When our boys were young we often went to the Milwaukee Public Museum. During our visit we would walk through its European Village display, which provided a flavor of the varied cultural and ethnic groups of Europe. It helped me to imagine life in 19th century Europe. The lead designer and builder of that exhibit (and the more popular Streets of Old Milwaukee, among others at the museum) was Edward Hofmeister, who is my second cousin once removed. His grandmother was Marie Hovel, younger sister to my great grandfather, Martin Hovel. What struck me most, typical of such museum displays, was the darkness so common on the ersatz street and in the dwellings and structures into which we peered from behind the small fences. That darkness is a metaphor for the life the Havel (Hovel) family led in the backwater of Southwestern Bohemia. This would include Edward Hofmeister's grandmother who lived in the old country for the formative first thirteen years of her life. This post, which will be in two parts due to length, will focus on the Havel family in the old country and its congruence with economic and societal trends nearing almost three hundred years.
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| Portion of the European Village, Milwaukee Public Museum Source: MPM.edu |
For many immigrants to the US in the mid to late 19th century the old country retained a certain sense of charm and nostalgia, a simpler time outside of the rapid technological change and industrialization experienced in the Western world, in which America was becoming the power house over Britain. Growth in the US was fueled in large part by immigrant labor. It was a time of creative destruction, when new technologies led to new ways of doing things and occupations and methods went to the wayside or had to adjust; not unlike the world in which we live today. When times are difficult even trying times can become nostalgic as our brains filter out the bad; this gives us what is referred to as a rosy retrospection. This explains why the past has a certain draw, and why the European Village and the Streets of Old Milwaukee were so popular. It was a time many never knew, but grew up with it being romanticized.
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| Stabile Cadastre Map, of Ratiborova Lhota, 1826 Was known at the time by German name, Melhutka |
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| Present day Ratiborova Lhota |
My Havel ancestors were peasant serfs until 1848, when serfdom ended in the old country and they were freed from such status and provision of free labor to the domain. Well, the revolt occurred in 1848, and in March 1849 the patent was issued dissolving serfdom. Being peasant serfs, they had certain obligations to their Domain. Beginning in 1680, the ruling Hapsburgs found that the thumb of the varied domains on peasants was strong and that this led to reduced economic growth. Bohemia in particular experienced what is known as the Second Serfdom, and this era is said to run from about the mid 1500's until late in18th century. My documentation of the Havel family in the old country goes from 1585 to immigration in 1868, so generally covers this era. The Second Serfdom involved increased labor service, rents, restrictions on what a peasant could and could not do (permission for a trade, to get married as two examples). Hence, the Royal Patents or decrees tried to lessen the hold of the domain on the serfs. Most often the domains found ways around the move to lessen their grip, or simply ignored it. Empress Maria Theresa, the lead reformer, commented: "The peasants were pushed to the extreme by the excesses of the seigneurs. 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." (note 3) This was the situation for my Havel ancestors in the old country, nine known generations (1585-1848/49) under the heavy hand of a domain (Krumlov and Netolice).
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| Paternal Trees, Thomas (author) to his 6th great grandfather, Simon |
It was in 1846, two years before the end of serfdom, that Josef Havel, my 2nd great grandfather, bought the family farm from his father, Frantisek. He paid 860 Convention Munze currency for the farm. It was also the year that he was married at almost 38 years of age to Anna Jodl. Anna married Josef on her 23rd birthday. The total area purchased would equal 41.6 acres, which included 24.67 acres of arable land, 6.97 acres of forest land, 11.16 acres of meadow land, pasture at 1.8 acres, and a garden at 1 acre. Josef had to purchase the tenancy rights for the farm from his father, and then buy out the domain's rights following freedom from serfdom in 1848/1849. The direct line Havel farm at this time was in Dolni Chrastany, a small village in the Netolice Dominion of southwest Bohemia. In the foothills of the mountains, the soils were generally poor. Meadow land was located near streams and wetland, so as to protect crops from flooding. Forest land was on steep slopes.
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| Portion of Dolni Chrastany Parcel Maps |
The land holdings, were generally long and linear. Some have attributed this to the wood plow which was difficult to turn, but the long linear parcels are not only related to the arable land. The second, and what I find the most plausible explanation, was that dividing the land length wise was, at the time it was accomplished, considered the most equitable method of division.
