Walking Together! by Dr. Gerald Perschbacher

Transcription

1 Germanic Insights for your edification and research in the never-ending hunt for the ancestral past. By Dr. Gerald Perschbacher (all rights reserved; not to be duplicated without permission). #10 Walking Together! by Dr. Gerald Perschbacher A Church and Cemetery Crawl can be a worthy endeavor if the destinations fit the participants. So it was that the Germanic Genealogy Society of St. Louis recently set out on such a jaunt. Three stops were scheduled inside the city limits of St. Louis. The special nod was given to Lutheran locations: Holy Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church (at the intersection of Miami and Texas), Historic Trinity (in Soulard), and Concordia Cemetery (along Bates, not far from Gravois). Other denominations may be represented in future similar events. About a dozen GGS participants began forming the group. The event was held on a Saturday. Half-hour talks were made at each site, plus time was spent absorbing the location, taking pictures, and asking questions. I was asked to finalize the details and provide information for each site. Several participants had family connections to the locations. In my case, my ancestral tie with one congregation went to 1900, hardly a super-long period but one of note.

2 What did participants glean from the experience? Several things. They enjoyed a nearly weather-perfect and very pleasant day; horizons were expanded in their thinking; some appreciated being in the church structures where their ancestors had been or perhaps friends they knew; since all sites had strong Germanic connections, the architecture and designs were worth contemplating; pictures were taken of headstones in the cemetery which could lead to more research or information not only for participants but others to whom they could pass along the visuals. There are websites that more and more congregations are offering for locating family members by grave, with a picture for just about each headstone. Plentiful talk was shared about the key importance in finding birth and death dates plus middle names of the deceased, which at times fill in holes in research. The picture on page 1 of this issue shows GGS participants in the heart of the cemetery. Behind them looms the outdoor mausoleum of Dr. C.F.W. Walther, the founding head of The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, a large body of Lutherans throughout the U.S.A. The church body formed in 1847 and Walther died in Holy Cross Ev. Lutheran Church was formed by Germans who came to St. Louis in For many years, Concordia Seminary professors were members of the congregation. Much of the structural work at each location was designed and built by Germans, many of whom did not know American culture or English. They embraced the nuances while adapting to the changes. But when it came to building church structures, they were purposeful, dynamic, and willing to get the job done. Their quality efforts often stand today. Each has its own story!

3 Historic Trinity in the old Soulard neighborhood, also captured Germanic styling. Gothically speaking, altar and pulpit in the vintage structure reflect the tastes of old Germans. There is a feeling of such old churches having been built to simulate huge German cathedrals in old Europe. Modernistic styling of today has its special virtues, but visiting sites like these gives us a special glimpse into the manners and tastes of daily life among Germans immigrants who claimed America as their new home and, by doing so, making us heirs of that same claim!

4 HEIDELBERG, 1518/2018 The old castle ruins of the Elector as they appear currently from the lower range of the city of Heidelberg. in the past, this was one of the mightiest strongholds in German lands! On the day of the 500 th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther s Heidelberg Disputation (originally held April 26, 1518), the theology faculty of Heidelberg University in Germany conducted a special event marking the milestone. Making the trip was a means of keeping in step with my ancestors Organizer of the event was Dr. Christoph Strohm, dean of the current theology department at the university. More than 300 guests attended the 500 th anniversary, most by special invitation. Several speakers addressed the Reformation s impact on changing German society and politics in the old Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Reforms also involved other aspects of religious and European history, which resulted in the Europe of our ancestors. An invitation was extended to Dr. Gerald Perschbacher due to one of his ancestors having been a Heidelberg theology student who witnessed Luther s disputation in That student s professor was among debaters. It was oddly wonderful to realize my ancestor five centuries earlier had been at the same site, hearing Luther and other notables speak about reforms. I suppose making the trip was a means of keeping in step with my ancestors and their achievements, Perschbacher noted. He made the discovery of the Luther connection in October of 2015.

