OGSA - April 2007 Newsletter - Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of

Transcription

AMERICANAMERICAN-OSTFRIESEN ZEITUNG
A PUBLICATION OF THE OSTFRIESEN GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
EALA FREYA FRESENA! LEVER DOD ALS SLAV!
April 2007
Volume 10, Issue 2
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American-Ostfriesen Zeitung
AMERICAN-OSTFRIESEN
ZEITUNG
A PUBLICATION OF THE OSTFRIESEN
GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
The newsletter of the Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of
America is published four times a year. Please write: Lin
Strong, Editor, OGSA Newsletter, 168 North Lake Street, Forest Lake, MN 55025 or email - lstrong@cornernet. com with
comments or suggestions.
We are happy to consider any contributions of genealogical
information. Whether we can use your material is based on
such factors as general interest to our members, our need to
cover certain subjects, balance through the year and available
space. The editor reserves the right to edit all submitted materials for presentation and grammar. The editor will correct errors and may need to determine length of copy.
Contributors are responsible for accuracy, omissions and factual errors. Cite documentation for facts or statistical information and give complete source for all abstracted or transcribed
records.
Other than the exceptions given, all or part of this publication
may be copied without fee provided that: copies are not made
or distributed for direct title commercial advantage; the OGSA
copyright notice, the name of the publication and its date
appear; and notice is given that copying is by permission of the
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society. Materials not otherwise
attributed, were prepared by the editor.
Copyright @ 2007
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
OSTFRIESEN GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
Research Facility: 168 North Lake Street, Unit #3, Forest
Lake, MN 55025
Officers are elected for a two year term and will serve during
2007 and 2008.
OGSA OFFICERS:
President—Sharon Arends, [email protected]
Vice President—Gene Janssen: email: [email protected]
Treasurer—Lübbert Kruizenga, [email protected]
Recording Secretary—Nancy Jensen, [email protected]
Past President—Buck Menssen, [email protected] (new)
BOARD MEMBERS:
Lin Strong: (651) 269-3580 (cell) [email protected] (New)
Dr. James Limburg: [email protected]
Ray Kleinow: [email protected]
Greg Thorne: [email protected]
Jill Morelli: [email protected]
C. Robert Appledorn: [email protected]
Rick Gersema: [email protected]
Zella Mirick: [email protected] (NEW!)
COMMITTEE COORDINATORS:
Program & Meeting Committee: Buck Menssen
Publicity: Lübbert Kruizenga, Lin Strong
Library: Lin Strong, Zella Mirick
Membership Coordinators: Crystal Olson, Norm Hensley
Mail Coordinator— Zella Mirick
AMERICAN-OSTFRIESEN ZEITUNG STAFF:
Lin Strong, News Editor
Contributing Authors: Jill Morelli, Rudy Wiemann, Gene
Janssen, Zella Mirick, Jeanee Thompson
Columnists: Jeanee Thompson, Cheryl Meints, Lin Strong
Zella Mirick
OGSA MEMBERSHIP
OGSA MISSION STATEMENT
PRIVILEGES include four issues of the American Ostfriesen
Zeitung (January, April, July, October), four program meetings
each year and one special event, special member order discounts, and access to the OGSA library.
TO JOIN OGSA—Send your check for $18 ($34—2 years,
$48—3 years), payable to OGSA, to OGSA, 168 North Lake
Street, #3, Forest Lake, MN 55025.
Foreign membership is $22. We can send you our bank and
account number and you can deposit your membership at
Sparkasse Emden if you prefer.
♦ The membership year is from November 1 through October 31. You will receive one reminder post card in December 2005 if you do not renew before the end of the
year.
♦ If you join midway during the year, you will receive all
back issues for that year. Back issues for the past year are
available for purchase.
♦ Please include your name, address, email address, phone
number and eight names you are researching in Ostfriesland along with their village names.
♦ If you have any question about your membership, please
do not hesitate to contact us! 651-269-3580
OGSA is headquartered in Minnesota and our official name is
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America. Anyone with ancestors from Ostfriesland or who has an interest in Ostfriesland is
welcome to join.
The purpose of the group is exclusively educational and specifically to:
♦ Foster and increase interest in Ostfriesen genealogy.
♦ Provide an association for those interested in Ostfriesen
genealogy.
♦ Provide an opportunity for exchange of knowledge about
Ostfriesland.
♦ Encourage the establishment of Ostfriesen genealogical
resources.
♦ Hold meetings for instruction and interest of its members.
♦ Collect and, when practical, publish genealogical, biographical and historical material relating to people of Ostfriesen
descent.
♦ Work with other similar societies to preserve and protect Ostfriesen genealogy and heritage.
Our organization is a 501C3 non-profit organization.
Your donations are tax-deductible.
October
American-Ostfriesen
2003
Zeitung
PAGE
Page 3
MOIN, ALLE!
Happy 10th Birthday OGSA. Wow, how we have changed! About eight of us were at the
first meeting and now we have almost 600 members. The first newsletter had four pages
and when I see them now, I cringe! Of course you have to realize that this newsletter is
much larger than typical due to the wealth of information submitted for this issue. Consider this our birthday gift to all of you!
We enjoyed birthday cake at our last meeting! If you didn’t come, you missed a good time
and a birthday present that everyone took home!
We’ll have more birthday events planned at the conference in August. You should have
received another updated brochure—don’t wait! We have tons of fun and we have lots of
things planned! Plus you will meet new lifetime friends—remember it is a FAMILY REUNION!
The April meeting is the first weekend in April and is set aside for research. If you can,
make sure you come to the June meeting when we take our show on the road and visit a
German Specialty shop. Fun!
Do you need some look-ups in OSB? OGSA can help you with that. While we do charge a
fee, we will look up all references in all OSB that are mentioned.
Start smiling! We’re publishing more books!
Von Ostfriesland Nach Amerika, Hoogstraat, Translated by Gene Janssen
East Friesians in America, Schnucker/DeWall
Butjadingen, Translated by Gene Janssen
These are now in print and ready for you to buy! See the last page of the newsletter.
The following are either being printed or are being edited. Keep tuned!
The Ostfriesen, Who They Were & How They Lived (2003 Hoogstraat Conference Notes)
Ostfriesen Names
CD-ROM—Ostfriesen Emigrants (Data about 16,000 emigrants)
And that’s not all!
Gene is presently translating the book Großefehn and I’m putting together The Best of
OGSA (Newsletter articles 1997-2003). Bob Appledorn has the German Valley Ortssippenbuch near completion. And Lynn Reemstma is putting together a biography of Baptist
Pastor DeNeui. We can’t do this without all of you! Thanks to all of you who support
our projects with your donations, your descendents will someday thank you!
Inside this issue:
Frisians and the 7th Crusade
4,5,6
Married Once, Twice...
6
The Smokestacks of Midlum
Church at Neustadtgödens
7
8
The Thirty Years War—Hessians
Ostfriesen Sheep, OSB’s
9
10
Member News, Reunions
Edewecht Memorial Cemetery
10
11
Windows to the Past
Upleward, Recipes
11
12,13
The Grass is Always Greener...
Technology 101
14,15
15
February Storm Flood 1825
Jeanee-Ology 101
16,17
17,18
Windmill on the Prairie
Museum in Stickhausen
News from Ostfriesland
Guilds, Zünfte, Innungen
Links to Deep Roots, Notes from
the North
Friesland in the 15th Century
between Burgundy & Oldenburg
19
20
21-23
24
25
26-29
Conferences, Queries, The Rites
of Spring—Easter & May Day
30-31
New Members, Franciscan Order in Ostfriesland, Books.
2007 Meetings
32-33
Marriage Orders,
Insert
34
MOVING?
If you move and do not contact us, we are charged up to
$2 for each issue delivered to
you
with your old address.
Make sure you read the Links to Deep Roots column on page 24. Cheryl has some excellent
suggestions for some channel surfing on the internet! I really enjoyed them. And so many
If it is returned, we also have
of you are enjoying Zella’s column! We’re so fortunate to have the columnists that we
to send it first class and that
have. Please send them notes telling them you appreciate their work!
costs over $1.
If you like ancient history, you need to read the article about Friesland in the 15th century
along with some of the other great articles that are in the works. Just think how much
we’ve learned about Ostfriesen history, culture and customs in the past ten years!
IMPORTANT NOTICE!
If you are terminally late in renewing, you might want to change your ways! As of
January 2008, we will need to charge extra if you renew after the new year. We need to
send out these newsletters first class and not bulk like the majority of the copies and that
is more expensive. Please help us with this!
If you have different summer and winter addresses, you need to inform us BEFORE you
move, or we will have to again charge for first class mailing. When we send out your
newsletters by bulk mail to your home address and they do NOT forward to another address, but return them to us! We then have to re-mail them by first class. This has recently become a larger expense and it’s not fair to the rest of our members! Come on
and please help us out—these two items create a lot of work for the volunteers who deal
with them!
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE
let us know BEFORE you
move.
Page 4
The Friesians in the Seventh Crusade
The Friesians in the
Seventh Crusade,
Ubbo Emmius,
“Friesisiche
Geschichte, Volume
II Translated by
Rudy Wiemann
“The French King Louis IX, whose first
(Sixth) Crusade had been less than a success, allowed himself be obligated by the
Roman pope to begin another such undertaking. He outfitted a fleet and an army
against the Saracens who after their defeat
by the Tartars had begun to stir again.
Louis sent letters to the Friesians which
were delivered by Gerhard, a man of erudi-
tion and eloquence.
In these letters the king praised Friesian bravery and piety and
extended a friendly invitation to take part in the Crusade, not only
because of their bravery, but also because of the friendship which
had recently developed through confronting their mutual enemy,
the Emperor Wilhelm*.
The emissary Gerhard had also received authority from the Pope to
win others for this undertaking. He visited all parts of Friesland
and in assemblies exhorted the people to offer help the Christians
in Palestine. There was no other place where Gerhard would rather
stay and he stayed there more often than Norden, a town famous
above all others between the Ems and Weser rivers, where he
brought order and laws to the still disorganized Dominican monastery. His assemblies did motivate the people.
without support and of no use, or to become a burden to the
country they were traveling to help? Thereupon a directive was
issued according to which every man who wanted to board a
ship had to have seven marks silver, six stone jars of butter, half
an ox, a ham, half a bushel of flour, and beyond that as many
weapons and clothes as would suffice. Women were prohibited
from accompanying the army.
At various places in the week which followed Easter, after everything had been correctly prepared and the ceremonies in accordance with papal customs had been performed, all boarded
the ships, which had been built in the area between the Lauwers
and the Elbe rivers, gathered off Borkum, but they had to lie at
anchor for not less than 20 days because of the prevailing westward winds. Later, all ships which the Friesians had outfitted,
namely fifty cog ships besides smaller vessels were grouped
together.
They all departed around Pentecost and landed at a harbor in
Flanders, There they were treated with hospitality by the Duchess Margarethe, because the Friesians had freed her from a great
danger by slaying Wilhelm of Holland, the worst enemy of Flan-
Wherever he visited the churches, they voluntarily gave money,
and they filled the collection boxes for the crusade which were
placed in all churches. For those many received the sign of the
cross, and many members of all estates got ready again: the
highborn, the rich, and the poor. The leaders of this undertaking
went about with greatest zeal to build and outfit a fleet.
Meanwhile King Louis made known to the Friesians, whom he
especially desired to have along on the undertaking, that he was
preparing to depart from the coast of southern France with all
troops and in the accompaniment of kings, princes, and bishops on
June 24 of next year in order to travel to Palestine. He asked them
to also be ready and outfitted at that time with as many men as
possible and not withdraw from such a pious undertaking and the
certain glory it would bring them as long as such a splendid opportunity was offered to them, and not show themselves unworthy of
the fame of their forefathers.
But these exhortations were not at all needed among the Friesians,
for they gathered money with generosity and signed up so eagerly
and in such numbers that it seemed as if they aimed to deplete
their home country not only of money but also of men. Nevertheless, the number of men wanting to take part in the journey exceeded the amount of money needed to supply them. So as to not
let the affair be adversely affected by this discrepency, announcements were made in the beginning of 1269 throughout Friesland
that things should be organized in such a way that the number of
men standing by to board the ships should not exceed the amount
of money and supplies needed as well as the size of the fleet built
for the Crusade. For why should a greater number of men be
brought together just so that they had to hurry home again, being
Return from the Crusade by Karl Friedrich Lessing
Rheinisches Landesmuseum
ders. Supported with all things necessary, they soon put to sea
again and after experiencing great difficulties reached Marseilles
without loss of life, there to unite with the army of the king.
But the French King with the King of Navarre and three sons, as
well as very many princes, had already sailed from the harbor of
Aigues-Mortes, not far from Marseilles (he had waited in vain
for the Friesians beyond the fixed date for a while) and was now
en route to Africa. Various reasons had motivated him to take
this action. He had heard that the Tunisian king wavered in his
religion and that there was hope that he would choose Christianity if his people would allow it.
Furthermore, he had learned that the Saracens in Egypt and
Syria were steadily receiving supplies and soldiers from Africa.
If these were denied them, and the African kingdom were destroyed, he then could more easily defeat the sultans in those
regions. Also they constantly annoyed the lands of his brother
Charles on Sicily, in Italy, and in southern France. His brother
would then be able to go on the Crusade with him, if he were
freed from that danger.
To all Christians who wanted to visit Asia or Egypt, these Africans were a danger, and even now they threatened the French
fleet. In the end, the Egyptian, be it if he was afraid for Tunis or
because he was thinking of invading Europe and thus keep the
Europeans away, had already sent enormous numbers of troops
to Tunis. Thus the King thought it wiser and also easier to first
wrestle the Africans down to take away the steady fear of them
from the Europeans and to take away from the barbarians the
hope for support, and then to lead the victorious army directly to
the Orient. For that reason he had already sent Edward, the son
of the English king, with another fleet and another army ahead
to Palestine. There he was to keep the Saracens occupied so that
they could not send help to the Africans, and so level the path
for a final victory.
And at first everything went well for the king, such that his good
fortune seemed to correspond to his piety. He reached the harbor
of Carthage without a problem, despite efforts by the Africans to
keep him out. Carthage itself he soon took by force. As the victor he now wanted to hurry to Tunis. On his way he slew 10,000
barbarians in a single battle . He pressed to the city with attack
and siege to a point where its surrender seemed imminent. But
then on account of the unhealthy climate a pernicious epidemic
gripped the army and laid low the King’s son John and then the
King himself (that happened on the 25th of August).
Now suddenly the good fortune reversed itself. The Friesians, to
get back to them, landed with their fleet on Sardinia. Confused
by the various kinds of advice they received, some were pulling
them hither, others yon, they finally followed their preachers,
and almost against their will dropped Palestine and sailed for
Africa. But as it happens when something is done without conviction, progress was slow. They stayed in Sicily for a while,
and only shortly before the King’s death or at the very time he
died did they land in Carthage. Confused by the unexpected
death of the King on account of whose bidding they had traveled
here, they resolved to sail on to Palestine.
Page 5
But then
Charles, King
of Naples and
brother of
Louis, appeared
with a fleet and
fresh troops,
and he was
soon followed
by the Englishman Henry, son
of Emperor
Richard, the
Duke of Cornwall, also with
a sizable number of troops.
They completely restored the morale of the shocked army and
also diverted the Friesians from their plan who followed Charles’
suggestion and placed themselves under the command of Count
Henry of Luxembourg. The war flared up again. When they saw
that it would be drawn out by the siege, they, being without fear
and unwilling to tolerate delay, could only be dissuaded with
difficulty from attacking the Saracens in a disorderly fashion and
at the wrong time. In the end they and the cavalry were led in
good battle order against the enemy who came storming out of
his encampment.
The commander begged the Friesians not to start something
thoughtless and reckless during the attack. But they proved by
their deeds that they showed as much strength as courage in battle. The whole hostile army was confused by great losses it sustained and forced to flee and driven into the river which runs
around Tunis. No fewer perished in the river current then by the
sword. Thus, the Friesians again made a
name for themselves. The enemy was shut
within his walls again by this defeat. Finally it came to a point where he, his courage broken, offered peace terms to the
Christians.
