Theresia and the Handover Contract

After a brief interlude talking about ducks, and with all quiet on the Land Girl front, this post gets back to the Havel family history. An earlier post  dealt with the marriage contract between two of my third great grandparents--Theresia Jiral and Frantisek Hawel. That contract was entered on November 3, 1796 several days after their October 25, 1796 marriage at Dolni Chrastany. This post will primarily focus on the handover contract to Theresia from her stepfather, Wenzel Fitzl, for the farm which originally belonged to her mother and father. This is an important document in the Havel family since it is not only the start of Frantisek and Theresia's marriage, but their management of the farm associated with 18 Dolni Chrastany.

Indication Sketch (Abt 1830), House #18
Dolni Chrastany. 

Before we get into the contract some background is in order. Theresia's father Mathis passed away in 1773 leaving debt on the farm he obtained from his father-in-law Wenzel Ruessmueller. At the time of his death Mathias Jiral still owed 60ß to Wenzl Ruessmueller and 12 to his oldest daughter, Maria. Theresia's mother, Katharina, married Wenzel Fitzl in 1774, and a contract was entered into between Katharina and Wenzel where he would hold the property for twenty years for one of her and Mathias' two living children--Maria or Theresia. Wenzel Fitzl, upon marriage to Katharina became the head of household, and would take the property in his name. Theresia, who was born in 1772, was the younger of the two children, but she would inherit the house and farm as her older sister, Maria, who was described "as frail on her feet," passed on the ownership. Maria, who was born in 1761, never married and died in 1805. Katharina (Ruessmueller, Jiral) Fitzl passed away in 1793, meaning that when Theresia married Frantisek Havel in the fall of 1796 both her parents were dead. That left her stepfather Wenzel Fitzl in full control of the property, and without benefit of Katharina's advice. 

As noted in the marriage contract, if Frantisek passed away and the marriage did not produce any children the land would revert back to Wenzel. If this had occurred it would leave Theresia in a precarious position because she would not have land or a pension on which to fall back. She would need find her way in this culture. Although she had the bride price paid by Frantisek to help offset the condition in which she could find herself. If she had property under her control she would be an attractive option to a single man, particularly one looking to move up the socio-economic ladder. Even if much younger a single man would marry an older widow. One only needs to look at the situation with Wenzel Fitzl as an example.  Wenzel was 15 years younger than Katharina "the cougar" Jiral. For Katharina it was a matter of economics for a man to manage the farm and hold the land in trust for her daughter. 

Land Register, Ordinal 20, part of image 443

Here is another interesting bit of family history. On the same day that Theresia Jiral married Frantisek Havel, Wenzel Fitzl married Maria Mika the widow of Vaclav Mika from Hrbov. Maria, born in 1770, was fifteen years younger than Wenzel, and get this, her maiden name was Havel. After an afternoon or more of research it turned out she was Frantisek's sister. Extending this family connection, Frantisek and Theresia's granddaughter Anna (sister to Martin Havel) married Jakub Fitzl, the grandson of Wenzel Fitzl and Maria Havel, in Jefferson, WI.  Wenzel and Maria would live in the Mika house in Hrbov, while Frantisek and Theresia took over the Jiral farm that had been held in trust by Wenzel Fitzl. I was able to find some plots of land associated with Hrbov house #14 in the south part of the Hrbov Indication Sketch, owned at the time of the sketch by a man with a surname Weber. The position with land holdings was important. But, so was marriage for a farming couple. It was often thought, both culturally and economically, that a farm had to be headed by a married couple, otherwise it was considered unviable. Generally, farm parcels could be a good walk away from the village home, and someone had to tend the house, farmstead, and children. It took a team to run a farm. Remarriage was a method to hold the farm in trust for a child. Frantisek Havel gained the farm through his marriage to Theresia Jiral, and while the hand-over contract identifies Theresia as the heiress of the farm, Frantisek would now be its head and owner. The asterisk by Theresia Jiral's name in the introductory clause makes clear her marriage, as the asterisk noted: "*who has married Franz Havel from the village of Melhutka." As readers of the blog know, Melhutka was the German name for Ratiborova Lhota. It seems, rather unusual that Wenzel Fitzl did not remarry earlier after Katharina's death, marrying almost three years later, but Theresia was 21 at the time of her mother's death, and hence was no longer a minor. Marianna was older, and probably could get by to a degree even though she was frail. In other words, both children were adults. With this background we can now explore the handover contract. 

The contract is dated November 3, 1796 the same day as Frantisek and Theresia's marriage contract explored in an earlier post. The first clause notes the transfer to Theresia as heiress of the farm for 18 Dolni Chrastany "left behind by the late Mathias Jiral, because Mariana as the elder daughter of Mathias has fully ceded her hereditary right, with all Rustikal land holding belonging with it, and with all rights and justice to her ownership in the previous land register valuation of 120 Schock groschen" which would be 140 Gulden in Rhenish currency.  While I have not had the original contract transcribed/translated, it is likely Mariana received an earlier payment for her share of the farm since the second clause lists payment to "Wenzl Fitzl" and Theresia herself.

