Hummel Church, Northumberland County, Evaluating Pennsylvania German Church Tracts

HIMMEL CHURCH, NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY EVALUATING PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN CHURCH TRANSCRIPTS by Annette Kunselman FGSP, * The book review section of this journal publishes a caveat. The reader is cautioned, however, that the possibility of errors or omissions exists whenever abstracted and/or transcribed records are used. If at all possi¬ ble, the original or a microfilm copy of the original should be examined. Good advice, but what if the originals are not available? How does one evaluate abstracts, transcripts and translations? The question isn't as straightforward as it might seem, as we discovered when trying to find the best translation for the records of Himmel Church in Northumber¬ land County, following an unfortunate choice for an earlier publication in this journal.1 Several translations exist, in both published and manuscript form.2 To choose the best seemed a simple matter of comparing them to the original. Unfortunately, the original church records burned in 1959, never having been microfilmed.3 As we accumulated various versions of the extant translations, we were strongly reminded of the variety of factors involved. Translation of German text. This requires both good knowledge of German as a language and familiarity with the language as used within the environment of Pennsylvania German church records of the appropriate time period. Most record keepers use a variety of shorthand notations. These might be rendered as-is, expanded with brackets, or expanded silently. Sometimes different stan¬ dards are used for names and for general or translated text. When a vowel has an umlaut, but umlauted characters are not available (as on a typewriter), the proper translation style is to add an e after the vowel, hence Kohler becomes Koehler and Schafer becomes Schaefer. Reading the handwriting. For all of the early church records—and for many of the later ones— the writing is in gothic rather than cursive script. Most mod¬ ern German speakers cannot read it all. To recognize its letter forms in all their Annette Kunselman Burgert, a Fellow of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, is well-known for her publications on German origins of Pennsylvania immigrants. Patricia Law Hatcher, CG, FASG, assisted with the research and writing. 1 “The Himmel Church, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania logical Magazine 41(2000): 346-64. 2 For simplicity, the term translation will be used hereafter and should be considered comprehensive, although there are many elements of transcription involved. It will also be considered to include manuscripts, typescripts, and published books. 3 Frederick S. Weiser, “Introduction," Himmel Lutheran and Reformed Church, Wash¬ ington Township, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Parish Register, 1774-1886. - Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol. 42 (2001) 139 140 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine [Vol. 42 individual variants requires practice—lots and lots of practice. Furthermore, a high degree of accuracy is achieved only with experience in reading the pecu¬ liarities of a particular minister's penmanship, plus general knowledge of the names of the area. Translation of given names. Many German translators consider given names to be one of the elements to be translated. Hence Joh., Johan, Johann, and Johannes all become John. Other translators prefer to transcribe given names exactly as they appear. * Translation of surnames. Many researchers are unfamiliar with the concept that a proper name can vary depending on its use in a sentence, therefore, many German translators eliminate the endings signifying a female (in) or possession [genitive case] (s or en), considering them simply part of the lan¬ is translated to guage structure, not part of the name. Hence Reitz Schneider Reitzen to , , and Schneiders to Schneider. • Comprehensiveness. German churches recorded several types of records in their books: baptisms, marriage, burials, confirmations, communicants, and business records. Many translators choose to omit one or more of these record groups, with most focusing entirely on the “birth” [baptismal] records. Addi¬ tionally, most publications cut off at a relatively early point in time. Arrangement Original church records are found in both tabular form and sentence form. Many translations rearrange all records