OSTFRIESEN GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA AMERICAN-OSTFRIESEN ZEITUNG Eala Freya Fresena! Lever Dod Als Slav! OCTOBER 2008 Volume 11, Issue 4
The Mid-13th Century CHURCh in strackholt
OSTFRIESEN-AMERICAN ZEITUNG
OSTFRIESEN GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
Eala Freya Fresena! Lever Dod Als Slav! October 2008 Volume 11 Issue 4 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 -
[email protected] 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 of America. You must contact the editor for permission to publish in any form. Materials not otherwise attributed, were prepared by the editor. Copyright @ October 2008 Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America & Lin Cornelius Strong
OGSA MEMBERSHIP MEMBER 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. 2009 MEMBERSHIP—Send your check for $18 (high speed internet download or newsletter sent by pdf file—make sure you specify which option you prefer) or $28 for paper copies payable to OGSA 1670 South Robert Street, #333, West St. Paul, MN 55118 Foreign membership is $18 if sent by pdf file—$30 if paper copies. You can deposit your membership at Sparkasse Emden if you prefer. ♦ The membership year is from November 1 through October 31 of each year. ♦ If you join midway during the year, you will receive the code to download all back issues for that year or the paper copies. Back issues for many past years may be 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 the membership coordinator!
Mail Address: 1670 South Robert Street, #333, West St. Paul, MN 55118 Change of Address Contact:
[email protected] Officers are elected for a two year term and will serve during 2007 and 2008. OGSA OFFICERS: President—Sharon Arends,
[email protected] (952) 906-9677 Vice President—Gene Janssen,
[email protected] Treasurer—Lübbert Kruizenga,
[email protected] Recording Secretary—Nancy Jensen,
[email protected] BOARD MEMBERS: Lin Strong:
[email protected] /
[email protected] Dr. James Limburg:
[email protected] Ray Kleinow:
[email protected] Jill Morelli:
[email protected] Rick Gersema:
[email protected] Zella Mirick:
[email protected] COMMITTEE COORDINATORS: Program & Meeting Committee: Open, You can help! Publicity: Open, do you have time? Library: Zella Mirick (651) 452-2574 Membership Coordinator: Sharon Arends (952) 906-9677 Mail Coordinator— Zella Mirick, Nancy Jensen AMERICAN-OSTFRIESEN ZEITUNG STAFF: Lin Strong, News Editor / Cell 651-269-3580 /
[email protected] Contributing Authors: Jill Morelli, Rudy Wiemann, Gene Janssen, Zella Mirick, Jeanee Thompson Columnists: Jeanee Thompson, Ray Kleinow, Rudy Wiemann, Lin Strong NOTE: All Board Members and Officers will be up for election November 1, 2008. If you are interested in serving, please contact the Vice President who heads the nominating committee. Distance is not an problem as we can also tele-conference all meetings.
OGSA MISSION STATEMENT 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.
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OCTOBER 2008 MOIN, ALLE! By the time you read this, I’ll be in Ostfriesland for the second time this year. There are, however, no complaints from me. Some of the nicest people in the world are there. Come along with me next Spring! I don’t know about you, but summer was really not long enough. Especially in this part of the U.S. where summer weather is treasured.
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
Inside this issue: An 1853 Auction
4-8
New board members/officers are on the agenda for the coming year. You should receive a ballot in the mail before October 10th—please send it in immediately to get your vote counted. This is YOUR organization. See bottom of this page for more details.
Ede Klaassen Kriens & Martje Jaspers Buurma; OSB Update
I think you will really enjoy the article on an auction in the 1800’s. It gives you a look into the possessions that a family had accumulated—and the reason it had to be sold. Thanks to Jill for her excellent research skills. Do you have something like this that you can share with us? We all benefit from sharing!
Prinz Heinrich
The January issue will feature emigration—you will not want to miss this issue. Stories that should be preserved for future generations—we don’t want them lost forever. Contact me at 651-269-3580 or email
[email protected] to find out how you can share your family stories. If we have enough of them, this can be an annual edition. What are you waiting for?
War, Crime & a Lack of Fat
19
Ostfriesland & Batavian Republic
20
A Time for War & Revolution
21
Hay Hotels
22
Links to Deep Roots
23
Member News, Letter from Loquard
23 23
Technology 101 Notes from North
24 24
Bombing of Esens
25,26
Which should serve as a reminder that you need to send in your membership dues today. You will not want to miss the next issue. Please note that there is a handy form in this newsletter with membership information. Why not consider a membership as a holiday gift for a family member—it’s the gift they will enjoy for an entire year! Also included is an order form with all sorts of books and other items that you may enjoy. Make sure you read the “Travels in the North of Germany”—page 27. You may be reading about YOUR ancestors—and maybe you will find some pride in your ancestry, too. Do you know what a hay hotel is? Check out the article on page 22. So many of you commented on the Dollart article and how much you enjoyed that. Write to Rudy at
[email protected] and thank him for all his translations! Eleven years ago there was nearly nothing written in English about the history of Ostfriesland—we’ve come a long way! Norman Hensley won the photo contest for July—no one can identify the picture in the April edition? Hint—it’s in Emden. Of course, Norm was on the May trip and saw TULIP vases. We visited Keukenhof in The Netherlands and there was an abundance of tulips of every shape and size there. But I’m happy that some of you are reading the newsletter and contacted me about it. Ideas for other contests? There is a new brochure for the Moordorf Moormuseum in English now. Gene Janssen and I volunteered our time to help them with this project, he translated the German into English and I added the pictures and editing. If you would like a pdf copy, please contact me—it will be available by November 1 after it is proofed in Ostfriesland. We have formatted it so that the brochure will eventually be in Dutch and French, too. This is a wonderful museum and if you are in Ostfriesland, please visit. They are a non-profit organization and donations are always welcomed. And tea and desserts in their small café are not to be missed! This is our last issue of the year, please renew promptly, so we don’t have to mail you a reminder post card. It is appreciated. Enjoy the beautiful Fall weather and have a blessed holiday season. News Editor, Lin Strong
IMPORTANT! OGSA members who have applied to be on the Board of Directors for the 2009-2010 term are as follows: Gene Janssen Lübbert Kruizenga Nancy Jensen Roger Peters Mardelle Decamp DeeAnn Johnson Lin Strong Sharon Arends Zella Mirick Rick Gersema Ray Kleinow When you get your ballot, you will vote for nine members for the Board. If you do not get a ballot by the time you receive this newsletter by postal mail, contact
[email protected] immediately. Your vote counts! 3
Amt Emden
News from Ostfriesland Strackholt’s Church Strackholt & Environs
8
9-13 14 15-16 17 18-19
Rural Development Projects Nature Protection Association
26 26
Travels in the North of Germany
27
Mapping Officals in the Old District of Wittmund New Members
28 29,30 30
Upcoming Issues, Letters
31
Upcoming Events, Programs
32
Membership Form
Insert
W E’ RE ON THE WEB! www.ogsa.us
Send in your membership renewal today! Next year’s issues will be even better!
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
Auction: Estate of Ede Klaassen Kriens and Martje Jaspers Buurma Surnames included in article: Aikermann, Bornkenck, Buseman, Buurma, Cramer, Dreesmann, Drenbur, Dreye, Drye, Eekhoff, Ennenga, Faralaer, Focken, Fockern, Foiken, Franken, Freiborg, Freiling, Geerdes, Groenwoeld, Hadlander(s), Hahen, Hayen, Herens, Horenga, Horst, Ibeling, Jongling, Kampen, Klosteroboer, Koenen, Kriens, Kuper, Lebens, Leerhoff, Lengen, Lenhoff, Luppens, Muhring, Muller, Nanninga, Norrmann, Rave, Reker, Ricks, Rieks, Ryks, Schappers, Schippen, Schipper, Schmidt, Schulte, Sebens, Siefker, Siefkes, Siemens, Tebbens, Venenga, Vierkant, Viertaken, Wesermann, Wienenga, Wientjes, Wirtjes, Wolterman, Wolthuis ______________________________________ Submitted by Jill Morelli The Homecoming Tour of 2005 to Ostfriesland sponsored by the Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America (OGSA) offered me the opportunity to learn about the culture of the region where our ancestors called home. I was fully aware that this was not a research trip, but I was surprised how much research I accomplished, primarily due to the helpfulness of researchers and historians in the area. One such event took place when we toured the Heimatmuseum in Weener. There, the caretaker of the records (and rescuer of records from the dump!), Frau Popkes assisted us in finding records of our ancestors which were recorded in the mid 1800’s by the Notary Public, Teodor Wilhelm Cramer. One of those documents was the auction record of the sale of the effects of my great-great grandparents. Due to the fastidious nature of the notary to record names of purchasers and their villages of residence, this document may be of interest to a wider audience than just my more narrow interests, so it seems reasonable to share it with you. Those of you who have relatives in the region may find your ancestor here; those of you who do not, may find this “snapshot” of the possessions of one Ostfriesian family in the mid1860’s of interest on a cultural level.
No.
Item
Tlr. Gr. Name of Purchaser
1.
Shovel and ??
8
Jürgen Peters Fockern
Tichelwarf
2.
Various
5
Gerd Vierkant
do. (do = ditto)
3
1 basket w/ weights and 1 rake
6
Jürgen Ochers Focken
do.
4.
Various
1
Martinus Franken
Beschotenweg
5.
1 spade, 1 hoe
15
Hinderk Kampen
Tichelwarf
6.
1 manure fork, 1 hoe
7
Hinderk Herens
Holthusen
7.
1 potato sieve
5
Jasper Kriens
Tichelwarf
8
1 yarn spool
9
Bavid Dreye
9
1 pot
5
Geerd Herens
Holthusen
10
1 yoke and ???
15
Cornelius Leerhoff
Tichelwarf
11.
1 pot, 1 ?, 1 board
5
Geerd Herens
Holthusen
12
Various
15
Wubbelt Schulte
Beschotenweg
13
1 peat crate
12
Geerd Vierkant
Tichelwarf
14.
1 barrel
9
Carl Hadlander
Weenermoor
15.
2 foot stouds
15
Jan Harms Luppen
Holthusen
16
1 hatchet
10
Hinr. Viertaken (?)
Tichelwarf
17
1 pail
8
Jan ???
do.
18
1 basket and 1 scarf
8
Carl Hadlanders
Weenermoor
19
2 wash tubs
8
Jan Muhring
Bunde
20
1 tub
7
Jasper Kriens
Tichelwarf
21
1 scarf
12
Gerd Vierkant
do
22.
1 wash tub
2
8
Harm Poeter Reker
do
23.
???
1
5
Hake Klosterboer
do
24.
1 basket, 1 winch
8
Hinderk Kampen
do
25
1 ??? w/ accessories
4
Jasper Kriens
do
26.
1 ladder
1
6
do
do
27
1 clothes rack
6
Jan Hinr. Franken
do
28
1 hoe, 1 peat spade
2
Hindr Herens
Holthusen
29.
1 box
10
Claas Wesermann
Beschotenweg
30
1 tea kettle
7
Gerd Vierkant
Tichelwarf
31
2 pots
7
Jan Harms Luppen
Holthusen
32
1 pitcher
7
Gerd Woltermann
Beschotenweg
33
3 pots
5
Carl Hadlander
Weenermoor
34
1 coffee kettle
Hake Klosterboer
Tichelwarf
4
1
1
Residence
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
It is unknown exactly where the sale took place; however, it can be assumed that it was on the property of the deceased. Since a journey of a few miles was a major undertaking it can be assumed that this document probably identifies some residents who lived in the Rhiederland area of Ostfriesland.
No.
Item
35
1 bowl, 1 pot
2
Jan Muhring
Bunde
36
2 pots
1
Carl Hadlander
Weenermoor
37
do
4
Jan Horenga
Tichelwarf
38
do
4
Hartog Tebbens (?)
do
39
1 mirror
Klaas Krien & J. Kriens
Bunde
40
1 lamp, 1 book
3
Geerd Herens
Holthusen
41
1 bowl, 2 figurines
10
Cornelius Jongling (?)
Beschotenweg
42
1 book
14
Wirtje Nannenga
do
1 tea pot
6
Abbe Hind. Horst
Tichelwarf
1 chopping knife
13
Jasper Kriens
do
45
1 tea container, etc
7
Moedje Muller
do
46
???
3
Jan Muhring
Bunde
47
1 tea pot, 1 glass
7
Weert Hayen
Tichelwarf
48
Various
4
Martinus Franken
Beschotenweg
49
Various tea things
4
Cornelius ???
do
50
3 cups
5
Claas Kriens
Bunde
51
2 bowls
5
Geerd Vierkant
Tichelwarf
52
5 plates, 2 pitchers
5
Jasper Kriens
do
53
2 plates, 6 cups
Abel Haken
do
The estate of Ede Klaassen Kriens and Martje 43 Jaspers Buurma was resolved with a sale of 44 property, primarily personal effects, by the heirs. Ede Kriens died in 1854 and Martje Buurma died in August of 1863. Surviving them, as the immediate heirs, were their daughters, Eda Klaassen Kriens (married to Harm Boews Ryks/ Ricks/Riks), and Martje Eden Kriens (married to Jan Harms Luppens); a son, Jasper Eden Kriens (married to Nantje Otten Ibeling); a grandson, Klaas Kriens, unmarried; and three minor grandchildren, Grietje, Martje and Eda Weintjes/ Wienenga, daughters of Grietje Eden Kriens, deceased. Grietje Wientjes/Wienenga is my great-grandmother.
Tlr. Gr. Name of Purchaser
1
1
1
Residence
54
2 bowls
15
Jan Muhring
Bunde
The sale was conducted by the Notary Public, Teodor Cramer of Weener on 18 September 1863. Prior to the sale, an agreement was reached which outlined the rules of the auction and payment, which are not so dissimilar from the rules we would find today. At the time of the sale, a list was made of purchasers, what they purchased, and the amount paid in Taler/ Groshen (30 Groshen to one Taler).
55
1 ??, 1 bottle
4
Hinr. Schmidt
Tichelwarf
56
1 bottle 4 glasses
7
Gerd Koenen
Beschotenweg
57
1 bottle, 2 salt glasses
14
Harm D. Ricks
Tichelwarf
58
1 misc. spoons
13
Jasper Kriens
do
59
???
9
Jan Muhring
Bunde
60
1 three legged stool and 1 crock
7
Hake Klasterboer
Tichelwarf
The sale sheet gives an overview of the types of things that a family might own and thereby is a “window” to their world. The items auctioned fell into three categories: 1) farm implements and working tools, 2) clothing, bed linens, and housewares, 3) farm animals and use of land.
61
2 coffee creamers, 1 lamp
8
Gerd Herens
Hotlheide
62
2 irons, 1 pan
11
Jurgen Peters Foiken
Tichelwarf
63
???
11
Jan Wirtjes
Mühlenwarf
64
1 cake iron
10
Jaspers Kriens
Tichelwarf
65
1 coffee mill, 1 sieve
12
do
do
Some of the items such as peat forks and sieves were undoubtedly typical items one would expect to find in the Ostfriesen farm home. Other items such as two books, two figurines, a decorated plate and a can valued at 55 Groshen tell us that this family had disposable income to purchase decorative items.
66
1 spinning wheel
18
Harm Boels Ricks
???
67
1 hearth chain
2
Eilert Siefkes
Tichelwarf
68
1 pot
1
1
Berend Farelaer
do
69
do
7
Mishel Jans Kuper
Holtheide
70
1 tongs
8
Eilert Siefker
Tichelwarf
71
1 pot
1
10
Jasper Kriens
do
1 iron
1
5
Eppe Dreesmann
Mühlenwarf
The pattern of the sale of items is not dissimilar 72 to an auction of today. The smaller items were auctioned off first before the larger more valu-
5
1
1
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
able items. My thanks go to Rudy Wiemann for the translation. I have taken the liberty of gently modifying the German syntax and the form of his translation to make the document more readable for contemporary audiences; therefore, all mistakes are mine. There are items that do not have a contemporary translations or are too faded or difficult to read; these are noted with a ???. Where I did the best I could, but there is still some doubt as to the script, I noted it with a ?.
No.
Item
Tlr. Gr. Name of Purchaser
Residence
73
1 glass cabinet
1
2
Harm Berends Siemens
Holthusen
74
1 bed warmer
1
1
Jurge Pehen Focken
Tichelwarf
75
2 slippers shoes
6
Berend B. Shippen
Holthusen
76
???
