How Old Are You?

The message found in a fortune cookie:

"No one grows old by living, only in losing interest in living."

has made me think of a friend of mine. She often tends to say that she and her husband should not do this or that, "because we are not the youngest, you know." The lady is only a few months older than I am.

In my opinion, finding life as an extreme sport and giving up doing things means being old in spirit. Obviously, during all those years when we get more mature, our interests change and, even at a younger age, we also adjust things we do to our possibilities. However, one's attitude makes them actually older than their body/calendar age is. There are always things we can do, new things we can learn. Regardless the numbers (our age).

And how old are you (in spirit)? 

Photo: My latest creation - I got that shirt as a gift. Its dark color did not suit me so I made it a bit more colorful.

About Manners

Today a few words about something totally different.

Picture yourself a situation.
You and your spouse are invited to somebody's home. The lady host treats you two with sodas.
After a while, she asks, "Would you like something else to drink?"
Her partner replies, "Let's have some of that expensive wine".
The lady pours the wine into two glasses, gives one to her partner. They both are enjoying the expensive wine.
You and your spouse are not offered the wine/not asked whether you would like to drink it too.

How about that?

 

PS

A similar situation happened to us three times at the very home.

By the way, if it matters, the hosts originally are not from Texas.

 

From Bandera, TX

Polish heritage items at the Frontier Times Museum in Bandera, TX. No wonder, there were many Polish pioneer families in that region of Texas.

 

The picture on display is the Holy Mother of Częstochowa, not sure what the wooden items are. Perhaps one of them is part of a butter dish (churn)?

 

I left a similar set of wooden Easter eggs in Poland. I also had one with yellow and one with red background.

 

When I was in kindergarten, before Easter, we decorated egg shells with straps of fabrics (glued on the shell). Both the egg yolk and white had been blown out prior to the decorating process.

 

P for Poznań Old Market Square

 

Have you ever been to Poznań?

Another letter in "My Polish Alphabet" is "P" and it stands for Poznań Old Market Square.

 

Poznań is one of the oldest cities in Poland. I have visited it many times, but never cared much for the rest, meaning the more modern part of the city. 

The beginnings of Poznań date back to the 9th century, however, even much earlier settlements were discovered in that area (from 8,000 BC).

The old town was built in 1253, when Poznań was granted city rights. I love the atmosphere of the place. Every day at 12 noon, you can watch the two billy goats on the clock tower butting their heads. 

12 o'clock noon - the show starts

 

The place is totally different from the rest of Poznań (which is just like any other big city - loud and busy). The old market square has a totally different atmosphere. 

 

Apollo fountain

 

There are four fountains on the Market Square. The Apollo fountain (the basin part) is made of sandstone. The statue of Apollo is a bronze figure.

 

Sometimes, while visiting the place, you may have an unexpected encounter. See the reenactment group below, the old pranger column in the background.

 

In medieval ages, the pranger was a place of torture and humiliation - a person was stuck to it and "treated" by an executioner. The original pranger column has been stored in a local museum, the current one, topped with a statue of a torturer, is its modern replacement.

Besides the old city council building and the clock tower, the old town section also has a residential area, with its old houses and a network of streets.

The building at the end of the street, above, is the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Saints Mary Magdalene and Stanislaus of Szczepanów, commonly known as the Poznań Fara. It was built in the 17th century - very pretty and elaborate decorations inside.

If you are a fan of archeology, you can also visit a nearby museum.

If you get tired walking around, you can rest in one of the market square cafes, remember to try the original pastry of Poznań - St. Martin's croissants (rogale marcińskie). The croissants are big and sweet, I could not manage to eat one. 

St Martin's croissants

The tradition of making them dates back to the end of 19th century. About the 11th November, the parish priest of St. Martin's church asked the parish people to do something for the poor. One of the local pastry makers made three baking sheets of the sweet croissants and brought them to the church area. Every year, more and more bakers joined him and the tradition developed. 

 

These days you can buy St. Martin's pastry in Poznań all year round. The most is sold and eaten on 11 November, St Martin's day.

Credits: Photo of croissants: By Rzuwig - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64033312

Iron Woman

A chemist's type joke recently found on Facebook:

Iron man = Fe-male

If you are not familiar with chemical symbols,  Fe=iron in Chemistry. Well, I find the wordplay funny, but I guess not everybody does. Anyhow, I join the Iron Woman club quite frequently - almost every week, when I do the ironing. What fun!

Any other Iron Woman club members here?

 

Well, some people do battle reenactments, I do the ancient art of ironing.

Johann Heinrich Strackbein and Family

The research related to creating this post took me quite a lot of time.

As usual, I first tried to find as many sources of information on the family members as possible. Then, I analyzed and compared the data to discard discrepancies and possible errors. It was again followed by more research to complete the missing pieces of information and possibly find new threads. The fact that quite a few family members (both men and women) used the same given names, did not help at all. Quite contrary. All in all, here are the results of my work.

