500

Including a short introductory post of Nov 29, 2013, this is my 500th blog post. I started doing a blog after undertaking entries on Facebook from June to November of that year. I first joined Facebook in June of 2013 in order to post photos of my trip that spring to the Middle East. After posting those photos, for family and my Facebook friends, I then started doing Facebook posts about historical events. I have to give my kids the credit for my joining both Facebook and writing a blog. I could not figure out an easy way for persons to see my photos of my Mideast trip, and they suggested Facebook. After doing my historical posts on Facebook they suggested a blog as a better medium. I have completed 500 blog posts in a period of eight months shy of ten years. 

My blogging has mostly been about historical events, but also includes items from the planning field and issues of present time interest. For the past few years have been doing a great deal on family history. My family history posts, over the years, has led, in a couple circumstances, to contacts by distant relatives. Relatives on the Hofmeister side of the family, who came across my post about a fire in a Hofmeister house in Big Flats, WI. I am still puzzled why some of the Hofmeister family left the rich farm land of Iowa to farm the sands of central Wisconsin, but some did. It could simply be a matter of affordability. One of the Hofmeister descendants, Edward Green my second cousin once removed, created the Streets of Old Milwaukee in the Milwaukee Public Museum. Much of that exhibit is said to be going away as they relocate the museum in a few years. I also was provided a connection to David Dixon, my second cousin once removed, who is a great grandson to the brother of my grandfather. His mother is a second cousin. I had contact with a few distant relatives before writing a blog to obtain data, but for most contact has been lost.

Grandpa Rudy and his two brothers

I was provided a DNA test by one of my sons as a father's day present several years ago. It shows a number of relatives with surnames I have never seen. This shows how a family tree grows.  A few people I find on the DNA site will respond back if I ask them a question, most will not. If they have family surnames filled out they are more likely to respond, so I now don't bother with those who do not list a family surname. In regard to family history, I have tended to go back in time rather than forward. 

First Cotton Bowl program cover

Due to being laid up with feet that will not heal, I have been doing a great deal of genealogy over the past two and a quarter years.  I have been fortunate that two of my great grandparents came from southwest Bohemia where a trove of information is available on-line. I have hired persons to translate the information for me. My Duscheck line, which is from northeastern Bohemia, I am not so fortunate and are limited to parish records. Parish records are first source material, but with changing surnames, and commonality of names, the Seigniorial records, and the land registers available for South Bohemia in the Trebon archives are very helpful. For example, I am stuck on my Duscheck line in northeastern Bohemia, because the father of a relative is named Jiri Duscheck, but there were two Jiri Duscheck's born in the same village within 8 months of each other. At this point, I am not sure which Jiri is my 5th great grandfather. I would not have been able to extend certain lines without the assistance of the land registers. If Seigniorial and land registers were available for the Duscheck line, I may be able to figure the correct Jiri, as perhaps a note on marriage, or heirs could lead to the correct person. At this point, I am not sure how to get out of that conundrum. 

Havel House in Dolni Chrastany, Bohemia

I often try to place my Bohemian ancestry lines into the context of the time in which a person lived. This has led me to research and read books and many scholarly articles regarding the second serfdom period in Bohemia. I wish I was able to read German, because much more is available in German than in English. I am fortunate that there are two scholars in England have done a good amount of work on serfdom in Bohemia. Most of my Bohemian ancestors were peasants--and serfs. There is a great deal of information in Urbaria records available for the 1770's which corresponds to my 4th great grandfather, Mathias Havel. This led to a few posts over the past year or two dealing with his condition as a serf. History is a great teacher and placing Mathias in the events of that era helps to understand and appreciate his condition. For example, it is instructive that flooding took place a few years after he acquired the farm from his father, which led to a famine in Bohemia. This was a critical event which focused attention of the peasant condition to Empress Maria Theresa, and he son Josef.

Martin and Amelia Hovel
Martin emigrated to the US in 1868

I like history and read it regularly. Several years ago (2014-2015), I did a great deal of reading about WWII,  and I did a number of posts related my Dad's service in the Counter Intelligence Corps during that conflict. Doing so, you can learn a great deal, and obtain a different perspective. It always helps putting things in the larger world issues of the day, but with a personal perspective. 

Bastogne, WWII
My Dad, a CIC agent, got out of Bastogne just
before it was surrounded by the Germans, Dec 1944

For personal stories I often rely on my wife for material. With her organizing, and reorganizing what she had organized, I get some great material. When the wife gets into an organizing or cleaning mode, there is no force greater. It is too bad her energy cannot be harnessed for heating and cooling the house. Maybe I could figure out some sort of heat exchanger device to make her energy usable. She is a woman on a mission, and no one should get in her way. I keep wondering when I will end up on the front porch to be left for pickup by a secondhand store. You can read about her organizing here. It does not always have to be organizing, such as a post last month about a water color class we both took. She was the class rebel, which goes with her hair color.

Having been a city planner, a number of blogs deal with planning issues. In 2021, for example, I wrote about the poor water quality in a lake in Vilas County, WI. The following spring I wrote four posts on protecting our resources, with the last being a sample development for northern Wisconsin. Planning involves balancing a variety of concerns, values and issues, and if northern Wisconsin is to survive, it cannot do the same old thing. For some reason humans are intent on destroying that which they most value and enjoy. So many lake shores are fully developed in northern Wisconsin that the water quality of the lake is now affected. Blue green algae is appearing, and it is not from agricultural activity in the watershed. Unfortunately, the insatiable desire to accommodate water front living has moved to rivers and streams. Lakes were near death in much of the southern part of the state until sanitary sewer was installed for homes on and near the lakes. Now, however, high use of agricultural fertilizers, urban development, and animal wastes are again laying waste to the waters of southern Wisconsin. 

Algae in a Vilas Co Lake, Oct 2021

Northern Wisconsin can, however, provide many good memories. In August of 2015, I wrote about Awesome Wonders, and how my wife had one of her many God-incidences, as she calls them. We had been camping at Day Lake and hiked up St Peter's dome and a side hike to Morgan Falls. On the way to and from Clam Lake we stopped at the highest peak in Wisconsin, Timm's Hill, which only added to the majesty of nature. While we also saw bears swimming and getting out of the water at the Clam Lake beach, the God-incidence came that Saturday night attending mass at a small log cabin church, and the concluding hymn was "How Great Thou Art". That hymn spoke to our hike up St Peter's dome. Heck that Saturday night we had a thunderstorm and heavy rain to top off our adventure. 

