man that rivals any soap opera. Sadly, they had no children.
  • Margaret Louise “Lou” Kirsch 1873-1940 married Charles “Todd” Fiske in 1899 in Aurora and after his suicide, married Arthur Wellesley. She had no children.
  • Ida Carolina Kirsch 1876-1966 married William “Billy” Galbreath in 1921 and had no children.
• Margaret Drechsel 1851-1889, married Herm Rabe in 1873, lived between Aurora, Indiana and Cincinnati, Ohio, just a few miles away.
  • Mary “Mayme” Rabe 1875-1961 married Albert Weatherby in 1892 in Cincinnati, Ohio. They had three daughters, Lorine 1893-1975, Juanity 1896-1986 and Margaret 1904-1994.
  • Frederick George Rabe 1876-1879
  • Louisa B. “Lou” Rabe 1879-1863 married Irvin Isaac Denison in 1919 and had possibly had one child.
  • Caroline Louise “Leah” Engel Rabe 1880-1951
  • Wilhelm J. Rabe 1883-1886
  • Eleanor Rabe 1885-1961 married Guy Nicholas Young and had 2 daughters, Marian 1908-1978, Eleanor 1910-2006 and two sons, Donald 1915-2000 and Guy 1929-1997.
  • John Rabe 1887-1893
• Caroline “Lina” or “Lena” Drechsel 1854-1938, married Johannes Gottfried Heinke in Cincinnati about 1895. She may have been married previously with one deceased child, according to the census. Much of her life is a mystery.
• Johann “John” Edward Drechsel (Drexler, Drexel) born 1856 and died sometime after 1877. It’s believed that he married and had a child in 1882, but there is conflicting information. If so, his wife, Elizabeth Louisa “Lizzie” Uffman remarried in 1888 in Cincinnati. One John Drechsel was married, a tailor and living with her parents in the 1880 census.
  • Alfred Drexel born 1882 in Cincinnati
• Emma Louise “Lou” Drechsel 1859-1949 married Johann Georg Giegoldt in 1881 in Aurora, Indiana. They lived between Cincinnati and Aurora.
  • Barbara Margaretha Josephine “Nettie” Giegoldt 1882-1908
  • Carolina Louise Lillian “Lilly” Giegoldt 1883-1951, married Theodore Ludwig “Louis” Bosse/Busse and had two children, Raymond born in 1911 and Wilbur born in 1915.
• Theresa Maria “Mary” Drechsel 1862-1953, lived in Cincinnati from 1881-1883. She married Gustav Brehm in Chicago where she spent the duration of her life.
  • Stella Brehm born 1884
  • Edna Marie Brehm born March 4, 1888, died 1975, married Dr. Ernest Lent in 1913 in Iowa.
  • Curtis Brehm born July 1889
  • Drexel (or Drexler) Brehm born 1900

Christoph Saves the Day

Oh, my faithful German friend Christoph. What would I do without him?!

I hate to always be asking questions and favors – but Christoph is always so very gracious. I told Christoph that he didn’t need to translate the letter word for word. Mostly, I wanted to know who it was from and if the contents shed any light on our ancestors or family history. For all we know, it could have been something totally unrelated.

Fortunately, for us, it wasn’t.

From Christoph

Here is my translation of the letter.

I also add the original German text (with all spelling mistakes) below my translation, just for your records. As you will see, some blanks remain and maybe those will be filled by somebody else in the future. But I think that the main content of the letter is clear anyway. I labeled the blanks in [] brackets and also my comments at some places.

In fact, page four (the one with several “Gutbei” at the end) seems to be a separate letter that was first misplaced and thus sent later (see translation). It is clear however, that it is the same handwriting and from the same person. Since she signs as “your good mother Mrs Drexler, Aurora, Indiana”, I would conclude that the letters were written by Barbara Mehlheimer Drechsler (1823-1906).

Her writing suggests that she had some school education, but still several words are misspelled and interpunctation is missing at times. This is true even more for the English words, she even misspells her daughter Mary`s name “Märi”. There is also “Luiswil” instead of “Louisville”, “flauer” instead of “flour” and then “Gutbei” instead of “Goodbye”. In essence, she seems to spell all English words just the way they sound to her as a native German speaker.

Barbara Drechsler also mentions a “Mrs. Kirsch” at two occasions. I do not think that this refers to her daughter (she would have called her by her first name), but rather to her daughter`s mother-in-law Katharina Barbara Lemmert Kirsch (1807-1889), who seems to have been living very close to her house – maybe across the street?

Next, a “Lina” is mentioned. Lina is a short form of “Carolina” and from the letter it seems it is one of her daughters, too. So this would have to be Caroline Drexler married to Gottlieb Heinke. Similarly, “Luise” would have to be Emma “Louis” Drexler Giegoldt. I am not sure for all the other names, but maybe you have a better clue than me.

When Barbara writes “the father”, I do not think it is her own father, she is speaking of, but rather her husband – father of her daughter Mary. I do not know about this in American English, but it certainly was a habit in German still one generation ago. Quite similarly, my grandmother sent my mother letters, speaking about “father”, when in fact she referred to her husband – her daughter`s father.

As for the date of the letter, it only says March 17^th, no year. But I think it is possible to draw out the facts and with their help narrow it down to a certain range.

Barbara`s daughter Mary already had a son, so it would have to be after 1883. But Katharina Barbara Lemmert Kirsch, who died in 1889, was still alive. So if I conclude right that she is the “Mrs Kirsch” mentioned, then the letter would have to be from between 1883 to 1889. What do you think?

So much for my comments. I hope you enjoy your ancestor`s voice from the past! (“Roberta and Ernest, I heard that you are interested in your ancestors` past, so I arranged for an interpreter to make my voice heard to you!”)

Best wishes
Christoph

Christoph, I would hug you if I could!

The Translation 

Letter of Barbara Mehlheimer Drechsler – Transcription and Translation

– page 1 –

Aurora, Indiana, March 17th

Dear children, we greet you all warmly from our hearts. I had intended to write for a long time, but had not found the time so far. Here, many are sick from the [“Krüh” – not clear, what it means. Someone suggested to me it could be a dialect word for scabies. Alternatively, it could be a variant of the word “Grippe” (flu), but these are both just guesses.]. Our father has fallen down and has hurt himself at the hand. It was not too bad, but still he is sick now anyway and cannot work. We had to give up going to church. I do not know, who will take it. [That makes no sense to me, but that is what she wrote.] I always have to take care of somebody over there. The Mrs Kirsch has no maidservant. Furthermore, they all have been sick every few weeks. Babedt [Babette?] has had “remidis” in her right leg. Cähri and Eidi have been sick. Luli and her husband are in Louisville, they both have been sick. Mr Roberts has died, he was 69 years old. Brindi is large and fat and our Luise has caught a cold, when hanging up the laundry out in the snow. I have burnt my left hand, while taking the laundry out of the kettle and it was so …

– page 2 –

… heavy and I lifted it diligently and in the necktie and his shirt was just sliding over my left hand. It frizzled and my entire hand was full of blisters. I immediately have put flour on it and said a prayer. Now my hand is well again. All this happened two weeks ago and last week I have already done the laundry again.

Mary, did you write down, what I have written to you? Put it in your bible, where it will remain safe. And if you have not received it, please let me know, since then I will resend it, it takes away the pain and cures. Now we are all healthy again. Mary, have you received my last letter from Christmas time? I had put inside a thaler painting for your little one and if you did receive it, you are a lucky one! Mister Nibaum had to work so hard, so I always am afraid that you may not have received it.