5 Dr. Daniel Harmelink of Concordia Historical Institute, St. Louis, prepared a citation on the anniversary and the significance of Heidelberg s role. On his behalf, Dr. Perschbacher presented CHI s full-color, hardbound book, The Reformation Coin and Medal Collection, and a limited edition, two-sided medal highlighting the roles of Luther and Jan Hus in the early movement of theological reform. Walk the paths of your ancestors in Europe or North America A special reception followed the evening event. If you have the opportunity to walk the paths of your ancestors whether in Europe or in North America, grab the moment, Perschbacher encouraged. See the sites that intrigued the eyes and minds of those ancestors. Maybe even check over old documents in archives and church files. If nothing more, find books and photo features online that show the spots where your ancestors lived and worked. It s one way of walking with them in your mind and heart. Below: At the 500 th anniversary of Luther s 1518 Reformation debate, Dr. Perschbacher (left) presented commemorative items to Dr. Strohm, head of the theology department at Heidelberg University.

6 Ask the Ones Who Stayed There Ask, and perhaps you will find. I don t care whether you are researching your heritage in the U.S.A. or overseas, ask. Ask if there are pictures. It may be possible to tap into some nice private photo archives which merely are collections a family has, and kept, and kept. The longer it has been kept, the larger it probably grew and came to include more pictures due to death and inheritance of photo albums or simply because others in a family were downsizing and are prepared to hand their pictures (maybe even documents) to someone with the passion! Know the feeling of being your family s genealogist or historian? Many of you probably do, since that role happens naturally. You gain a reputation for pulling family facts together. You have a few artifacts owned by Aunt Lulu or Uncle Bud and cherish them, even writing a note about the items just in case you become forgetful. Indeed, it doesn t take much for such a formation to occur. Likewise, it does not take long for relatives to hear about your endeavors and urge it along with their donations of artifacts, photos, documents, and memories. On my most recent (and short) trip to Germany, I set up visits in advance. Plans were made for me to visit two archival collections plus a distant cousin. Hundreds of pictures were taken, and scans ordered on regional history and my ancestry. Time also was spent with my cousin who loves to collect family pictures. Each time I visit, I see more photos I had not seen before. With my digital camera in hand, I have twice visited my cousin and each time taken the grand opportunity to copy as many of those pictures as possible. On three earlier trips I used my older film-packing Nikon. It s logically good to copy old pictures, since originals always have a risk of being destroyed. So, my set serves as a backup. I conclude that family members have eased their photo albums and envelopes of pictures over to my cousin for safekeeping. She allows me to copy them. The result: hundreds are now preserved. Yes, I realize that since my family left Germany in 1833, none of those folks will be pictured. But some of those copied photos are close to my line. I can say that because someone born in 1830 and lived to 1900 had a good bunch of years when photography was in its infancy just before the American Civil War and then reached a spurt of growth as the 1800s concluded. So, if my great-great grandfather had brothers and sisters or other close relatives who stayed behind, those relatives may still have their images retained on old photos. Those may be the closest resemblances to my direct line! The same holds true if your family came to America in the late 1700s or very early 1800s. Some of their children may have lived into the 1860s when photography made its first big spurt toward popularity. If you have family up east and know who collects those family pictures, ask the ones who stayed close to your ancestral American location. Check online, too, and in books. I discovered what a couple ancestors looked like, that way. One was born about 1823, came to Missouri a decade later, and became a miner in California. It seemed natural for some of those enterprising folks to have their pictures taken alongside a mine. Indeed, that s what I found! It took a few contacts by phone or , and the holders were glad to send a high-resolution scan of the pictures, from which I had nice copies made! Now, instead of writing further on that subject, here are some nice German family photos that were copied by me recently!