View from St Peter's Dome

One of my favorite posts is "Traits", written in June 2016, in which I offered up the wife-app as a replacement for technology on cars. We purchased a new vehicle in 2018 and the amount of technology in that vehicle compared to our vehicles bought in 2004 and 2006 is phenomenal. Anyway, I did not think I would find a spouse who commented on a husband's driving more than my wife commented on my driving. In June of 2016, I was proven wrong, my brother's wife outdoes my wife in this regard. I followed the Traits post with one two or three years later when we got a new car with much of the advanced technology. Sometimes, that technology just makes it worse, as now I have two wife apps, the electronics in the Jeep and the real one. If one isn't commenting it is the other. We often use the Jeep navigation map when driving even if we don't have an address entered. If I am over the speed limit a mph or two the speed level on the map screen lights up red. My wife does not need that to tell me when I am speeding, but she does. At least the wife will give me a mile or two of grace compared to the navigation device which does not. When we first got our Jeep in 2018 we made a long trip to New York for a family wedding. A few times on that trip we heard this beep and could not figure out what it was. A couple years later we figured it out, as we saw a message on the dashboard, about hands on the steering wheel. Not just hands, but a certain level of grip. Hands at 10:00 and 2:00, I expect it to say. I often drive with a few fingers on the steering wheel on a highway, and it catches me. Here the Jeep app has something over the wife app, my hand pressure on the steering wheel. That sound was different from the three beeps we heard every few minutes, which turned out to be my packed cell phone running low on battery power. I am now very attentive to beeps.

Every now and then I have been known to do something, well, not too bright. Not too often, less than a blue moon, and not as often as my wife thinks. For some reason my wife likes to shake her head. Hence, let me provide the post that she may like the most. "Get off the Bridge", which occurred when we visited Door County in the summer of 2016. You can find that post here. I guess I was holding traffic up a bit. 

Frieda and her naturally curly red hair
Like my wife

Will I be able to complete another 500 posts? Perhaps so, as long as my wife keeps giving me material.  I tend to now do a post about once a week, for which would take me close to 10.5 years to complete the next 500 posts. In December of 2013, that first full month of blogging, I did ten total posts. I am sure the few readers of this blog each have a favorite post or two, not to mention those that they find being some severe yawners. Cheers to post 500.

Colorful Uncle

St. Patrick's Day is generally a memorable day in the United States for those of Irish ancestry, and those who for a day like to claim Irish ancestry. It was also the day, this past Friday, that the last surviving family member of my parents families slipped the bonds of this earth. My mother's brother, my Uncle Joseph Reiner Sweeney, passed away at the age of 92 years. Every family has that colorful uncle, and for our family it was Uncle Joe.

Leo F Sweeney Family photo
Joe is youngest, in front

Joseph Reiner Sweeney, was born to his Irish Catholic father, Leo F Sweeney, and a German Catholic mother, Amanda Reiner. He was one of four children, of which only my mother produced any offspring. The main stomping ground for he and his family was the Irish south side of Chicago. Prairie Avenue, being one street on which they lived. All four of his grandparents immigrated to the United States. He never knew any of his grandparents, being just over one year of age when his last grandparent, Frances Liedenheimer Reiner died in February 1932.

Both parents came from deeply religious families. Of his six aunts and uncles on his mother's side, there were two religious sisters, and one priest. Uncle Joe, like his uncle, Fr. Joseph Reiner, SJ, became a Jesuit priest. He was ordained 9 June 1963 in West Baden, IN. His first mass was 16 June 1963 at St Phillip Neri Church in Chicago, IL. Many of our family members attended his ordination, but, perhaps due to limitations in the carrying capability of the Buick station wagon, my twin brother and I, and our youngest sister, Jeanne, stayed home. Uncle Joe lived sufficiently long to see the first Jesuit not only elected pope, but also his tenth anniversary in the Chair of St Peter. He was always a Jesuit, and led a retreat group at Bellarmine Retreat House in Barrington, IL for many years. It was a privilege to join him and his group on some of those silent retreats. Joe Sweeney was laicized, his papers signed off by Joseph Ratzinger, and in 1983 married Bonnie Culp. 

Joe and Bonnie, Aug 1979

Uncle Joe was fortunate to know many persons with historical connections. He had a priest friend, who was a class mate of Fidel Castro's. He knew titans of industry and politics. I recall my sister and I visiting Uncle Joe and with his then girl friend we stopped at the home of Richard M Daley, the son of the Chicago Mayor and a future Chicago mayor. What I most recall from that visit was how the future mayor of Chicago went on about the lack of political connections in Wisconsin, such that they failed to win the location of the Air Force Academy in southern Wisconsin. For some reason, whenever introducing us when we visited him in the land of our friendly Illinois brethren, he proclaimed us from Wisconsin. Sometimes, the person reacted as if we were from outer space. 

His greatest connection to a historical figure was through his having dated Delores Maritote. He, and his best friend Buster Clark, while in high school, had a double date where they went to dinner at the old Hilton Hotel Boulevard Room with their respective dates, and then to the Ice Capades. Delores, is probably not well known, but, to this day, her uncle is infamous in the US history. Delores was the only child of John Maritote and Mafalda (nee Capone) Maritote. Yes, Capone, as in you know who. Delores' mother was the sister to Alphonse Gabriel Capone, better known as Al Capone. Uncle Joe was lucky Delores was alive, let me recount a story from Gangster Facts has a report dated back to January 24, 1933: "Reports from the Chicago Herald Examiner that Mafalda Maritote (Capone) narrowly escapes gunfire while holding her child Dolores. She was walking accompanied by her husband John Maritote and his brother Frank. It is believed Frank was the intended target. Four shots were fired from a passing motor car and all targets hit the ground and were unhurt." Delores was fortunate to be alive. 

Buster Clark, his date Diane Gavigan,  Delores Maritote,
              and Uncle Joe. Photo from JR Sweeney.

It is doubtful that having dated a gangster's niece had him undertake penance and join the priesthood. After all, the sins of her Uncle do not necessarily pass to the niece. Further, I have a letter he wrote in grade school which indicates "When I grow up I want to be please God by being a priest." Although, he may have been saying that to please the nuns, who knows. But, for a time, he was a priest. His priesthood came at a time of significant transition in the Church, as Vatican II was still ongoing when he was ordained in 1963. Pope John XXIII, who called the council, died a week before Uncle Joe was ordained on June 9. He was in a church of transition from the Pius era to the John XXIII era--Paul VI era of Vatican II. In a conversation about two years ago, we talked about the young traditional oriented priests, and how he also did not like those priests singing the whole Eucharistic prayer. He probably could say the Latin mass, as he was well versed in Latin, such that the former principal in McFarland High School wished he lived closer to teach Latin at the school. He got along well with the principal, both Irish with the gift of gab.

Part of Hovel family with Fr. Joe Sweeney, SJ, and
his Aunt, Sr Constance

His gift of gab also was in writing where he worked at both Standard Oil and was an editor of a journal at the Chicago Board of Trade. My mom, in a letter to Joe dated 9/17/58 (which date she noted was the Impression of the Stigmata of St Francis) emphasized this when she, and she was an English major in college, wrote: "It is my opinion that too few of us have the ability to express beautifully what one wants to say. You have that gift."  

