I see I need to post pictures in a small size so that they're clickable--so they bigify when you click on the picture.
I'll do that from now on...lol If there's one that's already here, and you want me to make clickable, just leave it in a comment, ok?
(I went back and re-loaded the Grandkids picture in a small version, but it didn't work...so it's back in the "large" size. Still, the pic of Mathias Heschs' gravestone DOES work--go figger!)
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Graveyard monuments
When John Hesch died in 1897, his son Paul was 50 years old. I assume Paul had a say in the style of headstone they bought for the grave, since it's so much like the one used on his own grave 3 years later, and Antons' in 1911. (And also, for Pauls' son Paul, when he died in 1907).
Years later, when Mathias' daughters died (1917 and 1930) the "family" style was changed to a larger stone that would accomodate more people:
Click to bigify
Johann and Maria Hesch, in Pierz
Evidently, once you were in America, your parentage wasn't as important as it was in Bohemia, or maybe there was less of a sense of connection.
By the time John died in 1897, it might have been more PC to say he was from Austria, or possibly more people had an idea of where Austria was...in any case, Oberschlagles was/is less than 10 miles from the boarder with Austria.
By these records too, we see how names were sometimes spelled according to the way the priest heard it--or, he knew the tombstone said "HASH" and he was trying to connect Mary with John in an oblique way. Who knows?
By the time John died in 1897, it might have been more PC to say he was from Austria, or possibly more people had an idea of where Austria was...in any case, Oberschlagles was/is less than 10 miles from the boarder with Austria.
By these records too, we see how names were sometimes spelled according to the way the priest heard it--or, he knew the tombstone said "HASH" and he was trying to connect Mary with John in an oblique way. Who knows?
Below are two opposite sides of the same monument: It says HASH on the bottom of the east face, JOHN HASH on the south face, and MARY HASH on the north face, but the dates are right. It has to be them.
Click
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Twenty-two grandkids--who's missing?
Right click on this picture and then "Save picture as..." Then, from your own file of pictures, enlarge it so you can see faces. It's really pretty cool!
Ya gotta admit, we were a charming bunch...lol
Ya gotta admit, we were a charming bunch...lol
A MYSTERY
OK, we know that MARY OTREMBA was Pauls' wife, but we also have another connection by marriage with the Otremba family, namely: ANNA ROSINA HESCH, who married Johann Otremba in about 1850.
Months later: Oops! Anna Rosina was not a HESCH; her birth name was Anna Rosina SCHULTZ, we're pretty sure. Still, this post is an example of how we investigate...just so ya know ☺.
It must have been the prayer card printed when Johann died in 1909. The line up to the right from her name there said "Nee: Anna Rosina Hesch" on the original copy in the museum, but I wanted you to be able to read it so I copied and pasted this section.
The other picture on the page I found at Weyerhauser was this:
The interesting thing is--who was she? The family we're researching from Bohemia had no Anna Rosina (which would be a stretch, anyway), and the prayer card says they were both born in "Germana". Still, Prussia at the time was German territory, so we can probably assume her family came from near his in Silesia.
But that means there were more Hesch families than we know about. It's possible, too, that she wasn't a Hesch...that somehow, her birth name got mixed-up...but that's even more speculation...
Actually, I'm hoping some reader here will know definitively. Leave a comment if you do, ok?
Months later: Oops! Anna Rosina was not a HESCH; her birth name was Anna Rosina SCHULTZ, we're pretty sure. Still, this post is an example of how we investigate...just so ya know ☺.
She was born in 1833, in "Germany", according to American census records, and he was born in 1831 in Groditz, Schleisen, Prussia.
Most of their children were born in Prussia. The family emmigrated in 1873.
We have a picture of them, found at the Morrison County Historical Society Weyerhauser Museum:
It must have been the prayer card printed when Johann died in 1909. The line up to the right from her name there said "Nee: Anna Rosina Hesch" on the original copy in the museum, but I wanted you to be able to read it so I copied and pasted this section.
The other picture on the page I found at Weyerhauser was this:
The interesting thing is--who was she? The family we're researching from Bohemia had no Anna Rosina (which would be a stretch, anyway), and the prayer card says they were both born in "Germana". Still, Prussia at the time was German territory, so we can probably assume her family came from near his in Silesia.
But that means there were more Hesch families than we know about. It's possible, too, that she wasn't a Hesch...that somehow, her birth name got mixed-up...but that's even more speculation...