12
Gerd Herens
do
77
4# wool @ 16 Groschen
4
Ede Rieks & Jasper Kriens Bunde & Tichelwarf
78
1 batch
16
Gerd Herens
Holtheide
79
4 chairs @ 14 Groschen
2
16
Berend Luirs Schippen
Tichelwarf
80
2 chairs @ 15 Groschen
1
10
Jan Eekhoff
Boen
81
2 shirts
10
Martinus Franken
Beschotenweg
82
do
1
83
1 batch of clothes for children
1
84
3
Berend Berents Schappers Holtheide 8
Jasper Kriens
Tichelwarf
2 bed sheets
15
Martinus Franken
Beschotenweg
85
1 hat, 1 overcoat
6
Wubbe Geerds Groenwoeld
Tichelwarf
Upon initiated request of the heirs of the departed married couple, Ede Kriens and Martje Jaspers Burma, in Tichelwarf did today the undersigned royal Hannoverian notary public, Theodor Wilhelm Cramer, residing in Weener to this place conduct the public sale of the above remains of furnishings and fixtures. To this merchandise have the applicants personally appeared and the auction conducted according to the following conditions.
86
3 towels
16
B. B. Shipper
Holtheide
87
2 bed sheets
1
10
Jasper Kriens
Tichelwarf
88
???
1
Klaas & Jasper Kriens
do
89
1 lady’s jacket
1
2
Aald. Hind Geerdes
Beschotenweg
90
1 apron
19
Jan Harms Luppen
Holthusen
91
do
1
Abbo Hind. Horst
Tichelwarf
92
2 chimney clothes
14
David Drye
Beshotensweg
Paragraph 1: The sale should be on a three month payment period and every buyer bound within the same time frame. From what is recorded today, the purchaser shall pay the awarded purchase price with an additional amount of five percent for the notary taken as guarantee.
93
1 chest cloth , 1 cloth
7
do
do
94
1 little jacket
2
11
Michel Aikermann
Weener
95
1 skirt
4
do
do
96
do
1
10
Eilert Wolthuis
Tichelwarf
97
1 little jacket
1
16
Jan van Lengen
Mühlenwarf
98
1 skirt
1
11
Peter Eggers Ennenga
Tichelwarf
99
1 apron
1
6
Berent Buseman
do
100
1 little jacket
1
6
Harm B. Ricks
do
101
1 skirt
2
10
Jan Wirtjes
Mühlenwarf
102
1 jacket
3
Berent Luurs Schippen
Tichelwarf
103
1 (feather) tick
18
5
Hake Klosterboer
do
104
1 mattress
7
15
Ibeling Ibeling
Mühlenwarf
105
2 pillows
1
16
Peter Eggers Ennenga
Tichelwarf
106
1 cushion
1
10
Christian Drenbur
Mühlenwarf
107
1 bed cover
2
Hind. Norrmann
Beschotenweg
The document begins….. Negotiated in Tichelwarf in the residence of the deceased land user, Ede Kriens on the seventh of September eighteen hundred three and sixty .
Presently circulating Hannoverian silver coins of a guilder Dutch shall equate to six good Groschen ??? as calculated but to the exclusion of all other methods of payment in paper or metal. The notary herewith in his residence in Weener is charged with the levying, collecting and forcible collecting from an individual the sum of cash and fee to pay. Paragraph 2. Possession of the sale items shall occur at once with the extra charge to the buyers be transferred. The purchasers, because deficiencies and fault are possible, are not entitled to restitution to demand nor are they al-
1
6
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
No.
Item
Tlr. Gr. Name of Purchaser
Residence
108
2 pillow cases
1
do
do
109
1 decorative plate
15
Jasper Kriens
Tichelwarf
110
???
10
Jan Lebens
Tichelwarf
111
1 batch of caps
7
Harm Freiling
Boen
lowed to step back from the purchase.
112
do
15
Frans Upkes Venenga
Beschotenweg
113
???
5
???
???
114
1 chest of drawers
4
Folkert Rave
Tichelwarf
Paragraph 3: Every buyer shall upon demand designate a secure absolute guarantor and the guarantor shall be responsible should the buyer first renounce their obligations.
115
1 corner cabinet
4
Hake klosterboer
do
116
??? (a cabinet of some type, childs?
6
Hind. V. Aiken
do
117
1 wall clock
8
Klaas & Jasper Kriens
do
118
1 smelling salt box
1
19
Hinderk Martens Wolthuis do
119
1 money purse with a 3 snap closure
10
do
do
120
1 hen with 11 chicks
1
19
Eppe Dreesmann
Mühlenwarf
121
2 chickens
1
3
Hrk. Mart. Wolthuis
Tichelwarf
122
???
1
1
Jasper Kriens
do
123
???
16
do
do
124
1 pot
do
do
125
1 basket
4
Jan Sebens
do
126
1 batch of ??? without 7 straw
5
Jasper Kriens
do
127
1 hog
17
do
do
128
1 can
55
Aeisse Wirtjes
Boen
129
1 heifer for J.H. Luppen
30
Cornelius Lenhoff
Tichelwarf
130
???
13
10
Meine Freiborg
Beschotenweg
131
???
9
5
Harm Jans Frieling
Boen
132
1 wheat barrel
1
10
Eppe Dreesmann
Mühlenwarf
133
1 batch of garden fruit
3
Jasper Kriens
Tichelwarf
134
1 batch of potatoes
8
10
Jasper Kriens, Harm Ricks do & J. H. Luppen
135
???
1
16
Gerd Vierkant
Tichelwarf
136
1 Gras (unit of meas- 2 ure) cutting of 40 ??? for ???
10
Hind. M. Wolthuis
do
137
The use of a field
10
Eilert Wolthuis
do
137 (sic)
The use of a second field
10
Hdk. Martens Wolthuis
do
5
1
15
Under the same conditions as for Fr. U. Venenga of Beschotenweg 138
1 wheelbarrow
3
10
Harm Engbers Bornkenck
Paragraph 4: Buyers and guarantors shall, if their purchase monies are not fully or timely paid shall on the basis of this protocol, submit themselves to immediate foreclosure which the applicants expressly precondition, to the jurisdiction of the royal county court of Weener in the first stage. As the applicants to the organizing notary personally are capable of decision making and known as much as him, they have given assurance that upon his inquiry they will comply with conditions listed in paragraph 27 of the notary public regulations of 18 September 1853. Listed defects are present and if found by the notary the progress of the auction will not be terminated. There were, therefore, the above conditions in effect to the ready-to-purchase people and there upon the auction negotiations themselves opened: Author’s note: To give you a frame of reference for the value of these purchases, in the October 2007 OGSA newsletter it was noted that a workman in 1868 could earn 15 Groshen per day. “do” means ditto, or the same as the above. As there was nothing else to sell, the protocol was closed. The Notary Public testifies that, as far as has become known to him upon this inquiry, in his ?? ?? the ?? deficiencies listed in Paragraph 27 of the notary regulations of September 18, 1853, did not take place. So accomplished, as above. For the purpose of testifying, Theodor Wilhelm Cramer (sig) Notary Some purchases are of special interest: Two books were sold. (Author’s note: I guess it is too much to ask for the notary to record the titles!)
Tichelwarf
The single most valuable item was a can which sold outside the family to Aiesse Wirt7
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
Descendant Indented Chart: Ede Klaassen Kriens & Martje Jaspers Buurma jes for 55 Talers. Aiesse made no other purchase. This is the equivalent of 3.5 days wages. To give you a frame of reference, a person today who makes $40K per year, would make about $160 per day (before taxes). This “can” was valued at the equivalent of $560 dollars. The author suspects that this was of a precious metal to make it so valuable. The gross proceeds of the sale were 274 Thalers/1127 Groshen. Relatives of Ede and Martje who purchased items included: 1. Jasper Kriens, son 2. Jan Harms Luppens, son-in-law 3. Harm Boews Ryks/ Ricks/Rieks, son-in law 4. Klaas Kriens, a unmarried grandson 5. Meine Frieborg, spouse of Antje Baayen Wientjes, ½ sister to Grietje Wientjes/ Wienenga, a granddaughter • Ede’s and Martje’s fourth child that lived into adulthood, Grietje Eden Kriens, had died just two years prior to the sale. It should be noted that at this time that her daughter, Grietje Wienenga, was probably living with the Dirk Englekes Ammerman family of Bunde. The family tradition says she was not raised by her immediate family, but was considered an orphan. In August 1865, just two years after the sale, Grietje emigrated with the Ammerman family to Ridott Township, Stephenson County, where at age 19, she married Hindrick Jans Bode. Eda immigrated shortly after Grietje and married Peter P. Eckhoff. It is assumed that Grietje never saw her twin, Martje, again.
Buyers at the sale are noted in red. Ede Klaassen KRIENS, b. 29 Nov 1784 Beschotenweg, d. 17 Mar 1855 Tichelwarf +Martje Jaspers BUURMA, b. 1791, m. 13 Sep 1814 Bunde, d. 22 Aug 1863 Tichelwarf ├── Eda Klaassen KRIENS, b. 6 Jul 1815 Tichelwarf, d. 3 Nov 1853 Tichelwarf │ +Harm Bouwes RIJKS, b. 21 Jul 1821 Nieuschbeerta, m. 20 Jul 1848 Weener │ ├── Yde Harms RIJKS, b. 9 May 1843 Tichelwarf │ └── Grietje RŸKS, b. 12 Aug 1848 Tichelwarf, d. 7 Sep 1858 ├── Grietje Eden KRIENS, b. 4 Sep 1818 Tichelwarf, d. 3 Jan 1861 Beschotenweg │ +unknown spouse │ └── Klaas KRŸNS, b. 1 Mar 1841 Tichelwarf, d. 8 Jul 1920 Ridott Township, IL │ +Baje Loerts WIENTJES, b. 9 Jul 1778 Weenigermoor, m. 12 Nov 1848 Weener, d. 8 Aug 1862 Beschotenweg │ ├── Grietje WIENENGA, b. 15 Oct 1849 Beschotenweg, d. 19 Feb 1922 Wellsburg, IA │ ├── Martje WIENTJES, b. 15 Oct 1849 Beschotenweg, d. 2 Apr 1931 Wedde, Netherlands │ └── Eda WIENENGA, b. 12 Apr 1853 Beschotenweg, d. 29 Nov 1922, USA ├── Martje Eden KRIENS, b. 19 Dec 1821 Tichelwarf │ +Jan Harms LUPPENS, b. circa 1823 Weener, m. 27 Apr 1845 Weener │ ├── Harm Jans LUPPENS, b. 4 Sep 1849 Holthusen │ ├── Maltje LUPPENS, b. 30 Jun 1853 Holthusen │ ├── Ede LUPPENS, b. 20 Aug 1857 Holthusen │ └── Willemke LUPPENS, b. 16 Feb 1862 Holthusen ├── Jasper Eden KRŸNS, b. 5 Aug 1824 Tichelwarf, d. 18 Aug 1824 Tichelwarf ├── Jasper Eden (2) KRIENS, b. 12 Sep 1827 Tichelwarf, d. before Sep 1828 ├── Jasper Eden (3) KRIENS, b. Sep 1828, d. 15 Jan 1829 Tichelwarf ├── Jasper Eden (4) KRIENS, b. 21 Nov 1832 Tichelwarf │ +Nantje Otten IBELINGS, b. 15 Jan 1832 Beschotenweg, m. 9 Aug 1854 Weener │ ├── Ede Klaassen KRIENS, b. 26 Nov 1854 Tichelwarf, d. 14 Dec 1854 Tichelwarf │ ├── Martje KRIENS, b. 15 Dec 1855 Tichelwarf │ ├── Otto KRIENS, b. 4 Dec 1857 Tichelwarf │ ├── Ede Klaassen KRIENS, b. 22 Dec 1859 Tichelwarf, d. 23 Jan 1939 │ ├── Geerdje KRIENS, b. 7 Dec 1861 Tichelwarf │ ├── Grietje Klaassen KRIENS, b. 23 Jul 1863 Tichelwarf │ └── unnamed child KRIENS, b. 8 Jan 1866 Tichelwarf, d. 8 Jan 1866 └── unnamed daughter KRŸNS, b. 28 Dec 1838 Tichelwarf, d. 9 Jan 1839 Tichelwarf Sources: Cramer, Theodor, notary public, “Bill of Sale for Auction of Estate of Ede Klaassen Kriens and Martje Jaspers Buurma, September 1863”, translated by Rudy Wiemen, October 2007. Original at the Weener Hietmaten, Weener, Germany. Photocopied by the author in June 2005. Evangelische Kirche original parish records, Weener, Germany, “Tote, Geburts & Hieraten 1707 to 1893”, various microfilms obtained from the Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. Evangelische Kirche original parish records, Bunde, Germany, “Tote, Geburts & Hieraten 1707 to 1893”, various microfilms obtained from the Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. Henry Bode Household, 1870 Federal census, population schedule, Ridott Township, Stephenson County, Illinois, (enumeration district, page no. household no.)
OSB Update Suurhusen & Marienwehr are now in print.
Rysum will be printed in 2008. Siegelsum, Grimersum and Dornum are finished and may be printed in 2009. Several others are near completion! • A lot of older OSB have been re-printed in very limited quantities. Loga, Logabirum, Middels, Timmel and many others that have been on your lists! Contact us for a complete list. Many have been out of print for more than ten years! • Neermoor and Borßum should be here by the time you receive this. We’ve had mail problems. Rorichum is near completion and should be ready in 2009. Thorsten Harms is also working on Hinte. Contact us today!
[email protected] IN STOCK Ardorf, Baltrum, Barstede, Bingum, Böhmerwold, Buttforde, Critzum, Dunum, Eggelingen, Fr. Ref. Emden, Gandersum, Großefehn, Hage, Hatzum, Holtgaste, Jarßum, Jemgum, Landschaftspolder, Loga, Logabrium, Marienchor, Marienwehr, Middels, Midlum, Pewsum, Pogum, Potshausen, Riepe, Simonswolde, Spetzerfehn, Stapelmoor, Suurhusen, Twixlum, Völlen, Wiesens, Woquard, Wolthusen, Wy8
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Amt Emden By Rev. J. F. Bertrams, Geographic Description of the Principality Ostfriesland, 1735, revised by C. H. Normann in 1785. Parts in italics by O. G. Houtrouw, Ostfriesland gegen Ende der Frstenzeit*, 1889. (*The last Fürst, or Duke, Carl Edzard, died in 1744). This Amt borders on the Dollart Bay, the Ämter Greetsiel, Aurich, and Leer, and the Fiefs Oldersum and Rysum. It measures about 14 miles in an approximate north to south direction from Cirkwehrum to Klimpe, near Jemgum, Rheiderland - and from five to ten miles across. It is drained by quite a number of waterways which are intercepted by Siel canals which empty into the Dollart Bay in Emden and Larrelt, and into the Ems at Oldersum. These waterways serve to drain the mostly low-lying land as well as aid the transportation of goods from the villages to the city when the roads become unusable in the fall and winter.
LOPPERSUM BURG 1. The Hinte Vogtei A) Hinte is a larger village and the site of an annual fair. It is located on the northern boundary of Emden. It is home of a registered aristocratic estate and has a noteworthy church. The local parson supervises eight congregations: four in this Vogtei (Loppersum, Suurhusen, Canhusen, Marienwehr) and four in the Larrelt, Vogtei (Larrelt, Twixlum, Logumer-Vorwerk, Wybelsum). There is a Lutheran chapel on the noble estate, the former site of a fortified residence. Osterhusen, formerly a fief in its own right, is part of Hinte. It was the seat of chieftains of considerable means who surrounded it with an earthen dam. Osterhusen is also famous for an agreement reached on May 21, 1611, between Count Enno and Ostfrieslands Estates. Still known as the Osterhusen Accord, it is often inveighed as a quasi-constitution. Wichhusen, a registered aristocratic estate, belongs here. It belonged to the Cirksenas until Count Ulrich in 1466 turned it over to a nephew of Imel Abdena, Emdens last chieftain, as part payment for relinquishing all claims to Emden. Vliehaus, originally a landed estate, is also part of Hinte.
The Ems River empties into the Dollart Bay at Pogum. The Amt has handsome and substantial hamlets and villages, prosperous fiefs, and sizable farms and estates. It has quite a number of lakes, its soil is fertile and grows wheat, barley, oats, rapeseed, and other grain in abundance. Rapeseed is predominately grown in the Polders and is generally shipped from Bundersiel (!) down the River Aa. Dairy farming is likewise important, as the butter and cheese produced here constitute a large part of Emden’s commerce through transshipment to Hamburg and Bremen. Moreover, it has ten brickyards. It is administered in the name of His Royal Majesty by a Drost, a First Amtmann, and a Rentmeister who employs a Levee Commissioner responsible for the levee system. It has 25 Kirchspiele, not counting Nesserland Island, of which only one, Pogum, is Lutheran, all the others adhering to the Reformed faith.
