My Polish Alphabet: R for "Red Belt"

 

 

"Red Belt" (Czerwony Pas) was one of the songs that we sang with my primary school girls' choir. One of the two I can recall.

The song about Hutsuls (Carpathian highlanders) living their happy and free lives in the Carpathian Mountains is quite old and known both in Poland and Ukraine. I like the changing tempo of the tune - from slow to a faster one. It is also one of the traditional songs that used to be sung by many generations on both sides of the Polish/Ukrainian border. The piece comes from a drama (published in 1843) written by Józef Korzeniowski, Polish writer who lived in the area that was part of Poland then. Nowadays, it is western Ukraine.

A traditional version of the Red Belt

 More modern version of the song by a contemporary folk group

Our choir director was also our Music teacher, a man in his early thirties.  As I have already mentioned in one of my previous posts, the Music curriculum in Polish educational system is related to general knowledge of music, its history, composers and their main pieces + basic understanding of notes and musical notation.  The choir was an extra/after classes activity, officially not mandatory. However, if the teacher said you had a good voice/musical ear, you had to participate in the choir activities to get an A in Music.

So we did sing at school assemblies and once even participated in a regional school choirs competition. I cannot remember what the outcome of the latter was, though. Our teacher was quite good at his profession, he played the piano during the Music classes and accompanied the girls' choir. We had the songs sheets, with lyrics only, as singing songs/notes was not part of the school subject curriculum. We simply followed the musical instructions given by the teacher and the melody played by him on the piano.

During the summer break, the teacher was part of the music band on the Stefan Batory passenger liner, that regularly cruised between Poland and the USA. At that time, traveling to the Western countries including the US was not a thing that everybody could do. Mainly those people whose jobs required crossing the border were allowed to do so. The man must have been a good piano player to get a job on that passenger cruiser and/or perhaps had some "connections" that helped him achieve that.

Stefan Batory

Somehow, my girlfriend and I did not see that particular side of it all and we were not impressed that the man managed to see the States every now and then. We found it rather funny and peculiar that an honorable teacher was also a band musician on a boat. These days, I look at it differently, but being kids, we found it weird and rather undignified.

Another thing that made us little girls laugh was the teacher's socks that he tended to wear quite often.

It was the time of the "Interkosmos" mission project, when the international astronauts crew made their first spaceflight. Our teacher seemed to like wearing colorful socks with the "Interkosmos" logo on them. I do not know whether anybody else noticed that, but we, silly girls, did.

Wherever the man is these days, I wish him all the best. I liked the choir days/time.

The other song I can recall we sang with the girls' choir was a Polish version of Joan Baez's song "Donna". The Polish lyrics made it an anti-war song. Somehow, I can still remember the song words.

(My free translation into English)

One life you have,
who will you give this flower to,
do not go across the river,
you will perish there.
One life you have,
who will you give this flower to,
when a shot will come from across the river.

People, people do not perish,
you will save the world.
People, people, I pity you,
It is the war that is to perish.

Dona, Dona...

PS
Years ago, when I was still working in Poland, one day, I happened to wear a t-shirt with the word "Texas" on it. During a class, some students of mine started giggling "O - Texas, Texas". I guess, my Texas t-shirt was in their eyes an equivalent of the Music teacher's Interkosmos socks.

Credits: 

Stephan Batory ship photo: By Wolfgang Fricke - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=103579976

50 Miejsc - Cieszyn

 

Nigdy nie byłam w Cieszynie, ani w Polsce, ani w Czechach.

Które z ciekawych miejsc w Cieszynie polskim proponuje w swoich slajdach Pani Alina Zielińska, sprawdźcie sami. 

 Tradycyjnie, jeszcze wiadomosć od Pani Aliny.

 Cd nastąpi...

Więcej o Autorce możesz dowiedzieć się w jednym z poprzednich postów - czytaj tutaj.

Maria Paulina Leutbecher Grossenbacher & Family

Maria Paulina Leutbecher was born on 18 May 1865 in Prussia. According to the information published in a local newspaper*, she came to Texas with her parents, Karl and Elizabeth in about 1879. Her brothers, William and Robert, had already settled in Fredericksburg, Gillespie, TX.