There is a belief that the city could have been conquered or
forced to surrender if not for the terrible epidemic that raged
among the troops, such that Charles preferred to use it as an excuse to speed the discussions along and return to Europe. The
conditions for withdrawal were 1) the return of prisoners and 2)
payment to Charles of that tribute which they used to pay to the
King of Sicily. Peace was to be kept with all Christians throughout the Mediterranian Sea. Thereafter, the army then led away.
Charles returned to Italy with Philip, the son of his brother, and
the French and Italians; of the rest everybody went back to his
homeland. The word was that they wanted to renew the fighting
force and the equipment for the next spring.
The Friesians, disgusted by the delays, headed with a few others
toward Palestine. While sailing across the hostile sea they were
plagued by much misfortune and suffered very many losses due
to illness and death. When they arrived in Acron - Woe! - what
destitute a situation did they find the Christian state to be in.
The Venetians, the Genoese, and the Pisans, who ruled in the
cities were engaged in a mutually destructive tussle; and the
Knights’ Orders: the Templars, the Teutonics, and the St. Johns
suffered from shameful party arguments at a very wrong time.
There was no King or Duke to whom they would listen, except
for the Englishman who had less success with stopping the disagreements then was suitable. The Patriarch had died, and be-
cause of the disagreements, no one else had been appointed to
his position. The Saracens who had waited intensely for a favorable opportunity had attacked the strongest castles of the Teutonic and St. Johns Order which were deemed unconquerable,
and had taken them or laid siege to them.
The Friesians were received joyfully by the Orders. A large
party of them was led by the Bishop of Tyrus into the town
which was most exposed to the dangers. All clung to the hope of
the arrival of the Princes and new armies. When they now were
disappointed in this hope, what then were the Friesians supposed
to do any longer, as the summer was well along already? For
still nobody had followed them and no one was expected to
come for the remainder of this year. Charles was occupied with
his own affairs and with the strengthening of his power and satisfied with the title of King of Jerusalem. Germany without a
ruler was driven by internal strife.
What were the Friesians then to accomplish there with such a
little group against such powerful foes, particularly as the allies
were so disunited? Therefore, they asked the Orders for permission to return home which was granted. Then all who were left
of their host sailed back on various ships (for they did not trust
their own ships any longer which by that time were no longer
seaworthy) and were stranded in the harbors of Greece, Sicily,
Italy, Sardinia, and France. There they still had to endure more
dangers. But most of them returned home one by one, robbed by
Greeks, Sicilians, and Italians, dispersed and weakened."
*Wilhelm, Count of Holland, had been crowned anti-king to the
often excommunicated Emperor Frederick II of Germany by the
Prince-Bishop-Elector of Cologne. He was slain in a battle
against the Friesians near Alkmaar, north of Amsterdam, in
1256.
MARRIED ONCE, TWICE OR EVEN LATE...
By Michael Till Heinze & Lin Strong
An interesting entry is found in the church book of Westrhauderfehn.
A man who was Catholic, married his Lutheran wife in the Lutheran church in Westrhauderfehn and than some time later married her in the St. Bonifatius Catholic Langholt-Westrhauderfehn
Church. Why would they do this?
illegitimate children. At that time, they simply could not afford
to marry, publish the bans, etc. The bans were typically posted
for three Sundays prior to the marriage. Sometimes, only after
the couple was established and even had several children could
they afford the cost of getting married.
Therefore, a lot of Catholics are mentioned in the Rhauderfehn
area church books from 1702 until 1829, but they are not indicated to have another religion.
Normally the catholic marriage is a “sacrament” and the couples
would be married by a priest in a catholic church outside of Westrhauderfehn (for example Strücklingen or Papenburg) and if
later they wanted to baptize their child in a local Lutheran church
like Rhaude, the pastor would say “you didn´t get married in my
church, please, first get married in my
church”. (and of course, “PAY” for it!) Very difficult to understand this mixture!
While much of Ostfriesland was mostly Lutheran or Reformed
Churches, this area is closer to the more Catholic Papenburg
area and you may need to check into this!
Many times when it shows that the couple did not marry until
after they had several children, it did not mean that they wanted
Once again, you need to understand Ostfriesen history to understand the lives of your ancestors.
One of our OGSA members has an ancestor who lived in Bunde
in the early 1800’s and he was a Catholic. Why was this a problem? This is the quiz question that you need to answer? If
you don’t know, we’ll explain in the next newsletter.
Page 7
Two smoke stacks, 85 ft. and 115 ft. in height,
scrape the sky over Midlum and give away the
location of this ancient village in Rheiderland
on the banks of the Ems River. They are the
only reminder of a once flourishing brick mak-
Cramer’s factory in Midlum, the one with the higher smokestack, was built in 1799 and underwent modernization as late as
1960. It was finally shut down in 1972, chiefly as a result of the
oil crisis.
Most of the machinery was sold to a development aid project in
Africa, the rest of the metal parts to a scrap dealer; leftover
bricks were used for a boat slip; and the building itself made a
handy winter boat storage facility. Structural deterioration continued until 25 years later the community Jemgum, the County
Leer, and a number of interested citizens began to work on a
plan which was to turn what was left into a museum in which
the brick making history of Rheiderland would be kept alive,
and where, as the only factory in Europe, the making of bricks
with the material “Klei” could be demonstrated.
Eventually all important steps in this operation will be shown,
from hand forming to various kiln designs to the special labor
and social history connected with this industry. This work was
begun in 1998 under the guidance of the East Friesian historian,
Dr. Paul Wessels. The goal of this undertaking is not the reconstruction of the original factory but the setting up of a demonstration facility where individual elements of the brick making
process during the long history of its development can be recreated.
.
Original videos from bygone days and the chance to get some
hands-on experience at different stations add to the interest of a
walk through time for the visitor, while outside the “Twin”
smoke stacks - the shorter one, once owned by Leding, is all that
is left of that factory - reach toward the sky like watchmen over
a past the products of which still endure in well-built homes
over much of Ostfriesland and beyond.
Page 8 e 8
EvangelischeEvangelische-Lutherische Church St.
Mauritius—
Mauritius—Neustadtgödens
This charming village is located southeast of Jever. The church, dominating the center
of the village, founded in 1544 by exiled Mennonites, is a long, rectangular brick structure with stone accents and an apse erected in 1695. A square, west tower with filigreed, Baroque cupola from 1714. Over the portal an inscribed tablet.
Interior: Noteworthy is the painting "Crucifixion of Christ" by Dutch painter, Augustin Terweyen, 1679. Altar from the 19th century. Pulpit and baptismal font from
earliest beginnings of the church. The organ was built in 1796.
1) Emblem
2) Pulpit
3) Sculpture
4) Altar
5) Church
Entrance
St. Mauritius
Page 9
THE THIRTY YEARS WAR—
WAR—THE HESSIANS
In August of 1637 the Landgrave William
V of Hesse-Cassel, g-g-g-g-grandfather of
Frederick II who furnished the British with
Based on
troops during the American Revolutionary
“Geschichte OstWar, set foot on East Friesian soil. An unfrieslands” by
flinching Protestant, he had allied himself
Onno Klopp and
google; Translated with Frederick of the Palatinate during the
by Rudy Wiemann abortive Bohemian phase of the war and
was the first German prince to ally himself
with Gustavus Adolphus upon his arrival in Germany.
When after Gustavus Adolphus’s death the Swedes were sustaining reversals, he allied himself with France and thereupon
was declared an enemy of the Empire and his realm subjected to
Emperor- sanctioned punitive measures, during which, in the socalled Croatian year (the Emperor drew many of his troops from
non-German parts of his Empire) it was utterly devastated and
its people subjected to unspeakable cruelties. 18 towns, 48
manor houses, and 300 villages were burnt to the ground.
With a still intact force of 7,000 disciplined and well-trained
troops, among them a French contingent, and with Dutch tolerance, William swept aside the few redoubts at Diele, Rhaude,
Detern, Weener (where he met some resistance from soldiers of
the Count and from Emden which was quickly overcome) and
established temporary headquarters in Jemgum.
On September 5, the Hessians marched into Leer and made
preparations for a siege of Stickhausen. The Mansfeld times
were still fresh in the memory of many Friesians, and the roads
to Emden were clogged with refugees, including Count Ulrich
and his court. Others fled to Oldenburg and Jever or shipped
over to the islands. However, it soon became apparent that the
situation in no way resembled the Mansfeld times as the Hessians were well led and disciplined.
Of course, they needed money, and before Stickhausen and
Friedeburg fell, emissaries of the Count, the Estates, and the
Dutch met with them in Leerort (which still had a Dutch garrison) and worked out a support agreement. Ostfriesland would
offer quarters and fuel, mostly peat, for 20 companies @ 100
foot soldiers and seven squadron cavalry @ 50-60 riders plus
12,000 Taler per month in cash. A few days after this agreement
the Landgrave died.
His wife, the Landgravine Amelia Elisabeth, a very resolute and
intelligent woman, had the troops parade past her and her 8 year
old boy and accepted for him their oath of loyalty. For her began
13 years of negotiations with the East Friesians, Dutch, Swedes,
French, and Imperials: with the latter about the freedom to exercise her Reformed religion throughout Germany (not surprisingly nixed), with the French about subsidies, with the Swedes
about logistical support, and with the East Friesians about
greater contributions (though she allowed those to be reduced
temporarily when the dikes were breached again).
The Swedes and French had a keen interest in her remaining
where she was, and the Dutch where glad to see the Empire in a
weakened condition. Count Ulrich was chafing under the occupation of his land and was thinking of armed resistance for which
he had the support of Aurich and Norden of the Second Estate
and of almost the entire Third Estate.
Emden and a good part of the First Estate demurred, thinking that
this would only make matters worse. They also harbored the suspicion that their Count in command of an army just might turn
into an autocrat like the Count of Oldenburg. The Landgravine,
of course, heard of these preparations and brought in additional
Hessian troops, and Ulrich was warned by the Swedes that he
would have them to contend with.
But Ulrich was determined to go ahead, hired discharged mercenaries in the Netherlands and fortified Aurich. Soon there were
sharp engagements in Victorbur and Wiegboldsbur. The Hessians
threatened to flood the land with their cavalry, the Friesians
threatened to flood it with water from the North Sea and burn
down their own houses. It took emissaries from the Netherlands
and Oldenburg to calm things down, and Ulrich promised to reduce his troop level to 200 men.
In September 1647 a 6,000 men strong Imperial force invaded
Ostfriesland from the south, aiming to displace the Hessians.
They took Jemgum after a short siege and demanded 5,000 Talers
from the Count at once and 17,000 Talers per month thereafter.
However, a combined army of Swedes and Hessians remaining in
their homeland moved against the Catholic city of Paderborn and
forced these invaders to withdraw. The Hessian colonel who had
surrendered Jemgum lost his head to the sword.
In 1648 peace negotiations began in earnest. First to sign were
the Netherlands, finally free and independent, and a completely
exhausted Spain. By October, all parties had signed on to the
Treaty of Westphalia, and this 30 year nightmare came to an end.
Count Ulrich was thankful to God to have lived to see it happen.
He died on November 1 of that year. Ostfriesland never had an
active part in this war, it just suffered through it, more than some
regions, less than others. But there still was no getting rid of the
Hessians. Their allied French had insisted on 600,000 Taler in
reparations, one tenth of it to be paid by Ostfriesland.
The Swedes stayed where they were until they were paid five
million Taler, of which Ostfriesland paid 7,000. There were other
payments to be made as well such that the first two years of peace
seemed as burdensome as some of the war years. But on August
10, 1650, the Hessians finally marched south again and out of
Ostfriesland, and on the following Sunday the church bells pealed
everywhere to welcome the arrival of peace in the land.
If you have a used OSB that you no longer need—please
check with us to see if someone else is interested in purchasing it.
Page 10
OSTFRIESEN SHEEP
For many Ostfriesen, Easter means not only the hunt for eggs, but lambs. Our ancestors knew a lot more about raising sheep than we do. Sheep played an important
part of their lives both for the meat and for their fleece. Sheep are still a common
site on the dikes after Easter each year.
Two types of sheep, the Marsch and Schnucken (heather) grazers, were indigenous
to Ostfriesland. The Marsch species were further divided into three separate types
– Inland, Groningen and Friesland sheep. The last were the largest and most important.
Sheep seldom grazed on good, arable land. Their close-to-the-ground bite was detrimental to land seeded to grass and besides sheep were indiscriminate in their
grazing choices. Thus the animals were generally herded on roadsides and along
canals. In winter, they were seldom sheltered in barns or stalls except during the
most extreme cold. On winter days, there was never enough hay to feed them.
Until about 1880, villages gave the care of their flocks to a boy who herded them
along the dikes. Sheep still graze the dikes today because their foot tread and sharp
hooves along the embankment pack and harden the sod on the dikes. Especially in
the Krummhörn and Emden areas, sheep were and are still a common site along the
dikes.
Owners of the smaller Schnucken sheep obtained grazing rights on state owned
lands. They were herded in groups of 150 to 500. Under the care of the herders,
these flocks grazed land over much of Ostfrieland. Sheepherders were given training from early childhood and became expert in their trade.
Especially sought were herders from Hannover, Oldenburg or Munsterland. Private owners of sheep first had to get a permit to graze on state-owned land and paid
a yearly fee of two Stuber to the king’s rent caretaker. Schnucken sheep usually
remained outdoors and at night were bedded down in open air enclosures. There
was little profit raising sheep on the Moor as this breed was not good for milking
and their wool, as compared to the Marsch sheep was of poorer quality.
Shearing of the
Marsch sheep began in early spring
while
the
Schnucken
were
sheared in both
spring and fall. A
pelt
of
wood
weighed
about
7509 grams and
was sold to hat
makers. The fleece
of Marsch sheep
weighed about four
or five kilograms
while that of a Friesian sheep would
weigh upwards of seven kg.
The fleece of the Friesian sheep was superior to all other races for the length, fineness and suppleness. Most Ostfriesen wool was spun into clothing by village
weavers.
FAMILY REUNIONS…
♦ Ruter, Rüter, Reuter Families
Family Reunion in Grundy Center, IA.
Contact Melvin & Janice Colberg 815-4936423 or email [email protected] for
more information. This event will be held on
Saturday, July 14 in Grundy Center, IA.
♦ Descendents of Habbe Cornelius &
Ariana Janssen, Sunday, July 15, 2007.
Contact Lin Strong for more information.
♦ Wiemann Family Reunion—Contact the
editor for more info.
MEMBER NEWS...
Lee Saathoff would like to thank all who sent
cards, emails and came to Marion’s funeral.
Your prayers were much appreciated.
Cheri Peschel has some health issues and
appreciates emails and cards.
Jan-Ahlrich Sonnenberg from Leer died
earlier this year. He was a great friend and
many of you from the 2005 tour met him at
the Folmhusen School Museum of which he
was a great supporter.
Ann Gilligan is now popping wheelies in a
wheel chair! She and her husband mailed the
newsletters for many years and she is a
sweetie, and so is Jim!
QUERIES...
Searching for info. on Heie/Heye Meents,
born around 1825, place unknown? He was
married to Grietje/Greetje Nörder born in
1829 in Riepe. Children: Margrete, Renke,
Anna. They first lived near Peoria and later
moved to Nebraska. Contact the editor!
Searching for relatives of Refert Beekman. Family left Bremen on Jan. 20, 1907 for
Dempster,. SD. [email protected]
Jann Janssen, b. 22 July 1818 Germany, d. 8
Oct 1892 Morrison, Whiteside Co., IL m.
1861 Ger. to Tatje Cordes ("Theda") Goldstein, b. 8 Apr 1836 Ostfreisland, Germany d.
25 Aug 1927 Illinois; son Cord Hinrich
Janssen (later became Henry Johnson), b.