★

Heinrich Strackbein was born on 9 September 1807 in Frohnhausen, Hesse-Nassau, Prussia. He was the son of Georg Andreas Strackbein (b. 2 November 1776, Frohnhausen/d. 28 November 1851, Frohnhausen), a miner and Marie Elisabethe Kunz (b. 18 July 1771, Frohnhausen/d. 26 September 1836, Frohnhausen).
Heinrich worked as a weaver in Frohnhausen and was also a citizen of Steinbrücken.

⚭ On 28 November 1830, he married Elisabeth Anna Eckhardt (born on 25 December 1809 in Steinbrücken), She was the daughter of Johann Philipp Eckhardt (b. 1 May 1783, Strassersbach/d. 3 February 1828, Steinbrücken) and A. Katharina Bräuer (b. 6 February 1778, Steinbrücken/d. 18 February 1833, Steinbrücken). The marriage ceremony took place in Steinbrücken.

Clipping source: Frohnhausen - religious marriage records 1817-1874

Children born to the couple in Steinbrücken:
♦ 27 November 1831 - daughter Elisabeth Katharine,
♦ 4 March 1834 - daughter Katharine Margarethe came to this world.

♦ Son Friedrich was born on 16 April 1836/ ♦ died 10 May 1836
♦ Christian was born on 7 May 1838/ ♦ died 13 June 1838.

♦ 22 November 1839 - Heinrich Johannes was born,
♦ 16 December 1842 - the oldest child/son, Christian Johann Heinrich, arrived.

🚢 On 15 August 1845, the family boarded brig Semiramus (Arminius) and sailed to Galveston where they arrived on 25 October of the same year (1). Heinrich had obtained a Fisher-Miller grant

The family traveled with other persons of their area, including Elisabeth's brother, Heinrich Anton Eckhardt, born in 1821 in Steinbrücken, and the Wickel, von Reede, Scholl, and Kraft families.

Jakob Aurand (b. on 19 December 1801 in Ebersbach), farmer and innkeeper in Steinbrücken, traveled with his wife Elizabeth Anna and their 6 children (all born in Steinbrücken):
♦ Jakob - born 10 June 1827,
♦ Friedrich -  born on 14 January 1830,
♦ Wilhelm Friedrich - 14 February 1835,
♦ Christine - b. on 22 March 1838,
♦ Wilhelmine - b. on 3 February 1841,
and ♦ Karl - born on 5 August 1844.

Their son, Daniel - born 4 July 1832/died on ♦ 10 September 1834 in Steinbrücken.
 
Jakob Aurand Sr. died on ♦ 10 June 1846* in New Braunfels (2) and was buried there (grave without a marker.)  He was the son of Johann Danie Aurand (b. 1756/d. 1813), church elder of Ebersbach and Anna Christine Blecher (b. 1760/d. 1885) of  Mandeln/lived in Ebersbach.

Before 1847, Heinrich's wife, Elisabeth Anna passed, too. Some time after that, the man remarried. His second wife was Elisabeth Aurand nee Wickel of Ebersbach, widow of Jakob Aurand. She was the daughter of Jakob Wickel the younger (b. 1777/d. 1813) and Anna Christine Nassauer (b. 1878/d. 1823). Elizabeth Anna was born on 18 July 1804*, in Steinbrücken.

1847 - Heinrich received town lot #147 in Fredericksburg, TX. Jakob Aurand owned lot #492 (3).

👉 Heinrich Strackbein (age 43), his second wife Elisabeth (age 45), and children were recorded in Fredericksburg during the 1850 census. The children were: Elisabeth (age 18), Christiana (Aurand? age 15), Henry (age 10), Christian (age 8), and Minna Aurand (age 8). The family name is given as Strackbein (4). I am not sure what happened to Karl Aurand. At first, I thought he might have died on their way to Texas, but another source** gives that Karl lived until 1934.

⚭ Elisabeth Katharine was married on 18 August 1851, to Johann Georg Steubing, Comal County, TX (5)

⚭ 15 December 1851, Gillespie, TX - Katharine Margarethe married Johann Durst (6) of Dettenhausen (born on 13 January 1829). Johan was the son of Johannes Durst and Christine Margaretha Binder.

👉 1855 - Heinrich paid taxes for 53 acres of land and 53 acres granted to J. Aurand (7)
18 November 1859 - Christine Aurand married Theodor Schlaudt from Westerburg (8), the son of Georg Schlaudt. Theodor was born on 6 March 1835.

⚭ 18 November 1859, in Gillespie, TX, Christine Aurand married Theodor Schlaudt (9). He was the son of Georg Schlaudt and was born on 6 March 1835.

👉 1860 - Henry Strackbein (age 52), Elizabeth (age 56), Henry (age 20), Christian (age 17), Fritz Aurand (age 30), a wagoner, and Minna Aurand (age 17) were registered in Precinct #2, Fredericksburg during the census (9).

The Civil War came - Christian Johann Heinrich and his brother Heinrich Johannes Strackbein served in the CA (10):

•     Company E, 1st Regiment, Texas Cavalry (Yager's) (1st Mounted Rifles),
•     Company C, 8th Battalion, Texas Cavalry (Taylor's Battalion, Mounted Rifles).