⚭ 27 October 1885, she married Johann Hermann Grossenbacher (1). Johann was born on 22 February 1862 in Bandera, TX, to Johann H. Grossenbacher and Elizabeth Abe of Switzerland.

♦ 24 May 1887 - daughter Hulda (stillborn?) came to this world at Pecan Creek, Gillespie, TX. Her death is given as the same day.
♦ 3 August 1888 - second daughter was born to the family. Her name was Anna Louisa.
♦ 28 December 1890 - son Richard August was born.
♦ 27 April 1894 - son Arnold John arrived.
♦ 31 August 1897 - daughter Ida came to this world.

🏡 29 June 1900 - Census clerk Charles F. Luckenbach recorded the family of John and Maria at Justice Precinct #4 Gillespie, TX. John run his own farm (2).
A few years after that, the family moved. In 1900, they lived in Justice Precinct #4, Refugio, TX (3).

👉1918 - WW1 - Richard and Arnold were drafted (4,5).

Arnold served with 51st Company 3 Battalion 165 Department brigade up to 11 March 1918. Then, he was assigned to Company F 58th Infantry. Private Arnold J. Grosenbacher was severely injured at Chateau Thierry on 18 July 1918. He was honorably discharged on 24 May 1919 (6).

 Richard served with 165th Department Brigade and, later, with Company D 105th Infantry. He served overseas and was honorably discharged on 20 May 1919 (7).

👉 Census 1920 shows that they had moved again - to Justice Precinct #3, Starr, TX. Richard, a single man then, had his place next to his parents' home. (8).

⚭ Ida Elizabeth was married to Mr. Edwin C Ahrens on 31 December 1922. 

👉 At the end of 1925, John Grossenbacher's house got burned with everything that was inside (check out the newspaper clippings). It let to another move (in January 1926) that took  John, Mary, and their daughter Anna, to Roosevelt, Justice Precinct #2, Kimble, TX (9).

 

Clippings source: Davis, Fletcher. The Hondo Anvil Herald. (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 23, Ed. 1 Saturday, January 2, 1926, newspaper, January 2, 1926; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth564608/: accessed August 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hondo Public Library.

⚭ Richard married around 1920/1921. In 1930, The man lived with his wife Mary in Precinct #2, Kimble, TX. On the day of their marriage, Richard was 30 years old, Mary 17 (10). The marriage did not survive.

⚭ Arnold John married in about 1924 - his wife Mildred M (Milda), born on 24 January 1905, was around ten years younger than him. In 1930, the couple lived in Justice Precinct #2, Kimble, TX. Arnold owned a farm (11).

Clipping source: Source: Davis, Fletcher. The Hondo Anvil Herald. (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 23, Ed. 1 Saturday, January 2, 1926, newspaper, January 2, 1926; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth564608/: accessed August 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hondo Public Library.

♦ 18 June 1937 - Maria's husband, John Hermann passed due to cardiac failure (12).

👉 1940 - Annie (age 51) and her mother Maria (age 74), lived at the same place in Kimble County. Annie was recorded as a "ranch woman", she ran the family stock ranch. The record also tells that Maria had completed 8 years of education, and Annie 5 (13).

♦ 23 January 1941 - Maria (Mary) Grossenbacher left this world.

Source: The Harper Herald (Harper, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, January 31, 1941, newspaper, January 31, 1941; Harper, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth896774/: accessed August 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Harper Library.

⚭ 17 July 1952 - Richard remarried. His second wife was Mrs. Allie Lee Smith nee Davis, born on 10 January 1902. She was the widow of Mr. L. L. L. Smith (14).

♦ Richard August Grosenbacher died on 23 January 1956, at his home in the rural area of Kimble County, TX, due to chronic heart related condition (15).

♦ Arnold John Grosenbacher passed on 30 December 1963 at his home, 18 miles north-west  of  Junction, Kimble, TX (16).

♦ Anna Louisa died on 1 March 1967 (17).

♦ Ida Elizabeth Grosenbacher Ahrens passed on 8 December 1977 (18).

Clipping source: Source: Dietel, Norman J. The Harper Herald (Harper, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 50, Ed. 1 Friday, December 16, 1977, newspaper, December 16, 1977; Harper, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1034986/: accessed August 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Harper Library.

