Old Songbook

[Johanna]

My mom and I do a lot for the local historic associations, and we are always interested in our family history. We know very little about this ancestor other than he came over the ocean about the time this area of Ohio was settled. Family anecdotes relate that he was a shoemaker, as well as an accomplished singer.

My mom sent me some pics- haven't seen the actual book yet. Edythe is our cousin.

Edythe has a leather bound book that belonged to Carl Conradi, your g-g grandfather. Note the handwritten pages. This was his song book. He was a tenor. He also has shoemaker written after his name. Two towns are listed-St. Andreasburg and Nordhausen. Nordhausen has date of 1833.

There are many letters from him and his son to other family members, some here in the US and some in Germany. Some are in High German, some in Low German, and a few in English, but the fancy german script is hard to read, and we haven't found anyone who can translate the ones from his son yet. His son left Ohio and went west, and the English letters tell a fascinating story, but the German letters are a mystery. Meanwhile, I'm going over to Edythe's and taking a look at the book to see if there is anything that can be done to preserve what's left of the leather. Kinda ironic- my gg grandfather was a shoemaker, huh?

Johanna

[twofour878]

That's an amazing find. Good luck on the care of it, be a shame to see it deteriorate.

[Jordan]

Interesting... I just watched a PBS show about the Germans that settled in OH. and MO. areas of the US. (would that be the mideast rather than the midwest,lol). Interesting in the fact that they developed a dialect all their own which as far as I could tell is a mix of high and low german and english. There are apparently not that many people left that can speak or read and write it. Looks like quite a find, hope you can find someone who can translate it.

[Johanna]

Church services were conducted here in High German but stopped around WWI. The beautiful building has German inscriptions all over. At our church it says "Blessed are those who listen and heed God's word" in German on the dome. I wonder how many people have noticed this when the sermon is taking a long time? School here was a mixture of German and English until WWII when German was stricken from the curriculum. It wasn't even restored as an "optional" language until the late 60s. Most of the early paperwork and gravestones from here are in High German, but the people used Low German and the small towns took on their own dialects.

In the 70s, a group of people from our village went to the town of Ladbergen (not much more than an exit on the autobahn now, from what I can tell) and visited with relatives. The relatives laughed at the "German" spoken by our US villagers- calling it "quaint". The dialect froze in time around the 1840s here in America, so the German relatives understood the Americans, but noticed how old-fashioned it seemed. Our school, K-12 in one building, built in 1922, does not offer Spanish or French classes. My kids started German lessons in the first grade. People my mother's age remember parents and grandparents using German when they didn't want the kids to know what was being said. During and after WWII, kids were given instruction in English only, from school and church.

If anyone knows anyone who is capable of this kind of translation work (the letters) please put them in touch with me. I have most of it scanned and cleaned up, and of course we are very curious what Carl and "Charlie" had to say.

Johanna

[viejo]

Fredricksburg, Texas was settle by Germans. In fact, the best knockwurst I've had since leaving Germany (I was 8 when we moved back to the states, I don't remember the three years of German I had to study while there) came from Fredricksburg.

Check with the CofC there to see if they'd be able to find someone to help with the translations.

And your comment about gg grandfather being a shoemaker is interesting. I just found out a few years ago that my gg grandfather was one of the leading harness makers in Philly about the time the horseless carriage came out. Now at least I understand my genetic inability to recognize change in time to capitalize.........

[whinewine]

A suggestion is to check with the local Catholic & Lutheran churches in your area (specifically, those who catered to the German immigrants). Immigrants tended to settle in certain enclaves, among their own kind. Mostly their kids learned English, the old folks either learned English & kept their German languages, speaking & knowing both or didn't, simply speaking only German. Thus you had German neighborhoods & churches with predominately German congregations, Polish neighborhoods & Polish churches, Irish & Irish Churches, etc. If you can locate the German churches, there are a few old German members still alive who can translate the letters for you.

Another suggestion is to contact the local college & speak to those in the German department (also, perhaps the High School- but I would bet those teachers wouldn't have a clue about the old script...)

Hope this helps.

russ

[TwinOaks]

Possibly another source would be to to check with the Amish.