Actually, I'm hoping some reader here will know definitively. Leave a comment if you do, ok?
Monday, January 26, 2009
I really LOVE maps!
Over the last two years (aproximately the time we've been exploring Hesch History), my concept of where my ancestors came from in Europe has changed.
At first, because Grandpa told a WPA writer that Paul came from Austria, we looked for the wrong town in the wrong country. I thought Grandmas' parents came from Germany, and that my Janson grandparents did, too.
It turns out that really, only the Jansons, Nabers and Fuchs came from what we think of now as Germany. Sands came from Luxembourg, Heschs from the Czech Republic, and Otrembas from Poland.
(Map from one of my most useful downloads, Google Earth)
Click to bigify
OTREMBA
Mary Otremba married Paul Hesch in October of 1873, in Buckman, Minnesota. She was born in Gushwitz, Silesia, Prussia on 6 December 1856. Gushwitz is SW of Opole, Poland today, but was in Silesia then. It was just NE of Bohemia.
(Map from this GREAT MAP SITE --check it out!)
Marys' village was similar to Pauls'--a cluster of homes and farm buildings with fields stretching away behind each of 'em. This map is from 1799, so it probably wouldn't have changed much by the 1850s. Besides, I'm only trying to illustrate where they came from relative to each other.
The Otrembas emmigrated in 1868, and the Heschs in 1870. Mary and siblings came here with their parents Anton and Catherine (Schalwig) Otremba. At the time, in Buckman, Paul was a single guy whose parents weren't nearby to vouch for him. Still, taking a chance on marrying Paul evidently worked out ok, hm?
From what we can tell, there were Heschs who emmigrated to Canada, and another branch who settled out east and in New Mexico and St. Louis, Mo...but in Buckman, there was only one Hesch. However, there were LOTS of Otrembas settling in Pierz, and in those years, families were large. I have 93 Otrembas on my family tree.
An interesting and sad side-note: In searching for the name online, Larry found an artist named Richard Otremba who had a family history IN Europe. One of the pictures there was a concentration camp file photo of his uncle, who was in the Resistance in Poland. When I put that picture next to Marys, the family resemblance was startling. He would have been born 50 years after her, but they looked like siblings.
(Map from this GREAT MAP SITE --check it out!)
Marys' village was similar to Pauls'--a cluster of homes and farm buildings with fields stretching away behind each of 'em. This map is from 1799, so it probably wouldn't have changed much by the 1850s. Besides, I'm only trying to illustrate where they came from relative to each other.
The Otrembas emmigrated in 1868, and the Heschs in 1870. Mary and siblings came here with their parents Anton and Catherine (Schalwig) Otremba. At the time, in Buckman, Paul was a single guy whose parents weren't nearby to vouch for him. Still, taking a chance on marrying Paul evidently worked out ok, hm?
From what we can tell, there were Heschs who emmigrated to Canada, and another branch who settled out east and in New Mexico and St. Louis, Mo...but in Buckman, there was only one Hesch. However, there were LOTS of Otrembas settling in Pierz, and in those years, families were large. I have 93 Otrembas on my family tree.
An interesting and sad side-note: In searching for the name online, Larry found an artist named Richard Otremba who had a family history IN Europe. One of the pictures there was a concentration camp file photo of his uncle, who was in the Resistance in Poland. When I put that picture next to Marys, the family resemblance was startling. He would have been born 50 years after her, but they looked like siblings.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Familiar Faces...
Who do you recognize here? The picture was taken on Lois' baptism day, so August of 1947. I recognize Grandpa and Grandma Hesch, Uncle Matt and Aunt Eileen, Bev and Carol, and Uncle Henry and dad. (The man on the far right is my other Grandpa, Anton Janson, and I think the man next to him is his brother Sebastian). The woman on the left might be Grandmas' sister Veronica (Sand) Wintermeyer. That leaves two women and the little boy I don't recognize...any guesses?Proof
What an odd word that is--to prove something is to "show proof", and in this instance, it takes the form of two obituaries. Anton Hesch died in 1911, Mathias Hesch died in 1931, and their obits give us Where They Were From in Bohemia.
(I found these in the HESCH folder at the Weyerhauser).
Here's Antons obit, from the Pierz Journal, 2 November 1911:
Neuhaus was the nearest "big town", but still within 5 miles of Oberschlagles. It would be like saying we were "from St Cloud". Neuhaus was on the map and perhaps Oberschlagles wasn't.