– page 3 –

I want to let you know, how it went on for the dear Lina. They have been sued, since their milk had been found to be too slurry. How could it have been their fault? They sell it just the way it has been sent to them. They had to pay eighty thaler [dollars ?] fine. That was an awful lot of money for something that had not been their fault. Lina has to work pretty hard. She has to wash big […?], in one of them sweet milk, in the next one buttermilk and in the last one butter. Lina would love me to come and help her, if only I could. Mary, please do not write this in any letter, since I am not supposed to know, because they know that it hurts me. A mother is not free from worries and cannot help nonetheless. My writing is not nice, I can only write at night. I hope and wish that you are all at good health and happy and that you all have work. So please be so good and write me soon, Mary, so that we hear something from you.

– page 4 –

Beloved child, we send you all the greetings from us all. I have to write you another time, since I have not received a reply yet. I do not know, what to think. I hope, you are not all fallen ill! If you do not have the time, then you still have your girls. They may write us a few lines. I always get a hiccup, whenever I think about you. So please be so kind once and write us a little letter about how you are doing.

The father has recovered completely, so thank God we are all healthy again.

The Mrs Kirsch has now a diligent maidservant, so now I do not have to go over to her anymore.

I had put this letter aside and then could not find it anymore. So I wrote another one and sent it to you. Now I have found it again, and so I decided to send it to you as well, so that I do not owe it to you. I hope for your reply soon! I remain your good mother Mrs Drexler. Aurora Indiana

Goodbye, dear children all!
Goodbye, dear children all, be diligent and good and pray as well, so that the good God will help you. Remain healthy all of you!
Goodbye, dear children, goodbye!

Unraveling the Threads

I didn’t want to interrupt the flow of the original letter in Barbara’s own voice, but we do need to see if we can extract additional information from her letter.

Aurora, Indiana, March 17th

Dear children, we greet you all warmly from our hearts. I had intended to write for a long time, but had not found the time so far. Here, many are sick from the [“Krüh” – not clear, what it means. Someone suggested to me it could be a dialect word for scabies. Alternatively, it could be a variant of the word “Grippe” (flu), but these are both just guesses.]. Our father has fallen down and has hurt himself at the hand. It was not too bad, but still he is sick now anyway and cannot work. We had to give up going to church. I do not know, who will take it. [That makes no sense to me, but that is what she wrote.] I always have to take care of somebody over there.

The Mrs Kirsch has no maidservant. Furthermore, they all have been sick every few weeks.

Mrs. Kirsch is indeed very likely Barbara Drechsel Kirsch’s mother-in-law. In fact, I have no idea who else it could be since Katharina Barbara Lemmert and her husband, Philipp Jacob Kirsch were the original immigrants.

In August 1887, Katharina Barbara Kirsch, then a widow, executed a deed to their farm in neighboring Ripley County. She turned 80 the next day and her son who lived with her was disabled from the Civil War. Both she and her son, according to the deed, were living in Dearborn County. I know that her son lived with his brother, Jacob Kirsch, at the Kirsch House until his death. I’m sure that Katharina Barbara Lemmert Kirsch did as well. She died on February 1, 1889, so the letter would have had to have been written before 1889, given that it was dated March 17th.

Barbara goes on to provide some newsy information about her other children to their sister living in Chicago.

Babedt [Babette?] has had “remidis” in her right leg.

Probably rheumatitis. Babbit is Barbara Drechsel Kirsch’s nickname, listed as such on one census.

Cähri and Eidi have been sick.

Cahri was likely Caroline Kirsch, the daughter of Barbara Drechsel Kirsch, born in 1871 who lived at the Kirsch House.

Eidi is probably Ida, born in 1876, also Barbara Drechsel Kirsch’s daughter.

Luli and her husband are in Louisville, they both have been sick.

I’m presuming this is Emma Louise Drechsel, known as “Aunt Lou” who was married to Johann Georg Giegoldt in 1881. They had two daughters, born in 1882 and 1883. I wonder why Barbara didn’t mention the girls.

Mr. Roberts has died, he was 69 years old.

Based on the 1880 census, I can’t find a Roberts in that region that would be roughly the correct age. I wonder why this was important to Mary and her mother. Generally, we find the family interacting with German families.

Brindi is large and fat and our Luise has caught a cold, when hanging up the laundry out in the snow.

Caroline Louise Rabe, born in 1880, would have been the age to hang clothes on the line. I have no clue who Brindi refers to. Everyone in this family had nicknames, some of which bore little or no resemblance to their actual given name.

I wonder if Brindi is a pet or perhaps a pregnant daughter. The only daughter pregnant during this time would have been Margaretha Drechsel, whose nickname I don’t know, who had Eleanor Rabe in March of 1885 and John Rabe in September of 1887. Of course, Mary, the recipient of the letter was pregnant with Stella who was born in June of 1884 and Edna Marie born on March 4, 1888, so she would not have been the person being referred to as “Brindi.”

I have burnt my left hand, while taking the laundry out of the kettle and it was so …

– page 2 –

… heavy and I lifted it diligently and in the necktie and his shirt was just sliding over my left hand. It frizzled and my entire hand was full of blisters. I immediately have put flour on it and said a prayer. Now my hand is well again. All this happened two weeks ago and last week I have already done the laundry again.

This sounds just horrible, but provides perspective on the daily dangers of simply doing laundry. Boiling laundry. Probably miserable at best and horrid in the summer. I had to look the definition of frizzle up and it means to “fry or grill with a sizzling noise.” Ugh – my hand hurts this many years later just thinking about that boiling water. Poor Barbara.

I have never heard of flour as a remedy for burns but googling reveals it as a folk remedy with many warnings against this methodology today.

Mary, did you write down, what I have written to you? Put it in your bible, where it will remain safe. And if you have not received it, please let me know, since then I will resend it, it takes away the pain and cures. Now we are all healthy again.

I surely wonder about that remedy. Was it the flour remedy she was referring to, or something else? Apparently, something she sent earlier. I hope the family still has this Bible someplace, probably given to Mary in the church in Aurora when she was confirmed about 1873 or 1874.

Mary, have you received my last letter from Christmas time? I had put inside a thaler painting for your little one and if you did receive it, you are a lucky one! Mister Nibaum had to work so hard, so I always am afraid that you may not have received it.

“Little one” tells us that Mary had at least one child, so that dates this letter after 1884. Mary’s first child, Stella, was born in June of 1884. I was unable to figure out what a thaler painting is or was, but a thaler was the official coin in Germany until 1908. It could be interpreted as roughly similar to a dollar at that time, which of course was worth much more than a dollar today.

– page 3 –

I want to let you know, how it went on for the dear Lina. They have been sued, since their milk had been found to be too slurry. How could it have been their fault? They sell it just the way it has been sent to them. They had to pay eighty thaler [dollars ?] fine. That was an awful lot of money for something that had not been their fault. Lina has to work pretty hard. She has to wash big […?], in one of them sweet milk, in the next one buttermilk and in the last one butter. Lina would love me to come and help her, if only I could. Mary, please do not write this in any letter, since I am not supposed to know, because they know that it hurts me. A mother is not free from worries and cannot help nonetheless.

I am presuming Lina would be Caroline “Lina” Drechsel who married Johannes Gottfried Heinke in Cincinnati, although that wasn’t until 1895. There’s certainly a big piece of Lina’s life missing during the 1880s. In the 1880 census she was living with the Heinke family as a servant and noted as a cousin. In 1881 she is shown in the City Directory as a housekeeper. Maybe the Lina that Barbara references is someone else since it does refer to “they,” inferring that Lina was married. There may be an earlier marriage we don’t know about. All of the pieces don’t add up for her. Maybe this mystery will be solved one day too.