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8 Take Time to Help a Friend! On my recent Heidelberg trip, a friend heard about it in advance. Heidelberg? You are going to that city? He asked? I re-affirmed. Please take some pictures for me pictures of the Elector s old castle on the hill. At least find a postcard of it if you cannot take a picture. I asked, why such an interest? Then came this surprise: I had an ancestor who managed one section of the castle. I was only there once, and the pictures did not turn out good at all. So wanting to be a good friend, I did what he asked. The day was gorgeous with blue sky and warm temperature. So I snapped a few pictures, then a few more, and soon I had taken about 20 just of the section he wanted! Once back home, I sent the pictures to him via . He seemed very pleased and thankful. In the process, I also enriched my photo library and, in viewing pictures, I discovered more things about the site I saw so briefly, but now can examine in the comfort of home.

9 Not All Lists are Correct! I always look for ancestral information and facts. Can you relate to that? If so, then be cautious. Not all documents and sources may agree. To press that point, I will provide two examples. In 1854, a book titled Annuals of San Francisco was authored by three men with the last names Soule, Gihon, and Nisbet. The book can be downloaded for free online. One of my ancestors was in California before it became a state. He was there months before statehood. In the back of the book is a List of members of the Society of California Pioneers along with the dates of their arrival. Great! I thought. I found a very reliable source a few years ago that said my ancestor WAS a pioneer and belonged to that society, so this 1854 book I recently discovered should offer added proof, I thought. My anticipation-bubble popped when I checked three pages of names at the rear of the book. Not one of them was my ancestor. A person had to be in California prior to 1850, as I recall, if the society was to consider them as pioneers. After giving the matter more thought, it did not take long for me to make a safe conclusion. The list printed in 1854 was accurate for that time, but no doubt there were other pioneers working far from contact with the society, or who did not know there WAS a society until word reached them later. Today, the same society maintains a list and, glory be, my ancestor is listed as having been an official pioneer, verified later than the 1854 book. The second example I share is about the Civil War and the Battle of Wilson s Creek (see picture above during the 150 th anniversary re-enactment). Once I received the Civil War service and pension files on one of my ancestors, I noticed he listed an engagement at Wilson s Creek near Springfield, Missouri a site for one of the early bloody battles of the war. Yet, in a very articulate and carefully written book, published years after the battle by one of the soldiers who was there, the list of soldiers unit by unit did not list my ancestor! How could that be? Was Washington, D.C. s, file incorrect? Did someone falsify the record? After contacting a chief historian at the Wilson s Creek battle site, I was asked to submit a few sheets of information I obtained from Washington. Within 24 hours a reply came from the historian. He basically said, This is the second time in more than 20 years that we found a soldier who was missing from our list! I replied, I guess it means I just obsoleted that list in the book. His reply, That s what historians try to find the missing facts. Congratulations. Test your sources. Verify. And enjoy the results!

10 Insightful History About Amsterdam Let s not forget the various strands of Germanic groups and cultures. For example: English is in the German family of languages, and we see it in such words as haus vs. house, vater und mutter vs. father and mother, and in many other related words that are shared even to the present. Taking time to study the similarities in various derivatives of German heritage offers special insights. In 2013 Russell Shorto s book was published, titled Amsterdam (by Doubleday, a division of Random House, New York ISBN ). The hardbound book, with 358 pages, begins with a bicycle trip, then eases into history and culture. So, while this is a book about a city, it is also about an idea, he said. Amsterdam s history belongs to all of us, for those who live in Western democratic societies wherever we place ourselves on the political spectrum. Amsterdam, Netherlands, often has been considered a liberal site. As for a Germanic heritage, consider the following from Wikipedia: The Dutch language (Nederlands) is a West Germanic language, spoken by around 23 million people as a first language (including the population of the Netherlands where it is the official language, and about 60 percent of Belgium where it is one of the three official languages) and by another five million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after English and German. More specifically stated, there is an Anglo-Saxon twist to the culture. Wikipedia continues: The early form of Dutch was a set of Franconian dialects spoken by the Salian Franks in the fifth century, and thus, it has developed through Middle Dutch to Modern Dutch over the course of 15 centuries. During that period, it forced Old Frisian back from the western coast to the north of the Low Countries, and influenced or even replaced Old Saxon spoken in the east (contiguous with the Low German area). The term Salian Franks relates to the Frankish (Germanic) people living near the salt sea (thus, Salian) and who allied with the declining Roman Empire in its later years. Ripuarian Franks were from the same tribal backdrop but lived along the fresh-water Rhein River and south of the coast, staying on the free side of the historic river. See more details at: While Germans often have been stereotyped as frugal and conservative, that isn t always so. The same holds true for Germanic groups, subgroups, and derivative culture-types (which we may include as Scandinavian peoples and the citizens of Amsterdam). Life-outlooks may be dramatically impacted by learned values and tendencies. Said Shorto, The decades from the 1950s through the 1990s were what some think of as a new golden age, when the city threw off the vestiges of the Dutch Reformed Church and other conservative structures and developed into the 20 th century version of a liberal capital. It became a new laboratory for new ideas from free love to free bicycles. There always were different tendencies among individuals, regardless or not of being Germanic. There always were different tendencies among individuals, regardless or not of being Germanic. Karl Marx, the instigator of communist thought and ideology, was a 19 th Century man but impacted the era that followed and still is remembered in various ways today. He was beyond his time, right or wrong. While raised in a Germanic culture, he was atypical.