(I found these in the HESCH folder at the Weyerhauser).
Here's Antons obit, from the Pierz Journal, 2 November 1911:
..."the village of Niedermuhl, Kreis of Budweis, Bohemia". Niedermuhl is the next village north of Oberschlagles--less than a mile--and they were living in Oberschlagles #2 when he was born. He may have remembered Niedermuhl better, we don't know.
Clickable
..................................................................................
And, here's the obituary of his brother Mathias, from the Pierz Journal on 15 January 1931:
Clickable
With this information, we looked for a village called Niedermuhl on JEWISH GEN, a listing of villages and towns in Eastern Europe. There are MANY Niedermuhls there, but only one that was near Neuhaus. THIS had to be it, and it proved to be when we looked at the Church Records of the parishes of Horni Pena and Jindrichuv Hradec (Neuhaus). See?
Up to this point, we didn't KNOW if Paul was a brother of Mathias and Anton, but according to the record books, they all had the same parents, and we found that Paul was actually 2 years older than he claimed to be once he got here.
Pretty darn COOL!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Need another picture?
The MIKE SAND Family, c. 1898 1900.
Grandma Elizabeth is second from the left here. Her parents were Michael Sand (born 1852) from Schoenfels, Luxembourg, and Louisa Rausch (born 1854) in Shedliske, Prussia.
The names of the kids, according to Great Aunt Lena:
L to R-- John, Elizabeth, Ann, Veronica, Joseph, Frank, Mary, Magdalena, Angelica, and Charles.
Ann became Sr. Teresita OSB and Mary became Sr Severine OSB, Angie married Joe Hiemenz, Vernie married John Wintermeyer, Lena married Henry Block and Lizzy married Anton Hesch.
.......................................................
I have information on 3 of the boys, but one, Joseph, answers a question I've had for years: How does Fr. Lewans fit?
Remember him? In the late 60s, we found out Grandma had a young relative who was a priest, and he was coming for a visit. Turns out, he was her brothers' grandson. Joe is the tall son in the middle of the picture up there. He married Antonia Poser in 1908 and promptly moved to Saskatchewan, Canada.
Their daughter Kunigunda married Peter Lewans, and Sylvester was one of their kids.
Last summer (2008), Sylvester Lewans, OMI celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination. Wow.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
More from the Church Record Books
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the script used by the priests in Bohemia was a mixture of German, Czech and Latin. By 1846, when Paul was born, they were using a recognizable form of the childs' name with the rest of the record in German/Suetterlin. That made us pretty confident we had the right birth:
-------------------------------------
Second part of the page gives his moms' information:
--------------------------------------
Here's a copy of Pauls' death certificate, too--found in the archives at the Minnesota History Museum in St Paul, Minnesota. The state had just begun recording deaths in 1900, so his certificate is rudimentary, but it says his father was John, and that he died because his "Back Broke".
-------------------------------------Second part of the page gives his moms' information:
--------------------------------------
Here's a copy of Pauls' death certificate, too--found in the archives at the Minnesota History Museum in St Paul, Minnesota. The state had just begun recording deaths in 1900, so his certificate is rudimentary, but it says his father was John, and that he died because his "Back Broke".
Plentiful Pauls
On my HESCH family tree, I have seven men named Paul. The earliest was born about 1760, the latest in 1965, but heres one born in 1914.
From what I can tell, this Paul was the son of grandpa Anton's brother Joe (who died in October 1926). He wound up in Brainerd, and he obviously enjoyed playing "Paul Bunyan" for their summer festival. The page I found this on says "It was big Paul Hesch with his big black beard that most demonstrated the legendary character that gave the extravaganza its' name--Paul Bunyan".
He does look familiar, doesn't he?
From what I can tell, this Paul was the son of grandpa Anton's brother Joe (who died in October 1926). He wound up in Brainerd, and he obviously enjoyed playing "Paul Bunyan" for their summer festival. The page I found this on says "It was big Paul Hesch with his big black beard that most demonstrated the legendary character that gave the extravaganza its' name--Paul Bunyan".
He does look familiar, doesn't he?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
A Wedding in 1910
Anton Hesch and Elizabeth Sand wedding...wittnesses were Theodore Hesch and Magdalena Sand.
