The Absconder

One never knows what you will find in the land that is called Southern Bohemia. For genealogists Bohemia presents difficulties with changing surnames just one of the issues. For the most part our ancestors were serfs, many were farmers, some with little if any land. Most had a side side trade who went about their daily life with onerous obligations imposed by the domain. I have written a great deal about these difficulties. They lived day-to-day, with the possibility of a negative event leading to possible destitution for the family. I wrote about destitution in the village of Chvalovice farm #1 in which just over thirty year period of time three of four owners had to give up the farm due to poverty, which you can read about here. We also saw how families were impacted by children born out of wedlock in a post of 29 Sept 2022, which is here. There is now the story of a man who absconded and left his children to live out their own lives. This is a story of that circumstance and the absconder.

Georg Bostal marriage to Catherina Broz
He would take on Broz as his surname after
acquiring his father-in-laws holding in Zernovice
Source: Richard D'Amelio report on Bostal

It all began in my search for the marriage record of a woman named Catherina Broz, the daughter of Wenzl Broz of Zernovice. I found the marriage record, and with my normal trouble of deciphering the script I passed it off to my translator. Catherina married, on 3 Nov 1686, a man listed in the parish record as Georg Bostal of Kralovice. Kralovice is west of the Havel family ancestral village of Ratiborova Lhota. Yet, Georg and Catherina are not on the Havel side, they are on my paternal great grandmother's lineage, specifically Theresia Kamen. You cannot trust surnames in Bohemia, and that is the case here. But, Bostal is not really used as a surname, so the question arose where did the name come from? An hour of work by the translator found that Georg's father was Sebastian aka Wostel,  Wastel, and Bastel (where you can see where Bostal came from) with a surname Felckhlhauser, or Hauser for short. I will not go through all of the research that proves this link, as most would find it boring (although I find it rather interesting), rather let me tell the story of what occurred. Wostal took on the Fencl holding in Kralovice in 1654. In 1667 Wostal, or Sebastian, is on that holding with his wife and five children, four males and the youngest at the time a female, who is listed in the 1667 Seignorial Register as 1/2 years of age. Sebastian is an 8th great grandfather to me.

1691 Land Register entry when property is being given up
by Philip Fencl due to poverty
Source: Richard D'Amelio report on Bostal

In 1678 Sebastian cedes the farm for 85 Meissen schock grossen to his stepson, Philip Fencl. Sebastian married the widow Katherina with orphan children (in Bohemia if you lost the father, but your mother was still alive you were still considered an orphan).  The reason for his giving up the farm is listed as old age and destitution. Destitution arose due to his house having burned down not once, but twice! Fire was a constant hazard, and one of the reasons rules would be promulgated requiring masonry construction. By 1683 his wife is not recorded, she is likely dead, and son Josef has now joined the family. Pavel is not listed, meaning he married or died. Later records will show he had married. Georg, my seventh great grandfather who married Catherina Broz, is age 21 and in employment with the Forka mill in Kralovice. In 1684 we first see Sebastian as an absconder having left the dominion with out permission and his status is unknown. The children at the holding are Andrej-27; Georg is 22, noted as a miller; Matous 20; Sophie-17, and Josef-14. Sebastian will show as either an absconder or mendicant in all of the available Seignorial Registers until 1709, when they stop recording him. 

Google Earth Map
showing Zernovice (Broz family); Kralovice (Georg Bostal, ie Hasuer)
Ratiborova Lhota--Havel ancestral village

Like the Chvaolvice farm, the sorry state continues in 1691 when Philip Fencl cedes the farm to Matous Fencl due to destitution. In this situation two prior owners have gone destitute on this farm, and yet some one still wants to buy it. But, as we shall see, money is a long time in coming to the heirs of the grantor. At this point 20 schock grossen is still owed Sebastian Volkhauser (a form of the name Felckhlhauser) "who due to poverty became mendicant and has disappeared."

Four years later we find perhaps the most tragic and horrible part of the story. Sebastian has been gone for 21 years to an unknwon location. The Seignorial Register notes that "Sophie, now 27 years of age, is in detention at Gratzen owing to the fact that she had drowned her child." Sophie may have few memories of her father. It was, unfortunately, not uncommon for a mother who gave birth to an illegitimate child to kill the child and that could be the case here. 