Joe Sweeney, date unknown

Between leaving religious life and marriage, he would occasionally visit our family with varied girl friends. He golfed, and downhill skied with some of my family. His best friend in grade school was Buster Clark, a friendship that persevered as they both aged. Part of me thinks this is due to the strong neighborhood connections that developed. While living in Chicago, the identity was also with his Chicago neighborhood, and your parish. He grew up in a markedly different era from the era in which he died. He would show up at our house in Sun Prairie late on a Friday night when everyone was in bed, but my Mom kept the door unlocked for his arrival. One morning he kept referring to my Dad as cyclops, and it turns out when he arrived late the night before, he went to say hello to my Mom, and my Dad, who was sleeping, opened one eye to look at him. 

Joe Sweeney, just like Frank Barone, in "Everybody Loves Raymond" seemed to always "know a guy." I recall going to a Notre Dame football game with him, and I can picture to this day that beautiful fall afternoon, and him telling me to stay put, but he had to go "meet a guy about the tickets." I followed him with my eyes and he met up with a man in dark clothes with dark sunglasses and a dark hat, but no Roman collar. These two meeting up seemed like some clandestine operation as they huddled close to a building corner, away from the gathering crowd. I expected state secrets to be passed between the two, with the FBI popping out from the windows of the building. 

Campion Yearbook photo
Source: Campion-knights.org

His upbringing was in a home of modest means, but of deep faith. His parents scrapped to send all of their children to parochial schools and Catholic colleges. He and his brother attended Campion High School in Prairie du Chien for high school, and his sisters St Mary's Academy in the same city. Uncle Joe, along with his older brother, Leo, attended Loyola University in Chicago, while my mom and her younger sister attended Mount Mary College in Milwaukee. Somewhere along the line he developed this unique sense of humor that would sustain him, along with prayer, through the trials and difficulties of life. 

Joe Sweeney, on the weekend of his ordination

I could reminisce about his varied antics that made him that colorful uncle in the family, but I will focus on the part I wish to most recall. His humor, communication and on-going Jesuit formation were put to the test in 1959. On August 2,1959 my brother Leo, (I was not even two years of age) was hit by a car and killed on Highway 51 in McFarland. To most, particularly a mother, there is no greater tragedy than to lose a child, not to mention in such a manner. Uncle Joe was unable to attend the funeral, but in a letter to her brother Joe dated Sept 9, 1959, Mom wrote about the loss saying: "Leo's sudden death has left a gaping hole in my Motherly heart and though I know he's attained his goal, Heaven, it doesn't seem to help the very human feelings of loss." Later in the same letter she mentions how she found his words: "Your letter was a master piece--truly beautiful. Thank you." Reading a copy of her letter to him, I can feel the raw emotion expressed by my mom with the loss of her "constant companion." 

Joe Sweeney at Hovel home

Mom also thanked him in an October 29, 1959 letter for his words in another beautiful letter she received for her birthday. She writes again in that October letter of her feelings of loss saying "Only a mother can tell how another mother feels at the loss of a child. Even the presence of 7 others around me does not make up for the void in my heart at Leo's absence." As she stated, both of her Leo's were gone, a reference to her Dad's death in September 1958 and then her son Leo's less than a year later. What comes through is not just the heartache she felt, but the words of comfort he had written to her. Unfortunately, if his letters to her were preserved, I do not know what happened to them, as they would complete the story. Joe Sweeney, at that time, by words provided an act of charity and comfort to my mom in her time of greatest need. It was in a manner that was mainly "hidden to other people, but known by God" (Henri Nouwen). 

To me he looks like a spy character out of a
British whodunit

I had a couple conversations with him within a few weeks of his death, maybe less than a week before he was admitted to the hospital with shortness of breath. He did not seem out of breath to me. In the first conversation he asked for some information on the Sweeney family so he could send to a relative, and I made some documents from my genealogy program. We talked about Sweeney and Reiner genealogy and I had noted how much more difficult the Sweeney side is due to common name and lack of information. For example, I noted because my Hovel family were peasants, I had land register and Seigniorial Registers to help validate and guide the research. He then called me later the next week to thank me for the valuable information I had put together and printed for him to send on. We had a conversation about his virtual bible study group, and how my kids were doing, and their projects, like my son Joe's woodworking. I never thought, that would be the last time I would have a conversation with him.

I heard of his death on the evening of St Patrick's Day, about 8 pm. After a prayer for the repose of his soul, and a review of some memories, my mind turned to the day--being St Patrick's Day, perhaps almost as an after thought it occurred to me he died on St Patrick's Day. I thought how unfortunate it was for Aunt Bonnie to now have the loss of her husband as a St Patrick's Day memory. Joe Sweeney, however, lived a long, good, colorful life, where he brought joy and hope to those around him, so perhaps there was no better day than the feast day of the Patron Saint of Ireland. His gift of letters were appreciated by my Mom during the most trying period of her life. St Patrick's Day will no longer be about Patrick, but also about Joe Sweeney, our colorful uncle. 

May eternal rest be granted unto you, Uncle Joe. Happy St. Joseph's Day (March 19)! 

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all photos from the Hovel family archives

Space to Place

If you ever watch "This Old House" there could be a drinking game with how often they use the word "space" while discussing a remodel. Phrases like: "Tell me about your plans for this space", or "This is a really great space." For some reason, perhaps a desire to be pretentious, they cannot bring themselves to say the name of the room. We are not talking outer space we are talking rooms in a building, or outdoor spaces here on earth. Landscape architects like creating outdoor spaces. These spaces have been around a great deal of time. From the Agora of ancient Greece, to the Forum (both a building and the area surrounding), St Peter's square, to the Wisconsin Capitol grounds. However, what makes spaces important is much more than the area. Let me explore space to place.

Sturgeon Bay, WI, historic downtown

"This Old House" shows us that space is physical manifestation, and represents an area, most often with defined boundaries. On the other hand, place is an area that embodies values, emotions and feelings, which are unique to each person. Place becomes part of us, formed by our experiences and conceptions. Let me use a few examples. We all have our place at the dinner table. In church, for example, we tend to go to our same place at the table. It could be that we are creatures of habit, but it could also be that we find comfort in familiarity and routine, part of what we may value, if not consciously, then subconsciously. I could argue that the habit is part of our emotions and desires, and that helps create space to be a place. We also tend to have locations outside the home that form place. The Wisconsin Capitol building and its square is a majestic place due to it grandeur, the importance it plays in civic life, but more importantly it is a symbol of Wisconsin, the place I have lived my whole life. With the state capitol, varied elements are at work to create a place. I don't feel the same way about the Michigan State Capitol as I do about the Wisconsin Capitol. 

Anywhere USA

As a young boy, I spent countless hours playing in the sandbox, such that when I became a city planner, my dad said Fitchburg was my sandbox. In the sandbox, I built my towns, I was creating spaces, but in the imagination they were representative of  my values, I created places I imagined. As a planner, you work to create not just space, but look to have an area that can become place. Place, is however, difficult to create, because place is not defined by me, but by those who view and use a space, as it becomes endowed with value. That is our sense of place. Each of us posses different values, but out of that we have all created some type of shared place, a spot where some of our values intersect, like a Venn diagram. 