The required payment, referenced in clause two, amounts to 140 Rhenish gulden but values are also provided in Shock currency. The payments are rounded, so they do not correctly add when going between currencies, but that is immaterial. The payment, to be made in "annual installments of 10 Rhenish gulden" would total 123 Rhenish gulden and 22 kreuzer for Wenzel and 16 Rhenish gulden and 38 kreuzer for Theresia. Theresia, while the farm heir, and which farm is now in her husbands name, is identified which is most likely for bookkeeping purposes. With Frantisek controlling the land, he and Theresia saw that she got paid off quickly--in 1798. This is so Theresia could create a slush fund like Marie Barone did in an episode "Everybody Loves Raymond." Marie Barone used her slush fund to take the whole family on a trip to Italy from New York, I suppose Theresia used hers to travel to Netolice, just up the road. This payment was in addition to Frantisek's payment of 150 Rhenish gulden as a bride price. One could say the bride price was not only an insurance policy for Theresia, but he was paying Theresia for the farm. 

With this farm price, a number of items were included, each of which were valued. The total paid to Wenzel and Thresia herself, was 140 Rhenish gulden, so any valuation of items was part of the set farm price. Valuation was generally accomplished by the headman of the community, or a group of men and then negotiated and agreed to by the parties. If the parties did not come to agreement, the village headman would decide the terms that were under disagreement. Hence, this headman served as an arbiter. The third clause notes that since Wenzel "took on some cattle, he is obliged to leave the following livestock at the farm at no charge" in accord with an earlier agreement. Under this provision Wenzel was required to keep with the farm at 18 Dolni Chrastany one pair of oxen, at 43 Rhenish gulden (Rg), so they were likely older oxen than the two pair provided by Frantisek, which were valued at 110 Rg or 55 Rg per pair. Also provided was one calf (10 Rg), three sheep (6 Rg), and one pig (3 Rg). Interestingly, no chickens or horses were provided. Perhaps Frantisek grabbed some from his father's farm. 

Beyond the farm animals there is a breakdown of equipment received with the farm, which tells us much of the time. Combined with the animals, this provides a good view into a late 18th century Bohemian farmstead. Carts were the highest valued pieces of equipment with two of them valued at 30 Rhenish gulden. Oxen were most likely the beast of burden for the farm, and in this case at turnover there would have been three pair (six oxen) to house and feed, the four (two pair) bride price paid by Frantisek and the two (one pair) left by Wenzel Fitzl. 

Equipment Item	Value: Rhenish gulden – kruezer
2 carts	30
1 plow with iron share	1 – 30
1 pair of harrows with ironwork	1
4 hoes	2
2 sets of wagon chains	2
1 timber saw	1 – 30
1 set of harness tack	1 –30
4 reaping scythes	1
Remaining household equipment	6
Total (including animals)	108 – 30

Take note that the value of the animals and the equipment is 108 Rg and 30 kreuzer meaning that the rest of the property was valued at just under 32 Rg. This is likely because the land was not owned by the peasant farmer, but the domain, and the farmer was only taking over the long-term lease on the farm in alignment with customs for Bohemia. We do know that Wenzel obtained a loan in 1794 from Maria Jiral to rebuild a house that was destroyed by fire of 105 Rg, although it does not identify the address or village. Whether it was the house at number 18 Dolni Chrastany or not, it does provide an idea of the cost to construct a dwelling. Farm dwellings at the time often had some farm outbuildings attached; we do not know if just the dwelling was destroyed or the attached farm outbuildings. 

While men did most of the farm work, the existence of four scythes and four hoes indicates that perhaps both husband and wife worked and harvested, along with sufficient aged children, and/or hired hands were engaged. Depending on time and weather hired hands may have been used. Despite some emancipation rights for serfs, the serfs were still under robot service to the domain. The peasants were first at the call of the manor, and so the peasant's crops were especially susceptible to weather conditions. Late to plant, late to weed, late to harvest. 

The grain required scythes. We could wonder if the scythes were used in the peasant revolts of 1775 or 1821, but I doubt it. Wenzel Fitzl was also leaving to Theresia "all of the harvested hay, and remaining produce, as well as the winter seed (rye and wheat) with the farm. As we know from a prior post, peasant farmers had to pay an urbarial obligation due on St George's Day, and St Gall's day. In this case, the last payment probably had not yet been made, since the contract stipulates that Theresia, as the receiver, "is obliged to pay the urbarial obligations for the current half of the year;" I have not found an Urbarium record which would indicate what such obligations may have been. This was, if the Stable Cadastre of the first half of the 19th century is an indication, a larger farm than what Mathias owned, so the farm would have had greater payment obligations.