1866 Ger., m. 28 Dec. 1885 Hopkins, Whiteside Co., IL Amelia Janika b. 1857 Ger, d. 28
Nov. 1894 Morrison, Whiteside Co., Il
(Parents Christian Janika & Anna Johnson.) Henry & Amelia had a son: George,
b. 1 Jun 1886 Morrison, Whiteside Co., IL, d.
5 Feb 1940 Detroit Lakes, Becker, MN m. 21
Sep 1911 Freeport, Stephenson Co., IL to Ida
Holdeman. (I have her lineage)
Becca Hovde [email protected]
Page 11
THE WINDOW TO THE PAST
By Zella Weaver Mirick
More from the Ostfriesische Nachrichten of days gone by.
This was THE newspaper for the immigrant families in the US
and the valued contact with those they left behind in Ostfriesland, too. Do you have any back issues? We want them!
From the 10 June 1913 issue:
Reported from Schirumer/Leegmoor:
Innkeeper Coordes of Schirum has torn down the old inn and
will build another inn on a new site. (Gasthaus).
From the 1 Feb 1885 issue:
Engagement of Albertus Lay and Sara Grüs of Hastings, NE
Engagement of Harbert Wessels and Geeske Kuper of Arcadia, IA.
Birth of a son on 15 January to Rev. G.E. Engelmann and his
wife, born Fokerts, of Applington, IA.
Birth of a daughter to R.H. Reints and wife, born Dreyer, of
Applington, IA.
Birth of a son on 21 Jan 1885, to E. Sinning and wife of Breda,
IA.
Birth of a daughter to F.J. Hoogstraat and wife of Arcadia, IA.
Birth of a daughter on 28 Dec 1884 to Ph. Symens and wife of
Baileyville, IL.
Birth of a daughter on 29 Dec 1884 to Fr. Hoogstraat and wife
of Wall Lake, IA.
From the 20 Mar 1915 issue:
The following is a partial list of those listed as killed in action
(WW I) or wounded and/ or missing and later declared dead.
Hermann Janssen, Wittmund;
Heinrich Würdemann, Westerholt
Heero Korporal, Falchsmeer;
Hermann Blum, Westermarsch
Hermann Henning, Emden;
Herman Lindemann, Hesel
Heinrich Wilken, Münkeboe;
Dirk Blum, Westermoordorf
Johann Bohlsen, Ostfhauderfehn;
Eilder Meyer, Bunde
Jan Weerda, Barthausen;
Gerhard Amman, Langholt
Poppe Buttjer, Norden;
Ihmel Freese, Hagermarsch
Reinhard Janssen Ackermann, Borkum;
Hermann Börner, Neustadtgödens
Johann Suntken, Oldeborg;
Ihmel Janssen, Netzmergrode
Thees Garrels, Bühren;
Arnold Sejassen, Carolinensiel
From the 1 May 1914 issue:
Deaths reported from Ostfriesland:
Ammersum – Hebe Schulte 81 years
Aurich – Margarete, daughter of Ede Menken age 23 years
Etta, daughter of Ludwig Specht age 2 years
Bakemoor – the widow Helene Jauken born Albers 85 years
Berumbur – Heye Börgmann 55 years
Boen – Janna, daughter of Bernhard Stubbe, 82 years
Borssum – Tönjes Ohling 29 years
Detern – Gesina, daughter of Berhard Siefkes, 26 years
Ditzum – Koert, son of Koert Immermann, 21 years
Ditzumerhammrich – Everdiena, daughter of A. Janssen, 20
years
Emden – widow Alberdina Waalkes born Veldhuis, 80 years;
Eggerke Wiechmann 66 years; widow Magdalena Möller born
Klugkist 56 years; wife of Johann Bandy, Mettina born Arends
44 years
Siegelsum – wife of J. Janssen, Tätje born Peters 24 years
Uthwerdum – Eilt Claassen 37 years
VeenhuserKolonie – Christoffer Blank 66 years
From the 10 June 1913 issue:
Reported from Westerhauderfehn 19 May:
Hermannus Harms Freese is buried today. He was with his parents, Gastwirt Hinderk Freese of Rhaudermoor. He was the only
son of his parents and died after a long illness.
The wife of H.E.Hobbi, Lümke born Drahtjer died in her 66th
year.
On the 16th died the wife of Johann Evers Taute, Maria born Cassen of Holterfehn, age 81 years.
Reported from LeMars, Iowa 31 May 1913
The weather is beautiful and warm and the corn is growing well.
STATE OF REMEMBRANCE
THE MEMORIAL CEMETERY IN EDEWECHT
Near the end of World War II the strategic plans of the Supreme Command of the Army made a final decision April 4, 1945
for a line of retreat to the northwest. Under this plan a line from
the Ems canal to Oldenburg to Hunte by Elsfleth was to be secured. Work contingents and diverse military forces were hurriedly gathered together and block houses built in the hope that
Canadian troops driving from the south could be held back for a
few days and that the territory of Ostfriesland might be spared the
devastating land battles that were sure to occur.
By the middle of April advance elements of Canadian troops
had reached the canal so that fortification work came to a halt. In
the night of April 16-17 1945 the Canadians advanced in assault
boats over the canal by Edewecht to reach the north shore and
established a beachhead.
The defenders north of the canal launched artillery and air attacks. Shells rained down far into the rear areas. The greater part
of the inhabitants fled in fright to the neighboring moor land in the
hope of escape. When the Canadians finally took the canal a
house-to house battle in the town of Edewecht followed. Nearly
every house in the town was destroyed.
More than 400 German soldiers lost their lives during this battle of several days. They were first buried in field graves and then
re-interred in the Memorial Cemetery of Edewecht. On the Canadian side about 300 soldiers died in the area of Edewecht-Bad
Zwischenahm, most of whom were returned to their home country
of Canada for burial.
Page 14
The Grass is Always Greener...
ED NOTE: The last Wednesday in September 2006 a couple of
us visited with Teijo Doornkamp and Sigrid Kriiger at the Archives in Groningen. This was a quest for information as we’d
heard before that there is a wealth of data in these archives—
not only for those who have ancestors in the Netherlands, but
also for Ostfriesland. The archives are state of the art—and
wonderfully organized. This article is written (with our thanks)
by Teijo.
During the 2006 visit of OGSA to Ostfriesland, I had the pleasure to meet again with Lin Strong and Zella Mirick. Sigrid Krijger and I were available to help them search the archives in an
efficient way. We spent a whole day in the archives in Groningen, sharing good humor and frustration also when we weren’t
able to find what we were looking for. But progress was there!
Lin was able to augment a line of her Dutch ancestry from the
19th century back to the early 17th century! And Zella confirmed a hypothesis in Wedde, strengthening it with original
documents.
During the visit it became clear that a large amount of Ostfrisians can be found in these archives. I took up the challenge
and wrote this article to pave the way for those who want to be
as successful that Lin and Zella were.
Hollandgänger
In the 17 and 18th century a lot of Germans came to the Neth-
th
records than the genlias site. And it will enable you to search on
Ostfrisian place names as well. The catch is you will have to use
a Dutch user interface. So if you don’t have a Dutch dictionary,
you may want to pick one up and learn some of the basic words.
You can enter free format search criteria here with * as a wildcard. Try it with search criterium ‘Oost Friesland’ (the Dutch
name for Ostfriesland). I found 75 different archives (not entries
but unique collections of multiple entries) in which this name was
present.
♦ The first entry is Doopinschrijvingen (baptism entries).
Usage is also free!
Page 15
Sibrandt Thijen en Hilje Jans.
Voor de bruidegom: Anke Thijen, zuster, Eede Thijen, broer,
Simon Jans, oom aan moederszijde.
Voor de bruid: Jan Harmens, vader, Mentie (Meentje) Jans,
broer.
Getuigen Geuke Willem Abrahams en Jan Wilkens. (rechterlijke
archieven Nieuw Beerta RA V ff fol. 9)
These transcriptions mentioned on Internet are free, those on
disk are sold, but are not expensive.
I have an electronic pre-release from the Genlias marriages
1750-1811, it has to be checked so it cannot be published at this
time. But, as an example I am including the information included (in the insert in this newsletter) marriages in which I recognized both male and female to be from Ostfriesland.
You’ll note the different ways the place names are spelled.
So be prepared and try whatever variation you can imagine.
I think it’s clear the Dutch archives are a worthwhile visit.
Need help? Contact me at [email protected] and I’ll see
what I can do.
TECHNOLOGY 101
COMPUTER GENEALOGY
Secondary data: Judicial Archives before 1811
A very good resource for genealogy in Groningen are judicial
archives. A lot of transcriptions have been made of these archives
especially in the Reiderland area (the Dutch region not the German Rheiderland!).
A good website to start here is: http://geneaknowhow.net/digi/
resources.html, in which most of the available resources are mentioned.
A special word on marriage contracts: in Groningen many marriage contracts (huwelijkscontracten) have been saved. The reason is that in many cases these contracts were written by the
church minister of a parish because of the lack of solicitors, etc.
These marriage records contain a wealth of family relations.
These transcriptions will look like this (it’s one of my ancestors
who was born in Freepsum, I got my first name from his father):
H.C. R.A. Nieuw Beerta (V ff fol. 9) 11-5-1732
By Lin Strong
Okay, I’m in love—with RootsMagic! This program has all of
the ease of the old Origins program that (gasp) is what I was still
using! I can hear some of you out there groaning, but I liked
how easy it was. This one is at least 100 times better.
♦ There is a tutorial that you must watch—it is easily understood, even for those electronically challenged such as me.
♦ The sourcing is actually easy. You can also source an entire family for a census record, rather than sourcing each
individual.
♦ It will also source your bibliographical data properly formatted, it’s called fill in the blanks.
♦ There are not only pedigree charts and family charts, but
also a descendent chart for up to seven generations from the
main page.
♦ The reports are amazing—over 14 types of charts with subcategories under some of the charts and lists.
♦ Multi-media tabs so you can add pictures, video clips.
♦ To do lists for each individual—and who doesn’t need that?
♦ Adding data or editing facts made easy.
♦ Data can be imported from a GED COM file.
♦ Many different sorting features
♦ Program includes Personal Historian and other features.
♦ Wall charts—in color even
♦ The best part of it—it costs less than $50!
♦ If you’ve been struggling on what program to use, I personally recommend this one due to the ease of use.
♦ www.RootsMagic.com (version 3 is what I previewed).
♦ Phone 800-766-8762 - Don’t wait!
Page 12
UPLEWARD
Excerpted from Google and O. G. Houtrouw’s “Ostfriesland.”
Translated by Rudy Wiemann (A Dorf is a small village)
This ancient farming town, present population 421, is located in
the Krummhörn region of Ostfriesland - the area along the Outer
Ems between the Dollart and Ley Bays - six miles south of Greetsiel and within walking distance of the levee. It was first mentioned around 1,000 AD in the property and tax rosters of Werden Abbey in Essen on the Ruhr River (founded by St. Ludger,
missionary among the Friesians, in 799) where it was called Plennurdh. 500 years later it was Plegewert and variations
thereof, probably meaning protective (Ger. Pflegen)
Mound (Ger. Warf). Eventually an “Up” was placed in
front of it, meaning “on top of”. But all these changes
didn’t keep Krummhörner’s from this calling it
“Plewert”. Its “Warf” obviously predates the dike by
centuries. In fact, archeological excavations point to
construction activities there as early as the 5th or 6th
century, i.e., the Early Middle Ages.
Upleward once possessed a magnificent castle (Burg)
which over time was turned into a beautiful Renaissance dwelling. Here resided the Edelinga family of
chieftains of whom a Hilmer was the first member to
be mentioned, in 1409. His grandson Ubbo Tidena
married into the well-known Beninga family of
Grimersum and their descendants would adopt the alternate name Beninga. Ubbo’s son Imel fell in the Battle of Jemgum.
The last chieftain of this family was Tido II who proudly called
himself Chieftain of Upleward, Middelstewehr, Hamswehrum
and Uiterstewehr. He died in 1594. His elaborate grave cover
stone has been preserved and placed upright in the court yard of
nearby Pewsum’s “Burg”. Through inheritance Upleward’s castle
along with its estate (three farms @ 350 “Grasen”) and social
position went to the zu Inn-und Knyphausen family. That family
is still in possession of the well-known drawing of the castle. It
was razed in 1782.
The Reformed church of Upleward, built in the 14th century in
the Gothic style, was formerly dedicated to St. Donatus. The
original very narrow windows with pointed arches are still preserved in the north and south wall. The remaining windows were
enlarged in safer times. In the adjacent parsonage, one of the
most important Dutch theologians of the 17th century, Johann
Bogerman, was born.
Bogerman’s father was one of the numerous Dutch refugees who
served as pastors to the Reformed congregations in the
Krummhörn area. Johann died in 1637 as professor of Theology
at the University of Franeker, west of Leeuwarden, in Dutch
Westfriesland. (Franeker - Friesian: Frjentsjer - is one of the
eleven cities of Westfriesland. From 1585 to 1811, it housed the
University of Franeker which was the second oldest university of
the Netherlands.)
The schools in Ostfriesland’s towns in
the 16th century were
Church & Bell Tower
well organized and run
by the local churches.
The pastor was the
supervisor and the teacher served as custodian and organist
during church services. Dodo Wildvang, the “Geologist of Ostfriesland”, 1873-1940, taught here. With 60,000 drillings he
systematically researched Ostfriesland’s soil. They served as
the basis for numerous research papers and geological maps.
Historically most people in and around this rural town earned
their livelihood through farming activities. In the first half of
the last century, there were twelve farms and several smallscale operations. In the town itself, besides the parson and the
teacher, there were representatives of the usual trades and
crafts which make civilized life possible: a mason, a painter, a
baker, a grocer, an innkeeper, etc. But this picture is changing.
To quote nearby Norden’s well-known TV personality and
author Heiko Engelkes (Ostfriesland Magazin, 1/2006) who
makes his permanent home in Paris, “Ostfriesland has become
more modern, more beautiful. Everywhere one notices that its
appearance is being burnished to turn it into a preferred vacationland for the visitor. When one walks through the coastal
Page 13
OSTFRIESEN RECIPES
Kris Salava’s family pancake recipes—try them, they are
great!
SPECKEN’ DICKEN’
Ingredients:
towns, but also inland through places such as Aurich and Wittmund, one is forced to say: Impressive! Something is being done
here to evoke the feeling that Ostfriesland is neither old-fashioned
nor suffering from neglect. A happy union has been created between its traditional character and the modern world which is in
harmony with its landscape and is towns.”
Upleward is no exception. It has spruced itself up for the tourist as
well. Look it up in the internet and behold the many offers for vacation homes, apartments, rooms, and places to dine. Biking and hiking paths have been laid out, and guided walks over the tidal flats at
low tide are offered. When the tide is in, there is swimming and
surfing.
One thing, though, the coast of Krummhörn does not have - something most tourists drawn to the sea long for - a sandy beach. But
those clever Uplewarders have found an answer to this problem: a
dry beach. Clear an area on the land side of the dike, bring in thousands of cubic yards of sand, set up beach chairs, a volleyball court,
a stage, benches, grill station, refreshment stand, a wooden ship for
kids to play Störtebeker’s pirates in, and wait for things to happen.
Queries came in from far and wide, “What is a dry beach?” The
answer was, “Come and have a look!” and people came, lots of
them. After all, a walk from the “dry beach” over the dike to the
water’s edge at high tide is no farther than from the back row on the
sandy beach of Cancun to getting your feet wet.
Gate at Campen Lighthouse with Upleward Emblem
4 eggs
2 cups dark karo syrup
2 cup milk
2 cups white or wheat flour
1 1/2 cup rye flour
1 Tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 to 1/2 of a 1 oz. container of Anise Seed
Mix it all together and let sit for a couple of hours or overnight. Then fry in pan at low temp (or they burn) and in oil
(spray oils do not work), and add bacon and/or sausage prior
to flipping. It makes about 24 small pancakes.
PANNEKOEKEN
Heat oven to 425 degrees
Ingredients:
5 eggs
1cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup milk
Put the 1 Tbsp. of oil in a baking dish and place in the
oven while it is pre-heating. Sift together flour, salt, baking
powder. Beat in milk, then beat
in eggs one at a time.
