A Laugh for the Seniors...Like Me

It was a very gray day here - a gloomy, cold, curl-up-on-the couch with your wool socks and ratty blanket kind of day.  Then this arrived in the email and things brightened instantly.  Now I know I'm not alone in my senior moments. Well, I really did know there were others out there, but this fellow expresses it so well.  Enjoy!



Rudolph Adolph Otto Friedrich

When I was little, I always thought it pretty humorous that my dad had three middle names...and they were fun to say quickly. His middle names were the first names of his three godparents, and that was the custom of the day among the German Lutherans who had immigrated from northern Germany.
 I came across my dad's baptismal certificate, which was once quite beautiful, I'm sure, but now it is cracked and deteriorating.  It was rolled up in a box and I really didn't get to it in time; however, I did have color copies made so that what we have of it is perserved.

The top half of the certificate indicates that this is a Tauf-Schein, or baptismal certificate.  The drawing is of Jesus, gathering the little children to him with the dove or Holy Spirit above him.  The flowers, lilies of the valley and roses, symbolize usually happiness and perhaps purity.

The certificate says:

Rudolf Adolf Otto Friedrich Elling, born on the 18th September 1923 in Richfield Township, Henry County, Ohio

son of Albert Elling...

and his wife, Ida, born Spoering

is baptized on 10 October 1923 in the parents' house.

Baptized in the name of God.

G. Peters, Ev. Lutheran Pastor



The godparents were Adolf Baden, Otto Inselmann, and Friedrich Elling, his
uncle, probably.

The baptismal font is shown with Mark 16:16, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved..."

I'm not sure what the 7 indicates next to the date...7 a.m. doesn't seem right.  Any ideas?
Dad never spelled his name as Rudolf; it was always Rudolph ... or Rudy.
And he usually just took Frederick as his middle name.  Guess he just chose the one he wanted!  It was nice to have mutiple choice!

Guest Author - The Spoering Immigration

Henry and Mary Sporing Arrive to the U.S. in 1882

written in January 2012 by Jason Snow, a great-great grandson of Henry and Mary Sporing

Henry and Mary Sporing, along with their daughters Mary (age 4) and Sophia (age 3), arrived in New York aboard the Main on 6 March 1882. Their place of origin was recorded as Prussia, and their destination was Defiance, Ohio. Henry's and Mary's ages, 36 and 26, are consistent with other records we have for these ancestors. What isn't consistent is the year of their immigration.

Henry declared his intent to become a citizen in 1884 and applied in 1886. In those records, he indicated his arrival in the U.S. as 8 March 1881, not 6 March 1882. Assuming the naturalization process at that time required 5 years of citizenship, the discrepancy would have enabled Henry to accelerate the process.

Their entry to the United States would have been processed at Castle Garden, the predecessor to Ellis Island before it opened in 1892. Castle Garden is now Castle Clinton National Monument, which is where the ferry to Ellis Island departs from lower Manhattan.

The Main was operated by the North German Lloyd shipping line. It was built by Caird & Co., Greenock, Scotland, measuring 365' x 40' and weighing 2,893 tons. The single-screw and compound engines were capable of 14 knots. There is no photo available, but the ship had two masts and one funnel. The Main first sailed in 1868, and its final voyage under the North German Lloyd company was in 1890. The same company ran a new ship also under the name of Main.

Source for the clipping is: New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, Year: 1882; Arrival: New York, United States; Microfilm serial: M237; Microfilm roll: M237_447; Line: 44; List number: 253. Image and transcription obtained via Ancestry.com. Imaged cropped to show only Sporing family.

**Jason's great-grandmother was Lydia Spoering Loudon and his grandmother, Ruth Loudon.  Lydia's photo may be seen at this previous post.  Lydia may also be seen with baby Ruth on her lap in this reunion photo from about 1928.

Thank you, Jason!

Mr. Sandman ...