11 Amsterdam benefitted in the 1400s as a special spot. The book tells of the miracle of Amsterdam, part of which related to Maximilian of Austria, son of the Holy Roman emperor, being made well. Such news put the city on the map, said the author. Thousands came from all over the Continent, bearing their sick. Into the city they streamed, via a street that became known as the Holy Way. In reviewing this and other factors raised by the book, it shows how Germanic people in the past acted, reacted, adjusted, and advanced, challenging thoughts and beliefs and pressing onward. As such, the terms conservative and liberal seemed to blur and lessen depending on the situation, but eventually described the city as one of the ascendance of liberalism. I will add that the inventive genius of Germanic people resulted in or augmented the invention of the automobile s internal-combustion engine, advances in medicine, and the space race, to name a few. All were considered revolutionary and odd advancements for their times. Above: Germanic names resounded among early car makers. You may want to read the book yourself. It deals with a rafter of historical eras with interesting results. What makes it applicable to genealogy is how it reflects the eras, the settings, and the manners in which people responded. If you have any roots in Amsterdam or even the Netherlands, consider doing research (or at least general reading) on the swirls of history that took place in that location and the ripples that seem to have traveled outward to affect other Germanic peoples. Even if your ancestors were not directly affected by Amsterdam, the book at least sets the stage for European matters and resultant trends and how those may have made a difference in the lives of your predecessors. Final thought: Learn more about the historical circumstances that circulated when a particular ancestor walked the earth. Being shape on history may open new ideas on finding more facts about your lineage!

12 Be Ready for Surprises! You simply never know when an opportunity may arise to close the gap on your search for information impinging on the advance of your ancestors. On a St. Louis south county visit to Whitehaven, the Julia Dent home inherited by her and husband U.S. Grant, there were old land maps of Gravois Road from the late 1800s. Since I like old maps, I took time on the tour of that special national park to study those enlargements. There were a variety of land owner surnames I knew that still abound in the area! Quick with my camera, I snapped several views (photos were permitted). Once home, it was easy to recount the results and, soon after, print off some copies to help others in their research. It was even easier to forward by as attachments! Officials at the Grant historic site probably didn t think of such a benefit for visitors, so be ready to hug the opportunity when the option arises. Maybe the information will help you or someone you know. Special note: Not all historic sites allow pictures to be taken, with or without flash, so be courteous and ask if you are not certain of the rules. If photos are not allowed, ask an official about the source and whether a copy can be made of the original, if the information is important to you. ============================================================= Visuals came from the following sources: Dr. Gerald Perschbacher and free online sources. Copyright privileges for GERMANIC INSIGHTS articles and most visuals are reserved by the compiler; no duplication or distribution without permission. Submit material to: perschgs3@gmail.com. Individuals involved with the compiling & distribution of this publication are not to be held liable. For details about the Germanic Genealogy Society of St. Louis, check