into tabular format. In some (but not all) cases, the switch from one format to another may have signaled a switch of pastors, possibly between the Lutheran and Reformed ministers, a clue that is lost through the reformatting. Additionally, some trans¬ lations may add text, such as “son of,” in such a way that it appears to be in the original, although it was not. Generation. We discovered with most of the Himmel translations that what was available was not the original translation, but was a second, third, or fourth generation. Each time a translation is recopied or reentered, potential for errors exists. Common errors include “typos" such as transposition of numbers, mistyped numbers, and mistyped names. The derivative version may get off by a line, assigning the parents of the second line to the child of the first, for example. Some versions omit small— but meaningful—bits of text found in other versions. Many modern genealogists believe that transcripts should not alter the original in any way, and for proper names might suggest a literal tran¬ scription with the basic surname in square brackets following. Yet this clearly conflicts with some of the concepts of what it means to translate. Transcriptions aren't easy. Most of us who write articles and publish abstracts will frankly admit that we’ve agonized at length over whether a letter is an S or an Z; an in or an m with a spot of mildew. When we have many versions to compare, as with Himmel, often we can make judgments about which versions are good, better, bad, worse, or awful for a particular element. The decision isn’t as easy when trying to choose the best translation overall. Suppose a version does a good job of translation and reading the handwriting, but omits the confirmation list that is the only mention of your ancestor. Our choice for “good” might be your choice for “bad ” 2001] Hirnmel Church, Northumberland County 141 The serious researcher will be wise to consult the most-original ver¬ sions available and to review all available records for a church during the ancestral period of residence. TRANSLATIONS AND AVAILABLE VERSIONS FOR HIMMEL CHURCH4 There appear to have been at least four identifiable separate translations done of the records (presented chronologically below). The identity of only one of the translators is known with certainty. Most of the versions are typescripts, of which a few photocopies were made and given to a few institutions. These photocopies were sometimes bound and some have been microfilmed. Only one publication, which contains the baptisms through 1846, is currently available for purchase, from the Northumberland County Historical Society (see item 2f). 1. 1936, translator: unknown, published in Proceedings of the Northumber¬ land County Historical Society. Preserves the original format of the records, but both the translation and handwriting interpretation are riddled with er¬ rors. Baptisms only through early 1787; communicant lists from 30 June 1776, 8 July 1787, and 25 July 1795; and a donation list from 14 June 1817. Pagina¬ tion from the original is noted. a. John H. Carter, ‘‘The Himmel Church,” Proceedings of the Northumberland County Historical Society 8(1936): 67-83, article on the history of the church; followed by “The Himmel Church Protocol,” on pages 83-97. No source is given for the translation. Contains 30 June 1776, 8 July 1787, and 25 July 1795 communicants list and 14 June 1817 donation list. Continuous numbering was added to baptisms. Copy at GSP. b. Marion F. Egge, "The Himmel Church, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 41(2000): 346-64. Reprint, with rear¬ rangement, of la. “Editor's Note. These records have been edited for consis¬ tency only. The original printed lists (up to the fourteenth page) were pub¬ lished in columns; information for several records suffers from obvious column data misplacement that was not caught in proofreading. These have been “corrected” to the best of the editor's judgment. Researchers are encouraged to consult the original article as published by the Northumberland County His¬ torical Society or, preferably, the original records of Himmel Church [sfc].” 2. 