nierstein – jen's ancestors

Nierstein [Germany] August 22, [18]97.

Dearest brother, sister-in-law, and family,

Since I have not yet been able to speak with all my brothers and sisters and it will be too long to wait until I get together with them, I want to write in the meantime to let you know that your pictures arrived here safely, which you already knew from Johann Müllers letter. I therefore also delayed writing, since sister Lieschen and Peter Claus were going to write to you right away too, and I didn’t want all the letters to reach you at the same time.

We were so very happy to receive your pictures. You are still very much recognizable, and your children definitely show a resemblance to you. Your wife has also not changed much, for you had sent us her picture to our departed father earlier. I recognized her at once. I will reciprocate next summer. When our Elischen is stronger, I want to have my picture taken with the whole family too. Brothers Carl and Andreas seem a little miffed because you didn’t send along any pictures for them. I will now get in touch with our other siblings by mail. I have no time to talk with them in person, for I am here at Senfters and I have to be there on Sundays if needed not for nothing, of course. In any case, the others plan write to you right away, as far as I know, and there is no hurry anyway.

Now to change the subject. How did your harvest turn out? And are you finished with your building work? Is everything back to normal? The harvest is over here, and the fruit was abundant. Potatoes also seem to have done well, and the grape harvest seems to be an excellent one, plentiful and good. The grape harvest was good last year too, at least plentiful, but this year its much better and more plentiful, that much we know already. We had a very hot summer, alternating with favorable rains. In many areas of our fatherland, the people were sorely afflicted with lightning, hail, and flooding. In Bavaria, Württemberg, and Saxony it was very bad. Many houses there were carried away, and many people lost their lives. We live in a good area here, and therefore the crop prices have risen colossally. We can drink wine cheaply this year – you can get a bottle for as little as 15 pfennigs 5 kreuzers in our old currency. Last year I had also put up a 100-glass keg of wine for myself, for I had laid in several of them in the yard. But this year I’m getting even more. If some time you feel inclined to visit your old homeland, I will see to it that you can refresh yourself with a glass of this pure wine. If I had the money, I would have looked you up in your new home totally unexpectedly. Well, life’s not over yet. Your contemporary Johannes Jung from Schwabsburg died two weeks ago. He had been sick for an entire year. But if you were to come here, you would be amazed at how everything has changed. All our fathers old friends and comrades and even some of the younger ones are no longer around.

I must close, with many brotherly regards,
Fritz and family

Greetings from all of us.
Please forgive me for waiting so long to write.
I’ll count on hearing from you soon.

7 This is hard to translate without knowing the situation being alluded to. Fremde Leute means other people (not family or close friends).
8 footnote * I don’t know what part of the village is the back, but my guess is its the side furthest from the nearest center of commerce.
9 I have no idea what this word means, but it seems to refer to the poem that follows (yes, it rhymes in German). Because of some unusual spellings, I’m not sure I’ve interpreted all the words of the poem correctly.

This is Nierstein, just a hop and a skip from Schwabsburg. [Image from Wikipedia entry for Nierstein.]

Nierstein, January 24, [18]97

Dear brother and family,

I presume you can remember that you also have a brother in the old homeland named Fritz. I was just a boy when you went to America, and because I am now the youngest of your brothers, I have a mind to reach out to you in that faraway world by mail. Because of a change in mail carriers in Nierstein, it so happened that, one year before our fathers death, a letter from you came into my hands. In it, I read that you intended to give your old homeland the pleasure of paying it a visit in 2 years. But I did not find your address in this letter. I would have liked to write to you back then that you should not put off your visit for so long. For I knew that our father was already suffering badly from the weakness of old age. From that time on, I kept asking him for your address, but he always had an excuse. Once he said I just don’t have time. Another time he said, I’ll send it to you. And the third time, he said, I’ve already written to Georg. To this day, I don’t know what his problem was. You know this was just a quirk our father had. He never let us read one of your letters. He would just say George wrote thus and so, and that was all. Well, to get beyond all that now, I want to write and tell you how I’m doing.

I have been married for 15 years and live in Nierstein out on the Kreutz [cross; name of a street?] in the former Gabel house. So far, I have the pleasure of being the father of 7 children. I will tell you their names: Kätchen is 15 years old, Lenche is 11, Karl is 8, Fritz is 6, and Elischen is 3 months old. Jakob and Lieschen, who come after Fritz, preceded us in death, to our great sorrow, so now we are a family of seven. I have lived here seven years and am employed at Senfter, where brother Andreas used to work. I make good money and get free living quarters. I have just begun my fortieth year of life, and my wife, née Lenche Wild from Erfelden, is 38 years old. I don’t know how big a family you have. You can tell me the details.

You probably already know where all your other brothers and sisters are, but if you are uncertain about anything, you can ask me about it in the letter that I hope to get from you. I would be glad to provide you with information.

I’ll have to stop writing, for, as you can see, I’ve run out of space. If I were to write you everything that has happened since your departure for America, it would be far too much and take a lot of time. I’ll tell you more next time.

[Fritz Hamm]