My writing is not nice, I can only write at night. I hope and wish that you are all at good health and happy and that you all have work. So please be so good and write me soon, Mary, so that we hear something from you.

– page 4 –

Beloved child, we send you all the greetings from us all. I have to write you another time, since I have not received a reply yet. I do not know, what to think. I hope, you are not all fallen ill! If you do not have the time, then you still have your girls. They may write us a few lines. I always get a hiccup, whenever I think about you. So please be so kind once and write us a little letter about how you are doing.

I suspect hiccup means that she cried.

The word “girls” in this sentence suggests that Mary had already had her second child who was born on March 4, 1888, unless she had a child in 1886 that we don’t know about that died.

This is perplexing because this page appears to be the older letter that Barbara enclosed, written before March 17th. We know that the original letter was dated March 17^th, and that Barbara had not heard from Mary or at least had not received a letter since Christmas. Mary’s second child was born March 4th, 1888.  We also know that Mrs. Kirsch died in February 1889, so this entry is confounding. Mary’s first child, Stella, was born in June of 1884. No letter year scenario fits all three pieces of evidence well.

The father has recovered completely, so thank God we are all healthy again.

The Mrs. Kirsch has now a diligent maidservant, so now I do not have to go over to her anymore.

I would presume this means Barbara Drechsel Kirsch’s mother-in-law again.

I had put this letter aside and then could not find it anymore. So I wrote another one and sent it to you. Now I have found it again, and so I decided to send it to you as well, so that I do not owe it to you. I hope for your reply soon! I remain your good mother Mrs Drexler. Aurora Indiana

Goodbye, dear children all!
Goodbye, dear children all, be diligent and good and pray as well, so that the good God will help you. Remain healthy all of you!
Goodbye, dear children, goodbye!

It’s of note here that Barbara did not mention Margaretha who was married to Herm Rabe, unless that’s the reference to Brindi who is fat. That might place this letter in 1887 when Margaretha was pregnant.

On a sad note, Barbara also didn’t mention her son, John. We know little about him other than that he was living in Cincinnati by 1877 according to the Aurora church records. He, or at least someone by his name, is listed in the city directory there as a tailor, and is married in 1880 to Lizzy Uffman, living with her parents. Their one child, Alfred, was born in April of 1882. John is not shown in the City Directory after 1881, but a note in the Cincinnati Enquirer Newspaper on Sept. 5., 1882 states that a massive fire in Aurora burned an entire block, a factory, hotel and other buildings. The article says that the property of John Drexel was damaged. There is no other known John Drexel, or similar surname, in Aurora, and the last we knew of John, he was living in Cincinnati. It’s possible that they meant his father, George.

Even more confusing is the May 6, 1880, Cincinnati Daily Star report under the “Aurora, Indiana” heading that says, “Mr. Jacob Kirsch and wife attended the funeral of Mr. John Dreckler in Cincinnati yesterday (Wednesday.)”

If this John Dreckler is Barbara Kirsch Drechsel’s brother, which is likely, then the Alfred born in 1882 is not his child. That John Drechsel/Drexel/Drexler may be someone entirely different. We do know that John’s wife remarried in 1888. There may be multiple John Drechsel’s involved – and “ours” remains a mystery.

A Gift from the Past Reunites Our Family

I’m extremely grateful to Ernest for reaching out and sharing. It allowed us both to connect the leaves and branches and flesh out our trees. Ernest summed this up just perfectly:

Thank you for adding Mary Drexler’s information to your family tree, it seemed to me that it somehow symbolically reunites the family.

This is so gratifying! What a direct connection to our family, to hear our great grandmother speaking to her children over the years through her letter.

First of all, please convey my deepest thanks to Christoph for opening up this insight into our family with his wonderful translation. And to you Roberta for making this happen. I’ve been wanting to know the contents of the letter for years now.

It makes no great pronouncements, It’s just a simple newsy family letter and it’s all the more intimate because it tells of incidents that occurred, accidents that befell them, what’s going on with the neighbors.

Barbara telling Mary about the lawsuit involving Lina and the milk (but don’t tell anybody else because I’m not supposed to know) is such a natural thing to do.

Barbara, possibly in her mid-sixties at the time the letter was written, is still doing laundry by boiling the clothing in a kettle, heavy work and dangerous too.

She has sent something to Mary which she’s supposed to write down and put in her bible which “takes away the pain and cures.” A spell or charm perhaps.

There is such a lot of information to be gleaned from the letter – actually two letters, it seems.

There’s a clue within the letter that may make it possible to narrow down the year it was written. The first paragraph makes mention of so many people being sick and even one death.

The “Russian Flu” was an epidemic that swept through Indiana starting in late 1889 and lasted through 1892. There were hundreds of deaths in Indiana attributed to the flu in 1890. The epidemic spiked in January of 1892 with over 400 deaths in that month alone and then began to decline. It’s possible that the sicknesses mentioned were a result of the flu.  Kind of interesting considering our current pandemic.

Ernest is right. Further research shows that there was a significant spike in deaths in January of 1888 as well, even higher than the peak of the flu in January of 1890. If the March 17^th date was in 1888, that would accommodate almost all of our date hints:

• Written before Mrs. Kirsch died on February 1, 1889 – so the letter must be 1888 or earlier because Mrs. Kirsch was deceased by March 1889.
• After Mrs. Kirsch deeds her land and moves to town in August 1887.
• Barbara refers to the “little one” in her letter when describing a thaler painting sent the previous Christmas. Mary’s second child was born on March 4, 1888 and the first in 1884.
• Page 4, apparently an earlier letter, clearly refers to “girls,” so this had to be after the second daughter’s birth on March 4, 1888 unless an unknown child was born in 1886 and subsequently died. It’s also possible that page 4 is actually from a later letter.
• However, if Barbara has not heard from Mary, by letter, since Christmas, how did she know that Mary had given birth to a daughter on March 4th, 1888 in order to refer to “girls?” A telegraph message sent to the train depot might be a possibility, or page 4 was from a later letter.
• Indiana deaths experienced a spike in January 1888, and the March 17^th letter refers to the illnesses and death, noting that in March, people are better.

It’s so much fun to peep through that remaining keyhole into their daily lives. My best guess here is that the Match 17th letter was written in 1888. Regardless, it was written near that time and provides us with a rare and wonderful glimpse into Barbara’s life, narrated in her own words.

Thanks again to Ernest and Christoph – and everyone who saved those letters!

Addendum: German Letter Transcription

– Seite 1 –

Aurora Indiana März den 17.