When oven is at 425 degrees,
pour mixture into the heated
oil in your baking dish and
bake for 20 minutes.
DO NOT open oven before
the 20 minutes.
LOW GERMAN FOLK SAYINGS...
•
Ostfreesland is as ‘n Pankauk, de Rand is’t beste.
(Ostfriesland is like a pancake, the edge is the best
part.)
• Arm Mann Pankauk un riek Mann Krankheit
ruken wiet.
(Poor man’s pancake and rich man’s sickness reek a
ways.)
• Dummste Buuren hemm ‘n dickste Tuffels.
(The dumbest farmers have the biggest potatoes.)
• Elker Ding hatt ’n Enne, man de Wurst hett twee.
(Everything has an end, but the sausage has two.)
• ‘N halv Ei is beeter as ’n leege Dopp.
(Better half an egg than an empty shell.)
• ‘N gaude Schwien frett all.
(A good pig eats everything.)
• Word nix so heet eeten as ’t kokt word.
(Nothing is eaten as hot as it is cooked.)
Page 16
The February Storm Flood of 1825
By Sigrid Krijger-de Grave
Sitting in a comfortable, warm apartment we rented on the Dutch
`wadden`-isle Schiermonnikoog, with a beautiful view over the
dunes and the rough North Sea, I´m inspired to write about an
old letter I bought recently on the internet. The letter is from
1825 and refers to the concerns of a citizen of Emden after the
February Storm Flood that hit the coast of the northern Netherlands, Germany and Denmark on February 3 and 4, 1825.
Autumn 1824 brought several minor storms and a lot of rain. On
February 1, 1825 the weather had already been tempestuous for
days. But the weather calmed down a bit on February 2nd. The
dikes had been weakened by all the wind and water. The upkeep
of the dikes was inferior because of the bad economy of those
days. On February 3rd the northern wind suddenly increased. The
full moon of that night brought up a spring tide. This combination was too much for the weakened dikes. The dikes broke in
several places and the worst flood of the 19th century occurred.
About 800 people and 45,000 cattle died that night.
The damage in the Netherlands was enormous. Half of the province of Friesland was flooded, 100,000 hectares of land were
under water. The city of Sneek became an isolated island in the
middle of the flood and many thousands of animals were lost.
The flood lasted until April, when the water finally receded leaving disaster in its wake. The influence of the flood, leaving rotten
grass land, stinking graveyards and dead animals everywhere,
had a long lasting effect. One of them being disease and especially the cholera epidemic that took a tenth of the population of
Sneek in the hot summer of 1826.
oured him with a silver medal.
It was a disaster that affected the whole German population. In
the entire country, aid commissions collected money and goods
to help the flood victims. Help that was deeply appreciated and
needed by the victims.
This is letter from Heinrich Südern of Emden.
“Sent the 20th of April [18]25
To the honourable Provincial Aid Commission in Aurich: The
royal government of Lippe-Detmold promised me, from the
money collected by the people of Lippen to help the victims of the
flood; especially to me in view of my great casualties and in good
remembrance to my deceased father, the late pastor senior of the
Saint Nicholas Church in Lemgo, the amount of 100 Rth (=Reichs
Thaler); because now I lost my money, and the necessary reparations cost me a lot; so I'm asking the very honourable Aid Commission to take my supplication, in case the 100 Rt aren't in the
pay-desk yet, please sent me the money in advance.
If the honourable Provincial Aid Commission wants to contribute
some for me or my family, as much as you want to, I will accept
this with warm feelings.
My casualties are much to big. Not only to this last flood; but we
had water in the house this last winter eleven times, and were as
much times ready to flee. Beside this I'm not able to collect outstanding debts; I'm fully without business, so I'm looking forward, breadless and with a huge family, and fearing the future
badly. Only implicit faith in God is keeping up my courage. It will
be all good at the end, and this I know for sure; the hearts of the
honourable Aid Commission will be blessed, by supporting and
The small island of Schokland, a fisherman’s island in the encouraging me and my family as much as they can.
Zuiderzee, was completely flooded. On the highest spot, there With feelings of the greatest respect and thankfulness,
was more than a meter of water. On Urk, the lighthouse died Yours truly, Heinrich Südern, Emden April 19, 1825”
completely because of the high water.
Of course I’m curious if this Heinrich did manage to overcome
The ´Wadden´ Islands met the first attack of the flood waters. 74 this disaster. If someone has information about the family Südern
inhabitants of Halligen drowned. The main part of Pellworms from Emden, I would very appreciate being informed.
grass lands were flooded by salt water and the northerly point of Sources:
Jutland was separated from the main land.
•
In the Netherlands the flood took hundreds of lives, but the •
northern coast of Germany suffered less. After the huge flood of •
http://ppswmm.ppsw.rug.nl/~ruiter/verhalen/overstroming-1825_main.htm
http://ysbrechtum.com/historie/historie_deel8.htm
http://www.schokkervereniging.nl/Kranten/Kranten_1985/
Christmas 1717, the dike height had been raised and protected Het_verlaten_eiland.html
much of the shoreline. But still about 200 people drowned in • http://www.sneek.nl/sjablonen/dw/default.asp?
Ostfriesland.
objectID=759&linkID=31880&txt=0
• http://www.muehlenapotheke.com/sturm.html
• http://www.unterkunft-ostfriesland.de/ferienwohnung/langeoog.html
• http://www.goruma.de/naturkatastrophen/sturmfluten.html
• http://www.ostfrieslandonline.de/index.spm?sid=10553
• http://www.genealogie-forum.de/ostfrld/geschichte/geschichte09.htm
On the mainland, Emden suffered most. The dike at Larrelt also http://www.ostfriesischelandschaft.de/obio/detail.php?id=263
The Ostfreisen Islands were especially hard hit. Langeoog broke
into three pieces. On Wangerooge the new lighthouse collapsed.
Baltrum lost the village Westdorf and only two houses remained
on the island. On Juist, the dike at Hammersee broke.
broke leaving disaster in its wake. In Wittmund, Deichrentmeis- Detail from the letter: „….Mein Verlust ist gar zu groß. Nicht
ter Arend Hoppe and his workmen saved the town by defending allein bey denen letzten Ueberströmungen; aber wirr haben
the Friedrich Sluice. For his bravery, the King of Hanover hon- vorichenn Winter zu 11mal das Wasser im Hause gehabt,
und eben so viel mal sind wir auf dem Sprunge gewesen..
Illustrations:
1) Front of the letter 2) Back of the letter 3) Heinrich Süderns
seal
Page 17
JEANEEJEANEE-OLOGY 101
By Jeanee Janssen Thompson
Courthouse Documentation
After you have studied all of your home sources: Family Bibles,
correspondence, old photographs, newspaper clippings, autograph books and most importantly, your older relatives; you will
need to start looking for documentation for each event that takes
place in an ancestor’s lifetime. Birth, death, marriage, taxation,
land records and probate. Most useful information from the 1800
and 1900s would have been recorded at the county level. Know
when your county was formed, and whether or not it was split
from a parent county. There are books at most genealogy libraries
listing the county, formation date, parent county, address of the
courthouse, phone number, records’ start dates and hours. Or
‘google’ the county and get its information.
In early New England, records were kept at the town level. John
Gray’s children were listed between the sale of Martin Dale’s city
lot to Gershom Post and the death record of the widow Baxter. If
the town records have not been indexed, you will need to read
them page-by-page. Many of these old towns have a town historian to contact.
♦ BOOK REVIEW
By Lin Cornelius Strong
One of our privileges as genealogists is educating our children,
grandchildren, nieces and nephews about our ancestry. So how
do you make that interesting enough so they will actually read
it?
As I was going through the children’s section at Barnes & Noble, I found an entire series of books published by Scholastic.
The one I found fascinating was IF YOUR Name Was
Changed at Ellis Island. Written by Ellen Levine, it was
originally printed in 1993 and has recently been updated and
reprinted.
Easy to read, easy to understand and interesting. Question and
answer format for the following:
♦ Why did people leave their homelands?
♦ Why did people come to America?
♦ What did people bring with them?
♦ How long would the ocean trip take?
♦ Where would you sleep and eat on the ship?
♦ What would you do all day?
♦ Was the ocean voyage dangerous?
A whole section about what you did after landing is included.
♦ What was the Staircase of Separation?
♦ What happened if you were detained?
♦ What kinds of tests were you given?
And several pages on how the immigrants assimilated into the
population and what contributions they made. I gave only a
sampling of the topics covered in this 80 page book.
Now, how many of you are going to read this book yourself
before you give it to a young relative? I did, it was fascinating!
Amazon.com has it from $.01 to less than $5 + shipping. I
paid $5.99 + tax for a new copy at B & N and didn’t have to
pay shipping. I’m going to keep this copy for me!
If you live or frequently visit the area near the County Courthouse that your ancestors would have used, make friends with the
records clerks. Let them know you are willing to get a little dust
on your jeans and up your nose digging through old volumes. Be
polite but do not monopolize their time. Bring some fresh cookies.
Smile; the genealogists behind you will also benefit by your attitude and care of the records and record-keepers. Some have allowed me entrance into the records room, rather than carry out all
the volumes themselves. Find out if you can get actual copies
made or if you are allowed to use your digital camera. If they do
not allow entry and can’t take the time to assist you, they may
have a designated local person you need to contact with your “To
Do List”.
If your visit is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime vacation to the
ancestral homestead and environs, do your homework before you
go so as not to waste precious time. Make sure the records you
need have not been microfilmed by the LDS. If they have, you
can order them and study them whenever and for however long
you would like at your local Family History Center.
Check to see if the record’s index has been posted on the internet. If the Social Security Death Index doesn’t give you a clue,
Minnesota has posted a death records’ index for a roughly onehundred-year period: 1901-2001. There is also a birth record index. These will tell you if you are using the right
County Courthouse. Illinois has a marriage index available
online.
Check the relevant state and county internet site. Ancestry.com has indexed some of the older records, some linked to
their digital source. Use the digital version of every documentation source that you can find, leaving a smaller To Do list
for your visit.
At the Court House ask if the older records are available or if
Page 18
they have been archived off-site. (Sauk County, Wisconsin sent
their old probate packets to the County Historical Society, which
required an appointment. However, a phone call got a docent to
find the packet and bring it to the local library where they had
copying capabilities. Luck is not ALWAYS this good to me).
land to an adult child with the notation “ To my two daughters,
Lucina Gray and Calley Thompson, for the sum of one dollar
each, the two small parcels beyond the quarry road, for love
and good will…” (This not only proves a relationship, but hints
at who the daughters married).
Birth, Marriage and Death records: These are records you probably want a copy of, especially if it is your direct line. If not possible, transcribe everything: name, parents, date, time, informant.
Taxation Records: Did your great grandfather pay taxes on
horses, oxen or milk cows? What was the property tax then,
compared to now?
Amended Birth Records: Late 19th century births may not have
been recorded at city, county or state level. In order to collect Social Security, the applicant would need to produce at least two non
-civil records, such as baptism, a doctor’s or midwife’s journal
entry, or a certified copy of the 1900 census entry that says the
child was 2/12 years old. If the applicant chose, he could have it
entered as an amended birth record.
Court Records: These records can be a real trial (pun) to go
through. Do you want to spend three hours reading a court transcript to know that your grandfather was the cantankerous old
coot who sued everyone in the vicinity or that his fourth child
was jailed for horse theft? They may give you a deeper look at
your ancestors, but putting the data in the family history could
be painful. Trials for nearby neighbors could include a deposition from someone in your family.
Divorce Records: A century ago the record book for divorces was
much smaller than it is today. I admit to a bit of voyeurism here, I
want to know why they divorced. “Would not perform her wifely
duties….” What? She didn’t sweep the kitchen often enough? I
have read some, where the wife related in gruesome detail about
being beaten or where the children were physically abused. Given
the scope of what constituted discipline in the early 1900s, I shudder to think of what the courts would classify as abuse.
Guardianship or Orphans’ Court Records: In earlier times, a
widow would not be considered a possibility as a sole guardian of
minor children and a closely related male relative would be appointed until the mother remarried. In other cases, the children
could be apprenticed to a tradesman or indentured as a servant
until they came of age. These records would be at the county level,
either in a separate file, or included with probate packets.
Naturalization Records: These typically are the first papers and
depending on year of application may or may not hold earthshattering clues, but are a nice touch to humanizing the emigrants.
Year of arrival and place of application can help with the time line
and migration pattern.
Records after 1906 should have more pertinent data: place of birth,
year of immigration, ship’s name, etc.
Land Records: Look through both Grantor and Grantee indexes for
all pertinent surnames, even the daughter by her married name, in
case she did a quit claim deed to another survivor to suggest a familial relationship.
The Ostfriesian’s were notoriously land hungry so these records
may be extensive. The first land purchase may include the former
or current address of the buyer. Later, property sales could be to
children when they married or reached their majority. If you can’t
get copies of them all, take note of the property description so you
can map it on a historical plat map. In the Midwest, plat maps
were drawn as a rectangular survey system with Section, Township, Range: NE1/4 of SE1/4, S32, R18; while the Eastern States
and New England used the ‘Metes and Bounds’ surveys:
“Beginning at the large oak and adjacent to the land of Mr. Samuel
Ward, South 24 degrees and West 204 poles as far as the large
rock..”
Other family relationships can be documented if the father sold
Probate Records: These are my personal favorite records. If the
index says one of your ancestors has a probate packet, you
want to find the complete packet. It should include a will, a list
of descendants and their current (at time of probate) address,
any codicils to the will, the executor’s name, receipts from
each heir with signatures and inventories. Not many of my Ostfriesen ancestors had an estate that required a probate hearing.
Today, everyone has a probate hearing. But, many of my New
England ancestors left behind wills naming all of their living
descendants. These testators, and even some of the ones who
were intestate, left behind awesome inventories of their possessions at time of death. You can tell by Nathan Thompson’s
inventory that he was a carpenter. One of the wealthier
widow’s inventory gave a detailed account of her household
furnishings, livestock and the number and quality of her gowns
and outerwear. Take note of who did the inventory. It is usually
a close relative from each side of the family. They were required to agree on the value of each listed item.
If at all possible, get a photo or copy of each document and
label it, including the source: “Will of Jonathon Hall in 1804;
Litchfield County Historical Society, 82 State Street, Litchfield,
CT., (acquired) January 4, 1994.” Or “LDS Film # 115000,
Probate records of Litchfield County, CT. 1786-1826, Pages
54-58. (Acquired) Jan. 4, 1993”.
When you get home, transcribe or extract as much of the document as you can, in many cases there are books with these
older wills in print form. Compare what you see in the original
with the typed version, before you accept it as gospel. If it
seems accurate, add the entire typed (and sourced) version to
your history, but include a portion of the original document
along with the old writing or the signature, if you can determine it is real rather than the clerk’s copy.
Happy hunting!
Jeanee Janssen Thompson moved two years ago to Fort Myers,
FL with her husband and many pets. They do not have an Ostfriesen society and she’s recently started attending a Germanic
society—and they don’t even know where Ostfriesland is!
Their loss!
Page 19
THE WINDMILL ON THE PRAIRIE
Submitted by Dennis Faulk
The flat prairie of Central Illinois would seem, at first glance,
an unlikely place to find a windmill of the type typically seen
in Holland or the Ostfriesland area of Germany. However, the
town of Benson had just such a windmill from the 1870’s until
it was condemned and torn down in 1910.
The nearly treeless middle
part of Illinois was among
the last areas of the state
to be settled. The flat land
did not drain well and
contained many ponds,
sloughs and seasonal
lakes.
The early settlers preferred
timber land for their farms
perhaps feeling that if the
land wouldn’t grow trees,
it would not grow their
crops. There were no railroads to transport
farmer’s grain to market
so the few people living in the area raised livestock which they
then walked to market in Chicago nearly 100 miles to the north.
In the mid 1850’s, two things happened which changed the region
to what we know today as an area with some of the most productive grain farms in the world. People from parts of Europe (like
Ostfriesland) who had experience draining flat land for raising
crops began to settle the area. And railroads began to crisscross
the land.