Whimsical bench in Sturgeon Bay

The way we view space is set early in our life, by our experiences, and how we see things. It is often pointed out that as adults are views of space and place are judged in large part on views we formed as a child. In a sense, my sandbox construction perhaps formed me more than I thought. As a planner I realized this and one of my few favorite phrases was that people gravitate to that with which they are most familiar. This is because of how their ideas and experiences have formed them, and so it is with how they view the built environment. 

Morgan Falls

But, as society and development patterns have changed so to does our formation of space. Geographer Yi Fu Tuan once said, "Undifferentiated space becomes place as we get to know it better and endow it with value" How we view and experience a space is what makes it a place. The closer we hold a place to our heart and soul, the more meaning it has, the more we value in that place. Humans wish to be rooted to space, and as social beings, squares and forums are important as are some institutional buildings. 

View from St Peter's Dome

Today, the public square is being replaced by social media, a different form of space (I guess a virtual space), but one that can be more toxic due in large part to anonymity. When one does not have to face a person or talk to another with different views, indifference is more common, and dislike is more likely. Pope Francis, in his encyclical Fratelli tutti, gets to this point when he says: "Working to overcome our divisions without losing our identity as individuals presumes that a basic sense of belonging is present in everyone." Indeed, “society benefits when each person and social group feels truly at home." He then discusses how a family unit contributes and supports each other, and while there will be quarrels, they get resolved, as the unchanging aspect is the family bond. Francis then takes this family bond and applies it to the public square: "If only we could view our political opponents or neighbours in the same way that we view our children or our spouse, mother or father! How good would this be! Do we love our society or is it still something remote, something anonymous that does not involve us, something to which we are not committed?" Francis refers to a path of renewed encounter. Places help form a love for out local society. Our minds are connected to a geography as it provides us with a sense of being, a sense of comfort.

A lot of space for a non-descript place

We lack civil discourse in large part because we lack connection, or encounters with others of different views. Many persons are no longer willing to have a conversation with someone with different views, beliefs and values. The bubble created is self-reinforced, and thus more difficult to break. You fail to understand or appreciate a person with a different viewpoint than your own. Much discourse now is on social media. Now, the snowflakes in the world want a "safe" space, which in reality is a space that shuts them off from different opinions. The built world, I believe, is also changing our perception and our value to space.

When I was growing up, downtown Sun Prairie was still the main central business area. The mass movement to malls (East Towne), and later big boxes had yet to fully be manifested. It was the old style downtown that so many like to view, but will not shop. The downtown made an impression on me, as did the rural sprawled developments, and led to my career choice. Old downtowns had formed many of my generation and before, it held some value to us. Later generations, growing up with big boxes, will never appreciate downtowns of smaller communities in quite the same way, because their formation was by malls and big boxes, those non-descript everywhere America areas. If they do appreciate the old downtowns it will be as antithesis to the impersonal malls and big boxes. The New Urbanist movement is trying to alter that, but it is not quite the same. As much as they try in some places it seems more contrived. 

New Urbanist Development in Fitchburg, WI

Some elements of space and place span varied cultures. For example, we live in house, but we call it a home. That house is the structure, home is the expression of our value to that structure, it is place We form memories from our experiences in the house, that make it our home. These memories are an expression of us, and of what we value. My wife probably has a different take on some memories in our house than I do, but each is important in our own personal relationship. 

Building architecture is often an expression of what one values. People like to use the word "iconic" to describe what they believe should be a signature building. There exists a strong relationship to architecture and art to a space becoming a place. It occurs in large projects and smaller projects. Big Bear Hideaway in Boulder Junction, in its use of stone, and logs, was an expression not only of its location in the Wisconsin Northwoods, but an expression of the values of its builder, who valued local timber and stone over distant materials. A gathering space at the Gazebo and firepit draw persons from different units together. You get someone like my youngest sister with persons from different units at the fire pit, and you never know where the conversation will lead. It functions as a miniature from of the public square. It is a space that is meant to become a place to people who visit. The hand construction and detailing, further engage some of the senses, which assists in the movement to a place.  

Wood Sculpture at Big Bear hideaway
under outdoor pavilion 

But, space becoming place does not have to be man-made. It can be the natural environment. Our values express what we think, what we appreciate. We may be insignificant in the vast part of nature, but we are not insignificant in our own lives. We are a small aspect in a larger universe, but we know that we mean something to someone else. Sometimes it is the journey that forms our sense of place. The hike up to St Peter's dome several years ago helped me more appreciate the awesome wonder of looking over the view of Lake Superior, and of the small brooks we passed and crossed. The journey was important. It formed a memory. It was a special type of place. 

Big Bear Hideaway wood sculpture

Lambeau Field is an iconic venue in football, because of the memories people hold from the great plays from the teams that played on its field. As Marquette beat Xavier to win the Big East Tournament, Coach Shaka Smart talked about how winning at such a place made the win even more special. That is what place does. 

Like old downtowns, more and more persons are growing up without a connection to a faith tradition and the building that was used for that purpose. Some religious structures even invoke a sense of place to those not a member of the religious tradition. When Notre Dame Cathedral in Parish burned in 2019, many Parisians, and people of no faith and different faiths were sad at the horrible event. It was a place, a symbol for the French, as the Wisconsin Capitol is a symbol for Wisconsin. Notre Dame, which was almost left to rot after the Reign of Terror, was revitalized when Napoleon saw it as a symbol, and expression of France. Cathedrals played an important role in people's lives. Notre Dame, appropriately, was a place where peasant and royal could both go with distinction of rank or wealth. Today, as it is being rebuilt and expected to open in Dec 2024, but its value to secular France is different than when it was originally built. Yet, it will always be a Church, with its architecture and art could transcend you into another world. It did what it was meant to do, and that was why it became important.

St Peter's Square, Vatican City
One of the world's great public spaces

A structure does not have to be grand or great to be of importance. There are small chapels spread out throughout Wisconsin, built by a person of faith to recognize and give thanks. These small chapels are a very present expression of the values that person held. They are not Notre Dame, but to family who is tied to it provides a great deal of meaning. One such chapel exists in what is Lake Farm County Park, in Dane County, WI, built in 1857, by John Endres when his family survived the diphtheria epidemic. Hand built with stones he and his son hauled to the high point on the hill, it is simple, but in its simplicity it sung to his soul, and for some it sings to theirs as well. 

Historic Downtown, Redwing, MN

When it comes to having to close churches in the Madison Diocese in a couple years, it will be heart wrenching for some. There are many who have strong connections with their church building, it brings memories, it was a place that brought comfort in time of sorrow. Place is important to our minds and our souls as it provides us a connection. The place is a manifestation, and tangible part of connection. People need to have that experience. Those baptisms, weddings, funerals, first communions, and confirmations presented events of importance. It is not just a church, it is a place that its parishioners endowed with value, perhaps as much as value was endowed in them. It was a place for the soul to transcend the tasks and complications of everyday life. That is why places are important. Those local churches may hold more meaning to a person than a grand cathedral they once visited, because that local church holds more meaning to the person. The Endres family built chapel overlooking Indian Lake expressed the values of that family.