Did you ever hear the story about  the Sandman who visits children on New Year’s Eve?
  Several months ago, when my aunts and uncles were together reminiscing over lunch,
 some of them remembered my Grandmother Elling dressing with a black hood over her head and chasing her children on New Year’s Eve night, saying that the Sandman was coming to get them!  It was all done in good humor, of course. 

I had never heard of that German custom and so I asked friend,  Kerstin, from Germany,
what she knew about it.  She did not know that the custom was attached to any particular day, but she did remember the old fable about the Sandman coming to visit children to throw
dust in their eyes to make them sleepy.  Later, I read that some parents then gave that as the reason for the crusty matter that might be in the children’s eyes when they awoke.  Oh, the Sandman must have visited!
 
However, a more vicious, old German fable, written by E.A. Hoffman, exists where the Sandman is very evil.  When he comes to visit children in the night, he snatches their eyeballs and takes those back to feed his children.  Now that was a scary thing to tell a child!

The whole Sandman story actually shows itself throughout history and many cultures.  I especially like this Danish version by Hans Christian Anderson. 

But, really, when I hear the word “Sandman,” this is what I think of…

Free Book Giveaway

Check out my other blog
www.attheriverbend.blogspot.com
for a free book giveaway!

Finishing the Tietje History

Kerstin writes about the

ancestors of

Hermann Hinrich Johann Tietje (Henry)
back into the 17th century:

"Henry's grandparents, Johann Tietje und Margarethe Bokelmann from Verdenermoor.
The grandfather was Johann Tietje, born June 7, 1758 in Neddenaverbergen and died after 1811 in Verdenermoor.  His name was sometimes written Tiedge.  He was Lutheran and his address was Hof. Nr. 5 in Verdenermoor, and in other sources, Hof Nr. 84.  He was a Neubauer, a new farmer.

Johann's father, Henry's great-grandfather, was Jurgen Hinrich Tietje, born April 8, 1714 in Neddenaverbergen and died December 16, 1784 in Neddenaverbergen.  He married Anne Marie Winkelmann in Verden St. Andreas on November 25, 1744.  Anne Marie was born August 29, 1719 in Neddenaverbergen and died January 1, 1773 in Neddenaverbergen.  The great-grandparents lived on Hof (farm) Nr. 13 in Neddenaverbergen and he worked as a Halbmeier.

Johann, Henry's grandfather, had six sisters and brothers:
1. Dierk Tietgen, born 1745 in Neddenaverbergen and died 1820 in Neddenaverbergen.  He inherited Hof. Nr. 13 and lived there with his family.  He married Anna Margaretha Tietgen (1753-1810).
2. Trina Alheit Tietje, born 1747 in Neddenaverbergen.
3. Anna Engel Tietje, born 1750 in Neddenaverbergen.
4. Peter Tietje, born 1752 in Neddenaverbergen.
5. Jurgen Hinrich Tietje, born 1753 in Neddenaverbergen.
6. Christoph Tietje, born 1761 in Neddenaverbergen and died before 1819 in Verdenermoor.  One of his sons, Diedrich (1799-1844), lived in Bendingbostel later.

Henry's grandmother, wife to Johann, Margarethe Bokelmann (sometimes Bockelmann) was born August 10, 1765 in Neddenaverbergen and died February 20, 1811 in Verdenermoor at the age of 43.  They married November 22, 1787 at St. Andreas in Verden.  Margarethe's parents were Johann Hinrich Bokelmann, born about 1732 in Neddenaverbergen and Engel Meinke, born about 1735 in Westerwalsede.  They had eight children.

There was one job of Henry's ancestors that followed down the Tietje family line - the Meier.  Henry's grandfather, great-grandfather, and gg grandfather were Halbmeiers (Half Meier) and his ggg grandfather was a Viertelmeier (Viertel = quarter)*.