1939, translator: Paul H. Noll, as a WPA project. His version is the most literal of the translations. It maintains format, does not omit text such as infor¬ mation about illegitimacy, does not translate given names, does not expand abbreviations, indicates the feminine in parentheses: “Schneider(in)," and does not drop the genitive endings. However, “In this typing usually the longest lists are selected—at irregular intervals—as in this way more names are included. To copy all the lists would be a mere recopying of names.” He includes only some communicant and confirmand lists. Pagination from the original is noted. a. Paul H. Noll, Himmel Lutheran and Reformed Church, Washington Township, Northumberland County, Volume /, WPA Project, 1939, typescript. Includes some communicant and confirmand lists. PSL has a reverse photocopy (white on black) of this typescript, which does not reproduce well. 4 Abbreviations used: WPA (Works Progress Administration); PSL (Pennsylvania State Library, Harrisburg); FHL (Family History Library, Salt Lake City, microfilm available through family history centers); GSP (Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania); IGI (International Genealogical Index, online at <familysearch.org>). 142 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine [Vol. 42 b. Glenn Schwalm, HimmeVs Lutheran & Reformed Church & Cemetery, Wash¬ ington Township, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, copied from Paul H. Noll’s translation, with additions on history, etc. Presented to Pastor Paul W. Billow on June 8, 1969- Filmed for GSP. FHL #1,486,675, item 3. Copy on microfilm at HSP. Appears to be a relatively faithful reproduction of Noll, however, see discussion of 2f, below. c. Frederick S. Weiser, Himmel Lutheran and Reformed Washington Township, Northumberland County; Pennsylvania, Parish Register, 17741886, 117-page typescript, typed in 1969 from “photocopy” of Noll in posses¬ sion of Dr. Glenn Schwalm, typed by Mrs. Peggy J. Breighner. It is not clear whether this was taken from Noll’s original or from Schwalm’s transcription thereof. This version silently rearranges transcription into columnar format and includes only baptisms. Bound copy at PSL; bound copy at FHL; FHL #823,598, item 1. d. IGI birth extracts in batch C-50431-1 were made from Weiser (2c). e. Raymond E. Hollenbach, “typed and rearranged” in 1972 from Noll (2a). f. Jack L. Pensyl and Charlotte D. Walter, The Baptismal Records of HimmeVs Union Church, Rebuck, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, 1774-1846, Northumberland County Historical Society, Genealogical Papers No. 3 (Sunbury: Northumberland County Historical Society, 1996). This is the most recent publication and the only one for sale.5 It contains only baptisms 17741846 and silently rearranges them into columnar format. They were typed from Noll (2a), but the authors compared the text to Schwalm (2b) and foot¬ noted the differences. Since Schwalm was supposedly simply a copy of Noll, there shouldn’t have been differences, but in some instances the Schwalm version appears to be more accurate. Copy at GSP. 3. 1943, translator: unknown, but probably Fisher. a. Charles A. Fisher, Baptismal Records, Early Churches of Snyder, Union and Northumberland Counties, Pennsylvania. (Selinsgrove, Pa.: the author, 1943), 6-8, typescript. From an unidentified translation, rearranged alphabetically with standardized surnames, includes only records through about 1787, gives only birth dates (in m/d/y format), given names are English format. Contains errors. Bound copy at FHL. b. Charles A. Fisher, Early Pennsylvania Births, 1675-1875 (Baltimore: Genea¬ logical Publishing Company, 1979), 29-33- A retyping of the births through 1787 from 3a, with the addition of the 30 June 1776 communicants list, which was anglicized, standardized, and "The list arranged according to gamilies [sic]. The arrangement may nit [s*c] be perfect.” Bound copy at FHL. 4. 1944, translator: unknown. This version is the most complete in that it includes all lists for the full time period. It was borrowed from “Prof. Carter, of Trevorton” by John B. Boyer, assistant County Superintendent of Northumber¬ land County Public Schools, who made a copy, which in turn he loaned to William John Hinke, and from which Hinke prepared 4a, below.6 The where¬ abouts of the Carter version and the Boyer version aren’t known. a. William John Hinke, Church Records of the Schwaben Creek or Himmel , Washington Township, ChurchNorthumberland Lutheran & Reformed County, 1774-1846. “Copied by William J. Hinke May 1944 from Copy of Prof. Boyer.” It drops feminine and genitive endings, silently expands abbreviations of given names and translates some, drops words son , daughter, and wife, 5 Northumberland County Historical Society, 1150 North Front Street, Sunbury, PA 17801; $30.00. 