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| Portion of Dolni Chrastany Parcel Map |
At the time of the Havel "ownership" of the Ratiborova Lhota farm (#15 Lhota was "owned" by the Havel family since at least 1585) and the Dolni Chrastany farm, land division was not allowed. The farm was often sold to the youngest son, or daughter, who was generally at an age able to take on the farm and the father and mother would retire to the outer house, on the property. It was a smaller dwelling generally separate from the main house, at the other side of the courtyard. Their version of today's mother-in-law cottage. This was the case in Dolni, and Lhota. In some cases, but not often, the youngest did not wish the farm, was too young at time of retirement of the parent, or was disabled in some manner and the farm would pass to another sibling. That left the older siblings to find a farm, as some, like Frantisek (Josef's father) did in his marriage to Teresia Jiral.
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| Parcels by Ratiborova Lhota, Indication Sketch of Stabile Cadastre Mika, Johann now owns the Havel farm (#15), son of Marie Havel Mika |
Essentially, with the end of serfdom in 1848, Josef would have had to make payment to the domain, in order to own the land outright. A domain continued to own the property until tenants could purchase their share. A footnote in the land register may explain the situation for Josef:
According to the ruling dated 10th August 1851 extract No. 1885 and the table enclosed in the document collection, a Grundentlastungs-Kapital (compensatory payment related to the cessation of manorial rule) of 115fl 46x C.M. is hereby declared for the attention of the Bohemian Imperial and Royal Grundentlastungslandeskassa in I Satzpost against which, the holding owner is discharged from the following:
Wheat -- 62/4 maßel
Rye -- 13 maßel
Barley 1 metzen 6 2/4 maßel
Oats 1 metzen 11 maßel
Draft robot labor 156 days Ground rent 38¾x
Dolni Chrastany was under the Netolice Dominion, we can see that Josef was required to provide, and in 1851, was formally released from, his service of 156 days of robot labor to the domain, and his required in-kind contributions of four grains. He paid over 156 fl CM to the Royal Treasury for his property right. This cessation of robot (free) labor would likely, in a practical matter, have occurred with the end of serfdom in 1848/1849. Yet, this is instructive as it shows the labor he and his father, Frantisek would have provided to the domain during their years of "ownership" which likely carried back to Teresa Jiral's father and then to prior holding "owners." Frantisek took on the holding upon marriage to Teresa Jiral whose father was deceased and had owned the farm.
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| Indication Sketch of Stabile Cadastre Havel House #18 and related back garden Red house number by home, black house number of garden |
As to Josef's purchase of the farm, his marital contract explains why he was able to pay the farm off by late December 1846, or the year he married (married Anna Jodl on 27 Jan 1846). Anna Jodl's father provided a dowry of 1,000 fl CM which allowed Anna to be joint owner of the holding; relevant sections of the contract in this regard:
Second regarding marriage estate, the father of the bride pledges a dowry to the groom of. . . . . . 1000fl C.M. that is, one thousand Gulden, with 3 imperial-royal 20 Kreuzers counted to each Gulden, of which at the end of Shrovetide of the current year he is obliged to pay. . and one year from today. . . . . . . . . . 800fl., 200fl., then, as an enhancement of the dowry, 1 cow immediately after the marriage ceremony, alongside two unshorn ewes following spring lambing season of the current year.
Third the groom accepts this dowry with gratitude, and in return he surrenders to the bride, as a bride-price, co-ownership of Dolní Chrášťany holding No. 18 which is subject to a purchase price value of 800fl.
The contract is really egalitarian, providing Anna rights to manage the holding if Josef were to die, and allowing a child, regardless of sex, to takeover the holding: "Fifth the children born of this marriage, regardless of gender, shall enjoy a preferential right over the estate/holding ahead of children born of a subsequent marriage." The marriage contract also allows for retirement provisions for Anna, and she received one cow upon her coming into the marriage.
Farming in the old country was undergoing changes due to the end of serfdom which changed labor conditions and forced the increase use of newer ideas. However, it is said many former peasants were reluctant to change. Likely being under the foot of the domain for so long made them wary of spending money for newer equipment. That is if they had capital to invest in new equipment. They used oxen to plow instead of horses because the domain would claim a good horse without compensation to the owner. Davis mentions that, in the more progressive areas, new plows, sowing, threshing and reaping equipment started to come on the scene, particularly from 1849 to 1859, but that during the 1860's the use of new equipment was perceptible. (p 497)
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| Three Havel Parcels on Indication Sketch of Stabile Cadastre, Dolni Chrastany |
Dolni Chrastany was located in the Sudetenland, and was purged of ethnic Germans following WWII, often in a rather brutal way as payback to the Nazis. The Havel family came to this farm via marriage of Josef's father, Frantisek to Teresa Jiral, whose father had died. The oldest sister would have inherited, but she was handicap and passed the rights of acquisition to Teresia. Teresia had only this one sister who appears to have survived at the time of the handover of the farm. By convention, if not rule, to run a farm required a husband and wife to be operated The domain could take away a farm that had been cultivated by their ancestors for generations if they found it performing poorly. Hence, why one sees a second marriage rather quickly after the death of a spouse. Generally, the distribution of labor had the husband take care of the tilled, forest and meadow land, and the large animals, while his wife took care of the garden, children, household and small animals, like chickens.