The emergence of grain farming led to the need for mills to process some of the grain into flour and meal for local use. The wind
blows with great regularity in central Illinois as it does in western
Europe. To harness the wind to power their mill, the builders used
the same techniques they were familiar with in their native land.
A look at recent Benson phone books reveals many names like
Campen, Geiken, Heiken, Reiner, Gerjets, Janssen, Menssen,
Hinrichs, Folkers, Peters, Harms, Heineke, Gerdes, Tjarks and
Tjaden.
Benson has been without a commercial windmill for nearly 100
years now. But that may be about to change. A company that
constructs wind farms to generate electricity has been negotiating
with area farmers to construct 79 windmills in the area around
Benson. Each would be 400 feet tall and visible from nearly 20
miles away.
Oldenburg Genealogical Society
http://www.genealogienetz.de/vereine/OGF/index_e.html
We would like the donation of a copy of your family history
for our OGSA Research Center. Please send it to OGSA.
THE MUSEUM AT STICKHAUSEN
1
Walk up these steps and you enter another world, a world steeped
in the past. A world where you have your own personal cannon in
a window enclave on the main floor (1). Stickhausen was at one
time an important fortress and later a county seat.
2
After much violent discord, Hamburg pledged its dominion to the
then Chief and later Count of Ostfriesland, Ulrich Cirksena in the
1400’s. At this time the Fort Stickhausen was erected.
tower on the SE corner of the main fort. Additional building
activity took place in 1501, and it is this tower that is now open
as a museum. The property is privately owned and possibly in
need of more regular upkeep, but it offers a fascinating look at
history.
As a border fortification, it took the place of the older so-called
Key Fort in neighboring Detern and it became the administrative
seat of the “Amt” Stickhausen in 1464 when Ostfriesland officially
became a County of the Realm. The fort at first consisted of a
stone house surrounded by a moat, and of an outlying fort with
gate and maintenance buildings. A wall and a second moat surrounded the whole compound. Count Edzard I built a mighty
You will enjoy the display of early dishes, clothing and cooking utensils (2); a huge dining hall with chandeliers (3); and 4)
how about your own personal jail cell on the second floor.
There is a wonderful selection of displays, antique furnishings
and weaponry. Make sure you bring your camera as there are
great views from the upper level of the tower, too.
(Pictures/Text—Lin Strong)
3
2
4
Page 21
NEWS FROM OSTFRIESLAND
Rheiderland Zeitung, 10/1/06
Papenburg - Meyer Werft is working on the first of four cruise liners for the German tour operator AIDA of Rostock, a subdivision of
Carnival Corp. It will be called AIDA Diva and measure about 825’
in length and 100’ in width. It will be easily recognized by a novel
design detail, developed by Partner Ship Design of Hamburg, which
calls for large exterior windows running through three decks in the
middle of the ship which allow daylight to flood its interior. About
640,000 German vacationers have gone on a high seas cruises generating a 1.5 billion dollar business of which AIDA took a 35%
share. This number is expected to grow to to a billion passengers by
2010 by which time AIDA expects to have 7 cruise ships in operation.
Anzeiger für Harlingerland, 10/1/06
Jever – Yesterday an event with a long tradition in Germany took
place in this town - the pre-testing of the first barrel of a brewer’s
new brew year by a commission of influential citizens. The highly
regarded 150-year-old Jever Brewery sent its sample in a historic
wooden barrel to city hall where the testing commission met behind
closed doors to draw its conclusions. It will very likely base them
on more appropriate testing methods than those employed in medieval Bavaria, where the beer was poured over a bench on which the
testers than sat still for a given length of time. If upon rising the
bench stuck to their pants, the beer was considered fit to be marketed at the full price. This method, however, never did catch on in
Jever, presumably because its citizens don’t normally wear Lederhosen. A document will be issued to the Jever Brauerei stating the
commission’s findings.
Wangerooge - The island’s community council agreed to the largest
building program in years - the reconstruction of the Beach Promenade West, an important element in the future development of the
island as a sea resort. The new property utilization plan calls for the
removal of the resort building “Count Luckner” to accommodate,
among other things, a “Place by the Sea” with service buildings for
the resort guests. Also planned is a four-star hotel. State and county
will help with the finances. Such help will be needed as the island’s
tax base, including the popular weddings in the old lighthouse, falls
short of covering the million euro project.
Ostfriesische Nachrichten, 10/1/06
Timmel - This rural town, part of the consolidated community of
Großefehn, will be the location of the future Timmel Equestrian
Touristik Center. Its officers will consist of the political leaders of
the community which will transfer 600,000 euros to the Center’s
coffers as startup capital. Altogether the community will invest 1.4
million euros in this undertaking out of the total of 4.7 million euros
required.
Aurich - The BMW dealerships in Aurich and Leer have been
closed. The initially prospering business began to suffer during a
general economic downturn which lowered BMW’s share of new
car registrations in Ostfriesland to 5%, compared to about 8% in
much of the rest of Germany. An investor group which tried to
breathe new life into the company has also thrown in the towel, and
Munich is now looking for someone to take over these locations.
Ostfriesen-Zeitung, 10/29/06
Emden - Sales of winter tires began to perk up several weeks ago,
and business now is booming. This is the first year in which
there will be legal consequences for anyone not having prepared his/her vehicle properly for the snowy season. The new
law was already a hot topic in 2005, and the number of winter
tires sold then was double that of the year before. All-weather
tires are legal and sell even better in level Ostfriesland, although experts here view them with some skepticism. A set of
four winter tires will go for $480 to $600.
Soltborg - The Rheiderland levee and levee gate maintenance
departments plan to centralize their offices, equipment garages, and supply depots in Soltborg, conveniently located at
the halfway point of their flood control section which totals 30
miles of dikes and 220 miles of rivers and canals. One building is already at their disposal at the new location, namely the
old pump house at the foot of the Soltborg Interceptor Canal.
It was built in 1924 and was left standing when a new one was
built in 1978. The sale of properties no longer needed will
help pay for new construction. An old dike in this area has
already been taken down, its heavy alluvial soil moved to the
Ditzum area to strengthen the levee system there.
Friesland – A Rußian sailor was swept overboard yesterday
10 miles north of Langeoog Island during a heavy storm with
75 mph winds and 10 foot waves. A fellow crew member saw
him drifting in his yellow survival suit and quickly raised the
alarm which was transmitted at once to the sea rescue stations
along the German coastline, to other organizations able to
send out helicopters, as well as to ships already in the search
area, which was reckoned to be 2.5 square nautical miles. The
sea rescue vessel “Bernhard Gruben” from Norderney was
first to spot him and took him on board. He seemed none the
worse for the experience but was sent to a hospital in Oldenburg for observation.
Jeversches Wochenblatt, 10/29/06
Jever - The directress of Jever’s Castle Museum, Dr. Antje
Sander, celebrated the 10th anniversary in her position among
bouquets of flowers donated by her staff and leading personalities of the city and Friesland County. Born in Jever and
raised in the Rhineland, she studied history, archeology, paleography, and numismatics, all with emphasis on the Middle
Ages. Upon graduating soon after Germany’s reunification,
she accepted an offer from Schwerin, Mecklenburg, to lead its
Historical Museum with the added responsibility for the preservation of the historical assets of that city. This tested her
mettle, as she had to cope with the result of so many years of
neglect. She applied for her present position when it became
vacant. Her experience in restoration work gained in east Germany was brought to bear on plans for major renovation and
upgrade programs for Maria’s old Castle. With money coming
from Brussels and endowments from public institutions, a 15
year renewal plan was developed, the first stage of which, a
million dollar heating and air conditioning system, has already
been completed. Her competency has found approval by many
visiting VIPs from within and outside of Germany.
Aurich/Hannover - A Greater Ostfriesland County already
Page 22
exists - at least on paper. The Association of Tax Payers of
Lower Saxony is ready to present its proposal for the restructuring and consolidation of the state’s 37 counties and municipal region Hanover. The study is said to accommodate East
Friesian sensibilities by proposing to combine its three counties Leer, Aurich, and Wittmund, plus the city of Emden into
one political entity. The tax payer association’s interest lies in
the creation of larger administrative units, and its thoroughly
researched proposals will go far in promoting an idea that has
been discussed among political parties for some time.
Brookmerland - On Monday the church of Marienhafe will
celebrate the 175th anniversary of its rededication. Originally
built around 1250 as a place of pilgrimage, the large basilica,
laid out on a cruciform plan, partially collapsed in 1819. As
there were insufficient funds available for rebuilding it in its
original size, the Napoleonic War had just been fought, a contractor from Carolinensiel undertook its reconstruction at cost
on a greatly reduced scale, the way it appears today.
Norden/Kiel - The North and Baltic Sea coasts of Germany
are well prepared for the coming autumn storm surges. That is
the word from the State Office of Lower Saxony for Coastal
Protection in Norden and its State of Schleswig-Holstein
equivalent in Kiel. Together these two states invested 91 million euros in the strengthening of surge levees while giving
consideration to the effect of predicted climate changes. Special attention was centered on levee sections considered vulnerable due to particularly strong assaults during the past
years. For Ostfriesland this meant bringing the levee in the
Ems estuary near Riesum up to the new standard.
Weener - The operation of the kitchen of the Senior Center
Rheiderland in Weener has been taken over by a commercial
firm. It prepares 200 meals per day, 60 of which are carried
out by the local deaconess chapter under its Meals on Wheels
program. Other carryout service benefits the kindergartens of
Weener and Holthusen. Talks are being held with schools who
are changing over to an all-day system.
Cuxhafen - The heavy storm in the North Sea during the night
from Tuesday to Wednesday caused the 1000 ton freighter
Cementina to lose power and drift helplessly in the roiling sea.
The towering waves made it impossible for the captain to send
crew members astern to lower the anchors as breakers were
continually washing over the deck. Neither were rescue vessels able to throw a line over to her. When the storm finally
abated somewhat and anchors could be lowered, the chains
broke and the ship continued to drift until it ran aground. According to experts, the storm did not endanger the power mills
in the North Sea which will furnish a considerable part of Germany’s electricity needs in the future, but helpless giants drifting among them would be sure to raise the level of concern.
Filsum - Saturday a huge fire destroyed large parts of the production halls of Kolthoff Corp., local plastics processing and
recycling plant. The damage is estimated at more than 2 1/2
million dollars. Arson is strongly suspected, although specially trained canines did not react to any accelerants that may
have been used. The company’s 18 employees are already busy
with cleanup work and do not expect to be laid off. Owner Ralf
Kolthoff is in discussion with insurance and construction companies and machinery manufacturers concerning a startup efforts asap.
Cooperation between police, emergency units, hazardous materials
transporters, and helicopters during the fire functioned well. Thus
rescue crews could be kept away from a gas tank which when it
exploded hurled parts 300 feet through the air without causing injuries.
Leer - The Advertisers Association Leer promised more Christmas
illumination for downtown this year and received assurances of a
50,000 euro contribution from the city for its realization, but a
check of the light chains in storage showed that the entire installation is aging and the substitutions of parts thereof would not be advisable. A whole new system will cost 150,000 euros, which could
be raised, but before taken bids for it the associates prefer to use
this year’s Christmas season to study installations in other cities and
gain a better understanding of what may be new in the market and
at what price.
Ditzum - The Consolidated Community Jemgum is moving ahead
with its plan for a swimming lake in Ditzum and thinks it will soon
have the finances secured, with help from Brussels. It has bought a
30 acre piece of property and conducted thorough groundwater
studies which proved a normal salt and ammonium nitrate content,
the latter being treatable with oxygen. This proposed artificial
swimming lake, though much smaller than the one in Holtgaste,
will nevertheless be a drawing card for vacationing families in summers to come.
Esens - The project group “Monasteries in the Consolidated Community Esens” undertook a field trip to the Dutch province Groningen to study architecture and construction methods of medieval
monastic settlements. From the study of a few surviving cloisters
they expected to get a better understanding of the physical appearance of Harlingerland’s old monasteries and convents Oldekloster,
Schoo, Pansat, Margens, and Marienkamp of which only fragments
are left at the old sites. In their day they must have exercised great
influence not only on the religious life but on the intellectual and
cultural awareness in the region as well. The small and relatively
well-preserved monastery in ter Apel, south of the city of Groningen, now a museum, offers valuable insights into the physical appearance of monasteries typical for this region, as did the large Cistercian monastery museum at Aduard, north of Groningen, founding monastery of Ihlow, which had a special exhibit on building
materials used at the time and whose refectory is still in use as the
village church.
Wittmund - Investors are proposing two solar parks north of Wittmund, one in Groß Charlottengroden with 46 movable 30’ by 70’
panels, the other in Funnix with 25 table modules. The county’s
construction and planning committee is presently discussing these
proposals, including their eligibility for grant moneys under the
renewable energy law.
Jever - 360 women attended Saturday’s Breakfast Meeting for
Women in Jever’s “Schützenhof” restaurant. The main speaker was
Marion Buchheister, pastor and counselor from Hamburg who ad-
dresses these breakfast meetings all over Germany. Her topic on
Saturday was, “When anxiety gnaws on the soul”. She explained
that anxiety grows out of thoughts and their assessment which
need to be thoroughly examined rather than surrendered to
through diversion and sedatives. As there are six million people
in Germany who suffer from anxiety attacks, her address met
with a great deal of interest. The girls’ choir “Cantabile” of the
Lutheran congregation of Sande emphasized life’s spiritual side
and the beauty of the art it engenders. The next Breakfast Meeting for Women is planned for March 10 of next year. The topic
then will be, “Take a look, life is beautiful”.
Wilhelmshaven - The German naval frigate “MecklenburgVorpommern” returned to its home base after a two months tour
of duty off the coast of Lebanon. She will be relieved by her sister ship “Brandenburg”. These ships are taking part in an international effort to prevent the smuggling of arms into that war-torn
country.
Aurich/Emden - Since May oversize transports from Aurich’s
fabricator of large wind power generators, Enercon, to Emden’s
harbor have been accompanied by security personnel rather than
by the police. Since no problems have come up, the arrangement
will be extended by a year. This is good news for Aurich’s police
department which normally spends thousands of man-hours on
such routine tasks. Enercon moves about 50 transports per week
for which special permits are required.
Norderney - Installation of a pipeline to house the cables which
will conduct power generated offshore across the island and tidal
flats to Hilgenriedersiel on the mainland has been freed of construction restrictions governing national parks. To preserve the
environment the island’s dunes will be crossed by drilling rather
than trenching.
Aurich - After a twelve months testing period the local hospital
has received authorization for the training of specialists in intestinal surgery. This authorization will boost the appeal of Aurich’s
hospital for young doctors who are now leaving Germany or its
health service system in increasing numbers due lack of opportunity and inadequate pay. Training in this specialty takes five
years during which time one or the other young surgeon may well
come to appreciate Aurich’s quality of life and decide to stay.
Jever - This city with its history of thinking green, to mention its
biogas heated youth hostel and swimming pool, now sports a
1,000 sq. ft. photo-voltaic installation on the roof of its new kindergarten. In place since August for test purposes, it has now
been officially brought on line. In view of the system’s limited
capacity - its output would supply only about 3 family homes
with power - its 120,000 euro installation cost was too high for
the city to fund, but not for the power company which is always
ready to test new developments in the harnessing of solar energy.
Leer - Two German energy companies will cooperate in the creation of caverns for storing natural gas from Russia which will
arrive via pipeline through the Baltic Sea. Underground salt formations around Jemgum, near the Dutch border, are well suited
for these caverns which will be flushed out at a depth between
Page 23
3,000 and 4,500 feet below the surface. Storage caverns are
needed to balance supply and demand, the latter coming from as
far as the line’s terminus in Britain.
Aurich - The Savings Bank Aurich/Norden has started a foundation with an initial capital infusion of 750,000 euros which it
expects to stock up next year. Annual disbursements from this
fund will be 30,000 euros and benefit athletics, culture, and
education. The savings bank spends 300,000 euros a year on
sponsorships and cultural promotion now, to which the new
foundation’s contributions will be added.