B) Loppersum includes a registered aristocratic estate. The local chieftain, Folkmar Allena of Osterhusen, quarreled with Okko tom Broek over his wife’s inheritance and allied himself with the chieftain Gerold of Wirdum, Habbo of Hinte, Kamp of Emden, Reduard of Groothusen, and Enno of Larrelt to force Okko to hand it over, but the latter, joined by his brother-in-law Edzard Cirksena of Greetsiel and Haro Aylts of Gross-Faldern, beat his opponents here in 1379 in a bloody battle. He then torched Folkmars resident Burg in Loppersum and added the town to his possessions. After Okko’s death, Folkmar got it back in 1404 after which it remained in the family for several generations until it was sold to a family of nobility.
This Amt is divided into the following five Vogteien: Hinte, Midlum, Larrelt, Jemgum, Ditzum
HINTE
Eisinghusen, most likely a church-owned estate, as it is listed in Münster, seat of the Bishop, as income producing property, belongs here as well, as does Abbingwehr, a former Hospitaler commandery. C) Suurhusen. Originally called Süderhusen, it derives its name from its location with reference to Hinte, as do Osterhusen and Westerhusen. A marker on the local church indicates the elevation to which the North Sea water rose during the All Saints Flood of 1570. It rose even higher during the Christmas Flood of 9
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1717. Suurhusen was the seat of judges, predecessors to the chieftains or headmen, already in the 13th century. A local chieftain, Boinck, quarreled with chieftain Folkmar Allena of Osterhusen over an inheritance, which was a mistake, because Folkmar took Boinks residence Burg by surprise and dragged Boinck off to Osterhusen. He later released him upon intercession by relatives, though he kept the Burg. Folkmar himself eventually got his own clock cleaned by Okko. (See Loppersum above.) Old and New Suurhuser Hammrich belong here too, and one sees sizable remnants of trenches, walls, etc., of the old strongholds: Stikelborg, Osterhuis, and Brughuis. Brughuus, i.e., Bridge House, then a tavern, was so popular with customers from Emden that, as older folks are saying, on Sundays the wine nearly flowed out the door. D) Canhusen. It had a fortified residence belonging to Folkmar Allena which was torched by Okko tom Broek after the Battle of Loppersum in 1379. Okko added the village to his dominions but returned it to Folkmar in 1404. Longewehr, supposedly the site of a former monastery, is churched here. E) Marienwehr, literally St. Mary’s Dam, a small Kirchspiel, presumably at one time a monastery landed estate. Churched here also are Randzeel, T5telborg, an aristocratic estate, presumably the former location of a fortified residence, and Harsweg (hars is Friesian for horse). Here once stood a Chapel which served Lutherans in Emden, as they were not allowed to hold their services in the city. In 1666, during the former religious quarrels, it was shot up during a Sunday service by a militia from Emden. The preacher was chased away and the congregation declared nonexistent by force of arms. Its former members now go to church in Emden or elsewhere. The cemetery and a small building where school is conducted for Harsweg’s children still exist. Harsweg now is made up of four royal government Domnen farms and a tavern. Near Emden on the Hinte Canal a sizable (wind powered) oil press, the Bommert (bulwark), Middelburg, and a (wind powered) sawmill are located. A short distance before the sawmill stands a marker which indicates the border between the jurisdictions of the city of Emden and the Amt of Emden. 2. The Midlum Vogtei This Vogtei is separated from the previous one by the Hinte and Sielmönken Canals. Is has the following Kirchspiele: A) Groß-Midlum with Horst. Groß-Midlum, not to be confused with (Klein) Midlum in Rheiderland, is already mentioned in documents of around 1000 AD and boasted one of the handsomest residence Burgs (torn down around 1800) in the area which, by marriage, went to the old aristocratic von Appelle clan of Luneburg. The grandson of the first East Friesian Appelle became the spokesman for the Estates which protested an attempt by the ducal executive branch in Aurich to control the finances after the disastrous Christmas Flood of 1717, as this was seen as a power grab and a breach of the Osterhusen Accord (see Osterhusen above). The result was a virtual civil war, the Appelle War, which the protesters lost (in the short run) and in which Appelle temporarily lost his estate.
Currently, Horst, a small settlement, has a stud farm. (From Internet info.) B) Westerhusen. Here stood formerly a residence Burg which in 1436 was captured and torn down by Emden and Hamburg after a determined defense. On its site a large, handsome house was built which stood for many years, but burned down two years ago. It has since been rebuilt. Documents mention Westerhusen as early as 1000 AD. Since the beginning of the 14th century it was the seat of chieftains serving as one of the judges of Friesian Emsigerland with the responsibility of formulating written law covering manslaughter, assault, crippling, inheritances, and all items whichwere needed and lacking in Emsland. No local chieftains are mentioned toward the end of the 16th century and the estate was no longer in aristocratic hands. Albringswehr was mentioned as a solitary farm in 1472; the name Groß and Klein (i.e., greater and lesser) was added when settlements developed. Mossenborg belonged to the aristocratic estate Groß Albringswehr in 1788. It no longer exists as a settlement. C) Cirkwehrum, along with Cirkwehrumer Hammrich and Kringwehrum. Cirkwehrum is first mentioned in written history 1346 when a Reydolph of Cirqwerum officiates as a judge in a treaty between the Bishop of Münster and the regions Ems-, Broekmer-, Moormer-, and Overledingerland. Indications are that a residence Burg castle once stood here which may have partially survived the Okko tom Broek (Vetkoper Party) vs. Folkmar Allena (Schieringer Party) era struggle only to be destroyed by Hamburg. This small town already had a school teacher in 1561. Of Kringwehrum the historian Beninga writes that in 1375 de vloet so hooch in Oostfreeslant und in andere umliggende landen gewest, dat de van Krengwehrum mit hues and lueden wechgedreven sinnen. (...that the flood was so high in Ostfriesland and in other surrounding lands that those from Kringwehrum drifted away with houses and people.) D) Freepsum, with Sielmönken, once a Benedictine convent, then an Augustinian monastery, was destroyed by Balthasar of Esens in 1531 and rebuilt on a smaller scale. Freepsum’s church was built in the 13th century. The royal government Domnen farms, formerly the monastery Coldewehr and the convent Blauhaus also belong here. The latter was built for the Conbörny sisters who had to abandon their Logumer-Vorwerk convent due the 1509 Flood. Freepsum, like most settlements in Krummhörn, had a local chieftains Burg, a fair-sized, thick-walled, moat-surrounded fortress, which belonged to the powerful Folkmar Allena of Osterhusen. In 1437, it was destroyed, along with those in Larrelt, Hinte, Grimersum, Wilgum, Nesse, Groothusen, and Westerhusen, by the Cirksenas, with Hamburg’s help, to keep them from offering protection to their enemies, i.e., Fokko Ukena’s alliance. The building material was taken to Emden and used to strengthen its defensive works. (Four lakes were once located around Freepsum: Lake Freepsum, Owl Lake, Sand Lake, and Reed Lake, but they have long been drained and their beds put to agricultural use. At 2.3 metres below mean sea level, they are the lowest lying area in Ost10
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friesland and one of the lowest in Germany.) From 1740 to 1760, at the time of the local preacher Theodorus Weermann, a man by the name of Hinrich Janssen (commonly called Langer Hinrich) lived here, who with his heretical teachings, did harm to the public and moral conduct, misled many self-sufficient citizens and turned them into beggars. Weerman, with the help of preacher Meyer of Canum, tried to point him in the right way, but those efforts were futile. He continued in this way and was finally put in prison. His heretical teachings and his fate and that of his adherents may be read about in Melings Church and Heretics Dictionary. E) Canum, a Warf (Mound) village, was mentioned in surviving documents for the first time in 950 AD. Its name probably stands for home of the Caning clan. Its church occupies the Warf’s highest point and dates back to the second half of the 13th century. A school is mentioned in 1581. (From Wikipedia) F) Woltzeten is one of the smallest villages in Krummhörn, first documented around 1000 AD. As in many Warf villages, the church, built in 1727 to replace an earlier structure, occupies the center of the settlement. Thanks to its elevated situation, Woltzeten did not suffer much damage from the Christmas Flood of 1717. Spiegelhaus, one of several outlying farms, is churched here too. 3. The Larrelt Vogtei A) Larrelt, a large village on the Ems with a fine old church and tower which are said to have been built in 1225. Ulgerwehr, a large farm half an hour walk to the west, which may be the site of a former monastery, is also churched here. When new levee sections were built near Larrelt after the great Christmas Flood of 1717, and earth was excavated for their construction, a number of urns from heathen times were found. These resemble jars and are made of earthenware in which the heathen peoples gathered, kept, and buried the ashes of family members. First mentioned in documents of 930 AD, Larrelt is the largest town in the Amt, yet it was formerly still larger and more important. With a fine harbor and a powerful chieftain in charge, it attracted the envy of Emden which in 1623 destroyed Larrelt’s levee gate. Into the 15th century, it was enclosed by a wall and moat, much like Osterhusen and Emden itself. The Christmas Flood of 1717 destroyed the levee in its vicinity in several places and washed out a 200 x 500 x 80 deep hole which took until the year 1723 to fill. (From the Internet: Larrelt was incorporated into Emden after WWII and is home of a present day large VW assembly plant. Worth seeing is its 15th century church which includes the gate of its 12th century predecessor.) B) Twixlum, with Barleen and Rote Scheune. This village was already mentioned in a document dated 1124 and was the seat of judges and chieftains whose genealogy hasn’t been determined. Their Burg fell to neighboring chieftains: in 1425 Freerk Allena of Larrelt held it, later descendants of Fokko Ukena of Leer, then Ulrich von Dornum, who was also chieftain of Oldersum and Wittmund. The Burg may still be seen on the southeast side of the village, between church and canal. The village and the Hammrich farms nearby suffered great loss
when the cattle pest swept through Ostfriesland in 1715/16, taking 397 heads of cattle. In the 1717 Christmas Flood ten people, 60 heads of cattle, four horses, and 80 sheep drowned. In the New Years Flood of 1720 the sea water rose 15 inches higher still, flooding the barn of the parsonage on top of the Warf. Barleen, a small settlement, perhaps formerly the site of a chapel, and Rote Scheune (red barn), a former Grashaus (farm and administrative office), both west of town, are churched in Twixlum. (Note: Twixlum was incorporated into Emden in 1972.) C) Logumer Vorwerk once belonged to the village Logum, or Loge, which sustained major flood damage during the 16th century. Its church was taken down in 1588, and the village site was left outside the new dike alignment. The salvaged material was used to build a new church in 1594, which became the new seat of the Kirchspiel. Logum’s former location is still known among sailors as Logumerhörn. In 1602, Count Enno I of Ostfriesland built a fort near the old site of Logum which was outfitted with five large and strong bastions directed against Emden’s shipping lane, able to cut the city off of all supplies coming by sea. It was surrounded by a 140 ft. wide moat. In the following year troops from Emden and the Netherlands laid siege to it, captured and razed it. In commemoration of this military action Emden struck a coin, the obverse showing the fort with a few ships on the Ems, the reverse the following inscription (in Latin): With the support of God and with the help of the United Netherlands, the senate and the citizenry of Emden under the leadership of Warner du Bois (the Dutch general) have forced Fort Logum to surrender and razed it in 1603. D) Wybelsum formerly belonged to the old parish town of Gerdeswehr which was flooded in 1699 due to a break in the dike during a storm. A new dike was then built further inland which left the town site to the mercy of the sea. On June 13, 1700, Pastor Ehlers of Logumer Vorwerk conducted a final service in that church, which had survived the storm, on Hos. 6; Wybelsum’s Church 1. Immediately Built in 1700 thereafter it was torn down and the material sold or reused for the construction of the new parish church in Wybelsum. On August 24 its corner stone was laid. Pastor Ulferts, who was the preacher of this congregation, dedicated the church on Dec. 5, 1700, with a sermon on 1 Kings; 28-30. A bell 11
WYBELSUM CHURCH
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tower was added in 1713 which houses Gerdeswehrs St. Mary’s bell of 1447. According to Ubbo Emmius, Bettewehr was already lying outside the dike in 1590. In 1605, the village was relocated farther inland where a new church was built from the material salvaged from the old one. The village lost 10 people to the Christmas Flood of 1717 after which the dike was again realigned, leaving Bettewehr again facing the sea. On Sept. 27, 1720, Pastor Harkenroth of Larrelt delivered the last sermon in the church on Rev. 2; 11. The New Years Flood of 1720/21 washed away most of what still left standing. Knock, perhaps so called because it sticks out into the Ems like a knuckle, is said to have been a sizable village with its own church, but no documentary evidence exists. A government run ferry service to Dutch Termönter Siel has existed here since ancient times. The following part of this Amt which lies on the opposite side of the Ems in Rheiderland, is called Nieder-(i.e., lower)Rheiderland, and consists of the Vogteien Jemgum and Ditzum. 4) The Jemgum Vogtei It has four Siele (levee gates) and just as many drainage canals. Located here are the following Kirchspiele: A) Jemgum, a large and formerly rich market town with an Ems River harbor. It has an old church on which traces of decorations that once embellished it can still be seen. The first church was a large fortress-like structure which was torn down in 1534 by Count Enno II after the lost battle here in the year 1533. (see below). Jemgum then used the smaller Hospitaler church, which the order had given it in 1401, and enlarged it. One of the two preachers here has inspection authority over Lower Rheiderlands eight Kirchspiele. The small settlements or outlying farms Eppingawehr, Jemgumgaste, Klimpe, Sappenborg, Jemgum-Kloster, and Timpe are churched here too. Jemgum was probably one of the towns in Rheiderland, most of which held on to Popedom longer than the rest of Ostfriesland, where the pure teachings of the Gospels first broke through. Jemgum is also known in history through two battles which took place here. In the first one, fought in 1533, Carl, Duke of Gelderland, and Balthasar, chieftain of Esens, contended with Enno II and Johann I, co-Counts of Ostfriesland, in which the two latter suffered a bloody defeat. The second battle took place in 1568 between Ludwig, Count of Nassau, and the Spanish Duke of Alba. The latter won, loosing only 80 men. Of the other (Dutch liberation) army 7,000 drowned in the Ems, most of the others were slain as they fled. Only the cavalry escaped. The beaten Count Ludwig saved himself miserably by fleeing in a boat down river to Emden. JEMGUM CHURCH TOWER
In the 30 Years War, the headquarters of the Hessian forces in Ostfriesland was located in Jemgum of which a manuscript has recently come to light. Their commanding general, Count von Eberstein, was quartered here and died here in 1644. He wanted to fortify Jemgum, but had to drop his plans due to objections by the States-General. When the Mansfelders were in Ostfriesland, a Colonel Carpezan had his own wife decapitated by an executioner on a charge of infidelity. Through this action he brought so much hatred down on himself that the women and children in a certain Dutch town would have stoned him to death had he not taken refuge in a house. In July of 1783, a fire of unknown cause broke out which was of such intensity that in a short while 46 houses and two brickyards burned down. B) Midlum is first mentioned in a surviving document of 1449. It had a resident Burg which belonged to Wiard, Chieftain of Uphusen and Oldersum, who willed it to Countess Theda, niece of Fokko Ukena, who also had a claim on Oldersum, in exchange for sole possession of Oldersum. Its church dates back to the 13th century, and its congregation was well endowed with land providing it with rental income. In 1580, a school teacher is first mentioned in Midlum. C) Kritzum may have derived its name from a stream called Kritte which may have drained a shallow lake at Marienchor before the Coldeborg intercepter canal was dug. It is first mentioned in a surviving document dated in 1432. A document of 1475 calls it Croytzum. Its church may have served as a place of physical refuge, as it is surrounded by a moat to be crossed by three bridges. The chieftains here resided in their fortified mansions in nearby Coldeborg which formerly had its own church or chapel. It was taken by Gelderland troops after the first Battle of Jemgum, but was not occupied for long. No visible trace is left of it now. D) Marienchor, called Marienwehr in a document dated 1496. A Wehr (protective dam) it probably needed, as before the levee from Pogum to the River Aa was built, the North Sea waters reached it during storm floods by way of what later became the Dollart Bay, and during the winter its inland sea rose alarmingly. The area around here may be Kritzemewalt (= Kritzumerwolde or Kritzumerhammrich) of a document of 1475 which states that a church located there fell victim to the floods. Marienchor’s church was built in 1668. Dunkirchen, a solitary farmstead south of here situated on a remnant of a levee ordered built by Count Edzard I in 1494, is churched here. Behind Marienchor toward the dike lies the New Hammrich to which the permanent members of Bunde’s congregation have a claim (i.e., Bunderhammrich). E) Landschaftspolder was leveed in 1752, measures about 2,700 acres in area, and supports 22 sizable farms. The church built here was dedicated on Dec. 1, 1768, with a sermon on Exod. 1517. In 1774, various local interested parties began a new Polder here which, however, was unsuccessful. 12
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5. The Ditzum Vogtei A ) Ditzum is a large village and has a well situated harbor on the Ems. It is mentioned in a document of 1496, then called Derzum and has kept its relative independence through its own chieftains of which little knowledge has come down to us, except for Tyo who married into Emden’s Reformed Abdena clan with a Lutheran branch in Petkum. After the death of Tyo’s son, Igo Gerrits, who died without descendants, the chieftain of Petkum presumably added Ditzum and Pogum to their possessions, which would explain why they owned the local patronage into the 17th century. Ditzum did start out Lutheran but later joined the Reformed Coetus (Synod) of Emden. Pogum remained Lutheran. Located to Ditzum’s south and churched in Ditzum are the settlements Ditzumer Hammrich and Aaltukerey which once made up the congregation Dertzamerwalt (-wolde), listed in the bishoprics roster as threatened. B) Pogum, or Pawing, is found in documents later than its sister town Outer Pawing, which showed up first in 1367 but fell victim to the Dollart Bay in 1509. In that flood, Pogum lost much of its productive land which was reflected in the rather small pay it could offer its pastors. It is one of three Lutheran congregations, with Bingum and Holtgaste, in mostly Reformed Rheiderland (see Ditzum). Dieksterhusen, a settlement along the Dollart levee, is churched here too. C) Nenndorf is, as the name implies, a relatively New Dorf (Dorf meaning village). Until 1593, its people were served by Hatzum’s pastor after which it remained in a filial relationship with its neighbor which signed over to it the taxable benefits of some pieces of property within its jurisdiction. In that year it installed a minister who soon had to be let go because of his Lutheran leanings. When in the years 1665/66 the plague swept through Ostfriesland and took 27 ministers, Nenndorf installed a Dutchman, who turned out to be a follower of Jean de Labadie, founder of a pietist sect, who proved to be hard to get along with and had to be let go. In 1683, Nenndorf became an independent congregation. Churched here is also the nearby settlement of Wischenborg. D) Oldendorp is, as the name implies, an old village; in fact, it is one of the oldest villages in Rheiderland. Monastery records of around 1000 AD already list it as Aldonthorp, meaning old village (Thorp = Dorf). The walls of its church are five feet thick and made of extraordinarily large bricks. 13
