This branch of the Austrian Hesch family is descended from Johann Hesch and his wife Marya (Schlinz) Hesch, who came to America from Oberschlagles, Bohemia with three sons: Paul, Mathias, and Anton. +++Johann & Marya settled in Buffalo County, Wisconsin but moved to Pierz, Mn in about 1885. .+++Mathias settled in Waumandee, Wisconsin and moved to Pierz in 1911. +++Anton never married but farmed with his dad in Agram Township, where he died in 1911.+++And Paul, my great grandfather, settled five miles away, in Buckman, Minnesota. He died there in 1900.

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Friday, January 27, 2012

An e-mail from Su about Schamers

The first page of the 1932
Schamers Chronicle.
An interesting position in the villages and towns of Bohemia (and probably elsewhere, too) was that of the municipal  chronicler. How else would the landowner (or we) know about the minutiae of village life if not for a record of it all, being written as it happened?  Of course, one hopes the chronicler was fair, precise, and wrote clearly.  I suspect not all of em were.
Did every village keep a chronicle? We don't know, but it would make sense.  Maybe SRA Trebon just hasn't published Niedermuhl and Oberschlagles yet.

Anyway, they have published a few years' worth of Schamers' chronicles, and Su is busy trying to decipher the narrative there, from 1932-1938.  The project involves transcribing an unfamiliar language from unfamiliar script (tho they begin to grow on a person), and then translate what you think you read.  It's actually pretty exciting work, in an intellectual, nosy sort of way ☺.   Su said, "I rather warm to Hans Schimeczek, the chronicler,  who admits to an addiction to research!"  Su has the unfailing help of Google Translate, as well as Herman, the translating dictionary.  (What google goofs on, Herman usually knows).  And I'd say Hans isn't the only one addicted to research, eh? ☺


Here's a charming story she found--it starts with the last sentence on page 11 and continues on page 12--the story of how Schamers got its name.  See if you can follow in the original:


Als Beispiel, welche früchte die Sucht, jeden Namen zu erklären, reibt, sei hier noch folgende Nament deutung angeführt,
die sogar hartnäckige Verteidiger findet: 
As an examplewhat fruits of addiction to explain every namedrivesis still following
 name indicated significance, even the stubborn defender finds:
Kaiserin Maria Theresia reiste einst nach Prag und
berührte dabei auch unseren Heimatsort.  
Empress Maria Theresa oncetraveled to Prague and it also touched our native place.  
Als sie hier in dem damals neben der Straße liegenden Teiche Männlein und Weiblein mit einander im Adamskostüm baden sah, war sie darüber se entrüstet, daß sie den biederen Schamersern zurief: 
When they here in the then along the road past ponds they saw  little man and little woman bathe with each other in their birthday suits  they were very angry that they were respectable and called out to the  Schamersern:
 
"Schamers ruch!" Den umverschämtem Bewrhnern soll
davon der Name Schaminger geblieben sein.  
"Schamers smell!" The name of shame still remains with the outrageous residents.  
------------------------------------------
So, children were swimming nekkid in a pond on a hot day, and the Empress happened past and shamed them.  It's as good a naming method as any, I suppose ☺).
Thanks, Su--and hooray!

1 comment:

  1. Hello, I read with interest how you've been trying to translate the schmers cronicles. My family came from Scahmers, Ive been able to trace back 5 generations there. There are the Kuschall family .Looking for any information about Andreas Kuschall in particular, but any info from this book re the kuschalls would be great. I have downloaded the schamers map with all the houses and the pages that lists each house and the tenants/occupants where kushcall is mentioned, but have gone through whole book to see if I can gather other information.

    Also loved your comment re DVD concert at chucch would love to get a copy to show my mum who lived there.

    Maybe you could contact me

    yvette.stuyt@sa.gov.au

    thanks again

    Yvette

    ReplyDelete