Aurich - The “Bundesnetzagentur”, (lit. Federal Net Agency)
annually measures the electromagnetic exposure of citizens at
3,600 points across the country. Last Monday its technicians set
up its antennae in Aurich and took readings for two hours. The
results are accessible over the Internet under
www.bundesnetzagentur.de.
Harlesiel - Following a master plan for the reorganization of the
harbor which connects the mainland with Wangerooge, work on
the first phase involving all of the east harbor has been completed. Parking facilities for cars and buses and the approaches
to the docks are in place. More than 3 million euros have been
earmarked for the entire project.
Esens - “Bear City’s” (ref.: its coat of arms) primary and secondary schools together wrote and composed their own rock-androll musical, “Mozart rocks”. Even the state’s secretary of culture was present for yesterday’s “world premiere” and was sufficiently impressed to state that “such pedagogical pursuits as the
active and productive study of music and musical history are
appreciated at the state level as well.”
Ditzum - The Tourism Association Ems-Dollart will assume
responsibility for the “Oll Speitenhus” (Squirt House = Firehouse) vacated by the fire department in 1888 and taken care of
since by members of the promotional organization “Our village
shall become more attractive”. The building will continue to be
used as a community center, meeting place for local organizations and official greeting ceremonies, and for private parties. It
hosts from 100 to 150 gatherings annually. The signing ceremony was part of a special afternoon where tea, finger food,
and, for the more daring, “hoppelpoppel”, rum enriched meringue, were served and enjoyed.
Aurich - For the fourth time in four years approximately 150
swimmers and divers from all over Ostfriesland, Oldenburg, and
Papenburg will converge on Aurich’s harbor, launch their homemade floating devices, light their torches, and take to the water
to greet the new year in their own chilly way in front of a milling crowd of warmly dressed onlookers. At an inside gathering
thereafter, Aurich’s new mayor, Windhorst, will hand out trophies to the winners of oldest and youngest participant, best
float, best fireworks, etc.
♦
Do you have historical data on a village with strong
Ostfriesen roots? We’d love to hear from you!
Page 24
GUILDS, ZÜNFTE, INNUNGEN
Guild associations of craftsmen and
merchants were organized for selfprotection and economic and social gain
and flourished between the 11th and
16th centuries in Europe. They became
possible only after the rise of villages in
the 10th and 11th centuries and were the
most widely used between the 12th and 15th centuries.
Library Catalog. Few have been published or filmed.
The guilds governed practices by which apprentices in the
crafts gained experience in a specific trade. A decree abolishing these associations was enacted in 1859-1860.
Guild craftsmen included the following. This is a sampling and
not considered a complete listing of every guild found in Germany.
The following were the stages in training:
Apprentices (Lehrlinge, Lehrjunge)
Young boys who lived with the family of a master (Meister),
an established craftsman who trained the boy for at least three
years, but in actuality it could have been from five to nine
years. The apprentice received room and board instead of
wages. To enroll a son as an apprentice, the family was required to pay a large sum of money to the master.
Sattler, (Gürtler, Riemer, Beutler (Leather workers)
Schmiede—Huf-, Nagel und Kuperferschmiede (Blacksmiths,
nailsmiths, coppersmiths)
Tuchmacher, -färber und –scherer (cloth makers, dyers and cutters)
Strumpfwirker (Stocking makers) Schuster (Cobblers)
Fleischhauer (Butchers)
Böttcher (Coopers)
Papiermacher (Paper makers)
Bäcker (Bakers)
Glaser (Glassmakers)
Seiler (Rope makers)
Töpfer (Potters)
Tischler (Cabinetmakers)
Buchbinder (Book binders)
Müller (Miller)
Mechaniker (Fitters, mechanics) Schlosser (Locksmiths)
Sporer (Spur makers)
Seifensieder (Soap makers)
Hutmacher (Hat maker)
Gerber (Tanners)
Wagner (Coach, wheelmaker)
Drechsler (Wood turners)
Bürstenmacher (Brush maker)
Nadler (Needlemakers)
Zingießer (Tin founders)
Klempner (Tinsmiths)
Goldarbeiter (Goldworker)
Schriftgießer (Type founder)
Knopfmacher (Button makers)
Kürschner (Furriers)
Polierer (Burnisher, polisher)
Kammacher (Comb makers)
Korbmacher (Basket makers)
Samtwirker (Velvet worker)
Posamentierer (Lace/braid makers) Leineweber (Linen weavers)
Schuhmacher (Shoe maker)
Riemer, Shirley J.,
The German Research Companion,
Lorelei Press, Sacramento, CA., 1997
At the end of the apprenticeship, the Lehrling could take an
examination (Gesellenprüfung), which after he passed would
earn him a journeyman’s certificate (Gesellenbrief) which enabled him to become a journeyman (Geselle). Traditionally,
the journeyman then set off of travels around the country
(Wanderschaft) to work for master craftsmen and guilds in
towns along his way.
The journeyman’s goal was to become accepted as a Meister so
that he could in turn open a shop and train apprentices. Another examination was in many cases required
(Meisterprüfung) before he could reach this stage.
Another step toward becoming a Meisterstück (masterpiece) as
a demonstration of his technical competence in a given field
and as a determiner of the journeyman’s admission to the guild.
Often apprenticeships came to be limited to the sons and/or
other relatives of the masters. Men who passed the master’s
test were recorded in a book of masters. (Meisterbuch)
Some records associated with guilds:
Birth certificates (Geburtsbrief) —illegitimate sons were not
accepted into guilds
Apprentice records (Ein-und Ausschreiben der Burschen und
Lehrbriefe)
The traveling pass (Wanderzettel) - a record kept by the guild
which gave information about his skills and verified identity,
and in which various masters for who0 he worked wrote and
attested to the quality of his work.
The journeyman was given a Wanderbuch (journey book) as he
set out on his travels. In it would be listed the employment
records. A record of the travels of a journeyman.
Guild Books (Zunftbücher) may be found in state and city archives, in modern guilds and sometimes in the Family History
When available they are located under headings similar to the following:
GERMANY, PREUSSEN, HANNOVER,OCCUPATIONS
You can also put the name of a specific village in to see if there
are guild records listed. Note that they were not found in very
small villages. But cities similar to Emden did have guilds.
WAL*MART LEAVES GERMANY
Aurich - The giant retailer Wal-Mart sold its interests in Germany
to the “Real” division of domestic discounter “Metro AG” which
will re-flag 80% of the acquired stores including those in Emden
and Norden, but not those in Aurich and Wilhelmshaven.
When Aurich’s “Wal-Mart Supercenter” closes its doors on June
30, 2007, they will stay closed. This unhappy New Years news
was given to the 65 employees and 40 agents of various service
companies working at the Mart who were told that the location did
not fulfill “the economic and strategic prerequisites for a successful application of the real concept.”
As of this date, ownership of the property is transferred to the
Wall Street financial investment house Goldman Sachs.
Page 25
Notes from the North...
LINKS
TO
DEEP
ROOTS
By Cheryl (Jurgens) Meints
GERMANY:
♦ http://www.genealogie-forum.de/ostfrld/kirchen/suchen/liste.htm
An Encyclopedia of Ostfriesland Churches and Their Histories by
Doris Reuter...excellent photos
♦
http://weener.conne.net/index.php3?hid=003269&wid=1321&sid=
Tour Weener (Ems)...click on “English Info’s”
♦
http://www.ansichtskartenversand.com/?gclid=CM_Qy9v2nIg
Search Through Thousands of Old Postcards
EARLY 20th CENTURY MEDICAL ISSUES:
The North has had some harsh weather recently. We Minnesotans managed to get through a very bitter cold February and as
I write this note, the weatherman has predicted up to 16 inches
of snow. March is now here and with it, hopefully, comes the
promise of spring.
As I mentioned in my last newsletter note, my New Year goal
was to organize my genealogy records. Although I am a relatively new researcher, I have gathered information on five surnames and with that comes the usual stacks of paper. I went to
a local office supply store and purchased some Rubbermaid®
“Snap Cases”. The case is a clear plastic, can hold oversized
paper, and has a hinged lid.
I then labeled each case by the individual surname and sorted
the paperwork for each family. The cases stack nicely on my
office shelf and it has ended the sliding, archival pile of papers.
Now each family has their special container.
♦
http://www.cshosp.com/history.php… “Henry Foster’s Vision” by
Frederick L. Gifford...from Sanitarium to Hospital
♦ http://epcc.edu/nwlibrary/borderlands/19_tuberculosis.htm
“Tuberculosis Turned El Paso into a Health Center” by Ascension Munoz.
♦
http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/… Read about “The Influenza
Pandemic of 1918” by Molly Billings
♦
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/influenza-epidemic/… “The
Deadly Virus”...click on “View The Documents and Photos”
♦ http://www.pandemicflu.gov/general/greatpandemic2.html#top
“The Great Pandemic of 1918: State by State”
MISCELLANEOUS:
♦ http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/welcome.html
National Register of Historic Places...link to “State Listings”
and “Historic Districts”
♦
http://www.quintinpublications.com/uscatalog.html
Quintin Publications… “America’s Genealogy Store”
♦ https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/index.html
The Genographic Project...click on “Your Genetic Journey”
♦
http://www.google.com/language_tools
Google Language Tools...Search Specific Languages or Countries
♦
http://www.oldobits.com/… “US and Canadian Obituaries 1890-1920”
Old Obituaries for Purchase
♦ http://exulanten.com/pipe.html… Immigrants’ voyages described
in excellent article, “Across the Wide Atlantic”
♦ http://historylink101.com/lessons/farm-city/story-of-farming.htm
“Story of Farming” by Eric Rymer...scroll down to “Story of Farming”
and “Pictures of Farm Equipment”
♦
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/special/ppcs/ppcs.html
If you find a great site that you would like to share or want to send comments, please contact me at [email protected] (please put OGSA in
subject line)
While going through the stacks, I noticed many undocumented
photocopies. When I first began, I went willy-nilly through the
microfilms and books, never giving a thought to needing the
dates, locations, etc. of where I had acquired the document. I
now know the importance of this process. Many of the online
genealogy sites have downloadable research record forms.
Check through a few and find one that will work best for you.
If you want a copy of the one I’m using, email me at the address below and I will be happy to share. For other beginning
tips on genealogy, contact our OGSA library for a copy of
Jeanee Thompson’s well written article on this topic. Remember, even the most accomplished genealogist was once a
beginner, too.
The OGSA Conference Committee is working hard to put together a great summer conference. Many registrants took advantage of the January 31st 10% discount. I encourage those of
you who haven’t yet registered to remember our offer of a 5%
reduction in fees if we receive your registration by March 31st.
Lifelong friendships are made at these events!
A new flyer is being developed and will be mailed in early
March. We are bringing in new speakers, vendors, and activities for this event. The facility and accommodations are beautiful and the food is delicious! (Yes, we’ve taste tested!) Lin
has even promised to resurrect her Bonnensuppe!
We hope you can attend the conference—it will be great. Minnesota
summers are beautiful and we’d like
to share the beauty of our state. Feel
free to email me at mnmax424@
msn.com if you have any questions.
Tschüß,Sharon
Page 26
Friesland in the 15th Century between Burgundy and Oldenburg
An introductory note: Burgundy of the peExcerpted
from riod covered here by Ubbo had expanded
Ubbo
E m mi u s , from its homeland in the SE of present-day
France to include Flanders and Brabant
(present-day Belgium) and eventually Holland and Zeeland. Duke Charles the Bold
(1467-77) claimed lordship over the Friesians as well, arguing that they had been
and still were subjects of the rulers of Holland. The Friesians
denied this and were striving to establish peace among themselves and prepare for their defense.
After Charles’s death in battle while attempting to connect his
dominions, his country disappeared from the map, his homeland being taken over by France, and the Low Countries becoming part of the Holy Roman Empire with the marriage of
his daughter, Maria, to Maximilian of Austria, the future Emperor Maximilian I. They set up Court in Brussels. Their son,
Philip, was to marry the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of
Spain, sponsors of Columbus, and set the stage for Holland’s
80 Year’s War of Independence (1568-1648) from that country.
In 1469, Charles the Bold of Burgundy was campaigning in
Gelderland (Note: now a province of the Netherlands) and
thought about securing his position in Holland and Friesland.
He sent a letter to the estates of the Friesians beyond the Lauwers (i.e., between the Lauwers and Vlie rivers along the North
Sea) demanding emissaries to be sent to The Hague to receive
instructions.
The Friesians, wary of his power, called an assembly in Leeuwarden to discuss the situation and informed Groningen, which
had received a similar letter. Both sent emissaries to The Hague
where representatives of the Duke told the Friesians the following: all of Friesland had belonged for centuries to the Counts of
Holland and Zeeland; their rights had passed to Philip the Good
of Burgundy, and now to his son, Duke Charles.
He intended to make use of these rights and demanded that
Friesland swear fealty to him, receive “Vögte” (regional administrators) for adjudication, and discuss the amount of taxes to
be remitted. The emissaries of Friesland beyond the Lauwers
asked for time but were told that if the Duke did not receive an
answer to satisfy his demands, he would go ahead with his
“plan”. The demands on Groningen were nearly the same as
that city was located in Friesland.
The Friesians beyond the Lauwers conferred in a meeting of
the estates and sent two emissaries back to Holland to inquire if
the Burgundian had still other demands. They did not receive a
clear answer but were left with the impression that the Duke
first of all wanted the Friesians to acknowledge him as their
lord. Arriving at a decision in this matter was difficult, as they
had to consider the Duke’s considerable power and the suffering a lost war would bring upon them.
They agreed that 23 representatives known for their wisdom
should be elected who would decide on the course of action to
be taken.
Meanwhile Groningen also set things in motion. The estates of
that city and its “Ommelanden” (surrounding countryside under
its influence) issued a call for freedom and sent emissaries to
Utrecht, seat of the prince-bishop whose secular domain they
were part of. They also sent emissaries of the first estate
(nobility) to Holland to explain to the Burgundian that Groningen never had obeyed a Count of Holland, but had for several
centuries been under the protection of the Church of Utrecht.
When the invasion of the Danes (Norsemen) had caused great
destruction and confusion, the town had officially been given
back to Utrecht by the Emperor. They asked that the Duke, as a
Christian prince, leave Groningen untouched or submit the
affair to the imperial or papal court.
To this the Burgundians gave an unclear reply, but in the following spring they asked for emissaries to see the Duke
“before he would take up arms”. In the following discussions
with Groningen and the Friesians, the Burgundians were unclear and contradictory in their demands, so that the Friesians
asked to have them stated in writing. As they had thought, it
was about money. The Duke demanded one silver coin per
Friesian citizen, equivalent to the best coin he minted at that
time, but as the emissaries were instructed to agree to no more
than one “stüver” (small coin) per house, they went home.
The Friesians beyond the Lauwers called another meeting of
the estates in which the Duke’s demands were considered demeaning and unbearable. They decided to go to war rather than
submit and moved against Dokkum which was breaking ranks
by cooperating with the Burgundian and obtaining favorable
promises from him (as bait for the rest of Friesland). The duke
was then cooperating with his brother-in-law, King Edward of
England, to fight French pirates by outfitting a fleet for the
protection of the coasts of Flanders, Zeeland, and Holland.
The Friesians had good reason to fear that it would also be used
against them. They occupied Dokkum and looted it. They then
looked for mercenaries and proffered an alliance with Groningen against the common foe. While Charles was busy elsewhere, that city was making major investments in its defensive
works which would protect its citizens and those of the surrounding countryside should the Burgundian army appear. At
that time (1472), people were further made unsure by a fiery
apparition (a comet) which ignited in the sky and first moved
south while its fiery tail stretched toward the west, moving
north after two weeks, then remaining in place for a while until
it grew pale and disappeared.