Sophie's age in the records may be five years off.
This is 1662 birth record, but we don't know if this child died 
and the name was given to a child born later.
Source: Trebon archives, located by Richard D'Amelio

The 1711 Land register notes that the value of the farm is owed to Sebastian's heirs, or 30 years after his disappearance, and 33 years after he sold the farm to Pavel Fencl. The identified heirs are: Andreas Sohn (first son), Pavel Kuss (second son), Georg Broz (third son), and Georg Klima. We don't know how Georg Klima enters the picture, perhaps a husband of the likely now deceased Sophia. Also, the youngest son is not listed as an heir so he too may be deceased. 

Georg Broz will die before 1740, having received only 1 schock and 30 grossen of his share of the farm. In 1740 the land register notes that the inheritance is owed his heirs which include: Vojtech, Dorothea, Wenzl, Bartos, Satava (who married Catherina after Georg died and Catherina is now also deceased), and Jakub. In 1747, 69 years after Sebastain Hauser sold the property to Fencl, hid grandchildren get the value of the farm from that sale. Vojtech gets 46 grossen in 1747, or 69 years after his grandfather sold the holding to his stepson. Vojtech also received a share of his late brother Andrej's inheritance. What is amazing is that they kept a long detailed recording of debts owed and Sebastian's grandchildren benefited, and perhaps more amazing is they knew who they were and could find them. These ancestors were likely illiterate, but they wanted things settled fairly. I have to think their memories were probably better since they could not write, depending on oral tradition. What an accounting nightmare, but someone knew what they were doing. In fact, one could say that the domain kept better track of debts owed in the 17th and 18th centuries than politicians keep track of classified documents. 

In 1686 Georg married Catherina Broz and takes her surname as an after-the-roof name. It is interesting that none of Sebastian's children retained the Hauser (Volkhauser or Felckhlhauser) surname. Although they could also be after-the-roof names, too. Georg used a diminutive of Sebastian as his surname when he married, and took over the Broz holding from Catherina's father.  Our ancestors were a tragedy away from poverty. Not only that, the series of events that followed this tragedy, with Sebastian leaving the family, and Sophie having, being blunt, killed her own child, may well be related to the the two fires that destroyed the house and left the family in poverty. It was surely a series of tragic events, and the absconder, Sebastian, did not do his family no favors by running out on them. They were a family left to fend for themselves. 

Water Color

Last week the wife and I enjoyed a water color class sponsored by the Farwell Gallery in McFarland. Rather than getting each other Christmas gifts the wife thought we should do experiences together. Experiences and adventures are seemingly terms, in my mind, popularized by millennials. We had some experiences or adventures but we referred to them as trips. Our trip to Italy, a trip to Disney World, a camping trip. Today the lingo for the same thing is something else.

I am about as far from an artist as one can be. Luckily for us they had a faint outline of the object on our heavy paper. Our canvas, so to speak, was about 5.5" wide by about 8" in length. We did water color of a cardinal. I was pleasantly surprised how well mine turned out in that my hand is not near as steady as Land Girl's. Although, when it comes to painting walls next to trim or the ceiling I often am somewhat successful. 

My Cardinal

What I did find is that water color painting can be forgiving, the instructor showed another student in the class how she can almost lighten all the way to the paper by using a brush and clean water, over and over again. The use of water is key to water coloring. The more water used the lighter the color. We began by painting water on our cardinal bird before adding the red color. To desire less red more water, to desire more red use less water. You move lighter to darker. You can also layer colors as I did using a mix of grey and blue to form a dark, near black. That color can be made less dark by adding water, and you can easily transition by use of water and brush between colors. 

Spouse's Exquisitely Crafted Cardinal

Use and mix of colors is an interesting part of painting. The book I am currently reading is about Michelangelo's frescoing of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. He was more a sculptor than a frescoist, but he has produced one of the greatest works of art in the world, as an inexperienced artist in that medium. Raphael, a younger artist was also doing frescoes in the museums of the Vatican at the same time. Raphael's signature work is known as the "School of Athens" also located at the Vatican. The School of Athens is described as Raphael's masterpiece, and Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel the peak of Renaissance art. 