A prior post mentioned Wenzel Fitzl having a tendency to marry widows. Marie Havel, is Josef's aunt and she married Wenzel after the death of her first husband Vaclav Mika. But, before marrying Marie Hovel, Wenzel married, Catherina Ruesmueller in 1774 four months after Catherina's husband Mathias passed away. Catherina and Mathias' youngest child was Teresia who would take on the farm after she married Frantisek Havel. Catherina died in 1793. Wenzel married Marie Havel Mika on 25 Oct 1796 (the same day Frantisek and Teresia married). The farm was held in trust, so to speak, by Wenzel for Teresia. I have not tracked Wenzel to see if he may have had any other nuptials. Wenzel was 15 years the junior of Catherina. Maria Havel was 15 years younger than Wenzl. The #18 Dolni holding came to the Jiral's via Mathias Jiral's marriage to Catherina Ruesmueller on 2 Jul 1760. Mathias was born at #3 Dolni, and the Jiral's came into possession of #3 when Mathias father Laurence took over his father-in-law, Jakob Ruesmuller's holding in 1716. This was four years after he married his wife Marianna Ruesmueller. The #18 Dolni farm came to the Havel family via marriage of Teresia Jiral and Frantisek Havel.
Frantisek had a "bride price" agreement dated 3 Nov 1796 to pay Wenzel Fitzl as the guardian of Teresia the following:
Second: The groom shall bestow upon his future wife a dowry (rather bride price is intended) in the form of; in
cash.................................... 150 Rhenish gulden
four head of oxen...............110 Rhenish gulden
two head of dairy cattle....... 30 Rhenish gulden
Totaling...............................290 Rhenish gulden
The price of the farm was 140 Rhenish gulden (Rg), meaning Frantisek paid in cash 10 Rg more than the farm value. But yet, he also provided four oxen and two dairy cows whose value together equaled the price he paid for the farm. There is no mention of any robot service that Frantisek would take on in this agreement. Wenzel must have been quite the bargainer, because if both Frantisek and Teresia died without children he would receive the farm back. Frantisek made payments to Wenzel and to Teresia (his spouse) in 1798, and then payments to Wenzel from 1799 to 1813, with a payment missed in 1800 "on account of adverse weather (hail/storms)." Payments were not made in 1811 or 1812, perhaps because Frantisek was ahead of schedule; the register does not list the years much less a reason why. Josef would acquire the farm from Frantisek in January 1846, but the currency of sale would change, and it is difficult to compare the changes from Shock Meissen to the Conventions Munze.
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| Part of Frantisek "Bride Price" Agreement |
The Schock Meissen value (SM) was a common unit off currency until 1796 when it changed to Rhenish Gulden, and then again by 1846 to Conventions Munze. Unless there were significant improvements, or disregard for a holding, the value at handover was usually the same as the prior handover. Looking at the below Table 1 you will see the value of the 28 Apr 1625 handover from Havel to Jakob was less than what Havel paid when he took over the family farm from his brother Bartos (this will be explained in the next post). Value of livestock and some other goods often equaled or exceeded the value of the farm holding. Please be bear in mind that they had a long term lease, not outright ownership, so this is a "lease" value, although the leases were commonly passed down within the family, as can be seen. Also, they had annual rent in both currency and in-kind contributions, in addition to other aspects of serfdom.
TABLE 1
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| Value of Holdings by Date of Sale Complied by author from varied Land Register records translated by Richard D'Amelio for author |
Two contracts were involved with the union of Teresia and Frantisek. There was a bride price contract, or what Frantisek had to pay to marry Teresia covered above. The other was a handover contract of the farm from Teresia's step father Wenzel Fitzl to Teresia and Frantisek. Both are dated 3 Nov 1796. Some details of this agreement can be seen in Table 2, below.