This is the photo of a very old painting in oil colors, where you can see on the left side the old timber-framed farmhouse from our Tietje family. When the father of Mrs. Bokeloh, the today’s owner of Krusenhof, Verdenermoor 1, had been in war captivity in France 1944, he had an old photo from the farm and asked a painter, a Mr. Brandt, to paint it. In the painting you see the old farm with its very modest buildings of former times, because they settled in poor moor land. Henry’s house on the left was pulled down in 1890, after immigration. So the photo must have been very old, before 1890. Mrs. Bokeloh owns the old contract of sale.

A Meierhof (sometimes also written Meyerhof was a whole farm and the Meier was the administrator of the estate.  A Meierhof had a number of dependent peasants who were obliged to pay taxes.  The hof could also include forests, gardens,mills, fish ponds, etc.  Today, especially in Northern Germay, many of these buildings are still known as Meierhof.  There usually was an allocation of duties, so the Halbmeier was responsible for half of the farm duties and the Viertelmeier only for a quarter part.

The farm, Verdenermoor Nr. 13 from Henry's grandfather, Jurgen Hinrich Tietje, a Halbmeier, for example, was inherited by his oldest son, Dierk (1745-1820), and he was a Halbmeier again. Later his son took over the farm and was also a Halbmeier.  A farm was usually inherited by the oldest son.  The other brothers and sisters had to find homes and other employment when they were grown.  From what I have found out, all the brothers became farmers. 
Johann Tietje had to find another place to live.  Henry could not read or write, according to the U.S. census, and he inherited a very poor farm.

The family line of the Tietjes of Verdenermoor back in the past...
1. Hermann Hinrich Johann (Henry) Tietje and Katharina Maria Schwiebert (Immigrants to America)

2. Henry's Parents - Johann Tietje (1758-1811), Neubauer, and Margarethe Bokelmann (1765-1811)

3. Henry's Grandparents - Jurgen Hinrich Tietje (1714-1784), Halbmeier Hof Nr. 13, and Anna Marie Winkelmann (1719 - 1773)
4. Henry's Great Grandparents - Dierk Tietje (1685-1732), Halbmeier, Hof Nr. 13, and Adelheit Storch

5. Henry's Great-Great Grandparents - Jurgen Tietje (Tietgen) (1656-1718), Halbmeier, born in Nordkampen next to Walsrode and died in Neddenaverbergen Hof Nr. 13 and Anna Hesterman (1653 - 1713)
Jurgen took farm Nr. 13 over because of marriage.  Anna Hesterman had inherited the farm Nr. 13 in Neddenaverbergen in 1680.  You find in the Lower Saxony State Archive of Stade: "Jurgen Tiedgen disputes with the heirs of the "Obersten Schacht" (perhaps a govt. agency) in Verden because of payments for the purchase of wine."

6. Henry's Great-Great-Great Grandparents - Lambert Titken, born about 1620 in Nordkampen/Walsrode, buried in Kirchboitzen.  He was Lutheran and lived in Nordkampen Hof Nr. 10.  He was a Viertelmeier and married in about 1648.  There is also a daughter, Anna Elisabeth Titken, who married about 1650, Rippe Kruse (1630 - 1700) from Bessern bei Verden.

Some history on the origin of the Tietje line in Walsrode:
The first ancestor who settled in Neddenaverbergen was Jurgen Tietje (Titken) from Nordkampen/ Walsrode, who married Anna Hesterman who inherited Hof. Nr. 13 in Neddenaverbergen. That family line Tietje has its origin in Nordkampen in Walsrode before the first ancestor moved to Verdenermoor.  There are two more Tietje lines in Neddenaverbergen who seem to have the same origin in Walsrode.