A place can be quickly drained of meaning by a negative experience. St Augustine's home town became haunting and a site of misery to him after the death of a good friend. We see this with places that have experienced mass casualty events. A place once of beauty and positive to a person or group now becomes profane. Yet, people are resilient, and attempt to bring meaning to their sorrow. Roadside memorials are common where flowers are left of the spot where a loved one had a devastating car crash. That small gesture is meant to give a sense of place to a location of grief.

Place is a space that has been formed by our values. Many spaces have the same or similar meaning to many in the community. I think of the Wisconsin Capitol, or Notre Dame Cathedral. But, place does not have to be of grand architecture, the chapel at Indian Lake Co Park being one example. The grandness may be in the architecture and setting, but what really makes a place grand is how and what each person conveys to a space, and the feelings and emotions expressed to make it a place. Space is one of the building blocks of place, but the most important is how people of varied backgrounds can create a sense of place through shared values. 

Photos by author

 

Into the Abyss

When I was growing up much of our educational, spiritual and even part of our social life revolved around Sacred Hearts Church and School in Sun Prairie. Sacred Hearts was somewhat unique at the time of its founding as German and Irish, many recent immigrants, together started the church. Sun Prairie was a heavily Catholic community at the time, and that institution played a large role in the village and later city. Catholic parishes were often the mainstay in immigrant urban neighborhoods from Boston to St Louis. They were places of comfort for the Eastern European and Irish immigrants and the next generation or two that were harassed, vilified and discriminated by the dominant and privileged WASP culture in the United States. Attached schools allowed for many to advance in society and move to college and many to professional schools. As I read and pondered the clerical assignments coming from Bishop Hying's "Into the Deep" process, my thoughts turned to a different time, when a person could count on their parish, their parish priest and the parish community. Unfortunately, that is quickly becoming a relic of the past, and with his new pastorates, diocesan leadership is leading the diocese into the abyss.

For many years, the Diocese of Madison has been in decline. The current leadership desires to manage the decline through its "Into the Deep" initiative. This process is to also supposed to revitalize the dwindling numbers that remain. To meet many of the stated goals, churches will have to close which will lead to further decline. The only numbers with some stability in the diocese, they say, are the Catholic School enrollment, and the number of priests. Every other metric is in decline. It is another matter to try to explain this decline, which the head of the diocese blames on a secular culture, or what he calls a "society working against the Gospel." Bishop Hying conveniently fails to place any blame on the church and its ills, from sex abuse, to its treatment of woman, and how it has failed society and the larger world. Hying perhaps desires more a disengagement from reality. (When I suggested that Hying ask the Vatican to dissolve the Madison Diocese and place it back to LaCrosse and Milwaukee I never heard back, my thought was if the church is in decline so to should its overwhelming bureaucracy.)

The Preacher of the Papal Household, on March 3, 2023 noted the error of disengagement in a sermon during Lent: "The history of the Church in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has left us a bitter lesson that we should not forget so as not to repeat the mistake that caused it. I speak of the delay (indeed of the refusal) to take note of the changes that had taken place in society, and of the crisis of Modernism that was its consequence." Institutional arrogance and hypocrisy (clericalism) have caused a crisis in the Catholic Church. Failure of the US Hierarchy to respect Cardinal Bernardin's "Common Ground" initiative is not unlike what was said by Cardinal Cantalamessa on March 3. Arrogance only fosters decline. Perhaps for years the Holy Spirit has been trying to tell the Church hierarchy, and its clerics something, but they have failed to listen. Instead for many years the Church, with its arrogance, became more exclusionary, more doctrinaire and more pharisaical. It has failed to engage. Many (particularly young) clerics are more interested in power than service, more interested in doctrine than faith, and more interested is punishment than mercy.

Pastorate 25 Assignments

The Into the Deep process will lead to more decline and disenfranchisement of Catholics. Perhaps a new way of doing Church will be required, but I fear Hying's clerical mindset sees only the importance of clergy. With the pastorates being formed, generally about 3 priests will handle from two to seven churches. They will become circuit riders unable to fully engage and create meaningful relationships with the faithful--the Church of Christ. The pastor at St Albert's is being reassigned to a grouping that includes six churches and two schools. He noted that if he desired to visit every church in one day, he would have to travel 94 miles. We are not talking interstate travel, but the old cow town routes. Hying may well want to foster a continued disengagement from the real world, so he can create an even more isolated bubble. But, the reality he looks to create is far distant from the historic underpinnings of the role a parish, and a parish priest, played for the faithful and the larger community. It should be as no surprise that Hying likely holds to the mantra, just obey, pay, and pray. And, in that order.

Pastorate 25 map

The pastor is the face of the local church (parish), now pastorate, and lack of a meaningful relationship with the laity will detract and diminish parish life. I just do not see how it is possible for the pastor, or parochial administrator, to develop a strong and meaningful relationships at up to several different churches and the respective local community. Not only that, but many of those who had the relationships with their parish community are now being uprooted. 

My wife and I did an analysis of the priest reassignments with the new pastorates. There are a total of 83 priests, with 54 moving, and 29 staying. A 65% move rate. This shows a distinct effort to upend relationships of a faith community and its priest. Take a look at what I call the Sun Prairie pastorate. All current priests are moving, including the pastor at Sacred Hearts, in which he had a tenure of a few years. He is experienced and was ordained in 1988, being replaced by a priest who was ordained just ten years ago. Hying has taken away any relationship with the faithful in favor of a new priest, with less experience. The Sacred Hearts pastorate includes four churches and two schools. However, lucky for me and my wife, the pastor at Sacred Hearts is being assigned to the pastorate that includes St Ann's in Stoughton, which we have been attending with more frequency. The "Stoughton" pastorate stretches from part of Fitchburg all the way south to Footville, which is west of Janesville.  Footville may see a resurgence when some disaffected Janesville Catholics move out due to the trad clergy being assigned. Fr. Kelley, currently at  Sacred Hearts, said, when he would sell his car he would say it was never driven to church on Sunday--he had always lived right by where he said Sunday mass so he would walk. That will no longer be the case. There will be three priests serving five churches, and one school. Fr. Budnar, who is currently pastor at St Ann's, and a classmate of Tom Kelley's will become a parochial vicar.

Let me cite another example. The priest who led us to leave the church in McFarland has been ordained less than four years, but in the wisdom of the Bishop of Madison, he has been assigned as the parochial administrator, so pastor, in Southwest WI, a grouping of seven churches and four schools. At the same time, a Monsignor who was ordained in 1977, a priest ordained in 1988, another in 1989, as just three examples, are parochial vicars, and no longer pastors. I feel for southwest WI and the school children. They will not see any female altar servers, as he makes the claim that people would think it is a female centric church.  (I am not making this up.) 

Pastorate 14, where Msg Heiar of St Alberts is assigned

St Dennis parish on the east side of Madison is the largest parish in the diocese. It has been very well led by its pastor for ten years. They paid off remodeling debt early, started an equipment replacement fund for parish facilities, and more importantly have an engaged and diverse parish community. This priest is getting shifted to the hinterlands of the diocese with six churches in Buffalo, Westfield, Briggsville, Pardeville, Portage and Montello. In his new assignment he will have two parochial vicars. One would think his skill set could be better appreciated in the urban area. He is being replaced by a priest who currently serves some of those hinterland parishes. 