School of Athens, by Raphael

When doing the fresco, Michelangelo was very selective in his sourcing of his color choices. Most of his colors he obtained from an abbey in Florence. It was a trying, dangerous and difficult task for the monks to produce some of the colors from varied earth elements and materials. His colors, combined with his brushstrokes and the images he created are beyond compare in the world of art. The finger of God reaching out to Adam's limp hand, the penultimate point of Adam becoming fully human may be the premier work of western art in the world. I suggest you watch the segment of Sister Wendy discussing Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, which starts just after the 23 minute mark at this link. 

The Creation of Adam, Michelangelo
Sistine Chapel Ceiling

When my wife and I took our honeymoon trip, I mean adventure, to Italy in 1990, we visited, I mean experienced, the Sistine Chapel. At that point it was in the midst of a multi-year restoration. The boo birds were out, including our guide, with most complaints centering on the brightness of the colors. Centuries of candle wax and soot, used for lighting and liturgical functions, had darkened the colors and people did not think it appropriate for such bold colors. The common complaint was that the artist would not have used such bright colors. The book I am reading, Ross King's (2003) Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling discusses and traces the use of color and it turns out the bright colors were actually used. King relied on his and other's use of documents of purchase and requisition by the artist to come to his conclusions. It turns out the Vatican restorationists did it right. Drab, dark, foreboding colors were not to be the main aspect. After all, it makes sense that vibrant colors would be used since the renaissance is a rebirth. 

Garden of Eden, Michealangelo
Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Frescoing is a difficult and time sensitive technique as the painting has to be accomplished before the plaster dries, but the plaster cannot be too wet. If interested, I encourage you to read the book to find out how cartoons were drawn, transferred, and the method of the execution of the frescoes. Contrary to popular belief, Michelangelo did not lay on his back. King shows this to be a misinterpretation of the original language. He stood, on a scaffold of his own design, and leaned back. Maybe it would have been easier to lie on your back. But, they needed the head room for much of the preparatory work, including the layer of plaster, to doing the actual painting. How would you mix the plaster and other ingredients while in a short height space meant to only lay down and paint a ceiling? Adding to the difficulty is the ceiling itself with its curves and spandrels. Proportion is crucial, given the height of sixty-eight feet above floor. That is about the same distance one has to be away to best appreciate my cardinal water color. Water color painting is more forgiving than that of doing a fresco.

In doing his fresco Michelangelo at times broke out and rebuilt scenes of parts of scenes. With my water color, while I could mesh and massage the color, if I got out the line, I was well, done with, unless I wanted to try and use water and more water to get rid of my mistake, which I thought would just blot it around more on the white paper. The bird tail would have looked hideous if I extended its width to catch my off area water color mark.

School of Athens snip from: https://m.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani-mobile/en/collezioni/musei/stanze-di-raffaello/tour-virtuale.html

Creation of Adam and Garden of Eden snips from: https://m.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani-mobile/en/collezioni/musei/cappella-sistina/tour-virtuale.html

Why Bethlehem?

In April 2013 I visited the Holy Land. It was a fascinating trip, with so much history from Roman times to Christian to the British Mandate, the UN creation of Israel in 1848, the wars and conflicts from then to present. There was also the intake of Arabian and Jewish cultures, interestingly, more Arabian-Muslim then Israeli-Jewish. The trip involved a great number of contrasts. During and after that trip I have wondered why God chose to have Jesus born in the Mideast, and in particular why Bethlehem? That thought occurred to me once again this past week on the Feast of the Epiphany. 

Barricade in Bethlehem

At the time of that 2013 trip, I was struck by how the Mideast always seems to be in turmoil. When you are in the Holy Land the tension is omnipresent. If not war, then something close to it. To travel a few blocks sometimes required a long way around through varied Israeli checkpoints. For example, to get to the tomb of Lazarus, which would have been a five minute walk from the Mount of Olives instead took a 30 to 40 minute ride through I don't recall how many check points.