 
---
I did not find any information, regarding the passing years of Maria's parents, Karl and Elizabeth. However, there is a Census record that mentions Carl Liebacher (?), age 73, who lived with his 56-year-old wife Johanne in Justice Precinct #5, Bandera, TX. The couple married in 1893. The record also gives Carl's arrival in America as 1856

* I am not sure whether that info is precise/correct. There is an immigration record of Carl Leutbecher, born in 1823 in Germany, who came from Bremen to Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland on 18 September 1868. The man was a musician (0). Perhaps the father of the Leutbecher family came to America first and the rest of the family, the 2 brothers (Robert and Wilhelm), Maria with her mother Elizabeth, and then Louise with her husband and children followed Carl later.

Sources:
0. "United States Germans to America Index, 1850-1897," , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDSQ-TFQ : 27 December 2014), Carl Leutbecher, 18 Sep 1868; citing Germans to America Passenger Data file, 1850-1897, Ship Baltimore, departed from Bremen, arrived in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, NAID identifier 1746067, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
1. "Texas Marriages, 1837-1973", , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VK1T-F3F : 22 January 2020), Maria Leutbecher in entry for Johann Grossenbacher, 1885.
2. "United States Census, 1900", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3GC-BL1 : Tue Jul 23 18:38:58 UTC 2024), Entry for John Grossenbacher and Maria Grossenbacher, 1900.
3. "United States Census, 1910", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M23R-ZLG : Thu Mar 07 20:59:45 UTC 2024), Entry for John H Grosenbacher and Mary Grosenbacher, 1910.
4.  "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZXV-G18 : 26 June 2024), Richard Guss Grosenbacher, 1917-1918.
5. "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZXV-G1Z : 26 June 2024), Arnold John Grosenbacher, 1917-1918.
6. "Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV18-JH26 : Sat Mar 09 11:00:32 UTC 2024), Entry for Arnold J Grosenbacher, 19 Sep 1917.
7. "Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV18-6VR5 : Wed Mar 06 21:16:53 UTC 2024), Entry for Richard Gus Grosenbacher, 27 Jun 1918.
8. "United States Census, 1920", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCSC-34G : Thu Mar 07 22:06:55 UTC 2024), Entry for John Grosenbacher and Mary Grosenbacher, 1920.
9. "United States Census, 1930", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CSP7-C2M : Wed Mar 06 17:12:16 UTC 2024), Entry for John Grosenbacher and Mary Grosenbacher, 1930.
10. "United States Census, 1930", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CSPF-X6Z : Wed Mar 06 17:12:15 UTC 2024), Entry for Richard Grosenbacher and Mary Grosenbacher, 1930.
11. "United States Census, 1930", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CSL8-F6Z : Sat Mar 09 06:17:03 UTC 2024), Entry for Arnold Grosenbacher and Milda Grosenbacher, 1930.
12. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3HY-VGK : Sun Mar 10 03:33:17 UTC 2024), Entry for John Grossenbacher and John H Grossenbacher, 18 June 1937.
13. "United States Census, 1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KW2X-SVC : Thu Jul 11 18:36:19 UTC 2024), Entry for Meria Grosenbacher and Annie Grosenbacher, 1940.
14. "Texas, County Marriage Records, 1837-1965", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2ZB-65XT : Wed Jul 31 23:51:25 UTC 2024), Entry for Richard August Grosenbacher and Allie Lee Smith, 17 Jul 1952.
15. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K37Q-QTJ : Fri Jul 12 06:23:04 UTC 2024), Entry for Richard August Grosenbacher and John Grosenbacher, 23 Feb 1956.
16. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3SL-BKB : Wed Jul 17 23:48:59 UTC 2024), Entry for Arnold John Grosenbacher and Aubrey C Tife, 30 Dec 1963.
17. "Texas Death Index, 1964-1998," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JVB7-MY4 : 5 December 2014), Annie L Grosenbacher, Kimble, Texas, United States; citing Department of State Health Services, Austin.
18. "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V3D4-52G : 10 January 2021), Ida Ahrens, Dec 1977; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
Photos: 14 August 2020