I went to the courthouse in Little Falls, Minnesota and found the marriage license for Anton A. Hesch and Elizabeth M. Sand registered on the 11th day of October 1910. They were married on the 24th of October, 1910 in Buckman....see?
The copy is as large as the original book, which happens to be 16" long and 12" wide, so this is seriously REDUCED. You can see the large copy at the reunion, ok?
Monday, January 19, 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAUL!
One-hundred and sixty three years ago tomorrow, in a village called Oberschlagles (by its' German inhabitants) or Horni Lhota (by neighboring Czechs), in the district of Jindrichuv Hradec and the parish of Horni Pena, a son was born to Johann Hesch and Maria (Schlinz) Hesch. He was named PAUL.
He eventually emigrated to Minnesota, and married Mary Otremba. They had 11 children and adopted two more.
His fifth child was Anton, our grandfather.
Sometime tomorrow, when you're watching the Inaguration festivities for our new president, think of how truly fortunate we are that Paul Hesch was born, and that 163 years later, we live such good lives in America. WE were his dream.
He eventually emigrated to Minnesota, and married Mary Otremba. They had 11 children and adopted two more.
His fifth child was Anton, our grandfather.
Sometime tomorrow, when you're watching the Inaguration festivities for our new president, think of how truly fortunate we are that Paul Hesch was born, and that 163 years later, we live such good lives in America. WE were his dream.
I promised you pictures, right?
When our great aunt, Sr Laura, was asked to go set up a mission near Onamia, Minnesota, she had to start from scratch. This photo was found (by Larry) on a site called MINNESOTA REFLECTIONS. The man standing between Sr Laura and the horse looks familiar, doesn't he?
Who do YOU think he is?
Suetterlin
(NOTE: You'll notice that I refer to my friend Larry pretty often--he 's my online buddy who happens to be the worlds BEST researcher. He discovered the Ceskearchivy site and realized they were adding to it; he's found obscure connections I would never have looked for; he sent me FamilyTreeMaker software for my birthday AND he's a good and funny friend. Too bad he and his wife live in Georgia!)
A few weeks ago, Larry found a Suetterlin font online, and of course, we both have it on our computers now :^) One thing it's good for is helping to figure out the original handwriting in those church record books. I found that if I type what I think I see, and it's the same, then I've sorta double-checked myself, ya know?
You'll recall (no doubt!) that the first HESCH we found in the books was a Johann Hesch who married Agnes Blaschko in Cimer (Schamers) in 1839, right? Well, I didn't totally translate the record till this morning...I had the first parts pretty "right", but the witnesses had scrawled their signatures, so I just stopped there.
Turns out, there were 5-6 people in town who witnessed most of the marriages--the local storekeeper was one--evidently, because they were citizens who were in town during the day, they were called on to be witnesses.
Why does this matter? Cuz I was able to compare and cross-check their repeated signatures. Some were a LOT clearer than others written by the same person.
The original records were written across 2 ledgerbook pages, so it's below in three parts.
Grooms' info:
Witnesses and priest:
WAY cool, huh???
A few weeks ago, Larry found a Suetterlin font online, and of course, we both have it on our computers now :^) One thing it's good for is helping to figure out the original handwriting in those church record books. I found that if I type what I think I see, and it's the same, then I've sorta double-checked myself, ya know?
You'll recall (no doubt!) that the first HESCH we found in the books was a Johann Hesch who married Agnes Blaschko in Cimer (Schamers) in 1839, right? Well, I didn't totally translate the record till this morning...I had the first parts pretty "right", but the witnesses had scrawled their signatures, so I just stopped there.
Turns out, there were 5-6 people in town who witnessed most of the marriages--the local storekeeper was one--evidently, because they were citizens who were in town during the day, they were called on to be witnesses.
Why does this matter? Cuz I was able to compare and cross-check their repeated signatures. Some were a LOT clearer than others written by the same person.
The original records were written across 2 ledgerbook pages, so it's below in three parts.
Grooms' info:
Brides info:
Witnesses and priest:
WAY cool, huh???
Sunday, January 18, 2009
REUNION
We're planning a reunion of HESCHs for this August, 2009. (WE means cousins Judy and Jerry and me). We have addresses for a lot of you, and email addresses for others, but some relatives are elusive. For instance, did you know that great grandpa Paul had brothers who also emigrated to America? They were Mathias and Anton, both of whom lived in Pierz, and are buried there.
Anton never married, but because of his obituary, we were able to figure out WHERE they came from, and Mathias' obituary corroborated it.