Liebe Kinder seid Alle Herzlich von uns
allen [gegrüßt]. Ich wolde schon lange schreiben, und kam
nicht dazu. Hier sind vühle Laide krank an der
Krüh, unser Vater ist gefahlen aber Er
hat sich weng weh gethan an der Hand
das hätt nichts aus gemacht aber doch ist Er
krank und kan nichts mehr schaffen wir musten
die Kirche auf geben wer es nimt das weis
ich noch nicht, ich mus hald imer wen drüben
aus helfen die Misses Kirsch hat keine Macht(=Magd)
Sie wahren auch Alle baar Wochen krank
Die Babedt [Babette?] hat remidis in rechten Bein
gehabd die Cähri und Eidi wen krank die
Luli und Ihr Mann die sind in Loiswill
Sie wahren baide krank. Der Raberts
ist gestorben Er war 69 Jahre ald die Brindi
st gros und fett u. unsere Loise hat sich
weng verköldet mit Ihren wasch aufhängen
in den grosen Schnee. Ich habe mich gebründ
in meine Linke Hand ich habe die Wasch
aus den Kössel gehoben, und das wahr, so…

– Seite 2 –

…schwär, und ich hebd hald dichdig und in den
schlips über und sein Hemt [stok?] schleidet
sich gerahte über meine Linke Hand das
hat gebüzeld es wahr die ganze Hand vol
Blasen, ich hab gleich recht Flauer drauf,
und habse besprochen jezt ist Sie gans gut
das wahr in zwei Wochen alles geschehen ich
habe die lezte Woche schon wieder gewa-
schen, Märi hast Du das auf geschrieben
wo ich Dir geschikt hab, lechs in die Bibel
da bleibd es sicher, und hast Du es nicht so
las mirs wissen, so wil ich Dirs schücken
den das nimt den schmärzen und heild
so sind wir Goott sei dank wieder
Alle Gesund. Märi hast Du den letzten
Brif beken zu Weihnachten ich habe
für den Kleinen ein Dallerbild einge-
legt wen dus bekomen hast, so machst
du ein großen Pungt. Der Mister
Nibaum die hatten, so zu thun gehabd
das wahr arch, da denk ich immer Ihr habd
den Brif nicht bekomen.

– Seite 3 –

Ich wil Euch noch schreiben wie der
Liebe Lina noch gegangen ist, die sind
verklagt worden über die Milch weil
sie zu din wahr, was haben Sie dafür
könt wie Sis schücken, so verkaufens Sie
und mussten 80. Achtzich daler bezahlen
wahr das nicht ein Sinden Geld wo Mann
nichts davür kan, die Lina mus noch recht hart
schaffen Sie hat so grose [Höfen?] zu waschen
in ein ist Sismichl in ander Butter Milch
in andern Butter, die Lina nehmet mich gern
wen Ich komen könt Märi schreib nichts in kein
Brif den ich sol nichts wissen davon weil Sie
wissen, daß mirs wehe thut. Eine Mutter ist n
nicht frei von sorchen, und kann doch
nichts helfen. Mein Schreiben ist nicht schön
icht mus nur Nachts schreiben. Ich hof und
Wünsch das Ihr Alle recht Gesund und zufrieden
seid und und wen Ihr alle Arbeit habd. So
sei so gut und schreib bald Märi daß wir
auch was fon Eüch hören

– Seite 4 –

Hertz gelibde Kind seit Alle herzlich
gegrüsset von u[ns] Allen.
Ich mus noch ein mahl an Eüch schreiben, weil ich
noch keine Antwort bekomen habe. Ich weis nicht was ich
denken sol, Ihr werdet doch nicht Alle krank sein! Wen
du nicht Zeit hast, so hast du doch eine Mädchen die könen
doch so vühl thun und konen uns ein baar Zeilen schreiben
Ich hab immer Hetscher wen Ich an Dich denk, so ist es
vorbei. So seid doch ein mahl so gut und schreibt uns bald ein
Briflein wie es mit Eüch geht. Der Vader ist wieder gans
gesund, so sind wir Gott sei Dank Alle gesund. Die Misses
Kirsch hat eine fleisiche Macht jezt brauch Ich nicht mehr zu
nüber gehen. Ich habe diesen Brif weggelecht und hab
Ihm nimmer finden könen, so hab ich em anderen geschrieben
und an Euch geschückt, jezt hab ich im gefunden, und so
wil Ich im auch wieder zu Euch schücken so habd mir
nichts vir ungut. Ich Hof eine badige Andwort. Ich ver-
bleibe Eüere gute Mutter Misses Drexler. Aurora Indiana

Gutbei Libe Kinder Alle!
Gutbei liebe Kinder Alle seid Fleisich
und gut und dut auch Beeden, das Eüch
der Liebe Goott auch Hülft seid alle gesunnt
Gutbai Liebe Kinder Gutbai.

Johann Adam Kirsch was born about 1677 to Johann Georg Kirsch, known as Jerg, and Margaretha Koch who were married in 1650 in Dürkheim, now Bad Dürkheim.

Given that Jerg Kirsch was a leaseholder of the Jostens estate in 1660, in Fussgoenheim, we know that the couple would have been living there at that time. By 1673, the French were once again ravaging the landscape, and between then and 1689, this area of the Pfalz was once again depopulated.

Dürkheim Perhaps

Did the Kirsch family leave in 1674 when other families in this region sought refuge elsewhere, or were they still trying to stick it out in Fussgoenheim when Johann Adam Kirsch was born about 1677? There’s no way to know.

Did Jerg’s family go back to Dürkheim where Johann Adam’s brother, Johann Wilhelm Kirsch was married in 1695? That’s the most likely scenario, not only because we know Wilhelm was living there in 1695, but also because we know that their parents were married there in 1650. They knew the landscape, probably had family there and would have gone someplace where they had at least some resources.

Johann Wilhelm Kirsch’s marriage entry in the church records indicates that his father, Jerg Kirsch, was deceased. Of course, Jerg was Adam’s father too. We don’t know when Jerg died, or if Adam’s mother was still living.

If Johann Wilhelm Kirsch, approximate age 25 in 1695, was living in Dürkheim, then it’s likely that his younger brother who would have been 18 at that time was living in Dürkheim as well.

The Nine Year’s war ended in 1689, officially, but it’s unlikely that former residents returned immediately. Houses and barns had been burned across the countryside – fields, vineyards, and orchards ruined.

The Kirsch brothers may have been in Dürkheim in 1695, but six years later, we know that Adam had returned to Fussgoenheim.

Mayor

By 1701, Johann Adam Kirsch, then about age 24, was Mayor of the northern half of Fussgoenheim. I have to wonder how many residents were living in Fussgoenheim at that time. It would only have been repopulated for a decade, maybe less.

By 1720, the entire village only consisted of 150-200 people, or about 15-20 homes. The number of families that had returned by 1701 was probably only a handful. It had been nearly a quarter-century since they had left – again – after only living in Fussgoenheim about 15 years after returning after the 30 Years’ War. Altogether, in the 100 years between 1618 and 1718, the Kirsch family had lived elsewhere for about 66 years.

It makes me wonder why they came back at all. Perhaps it had to do with reclaiming their father’s leasehold estate rights. Something is better than nothing, and that leasehold offered at least some opportunity, even if it did require a significant amount of elbow grease.

Seeking Resources

If I can find a copy of the book, Ortsgeschichte von Fußgönheim by Ernst Merk, published in 1925, the answer might be there on page 153 where Adam’s testimony is recorded. I’m working on that task, but the book is only available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, which is closed due to Covid, and a library in Buffalo, NY. Fingers crossed for inter-library loan.

Another publication, Heimat-Blätter für Ludwigshafen am Rhein und Umgebung, issue 1921 No. 10 reportedly contains additional information. My German friend told me that Heimat-Blätter für Ludwigshafen am Rhein und Umgebung was a journal published from 1912 to 1939 and might well hold additional information not only about Fussgoenheim, but this region. I’m attempting to find out if this is available anyplace digitally, in a pdf file that I can copy/paste into a translator.

The answer to another mystery may be held in these documents.

Who Was Johann Adam’s First Wife?

Walter Schnebel, now deceased, researched the Kirsch family for decades with access to original records in Fussgoenheim and other German locations.

Walter’s birth year for Johann Adam was given as (about) 1677  and his death before 1740.