A Pastor, Petrus Aemilius, installed in 1594, had to appear before the old forum orthodoxiae, the Coetus in Emden, to defend himself against accusations of harboring ideas promulgated by the Remonstrant Brotherhood. He decanted. Oldendorp had its chieftains, too. One of them, Tjaert, joined by fellow hoevetlinghe (Hauptlinge = Chieftains) Imel of Osterhusen and Hinte, Ailt and Folkmar of Grimersum, Frerick of Hinte and Larrelt, and Redert of Groothusen, asked Phillip, Duke of Burgundy and Count of Holland, for protection against the Cirksenas and Hamburg. The location of their Burg is no longer known. E) Hatzum, a provostship of the Bishop of Munster already before 1276, along with Weener, Leer, Emden, Groothusen, Hinte, and Uttum, has a tall and stately church which also served parishioners living in neighboring Nenndorf for a long time. (See also Nenndorf.) It had its Burg as well, now gone, on the ground on which indications of a place of execution have been found. Its chieftains married into a neighboring ruling family and called themselves Chieftain of Hatzum and Coldeborg. The small settlements of Boomborg and Eilingwehr are churched here, as well as Hatzumerfehn where several royal government Domnen farms are located. F) Nesse, or Nesserland, became an island when the Ems River changed its course from describing a northern loop around the village to forcing a straight path through the peninsula to its south. Its congregation is Reformed. It is situated across the oxbow from Emden but, unlike the other islands, has no dunes. It had salt works until around 1600 when sea salt began to be imported. The Friesian King Radbod traveled through here on his way to the ferry at the Knock, and it is believed that traces of the old road are still detectable. In the great Christmas Flood of 1717, this Amt, like several others, suffered much. The water in Emden rose so high that one could negotiate the streets by ship. In several houses the water stood three to six feet deep, and in many places great damage was sustained. The so-called Long Bridge by the harbor, which had a safeguard house standing on it, was suddenly lifted off its pilings. The Bolen Gate Bridge drifted off as well. Other bridges sustained only partial damage. From the massive city wall on the Ems side whole sections were torn away, and holes were washed out in the streets. Two people and 174 head of cattle drowned. The surrounding countryside suffered more, losing 53 people, 85 horses, 419 heads of cattle, 388 sheep, and 97 hogs to the flood waters. Rheiderland, though more exposed to these forces of nature, suffered less. Only three houses were damaged and a small levee gate was washed away. Only two people, seven horses, ten heads of cattle, and four sheep were lost. Upon inspection of the dikes on Dec. 29, 1717, and Feb. 2, 1718, the following damage was noted: In the first section, between Larrelt and Emden, a hole 2250 feet wide and 870 feet long was washed out. The 2nd and 10th section were gone altogether. The 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th section had washed-out holes of various sizes and depths. The 3rd, 4th, and 9th sections remained almost undamaged. The island of Nesserland suffered no particular damage.
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THE PRINZ HEINRICH Submitted by Rudy Wiemann The Prinz Heinrich, the oldest still existing propeller driven steamship which navigated the Outer Ems River, is back in Ostfriesland, after a 30 year hiatus in several Baltic Sea ports, and undergoing a 2.6 million Euro restoration in Leer. She was built in 1909 by Papenburg’s Meyer Werft as a 233 ton double propeller packet ship, powered by a 300 hp two-compound steam engine, for the Borkum Narrow Gage Railroad Company which connects Borkum’s harbor with the island’s settlement. She served as a supply ship for the island in both World Wars and was subsequently remodeled, fitted with Diesel engines and renamed “Hessen” (Hessia). Decommissioned in 1970, she was sold to private interests, served as the Museumship Mississippi in Lübeck, on the Baltic Sea, and thereafter lay idle and slowly deteriorating in the Baltic Sea port of Rostock. There she was discovered by Dr. W. Hofer, who promptly founded the ad hoc Association Prinz Heinrich, a Maritime Tradition which promptly had her towed to Leer. The Association’s enthusiastic members have created a great deal of public and official interest by emphasizing her historic value, her classical beauty, and her special place in Ostfriesland’s seafaring ways. The Office for Monument Preservation in Hanbover has recognized her as a monument ship, a precondition for willing foundations, public bodies, etc., to free up funds for her costly restoration. The Association has begun a worldwide search for a working steam engine of the original design. It has experts on board who oversee every restoration step taken, particularly the repair welding of old steel parts, a critical procedure as welding techniques and materials must be suitable for the 100 year old base metal. But this phase of the operation is moving right along and is showing visible results. The original vertical bow, characteristic for ships of the turn of the twentieth century, has been rebuilt, and good progress is made in restoring the dining room. To expedite this work, the Association is trying to recruit retired welders to volunteer some of their time. Next week the ship is scheduled to leave the slipway of the former Janssen Werft shipyard, and the job will continue while she is afloat. A maritime expert expresses his evaluation of this ship’s importance “as a witness to the epoch of the Kaiser’s Empire whose last freight, mail, and passenger steamer should be rescued from oblivion all cost. ... The hull, the deck structures, and the auxiliary engines are largely original
component parts and will be preserved.” Thought is given to choosing a dock in Leer’s old commercial harbor wing as her permanent berth from where she will occasionally steam down the Ems past Emden on her old run to Borkum. On those occasions she will undoubtedly imbue passengers and onlookers alike with a sense of nostalgia for a time long gone by. The Association’s favorite dream, however, is having the Prinz Heinrich ready and fully flagged in 2009 to guide one of Meyer Werft’s new, huge luxury liners, about a thousand times her size, from her place of birth in Papenburg down the Ems to the sea. It would be a most fitting 100th birthday party. Note: Prinz Heinrich was a brother of Kaiser Bill and a respected naval commander. He took two trips to America (1896 and 1912). SOURCE: OstfriesenZeitung, 1/16/08 & Google The Prinz-Heinrich-Mütze is worn by a ship’s captain. Named after kaiserlich-deutschen Großadmiral Prinz Heinrich von Preußen (1862–1929), younger brother of Kaiser Wilhelms II. They are worn all over Ostfriesland, and not just by sailors. http://www.germanimporthaus.com/ Or call 1-888-643-3379 / $42.00 + $7 shipping There is a wide variety of other German items available on the website including jewelry, costumes, t-shirts and souvenirs.
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NEWS FROM OSTFRIESLAND Ostfriesische Nachrichten, 6/6/08 Filsum - Ostfriesland’s competing horseback riders will meet in Filsum this weekend. Its derby is one of the largest equestrian riding sport events in the region and the most popular competition organized by the Equestrian Sport Association Weser-Ems, as its 57 expected entries give proof of. In the sport of show jumping the derby designates a variation which includes particularly long stretches between jumps and the introduction of natural terrain features, such as dams, depressions, ditches, etc., as obstacles to overcome. Jeversches Wochenblatt, 6/6/08 Wilhelmshaven/Brussels - The European commission has given the green light to the Danish shipping line MöllerMaersk for a 30% participation in the operation of the new Jade -Weser-Port Container Terminal in Wilhelmshaven, reasoning that this would not be detrimental to a competitive environment within the European economic sphere. Jeversches Wochenblatt, 6/6/08 Hooksiel - Since the air-sea rescue helicopter “Christoph 26”stationed in Sanderbusch, west of Wilhelmshaven - was outfitted with a hoist 5 years ago, it has gone on 15 to 20 missions over the North Sea to search for and rescue crew members gone overboard or to offer assistance to patients on ships. All members of the rescue team must take part in an annual training exercise, such as took place in Hooksiel last Friday where the swimmers of the German Life Guard Society, set afloat in Jade Bay, took on the role of castaways to be lifted onboard. For the assistance to patients on ships, or the evacuation therefrom, members of the German Maritime Rescue Operation furnished volunteers. Rheiderland Zeitung, 6/6/08 Jemgum - Bad news for commuters to Leer was announced at an informational meeting called by two energy corporations working on the local gas cavern project, part of a Russia-toWestern Europe natural gas pipe line. Traffic Interruptions in the direction of Leer are to be expected which make a detour through Marienchor and Böhmerwold necessary. Should these interruptions coincide with the closing of the Ems River bridge at Leerort, for widening of the main span, then those commuters using the bridge will have the additional inconvenience of having to detour through the Ems Tunnel. Borkumer Zeitung, 6/6/08 Borkum - From June 7 to 14, the seven East Friesian Islands and an island nearer to Hamburg will make news in the sports world with the seventh annual North Sea Run. The event is broken down into 8 segments, one per island, each leading the participants thorough a picturesque landscape of shoreline and dunes. The segments are open to runners, joggers, and walkers of all ages and will take place the following order: 1. Langeoog
(10 km); 2. Juist (6 km); 3. Norderney (6 km); 4. Wangerooge (9 km); 5. Borkum (11 km); 6. Spiekeroog (10 km); 7. Baltrum (10 km). The final run (12 km) will take place across the tidal flats from Neuwerk to Cuxhaven in the Elbe estuary. General Anzeiger, 6/6/08 Leer - The Professional Academy Ost-Friesland observed its fifth Academy Day in its study center, Loga’s Schloss Evenburg. These events are organized by the students themselves and give them an opportunity through lectures, poster presentations, and discussions to present ongoing projects in the company where they are serving their apprenticeship. These tasks are called “Practice Transfer Projects” which the student have to absolve six times during their course work. It is this combination of school and workplace, of theory and practice which make the bachelor degree earned at the Academy so attractive to the students. Ostfriesen-Zeitung, 6/14/08 Emden - Emden’s Volkswagen Assembly Plant is looking for about 750 workers willing to accept temporary employment. As in past years, it is relying on high school graduates and university students home for the summer to keep its required workforce at a steady level during prime vacation time. The plant currently has appr. 9,000 employees. Anzeiger für Harlingerland, 6/15/08 Leer - The federal Office for High Seas Navigation and Hydrography has issued a license for the installation of the North Sea’s 18th wind park. The Prokon North Energy Systems of Leer may now start the base construction for its 80 planned wind powered generators @ 5 megawatts each, 45 km north of Borkum. The wind park area, Borkum West II, is 56 sq km in size. Borkumer Zeitung, 6/15/08 Borkum - Twenty years ago tomorrow the Alfried Krupp was christened with a bottle of champagne as one of the most modern sea rescue vessels of the German Maritime Rescue Association. Since then the Borkum Station has been her home from where she set out to take part in innumerable aid and rescue missions, patient transports, ventures, and exercises in all kinds of weather. She is the place of birth for several children and star of Borkum’s annual “Day of the Rescuer of the Shipwrecked” when she proudly shows off her new or updated technical equipment to anyone coming onboard. Her most tragic hour came in the night from January 1 to 2, 1995, when she went out at wind speed condition 11 to 12 to help a Dutch ship secure a chain of barges. On the way home she evidently was surprised by a ground swell which washed two crew members overboard who could not be rescued. Rheiderland Zeitung, 6/16/08 Bingum - A fire put a sudden end to a birthday party in Bingum’s 15
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hay hotel. Many of the thirty celebrators in the main hall thought somebody was making a bad joke when the cry “Fire!” rang out - but it was no joke. The fire actually began in the adjacent horse barn and was quickly extinguished, and a resident horse led to safety, when the local fire department arrived. The firemen found cigarette butts in a bale of hay which they turned over to the police. General Anzeiger, 6/20/08 Holterfehn/Potshausen - Work has begun on the construction of a bicycle path to run parallel to the county road connecting Potshausen and Holterfehn. The 1.8 m wide, 2.6 km long path will cost 640,000 euros to complete of which the state will pay 525,000, the balance to be billed to Leer County. Ostfriesische Nachrichten, 6/20/08 Norden - The sandbar “Kachelot Plate” off the island of Juist underwent steady growth for over 50 years, but recent storm surges have reduced its 2.3 sq km size by about a quarter, so that its merger with the bird island Memmert is no longer expected. Ostfriesische Nachrichten, 6/20/08 Emden - The small Cassens-Werft shipyard has filed for insolvency but hopes to continue work after a restructuring process. It has an order book worth $350m with deliveries stretching into 2011. However, the shipping company who ordered a nearly completed container ship can’t secure financing to pay for it. To add to its woes, the funding for another new vessel is also uncertain. HVB Bank has therefore recalled the yard’s loans. The yard filed for insolvency in 2003 during the last shipbuilding crisis, but then recovered. Borkumer Zeitung, 6/20/08 Borkum - The German national table tennis team will meet on this island from June 27 to July 6 to prepare for the Olympic Games in Beijing. How seriously these preparations are taken is demonstrated by the fact that a gym floor especially imported from China will be installed on which the hopeful Olympians will carry out their preparatory games. The athletes will not be totally sealed off from the islanders, however. Several periods are set aside during which the public will have an opportunity to watch them play, and the young crowd will have a chance at collecting autographs. Ostfriesen-Zeitung, 6/27/08 Emden - More then 200 employees from various Volkswagen plants in Germany are busy in Emden to inspect 30,000 brandnew cars which were standing out in the open during last week’s severe hailstorm. It will take some time to inspect all cars for dents left by the Ping-Pong ball size hail stones. An estimated cost of the repair work has not yet been established. Anzeiger für Harlingerland, 6/28/08 Wittmund - Recognizing that today’s demographic development demands increased counseling and support opportunities for the elderly, this county will receive a state human services grant of 40,000 euros for the establishment of a senior services bureau. Over the next four years a network of such offices is planned, each able to connect elderly inquirers with a cadre of helpful
volunteers, neighbors, and professional supporters. Ostfriesische Nachrichten, 7/6/08 Norden - Thousands of Lutheran and Reformed Christians assembled in Norden for the fifth East Friesian Church Day. The event stood under the motto “A piece of Heaven - Lücht in mien Leven” (Light in my life) and challenged Christians to stand against injustice and leave “tracks of heaven” on this earth. The state of Lower Saxony’s prime minister said in his address that people are empowered in everyday life, in politics, and in the church to make heaven touchable during their earthly sojourn. “Only when we protect creation and live a life of peaceful coexistence does it begin to shine, this piece of heaven on earth.” Ostfriesen-Zeitung, 7/7/08 Norden - An estimated 20,000 visitors came to Ostfriesland’s Church Day and participated in its more than 300 presentations, discussions, and concerts. The greater part of the offering collected will pay for a new roof on the church of a Christian congregation on the edge of the city of Khartoum, Sudan, with which Norden’s church district has been in contact for decades. Ostfriesen-Zeitung, 7/6/08 Aurich - The state of Lower Saxony owns the traditional restaurant “Gaststätte Kukelorum” on the Ems-Jade-Kanal in Rahe, west of Aurich, and wants to sell it pending a minimum offer of 80,000 euros. Lüppo Wermerssen, host of “Kukelorum”, has always been wanting to buy it and now sees a chance of ownership. The village council of Rahe as well as the city council of Aurich are keen on Kukelorum’s preservation as important for tourism and for Rahe’s village cohesion. Ostfriesische Nachrichten, 7/7/08 Aurich - The rumor that one of the hard rock band leaders at this year’s Wacken Festival in Aurich-Tannenhausen would sport an emblem on his cap resembling a swastika had the local police in a state of high alert, but the rumor turned out to be false, and the 5,000 visitors enjoyed the bands Motörhead, Machine Head, and Saxon in an atmosphere of (according to the organizers) “Super Feeling and Super Mood”. Many fans arrived a day early to camp and to celebrate. The weather played along, and a good time was had by all. Ostfriesische Nachrichten, 7/7/08 Großefehn - Forty participants in the canoe races during this year’s Windmill Days enjoyed their water sport. Hizzoner, Mayor Olaf Meinen, himself a participant, enjoyed it so much that he jumped in the canal at the goal line. General Anzeiger, 7/9/08 Oberledingerland - On Wednesday the summer recess for Lower Saxony’s schools begins, a time for many families with schoolage children to head out on a vacation trip in or outside of Germany. Those who booked early are fortunate, as the steep rise in the cost of energy has affected travel and lodging. Last minute bookers will find few offers and few economy accommodations. Since last year’s summer was a rainy one in Oberledingerland, many families booked this year’s vacation in areas where they are hoping to enjoy more sunny days. 16
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STRACKHOLT STRACKHOLT Landkreis Aurich Lutheran. (Auricherland, once Church of St. Barbara, Diocese of Münster) Mid-13th century. Originally an apse church with apse on east end. Structure enlarged 1853 and again 1883, this time in cruciform shape to meet the needs of parishioners strongly motivated by deep devotional piety. Of the original windows one each in the long walls and in the apse wall have survived. Two squints, which had been added, were later sealed shut. Corner columns extend to the base of the building. The interior was originally vaulted. Apse arch has beaded molding and a rare attischer base. Noteworthy 13th century baptismal font of Bentheim stone; Baroque altar from 1654 and neoBaroque style pulpit from 1801. Detached, brick bell tower on south side of the church. The swan on the bell tower designates a Lutheran church.
