52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Week 21
Prompt – Military
Bill's maternal great – grandfather
is Johann Friedrich Jahnke. He was born November 25, 1863 in
Bromberg, Prussia. Today it is called Bydgoszcz and is located in
Poland. Prussia existed as part of the German Empire until its
dissolution in 1918.
Johann Jahnke was conscripted into
three year mandatory military service. I believe all men had
compulsory military service in Prussia and many European countries. His military book is one of
the treasures that Bill's family still have. I was able to scan it
for my genealogy.
Unfortunately I cannot read it. As a
matter of fact many German people today could not read it. German
Script is a type of handwriting based on medieval cursive writing
that existed in Germany. In 1911 Germany commissioned Sutterlin to
come up with an easier version of the old German Script. In 1941, the Nazi Party banned all type
of cursive writing considering it too chaotic. They only allowed “Normal Script” or “Latin
Script” to be taught in schools. What this means is that only the
very elderly know how to read the old German Script that most of our
Prussian / German ancestors letters, diaries, certificates and things
like Bill's great grandfather's military book are written in.
Johann was conscripted on November 7,
1884 which was just a few days short of his 21st birthday.
He was discharged September 7, 1887. That I could make out of the
pages.
I did inquire about getting it
translated from a translation service I found on the internet and was
based out of Vancouver. Unfortunately it was going to cost close to
450.00 dollars. Thus I have not felt the urge to get on
that right now. I know that there are many sites on the
internet to teach one how to read German Script, but I haven't taken that
on just yet. I am curious to know what it says and what information
might be hiding within that book. There are several pages of
handwritten notes. |
| Military Book of Johann Jahnke. What does it say? |
Johann Friedrich Jahnke married
Ernestine “Emelie” Hein (Heyn) on April 20, 1890. Their first son
was born January 9, 1891 in Bromberg, Germany.
 |
| Johann and Emelie Jahnke on Their Wedding Day |
In October of that
same year the family immigrated to United States and homesteaded in
Winthrop, Minnesota. Their second son was born in Winthrop in April
6, 1894. His name was Arthur John Jahnke. He was Bill's grandfather.
Johann and Emelie lived in many places throughout Canada and U.S.
They lived out there end of life in Yakima, Washington. Johann died
February 3, 1945 and Emelie died April 10, 1946.
As an aside. Johann had an older
brother named Leonard Heinrich Jahnke. Leonard married Henriette
“Amalia” Hein – Emelie's twin sister. The brothers married
twin sisters. Try to keep that family tree!
Wendy
No comments:
Post a Comment