Walter’s exact verbiage is as follows:

(?) N.N. Greulich (* um 1680 † vor 1706, T.v. Adam Greulich); seit ca. 1677 in Fgh. (OG Merk, siehe Weistuhm 1717 Vern. 1717)

This translated to:

(?) N.N. Greulich (* about 1680 † before 1706, T.v. Adam Greulich); since about 1677 in Fgh. (OG Merk, see Weistuhm 1717 Vern. 1717)

I interpret this to mean that Walter wasn’t sure that Adam had a first wife, or possibly that he didn’t know her first name. Someplace, Walter obviously found a record.

Adam’s second wife was Anna Maria Koob.

Here’s the quandry for me.

Johann Adam Kirsch’s first recorded child, Johann Michael Kirsch born about 1700 is my ancestor.

If in fact, Johann Adam Kirsch was married to Miss Greulich before her death in 1706, and Johann Michael Kirsch’s birth year is roughly accurate, then Ms. Greulich was his mother, not Anna Maria Koob.

I’d surely like to know!

This matters – a lot.

1717 in Fussgoenheim

There’s painfully little information available for Fussgoenheim during the time that Adam lived there. The villagers would have been rebuilding following warfare from 1618-1650 and again from approximately 1673-1690.

In 1733, Jakob Tilman von Halberg, the “Lord” of the land complained that the residents refused to pay for the new church. That, combined with the fact that church records begin in 1726, suggests that rebuilding even the basics of society took more than 20 years and maybe closer to 30.

In 1717, the village elders attempted to recompile at least some portion of what had been lost. I purchased a booklet transcribed in 1968 in German that included a portion of the original 1717 record.

I scanned and utilized Deepl translator to gain at least a small window into what happened 303 years ago. When that didn’t go well, due to a somewhat archaic font, I typed the entire document, word for German word. I think I might just have inherited my German ancestors’ tenacity.

Johann Wilhelm Kirsch was the court clerk, cognate, or “court man” who, along with a few elders recorded as much of their history and customs as could be reconstructed. I asked a native German-speaker to see if he could give an assist to the translation, but his comment was that the challenge is that the German words themselves were archaic, and even in German, he wasn’t sure what some of it meant – let alone trying to translate into English.

I’ve included the transcribed/translated document, in total, below using both the Deepl translator and Google translate. I translated this once by copying the text into the translator, but given that the font was difficult for the translator to recognize, I eventually retyped the entire 10 pages. I discovered how difficult it is to type words that you don’t understand or know how to spell. So, in reality, this document has been translated 4 times and I’ve combined the pieces that make the most sense from all 4 versions. The crazy things we do for genealogy!

If anyone can improve on this version, PLEASE feel free😊. I have included the actual scanned pages in German for reference.

Some of this is very awkward and nuance is lost, but I think the idea is conveyed from both 1628, almost 400 years ago, and 1717, with footnotes at the end of each section. The fact that we have any of this is amazing! Thanks to Christoph for finding this book for me and his assistance.

Fussgoenheim History from Pfalzische Weistumer

This document begins with the history of Fussgoenheim.

W. Ludeigshefen. first sure mention in 1291 as violin home, 1343 as foot home (Christman, settlement names I, s 171 ff. in the 14th century, the n oberdorff and underdorf divided place belonged partly to the count of leiningen, partly to the lords of falkenstein, whereby both lords of the village used their own mayors. The Liningingian part of the lower village, from 1385 to the middle of the 16th century in the fiefdom of the Knights of Meckenheim, was bought by the lords of Hallberg in 1729/31 and since 1731 by Baron von Hallberg (Chancellor Jakob Tillmann von Hallbert.) The Falkenstein’s, in the course of time several times as fiefdoms, lastly 1629-1726 to the family Kessler von Sarmsccheim, granted rights to Ober and Unterdorf to the Duchy of Lorraine in 1667 with the County of Falkenstein; 1728/29 as Lorraine fiefdom to the family von Hallbert. In the agriculturally rich district, since time immemorial extensive property of various spiritual foundations (Seebach Monastery, Limburg, Lobenfeld, Schonfeld, Neustadt Monastery, etc.) Petry, Rheinland-Pfalz, S, 109, E Merk, local history of F (1925) K. Kreuter, local history of F., in: Heimatbl. Ludwigshafen 1925 Nr 20 Fabricius, Unt. Nearby area, S, 499 f.

StARch. Speyer WS or Kreigverlust. Dr. bei Ernst Merk, Ortsgeschischte von F (1925) S 156 ff (A) and by K. Kreuter in Heimatbl. Ludwigshafen Jg. 1921 Nr. 9 (B) In the following reprint of the text A which seems to be more true to the original spelling than B.

1628

Copia Fussgenheimer wiesumbs, according to the falkenstein chancellery, was sent in 1628.

1. Item one assigns the community four days of the full court, the first on the Monday after the twelfth, the second on the Monday after Easter Monday 1), the third on the Monday after St. Peter’s Day 2), the fourth on the Monday after St. Michaelmas 3), and the four days of court shall be uncommitted.

2. Item has the commonwealth a little bit of money to give away, that it may lend it to whom it will, and when a schoolboy is born, it should be granted to him for another, when he does what is proper, i.e., a commoner’s bidding for nothing.
3. Item the same request of the commoner shall turn their way for a mile, and what he goes further, one shall give him for a mile six pfenning.
4. Item directs the community to the junk twenty-eight (year old?) malter korns to the beedt below and above.
5. Item is shown in the upper part in Seebach well atz, front and governing service.
6. Items are rejected by two men from every court, since people are in them, the junker. a) [Note that a) and other letters or numbers with ) are references to endnotes.]
7. The lower part of the item is similar to Seebacher court. b)
8. Item they, the lordship, came here and find no hay and straw in the scrubbing, so they shall mow down to the meadows outside a town up to the Schauerheim 4) market, and if it is expedient that they do not save enough, so they shall mow outside again one more time than long and much, until their opportunity is again to travel home.
9. Item one points at the lower part of the same as the Seebacher guth uf der thumbherrn well. [This did not translate entirely.]
10. If it was a matter of fact that an unusual 5) man was coming to the village, the schoolmaster shall take him home where he belongs,
11. Item indicates a common one a free bakehouse, if it is otherwise free. 6)
12. The same beaker [baker?] shall have two sifters and two sieves and two baggages, who are good, which he shall lend to the people, the poor men as the rich, due to bake to him, and it is so, which bakes two malt, he shall give three loaves.
13. Item which bakes an age, he shall give 3 c) breads, and which bakes half an age, he shall give according to number, and the woman may make the breads small or large as she wishes; and if it is proper to point out that the breads are becoming too small, the woman shall put on her pouch (bag) and give six bright defenses before the three breads; And if it were proper for the baker to put much flour under the bread, the woman shall put on her purse (pouch), and shall give two bright (light-colored) protections before the mead (meel), and the woman shall lift up her mead (meel), and the woman shall be punished by the basin.

[Note that a second translation of a given word is shown in (). Also note that the last sentence beginning with “and the woman…”, replaced with “and sell the woman with impunity from baker.”]