Manger Square

On January 5, 2023 an Israeli lawmaker visited what is now known as the Temple Mount, which is  home to Al Aqsa Mosque; the mosque being the third holiest site in Islam. Yet, this site is important to Jews. Historically, it was the site of the main Jewish Temple. The western wall of the structure of the old temple, is known as the Wailing Wall, a place of deep prayer for many Jews. That Israeli politician's visit caused such an uproar that a United Nations Security Council meeting was called to discuss the issue. The Associated Press, on Jan 6, 2023 reporting on the Jan 5 visit, tells why a visit is so important, by noting that "In September 2000, Ariel Sharon, then Israel’s opposition leader, visited the Temple Mount, which helped spark clashes that led to a full-fledged Palestinian uprising known as the Second Intifada." I recall seeing results of the intifadas, with bullet holes in Churches, not to mention the omnipresent barricades and barb wire. Muslims say the visit of Jan 5 infringed on their holy place, Jews view it as anti-Semitism. 

Temple Mount as seen from Garden of Gethsemane

I have found it an irony, but perhaps necessary, that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, was born in a region of perennial conflict for well over 2,000 plus years. Jesus, a Jew, we heard his lineage spelled out at mass a few weeks ago, was born in a land under control of the Roman Empire, with the local population in constant discontent to the occupying force. Jesus could well have been born on most any continent, but he was born to Jewish parents in the midst of international tension.

Prayers at the Wailing Wall

His birth in an area of constant turmoil and tension is in part due to the unique geography of the Mideast. It is in the Mideast where east meets west, where north meets south. The Mideast represents the physical place where varied cultures meet and clash. It is a pot of stew with unique characteristics for the varied cultures still identifiable, like carrots, and beef in a homemade stew. The stew is always on the fire, almost ready to boil over at the slightest provocation. Globalization instead of bringing different people together seemingly makes them think of their heritage, their tribe. There is this human desire to belong, and for some it is more than a sports team allegiance. They have a desire to belong to a group that shares their cultural experiences. Culture is important, even at times when we think there is not much difference. 

St Catherine Church, next to the Church of the Nativity 
has bullet holes from providing sanctuary to Palestinians
during one of the uprisings. 

It was just over thirty years ago that Czechoslovakia split in to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It has been termed the Velvet divorce. One report indicates that the Slovaks thought the Czechs were paternalistic and patronizing, and the Czechs thought the Slovaks were ungrateful. (https://kafkadesk.org/2018/10/30/why-did-czechoslovakia-break-up/). To the non-discerning eye they may seem to be similar cultures, but to those imbedded in each I suspect they well recognize the differences. The cultural ties were significantly strong as to lead to separation. 

Roman Ruins in Caesarea, on the Mediterranean Sea 

Blood runs deep, it is part of our human nature, how else to explain all the blood tests for genealogy? So many people in the United States have taken a blood test for genealogy that you don't want to be a criminal and leave your DNA behind as the criminal can be traced. Ethnic groups are formed in large part by geography, cultural heritage, which are often implicit in their blood lines. 

King David's Tomb, at site of Last Supper

The United States is probably unique among Western nations as its settlement came from a variety of ethnic groups, often displacing the indigenous population. The east portion of the US was settled by WASP's, the southwest by the Spanish and the resulting Hispanic ethnic group, and part of the north by the French. Many centuries ago, the continent's indigenous populations arrived from Asia. It is curious to me that the Spanish and indigenous groups sufficiently intermarried to form a new ethnic group (Hispanics), but little of that occurred with the pretentious WASP settlers of the eastern seaboard. The US was (is) dominated by the WASP's for its history and hence our nation's history is written in favor of the  British-WASP dominating culture. 