While this was going on, Countess Theda of Friesland on this
side of the Ems, in conformity with the estates, strengthened
an old fortification near the village of Sander which was directed against the tendency of Count Gerhard of Oldenburg to
threaten his neighbors. He was attempting to wrest Holstein
away from his own brother, the King of Denmark, and invaded
the lands belonging to the diocese of Bremen whose princebishop allied himself with the cities of Hamburg and Lübeck to
drive him back.
Meanwhile, Duke Charles had been treating with the King of
France and was free to reinforce his army in Gelderland. The
Friesians between the Lauwers and Vlie received an open
letter from the Gelderland estates asking for auxiliaries and
promising to reciprocate should the need arise. The Friesians
Page 27
were ready to send them, but Groningen voted for caution, as
Gelderland was probably already lost to the Duke, to which the
Friesians agreed. But there was disagreement among the Friesians
in Leeuwarden on how to proceed - should they make preparations for their defense or should they just submit, as many were
counseling. That’s how it stood with the Friesians between the
Lauwers and the Vlie.
But the Friesians on this side of the Lauwers (Note: between
the Lauwers and the Ems, now part of the Province of Groningen,
Netherlands) who were allied with Groningen, and who were
worried about the might of the Burgundian as well, renewed their
treaty with that city for another ten years. The treaty stated that if
a prince were to attack any part of their alliance, the other parts
should come to its assistance. Among themselves peace should
prevail, and four law making assemblies should gather every
year.
It was also enacted that grain should not be exported unless it was
imported first, and that beer should not be brewed except for
household consumption, and that only Groningen beer should be
sold in the taverns.
Emissaries were sent to Theda and the Friesians on this side of
the Ems to negotiate an armed alliance against the Burgundian
who doubtlessly threatened all of Friesland and saw in the Ems
no limit to his ambition. Even though he had not made any announcements concerning the Friesians on this side of the Ems,
nothing was more clear than that his demands concerned all Friesians. Therefore, it would be necessary to fight the common danger with combined force. The freedom of all Friesians, which
they were heir to from their ancestors, was more valuable than
life itself and called for a united defense.
Everyone between the Ems and Weser was in agreement. This
famous alliance was put down in writing and contained the following (in part): “Countess Theda of Ostfriesland, Knight Sibo of
Dornum, Chieftain Edo Wiemken of Jever (to name a few here)
the rest of the nobility and the whole population of Ostfriesland
shall enter in a twenty year treaty with the Senate and the people
of Groningen, the nobility, the judges and the common folk of
Fivelgo, Hunsingo, Langewold, and Humsterland (regions of
Friesland on this side of the Lauwers). Should the very famous
Duke Charles of Burgundy invade any of these Friesian regions
within the stated span of time, all others will come to its aide. To
the region invaded first, the others will, within eight days of its
becoming known, send 1,000 very well armed men in the pay of
those that send them.
Their supplies will be furnished by those that send them until they
cross the Ems, after which their supplies will be furnished by the
region they are sent out to help.” They were determined to attack
Charles as the Swiss had done.
Groningen sent emissaries to the Friesians beyond the Lauwers,
reminding them to cease interior discordance in the interest of the
whole. The free Friesians had not paid tribute to anyone for centuries and were used to fighting bravely for the freedom of their
land. They had won marvelous victories against their enemies
Page 28
and had often defeated Normans, the Batavians, the Utrechters, the
Lorrainers, and the Saxons, and had dyed the domestic soil red
with their blood. They had defeated King Wilhelm of Holland and
other famous princely champions. If they put their mind to it, the
Friesians on this side of the Lauwers and their allies beyond
the Ems would be ready to end all rivalry with them and enter into
a mutual alliance.
After prolonged negotiations the treaties were signed. In this
document the Emperor commanded that the land of the Friesians between Ems and Lauwers, which had been free from
ancient times and had obeyed no one but the Empire, with everything it included, i.e., its fortresses, towns, small towns, castles, villages, and fiefs should remain in the situation it was in,
and that the treaties and understandings it had negotiated with
Groningen for its protection should remain inviolate.
The Friesians beyond the Lauwers were very glad to hear this, as
this was more than they had hoped for. They promised a two year
armistice, if that should be agreeable to the Friesians on this side
of the Lauwers and their allies beyond the Ems. They asked for a
meeting in which the contract would be written down. Theda was
informed of this by the senate of Groningen and asked to name a
date to meet in that city.
He testified that he was taking it into the protection of the Empire and that he would not tolerate without punishment if someone were bold enough to arouse discord or exert force against
it. Another document which was given to the Friesians beyond
the Lauwers had a similar content. In this way the restlessness
of those days was brought to an end.
Before Theda had gotten the agreement of all the Friesians beyond the Ems, it was rumored that Duke Charles had brought all
of Gelderland under his control and had turned his army south to
Lorrain to expand his realm there. His departure took away from
the Friesians the immediate threat of an invasion, and the treaty
was not formalized.
Meanwhile, the Friesians on this side of the Ems were hit by
unexpected adversity from the opposite side. Gerhard (Gerd) of
Oldenburg was stirring again. A prolonged drought had made the
peat bogs between Oldenburg and Ostfriesland passable, enabling
him to invade by way of Westerstede and the Lengener Moors
which for many miles form the divide between Oldenburg and
Ostfriesland.
Bypassing the “Lengener Burg” at Großsander, he marched
through Kleinsander, Remels, Strackholt, Bagband, Hesel, Holtland and Brinkum, laying waste, setting fires, and making off with
much plunder, including a great herd of cattle, toward Detern and
home. But the fortifications which he had bypassed, Großsander
and Stickhausen, in the end did him in, as their contingents appeared in front and back of his army as it was stretched out along
the Jümme levee.
Over 1,000 of his men were slain and his plunder was recaptured,
though Gerhard himself escaped. Thirsting for revenge, Gerhard
now undertook several incursions into Ostfriesland through
Friedeburg with the connivance of its chieftain Sirk which motivated the chieftains of Jever, Innhausen, Kniphausen, and Gödens
to treat with Countess Theda about gathering materiel and mercenaries to take the war back to Sirk and Gerhard.
While this was taking place, Groningen had sent emissaries to the
Emperor who was staying in Cologne after having broken off negotiations with Duke Charles who had asked him for a promotion
to king. These emissaries had the right to negotiate for the Friesians beyond the Lauwers as well and were to ask the Emperor
for safeguards of their old freedom against the Burgundian and for
verification of the treaties and understandings between Groningen
and its “Ommelanden” for all time and for protection by the Empire against outside force.
Meanwhile, Gerhard of Oldenburg was keeping up his small
scale invasions of Ostfriesland by way of Friedeburg. Upset by
this, the East Friesian estates mustered troops, took Reepsholt
and then in the hands of Sirk tore down one wall of its church
tower so it could no longer be used for defensive purposes.
That is the way the tower has remained to this day. Gerhard
kept invading and harassing the lands across his eastern boundary as well, until it was enough for the Prince-Bishop of Bremen and Münster, who formed an alliance against him and
asked Countess Theda to join, which she did.
The combined armies now swept through Oldenburg and soon
had Gerhard bottled up in his fortress. His many princely relatives persuaded the allies to settle for a peace agreement rather
than Gerhard’s destruction, an agreement which, of course,
Gerhard had no intention of keeping. To the contrary, he entered into a treaty with Duke Charles whose was invading a
Page 29
town on the Rhine and had to be driven off by Emperor Frederick III.
dismissed, and the Friesian and Groningen contingents of the
Bishop’s army were sent home.
The treaty was aimed at the Friesians and went as follows:
“Charles maintains his claim to all of Friesland by right of inheritance, not only to the land west of the Ems to the Vlie, but
also to the land lying east of the Ems, which is ruled by Theda
for her sons. He engages Gerhard for an annual payment and
obliges him with a strictly binding agreement to obedience and
faithfulness; he engages him for all eventualities and gains him
for waging war on any foe.
Trouble for Ostfriesland began anew when Sirk of Friedeburg, a
friend of Gerhard and foe of the Cirksenas, passed away. A detachment from Oldenburg, sent to take over, was kept at bay by
quick thinking Friesians (by far most of the Friedeburgers were
Friesian) until the Countess Theda could be summoned to settle
the matter with a detachment of troops. Gerhard thereupon prepared a new incursion, but was intercepted and badly beaten and
his son taken prisoner.
When the Burgundian invades Friesland with all his might and
wages war on it, Gerhard shall exert all his power and that of
his people against Ostfriesland. He shall have no less than 600
riders and 4,000 foot soldiers, which have been mustered in his
realm, under arms. To these he shall add as many as he can
from his friends and neighbors. He shall wage war at his own
expense, and all he subjugates he shall place under Burgundian
overlordship.
The son was held in Berum until the end of the warfare. Gerhard
then turned his attention east. After his wife died, he temporarily
left the reigns in the hands of his oldest son, Johann, who harbored his father’s hostility toward the Friesians, especially so in
view of the fact that his brother was still their prisoner. But the
Friesians finally were rid of one enemy, namely the Duke, who
was defeated by the Swiss in three decisive battles, in the last of
which he lost his life (1477).
After Ostfriesland has been subjugated, he shall, if required,
transport 2,000 armed men on ships for pursuing the war with
the Friesians beyond the Lauwers. These troops he shall fund
for two months at his own expense. For the rest of the time he
shall, if needed, receive pay for them from Burgundian funds.
Should the situation require it, the Duke will send Gerhard 600
soldiers at no cost to him for 6 months, so that he may make the
Friesians, already subjected to his incursions and acts of violence, bewildered and inclined to disperse. When the Duke’s
soldiers are called back and Gerhard thereafter occupies an
area with his own forces, he then must, this the Duke demands,
nevertheless hand it over to him and add it to his land.
After Gerhard’s return, peace negotiations began, a peace agreement was signed and Gerhard’s son released. Again Gerhard
turned his attention east until the Prince-Bishop of Münster and
Bremen overran his country and dictated peace terms to him. Not
having learned his lesson, he still kept Ostfriesland’s border regions on edge with minor incursions till Countess Theda sent a
fleet into the Weser and Hunte rivers for a looting expedition of
her own.
The Duke promises to compensate Gerhard in keeping with the
best estimate of his expenses. So that the waging of war for
Gerhard may be made easier, the Duke will negotiate with the
Bishop of Münster to keep the peace with Gerhard.
After all of Ostfriesland has been placed under Burgundian
overlordship, Moormerland, Auricher Land, and Jeverland shall
be given back to Gerhard in feudal tenure. The highest authority
shall remain with the House of Burgundy.” This treaty was
sealed on November 1474, and made Gerhard an enemy of the
Empire he was part of. Duke Charles’s demand on the PrinceBishop of Münster to cease his quarrel with Gerhard and return
anything taken from him only yielded a reply from the Bishop
stating that he wouldn’t give anything back to Gerhard and
would consider the Burgundian himself an enemy as well,
whom he was ready to march against.
The Friesians were now called upon by the Emperor to render
assistance against the same Burgundian against whom they
themselves not long ago had asked the Emperor for help, and
along with Groningen to furnish troops to be placed under the
command of the Prince-Bishop of Münster who was to join the
army of the Emperor and drive Duke Charles away from the
Rhine. A few skirmishes were fought before papal emissaries
convinced the parties to make peace. The Emperor’s army was
An East Friesian punitive incursion into Oldenburg in the Detern
area in 1486 went very badly, but Oldenburg was financially exhausted and in need of peace. Gerhard gave the reigns to his son
Johann, as Enno in Ostfriesland was taking over from his mother,
Theda. In the following year (1487), mutually agreeable peace
terms were worked out, and nineteen years of war and preparations for war had come to an end. Peace for Ostfriesland, though,
didn’t last long, as soon thereafter her erstwhile ally, the PrinceBishop of Münster, eager for a seafaring port, laid claim to the
area on both side of the Ems River.
The Bishop had even persuaded Groningen, which also envied
Emden’s commercial success, to join him in diverting the Ems
River into a new bed from the village of Heede through bog and
heath to the Dollart (then) near Bellingwolde. The digging indeed
began with considerable energy in 1482 but was soon enough
discontinued in view of the project’s scale and a growing fear of
likely future problems and disadvantages. Meanwhile, the East
Friesien hastened to set up fortifications at Diele between the
Ems and the nearby impassable Burtanger Bogs to await the coming attack.
A concluding note: Ostfriesen usually consider all of Friesland to
the west, in the Netherlands, Westfriesland. In the Netherlands
Westfriesland, it is understood to be that part of ancient Friesland
located west of the Zuiderzee, once the Vlie River, which, isolated as it was from the rest of Friesland, already fell to the
Counts of Holland in 1250. Ubbo does not mention this
“Friesland beyond the Vlie” in connection with these events.
Page 30
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
Welcome to OGSA!
Would you like a membership list? We can now email it to you
as an attachment!
Do you know someone who might like a sample copy of our
newsletter? This is one way we find new members! Contact
us! If we missed your name, contact us!
Email change - Gretchen Freesemann
[email protected]
Beggs, Connie, 3275 Co. Rd. 4105, Greenville, TX 75401 Researching: Swyter, Dirksen (Loquard)
Schrader, Hans, 5 Eden Drive, Smithtown, NY 11787 631-9796241 [email protected] Researching: Vienna, Von Hattum,
Berent (Marienhaffe), Von Hoen, Von Wingene, Schneider
(Norden / Arle / Emden), Janssen (Norden), Linnemann (Hage)
Schroeder, Clara Doorn, 901 S. Chicago Avenue, Kankakee, IL
60901 815-933-1636 [email protected] Researching:
Cramer (Westerholt, Dornum), Wilken (Firrel), Doorn, Meier
(Selverde, Uplangen), Peters (Dornum) Schroeder.
Wilcox, Dennis & Carol, 609 W 2nd Street, Madrid, IA 50156
515-795-3453 [email protected] Researching: Janssen
(Twixlum, Emden), Berends (Emden), Lauterbach (Wybelsum,
Emden), Dirksen (Hamswehrum), Rieken
Brand, Shawn, 58286 Co. Rd 4N, Plainview, MN 55964 507534-2856 [email protected] Researching: Rewerts,
Bauman, Brams
Buck, Juliane, 2610 Cornwall Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45231
Christopher, Bill, 13516 E. 166th St., Noblesville, IN 46060
317-773-3656 [email protected]
Decknatel, Don, 12922 Everest Ave So., Apple Valley, MN
55124 952-432-1708
Duitsman, Anna M., 2077 Co. Rd. 2600 N., Gifford, IL 61847
217-694-4741 [email protected] Researching: Claas
Neelen Janssen (Aurich), Anna Maria Frederika Redell Duitsman, Wilke Jannssen Duitsman (Riepe / Schirum)
Duitsmann, Will, 848 Williamsburg Drive, Naperville, IL
60540 630-369-2591 [email protected] Researching: Duitsman / Vissen (West) Friesland, Wearda / Ammermann,
Pollmann, Petersen
Harms, David, 19476 E. 500 North Rd., Fairbury, IL 61739
815-692-2288 [email protected] Researching: Hinrich
Hofker Harms (Hannover), Janna (Johanna) Hilwert Saathoff
(Hannover) wife of Hinrich, Harm West Harms (Hannover) son
of Hinrich, Hiskie Johnson - wife of Harm, Hilwert William
Harms (Peoria County, IL) sn of Hinrich Geska (Gesche)
Kuhlman – wife of Hilwert.
Hartweg, Kenneth, 1 Clinton Place, Normal, IL 61761 309452-5655 [email protected] Researching: Ewen
Jansen, Ferdie, 14 Greenaleigh Road, Birmingham West Midlands B14 4HZ United Kingdom
Koop, Debra E., 17587 State Highway 210, Ironton, MN
56455 (218) 546-6521
Mansfield, Shirley, 1204 Bloomington Rd., East Peoria, IL
61611 309-698-0840 [email protected] Researching: Rabenstein, Dahn, Westerman, Miener (Plaggenburg,
Ostrichfeld, all of Aurich); Janssen (Octelbur), Rewerts
(Ochtelbur)
Miller, Alvin, 3425 Center Point Road, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402
319-393-8152 [email protected] Researching: Muller
(Buhren), Wallrichs (Jubberde), Broers (Remels), Frerichs
(Bagband), Post (Fiebing), Meyer (Fiebingerfehn)
TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION!