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Strackholt & Its Environs... SOURCE: Strackholt OSB, by Geerd Kroon, translated by Gene Janssen On a geest strand in the southern portion of the county of Aurich there are two peasant villages, Bagband and Strackholt, which have been there since prehistoric times. Strackholt's elevation above sea level is about 9 meters (ca. 30 feet) and Bagband's about 3 meters (ca. 10 feet) less. People were probably safe from the floods of the North Sea on this island of sand before the era when dike building began. Most likely there were people settling and living here before prehistoric times. The name "Strackholt" indicates that at one time there was a flourishing forest in the area, most of which has long since disappeared, probably having had to give way to meadows, pastures and farmland, for the nourishment of the increasing population. Nowdays, Oldehave, south of Strackholt, possesses the last traces of the forest on the edge of its meadowlands. However, structural walls in Strackholt contain many of the oaks and other types of trees, those living, breathing lungs of nature. Traveling toward Strackholt on Federal Highway 436 from either east or west, there is once again an abundance of tree cover. In early times, the area was bounded on the north and the east by the nearly impassable moor wetlands. To the south there were natural waterways: the Witthaver Tief stretching from the direction of the Voßbarg moor and further south, the Bietze River. Both waterways drained the lowlands and moorland. The Bagbander Tief is formed by the confluence of the two channels. The little brooks west of the village flowed into the Kayentief which cut through the Bagband Feldmark separating Strackholt and Ulbargen and emptied into the Bagbander Tief. This natural drainage system has long since been replaced by man made ditches and canals. The desire of the early settlers of this region to wrest a living from the land led, over centuries, to the continuous cultivation of the area. For ages there had been a path to Uplengen and, via Bagband, the geest villages of Hesel and Holtland could be reached. There was no way to get to Aurich-Oldendorf over the moor until a corduroy road, called die Spetze, was built.
from Frederick the Great in 1765, many of the old, traditional rights and customs were discontinued, not however, without consequences. Originally, Spetzerfehn belonged to the parish of Bagband. A separate church book/record was kept for Spetzerfehn in Bagband. However, a number of the residents of the old Heerweg (Royal or Noble Road/Street) preferred going to the church in Strackholt, which was nearer for them. A meeting in the Kompagniehaus in Spetzerfehn in 1789, led to a consensus of the three pastors from Bagband, Aurich-Oldendorf, and Strackholt: all the residents on the Strackholt side of Heerweg and all residing to the east of that were to belong to the pastorate of Strackholt. It was for this area of Spetzerfehn that a special church record was kept in Strackholt from 1790 until 1812. The fehn area continued to expand eastwards and remained a part of the parish of Strackholt. Thus, until 1950, when the congregation at Spetzerfehn was founded, Wilhelmsfehn II and Auricher Wiesmoor II belonged to the parish of Strackholt. More settlements arose around Strackholt: Norderney, Fiebing, Voßbarg, and Zwischenbergen. There were even settlements auf der Höchte (on the heights), in the Südhorn and in the Leeken area. The settlers were usually from large farm families, but many laborers, servants, and maids from the surrounding localities came with the desire for establishing an independent living. The work was very difficult. If physical strength or health failed, disaster followed with a descent into poverty and destitution. A canal planned for the Bagband Tief, to be called Fiebingerfehn, never materialized. Thus, the settlers were at a disadvantage compared to the fehn settlers, for a canal was needed to ship the peat out and to bring fertilizers back. The village of Strackholt suffered greatly during the 30 Years' War (approx. 1618-1648) and experienced difficult times thereafter. Poverty stalked the land after rained-out harvests or livestock diseases which killed off whole herds. Then, the death registers
Though the extensive forest provided building and heating materials until the 17th century, eventually the cleared areas began to be utilized, especially the use of the peat for heating. By the time Spetzerfehn was founded, the inhabitants of the neighboring villages had already harvested a large portion of the moorland along the Spetze waterway. However, since the water could not be completely drained off, the best and deepest of the black peat went unused. After Spetzerfehn developed eastwards, things also changed for Strackholt. There were disputes about boundaries and old rights. With the Edict of Reclamation 18
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report causes of death as debilitating weakness or starvation— even for those in the prime of life. Thus, there are years when there were more deaths than births. For instance, in 1739, there were 19 deaths compared to 13 births; in 1743, 31 people died, mostly children, with a report of only 20 births. And in 1747, there were 29 deaths and 18 births. Small pox ravaged the population in 1772, 1781 and 1795, with scarlet fever and typhus harvesting many souls in later years. In 1856, there were 89 deaths, with 32 from scarlet fever and 10 from consumption. The settlers' deaths were certainly part of the statistics of the later years mentioned above; however, the cause of death is not always listed in the church record. According to the church records, a fire in 1815 destroyed 61 buildings and killed 200 livestock. Adrian Theodor Reershemius reported in his postscript to Ostfriesländisches Prediger-Denkmal (Almanac of Ostfriesian Preachers) , page 9: "On the 10th of April, 1815 a fierce fire destroyed 61 buildings with the loss of six horses, 73 cows, 93 calves, 14 oxen, 38 sheep and about 100 beehives as well as other property and furnishings." Though summer would soon be there, it must have taken a great deal of effort to recover from such a catastrophe.
War, Crime and a Lack of Fat Many of the innumerable official notices during WW I were secretly or openly ignored, which led to a diminished respect for the law. In Ostfriesland there was a shortage of fat products especially in the homes of workers. Many farmers preferred to sell their lard and butter for higher prices to the "hoarders" in the industrial areas rather than delivering them to be used for the soldiers' packages sent to the front. Serious arguments arose among the working classes in the last months of the war and during the winter of 1919. Men gathered together in groups of fifty to seventy, and carrying a red flag, they marched through villages demanding bacon (Speck) from the farmers.
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A group of reds from Möhlenwarf came to the pastor’s home in Marienchor, but he was able to quietly persuade them to leave. However, they were disrespectful to the farmers and only in few places did they pay for the bacon received. If their rash demands were not met they burst in, taking not only bacon, but also clothing and other valuables. At some places they trampled the food in the mud and mistreated the farmers. That was the sad Holy Week of 1919. The leaders were punished afterwards for disturbing the peace.
In the morning of March 3, 1919, carpenter Peter Hinderks from Bunderhammrich was going to work in Marienchor. At milestone 1.2 on the Jemgum sluice, he saw something lying in the water that looked liked a man's coat. He dragged out the body of a welldressed man whose skull had been crushed and his throat slit. In the nearby grassy area by a pool of blood there were gold-rimmed glasses and a bloody monkey wrench. It turned out that the victim was a businessman (Hübener) from Bremen. When his widow 19
came to claim the body at Weener where the court had ordered it be buried, she said that her husband had traveled to this area on the advice of a stranger to receive goods along the Dutch border and that he had had 62,000 Marks in his possession. There was no money left in the man's briefcase. The stranger most likely attacked him in this remote place. No trace of the murderer was ever found.
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In the summer of 1920, a hired boy of farmer Boehoff had his bicycle stolen during broad daylight by a loiterer on the road to Jemgum. The thief was captured here on the bridge; he was an oft-arrested man from Saxony. The court in Aurich sentenced him to three years in prison and five years of probation.
Older residents of the community of Marienchor have told me that in 1825 the house of the farmer, Hassebroek, was burglarized during the night by a large band of thieves who came by horse and wagon from the heath to rob and steal. They knew that Hassebroek had recently sold a horse and that he had the money in the house. A maid of the pastor, who had a late visitor, heard the noise and cries of the victims. When she saw what was going on, she hurried to the tower, locked herself in and rang the bells causing the robbers to be chased off. The next day the Hassebroek house Bible was found at Böhmerwold, but the silver clasp had been ripped off. Some time later, a beggar woman from the heath came to Mrs. Hassebroek and revealed that she knew the perpetrators. Mrs. Hassebroek replied that she was too busy to hear her story, but if the woman would return on Sunday afternoon and tell her everything she would receive a large piece of bacon. The woman promised she would return, which she did. The constable was sitting in the next room writing down everything the woman said. When he entered the room, the woman went pale and said, "but my husband was not really among them." He was the infamous Kuper-Jan to whom everyone gave whatever he demanded. They knew that otherwise he would return the following night and take what he wanted. If a valuable load of freight had to cross the heath, Kuper-Jan was taken along and paid 25 Pfennig to guarantee safe passage. If his companions were captured, he would whistle a certain signal and they would all remain silent. People took their sheep to bed with them to keep them from being stolen during the night. And during the still of a winter night, people would often hear the sound of the thieves skating along on the ice, going about their "business." The participants in the theft at the Hassebroek's were all sentenced to years in prison and all but one died there. SOURCE: Osterkamp, Pastor Kaspar Wilhelm and Bokeloh, Pastor Heinrich Gerhard: Excerpts from the History of the Evangelical-Reformed Church Congregation of Marienchor, translated by Gene Janssen
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
Ostfriesland and the Batavian Republic Based on Onno Klopp, “Geschichte Ostfrieslands”, Volume 3 noverian army. (Many of its soldiers went to England and fought E x c e r p t e d a n d tr a n s l a t e d b y R u d y W i e m a n n with distinction in the King’s German Legion at Waterloo.) He prohibited all commerce between the Weser and Elbe river ports With the Netherlands controlled by revolutionary France as the (i.e., Bremen and Hamburg) and England which caused most of Batavian Republic, its overseas commerce destroyed and its har- it to be concentrated on the Ems, and most of that on Emden. bors blockaded by Britain, commercial activity on the Ems began to blossom, as this river ran east of the demarcation line estab- Once again the neutral Prussian flag could be seen on the Seven lished by the Peace Treaty of Basel in 1795. In the first half of the Seas, and Emden’s harbor filled with more ships than it could 1790’s approximately 570 ships had entered Emden’s harbor; that accommodate. When yellow fever had spread from the New number rose to 1064 in 1797. Leer profited as well, its volume of World to Spain, all ships from both places and bound for Emden commerce amounting to about a third of that of Emden. Prussian were intercepted in the Ems estuary and refused landfall. In Ostfriesland got a new king that year, Frederick William III, 1804 two ships from Emden were high-jacked by a Moroccan whose ascension to the throne caused no profound changes. frigate, the crew’s freedom having to be bought. The bonanza did not last. In 1798/9 the Tow Canal between Emden and Aurich was dug, the money for it having been raised through a local bond issue. Napoleon presented Prussia with Hannover in return for ceding The East Friesian Estates financed a survey of Ostfriesland and some of her territory to France and forbade Prussia to carry on Harlingerland which was carried out between 1797 and 1804. It commerce with England. A Prussian garrison in Emden saw to it determined that the two lands were considerably smaller than as- that this was carried out. King Frederick Wilhelm III’s assursumed. The Estates also earmarked money for the construction of ances to King George III that this was but a temporary situation a “Conversation House” on Norderney under the supervision of a did not satisfy the British who now blockaded the Ems as well medical doctor in order to foster tourism on the islands. Nor- and confiscated all Prussian ships they encountered. Emden derney was chosen because it could be reached by coach at low erected a number of redoubts to prevent its bombardment from tide. The Duchess Christine had already accompanied her guests the sea, although the Ems estuary was hardly navigable without there from Germany’s interior in the 17th century (she was a knowledgeable pilots. With its seagoing commerce all but gone, daughter of the Duke of Württemberg, married to Duke Georg the city was facing hard times. Meanwhile, the Batavian RepubChristian of Ostfriesland in 1662, and served as regent and guard- lic was turned into a Kingdom by Napoleon who insisted that ian of their young son after Georg’s death in 1665). The idea of a the Dutch request the honor of having his brother Louis apvacation for one’s health in a North Sea resort was indeed rapidly pointed as their king. He was crowned in 1806. When England gaining in popularity. and Napoleon were starting peace negotiations, the English demanded the return of Hannover as its precondition to which NaEmden needed to invest in its future as well. The Ems had flushed poleon agreed. When news of this reached Berlin, Prussia was out a new bed in the beginning of the 16th century and defied all forced to uphold its honor by placing its army on a war footing. attempts to force it to run past the city again. This left Emden no Its army was quickly defeated by Napoleon on Oct. 14, 1806. choice but to connect itself to the river through a lengthy water- Eleven days later Dutch troops, commanded by General way which, as most of the regional drainage water was emptying Daendels*, crossed the Ems and occupied Ostfriesland which through four “Siele” (levee gates) elsewhere, was too sluggish to was then incorporated into the Kingdom of Holland. prevent its silt burden from settling out. Moreover, the harbor was too small, two fifths of it being taken up by its herring trawlers *A word about General Daendels, a man of remarkable accomalone. plishments with a colorful history. Born in 1762, he took part in the aborted rebellion of the Patriot party against the Orangists of So the decision was made to build a set of locks and dams at the 1787 and fled to France. He returned as brigadier at the head of end of the waterway, close the “Siele” and route the region’s the Dutch contingent of the French revolutionary army and, drainage through its harbor. Opposition to the project in Berlin, through his leadership in the defeat of the British/Russian landthough, and the political situation in Europe prevented its execu- ing force of 1799, proved to be the Batavian Republic’s best tion. In 1803, smallpox vaccination was made obligatory after an general. In 1806 he commanded a division which occupied English physician had noticed that people who had contracted Prussian Ostfriesland and the Prussian provinces in Westphalia; cowpox were immune to the disease. In 1787, this disease had in 1807 Napoleon made him Marshal of Holland; from 1808 to taken 750 lives in Ostfriesland alone. . ‘11 he was Governor of the Dutch possessions in East Asia; in 1812 he distinguished himself as a division commander in NaIn 1803, Napoleon occupied Hannover - still an Electorate of the poleon’s Grand Army in Russia. Upon coming home from the Realm, whose Prince Elector (entitled to a vote for a new Em- war, King William I of the returned House of Orange-Nassau peror) was the King of Great Britain - and disbanded the Han- appointed him Governor of the Dutch possessions on the African Gold Coast where he died in 1818. 20
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
A Time for War and Revolution
Submitted by Rudy Wiemann