Cultural and physical geography is important in explaining how the world's populations had and continue to evolve. So, why was Christ not born in Wisconsin? Lack of suitable population. Yet, I think that explanation can be found in physical geography. I heard on the news the morning of Jan 7, 2023 that we have not seen the sun for two weeks, and that within the prior thirty days of Jan 7, 70 percent of those days were cloudy. Let me translate sun to clear nights, clouds to not clear nights. With all those clouds the Maji, or the Three Kings, would never have found the Christ child, because the star would not have been visible. Typical winter Wisconsin winter weather. Could you imagine being Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar and you are leaving, probably years ahead of the birth of the Christ child on the prairies of southern Wisconsin (of course not known as WI at the time), and getting two weeks out from your destination only to find you don't know where to go any more because of an incessant two weeks of cloud cover? If Christ had been born in Wisconsin, I am sure the Feast of the Epiphany would be weeks later. Instead of the Twelve Days of Christmas the song would be the 40 days of Christmas. It would take a lot longer to sing an already long song. How many cultural expressions could be found to add 28 more verses?

As different as cultures are, some items, both good and bad, span the cultural divide. We are all people.

Church of the Beatitudes
We could all do well to use the Beatitudes as a guide

I probably will not know why Christ was born in Bethlehem (at least until I get to heaven), but my take is the overlapping cultures presented a unique opportunity for the world to embrace peace, which has been found fleeting. Of course, Christ's birth was prophesized in the Old Testament (Daniel 9:25 as an example) which places it in the Jewish world, but it could certainly have been chosen to be elsewhere. We do know that Wisconsin's clouds would not allow visitors from the east to make good time. God has given people free will, and that was best expressed by the birth of the Christ child that December night. It is up to us what we do with the free will. My hope is that all in the world will recognize the commonness of our humanity. Come to think of it, that is why Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem.

Masses

I was trying to think of what to write about this week since Land Girl, that is my wife, has not done anything of consequence on which to write. It then occurred to me, that with the death of emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, to write about the Roman Catholic tradition of payment of masses for the repose of a person's soul. Our ancestors have a long tradition of paying for masses for the deceased family members.

Generally, when requesting a mass for a person, a stipend is paid to a clergy member. Although no stipend is required, it is customary, and tends or tended to run about $10 per mass. One does not have to be dead for a mass to be said on that persons behalf. A mass can be requested for a variety of reasons, thanksgiving, celebration, or a common one is members of the parish. The church bulletin lists for whom masses are offered and the name is said at mass.  

The main explanation for masses for a deceased person is to ask for God's grace on the soul of the deceased to realize a quicker journey out of purgatory to Heaven. However, the theological underpinnings can go much deeper. One website (Catholic Straight Answers) indicated that Pope Leo XIII in 1902 in his encyclical Mirae Caitatis emphasized the community of the saints when Leo wrote: 

The grace of mutual love among the living, strengthened and increased by the Sacrament of the Eucharist, flows, especially by virtue of the Sacrifice [of the Mass], to all who belong to the communion of saints. For the communion of saints is simply… the mutual sharing of help, atonement, prayers, and benefits among the faithful, those already in the heavenly fatherland, those consigned to the purifying fire, and those still making their pilgrim way here on earth. These all form one city, whose head is Christ, and whose vital principle is love.

The tradition of mass for a deceased person goes back a long time, one source indicates documentation of masses being offered for a deceased person as far back as 180 AD (or CE), the very early years of the church. This is a long tradition, much longer than I would have thought. Traditionally, people also make contributions to the family of a deceased member. Sometimes it goes to a specific cause, such as masses and/or a charity.  If no specific cause is identified, it can be used as the family pleases. It is not unusual for a family to use some of the money for masses.

Martin Hovel Will part II relates to masses

My ancestors have a tradition of having provided for masses in their wills. My grandfather, Rudy Hovel, in section two of his will, provided: "I give and bequeath Three Hundred Dollars ($300) to the Pastor of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Catholic Church at Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, for masses for the repose of my soul."  Rudy was born in 1887 and died in 1979. Grandpa Rudy would certainly have been aware of the will of father, Martin. Martin was born in Bohemia in 1850 and died in Manly, IA in 1928. Martin's last will is recorded in Worth County, IA. Martin, allocated $200 for the repose of his soul, and allowed the executor of the estate to decide the priest. His executor was his oldest son, Joseph, Rudy's oldest brother. Joseph lived in the Manly, IA area so he likely selected Sacred Hearts parish in Manly, IA. 

