In Schamers (Cimer), Bohemia, in 1847, Anton and Anna Binder had another baby, whom they named Josef. This kid made it through childhood (a feat all by itself) and when he grew up, he became a priest, and eventually the "Metropolitan-Domkapitalur" of Prague (which is the MAIN Canon of the church).That's nice, but it's not why we think he's cool.
Apparently, he was stationed for awhile in his home town of Schamers, or he simply borrowed the oldest record books from the church there. He was writing a book on the history of Schamers, and perhaps he needed the books for that, but while he had them, he recopied the odd, often messy, handwritten records into very clear, legible records.
The new pages are simply between the old, so you can compare them...but the marvel is that Josef Binder realized he was among the last to be able to read those records fluently. Plus, he could write Suetterlin, and had unprecedented access to the books.
The church in Schamers is St Michael the Archangel, so that's why Larry put Michael on the portrait, and the other saint is Wenceslaus, Patron saint of Bohemia.
The halo just appeared--his first miracle!
A lot of the children listed in the record books have saint-dedications written there too, like "Johann (Nepo.)" or "Maria (Concept.)" so in that spirit, we decided Josef Binder should be cannonized: "St. Josef (Genealog.)".
(Note to Pope--all it takes is putting ST. in front of his name, see?)
Thank you, Larry, and Thank YOU, St. Josef Binder!
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