Martin Hovel Family, Circa 1897
Martin (2nd from L)was born at 18 Dolni Chrastany,
and is a grandson of Frantisek and Theresia Havel

With the handover of the farm, however, 41 year old Wenzel received an annual pension package which was primarily provided in grain. Rye was the greatest amount, while wheat followed by barley, and then oats. He also received two vrietel of peas. While the US is a wheat country, at the time in Bohemia rye seemed more important. Hay was also involved. First, Wenzel received hay from the Babice Trasska a four oxen cart amount, which it also says is about six Zentner. He also received the meadow land at the Cibuzar meadows for grazing, "with the exception however, that Wenzl only receives the provision of the meadowland on the Czibuzar meadows, when he comes to surrender the Mika farm" in Hrbov. Here, we see that Wenzel likely had a similar arrangement with Vaclav Mika's widow, Maria Havel to hold the farm in trust for one of his stepchildren as he did with Katharina Jiral. As an interesting aside, Johann Mika took over the Mathias Havel farm from Frantisek and Maria's brother John. When the time comes for Wenzel to handover the Mika farm he can, in part, rely on hay from the Czibuzar meadow to help provide some income. However, the Czibuzar meadow is also in play in provision of assistance to Mariana Jiral.

The final clause of the document is interesting as Wenzel Fitzl agrees to provide a share of his pension to Maria Jiral. The following chart identifies both Wenzel's pension and the portion of the pension he would provide to Maria. As can be seen, he gave over one-third of his pension to Mariana. In addition to the pension, however, he provided accommodation in the annex room for as long as she lives. Wenzel also provided the earlier described meadowlands located at the Czibuzar meadows to Maria. There was a stipulation that Theresia is to grant her sister that provision for life if Wenzel were to die before Maria.  If Maria died before Wenzel he reserved the right to receive his full pension as originally allocated.

Item	Wenzel Pension Strich	Wenzel Pension Viertel	Gave to Maria Strich	Gave to Maria Viertel
Wheat	–	3	–	1
Rye	6	–	2	–
Barley	–	2	–	1
Peas	–	2	–	1
Oats	–	1	–	1

The contract was signed at Petruv Dvur on 3 November 1796, by Wenzel, Theresia and Mariana (Maria).  Wenzel Wolfl was the village headsman and signed as a witness as did Bartlmer Grill and Joseph Winzig. The contract was then authorized for "incorporation into the land register" on 4 November 1796 by Gabriel Platzer, Estate manger, and Jon Trnka, Judicial officer. Upon entry into the land register, it later became the public record that was now transcribed and translated, and which provides us with this invaluable insight into the life of peasant farmers in the late eighteenth century. 

Present day House #18, Google Maps

The record does not end there, as we are fortunate that payments are listed by year. From this we find that the first payments occurred in 1798, and in that year the debt to Theresia was paid off at 16 Rhenish gulden and 38 kreuzer; there was also paid 10 Rhenish gulden to Wenzel Fitzl. Payments to Wenzel in the amount of 10 Rhenish gulden would occur for most of the years from 1799 through and including 1809. There was paid 15 Rhenish gulden to Wenzel in 1812 and the final payment of 8 Rhenish gulden and 22 Kreuzer to Wenzel occurred in 1813. The record indicates a missed payment in 1800 due to adverse weather (hail/storms). But for some reason the years 1805, 1810 and 1811 are not even recorded, and we can take it no payments were made.  At least in 1800 a reason was provided. Wenzel had his full payment of 123 Rhenish gulden and 22 kreuzer in 1813, Theresia had her full debt of 16 Rhenish gulden and 38 kreuzer paid in 1798. 

While Frantisek and Theresia had more freedom as peasant serfs than their parents, farming was difficult, and life was complicated by the required robot service. Theresia bore seven children, but many failed to make it beyond one year of age, with Tomas, Martej and Maria all deceased within about a year of their birth. I have not found a death record for their son Martin (b 1808), or their daughter Katharina. Given that the name Katharina was given to another child born to Frantisek and his second wife (Katharina Borowka) it makes sense that the Katharina born to Theresia also passed away before the second Katharina was born in 1821. Theresia passed away in September 1819, and Frantisek remarried two days after Christmas that year. The sixth child of Frantisek and Theresia, my second great grandfather Josef Havel would take over the farm upon Frantisek's retirement. 

Josef and his wife Anna saved sufficient funds to travel to America and would join Jakub Fitzl in Jefferson, WI. The final sale of the farm at 18 Dolni Chrastany appears to have taken place in August 1868, after Josef and Anna arrived in the United States. The act of emigration changed the course of family history. Josef's descendants would grow up in the United States and would not have to face the break up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, occupation by Nazi Germany, or live behind the iron curtain as part of the Soviet Union sphere of influence. This all became possible because of the care Katharina Jiral undertook to marry Wenzel Fitzl and have him hold the Ruessmueller family farm in trust for her daughter, Theresia. The Havel family set down new roots in a distant land, but the land they left provided the income necessary to meet the expenses of travel and purchase of new farm land in Wisconsin. This is all part of the emigrant story.

 Source:

https://digi.ceskearchivy.cz/720659/443/3331/2060/17/0, Images 443--445

Transcription and translation of above document by Richard D' Amelio of Boheimb        Research Services, May 2022