Nordkampen/Walsrode is a small village in the district of Heidekreis in Lower Saxony, Germany, near Verdenermoor/Neddenaverbergen.  The first recorded mention of the town is dated 986. In 1383, the dukes of Brunswick and Luneburg granted Walsrode a town charter.  In 1626, there was extensive destruction in the town by the troops of Count Tilly during the Thirty Years War.  In 1757, the town was totally destroyed by a catastrophic fire. Unfortunately, that is probably the reason it is now impossible to find more sources for family history there.  In 1811, during the Napoleonic era, Walsrode became a border town between France and the Kingdom of Westphalia.  In 1866, Prussia annexed Walsrode and in 1890 the railroad reached there.

I am aware that this work is not really finished.  Maybe there will be other facts which will be added or corrected later.  Hopefully, there will be more photos or other documents to add later."

Confirmation of George Friedrich Spoering

This lovely, old Confirmation certificate was given to me for safekeeping, and I treasure it, not only for its family history connection, but also for its beauty.  George Friedrich Spoering was the youngest brother of my grandmother, Ida.  Born in 1899, he was confirmed in St. John Lutheran Church by Rev. Boomgarden in 1913.  
In the photo of the Spoering family below,he is the young boy in the front row, standing with his arm on his mother's shoulder.

In those days, large, colorful certificates were presented for baptisms, confirmations and weddings held in the church.  This particular certificate says that it was made in Germany and since German services were always held in the Lutheran churches in Henry County back then, the entire certificate is in German.

"In Memory of the Day of Confirmation"
Now Denkspruch...the best translation I could find was maxim or saying or perhaps, verse.
*UPDATE: Thanks to my friend, Kerstin (our Tietje researcher) for her help in the translations on the certificate:
denken = to think
denk = I would say, that is the form of imperativ singular: Think about!(denk, denke, also bedenke)
Spruch = proverb/ saying

A "Denkspruch" is a short sentence, which wants to express/ verbalize a true rule or experience of life.
It wants to make the reader think about or think over something.
 I did not investigate the verses given...maybe some kind German speaker will help on that. 
**UPDATE:
Verse 1:The prophet Jesaja  predicted the crucifixion of Jesus about 700 years before it really happened by the words:
“Christus is wounded because of our misdeeds and he is broken up because of our sins. He bears the punishment, (or: The punishment lies on his shoulder), so that we have peace and we are healed because of his wounds.”

Verse 2: (Song, Author: Benjamin Schmolck (1672 - 1737))
This is the first verse of an old churchsong from Benjamin Schmolck (1672-1737. He was a German theologian; hymn writer and author of devotional literature.
Soul, go to Golgatha,
sit down under Jesus’ cross
and think over, what impulse bids you there, to do penance.
Do you want to be insensible?
Oh, so you are more than stone.

Verse 3, bottom left: „Be faithful up to death, so I will give you the crown of life.”
In former times, this was a very popular Confirmation verse. It is written in the last book of the Bible in a letter from Johannes to his own parish, who suffered because of acute persecution. The existence of the parish was threatened and the members were afraid about their own life. So Johannes said the words, to encourage his people to be faithful up to death, to keep up in believing in God,even if they will lose their life. Then they will get the „crown“, actual you find instead of „crown“ the word „Kranz = wreath“. Maybe you can compare it with a winner, who gets a Victor’s crown. And the price is eternal life. 

George was born on the 14th of August 1899 and was confirmed on the 16th of March 1913 in the Evangelical Lutheran, St. John's Lutheran Church in Deshler, Ohio, by Rev. Boomgarden, Pastor.

The bottom of the certificate holds the impressed seal of the church, St. Johannes.
 Notice the rich coloring of the paper and the images presented, all having symbolism, I'm sure.  At the top are the angelic children around the communion cup, and at the altar is the pastor with the confirmands kneeling and receiving their blessing with adult witnesses of the church watching.  The Last Supper is portrayed at the bottom and in the right, bottom corner is the Dove ascending from the baptismal font.  Even the flowers likely carry symbolism - the grapevine ("I am the vine..."), the wheat (bread of life, separate wheat from chaff...), the poppies (death) and are those forget-me-nots? 

Tell me what else you see in these photos.