By Lin Cornelius Strong
OGSA member Jim Foster went to a Pine County, MN Genealogical Society meeting and raved about our research facility.
One of their members called wondering what we had and
whether their group could come for a tour.
After a short phone visit, she mentioned that her husband’s ancestors came from Germany. When questioned about the locale,
she got a paper and started to spell out O S T F R, and of course I
finished it for her! She gave me the surname, Basche, and stated
that they did not know the village. I booted up Gene Janssen’s
new emigration data base and found the ancestor named Tebbe
Basche living in Litchfield, MN—and told her that he had emigrated to US from Moorhusen.
Two days later they were in our research center surrounded with
the Victorbur and Engerhafe OSB and spent two hours finding
pages and pages of ancestor data. They could not have been happier! They left and I went to my computer and had an email from
an OGSA member asking if I would like to have a book she had
found—on the Basche family! Talk about goose bumps!
Siefken Krieger, Marcia Boden and Noreen Ott recently met at
the Sacramento Germanic Genealogy Society Meeting! If you go
there, too you might want to look them up! Start a study group
with them!
Connie Beggs sent in her membership and included a marriage
record for one of her ancestors taken from data found in an Iowa
church. I took one look at it and could not believe my eyes. I
immediately went to my genealogy program, made a copy of my
Swyter lineage and sent it to her—her entire line of Swyters is
now done! She was in shock when she called me. And I have
ANOTHER cousin! Whoooeeee!
Do you have a membership book? Maybe there is someone in
your community that is an OGSA member and you can bravely
take the first step to meet them! Let us know what happens!
Remember, the Ostfriesen are EVERYWHERE!
♦
We are also looking for village histories for our collection. Please contact us if you know one is available. If you are done with your copy, we’d like it!
The
Franciscan
Page
Page 31
Order
in
Ostfriesland
UPCOMING ISSUES
WILL INCLUDE:
by Harm Koch (Ostfriesen-Zeitung, 11/10/06), translated by Rudy Wiemann
Only one Franciscan monastery ever existed in Ostfriesland. It was located in
Faldern, a village on Emden’s east side which was incorporated into Emden’s
defensive system in the 1570s, although already in 1368 a wooden bridge connecting town and village is known to have existed.
The Franciscans did not need to put up their own buildings but were established
in an existing cloister of unknown affiliation (near today’s Brückenstraße) by
Pope John XXII in 1317. Over the centuries this monastery was the site of a
number of secular gatherings.
In 1400, representatives of the Hanseatic League, with Hamburg and Lübeck in
the lead, held court over Ostfriesland’s sachems who received loot from Störtebeker and his pirates in return for the use of their harbors. During Hamburg’s
siege of Emden seven years later the monastery sustained heavy damage.
In 1465, Ulrich I was invested with the title “Count of the Realm” in the
“Klosterkirche” (Monastery Church) by representatives of the Emperor in Vienna. The first Franciscans to occupy the buildings were “Gaudenten” brothers
whose behavior created so much offense that Count Edzard I, the Great, 14911528, succeeded in having them replaced with the stricter Observanten who restored the trust of the citizenry. As the Reformation progressed fewer monks
resided there, and Edzard’s son and successor, Enno II, 1528-1540, tried (but
failed) to buy the property to make space available for religious refugees streaming in from the Low Countries.
When only seven monks remained within its crumbling walls, they were willing
to vacate the place. As Franciscans are not allowed to own property, they refused
an offer of a pension by the city, but packed their sacred books and went south to
another settlement of pastor’s position in Blaukirchen.
The fairly dilapidated buildings were restored and turned into a “Gasthaus” (poor
house). In the “Klosterkirche”, Reformed services were held. It was located right
behind City Hall and had an active part in the spiritual life of Emden until it was
destroyed by fire in 1938.
***** JUST PRINTED! NEW BOOKS! *****
Ostfriesen Nach Amerika—Jürgen Hoogstraat, translated into English by
Gene Janssen. You will want this book! The lives of the emigrant families that
came to America. Available for $18 which includes postage and handling. 8
1/2” x 11” format with spiral binding. Updated with maps and photo’s, first
time in English! Available May 1, 2007.
Butjadingen, by Hans H. Francksen, Translated by Gene Janssen. The early
history of Butjadingen is the history of Ostfriesland. Well written, all new pictures. If you like history, you will like this book! $18, colored covers 8 1/2” x
11” format with spiral binding. 100 pages.
The East Frisian in America—Pastor George Schnucker, Translated into
English by Pastor Kenneth DeWall / New Updated Version with pictures and
maps. Available in June 2007. Colonies of Ostfriesen in America. 197 pages.
Coming in June! The Ostfriesen, Who They Were & How They Lived, By
Jürgen Hoogstraat & Lin Cornelius Strong (2003 Conference Lectures put
into book format) If you want to know how your 18th century ancestors
lived—this is the book! 80 pages.
♦ Westerstede
The 2007 OGSA Conference
♦ Nieuweschans
♦ Customs of Baptism
Freepsum
Church Pictures: Tettens, Bagband
The Undertaking Stork
Early Low German Bibles
Newly Translated Books
The Emigration Project
Our Favorite—Tulips!
A Journey from Dunum...
Rysum & Emigration
1811-1814 Civil Records
The Christian Reformed Church &
the Petersen Family
Emigrant Stories
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
OSB UPDATE...
If you need one of these books, please contact
the editor as soon as possible as the number of
books we have in stock for these newly printed
books is limited.
Books recently printed include the following:
♦ HAGE (2 Volumes), JARßUM, RIEPE,
PEWSUM, WOQUARD (Updated Version) VICTORBUR/MOORDORF
(already sold out)
♦ BUTTFORDE, in stock
♦ CRITZUM, MIDLUM, (2 Volumes), just
arrived! (These villages are located in the
Rheiderland)
♦ WOLTHUSEN—June 2007
♦ BORßUM—Coming Soon!
If you are interested in a copy of any of these
books, please contact the editor.
OSB in stock: Asel, Ardorf, Canum, Woquard, Riepe, Hage, Pewsum, Jarßum, Wybelsum, Eggelingen, Uplengen (several volumes of the Remels, Ockenhausen, Hollen
and Firrel Books), Hage, ritzum, Midlum,
Freepsum, Barstede, Bingum, Böhmerwold,
Dunum, Emden French Hugeunot, Landschaftspolder, Freepsum, Großefehn,
Wiesens, Spetzerfehn, GroßMidlum, Marienchor, Norderney, Potshausen, Riepe, Simonswolde, Stapelmoor, Wymeer, Twixlum,
Veenhusen, Uphusen, Völlen.
Others may be available in Germany, please ask if
you have questions. Contact the editor with questions,
comments. When books sell out, they are seldom
reprinted!
Page 32
2007 OGSA CONFERENCE—
AUGUST 16-19
PLEASE DO NOT MISS THE AUGUST 2007
CONFERENCE!
♦
♦
♦
If you didn’t get a brochure, call us!
Do you have questions? We would love to help you!
Three speakers from Ostfriesland
Helmut Fischer
Dikes & The Reclamation of Land
Occupations in Former Times
Schools, Past & Present
The Gulfhaus
Andrea & Jürgen Hoogstraat
The Reformation & How it affected Ostfriesland?
Emden, Before and After WW II
(These are all noted Ostfriesen historians, don’t miss this
opportunity to hear them!)
♦
MINI SESSIONS
Genetic Genealogy—What is it & should I participate?
Technology—New Genealogy Computer Programs
The Internet & Ostfriesen Genealogy
What are OSB, DGB, Q&F
Travel to Ostfriesland
Genealogy & the Internet
Beginning Ostfriesen Research
Low German
Culture & Customs of Ostfriesland
Ostfriesen Videos
Tea Time in Ostfriesland
Videos of Ostfriesland
AND LOTS MORE!
♦ Newly printed Ostfriesen books
♦ Vendors with books, tea, kluntje and many specialty
items.
♦ Professional research help
♦ Pictures, Posters and more!
♦ We will move our entire library with all Ortssippenbücher, Deutsches Geschlechterbücher, Quellen &
Forschungen, Germans to America and other great
sources! And we’ll have copy machines, too!
♦ CD ROM with 16,000 emigrant names
♦ Fantastic Conference Center, wonderful meals
♦ Homecoming Tour Reunion!
♦ Many great surprises and lots of FUN!
SEND IN YOUR REGISTRATION TODAY!
15th ANNUAL GERMAN
GENEALOGICAL
CONFERENCE
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Des Moines Botanical Center, 909 East River
Drive, Des Moines, IA
Ernest Thode, author of German-English
Genealogical Dictionary
♦
Getting Started in German Research
♦ How to Figure Out What That Name Was
♦ Genealogy Websites in Germany
♦ Responding to Research Issues
Special Friday Evening Program:
♦ Coping with German Border Changes
& The Importance of Dates
♦ Sunday Research at the Iowa
Genealogical Society Library.
(Limit 125 participants!)
Contact Linda Enghausen 515-278-1982
[email protected]
QUERIES...
[email protected]
Looking for the Hueschen family in Ostfriesland. Renke H.
Hueschen of Eggeloge, son Frederick possibly in Halsbek
whose son Johann H married Helena Kaper (or possibly Helena
Rankin of Linswege. Johann and Helena were married in 1850
in Westerstede and moved later to Hollwege.
[email protected]
John Benjamin Hoffman, born April 11, 1837 in Simonswolde,
Ostfriesland, Germany; died August 29, 1889 in Lennox, South
Dakota. Married Harmka Bujs in 1864 in Germany.
Harmka Bujs was born October 9, 1836 (in Germany?); died
April 3, 1922 in Lennox, South Dakota. Children: Claude John
EASTER FIRES
Easter, coming as it does in the spring, was
one of the most important and tradition
shrouded holidays of the year. The two Sundays preceding Easter (Judica and Palmarun)
have special meaning for young people, since
by custom, the Sunday of Judica was a school
free day, while Palmarum (we know it as Palm
Sunday), has a long tradition in Ostfriesland as being Confirmation day. For young people of working age, the first Tuesday
after Easter marked the day when they began service for a
neighboring farmer or an apprenticeship.
In many parts of Germany, large fires are still lit on the church
grounds or on other open ground on the evening before Easter.
These “Easter Fires” are occasions of great joy because winter
was over and summer is about to begin. Fires were started on
any higher elevation, although this was difficult in Ostfriesland
as there are no higher elevations.
Page 33
In other areas of Germany, the fires are lit on the mountain tops.
It is known that the old Germanic tribes worshipped Ostern as
the Goddess of the Morning and the coming vernal equinox.
But the first Christian missionaries tried to put a Christian spin
to the heathen practices by changing the spring equinox celebration fires into celebration of Christ’s victory over death and the
re-emergence of the sun as a symbol of spiritual awakening and
everlasting life.
In earlier time, Easter fires were lit on the seashore near the high
tide mark. People believed that springing over such a fire would
be an act of cleansing and would give protection against harmful
sickness. Small children danced around the fires holding burning brands of sticks or threw wads of hay on the embers.
When the fires died down sufficiently, old women took home
the coals to start their own hearth fires, carefully preserving the
ashes as they were considered a powerful protection against evil
spirits. The old crones also spoke of the supposed delights of
the setting Easter sun.
MAY DAY—
DAY—TRADITIONS & DEGREES
Unser Ostfriesland May 1998, Translated by George Heikes
Anno 1560 “There are times when obscene events occur while
celebrating under the Maypole, when hired girls and hired men
are wide awake the entire night, dancing, drinking and indulging in improper acts, and otherwise behaving in an indiscreet
manner. The State Offices hereby decree that such behavior
shall no longer be permitted and that a violation of this act is
punishable by a fine of ten Gulden, half of which is to be paid to
the city and half to Mayor Besten.”
The May Pole was usually the same tree that served several
weeks earlier as the symbol of Easter. The tall, makeshift mast
rose higher than the nearby houses and was regarded as belonging to the whole village. It occupied the choicest location in the
village, on the market place, conveniently in front of the village
tavern. Formerly, May Day was an occasion for bird shooting,
but as time went on, the practice was to hang a chicken enclosed
in a chicken crate high in the branches.
More than a thousand years ago, the representatives of the
Friesen gathered at the Upstalsboom for their yearly convocation. The May Pole was considered a symbol of God’s peace on
earth, but the Friesen carried this idea further to mean peace in
their land as well. As with other village treasures, the May Pole
was subject to being stolen by knaves from neighboring villages.
The caused the following ditty to make the rounds:
Maiboom, Maiboom, hol de fast
(Maypole, Maypole, stay in place)
Morgen krieg wi fromde Gaste
(Tomoroow comes and unfriendly fact)
De wilt uns die Maiboom nemen
(He wants to take our Maypole away)
Dan muss wi uns doch schamen.
(That will be for us a sorry day.)
Strong drink fueled much of the escapades. There were eating
and drinking contests and all night dancing.
Unser Ostfriesland, Translated by George Heikes
Village residents start looking for a tall birth tree and it’s brought
to the town square. The tree is decked with green branches and
paper flowers. Soon, the musicians ready their instruments for
the marches, spring songs and dance music.
The May Pole tradition is centuries old. As far back as the 12th
century, it was the custom to decorate homes and churches at
Easter time with garlands of the beech tree. There are many old
folk customs that speak of the May fest.
In many ways, May 1 was especially important in the lives of the
ordinary people. On this day, taxes were payable as “Maigeld”
or May money. On this day, the hired boys and girls began a
year of work at a new farmstead. Contracts between renters and
owners were sealed a this time. On May 1, cattle were taken out
to pasture for the first time of the season.
Mayfest was a special occasion for fun and amusement. Beer
flowed freely and the young people participated in dancing and
frivolity. Because they carried their fun to excess and fighting
often prohibited by law.
A police order decreed by Graf Ulrich in 1677 states “It is a
heather and unseemly condition that in parts of our domain May
Fest and Fastelnachts Beer is drunk to excess and men and
women indulge in lewd acts and conduct themselves for days on
end in riotous and Godless behavior. Such acts will be punishable by a fine of ten Gold Guldens.”
The May Fest decoration motif continues to this day in the practice of a bower or garland of greenery over the door or gateway
of the homes of newlyweds. May Day today is a village festival
with the raising of the decorated Maypole, music played by local
musicians and food and drink of many types. It’s still a time for
celebrating the advent of Spring.
2007—UPCOMING EVENTS
Saturday, April 7, 2007
The Research Center will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
♦ Research help available!
♦ Come and stay for the day—or come a day early!
SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 2007
We’re taking a Field Trip!
German Specialty Imports,
19580 Bernard Avenue, Prior Lake, MN 55372
952-226-2564
We’ll meet Erika for a tour of her shop filled to the brim with all
types of gift items from Germany and enjoy samples of her products. Cheeses and sausages are imported! You will not want to
miss this visit!
We’ll carpool from a nearby park. Call Lin at 651-269-3580 if
you are planning on attending—or call Erika at 952-2564 for directions.
SATURDAY,
NOV. 3 / 10 a.m.
JOIN US AT OUR
ANNUAL TEA PARTY
♦
TABLES SET WITH REAL
OSTFRIESEN TEA SETS
♦ ANTIQUE GERMAN SILVER!
♦ OSTFRIESEN TEA, DESSERT
& KLUNTJE’S ARE SERVED!
♦ JOIN US FOR A FUN TIME.
♦
♦
PICTURES OF
OSTFRIESLAND
BRING A FRIEND!
The meeting will be held at Becketwood,
4300 West River Parkway, Minneapolis. Call for directions—Zella (651) 4522574 or Jean Haemig (612) 728-1124 or
use mapquest.com for step-by-step directions.
OUR NEW WEBSITE!
www.ogsa.us
All meetings are open to the public. Please join us and bring a relative or friend!
OSTFRIESEN GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
168 North Lake Street, #3
Forest Lake, MN 55025
Address Service Requested
U.S.POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT NO. #21

OGSA - April 2007 Newsletter - Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of

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