14. The same baker shall bake the same bread properly, and if it is pertinent that the same bread was not baked properly, then the same man shall carry the bread before the churches and shall let the bread be seen and shall pay the bread to the pitcher according to honorable men’s knowledge. d)
15. Item it is to have also the same baker some horse, with it he is to take the dough from the people and bring home the bread.
16. The same baker shall not draw more cattle in his yard, than what he needs in his yard, and if it is pertinent that the backer (baker) did not hold such a thing, he has broken his freedom and she may bake whatever she wants.
17. Item shows the common one way to the bitz 7) between Henn Beckern e) and the bakehouse, that a donkey may go in with two heretics.
18. Item is assigned to the bachstaden eight schuch far from the Genheimer mark to the common wag.
19. Item is assigned eight schuch far from the woge to the Dornferrt.
20. Items are rejected by water f), and the one who oppresses them does violence and no right.

[Alternate translation: Item shall be put to one’s charge and thrown to the commoner. He does violence and no right.]

21. Item you know: which in the community has no field in the mark, which should dig two times wide from the streets glue ditch unfriendly.
22. When they have done this, they shall heap the grain without harm, and after that they shall ask g) the people of God (the court) for every kind of grain, and shall not refuse them, and when they have done this h), they shall give every driver a week, and should say to them: just thank your master. (Thank only your master.)
23. They shall also give the community two quarters of wine, they shall not be angry or lazy (foolish.)
24. Item shows the way through the German Herm court to the the thumbherm garden.

25. Item the landlords shall have four oxen go into the long meadows, they shall have their yoke, they shall eat where they like to eat, and when a someone came into the marks and stopped there, one shall help out with it
26. Item they shall have a farmhand to keep the oxen, and he shall have a basket in his arm, and what the oxen shit, he shall pick up, that the martens (maddies,madmen?) may (do) not beat the scythes with (on) it.
27. Item the same servant shall have a staff, he shall have two kickhel, one he shall put on one foot, the other under the thuhnn; whatever he may deign to do, that shall be pleasing (given) to him.
28. Item there are two meadows marked in Fussgoenheimer, which are to be from St. Georgentag 8) on up to St. Johannstag 3); they shall be pacified; the community shall have its way, and if it is proper that a beast (cattle) should come unscrupulously (unwholesomely) to him, and if he came to whom (meadow, lady) they were directed, he shall shout out three times: If no one comes to drive the beast out, he shall take his right handler in his hand, and shall drive the cattle out unharmed.
29. Item it is supposed to hold the hospital property of Dürkheim a footbridge over the brook.

Item es soll das spitalguy von Dürkheim halten ein steg uber die bach.

Footnotes for above:

1) 6. Januar.
2) 24. Juni.
3) 29. Sept.
4) Schauernheim, so. Fussgoenheim.
5) too unfinished – naughty, unjust, wrong, vicious as opposed to justified? DWB. XI, 3, Sp. 538 ff.; or as much as ungeberdig = undisciplined, unruly, unruly in the gene set? DWB, ibid. Sp. 621 ff.; or as much as ungeberdig = unreliable, unruly, disobedient? Cf. DWB, ibid. Sp. 908 and IV, 1,3, Sp. 5349
6) i.e. the village lord
7) Bitz, Bitze = good meadow style, (fenced, surrounded) meadow garden. Zink, Pfalz field names
8) April 23rd

a) Probably misprints instead of real junk.
b) Deviating from a reads Art. 7 in B: Item also today and straw on the Seebacher yard.
c) Reading “3” after Merk doubtful.
d) More respectable (honorable).
e) Henn Beckern Gembackern.
f) follows for alpine pastures.
g) follows the.
h) follows ride.

Part II.

1717

St Arch. Speyer, Gemeindearchiv Fussgonheim No. 1. notarial instrument Or., 36 parchment leaves in 3 layers, sheets 1, 2, 11, 12, 17-22 missing; the writing is heavily faded in places and difficult to read. Dr. in extracts by K. Kreuter in Heimatbl. Ludwigshafen 1921 No. 10. No genuine Weistum, but one after the loss of all older legal records (in the Palatinate Succession Circle) of Schultheiss and court in F. arranged notarial statement of the village right, whereby obviously in the way one proceeded in such a way that the Schltheiss on Grunt of collected reports (from whom?) and recorded the transferred rights in writing and a notary then questioned seven aged parishioners about the correctness of the individual sentences (seats) asked. In the following,

Dr. Schultheiss and the court’s remarks introducing the document (about the request of the mayor and the court) and the “instructed” legal sentences (seats) without the statements of the seven interviewees attached to the individual articles and under exclusion of the articles – only incompletely preserved in the presentation – in which the property of the community is described.

(Alternate translation of the last portion of this item:

A notary public then questioned seven elderly parishioners of tiber about the correctness of the individual seats. 1m following Dr. the remarks introducing the document (tiber the request of Sehultheij3 and Gerieht) and the “designated” legal seats without the seats assigned to the individual articles statements of seven interviewees and under the appearance of those – only incompletely preserved in the submission – articles in which…the community’s property will be torn up.)

Fusgenheimer wisdom from 1717

…a) Christoph Hauck and Willhelm Kirsch, men of the court, also Andreas Kirsch, Dieter Coob and Hanss Jacob Spannier, together with seven other inherited burgers from the court and the community of Fussgenheim, took some of the items from the court and the community of Fussgenheim with them, when they immediately presented too old acquaintances and witnesses, still pre-registered in the morning in the presence of the yoke noble, vest and highly distinguished gentleman

Johann Philipp Falcken, churpfaltzichen ausfauths of the lobli(che)n chief magistrate Neustadt, also gentleman Johann Melchior Faeth, at the time of his schooldays in Schauernheim, as a particularly bedded gentleman witnessed by a written presentation of thickly painted village righteousness oral recitation, who, in the french war, created for the village of Fussgenheim all the judicial protocols.

Alternate translation of the above paragraph:

Johann Philipp Falcken, churpfaltzisehen ausfauths of the 16bli[che]n oberampts Neustadt, also lord Johann Melchior Faeth, at Schauernheim, when particularly anhero witnesses of begotten masters were thickly bemoaned by written presentation of the eggs of the justice of the village, who will design and the village of FuBgenheim in the french 6) war, all court records, white thumb and other written documents, according to which the rights and justices of the village were to be proven to the best of their ability, leyder (b made a deal and was (a total) completely lost, whereas they provided and foresaw that when the old people still alive in the court and out of the community passed away with death, the old, well-born village rights and customs of the village are lost with the young burgers or descendants, even contested and disputed, or at least caused by all kinds of regulations and interferences (precautions and interjections) to which dear descendants of the village inmates are subjected due to their thirst and costs at the village of Fussgoenheim.

In addition to each of the two village parts, each of part was accompanied by various land and village rulers, with whom a body ruler had to recognize one body ruler, each of whom (which) brought his own special rights and regalia to exercise in the orth, but all the community is allowed to enjoy their freedom at all times, and especially from the side of the most merciful bodily control one is instructed to put a stop to everything that is running against the old right and comes from here, and to everything that is newly praying.

For this reason, they had decided in some cases, since otherwise there would be no other way to hold means before them, as the village rights accounts are demonstrably preserved and the long use and practice are safeguarded, and to listen to the old persons and the community about such legal rights, to instrument their testimony formally, and then to put it behind court for the future good evidence of the matters.