Parishes vary in makeup and culture, and more and more we see parish cultures, and parishes, being destroyed by the orthodox priests. These priests are often referred to by some as Morlino priests. David Gibson of Fordham University wrote a few months ago: "These absurdly self-styled "orthodox" clergy are driving away the faithful and so only their fanatical fans stay, and then they say "see only my side is growing." Propaganda at its best. The sad thing is that it is believed. If this is true why has downsizing occurred at St Maria Goretti, and Christ the King? With the reassignments, it will occur in the pastorates that include Waunakee, Middleton and Janesville. It is an issue of priestly formation. I believe evidence shows that Morlino priests are a contributing factor to diocesan decline. Before the arrival of its Morlino priest, St Maria Goretti school had over 400 students, it is now less than 100, perhaps 70. The decline first started years ago in Platteville when Bishop Morlino destroyed that parish with a group of conservative priests from Spain. I recall recently reading that order was formed to make money by sending its conservative priests to the US, and of course, Morlino had to bite.  There are several of that order in the diocese. 

Pastorate 24 assignments

So far, Bishop Hying has been smart enough to preserve his golden eggs--Queen of Peace and St Thomas Aquinas--from the negative impact of Morlino priests. Blessed Sacrament, is another golden egg, but is staffed by Dominicans. One could say Hying went out of his way to assure that did not happen. At some time in the next 15 or 20 years the diocese will be left with only Morlino priests, and then the destruction will be near complete. For these young priests and the Bishop, only people of their like mind need apply. 

Pastorate 24 map

The diocese is stable in school enrollment and number of priests, but for all other metrics it is in decline. Even though the civil population in the communities that make up the diocese has significantly increased, the numbers of Catholics is in sharp decline. Given the stability in priest numbers, and the decline in Catholics, I had the thought that the conservatives were inclined to desire decline in order to maintain the old boys club. Yet, with the priest assignments and how priests will become game managers rather than pastors, or circuit riders, and lack an ability to engage their new communities, I offer two suggestions. 

First, hell will freeze over first, but Bishop Hying should suggest to the Vatican that they allow female deacons, so they may have a role at local churches, and the strengthening of relationships of the parish to the community. Female deacons can augment and add to the male diaconate.  Alas, he will not wish to upset the privileges he finds in his all-boys club. As parishioners see a lack of connection with the leadership they become less engaged, and less engaged means less support, and less support leads to failure. Strengthening relationships between clergy and the laity is important, but that does not appear to play a role in Hying's thought process. The Church holds to an outdated model of a single all-male clergy such that I now believe the preeminent desire of the church is not for salvation, the Eucharist, or even the message of the Gospel, but the old boys club. All else in the Church is below and follows this discipline. Female deacons (if not priests) can provide more personnel to build the relationships and be permanent fixtures, rather than game managers and circuit riders. I will not hold my breath because clericalism is inherent in a Church that would rather ignore pleas of the faithful for the sacraments, like in the Amazon, than provide them to the faithful. They invite people to the table and then pull away the food. (See note 1)

Relationships and an ability to relate to the people in the pews are keys to a successful priest. Several years ago one writer (Bill Garvey) at America Magazine wrote the following: 

People feel it’s a nice bonus to have simply a reasonably healthy and balanced priest with some pastoral gifts. It’s a sad state of affairs that I’ve heard echoed over and over even among young clergy. “It continues to surprise me,” a recently ordained Carmelite told me. “If you are real, relatable and make an effort to be relevant to parishioners’ lives, you are a rock star.” Another priest who has filled in at numerous parishes for 10 years told me, “People seem to be so hungry for something more. If you can offer them anything that connects their personal lives to the Gospel, they are incredibly appreciative.”

What struck me is that it is a nice bonus to have reasonably healthy and balanced priest. In other words, the bar for a priest is very low, very low indeed. If such a combination is the exception than the rule, it is a disgrace to the Church and the people they attract. The problem with the self-anointed orthodox clergy is a lack of balance, and pastoral gifts. They focus so much on doctrine they miss the pastoral. Later the writer also makes this valid point: when desiring to invite lapsed Catholics back to mass, it would be good to ask, exactly what are we inviting them back to? "Are we simply welcoming them back to a church that reminds them why they left in the first place?" In many cases, with the young trad priests, the situation presented is probably worse than when they left. 

Fr Randy Timmerman Pastor of St Dennis
making his announcement of his new assignment

Second, to get a healthy and balanced priest the formation process has to change. Dramatically. Even Pope Francis is aware of the problem perpetuated by Morlino and Hying. Pope Francis once said that priestly formation "must form their hearts. Otherwise we are creating little monsters. And then these little monsters mold the people of God. This really gives me goose bumps.” Perhaps the saving grace is the little monsters form only a few since most get disgusted with their antics and leave. In December the "Wall Street Journal" had an article about how the young trad priests don't believe in the teachings of Francis and are beholden to prior popes. Apparently, the teachings of the Magisterium only matter when they are of like mind to the young trad. Hying is catering to a group of priests who have a dislike for the Magisterium. It was just 11 years ago that it was heresy in their mind to criticize the Pope, now it is a regular occurrence, led by clergy, laity, bishops and Cardinals.

It is ironic how those who proclaim Roman Catholicism as the one true faith, and demand Eucharist coherence are the ones keeping people from experiencing what the Church has (had?) to offer, by creating a preeminent "doctrine" of an single all-male priesthood over all else. For over 50 years the solution has been to pray for more vocations. Instead, the souls are leaving. And, it is not just in the West. Think of the Amazon where the faithful have to wait a year or more for communion. If you are in the Amazon and want a mass of Christian burial you better time your death for when the priest arrives. If he can find the time to say your funeral mass with all his other duties for the day or so he shows up. The Amazon lacks the financial strength to buy priests from overseas as the Madison Diocese has done for many years. Catholics, in South America (and even in the US) are moving to Evangelical churches where the minister lives just down the road, and can provide the spiritual guidance you may need. To hell with the laity--it is all about a single all-male clergy, the old boys club whose decisions are destroying the faithful and their Church. 

As Morlino priests cause more to parishioners to leave, and as the upper age cohort die off, there will be fewer and fewer people and contributions. Just over 17% of parishioners account for 82% of contributions to the Church. They are not Gen Z'ers that will be around awhile. You can read more about the statistics here. Further, the next step will be closures of buildings to get to Hying's self-anointed criteria of 50% of masses at 50% attendance. As this occurs more people will be lost. As one canon lawyer wrote: 

I believe from my experience and from other canon lawyers with experience in these cases, that when a merger or suppression is started, forty percent of the parishioners it affects will not go along to get along in the Catholic Church. They will not go to the newly named or appointed parish. They just will not. We lose them and we lose them for good. I absolutely believe this and I am gutted by it. I just wish the Church were as concerned as me. (Dugan, Patricia M. Canon Law 101, "Parish Closures are killing the Catholic Church," Aug 18, 2020.)