Anyway, Mathias married a girl from the same Bohemian village, Agnes Trachofsky, and they settled in Waumandee, Wisconsin.
Math and Agnes moved to Pierz in about 1911 with their younger children John, Rose, Anna, Lillian and Clara. We assume they inherited the farm from Anton when he died. Son John took it over when they quit farming. We know Rose and Clara died as young adults.
Lillian and Anna have fallen off our family radar, but we'd really like them to be represented at the reunion. Two older children stayed in Waumandee--Valentine and Mary.
Luckily, the obituary for Agnes Trachofsky Hesch listed her childrens' married names.
Won't it be fun to meet relatives we didn't KNOW about?
Anton never married, but because of his obituary, we were able to figure out WHERE they came from, and Mathias' obituary corroborated it.
Anyway, Mathias married a girl from the same Bohemian village, Agnes Trachofsky, and they settled in Waumandee, Wisconsin.
Math and Agnes moved to Pierz in about 1911 with their younger children John, Rose, Anna, Lillian and Clara. We assume they inherited the farm from Anton when he died. Son John took it over when they quit farming. We know Rose and Clara died as young adults.
Lillian and Anna have fallen off our family radar, but we'd really like them to be represented at the reunion. Two older children stayed in Waumandee--Valentine and Mary.
Luckily, the obituary for Agnes Trachofsky Hesch listed her childrens' married names.
Won't it be fun to meet relatives we didn't KNOW about?
Cool stuff/not so cool stuff
One of the best things about having a family blog is that anyone who googles the name HESCH will be offered this site as an option. Some will find that we're not their part of the family, but some will discover roots here.
The less cool part is that I really can't post my e-mail address here, as much as I want you to send pictures...so, lets do it in code, ok?
Just fill in the missing letters, and you'll see my @gmail.com name!
(C'mon, it's only 8 letters!)
___ Brother of Anton, he reported the Buckman news for the Pierz Journal. His first initial.
___ Uncle Tonys' legal first initial.
___ The third letter of the language they spoke.
___The first letter of Aunt Fronies' husbands' name.
___The last letter of Aunt Idellas' husbands' name.
___The first initial of Uncle Taders' daughters' name.
___The word little, in German, starts with this letter.
___The first letter of the color of butter.
THERE! Now, type that in lowercase letters and add "@gmail.com", and you have my address!
Wasn't that fun??
(Later, it ocurred to me that maybe not EVERY reader here would necessarily know some of those answers, so here's the simplified version:
Use the first letter of the word to fill the blanks, ok?
The less cool part is that I really can't post my e-mail address here, as much as I want you to send pictures...so, lets do it in code, ok?
Just fill in the missing letters, and you'll see my @gmail.com name!
(C'mon, it's only 8 letters!)
___ Brother of Anton, he reported the Buckman news for the Pierz Journal. His first initial.
___ Uncle Tonys' legal first initial.
___ The third letter of the language they spoke.
___The first letter of Aunt Fronies' husbands' name.
___The last letter of Aunt Idellas' husbands' name.
___The first initial of Uncle Taders' daughters' name.
___The word little, in German, starts with this letter.
___The first letter of the color of butter.
THERE! Now, type that in lowercase letters and add "@gmail.com", and you have my address!
Wasn't that fun??
(Later, it ocurred to me that maybe not EVERY reader here would necessarily know some of those answers, so here's the simplified version:
Use the first letter of the word to fill the blanks, ok?
___She birthed you. She's your...
___The biblical first man was....
___"It's .... it's pouring, the old man is snoring"
___My research buddy and guru is...(see the post called Suetterlin).
___Famous online video site with the word TUBE in it.
___A nun is addresses as....
___Look at your keyboard: the letter between J and L
___That nun again.
THERE! Type the letters and add @gmail.com :^)
The earliest pictures
This is Paul Hesch and Mary Otremba, our great grandparents. He was born in Oberschlagles, Bohemia, 20 January 1846, and Mary was born 6 Dec 1856 inGushwitz, Falkenberg, Silesia, Prussia.
I don't know where these pictures came from, other than Aunt Eileen gave them to me.
The Genealogy
I was born in 1949, in Little Falls, Minnesota. My dad was
Mike, (1913) whose father was Anton, born 1883
whose father was Paul, born 1846
whose father was Johann, born 1818
whose father was Martin, born about 1787
whose father was Paul, born about 1755.