6 Letter from Boyer to Hinke, acknowledging the return, bound with Hinke’s typescript. Himmel Church, Northumberland County 2001] 143 omits illegitimacy notations, and has been rearranged in columnar format; pagination from the original is noted. Microfilmed from the “original” [of Hinke’s transcript] at Franklin and Marshall College. FHL #20,355, item 4. Copy on microfilm at HSP. Contents: baptisms through 26 August 1821; marriages 26 September 1882-2 February 1892 (1 page; deaths 25 December 1857-29 November 1916; Reformed marriages 18 February 1858-7 January 1882 (2 pages). Lutheran baptisms [names of sponsors not copied] 8 May 1858-28 February 1917. Reformed marriages from a printed list by T. Newton Kurtz, publisher, 3 June 1858-19 April 1894. b. Raymond E. Hollcnbach, Church Record\ Himmel Church, Union Lutheran and Reformed, Washington Township, Northumberland County, 1774-1821 typescript “copied May 1944 by William J. Hinke; recopied 1971 by Raymond E. Hoilenbach from a' photo copy of Dr. Walter E. Boyer's copy" [sic, probably actually Prof. John B. Boyer's copy]. FHL #1,305,960, item 3- CONTENT OF ORIGINAL HIMMEL CHURCH BOOK The front of the book contains a table of contents with page numbers, but examination of the translations suggest that this was a plan that was not followed. Based on the several translations, the following appears to be the composition of the original church book. A note before the Lutheran baptisms in Hinke says that the first book, in German, was used by both the Lutheran and Reformed congregations; beginning in 1855, each congregation kept its own records. There are no marriages or burials in the first book. Baptisms7 7 June 1774-12 October 1777; six pages (latter 1777-latter 1779) missing; three undated records from October and November;8 April 1780-23 October 1783; 9 October 1783-13 July 1793; six births with no baptismal dates in columnar format; 27 July 1794-1 November 1798; four baptisms 25 November 1798; 31 March 1799; 23 May 1799-13 May 1802; 26 April 1802-2 May 1802; 25 April 1801 [stc]-ll July 1802; five entries with only one date, apparently the birth date; baptisms through 24 February 1819 continue through page 70 [Noll’s numbering, which appears to match original]. They then continue on page 154; 14 March 1819-19 April 1846; two baptisms, 5 April 1846 and 23 June 1846. 7 This listing denotes switches in format (usually between columnar and sentence format) as given in Noll. The format change, with some overlap in baptismal dates, suggests that they may represent separate Lutheran and Reformed lists. 3 The baptisms do not occur on specific days of the week, so it is not possible to place these more accurately, although they arc suggested to be 1779-81. 144 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine [Vol. 42 Communicants and confirmands9 Communicant lists unless otherwise specified. 29/30 June 1776; 19 /20 August 1777; 20 May 1780 (confirmations only); 9/10 June 1780 (communion and confirmations); 17 August (reported); 18 November 1781; 12/13 October 1782; 31 May/1 June 1783; 19/20 June 1784 (communion and confirmations); 21/22 May 1785; 8 August/9 October 1785; 20/21 May 1786 (communion and confirmations); 14/15 October 1786; 8 July 1787; 11 September 1787; 24 to 25 May 1788 (communion and "children accepted in the Eastern Congregation”); Maundy Thursday/Good Friday 1795 (communion and confirmations); 25 Sunday after Trinity 1795 [Schwalm incorrectly calls this 25 July]; 5 November ?1796; 20 September 1798; 27 October 1799Communicant lists: 1800-5, 1807-10, 1812-31, 1833, 1835-46, 1850, 1858, 1865. • Confirmation lists: 1800, 1802, 1805, 1813, 1815, 1817, 1819-26, 1835-37, 1839, 184 1, 1843, 1845; there are also some separate lists under communicants naming young men and young women that probably represent the confirmands at their first communion. 9 This listing taken from Hinke. Full dates arc noted here only through 1800; years thereafter, but full dates are given in Hinke. The liturgical date is sometimes given, but has been dropped herein unless the calendar date is lacking. In the early lists, the communicants reported for preparatory services on one day and took communion the next, as indicated, for example, by 29/30 June. Because confirmation was required to take communion, the confirmand lists usually occur conjointly with the communicant lists, They were often not dated, but appear in most cases to follow the communicant list and arc assigned thusly herein. Beginning in 1818, the list of Reformed communicants is often identified as such.