In order to gain a better overview of the historical events affecting Ostfriesland which were set in motion by a shift in the tide of ideas that burst its constraints in the American and French Revolution, a timeline may be appropriate. The underlined cities are the capital cities from which Ostfriesland was ruled in the course of its history. 1689 - 1815 Recurrent wars between England and France ending at Waterloo. 1744 Ostfriesland’s last Duke of the indigenous (Greetsiel) House of Cirksena dies without a direct heir. This ends Ostfriesland’s role as an earldom of the Holy Roman Empire with its seat in Vienna and changes it into a province of the Kingdom of Prussia with its seat in Berlin. Imperial, Danish, and Dutch troops leave Ostfriesland. 1754 - 1763 French and Indian War 1756 - 1763 Seven Years’ War 1775 - 1783 American Revolutionary War. 1780 - 1784 The Fourth Dutch-English War. 1781 Beginning of the progressive Dutch Patriot movement, opposed by the conservative Orangists in power. 1787 - 1789 Civil War in the Netherlands. Patriots defeat Orangists. Prussia sends in 20,000 troops and terminates the revolution. Many Patriots flee to Paris. 1789 French Revolution begins. 1794 End of the Reign of Terror. 1794/5 French forces occupy the Austrian Netherlands (appr. today’s Belgium and Luxembourg) and take virtual control of the United Netherlands (approx. today’s Holland) where they create the Batavian Republic. They rout the armies of the reactionary European monarchs marching against them. Treaty of The Batavian and French republics form a defensive alliance response to which Britain, already at war with France, declares war on Holland, blocks its sea-borne trade, confiscates ships, and seizes its overseas colonies. 1797 The Dutch fleet is destroyed by the British. 1799 32,000 British and Russian troops land in Holland but are defeated by a Dutch Patriot and French army. Many soldiers retreat to Ostfriesland for evacuation to England. 1799 Coup d’état in Paris. Napoleon installed as First Consul. 1803 Napoleon occupies Hannover, whose head of state is the British King George III, in order to strike at Great Britain. 1804 Napoleon Emperor of France. 1806 Holy Roman Empire ends. Napoleon trades Hannover to Prussia for an agreement to close its harbors to commerce with Britain. Britain seizes most of Emden’s merchant fleet and declares war on Prussia. Napoleon promises to give Hannover back to Britain which renders Prussia honor-bound to put its troops on a war footing. They are quickly defeated, and 21
Prussia loses all of its territory west of the Elbe River, which includes Ostfriesland and Jeverland. Napoleon demands invitation of his brother Louis as King of Holland. Batavian Republic ends. Dutch troops march into Ostfriesland and Jeverland. They become the Dutch Departement OostVriesland, ruled from The Hague. Rheiderland is added to the Departement Groningen. Louis declares that he has brought the German and Dutch Friesians together again. Aurich celebrates his birthday in September which many local historians treat with silence. (Rising nationalism during the Napoleonic Wars does much to weaken this bond.) Napoleon declares the Continental Blockade, prohibiting all trade with Britain. 1808 King Louis refuses Napoleon’s demand for a Dutch conscription to beef up his Grand Army for an invasion of Russia. The British land 40,0000 troops intending to take Antwerp, which Louis cannot repel. Napoleon does so with French troops and uses this as a pretext to remove his brother. 1810 Napoleon annexes the entire Kingdom of Holland and mandates military conscription. Ostfriesland and Jeverland become part of the Empire of France as Departement de l’Ems oriental divided into 3 Arrondissements (Emden, Aurich, Jever), subdivided into 14 Cantons, each consisting of groups of communities, Mairien, ruled by Paris. 1813 After Napoleon’s defeat in Russia and at Leipzig, Cossacks of the Russian Army ride into Ostfriesland which becomes Prussian again. 1814/15 Congress of Vienna. Prussia yields Hannover to Britain adding Ostfriesland (minus Jeverland, plus Rheiderland) and Emsland. Jeverland goes back to Oldenburg. Hannover is raised to Kingdom with George III, grandson of the first Hannoverian king on the British throne as its head. Ostfriesland’s king now resides in London. The personal union with the throne of Great Britain will remain intact until 1837 when Queen Victoria ascends the British throne but is prevented by the Salic Law from becoming Queen Hannover. Hannover now gets its own king who resides in capital city likewise named Hannover. The Netherlands are intended to become a strong Kingdom as a barrier against French expansion and are joined with the Austrian Netherlands, formerly that (southern) part of the Spanish Netherlands which did not successfully revolt against Spain. In 1830 the Roman Catholic South demands separation from the predominantly Reformed North and forms Belgium and Luxembourg. 1866 Austro-Prussian War. Hannover, siding with the looser Austria, is annexed by Prussia. Being ruled again from Berlin is celebrated in Ostfriesland. After the FrancoPrussian War of 1870/71 the Prussian King becomes Emperor of Germany, exclusive of Austria. Prussia, with Ostfriesland, are merged into Germany. Prussia’s capital, Berlin, becomes Germany’s capital.
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
Staying in Ostfriesland’s Hay Hotels By Frederic Ulfer, Rudy Wiemann Vacationing in Ostfriesland means enjoying the various types of landscape Mother Nature has blessed it with - its coastal flats secured by dikes, its sandy core made productive since the invention of fertilizer, its moors turned into Fehns, its shallow lakes softly bound by moss and reeds. But what about heightening one’s appreciation of these blessings by stepping out of the car, getting on a bike, and developing a more personal relationship with her, knowing that after a hard day of pedal pushing a cozy rest in one of Ostfriesland’s hay hotels awaits one? Emden, being easily reached by motorized transportation, makes a good beginning and end for such an adventure, particularly appreciated by the younger set and by those young at heart. From Emden’s railroad depot a short ride will take one to the “Delft” (compare English “delve”) its old downtown harbor by its stately city hall. Within the city limits one just moves along with the large crowd of local bikers. Pedaling south along the western edge of the harbor, past the “Nordseewerke” shipyard and the large sea locks, one soon reaches the Ems River, the very watercourse to which Emden owes its existence. Following the road west toward the dike gate and pumping station at the Knock in Krummhörn’s southwest corner one gets a sense of place, seeing on one’s left the river opening up into the Dollart Bay on the far side of which the distant profiles of the Dutch harbors of Termunten and Delfzijl projecting above the Grandma would never beflat horizon catch the eye. lieve this! Prickly-posh To the right stretch far and wide the barn beds are in! - And the flat “Polders” of Larrelt, Wybelhay pioneers among farm- sum, and Rysum whose rich topsoil ers are amazed to see how consists of sediments deposited by enthusiastically and by the floods before the dikes were whom the new holiday offer made strong enough to hold them is greeted. The hay hotels in back. The villages are located inland Niedersachsen is now more a ways and are made up of houses crowded closely together on small than 70 farms. Hay and straw accommoda- round hills which were once meant tion is offered from May to to protect them from the angry sea. October. One sleeps in barns, Dispersed between them are large farms, their huge barns of red brick lobbies or in other quaint sharing their roof with the family’s hay or straw bedding. A home. The few trees around here are toilet, sanitary facilities permanently leaning before the and most frequently also a steady northwest wind. shower are available. Leaving the Knock and going through Rysum, Loquard, Campen, and Upleward one reaches Hamswehrum. There the Schönings operate the farm “Leeshaus” and greet their guests with a cup of Ostfriesen tea. For those travelers whose allergies prevent them from experiencing the true enjoyment of a night in the hay, a room without such bedding material is offered. In the morning the kids will find the farm yard breakfast egg hunt exciting. Biking north close to, and winding along the dike, past Pilsum’s massive cruciform church on the right and its iconic yellow-and22
red ringed light tower on the left, the fishing village of Greetsiel can be reached in half a day. The town is car-free, but one may bike right up to the old locks and “Siel” wall and look upon the attractive harbor. A dozen Greetsiel trawlers lie at anchor here, the ornate gables of the stately old houses lining the harbor making a colorful backdrop. Near Marienhafe, whose massive church tower dominates the countryside for miles around, the landscape changes. This is border land between the rich soil of the coastal flats and the higher “Geest” region. The luscious green tilled fields give way to less fecund sandy soil and peat bogs. From Marienhafe it is five miles to East Victorbur. There the stud farm Wilken operates the local hay hotel from where a side trip around the raised bog lake “Ewiges Meer” is well worth the time. It is a land dominated by low birches and tall, ochre bog grass. On the far side of the moor lies the residence city of Ostfriesland’s former Dukes, Aurich, an attractive place which evokes a spirit of classicism. Fifteen miles more and one reaches Wiesmoor, a florist’s dream city. After crossing former bog land for another twelve miles one reaches Großefehn. In the fashion of typical “Fehn” settlements this town stretches for 17 kilometers along the “Fehnkanal” which was dug to drain off the moors and move their peat. The many lift bridges over the canals, the locks, and the stately windmills lift one’s spirit while traversing this area. In Timmel the Onneken family has already prepared a hay bed in its barn. On the way back to Emden lie the reed bed bound Sandwater Lake and “Großes Meer”, Ostfriesland’s largest lakes. “Großes Meer” covers more than 1,100 acres but is less then 30 inches deep. In days of old these lakes supplied much of the reed used for roofing material in Ostfriesland. From “Großes Meer” it isn’t far to Emden. Along the way a genuine East Friesian curiosity stands out: the leaning tower of Suurhusen. Because of a layer of sediment-covered post-Ice Age bog plants which surround much of Ostfriesland’s “Geest” core, many East Friesian churches built in this area have settled to some degree over the course of centuries and stand canted upon the land. But in Suurhusen one has to wonder what’s keeping this tower from collapsing: at a height of 88 ft. its overhang measures nearly eight feet, a record acknowledged even by Guinness. Whoever wants to still see the Henri Nannen Art Museum in Emden will have to push those pedals for the last stretch to get there before closing time. To spend the night in that fair city presents a problem, however, for, alas, Emden has one disadvantage: it has no hay hotel.
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
LINKS
TO
DEEP
ROOTS
Submitted by Ray Kleinow Government List of Genealogy Record Collections? We are regularly looking at old records and one of the biggest providers of such is our government. Did you know they maintain a listing of significant genealogical record collections available for genealogists? Take a look at; http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/ Topics/History_Family/State_Genealogy.shtml. It also lists many state and local archives. Yes, the listing is online, but most records are not, although that is improving all the time. An Oldie but Goodie, & some new things worth mentioning. Have you noticed that the FamilySearch.org home page has a new look? The tabs to Home, Search, etc. are gone. Now you have a menu bar with drop down menus. Of special interest is the access to the FamilySearch indexing by just clicking on the “Index Records” tab. This will take you to the indexing home page. Also, under Search Records, click on “Record Research Pilot”. This site has millions of records now available. Most of us have heard about The LDS Church being in the process of digitizing its microfilms. We know this will take years, but did you know that the work that has been done is available right here? This is a work in process site for the info that is being transcribed, but they are putting it online for us to use as it becomes available. This is a site you will want to check regularly. I understand some census are re-indexed and they have improved some of the searches, so if you could not find someone and they should be there, try it again. Some areas have the actual records available for viewing and can be saved and/or printed. The Cook County, Illinois Records Are Now Online! Back an issue or two, I mentioned this was coming. Now you can Dear Friend!
use the site! Caution - the site is not complete as yet, so you may not find all your people. See: http://www.cookcounty genealogy.com. Birth certificates, marriage licenses and death certificates are now available online. The Genealogy Unit of the Cook County Clerk's Bureau of Vital Records provides non-certified versions of birth, death and marriage records for the purpose of genealogical research. Records found on the site are for Chicago and Cook County dating back to 1872. All Cook County vital records prior to the Chicago Fire of October 8, 1871 were destroyed. Record keeping was resumed in 1872. Records available are: 1. Birth certificates that are 75 years or older (before the present date in 1933); 2. Marriage certificates that are 50 years or older (before the present date in 1958); and 3. Death certificates that are 20 years or older (before the present date in 1988). Unfortunately, they are not free. Each record will cost $15 plus a credit card charge of $1.75 on the total order. Once paid for, the record(s) are available for you to view on your computer. These are the original records (not transcriptions). You then can save the images to your hard drive and/or print on your printer. Another comment or two – I heard that the marriage date is for the license date, not the marriage date. The pricing is in my opinion too high. Rumor says Ancestry and LDS may have the data in the future. Bought a Genealogy Book Lately? It May Have Been Available Online! The cost of books or getting them from a library is increasing, while the cost of accessing the same books online are decreasing. Thousands of genealogy books have already been scanned and are available online today at no charge on Google or at the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU. See the BYU Family History Archive at: http://www.lib.byu.edu/fhc. Books, and many other types of documents are available for free on FamilySearch.org and for a fee from Ancestry.com, and many other web sites.
Loquard, August 7, 1947
On August 2 I received a gift package which was ordered by you. It contained 900 grams bacon, 700 grams sausage, 2 cans of meat, and 1 can of butter. I was very happy about it and thank you from my heart. That very morning I was thinking if I were only to get a package with fatty food, and soon thereafter the mailman came and told me that I could pick up a package at the post office. You can’t imagine how happy it made me. There is a lack of everything here in Germany, but especially of fat as part of the food. But it really can’t be any different after a lost war. We live here out in the country surrounded by farmers, but we can’t buy even a gram of butter or lard. Everything is bartered or enters the black market, and that is impossible to afford. But this situation can’t last forever. Things will have to change for the better. Well off is the person who has a good friend in America. Those who have plenty but no heart for others, can only think of themselves. I am very thankful to you and I know that I won’t be able to make it up to you. Just a moment ago, I was reading a letter from your mother which she wrote to Aunt Jurke in 1931. She wrote that all of you, except for Dirk, could no longer read German. So now I am hoping that there is still be somebody around who can read German. Unfortunately, we don’t know each other personally, but I thank you kindly for your generous gift.
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MEMBER NEWS •
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Rosalie Heikes, wife of the late George Heikes, died in July. George was an avid OGSA supporter and translated many articles and prefaces into English. He died several years ago and is still missed. What a treat to talk to Willee Ackermann who flew through MN this summer. Her brother of 85 just remarried—great genes in that family! Mike Balster has had some major health problems in the past month. Get well soon, big guy! Roy Stiegler’s sister died last March after an extended illness. Our sympathies to the family. Gene and Shirley Jibben and Rudy Wiemann have had lots of company from Germany this summer Shirley Jibben’s mother died in September, our sympathies. Roger Peters is now Opa—and loving it! Do you have family news that you can share?
