52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Week 20
Prompt Another Language
German! I wish I could read and speak
it and above all understand it. As mentioned in previous blogs my
paternal grandmother (Elisabeth Peters nee Dueck) spoke only German
and my father spoke both English and German. My mother's first
language was German until about 5 years of age and then she schooled
in English.
I come from German speaking paternal
and maternal ancestors. The ancestors left Prussia to go to Russia
in part by the terms given in Catherine The Great's manifesto whereby
they could keep their religion, beliefs, language and teach their children in that
language. However by the latter part of the 19th century,
Russia had started to go back on their promises and language was one
of them. They wanted the children to be schooled in Russian. Once
again my ancestors sought out new land where they could keep their
ways, speak their language and religious beliefs. And once again
they immigrated to a land that promised them freedoms of religious
beliefs and in their own language – German. To be accurate, the Mennonite German is called “Plautdietsch “ or “low
German”.
My great grandparents, David Peters and
Katharina Mueller who were born in Southern Russia immigrated to
Canada aboard the S.S. Canadian and arrived on July 19, 1875 into
Quebec City and traveling on to settle in Manitoba, Canada , a Mennonite colony. Their son, my grandfather, Frank Peters was born
one year later July 29, 1976 in Plum Coulee, Manitoba.
As I started to research my great
grandfather and grandfather I turned to The GRANDMA database
(Genealogical Registry and
Database of Mennonite Ancestry).
If you have not used it and you have Mennonite heritage, I highly
recommend it as a good place to start.
In the
note section of the window is the source for this information.
As
you know genealogy without sources is just fiction. Now I have a
source to look up for my grandfather's vital statistics. But what
the heck is a Die Mennonitische Rundschau? It is a published weekly Mennonite periodical that started in the 1880's and last publishing
in 2007. It included the stories of the Mennonites in Russia and in
America. Among other things it contained birth, deaths and wedding
announcements.
I
decided to go to the source and copy it for my genealogy. Recently
while on vacation and traveling through Saskatoon, I decided to go
to the Mennonite Historical Society of Saskatchewan to see what I
could find. I found it and attempted to photocopy it. The society
has bound together the periodicals in dated groups. I found the one
I needed and went to the page I was given in the GRANDMA notes. I
don't know what I was thinking but it was in German and German Script none the less. I was easily able to pick out the
name Franz Peters but that is about it.
I
wish I could read it. I was one generation away from being taught
German. It was not cool to know German post World War 2. I know
the information is that which I have already but still it would be nice to
read it. I could get it translated and for a fee or the historical
society could probably do it.
This
is not the only source written in German in my genealogy. I have
notes written on the back of photos written in German. I have
postcards with German writing on the back. I have a military book
from Bill's grandfather from Germany. I have baptismal and marriage
certificates written in Script German. Script German is a also
called Suetterlin or
old German hand. It was taught in German Schools until the early
1940's at which time Hitler outlawed it. Thus there are fewer and
fewer people who know how to read it and thus interpret it.
Another
language would have been wonderful especially if it was German. I do
not know it and alas I will depend on Google translate or German
script font tutorials on line. Even maybe finding someone to do it
for a fee.
Wendy