If, therefore, I, the notary public, together with both the chief magistrates, and especially the gentlemen called upon to do so and the witnesses standing here present, would have duly bedded me, the notary public, and their gracious village and bodily lordships, they would have been paid a sum of money by the very least that would not harm them, as their high and lower jurisdiction as well as the regalia and fautheylichkeit could be recognized and there was no obstacle to assisting them, and after the village rights and freedoms were reportedly confiscated, the resident old people were allowed to be questioned and the fee was paid for one or more instrumented documenta, one exemplary on parchment, to be shared with them (to help heal.) What village rights and justice, also with regard to the same property itself, as reported above, is presented to me, the notary, by Schultheiss Englehardt;

Whereupon the following seven old men took

1. Adam Kirsch
2. Jacob Antes
3. HanB Adam Hauck
4. Theobaldt Bilrstler [probably Boerstler]
5. Matthes MuBpach
6. Hemp Nickel Coop and
7. Adam Gifft

How they, the community, those in quiet possession, come and use up to now, faithfully obeyed, heard, and questioned in the presence of one instead of being mercifully listened to, whose testimony is to be diligently recorded about it and were of lasting content.

Now follow the preregistered one, notario, handed over to me the rights, justice and property of Dorff’s Fussgenheim, also what each of the people who had been deported from it had said and gave me clear words.

1. Firstly, in addition to the two schools, the court will be composed of burgers from the upper and lower villages, which court will have to judge and decide all matters arising in the field and elsewhere together. But what happens especially in the upper and lower villages, everyone has the power to come to a final decision and to let them be fined (2.
2. Secondly, the servant is appointed (ordered) by the court, has his freedom from the woman, too, with annual enjoyment of a field and knowledge 3). (Alternate translation: Servant is ordered by the court also has from the community its freedom with annual enjoyment of one field and ?.)
3. Thirdly, the community has put the bells and the clock out of its own means and belongs to them autonomously, therefore the community has to dispose of them. (4
4. footnote (5
6. Fifthly the people in the upper and lower villages had the complete joyfulness and the hour here, from immemorial years ago, in quiet possession and enjoyment in such a way that neither the village rulers nor the body rulers may not be entitled to it. For this reason (that is why) no one on either side has been threatened (warned) to leave the congregation (community) under what right and freedom, and against which something new is demanded (in return), the most gracious dominion of the body (rulership) is after the clausul, so to be followed after the body, guilty of vigorously manuteniring (6 the serf (bondswoman) against it ), the more so, since, according to the rights of the same liberties, too, by long possession, so running over human endings, acquiriret (7 can become (8.
7. Sixth, the church (community) has brought the free wine tavern in the village in such a manner that every burgher is permitted to do business, to serve wine, beer, and brandy, of which neither one nor the other has to pay money, to give creutzergeld or other condition, but rather all this freely enjoys set, but enjoying all the freedom that comes from traditions from time immemorial and were therefore been kept so the community wants to keep this free right and no one has the right to interfere with them in this (9.

Ah, the German tavern – so important as a community gathering place, circa 1470, above. Bartering and trading took place between citizens. Politics were discussed, loudly, of that you can be assured. Plans were made and sealed with a handshake and a beverage. Celebratory toasts were hailed, with everyone joining in, and grief was softened there too. Friends and family are the glue of the community, and in this case, held together with a bit of wine, beer and brandy – and had been, from time immemorial, as they testified.

This 1658 tavern scene by Flemish artist David Teniers probably looked much the same throughout Europe.

Perhaps the residents, who would all have known each other well, played cards and smoked a bit.

By Chris Lake – Flickr: 16th_century_wine_press, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19365588

Fruits for distilling German brandy known as Obstbrand or Fruchtbrand and vineyards growing luscious grapes for sun-kissed wines were prevalent in this region, of course. Every home might have had its own wine press which could also be used to press apples for cider.

I don’t know where the free wine tavern was located, or if the building still exists, but Fussgoenheim wasn’t very large, so it was assuredly in one of the buildings on the main street – the only street at the time. My guess would be about dead center – equally accessible to everyone. Perhaps by the market center or shared grazing meadow for livestock.

Here’s a link to a beautiful historic German tavern that might have resembled the one in Fussgoenheim.

No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=384908

I can see Adam and the other bürgers, village citizens, pulling up a chair and gathering around the time-worn tables as they lift their glasses, perhaps with a beautiful, clear Riesling made from the world’s finest Pfalz white grapes, and mugs of much-loved German beer.

Here’s to the free wine tavern that was important enough to be recorded for posterity.

7. Seventhly, the community is entitled (granted) to the freedom to hunt the free pastureland, which every commoner in the whole region is entitled to do freely and without hindrance in such a way that he is entitled to shoot, hunt, target, with or without a dog, and be able to possess, when and where he thinks fit, what justice for hunting the flock has obviously been driven by the inconceivable years and is in constant possession of that, as it were, which the daily actus possessorij testify abundantly (indicate) (10.

8-16…(11

17-19 [Concerning the properties belonging to the community; due to the loss of the preceding articles the list of wisdom in the submission is incomplete.]

The community reminded the people that it was commonplace and customary in ancient times that those who sat in the village were not supported by any craftsmen (counted among the craftsmen,) so even though the lords of the manor may have the right to set up a branch (number) and to draw the craftsmen to it, the community does not recognize itself as guilty, These people take over their work in this, and are intent on remaining in the work with such, but to keep the free hand in this, to take over frembde outside the place to villages (except for the assumption of the village) (12.

1) In the notarial deed follow:

a) Remarks of the notary about the motivations that led him to make the legitimate request of SchultheijJ and GeTicht, and about the years he had initiated: first of all, he had to approve the 7 congregational and members of the court by the Shiirjste remembers, probably all of them and read points and then to take them into account at every what they themselves know of this and what they can expect from their parents or ancestors professed to have been or to have done something; and so that all may be stable and strong, and serve the community and the descendants instead of a wisdom [!], they have been reproached to give previously hand faithfully to the aydtes instead of giving them, yes, if necessary further on to give the real aydt, which handgelobniis presents the same freely, after they had previously been pleasantly protected from false zeugniis and mayneydt warned themselves to hiiten;

b) “interrogatoria generalia” meaning the name, age, religion, status and profession of each de: 7 respondents of recent questions, whether born in F. or how long otherwise there ansiissig whether knowledge of the war loss of the Briejschajten, protocols and other evidence, including whether or not everyone is willing to testify truthfully to say what he knows himself or what he knows from his parents or others old people in the Dorj about the rights, righteousness and property

I heard from Doris F.

2) The parties all agree; one of them remarks with regard to the second sentence that he remembers that the mr. brother of KeJ31er once wanted to hold the court, but the most merciful body-ruler had forbidden it, whatever remained.

3) Is confirmed unanimously by all the respondents, but one of them adds that he himself had never had a field, and a another reports that his stepfather seye had also been a buttel (servant or farmhand), probably but did not enjoy the field.

4) The respondents affirmed read out the sentence.

5) The text of this article and statements 1-6 auj Bl, 11 and 12 are lost. Ojjenbar deals with art. 4 of taxes, because the answer of Adam Gijjt received in Bl. 13 is that dajJ it as he remembers what he heard from his father in F. and that he had only given a headline in F. and that Taxes on 3 Turks, Friulia and county taxes I know nothing.

6) i.e. to protect, preserve.

7) i.e. acquired.

8) In detailed statements, all seven respondents confirm the traditional freedom from Fronden. One of them answers that he doesn’t know that he threatened to kill someone. or only one horse biB to the village, likewise also of his old father, who turned 88 years old, never ground heard that she froze; another testifies that he knows not otherwise, but that they are joyful, that they have heard such things even from old ones, even that one not once had to go out before the village,

The answers of Adam Kirsch and Jacob Antes see in Heimatbl. Ludwigshajen 1921 No. 10 and at Merk p. 153 if. However, moreover, it is implied that every Dorjteil its 14 Malter Beethkorn (Bedekorn) jiihrlich the rulerajt auj 4 hours far (to Neustadt or Dilrkheim); the carnival pilgrims miljJJten through the youngest Bilrger after “Fremersheim” near Alzey.

