“Family Archaeologist” explores a century of family letters, diaries, and artifacts, and how they illuminate history and our shared humanity. To get an overview of the blog, click: “Welcome to Family Archaeologist”
LATEST BLOG POSTS
Terror Atop the Train
Josef Gärtz, 1909 or 1910, age 20 or 21 I’d always known my grandfather was often impatient, and apparently was so as a young man. I learned from my cousin’s family (also from Neppendorf, the same Transylvanian town as Josef) that Josef didn’t want to wait for the long visa process, so he just [...]
Channeling the Dead to Life
Missler Wallet with Josef’s Gärtz’s diary inside. Note: “Missler” was a ticket agent in Bremen, Germany, but for years people thought it was the name of this “ghostship.” Scroll down to the “Missler” link to learn more. I sometimes feel like a medium—you know—those people able to communicate with the dead. But in my [...]
Last Summer in Europe
In 1910 Josef began a second book, this time the notebook in which I found his Military Draft notice handwritten on the first page. (See post, Drafted 100 Years Ago). After making some inquiries with Transylvanian natives, the consensus at this time is that Josef probably copied the contents of the draft letter into this notebook [...]
The Cash and Song Book
Katarina (Schnell) Gärtz, Josef and hissister, Katarina. About 1902-03 When we asked my grandfather why he had come to America he always said, “Nothing from nothing makes nothing.” A little background may illuminate that statement. Like Lisi, he had lost a parent when very young. His father died when Josef was just four. We were [...]
Hidden Message Behind Women’s Work
Jickeli Household Help. Lisi Ebner seated 2nd from left. Mrs. Jickeli, center in black. This photo hung in my grandmother’s house for her entire life. The image has been carefully stylized to depict what women did in at the turn of the last century, but hidden on the back for 100 years was an [...]
Blended Family Breakthrough
Maria Schuster marries Samuel Ebner May 22, 1899recorded in the Church “Family Book” in Grosspold, Romania Samuel Ebner, my great-grandfather, did not remain a widower for long (see how my great-grandmother died at Life and Death Abbreviated). In May 1899, he married the widow, Maria Schuster, who brought at least two daughters into the marriage, creating [...]
Life and Death—Abbreviated
Grosspold Family Book My grandmother kept a photo of her hometown church tucked into the hymnbook she brought with her from Romania. No wonder. That church was more than just a place of worship. It was the repository of her entire community’s history. That’s why my brothers and I made the Grosspold Lutheran Church [...]
Remember Me in 1910
About the time Josef Gärtz received his Military Draft Summons (see Drafted 100 years ago), this photo was taken of my grandmother, Elisabetha, (known most often as “Lisi”). It was stored with other old photographs in an envelope on which she listed the contents, including this one: “Mein Bild in Großpold Kleider.” [My picture in Großpold clothing]. (Grosspold was her [...]
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