⚭ 4 December 1865 - Wilhelmine Aurand married Wilhelm Wiedmann (11), the son of Christina Lauterwarser Wiedmann.

⚭ 2 April 1866 - Johann Heinrich Strackbein married Katherine Elisabeth Crenwelge (born on 26 March 1844), the daughter of Johann Peter Crenwelge and Katharine Henriette Siegmund (12).

♦ 29 Ferbuary 1868 - Heinrich Strackbein Sr., the father of the family, died.

👉 1870 Census -  Elizabeth Strackbein, the widow of Henry, lived with her daughter Minna and her husband Wilhelm (13).

⚭ 16 December 1870 - Christian Strackbein married Katharine Eckert (14), the daughter of Karl Friedrich Eckert and Eva Katharine Guthörle. 

♦ 2 December 1878 - Anna Elizabeth Wickel Aurand - Strackbein passed away. Interestingly, her gravemarker does not include the name Strackbein (?).

★

According to the info given on findagrave.com, Friedrich Aurand received 320 acres of land between Fort Mason and Fort McKavett. Later, he relocated to Williamson county where he married Eliza Jane Montgomery on ⚭ 23 January 1862 (15).  Elisa died on 19 September 1889.

 

⚭ 24 December 1890 F. Aurand married Mrs. M J Haskeill (16). 

 

 

 

Another record reads that on ⚭ 4 August 1897, F. R. Aurand married Mrs. M. J.Williams (17). 

 

 

Unfortunately, I have not found much information on Friedrich Aurand. Nothing more on his brothers Jakob, Wilhelm Friedrich, and Karl either. In case of new founds, I will post an update below this post.

 

 ★

 

*Dates according to the book mentioned below. Galveston database gives different dates:

Jakob Aurnad's death - 5 June 1846,  Elisabeth Wickel Aurand's birth date as 12 July 1804.

** geneanet.org

Sources:
"From Dillenburg to Texas. Emigration in the District of Dillenburg from 1845 to 1846" Ursula Hatzfeld, translated by Henry Salzhandler, El Gritodel Lobo Press, 2015.

1. Arminus passengers list
2. Deaths in New Braunfeld 1845-46
3. Fredericksburg, TX town lots - 18474. "United States Census, 1850", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXLK-LNG : Sun Mar 10 18:10:29 UTC 2024), Entry for Henry Strachbine and Elizabeth Strachbine, 1850.
5. "Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XL43-PV3 : Fri Mar 08 16:49:37 UTC 2024), Entry for Mr. Johann G Henbing and Miss Cath Elizabeth Strackbei, 18 Aug 1851.
6. "Texas Marriages, 1837-1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FX3B-BMJ : 22 January 2020), Katharine Strackbein in entry for John Durst, 1851.
7. "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ85-RNKV : Sun Mar 10 19:56:18 UTC 2024), Entry for Henry Strackbein, 1855.
8. "Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VXGC-VC1 : Fri Mar 08 05:57:33 UTC 2024), Entry for Theodor Schlaudt and Christine Aurand, 18 Nov 1859.
9. "United States Census, 1860", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXFX-BTM : Fri Mar 08 16:48:57 UTC 2024), Entry for Henry Strackbein and Elizabeth Strackbein, 1860.
10. Soldiers database
11. "Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VXGC-L8L : Sun Mar 10 22:30:14 UTC 2024), Entry for Wilhelm Wiedmann and Wilhelmine Aurant, 04 Dec 1865.
12. "Texas Marriages, 1837-1973", , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VK1T-Q8T : 22 January 2020), Johann Heinrich Strackbein, 1866.
13. "United States Census, 1870", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXL5-NLN : Tue Mar 05 12:44:08 UTC 2024), Entry for Wm Wiedmann and Wilhelmina Wiedmann, 1870.
14. "Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VXGC-VKZ : Sun Mar 10 21:06:32 UTC 2024), Entry for Christian Strackbein and Katharine Eckert, 16 Dec 1870.
15. "Texas Marriages, 1837-1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V2MK-H8L : 22 January 2020), Eliza Jane Montgomery in entry for Frederick Arrand, 1862.
16 "Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK8T-G6TQ : Sun Mar 10 10:28:02 UTC 2024), Entry for Mr F Aurand and M J Haskeill, 24 Dec 1890.
17. "Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6BW-L22 : Thu Mar 21 00:34:08 UTC 2024), Entry for F. R. Aurand and M. J. Williams, 04 Aug 1897.

50 Miejsc - Cieszyn

Pani Alina, nasza znajoma miłośniczka literatury, w następnej części swojej prezentacji "50 Magicznych miejsc, które warto odwiedzić w naszym kraju" przedstawia kolejne literacko-turystyczne ciekawostki, o których zapewne niewiele osób wie (kliknij na pierwszy slajd, by powiększyć obraz).

Na zakończenie postu jeszcze wiadomość od Pani Aliny.

 

Cd nastąpi...

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Bibliografia będzie podana na zakończenie serii.