My German friend, Chris’s commentary: “I tried to locate the “Heimatblätter von Ludwigshafen […]”, which is one of the sources. It seems difficult to get those, they are not online and physically only in a few libraries.”

Chris explained the above entry: “Beede” or “Bede” originally was a kind of “voluntary gift” to the lords, which over time developed in a kind of tax. “Malter” is an old corn measure.

“Chickens for carnival” maybe needs to be explained as well, he said. “In former times, taxes were usually imposed at specific times of the year. This could be New Year, Christmas, Easter… in this case Carnival time. And as many people did not have real money in coins, they gave their tax in the form of natural goods, in this case, chickens.”

Now, of course, I wonder when Carnival was held. I’m betting on the fall when wine was pressed and produce harvested. That would be a logical time for celebration and wine made everyone feel festive. Think Oktoberfest today.

Oktoberfest was born in Germany, and everyone joins in and has fun.

We know that Adam’s descendants played in the band and sang in the choir in Fussgoenheim, a century later.

Chris interprets this section to mean that, “Essentially, what Adam Kirsch and the others are telling is that they never in their lifetime had to do any compulsory labor (“Frondienst”, or in the old term used here: “Fronden”, as a verb for the service “fröhnen”, “gefröhnet”) for the landlords. To my understanding, the purpose of the “Weistum” texts was an interesting ones: Today, we would assume that every landlord just imposed the new laws on the village, as they pleased. But in medieval right and apparently even in 1717, it was even more important to keep the rights of the people based on the local habits. So, if there are several Fussgoenheim inhabitants stating that they never had to do compulsory labor, then this would be a right they would also have in the future. And this, as other things, seems to have been a matter on which the village people were fighting about with the later von Hallberg lords.”

9) The respondents confirm this freedom of the villagers, whereby one of them (Hans Nickel Coop) remarks that in the front of the village above he could not report anything else than how the same have been confessed, which freedom has also been granted there, but hiitte of such a one who rules, who is compelled to desire something, who rules there as well, after but his father, as the schoolmaster, has contradicted this same thing, his finite and no longer desired anything, but stayed away.

10) Only two responses to this article have been received in the submission, both of which are in agreement; the second respondent responded [a, as he himself had done for the 40 years of such justice in the act driven here, also heard by his father, that it came from this way seye, and seye also alhier burgers, who take it.

11) These articles (pp. 17-22 of the template) jehlen.

12) This legal sentence is also confirmed as correct by the seven interviewees; in F. it is stated that never gave Zilnjte. There follows the notarial certification with the signatures and the partially preserved seals of the notary Johann Henrich Noretuiorji, councillor of Speyer, and the two witnesses Falck and Fedth.

a) Anjang jehU, cf. the preliminary remark.

b) behind this word oiienbar a rest sign.

Johann Adam’s Death

After the 1717 reference, we know little other than Johann Adam was deceased before 1743 when the property lines were redrawn by the Hallberg family with the intention of expanding their holdings at the expense of the townspeople. Ironic that Adam’s 1717 testimony may have influenced or even saved his family 36 years later, in 1753, when the Kirsch family once again returned to Fussgoenheim and by court order, reclaimed at least some of their land.

There are no church records before 1726, and no Kirsch burials before 1734. Adam’s wife, Anna Maria Koob, is the first Kirsch burial recorded in the book.

21 March 1734 Anna Maria Kirschin, lawfully wed wife of Adam Kirsch, buried in a Christian manner?, died on the 18th of the same (month); aged 54 years.

Her burial record says, “Anna Maria Kirsch(in), wife of Adam Kirsch,” not widow, nor does it refer to him as “former” or “deceased.” This suggests that Adam is still alive in 1734.

However, his death is not recorded in the church books through 1742.

In 1743, the Kirsch families were evicted from Fussgoenheim because they refused to sanction a fraudulently drawn map by von Hallberg, but there is no indication that Adam Kirsch is one of the people booted, although I all Kirsch men seemed to have been removed. There are no Kirsch burials beginning in 1743 for the next two decades. My friend Tom checked Ellerstadt too, with no luck.

Adam could have still been living.

Adam’s son, Michael Kirsch, the Mayor, owned three properties in 1743, shown on that map, likely inherited from Adam.

Adam’s Children’s Marriages Bracket His Death

We don’t really know if Adam was married once or twice.

If Walter is right and Adam Kirsch was married first to Ms. Greulich who died in 1706, daughter of Adam Greulich, and first child Michael Kirsch was indeed born about 1700, then Adam’s first child was by his first wife.

• Johann Michael Kirsch’s first child was born about 1725, and his second unquestionably in 1726, so it’s unlikely that Michael was born after 1706. His birth year is approximated as 1700.

Adam Kirsch’s next children with Anna Maria Koob, born in 1680, were:

• Johann Wilhelm Kirsch born about 1706, married Maria Catharina Spanier in 1727. This marriage entry does not say that Adam is deceased, and refers to him as the sibling of the mayor.
• Maria Catharina Kirsch 1715-1778, married Johannes Neumann on May 5, 1739. In the marriage entry, it states that she is the daughter of the “late honorable Johann Adam Kirsch, former Palatinate Unterfauth.”
• Peter Kirsch, born about 1716, married in 1736 to Maria Barbara Spanier, died before 1760.
• Johann Jacob Kirsch, born about 1718, married Maria Catharina Schuhmacher in February 1740, his marriage also stating that Johann Adam Kirsch, Unterfauth, was deceased.

While we have no records, children were probably being born until about 1723. Any children who were born and died before 1726 would not have been recorded, as the church books either didn’t exist or have been destroyed.

It’s certainly possible that Adam’s first wife died in about 1703 or 1704 giving birth to their second child who also perished.

If Adam Kirsch remarried in about 1705, he and Anna Maria Koob would have had approximately 9 children, only 4 of which are accounted for. They likely buried 5 babies or young children. If Anna Maria Koob was his only wife and the mother of Michael, they likely lost two additional children.

Adam died sometime between March of 1734 when his wife passed away, and May of 1739 when his daughter married.

We know that in that five year window, the family was living in Fussgoenheim, the new church had been built, and his wife was laid to rest in the churchyard. Adam likely had more children than is reflected in the marriage records. If so, several probably passed as infants and are buried in the churchyard with Adam, most of his adult children, grandchildren and wife or wives. There’s a lot of sorrow and a lot of love buried there.

Lives celebrated by the minister at the funeral, and then, later, at the wine tavern, sharing memories that made everyone laugh and cry, perhaps at once.

We know so little about Johann Adam Kirsch’s life, yet it was obviously full of adventures and challenges – although the word adventure may not be at all how he viewed the situation.

Adam grew up as a refuge, became a young mayor by 1701 when there may have been few others to serve, and was clearly a respected elder by 1717. He buried at least one wife, if not two, and children. He may have died, a refuge one again, refusing to capitulate to an overlord, resting on principle. Willing to wager for “all or nothing.”

The 1753 “accounting” document that details further information about the descendants of Johann Georg, Jerg, Kirsch, in particular those expelled from the village in 1743 for a decade, may reveal more about Johann Adam’s life, and death – and perhaps details about his first wife, if she existed, as well.

I feel that we are just so tantalizingly close to disclosing more in the buried crumbs of records that remain about the quaint vintner village of Fussgoenheim. So close, but so far away.

A toast to you, Adam! A toast to you.

___________________________________________________________

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