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
TECHNOLOGY 101 Submitted by Ray Kleinow Kodak Announces a 50-Megapixel CCD Image Sensor Most of us are aware of the importance of the megapixel specification on digital cameras and that as the number goes up, picture detail improves, all else being equal. This is very noticeable if you compare a picture from a 3 megapixel camera with one from a 5 or 10 megapixel camera. So, when we hear about a 50 megapixel image sensor, understandably we are interested. Unfortunately, this announcement was not what one would think it was. The 50 megapixel size was designed for the medium format cameras like the Hasselblads, not what you or I will likely be carrying around. Such cameras do have an excellent picture quality capability. See www.kodak.com, look for the “Search “ window on the right, type in “50 megapixel” (without the quotes), and then click on the “News Release” item for more details. Or, of course, “google it” with the same terms. We Took Our Trip (to Sweden, not Ostfriesland) As mentioned last issue, we all like pictures and videos of our trips, but carrying a video camcorder AND a camera can be a pain, especially for a month. And we want high definition pictures. Also, we always run out of capacity. Why not have it all in one unit? The new digital camcorders with a good sized hard drive can take videos and still pictures! How good are they? I’d like to give you my observations after a month’s use of our Sony HDR-SR11. First of all, it is small and light but has high capacity. After 30 days, we had taken 414 videos and 1,957 still pictures. The hard drive was about half full! The videos were taken at (1920 x 1080) High Definition resolution and stills at 10.2 megapixel settings. The 60 GB hard drive was backed up every day or two. (Only what was new was copied to a laptop we took along with the backup program that came with the unit.) The results are mixed. The videos look very good but it was very easy to move that small camera too fast. You don’t think so at the time, but you are. The stills for the most part are very good if the light was good. Unfortunately, the pictures where light was not the best will not respond to the usual touchups with an image processor program like PaintShopPro. Yes, the unit has a flash, but as is common with these units, it is only good for a few feet away. (Yes, you can purchase an add-on flash unit.) I did take some pictures of pictures and had good results, but again, only if the light was good. Would I recommend this type of unit? Yes, if you realize the limitations and correct for them. And use the flash. Your Genealogy Program and Data on the Internet? There has been more talk recently about having your genealogy program and data on a server, not on your computer. This is not a new idea, but until lately the few programs available did not have the features of the present programs. The ability to access and work on your genealogical data anywhere you have a computer with internet access, such as a library, friends home, hotel room that has a computer with access, etc., is very useful to at least some of us. Some of these programs are also multi-user so others can use/add data simultaneously. I can easily see volunteers of organizations using this to work on a project. Some disadvantages mentioned about these programs was the inability to print some of the usually requested type of reports. They are getting better so such a program may be in your future. For more info on one of the better ones see; The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding (TNG) at http:// lythgoes.net/genealogy/software.php. Also, LDS is providing one to its members FamilySearch Family Tree. (Not sure if it is available to non-LDS yet.) See http:// labs.familysearch.org/familytree/ Interviews of Genealogy Pundits on Various Subjects? This isn’t exactly new but several people I’ve talked to recently had not heard of this, so better mention it. Some are very good. See http://www.rootstelevision.com/.
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NOTES FROM THE NORTH… It’s early September as I write this – schools are back in session and we see numerous yellow school buses driving on our thoroughfares. Where did the summer go? Much too quickly at our house. I hope all of you had a wonderful summer and had time to enjoy all your area has to offer. My husband and I managed to go to a couple of ethnic fests in our area and had a wonderful time. Our favorite was the Danish Fest in Minneapolis where we sampled open faced sandwiches, reminiscent of the Brot board dinners we’ve enjoyed with our Cousin Heti in Aurich so many times. Don’t you love small town parades? We managed to make the 4th of July parade in Maynard this year. While sitting on the curb, watching the royalty cars go by from various area communities I suddenly saw a little trailer with a model house. Lo and behold, it was a facsimile of the Ostfriesan Ammerman home which has been restored in Clara City. This model was beautifully done and I commend The Frisian Historical Society for taking the time to share their ethnic history with their neighboring towns. It reminded me that I haven’t been to their home site in a few years. Job well done to this group and thank you for keeping our history alive. The Board is moving forward with nomination of officers for the coming years. Be sure to follow the instructions given in the newsletter and reply with your vote for the slate of officers. Check the various announcements in the newsletter for our upcoming Tea Party as well as our Annual Meeting. We’d love to see you at these functions. Finally, thank you to everyone who continue to volunteer their time to keep our organization moving. Enjoy the beautiful fall season. Sincerely, Sharon Arends OGSA President
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
Surviving the Bombing of Esens A SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL SURVIVES THE BOMBING OF ESENS, by Johannes Mennen In the archives of Wittmund was found letters written by a young girl who lived during the last war years 1943-1945. Her duties in the “1000 Year Germany” began April 15, 1943 with her ride from Oldenburg. After September 27, the young girl found her condition intolerable. She wrote two letters to her parents in Oldenburg about the dreadful carnage from the bombing of Esens by English airmen. Another letter written by Annemarie Klose, written after the war, gives further information about the situation in Esens. The letters still arouse disturbed recollections among many people. In September 1944, she received orders to report for duty as an assistant to a night fighter squadron in Wunstorff. When Germany surrendered in May 1945, AnneMarie Klose was stationed at a centralized anti-aircraft site in Rendsburg. THE FIRST LETTER OF SEPTEMBER 28, 1943 Dear Folks! At present I can give you a detailed account. We are all sitting in the kitchen and have a warm fire made. We were busy the entire day caring for soldiers and giving them bread and warm tea. I am very tired tonight. There was an alarm at 11 o’clock yesterday. We went promptly into the earth bunker of the workers encampment with our leader Mrs. Siefken. Shortly, there was a whistling and blustering uproar. Everything rattled and jangled, we all clasped each other and thought that this was the end. In between times we heard the sound of the bombers. After the attack was over we went to ground level and saw the results of the air raid. Our fine house lay in ruins. In the barracks 20 dead bodies wee recovered together with 50 school children. Among others, Friedrich, son of Mrs Fruchenicht died and Hinrich was transported to the hospital in Wittmund. Another casualty was Hannelie, daughter of Mrs. Otmanns, who only that morning had her birthday. Klara Gerdes is also dead. Craters and shell holes are everywhere. But we are still in good health when, in spite of all, we can still laugh occasionally. In spite of all, the outlook is grim for us. Last night was another alarm. Dear Mother and Father, what can we do? It is much worse here than in Oldenburg. Please don’t send my private packages yet. THE SECOND LETTER, WRITTEN OCTOBER 2, 1943 My dear Mother and Father I have your two letters and thank you heartily for them. Oh Mother and Father, there is great, great sorrow and suffering in Esens. Thursday a service was held for the burials of Gerkin, Oltmanns, Fruchtenicht and Steffens, all of my coworkers who lost their children. I work for the Gerkins, who know me best. No, I cannot describe for you how terrible conditions are here. It will be better if you do not try to come to
visit me. When the air attack was over I was called to the barracks. There, two children were buried. One can no longer bear the sight of it. The small Klara and the small child with Steffens. Also Friedrich with the Fruchtenicht and the youngest, little Hannelore with Oltmanns. So much grief and sorrow, dear God. Our furloughs are not possible at this time. Otherwise we would have left tomorrow. Mother and Father, I really cannot describe what has happened here because I am so unnerved and upset. There was another alarm tonight and the sound of the bombers came nearer. The worst seems to be over and I am thinking of you ANNEMARIE KLOSE’S RECOLLECTIONS OF DUTIES IN 1943 IN ESENS: In September 1943 after the barracks were destroyed by English bombers, we girls and young women were transported to Winzlar/Wunstorf and settled in a night flyers barracks. First of all I want to tell you of my induction into RAD-Lager at Esens. I was just 17 years old when I received my notice to pack a bag for a rail trip to the Work Center in Esens. This was in April 1943. At the Center we received uniforms that transformed us into non-civilians. We went to farmers’ houses daily to help with the work, or in families where there were many children to give the overworked mother a hand. ...Until September things went well but on the 27th—that day will live in my memory forever. It was a Monday, I was assigned for the next four weeks in the encampment after doing outside duty for the previous four weeks. Those of us who worked inside had a break for breakfast (a small piece of wurst, two grams of margarine, artificial honey and bread). Our leader, Mrs. Siefken and her helpers received the same food as we did. Mrs. Siefken made a specially good breakfast for us on weekends. There was some envy later, but for now we felt good. All of a sudden we heard the alarm sirens go off. We wanted to finish our breakfast first. Then came our leader and got us instantly to our feet. .... if you are not in an air raid shelter, run immediately from the house to the earth bunker.” We barely reached the cellar when a horrendous noise began. The earth shook. We clasped each other in fright. Mrs. Siefken was still standing on the steps of the cellar to see where the bombers were coming from. The bombs, which were falling close by, caused her to fly in a heap of rubble, but without harm done to herself. When she had collected herself she comforted us girls, who were besides themselves in terror. crying and wailing. We were worried about the girls who had outdoor duty because we did not know how far the air attack reached, whether only Esens was bombed or in the surrounding neighborhoods. Now we heard a cry for help from the earth bunker. Two neighbors brought a severely wounded woman to us. We were the only ones who could help her. The woman had suffered a head wound. Never before had we seen anything so bad as this. The woman’s wound was bandaged and she was taken to the hospital. What happened 25
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
to her afterward I do not know. There were so many maimed and killed on this day !! As we left the bunker we saw the extent of the damage done by the bombing. Nothing was left but ruins on top of ruins. Our quarters, which we had named “Comradeship” with the outside rooms and rooms for the leaders together with the girls quarters was totally destroyed. The fore house was burning because the oven was lit and the fire spread from it. A delegation from the anti-aircraft unit engaged our leader to supply them with help to fight the fires that raged in the city. Everywhere we looked was full of bedding goods, while from the trees hung materials of every description. There were ruins in every direction. Our girls were ordered to proceed to the city to offer help in any way we could. A few of us happened to be by the school as the firemen brought out the dead children from the cellar. Girls who were under a year of compulsory service were also among the victims. The building was completely destroyed. We did not stay long because there was nothing more for us to do. In three of the outdoor establishments that I had previously been assigned to, the families lost at least one child. We girls had to make ourselves useful as we were now in the gymnasium where the Red Cross was now set up. Bread had to be prepared and hot drinks made for all the helpers in the city. For once we were permitted to eat our fill. On the day of the burials in the market place we saw the caskets of the dead aligned in rows. Everybody who was able to come was there to take part in the burial process. It was a tragic ceremony. A large mass grave was already prepared for the bodies. We girls had to place a cross on each of the caskets. The flow of tears that day was almost endless and the grief of all was not to be described. On the following days we sought out each of the bereaved families to give them help. A few days later there came an order from the Oldenburg authorities commending us for our work and our help in the hours of greatest need. Then the leader gave us three days of special furlough. However, we had to get ready for transfer. In September or early October we found ourselves in Winzlar/ Wunstorf near Hannover where there was a night fighter airdrome. We were stationed in barracks.. A few months later we were bombed night and day by English and Americans planes. There was no end to the bombing. Hannover was very severely damaged and our headquarters also. We had to move once more, this time to Rendsburg. I stayed in the fighter barracks from spring 1944 to April 1945. We were then discharged with the provision that we would be recalled if the need came. That need never came. I was discharged to Neumunster where relatives lived and I stayed with them until an opportunity came to come home. A Frenchman driving an old truck picked me and a few others up. All were anxious to reach home. For a few dollars, I forget how much, he took us along. The journey was a long one, across the Elbe from where people were fleeing from the Russians, into French controlled territory. In Osnabruck I found myself alone and out of fright I accompanied a group of discharged soldiers who were searching for their families in the
neighborhood. It was a heavy load for a 20 year old girl to carry a large pack home. There was no means of transport, no bridges over the water—only on foot could we go. When night came I had nowhere to go. But luck was with me in the form of a young woman who invited me to stay at her house. Her parents had seen me standing forlornly on the street and were sorry for me. I was treated in the best way possible and slept in a white featherbed that night. A day or two later I found an old bicycle on which I eventually rode to my parent’s home and had the further good fortune of meeting a man on a bicycle also going to Oldenburg. His son was evacuated to Wahnbeck and lived there with a farmer. The man wanted to visit him. He accompanied me to Oldenburg and gave me necessary protection from the many foreigners on the streets and roads. These outsiders brought much unrest to the local people. Aurich - Nearly 10 million Euros will flow from Brussels and Berlin to Ostfriesland this year for the promotion of rural development projects in the categories village renewal, reallocation and consolidation of agricultural land holdings (Flurbereinigung), and rural road construction. On July 1, Baltrum, Leybuchtpolder, and nine Uplengen communities headed by Spols have been added to the village renewal program. 90 villages have already benefitted from it and 32 are presently on the active list, among them Middels, Bensersiel, Marx, Langeoog, Buttforde, and Reepsholt. Communities must submit concepts with well developed strategies and goals in order to be admitted to the program. Most of Ostfriesland is already covered with such concepts, except for regions around Aurich, Wittmund, and Friedeburg which will offer a joint plan and place great stress on the EmsJade-Kanal as a potentially important feeder line for the new JadeWeser container port near Wilhelmshaven. A new railroad line Aurich-Wittmund has its promoters, too. Running parallel to these programs is the installation of a broadband net which Ostfriesland will support with 17.5 million Euros in public funds over the next few years. SOURCE: Anzeiger für Harlingerland, 7/8/08 Wiesmoor - The 116 hectare nature preservation area Otter Lake in Wiesmoor has for years been in the care of the Nature Protection Association Wiesmoor-Großefehn which has planned and worked for the recreation of its original environment as a peat bog. Birch trees, which for years occupied a large part of it, have been removed as not belonging to a bog environment, and many endangered plants, such as the moor lily, are thriving again. Moor frogs and moor salamanders show themselves more frequently, in contrast to the European adder (which gave the lake its name) which formerly was frequently seen here. The agency is planing to set up a fund for private donations to bear some of the cost of maintaining the area. There is general agreement that the environment ‘moor’ with its unique flora and fauna must be protected in the future. SOURCE: Anzeiger für Harlingerland, 7/7/08 26
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TRavels in the north of gerMany Source: Hodgskin, Thomas, Travels in the North of Germany, describing the Present State of the Social and Political Institutions 1820, Archibald Constable & Co., Edinburgh 1820. Excerpts from pages 288-293, Volume 1 Part two, continued from Issue 3, 2008. (Note that the spelling, etc. is copied exactly as found in the book). The Friezlanders are more Dutch than German, and distinct in their manners and language from the latter, though East Friezland has always formed a part of the empire. Numerous mills for sawing, for making oil, and for spinning stand on the walls of Embden, and in the neighbourhood of the town; they are all built after the Dutch manner, and are proofs of the industry and enterprise of the people. The dikes with which the greater part of Friezland is protected, and in a manner won from the sea and the river; the manner in which the inhabitants are obliged constantly to struggle against this element; the canals I have already mentioned, and numerous others which have been dug from Embden to all of the villages in its neighbourhood; are, all proofs of the same admirable qualities. The agriculture of the Friezlanders is excellent, and they are, in all respects, a more enterprising people than the greater part of the Germans. They are stouter and better looking—they are better clothed and better fed—they hold themselves upright and manly, and they pride themselves on being superior to the Germans. After seeing something of both, I join in their opinion. One of the causes of this superiority has already been mentioned. The Friezlanders were originally a separate tribe, and were every where distinguished by the form of their government, and by the division of their landed property from the rest of the Germans. Friezland, like Hadeln, is divided into farms of from 400 to 50 acres, which are, in general, possessed in full property by the persons who cultivate them The farmers owe no feudal services, and they have no labourers but those they hire. There are nobles in Friezland, but they are not numerous. That part of the feudal system which considered a certain class of men as the property of their lord has long been abolished, or never found its way into Friezland. Every man was his own master, or, as a respectable merchant of Embden said, a king in his own house, and if an action were to be done for the common good, and by general exertion, it could only be done by the consent of all. The land owners, or the farmers, had a vote in the election of their own priests, of their own tax-gatherers, of the people who looked after the dikes, and they elected the persons who were to administer the taxes. There was a regular parliament for the management of public business to which the towns sent 15 deputies, and the owners of the land, or third stand, 180. They were, therefore, adequately represented. At the head of the government was a Count of Friezland, and constant disputes between him, the nobles, the town of Embden and the parliament, till the very last moment of the independent existence of Friezland, shew that no one party had obtained the possession of uncontrolled power. In 1744, the family of the Counts became extinct, and Friezland then fell under the dominion of the sovereign of Prussia who held it as a fief of the empire. It stood in the same relation to him as 27
Hadeln did to Hannover. Under him, the inhabitants preserved some of their privileges. A particular treaty regulated the number of men, and the sum of money Friezland was to pay its sovereign, but the manner of levying both was to be left to the states, and it was to remain free from the conscription of Frederick, and his arbitrary taxes. The sovereign appointed some of the principal officers, but the greater part of the inferior ones, particularly all those connected with the administration of the revenue, were as formerly appointed by the states, or elected by the people. The monarch did not long respect the treaty which he had made with his subjects. In return for the money and the soldiers they were to give him, he sent a commissioner to administer the government, and take care of the interests of the crown. Notwithstanding, the solemn assurances which had been given that all the privileges of the people should be secured to them, this commissioner told the states, when they refused to augment their tribute of men and money, “If you will not do as my master wishes, I will leave you tomorrow, and he will send in my place a few regiments of soldiers, to facilitate giving a subsidy, and sending recruits.” Such was the exchange. The Friezlanders gave their wealth and blood for such protection as the royal commissioners could afford, and they were only employed to exact still more wealth and blood. The public spirit of this people is viable in the construction of canals and dikes, and their prosperity in the extent of their commerce, and the goodness of their agriculture; and we see their morality and happiness in their general comforts and appearance. Friezland, after Hadeln, is the most prosperous part of Germany, and here, as there, the people have always managed their own affairs. They have erected works of public utility, superior to any which have been erected in the much governed lands of Germany. The minds of the inhabitants of Friezland have been chastened by disasters, and ennobled by a continued independent nation national existence. Every other country of Germany has been bought or sold, or bequeathed as an inheritance; but Friezland has always been nearly of its present extent, and the people have always lived and fought as Friezlanders. They have a regular and continued history of their exploits, and are ennobled by knowing that they are the descendants of men who have always been independent. But their pride has been humbled and chastened, while their minds have been strung to new toils by disaster which were inflicted by the hand of God. Their country is on the level as the sea, and it requires constant care, and great labour, to preserve it from being overwhelmed. Their history is full of sufferings, but none equals the great flood of Christmas 1717, when a large part of the land was inundated. The farm-houses were swept away, and the people whom the water spared, perished from cold. (This is a small portion of the two volume set. It is an excellent discourse on the history of Germany in the early 1800’s)
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MAPPING Map scales show differences as a ratio between map distance and ground distance. For example, a map scale designated as 1:100,000 (right) indicates that one centimeter on the map represents 100,000 centimeters on the ground. One kilometer equals 100,000 centimeter on the ground.