Mike, (1913) whose father was Anton, born 1883
whose father was Paul, born 1846
whose father was Johann, born 1818
whose father was Martin, born about 1787
whose father was Paul, born about 1755.
The name HESCH
Cimer Book 13, page 5
4 June 1839
Groom:
Johann Hesch, farmer, son of deceased Franz Hesch, farmer, of Oberschlagles #11 and Agnes, born Blaschko of Schamers #26
and
Bride:
Agnes, unmarried daughter of deceased Jacob Proll from Schamers #82 and Ann, born Marzini in Schamers #35
........................................
Johann was 21 and Agnes was 24....and the rest truly IS history.
Who we are...
Somewhere back in time, after Adam and Eve but before today, a German ruler inherited a country known as Bohemia. It was a beautiful area, but it didn't have enough inhabitants, so he asked German people to move there.
Evidently, our line of HESCHs were among those who did. German people mostly settled in what today is called the SUDETENLAND, or the outside edges of Bohemia.
Bohemia is now part of the Czech Republic, and today, they're digitizing and posting, online, Catholic church record books from as early as 1650. These books are PURE history! (See the link at left).
The ethnic Czechs who already live in Bohemia were not happy with these newcomers. As it turned out, the German settlers pretty much set up their own villages, separate from the Czech villages nearby, and an uneasy peace was maintained. There doesn't seem to be much inter-marriage between the groups.
A PARISH, back then, consisted of a market town and the villages around it. By law, the church was the official record keeper, the whole population was about 90% Roman Catholic, and a parish often had both ethnic groups.
A VILLAGE was not what we think of today...it was a cluster of homes with farmyards attached and the fields stretching away behind each one. Land (and villages) were not owned by our people. The term used for peasants was tenant-farmer, or just 'citizen'.
Births entered in the Church books were often mini-genealogies--the baby was named, along with his parents, their occupations, and who their parents were, what village they came from, who stood as godparents and who delivered the baby. (Same for marriages and deaths, minus the godparents and midwife).
What complicated all this were the languages involved. The market-town would have a priest or two at the main church, while each village had a simple chapel where baptisms, marriages and funerals were held.
The priest might be Czech or German, educated locally or in Germany, or even in Rome, so the records are in German, Czech and sometimes Latin. The script they used is called Suetterlin, which bears only some similarities to letters we'd recognize.
I'll be including links (scroll up, on the left) to these different elements if you're interested in delving further. Otherwise, this blog will just show you pictures!
If you happen to have old pictures you'd share with others in the family, please send them and I'll post them. Remember that YOU can capture copies right from this blog for your own Hesch Family History.
Evidently, our line of HESCHs were among those who did. German people mostly settled in what today is called the SUDETENLAND, or the outside edges of Bohemia.
Bohemia is now part of the Czech Republic, and today, they're digitizing and posting, online, Catholic church record books from as early as 1650. These books are PURE history! (See the link at left).
The ethnic Czechs who already live in Bohemia were not happy with these newcomers. As it turned out, the German settlers pretty much set up their own villages, separate from the Czech villages nearby, and an uneasy peace was maintained. There doesn't seem to be much inter-marriage between the groups.
A PARISH, back then, consisted of a market town and the villages around it. By law, the church was the official record keeper, the whole population was about 90% Roman Catholic, and a parish often had both ethnic groups.
A VILLAGE was not what we think of today...it was a cluster of homes with farmyards attached and the fields stretching away behind each one. Land (and villages) were not owned by our people. The term used for peasants was tenant-farmer, or just 'citizen'.
Births entered in the Church books were often mini-genealogies--the baby was named, along with his parents, their occupations, and who their parents were, what village they came from, who stood as godparents and who delivered the baby. (Same for marriages and deaths, minus the godparents and midwife).
What complicated all this were the languages involved. The market-town would have a priest or two at the main church, while each village had a simple chapel where baptisms, marriages and funerals were held.
The priest might be Czech or German, educated locally or in Germany, or even in Rome, so the records are in German, Czech and sometimes Latin. The script they used is called Suetterlin, which bears only some similarities to letters we'd recognize.
I'll be including links (scroll up, on the left) to these different elements if you're interested in delving further. Otherwise, this blog will just show you pictures!
If you happen to have old pictures you'd share with others in the family, please send them and I'll post them. Remember that YOU can capture copies right from this blog for your own Hesch Family History.
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