A new European relative!

This is SO COOL:

In late July, we heard from a gentleman in Zurich by the name of Torsten Skoetz who is researching his family, too.  He'd googled the name Schalwig and found our Catherine Schalwig here on Hesch History.  Need a reminder who she was?

Evidently, Torsten is related to us thru Catherine's mother Elizabeth Lakotta, the wife of Carl Schalwig.  Here's what he wrote:

"yesterday i found a real possible connection, that makes us something like 5th or 6th cousins...i found a birth registration of catherina schalwig from guschwitz, but the date is different...also i found her marriage registration from 1853 in przychod, upper silesia...in both registrations her fathers name is carl schalwig....(and in that churchbook in that times they are the only catherina schalwig and carl schalwig)....

even that i am a direct descendent from christopherus schalwig from guschwitz, we - you and me -  seem to be connected via her mother, elisabeth lakotta, who was a niece of my 5x great grandfather stephan lakotta/ lakota....

her father carl schalwig was the son of the farmer florian schallwig from tillowitz".

Yes, he sent pictures of the church books, look: first, the record from 1725 of 

marriages on January 16, 24, and 28.  The priest used a weird mix of Latin and German, written in Suetterlin, I think.  Anyway, the writing is fairly legible-yay! (See? Each entry has the word "copulari" meaning "marriage", then the name of the groom and his parents, then the bride and her parents, and the name of their village.  Torsten labeled this page   

 HEIRAT_JOANNE_KUDER_JACOBUS_KUDER_ROSINA_SCHALWIK_CHRISTOPHORUS_SCHALWIK

If you've been following our how-tos, you might be able to decipher some of the names for yourself.  Keep in mind that hyphens weren't discovered yet, so, for instance, the first line of the second entry ends with 'Joan' but the rest of the name is on the next line..."nem Kuder, Jacobi Kuder filium cum v. Rosina Christophori Schalwik filia ___ Martina Blewka(?) Bartholomaus Kuder, oef de Guschwitz".

(As a challenge, find the name Gregorius Nowak in the third entry...see how easy it is? ☺)

This is Torsten's translation, BTW:

And here is the marriage of Anton Otremba and Cathrina Schalwig, in early 1853...by now, the church was using columns, see?  Very efficient: date, first name, last name, age, religion (probably), then village, parents etc.  Click the pic to enlarge, ok?

Yes, Torsten sent churchbook pdfs of the links back thru the years, but these are the most interesting pages regarding Hesch history, I think.  

.  Many thanks to cousin Torsten ☺!

Reading the map

Imagine you'd lived all your life in a tiny village, far from world affairs, just trying to keep your head above water and feed your family. Then, what if there was a revolution in your country that failed, whether or not you were involved, and things got even worse??

You know friends and neighbors are leaving in droves for "Amerika", and you decide to go, too.
It can't be any worse than this...

You'd need a map like the one Larry found this morning:

(BTW, it says, in the Ocean there, that the distances are far greater than they look.)

I translated what it says in the lower left corner. It's more or less:

"Emigrant's map and guide to North America, for the European traveller, the routes of ships on the sea, the States in North America, the country(land) and water routes of the rivers to the inside of America, the principal places in America where Germans have settled, and the prices of transportation given in Rhenish guilder and in Thaler prices easily understood by Emmigrant craftsmen and farmers".

________________

"This (1853) map by Gotthelf Zimmermann reflects the importance of German immigration to North America in the mid-19th century. When the Revolution of 1848 failed to produce desired reforms within the German confederation, droves of disillusioned Germans turned their sights abroad. Maps such as this helped show them the way. At the time, land in the United States was cheap, fertile, and plentiful, making it an ideal choice for immigrants eager to establish new settlements and to begin new lives. German communities in the United States became so prevalent that on the eve of World War I, some six percent of American children spoke only German in primary school..." From this page: WORLD DIGITAL LIBRARY