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| Translation of side note in Land Register Georg to son Simon |
We know from the land register records that both Teresia and Frantisek were illiterate, even though compulsory education was dictated by Maria Therese in 1774, five years after Frantisek was born and two years after Teresia was born. Change came slowly to Southwest Bohemia, unless it meant benefit to the domain. Josef Havel was literate, although his wife Anna Jodl was not. However, Johann Jodl, Anna's father, who was born in 1786 was literate. We know this from the signatures on contract documents. Do not mistake illiteracy for not being able to function. These families must have known how to count, as they farmed and would have had to have varied coping mechanisms as to what field was planted in what crop and when.
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| Side note in Land Register Mathias (Sr) to son Mathias (Jr) |
It is possible that the domains desired to retain an uneducated peasantry. It could also be that it took time for teachers to be found and schools to be constructed in rural Bohemia. What we do know is that life as a peasant under a domain was not easy, so it is possible that the family needed the labor of children, due to the heavy demand the family had for robot labor..
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| Start of Land Register Entry of Georg Havel sale to son Simon Circled to left is the notation, "included in the valuation one old chest with lock--1fl" |
The below Table 2, which I complied from varied land registers, shows the details of certain aspects of the sale of the holdings of three sales of the Lhota farm with the first in 1712 then two sales of the Dolni farm. This table provides a view into how little farming changed over time in livestock and methods and capability. In fact farming for Josef in 1867 was more like how his 5th great grandfather would farm than his descendants who farmed: his son, Martin, and grandson, Rudy, as explained in the earlier post. The table shows to me how little they possessed when an old chest is mentioned in the record as being part of the estate handed down. It is a congruence with the history of agriculture and of socio-economic status of peasant serfs during the second serfdom and for sixty years after.
TABLE 2
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| Comparison Table of Items in varied Handover Contracts Summarized from Land Register information |
This post covered value of holdings, level of farming, and marital property agreements and joint ownership for Josef and Anna, and the marital property agreement for his father Frantisek's marriage to Teresia Jiral, the #18 Dolni holding heir, in which we had a brief review of how the holding came to the Havel family line from 1796 until sold by Josef in 1868. We touched on literacy and education, and the end of serfdom in 1848, and what it meant for Josef Havel, my second great grandfather. The next portion will focus on robot labor which was supposed to, but never seemed to decrease. It will also focus on secondary occupations and other aspects of life under the heavy hand of the second serfdom and how this is congruent with life in the Old World.
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| Bohemian Serfs harvesting in a field Source: Labour Coercion, Serfdom in Bohemia |
I am not sure if Edward Hofmeister ever visited the countries to obtain ideas for the dioramas he created for the European Village at the Milwaukee Public Museum. When that exhibit opened in 1979 the West and the East were in a Cold War and Bohemia, his grandmother's home country, was behind the Iron Curtain. The family had a habitat of recording they were from Germany, and a few times Austria, so Edward may not have known where the family originated. My Grandpa spoke German, and I recall my Dad saying he thought the Havel family originated from Germany as that was what Grandpa had said. I suspect that is how little they spoke of the old country, their focus was on the new country and fitting in with a new and markedly different way of life at the same time industrialization and technology was changing how farming, and life in general, was accomplished and lived. I also suspect that Bohemians, being Slavs, from the east, may have been more subject to ridicule and discrimination than Germans. While from Bohemia, the Germanic and Bohemian ethnicities became mixed being so close to the German border, and Dolni was in the Sudetenland. Although closer to the German border, Lhota was not part of the Sudetenland. The Havel family was of the world, and that is best seen in the congruence of how the family lived with the times in which they found themselves.
Footnotes:
(1) https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/rise-of-industrial-america-1876-1900/rural-life-in-late-19th-century/
(2) LONG-TERM POPULATION DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUTH BOHEMIAN MUNICIPALITIES FROM 1869 TO 2021 IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF SELECTED FACTORS Aleš Nováček*, Jan Kubeš*, Štěpán Klučka*
(3) Wright, William W. 1966. Serf, Seigneur and Sovereign: Agrarian Reform in Eighteenth Century Bohemia, University of Minnesota Press
Davis, Katherine Benet, 1900 "The Modern Conditions of Agricultural Labor in Bohemia" Journal of Political Economy, Sept v8 #4, University of Chicago Press.
Other Sources:
Stabile Cadastre Maps from: ags.cuzk.gov/archive
Trebon Archive
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