As Hying leads the diocese into the abyss, I am estimating, based on the 2021 numbers, that from 45% to 60% of the churches in the diocese will have to close. They could leave the smallest in each pastorate open, in order better meet the metrics. In the CTK pastorate, using diocesan attendance numbers, the seating capacity (at one time) is 1,744 for all three churches, yet total attendance (at the total number of masses held) was only 50%. Proving this, CTK, had its attendance for one weekend in August 2022 posted in their bulletin. The attendance at those three masses did not even approach the 50% seating capacity of the church. Thus, if all who were at three masses, attended one mass the church would be at less than 50% capacity. As a thought experiment, let us say that 33% of the diocese population of 138,068 are affected by parish closures, that means 45,562 persons are affected, and by Dugan's analysis, that means 18,225 more souls will be lost from the diocese. Then, think of normal attrition by death, or by those upset with the antics of the orthodox priests. 

Dugan says the Vatican does not care about loss of parishes. In this, is the Vatican holding to the desire for a smaller more doctrinaire church, a claim often attributed to Benedict XVI. The problem with Benedict and other trads is they confuse doctrine with faith. How de-evangelizing meets with the Gospel's go and make fishers of men, I do not know. Bishop Hying is creating a slippery slope for a decline that will not only continue, but accelerate. At some point, those young trad-oriented priests will be preaching to a near empty church, only for their fanatical fans. I can't say choir, because even at McFarland, choir members have left. The problem is that Morlino and Hying have played to one main crowd of their like-minded folk. 

My spouse and I lost our spiritual home for over thirty years when that young self-styled orthodox priest was assigned to lead the parish a few years past. Significant decline has occurred with many friends leaving the faith, some not attending, and others joining a different parish, mostly St Dennis. At this point, I am not sure where a new spiritual home to guide us as we age will be. By the priest assignments, I know it will not be Christ the King in McFarland. Something is deeply wrong when one man can (well, two one you consider who assigned him) come in and change the whole culture of a parish in a few months time. 

WI State Journal Editorial Cartoon, 6-23-22

In the 1990's when Churches were expanding, the buzzword at the diocese was increase capacity, today, it is consolidation. The "Into the Deep" process is not simply managing decline, but I predict it will accelerate decline. Hying is creating a situation not tenable to developing and creating relationships with the faithful. If a relationship between priest and laity fails to develop, the parish will fail. And, when historic family ancestral churches are closed, more relationships will be destroyed. Hying is famous for excluding, and I am sure he expects collateral damage to some parishes. If CTK is an example, instead of going to another Catholic parish, many will just leave. Dugan says the same thing.

Bishop Hying has chosen self-styled orthodox priests and clericalism over the larger faith community. By blaming the wider culture he can shove off any responsibility for his own role. The real losers will be the faithful of the diocese who have stuck with the Church from one crisis to the next. Hying is playing poker with the faithful. He apparently believes strong connections for a former parish community and its larger community in which it was embedded no longer matter. You do not have a parish priest, but a pastorate priest, a game manager, a circuit rider. Perhaps that gets to what he really desires, a smaller more doctrinaire church he can rule as a medieval lord. He is leading the diocese into the abyss.

“Let anyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev 2:7).

Sources:

https://intothedeepmadison.org/

Papal preacher sermon of March 3, 2023: https://www.cantalamessa.org/?p=4059&lang=en

Dugan: https://www.canonlaw101.com/blog/m4ih7ox4m4nwz9qg8yl73p7rlsydel

https://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/pope-warns-poorly-trained-priests-can-become-little-monsters)

https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/post-clerical-catholics 

Note 1: After the Amazon Synod in Oct 2019, the US Bishops had their ad limina visits with Pope Francis. Several news reports indicated that they were concerned with two suggestions made by the synod: female deacons and allowing older married males to be priests. The US Bishops kept pressing the Pope to assure neither of these happened. Clearly, this shows a Church more concerned about the single all-male clergy over all else. They did not inquire about how the faithful in the Amazon could get the sacraments, only how not it should be addressed. I would say such opinions border on classism if not racism. It is easy for the US to make up the priest shortage by buying priests from overseas.

Fields

Of my eight lines of great grandparents, three lines originated in Bohemia. Those great grandparents and their ancestors, were peasants and serfs under the control of a specific domain or estate. During the second half of the 18th century, the Austro-Hungarian Crown became concerned over the treatment of the serfs and the unfair nature of the the land tax system in some of its provinces. The ruling estates often undercounted area, or outright did not declare parcels of their ownership (referred to as dominical land), meaning it was excluded from taxation. This type of deceit shifted more of the tax burden to the rustical land, or land holdings managed by peasants, like my ancestors. Joseph II, the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire issued a patent in 1785 to make the tax system more equitable. That move provides us with information on the agricultural practices of my fourth great grandfather, Mathias Havel. This post will look at the fields Mathias owned, what he grew on those fields over a three year time span, and the corresponding yields. Essentially, it is a story of his fields in late 1780's.

Mathis Havel, 1788 Yield Table
Source: Trebon Archives

To better obtain an accounting of the property, all fields were surveyed, "ownership" or control noted, and estimated yields were first provided followed by an actual three year accounting of yields to be used for taxation. In this way, they got to actual yields as they recognized the variability of soils. Soil quality, in other words, would be taken into account.  As we all know, production could vary greatly depending upon weather, and the three years may help mitigate weather, but not fully. Our ancestors farmed using both crop rotation, and having a field generally lie fallow every third year. Hence, the production noted in the assessment in the record tells us what was grown, but not the year the crop was grown or the field was fallow. 

The property was surveyed by the village headsman and assistants, or by engineers depending upon the difficulty of the parcel. All of Mathias' parcels were measured by the headsman of Micovice and his assistants. Fields, in general were long and narrow, going back to many decades, or centuries earlier when it was thought the most equitable way to divide land was in long narrow parcels. Area of each parcel was recorded in Joch and Square Klafter. Mathias' ten arable parcels contained an equivalent of about 20.16 acres. In addition to the arable parcels he had control of five meadow (for hay) parcels, a house garden parcel (assessed as a meadow), and one woodlot parcel. The grain yield off each parcel was recorded in the presence of the local officials to limit a dishonesty, or taking a shortcut. Thus, we are fortunate to have a record of each of Mathias' parcels in area, estimated yield and actual yield over a three year span. We do not know what crop was grown in what year on what parcel. Of the four main grains, wheat, rye, barley and oats, for which yields were calculated, Mathias grew the last three over that three year period of time. Although, as we will see, his concentration was on rye and oats. 