1:100,000
The larger the number given as the ration of the “1”, the less the detail found on the map. A scale of 1:25,000 shows a smaller area in greater detail than one of a scale of 1: 250,000. The proportion for a map is its scale. Selecting the appropriate scale depends on the size of the sheet of paper and the accurate placement of features. Ground area, rivers, lakes, roads, distances between features are shown proportionately smaller than their actual size. Large Is Small Scale is the relationship between distance on the map and distance on the ground. A map scale usually is given as a ratio—1:10,000. These "representative fraction" scales mean that 1 unit of measurement on the map—1 inch or 1 centimeter—represents 10,000 of the same units on the ground. If the scale were 1:63,360, for instance, then 1 inch on the map would represent 63,360 inches, or 1 mile, on the ground (63,360 inches divided by 12 inches equals 5,280 feet, or 1 mile). The first number (map distance) is always 1. The second number (ground distance) is different for each scale; the larger the second number is, the smaller the scale of the map. "The larger the number, the smaller the scale" may sound confusing, but it is not difficult to underderstand. A map of an area 100 1:5,000
miles long by 100 miles wide drawn at a scale of 1:63,360 would be more than eight feet square. To make the map a more convenient size, either the scale used or the area covered must be reduced. If the scale is reduced to 1:316,800, then 1 inch on the map represents 5 miles on the ground, and an area 100 miles square can be mapped on a sheet less than two feet square (100 miles at 5 miles to the inch equals 20 inches, or 1.66 feet). On the other hand, if the original 1:63,360 scale is used but the mapped area is reduced to 20 miles square, the resulting map will also be less than 2 feet square. Such maps would be easier to handle. But would they be more useful? In the small-scale map (1:316,800), there is less room; therefore, everything must be drawn smaller, and some small streams, roads, and landmarks must be left out altogether. On the other hand, the larger scale map (1:63,360) permits more detail but covers much less ground. Maps of the city of Aurich, for instance, have been mapped at different scales in this article. The most important consideration in choosing a map is its intended use. The more detailed the map, the more information is found—note the Aurich map on the left corner 1:5,000. This scale is much larger so that many features such as buildings, libraries, churches and museums are identified. Use this scale if you are spending time in a village and wish to find certain points of interest. In the smallest scale, buildings are easily identified, in the 1:100,000 little village detail other than streets can be discerned. In the 1:200,000 map, only major roadways through the city are identified. The map 1:100,000 illustrated in this article is taken from the Freizeit Atlas Ostfriesland and each page is detailed enough to note older areas that may no longer exist. The map below is the Heimatkarte Ostfriesland. Both are available from OGSA. SOURCE: Internet, Wikipedia, Lin Strong
28 1:200,000
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Officials in the Old District of Wittmund Extract from Heyko and Eva Heyken's book, Die Einwohner des alten Amtes Wittmund von 1565 bis 1752 (Residents in the old district of Wittmund from 1565 to 1752), pp. 614-617 Translated by Gene Janssen This is a short explanation of official positions found in the civil records for the old district of Wittmund. [These same titles are found throughout Ostfriesland as well]. Further information about the concept and organization of the governing officials can be found in two works, one by Gröttrup and one by König which provided the basis for the following descriptions. [Approximate English terms have been supplied by the translator, though they may not exactly describe the function of the office] Der Drost (sheriff/bailiff) was the most senior government official who supervised all the other officials. He also served as the Deichgraf (the dike official or commissioner). Der Amtmann (recorder/clerk of court; later justice of the peace) was originally the Schreiber (clerk). Only later (around 1600) did the increased importance of the position lead to the title Amtmann. He handled primarily legal/justice issues and often had studied law. In addition, he played an important role in the government administration. A distinction between justice and administration was unknown at the time. Die Vögte or (constable/prefect) The district of Wittmund, as well as the district of Esens, was divided into Vogteien (somewhat like precincts) at the time. der Vogt Every precinct, Vogtei, was comparable to a church district, Kirchspiel. The records always list the areas in question as Kirchspiele whereas, to be more precise, they ought to have used the term Vogtei. A Vogt often served more than one precinct. He was the one who carried out the orders of the government and was responsible for carrying out court decrees, issuing summons and collecting fines. In criminal cases he had to conduct the investigation and arrest the perpetrator. In short, he was the public face of the administration. Usually the Vogt lived in Wittmund. Der Burggraf (captain of a castle or fortress, bailiff, chatelain, castellan) filled a special position in that he was not only a Vogt for Wittmund and the surrounding area and sometimes other areas, but he was also responsible for the castle in Wittmund as well as the defenses of the same. Der Moorvogt (county commissioner) along with the Burggraf, the Moorvogt was responsible for anything to do with the moorlands including the administration of them, the parcelling out of plots, the harvesting of the peat and supervision of the moor workers. Der Auskündiger (town crier, announcer, deputy) along with the Vogt (and reporting to him), the Auskündiger had almost the same function as the Vogt, with the duties of carrying out orders. 29
Every Vogtei had an Auskündiger. The office carried no salary as did the above mentioned offices, but there were various fees and levies which were directed to it. Der Schäfer (shepherd) apparently also included in the list of officials. He received an annual payment of 12 Fuder of peat. During the 30 Years' War (ca. 1618-1648) the office of the Rezeptor was begun in 1637 when the Hessian troops invaded the land and presented constant demands for war tribute or assessments. The ducal officials were reluctant to be saddled with this very public collection of money. Due to the extended occupation time of the Hessian troops, this office became a permanent fixture, though later it was aligned with the personnel of the Deichrentmeister (dike revenue) department. The responsibility of the Rezeptor or the Deichrentmeister was the collection and distribution of revenue. Hence, he was the senior-most financial official. Duties included the leasing of the manorial lands, the collection of rents and the distribution of monies as found throughout the civil records. Upon taking office he had to post a personal bond to assure that all financial transactions were carried out properly, and any shortages were charged to him along with .5% interest. (broker, middleman) at that time was the Der Makler middleman for all business transactions. True, no one was required to use his services, but if anyone needed a broker or middleman, they had to use him, the official broker. The income from forty-two residents throughout the district of Wittmund as recorded on August 28, 1687, gives us some idea of the work of this office as well as the esteem which a Makler enjoyed. Der Ausmiener (auctioneer) The Ausmiener had a dual function. It was his duty to conduct voluntary auctions (as today's auctioneer) and to carry out foreclosure auctions. Only people with reliable means could bid; otherwise, a security or guaranty had to be posted. If the final bidder was not able to come up with the money, the Ausmiener was allowed by law to seize it from the bidder's assets. There was an Ausmiener in every district of the Harlingerland. There was a unique form of auction in conjunction with the sale of land called the Kerzenverkauf (candle sale). Bids on the property could be made as long as a candle was burning. Of course, there were instances when the bidding was slow or not forthcoming that a second or even a third candle came into play. (König distinguishes two types of sale: the Ausmienerei as the sale of moveable goods and the Kerzenverkauf as the sale of land) Actually, there are records in the Weinkaufsprotokollen (real estate records) which tell of the public sale of homes by Ausmienerei in the district of Wittmund.
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
Deichrichter or Sielrichter In contrast to the rest of Ostfriesland, where these officials were elected, in the Harlingerland they were appointed by the ruler. According to Gröttrup the two positions were usually combined, but in Wittmund there were two separate officials. It was their responsibility to oversee the dikes (Deiche) and sluices or drainage works (Siel), and in times of storm floods were allowed to organize emergency repair crews and to supervise the same as long as necessary in addition to participating in the conduction of inspections. They received an annual stipend (for example six Reichstaler in 1670) and were somewhat exempt from dike assessments. Der Deichschütter also called Deichschützer in the records, though that is most likely an erroneous translation. The person
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in this position served as an aide to the Deichrichter. Twice weekly, or daily if necessary, it was his duty to carry out the orders or directions of the Deichrichter. In addition to this messenger service, he had to oversee the dike along with feeding the animals thereon (sheep) and to serve legal notices on people who damaged the dike. Der Landrichter was not a district official but an official for the entire Harlingerland. He resided in Esens. Not only was he the judge or adjudicator but also the overall administrator. As judge he was responsible in cases of injuries or insults. The daily record (from 1575-1588) also shows that he was responsible for dike building. The Landrichter was one of the highest ranking officials, though the Drost and the Kanzleiverwalter (chancery administrator) in Esens were above him, and the Amtmann beneath him in rank.
Email Address Change Pat Mower,
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New Memberships: Sandra Jean Marriott Carr, 547 East 200 North, Bountiful, UT 84010
[email protected] 801-298-3687 Researching: Moorberg (Leer), Heye (Westerende), Boltjes (Westerende), Goldenstein, Stromer, Hinrichs (Blomberg), Rothfuss (Aurich), Janssen, Garrelts, Wessels (village unknown) Paula Frieden Giegold, 0653 CR 64, Garrett, IL 46738
[email protected] 260-357-3606 Researching: Kramer (Moordorf, Borkum), Friden (Aurich, Ostersander), Schaefer (Schwerinsdorf), Janssen (possibly Borkum) Arthur Hasbargen, 813 Orchard Drive, Macomb, IL 61455
[email protected] 309-833-4774 Researching: Hasbargen (Neesmersiel), Freese (Westermarch), Iwerks (Hauen/ Pilsum), Smidt, Risius (Pilsum), Alberts (Westerende), Peters (Norden), Roos (Visquard) Joanne Meyer, 12353 Travois Road, Eden Prairie, MN 55347
[email protected] 952-807-2568 Researching: Janssen (Extum), Groneveld (Steenfeld) Sherrie Guenthner, PO Box 111, Hazen, ND 58545
[email protected] 701-748-2129 Researching: Loning (Beschotenweg), Nonninga (Weener), Cornelius (Campen), Kadus (Bunde), Swyter Change of Address Rich Campen, 10722 N Trail View Drive, Dunlap, IL 61525 Rick Gersema, 21247 110th Street, Parkersburg, IA 50665 319 -346-2046
PROGRAMS OF INTEREST The Germanic American Institute, 301 Summit Avenue, St. Paul MN presents: GERMANS IN AMERICA - showing October - November at 11 a.m. in RATSKELLER—followed by: GESCHICHTE- Your Story — A four-part television series, produced in Germany, recounts the story of German immigrants to the United States, using gripping stories about naive settlers and successful farmers, about devout free-thinkers and political refugees, about the heyday of the German-language press in America, and about the founders of industrial dynasties in the new homeland. Each program will be shown twice, always at 11 a.m. in the Ratskeller. (42 minutes long) October 4 , 11 - Program 1: Into the Promised Land; October 25, Nov. 1—Program 2: The Price of Freedom; November 8, 15 - Program 3: Little Germanies; November 22, Nov. 29 - Program 4: A People Disappears The Landmark Center will have an "Urban Safari" about Germany on January 18, 2009—several genealogical groups will be invited. More information is available from: Dina Vaynerman Program and Marketing Manager Minnesota Landmarks, Landmark Center 75 West 5th Street, Suite 404, St. Paul, MN 55102 651.292.3276 (direct) 651.292.3225 (info) 651.292.3272 fax
[email protected] www.landmarkcenter.org 30
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UPCOMING ISSUES WILL INCLUDE: Emigration—January Issue Make sure you don’t miss this issue filled with stories: Jann Kaiser’s 1852 Letter A Journey from Dunum Uda’s Journey Visit of an Ostfriesen Descendent Emigration Costs, Requirements Ostfriesen in the Wild West Westermarsh to Iowa
April/July Issues:
Happy 375th Birthday Großefehn! OGSA member Lisa Buß who lives in Großefehn and several members of OGSA attended with an exhibit at this community event on Sept. 14—21, 2008. Our best wishes to this picturesque community and its friendly citizens. A special thank you to everyone who donated funds for our board member, Rick Gersema, whose home was destroyed by a tornado earlier this summer. We received the following note from Rick and will share it with you here: Dear Sharon & all the members of the OGSA, I am now home from my honeymoon and trying to get into a routine. I wanted to thank you all for your wonderful generosity in the many, many gifts that you sent on my behalf after the tornado took my house and contents on May 25. I was simply overwhelmed at the amount of items that Zella brought when she came to attend my wedding on July 12. I am still amazed at the kindness that everyone has shown me through all of this. It is a great blessing to belong to an organization such as this. I am proud to be Ostfriesen and to have great friends like you all. I could never begin to repay you for all of this so all I can say is a humble "Thank You." I only hope that I can be just as supportive when a tragedy comes upon someone else in the future. God bless you all! With heartfelt gratitude, Rick Gersema P.S. I have a new address now: Rick & Jean Gersema, 21247 110th St., Parkersburg, IA 50665” 31
Der Brautpfadd Marienchor Midlum’s Pastors The Settlement of Firrel Gandersum The Ems River Where Did the Cloisters Go? Keukenhof The Ships of Meyer-Werft The Pirates of Marienhafe Delftware Houtrouw’s Ostfreislandbuch
PHOTO CONTEST Do you know what this is used for? It is wooden, sits on the floor and is hand carved. Guess anyone?
PLEASE NOTE:
Feb. 2, 2009
UPCOMING EVENTS
New Mail Address:
10 a.m. to noon
OGSA ANNUAL TEA PARTY
Nov. 1, 2008 GermanAmerican Institute 301 Summit Ave. St. Paul, MN (651) 222-7027
Osfriesland’s Organs & Music Mt. Olive Lutheran Church 31st & Chicago MARIENHAFE
10 a.m. to noon— noon—come early for a tour of this historic dwelling!Bring your tea cup and saucer or use one of ours! Ostfriesen tea, great food, fun & door prizes and surprises, too! http://www.gaihttp://www.gai-mn.org/gaimn/ aboutus.html (parking lot is in the rear)
OGSA 1670 South Robert Street, #333, West St. Paul, MN 55118
News Editor Address : Lin Strong (
[email protected]) 168 N. Lake St., Forest Lake, MN 55025 651-269-3580 New Library Address: MN Genealogical Society 1185 Concord St. N. So. St. Paul, MN
OGSA Phone No. (651) 451-6472 MGS Hours: Tues., 6:30-9:30 pm Wed., 10 a.m.-4 pm Thurs.10 a.m.-4 pm 6:30-9:30 pm Sat., 10 a.m.-4 pm
Coming from out of town, call or email Zella Mirick
[email protected]
All meetings are open to the public. Please join us and bring a relative or friend! OSTFRIESEN GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
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$
pdf newsletter sent as email attachment
2009 Membership…………… $ Download newsletter from ogsa.us website (Newsletter is online January 1, April 1, July 1, October 1—everyone will be sent passwords/member code) 2009 Non-USA Membership…… $
Membership Booklet………….
$
(per year) Paper copy sent by postal mail MEMBERSHIP TOTAL …….. (If sent by postal mail)
Membership Booklet (EXCEL) (Free & searchable sent by email attachment………… SEND YOUR RENEWAL OR NEW MEMBERSHIP TODAY!
$____________ $____________ $____FREE___
NOTE! OGSA needs your donations to help pay for special projects. Donation to OGSA…………..$ ___________ OGSA is a 501 C3 and you can legally deduct your donation. We appreciate donations in any amount! TOTAL $ ___________ Address: OGSA, 1670 South Robert Street, #333, West St. Paul, MN 55118 33
