Letters to Johann Becker (in America)

[Barbara BeckerBarbara A. Becker]

I have never attempted to trace my ancestors (father's side), but
this listserv may inspire me to do so. I am interested in someday
sharing letters (earliest 1860), written in the old script, from
Germany to my great grandfather, Johann, from his brother Nicolaus
and a friend? relative?, Nicolaus Kempernick, both from Hattenheim
near the Rhine (northeast of Rudesheim). Hopefully, I will find a
Becker relation(s) in Germany who might be interested in these
letters. Unfortunately, most are not translated and are somewhat
disorganized. Following are excerpts:

l. From Nicolaus Becker, Hattenheim, Nov. 24, 1867
Dear Brother and family! ...all at once an unexpected happening
cancelled all my wishes and hopes. Namely, Martin was drafted....
You can imagine it was no pleasure to leave business and friends.
But for us also it is troublesome since the little food the military
provides means we will have to make up for it. And the worst of it
is he had to go to Berlin over 200 hours distant. If he had only
remained in this area the mailing of packages would not have been so
expensive.

..I cannot report any good news. We went through another war in
Europe, namely, the Pope's army against the revolutionary, Garibaldi.
Garibaldi was totally defeated with the help of a French regiment.
All the propaganda and fighting leaves us guessing the outcome.

The North German Confederation has been created under the leadership
of Prussia. Several South German States, for instance Bavaria,
Wurtemburg, Baden and Hesse Darmstadt have declared a willingness to
join and one doubts very much that any foreign power will declare war
on Prussia.

Such troop organization as has been set up in Prussia, one cannot
find anywhere in the world. In Nassau alone 24 to 25 thousand men
have been drafted, more than Nassau formerly inducted. Now add the
number of men from the other annexed States like Kurhessen,
Hannover...and you wont' be surprised everybody is afraid of Prussia.

So now we will have to pay more taxes, such as income, property and
house taxes and lots of others.

The harvest was good this year but too much was exported so that the
black rye bread costs 19 to 20 Kreuzer. Rye grain costs 12
Kreuzer...and oats about 6 Gulden.

..greetings to Paul, Bernhard and also Jacob from all of us.
..Don't forget, dear Aunt, to send your portraits....

Jacob's comrades have all been drafted and we do not know what will
happen to his property and money. Probably the state will confiscate
it all, after a certain time set by the state. If he does not
appear, at that time, he will lose it all. No one else can claim it.

God in heaven will help us meet again....
N. Becker

Letter from Nicolaus Kempernick, Hattenheim, Aug. 6, 1866
Dear Johann! ...During the course of this summer lots of things
occurred in Germany which one would not have hoped for in the
spring...

About the war in Germany, Germans against Germans, you must have read
about it in the papers. Since the transatlantic cables were laid the
important news out of Germany reaches you much sooner.

The war began because of Schleswig Holstein, but there were probably
other reasons too. Since Austria refused to give up its rights
there, to Prussia, the quarrel evolved into war. Prussia, except for
some north German rulers, had an alliance with Italy which, in turn,
wanted Venice and which it owns now. And so Austria was attacked
from two sides by strong adversaries. On the Austrian side were
other German States bringing the total strength to 380,000 men.
Austria had to send a large troop contingent to Italy and these were
the best soldiers, mostly German. Austria won the first battlein
Bohemia and Italy, but was beaten.... (Several paragraphs follow.)

As the unholy war began everyone thought Austria would win. They
would have won if the leadership had not been so bad. Also one would
not have thought the war would end so soon. During the Armistice,
peace most likely will come about.

..The summer was a hot and dry one and still, in general, turned out
to be a favorable one. Especially the Rheingauer made a superb wine,
the best in a hundred years....

The harvest this summer turned out to be a fair one. Straw is
plentiful but the kernels somewhat small because they dried too fast.
...The wine is promising this year....

Finally I want to let you know we have a Prussian occupation here as
well as the whole Rheingau....
N. Kempernick

If anyone wishes to reply, English (preferred) or German would be
fine.

Barbara A. Becker
Portland State University Library
P.O. Box 1151
Portland, OR 97207
(503) 725-4127
bec...@godzilla.lib.pdx.edu

[W. Fred Rump]

"Barbara BeckerBarbara A. Becker" <BEC...@LIB.PDX.EDU> wrote:

>I have never attempted to trace my ancestors (father's side), but
>this listserv may inspire me to do so. I am interested in someday
>sharing letters (earliest 1860), written in the old script, from
>Germany to my great grandfather, Johann, from his brother Nicolaus
>and a friend? relative?, Nicolaus Kempernick, both from Hattenheim
>near the Rhine (northeast of Rudesheim). Hopefully, I will find a
>Becker relation(s) in Germany who might be interested in these
>letters. Unfortunately, most are not translated and are somewhat
>disorganized. Following are excerpts:

Letters such as these might be a treasure to the families involved.
There are no Kempernicks in Hattenheim but lots of Beckers. My
suggestion would be to send a letter to the Stadtverwaltung
Hattenheim, 65343 Hattenheim with a copy of one of your letters asking
them if they know of any Becker people in their area who might be
interested in corresponding with you about them. Surely there are some
among them who might be interested in exploring the family connection.

I can't seem to find out which local newspaper might be read there but
maybe somebody else might know. You might want to send them a letter
too. Such old letters as you have are always good copy and you might
get a larger audience that way if they publish a sample as you did
here.

Best of luck in this.

Fred
W. Fred Rump Fr...@k2nesoft.com (preferred)
Beverly, NJ Fr...@compu.com
609-386-6846 fred...@msn.com
WFR...@aol.com & 73512...@compuserve.com