Havel House #15, time of Stable Cadastre, ~1836
Source: https://ags.cuzk.cz/archiv/

Over the three year time frame, rye and oats were grown on each of his ten fields, with barley in two fields. Therefore, it appears that over the three years, eight of the ten fields were fallow for one year. Calculating from the Metzen volume used in the record to the American bushel, Mathias grew the following total bushels of grain over the three years, which essentially is a total of one year of crop yield on this ten fields for rye and oats and two fields for barley: Rye--200.29 bushels; Barley--23.24 bushels; and Oats--215.97 bushels. Hence, over the three years he grew a total of 439.5 bushels of grain. We see that oats produced a higher return than did rye. Mathias' yield in bushels per acre comes out to 10.13 for rye, 2.99 for barley and 10.71 for oats.

Melhutka, German name for Ratiborova Lhota
19th Century base map, provides an idea of
the topography by the village
Source: Mapycz

Mathias also had to seed his field, and the record provides that information. As an example, we see that field #649 had represented a sowing rate of 3.75 strich which is equal to about 9.86 bushels to sow 2.69 acres. His represented yield was 2.5 times that amount which would come to 24.65, and indeed I calculate it to be about 24.7, within the rounding of bushels. Yield varied by parcel with generally production being 2 to 3 times the sowing rate recorded. Sow rate for barley is not recorded.

Oats producing more bushels on an area basis than rye occurs today. In Wisconsin, the average for bushels per acre in 2022 for oats was 64.8, compared to 58.0 for rye.  Of course, this is in general for the whole state and yields vary. I found a grain yield for oats for Dane Co, but not rye, so I chose to use the whole state. This also shows us how much more grain is produced with modern seeds and fertilizers, all part of the agricultural-industrial complex in which we now see prime farmland turning into solar generating installations. This of course, leads to more fossil fuels to produce the fertilizers used on the less productive fields. 

Mika, Johann is Mathias' grandson who owned the
property at the time of the Stable Cadastre mapping.
This is a meadow parcel.
https://ags.cuzk.cz/archiv/

For Mathias, the sun was welcome to grow crops. The fields of southern Bohemia are known for their lack of prime soil. Of Mathias' ten fields, during the three years, oats production in bushels per acre varied from 9.65 to 12.01. For rye, the variation was from 8.35 to 11.07. 

Mathias' ten arable fields ranged in area from .34 to 6.43 acres. His median field size was 1.66 acres. With the fields being narrow and long, there were edges that probably reduced yield more than if the field was a nice square. This makes me wonder if neighboring farmers cooperated and grew the same grain in their adjoining field to avoid loss at an edge. His highest producing field recorded for oats was 1.59 acres in size, slightly smaller than the mean. His highest producing field for rye was 1.35 acres. I think this shows the variability of soils and perhaps even micro-climate. In the hills and valleys of this region south faced slope fields would likely be better than those with a north face. Weather is also variable--rainfall and temperatures. Like what we don't know what was grown on a field, we don't know what the local weather conditions were in Bohemia in the late 1780's.

Two farm fields and one meadow
under control of Johann Mika
https://ags.cuzk.cz/archiv/

There is a great deal of information in this document. For example we know that all field calculations were done by local farmers not engineers. This is interesting, as many documents from that time note the farmers and headsman as being illiterate. Someone would have had to keep track of measurements and do the math. Second, of the twenty field estimates for oats and rye, Mathias' yield exceeded the estimates in all but five cases. Two of the four cases were for both oats and rye on his largest field, of  at 6.43 acres. This is offset by a few misses. Oats missed his estimate by 30% and rye by even more in a couple of instances. Yet, many fields his estimates were within a few percentage points. He obviously had a history of what was grown on the fields. 

1995 Topograpahical Map around Ratiborova Lhota
https://ags.cuzk.cz/archiv/

Last year in May I provided a post on Mathias' requirements for fees, taxes and grain tithes to the domain as noted in the 1773 Urbarium, which you can read about here. Mathias was required to provide annually to the domain the following: 3.5 bushels of rye, about 2 bushels of barley and just over 5.5 bushels of oats. A good portion of his barley yield was for the domain, which required two bushels per year. I doubt the tithe to the estate varied over the years, as the same grain tithe require in the 1773 Urbarium is in the handover contract when his son Johann took over the farm in 1804. Please bear in mind that we do not know for sure what was grown on what field in what year of the three years of the records.

The specific dates for the yield declarations (Fassion), survey and initial assessments for each parcel is noted in the document, so I can tell, you, as an example, if you care for that much detail, the date of survey and the initial estimates provided. 19 Aug 1785, which was a Friday, was the first day of the survey. All of his parcels had the Fassion delaration, survey and assessment undertaken by Anton Semko, the Richter in Micovice; Adablert Bolech, a juror from #6 Micovice; and his own local community committeemen: Johann Kunesch, Tomas Wintzig and Georg Brom. All work was completed by 25 August, a Wednesday. They did not work on Sunday. It was a small community, with only about 15 homes in Ratiborova Lhota. More detailed mapping, by survey was completed in the 1800's, and took significant time. The survey was for two parts, one to get an exact measurement of all land for taxation, and to have the information pending full serf emancipation, which occurred in 1868.  As Empress Maria Theresia, mother of Josef II, said of the estates leaders: "Those gentlemen have known how to arrange things in such a manner that there was no way of seeing them clearly, and the subjects were always under the same oppression." (Wright, p. 34)

Signatory page of 1804 Agreement
three X's indicate the person was illiterate
and name written in.
Source: Trebon Archives, Krumlov Estate

The biggest takeaway for me is how exact they were with their measurements. Mathias was probably illiterate, as we know his sons Frantisek and Johanna and his widow Maria in an 1804 agreement did not sign their names, but used three X's. The document notes they were asked to provide their signature as three crosses, as they were illiterate. The larger question is how did Mathias keep track of everything? Mathias may have been illiterate, but he must have had a good mind to keep track of what was going on for each field. One reason why the survey work was led by the Micovice headman was perhaps he could read and write. That 1804 record also indicates that the Ratiborova Lhota village headsman at the time was also illiterate.

Translation of 1804 Handover contract from mother to 
Johann Havel noting those who were illiterate
Translation by Richard D'Amelio

Mathias had to tend his fields while still providing a significant amount of robot labor to the domain, as by 1778 he was required to provide 169 days of free labor to the estate, an amount his son was required to provide according to the handover contract. A future post will look at Mathias' meadow and woodland parcels. Grain was an important commodity at that time as it is today. What it interesting is that Mathias also had requirements for spun flax and linseed oil, but there is not a record of him growing flax over this three year period. He may have used flax grown on dominical lands. While this record may provide some questions, it does provide a deep dive into the farming practices and and his grain yields of this ten arable fields in a formal governmental record in 1788, or 245 years ago. 

Note: calculations from area and bulk units used in the original document to American units of bushels and acres was completed by the author. 

Sources:

https://digi.ceskearchivy.cz/345050/72/2651/814/78/0

https://digi.ceskearchivy.cz/345049/2/2651/835/37/0

(Both of the above transcribed and translated by Richard D' Amelio of Bohemib Research Services, engaged by the author.)

https://ags.cuzk.cz/archiv/

Wright, William E. 1966. Serf, Seigneur, and Sovereign: Agrarian Reform in Eighteenth Century Bohemia, University of Minnesota Press.