Living in Iowa, after emigrating from Bohemia, but having died in Winona, MN, was  Rudy's mother-in-law, Theresia Kamen. Theresia was born in Ujezd, in 1848, only about a half hour away from where Martin was born in Dolni Chrastany, and emigrated alone in 1872. She was likely living with her oldest child, Mary Pitzenberger Hrubetz when she passed away. What is interesting about Theresia is that he will was filed 21 Oct 1921 in Winneshiek County, IA, and she would die just over two weeks later, on 7 Nov, in Winona. Her request for masses, like the other two in part 2, she allocates $1,000 for masses for her soul to Fr Rubly of St Mary's Church in Festina, IA, or, if she died elsewhere to equally divided between St Mary's in Festina and the parish serving the locale in which she died. This makes me think she knew she would be living with her daughter in Winona, MN, and not just a visit.  In this case her death was in Winona, MN, so $500 went to the local Catholic Church in Winona for masses. She hardly had time to become known in Winona before she died. 

Theresia Pitzenberger will. 
Paragraph 2 deals with mass stipends

My dad was a small town lawyer and did a number of wills an estates. I once came across a letter for a deceased relative, a Duscheck who asked for unspecified masses from which my dad sent a part to my Uncle Joe Sweeney, then a new Jesuit priest to offer masses for that person. 

Payment of masses for some distant ancestors, however, goes back to at least the 18th century. We know this due to recordings in the land register records of house #3 in Dolni Chrastany, Bohemia. By fastest driving route, Dolni Chrastany is only about 112 miles from Marktl, Germany. In 1757 Lorenz Jiral, a fifth great grandfather, acquired the Ruessmueller farm at that address, by marriage to Marianna Ruessmueller. The farm was then passed to his son Gregor in 1757. Gregor was a brother to my fourth great grandfather, Mathias (1732-1773). An interpretation of the land register by Richard D' Amelio has varied payments being made, to heirs but this post will concentrate on payments noted for masses for deceased familhy members. First, in 1781 (241 years ago) 1 schock grossen was paid "toward a Holy Mass for Mathias Jiral." This was likely my fourth great grandfather, who died in 1773. It states for one mass, meaning the stipend seems quite high, since this one shock grossen was about a quarter of a typical annual payment to descendants or benefactors. I am guessing, however, that was the way of writing back then. In 1782 the same amount was paid by Gregor toward a holy mass for his father, Lorenz. In 1783, payment was once again made "toward a Holy Mass for Mathias Jiral." In 1784 he makes a 30 grossen payment "towards a Holy Mass for the Jirals."  

Land Register not of 4 SG payment to Johann Havel for Holy Mass

Yet, Gregor was not done with his payments for masses. We know from that record that his brother Johann was in military service  in 1786. The following year, Johann is probably deceased, perhaps in military service, as the four shock grossen payment for Johann is "directed to Johann toward a Holy Mass." Gregor makes a final payment of 4 shock grossen "towards a Holy Mass" the following year, and then additional payment which settles his account in full. I am not sure why money was directed to masses and not the heirs, it may have been due to a will, or an agreement of some sort. What we do know is that payment was made by Gregor for masses for varied family members over a few years time. Of the varied land registers I have had interpreted, this is the first to provide money for masses. That does not mean money was not paid by other family members, this money seems to have come from the payments of the heir to a mass in lieu of a specific family member. 

As religion is less and less important in the lives of people churches are now struggling to fill masses for the repose of a persons soul. Showing the bubble the young priests live in today, at my parish when the new young priest arrived a couple years ago he noted that masses would be on a first come first served basis in terms of requests for specific mass days and times. The parish does not have near the requests as masses said. When making that statement I got the impression that he was expecting a Noah ark load of requests. Given how many people he has turned away from the parish, and the faith, he should not be surprised at this result. For the week of Nov 27, the last bulletin published on the web site, less than half the masses said were for a specific person.

Christ the King Parish, McFarland, WI
Last available bulletin on line
Week of Nov 27, 2022

The tradition of masses being said for the dead is almost as old as the Church itself, and as the Church fades into history, at least in the west, so will the practice of masses for the dead. It comes down to a matter of faith as to the belief of whether or not masses help the soul for which they are intended, or simply represent a manner to pad priestly pockets. Our ancestors clearly though it was the former over the later.