Item Info

Scripts/Text: Fraktur; German script
Language: German
Physical Description: Leaf
Material: Wove paper; watercolor; ink
Transcription:

Geburts= und Taufschein.
Diesen beiden Ehegatten, als: \ Daniel Carrell und seiner ehelichen \ Hausfrau Anna eine geborne \ Mayer \ ist ein Sohn zur Welt geboren, den 28ten Tag \ December im Jahr unsers Herrn, 1849 \ Dieser Sohn ist geboren in Windsor \ Taunschip in Bercks County, im Staat \ [blank] Vereinigte Staaten von Nord \ Amerika; und erhielt durch die Heil. Taufe den \ Namen Heinrich den 15ten Tag \ März im Jahr 1850 von dem Ehrw. \ Hrn. G. F. J. Jäger Luther: Prediger \ Die Tauf=Zeugen waren: Johannes Lorens \ und seine Frau Magdalena: gebor: Sausly

[added in pencil in two places]
Died Aug 9. 1896

[In center, in two columns]
Ich bin getauft, ich steh’ im Bunde, \ Durch meine Tauf mit meinem Gott! \ So sprech’ ich stets mit frohem Munde, \ in Kreuz, in Trübsal, Angst u. Noth. \ Ich bin getauft, des freu’ ich mich, \ Die Freude bleibt mir ewiglich.

Ich bin getauft, ob ich gleich sterbe, \ Was schadet mir das kühle Grab? \ Ich weiß mein Vaterland und Erbe, \ Das ich bey Gott im Himmel hab’, \ Nach meinem Tod ist mir bereit \ Des Himmels Freud’ und Feierkleid.

[In lower center]
Ich bin gezählt zu Deinem Saamen, \ Gott Vater, Sohn und heiliger Geist! \ Ich bin getauft in Deinem Namen, \ Zum Volk, das Dir geheiligt heißt! \ O! welch’ ein Glück ward dadurch mein! \ Herr, laß mich dessen würdig sein!

Gedruckt und zu haben bei A. Puwelle, in Reading, Penn.

[added in script]
Geschrieben von Isaac Schmidt, Albany,

[In upper left]
Wann wir kaum gebohren werden, \ Ist, vom ersten Lebenstritt, \ Bis zum kühlen Grab der Erden, \ Nur ein Kurtz gemessener Schritt. \ Ach! mit jedem Augenblick \ Gehet unsre Kraft zurück. \ Und wir sind mit jedem Jahre, \ Allzureif zur Todtenbahre.

[In upper right]
Und wer weiß, in welcher Stunde \ uns die letzte Stimme weckt. \ Denn Gott hat’s mit seinem Munde \ Keinem Menschen noch entdeckt. \ Wer sein Haus nun wohl bestellt \ Geht mit Freuden aus der Welt; \ Da die Sicherheit hingegen, \ Ewig’s Sterben kann erregen.
 

Translation:

Birth and Baptismal Certificate.
To these two married people, namely Daniel Carrell and his lawful wife Anna, a born Mayer, a son was born into the world, the 28th day December in the year of our Lord 1849.This son was born in Windsor Township in Berks County in the state of [blank], United States of North America, and received through the Holy Baptism the name Heinrich, the 15st day March in the year 1850, from the honorable Mr. G. F. J. Jäger, Lutheran preacher. The sponsors were: Johannes Lorens and his wife Magdalena, born Sausly.

[added in pencil in two places]
Died Aug 9. 1896

[In center, in two columns]
I am baptized, I stand united with my God through my baptism. I therefore always speak joyfully in hardship, sadness, fear and need. I am baptized, that’s a joy for me. The joy lasts eternally.

I am baptized, and when I die, how can the cool grave hurt me? I know my fatherland and legacy that I will have with God in Heaven. After death, Heaven’s garment of joy and celebration is prepared for me.

[in lower center]
I am counted as one of your seeds, God Father, Son and Holy Ghost. I am baptized in your name, to a people that you blessed. O! What fortune for me! Lord, let me be worthy of it!

Printed and to be had from A. Puwelle, in Reading, Penn.

[added in script]
Written by Isaac Schmidt, Albany.

[in upper left]
Scarcely born into the world, it is only a short measured pace
from the first step to the cool grave in the earth. O! with every moment our strength diminishes, and with every year we grow more ripe for the bier.

[in upper right]
And who knows in what hour the final voice will awaken us, because God has not revealed this to anybody yet. Who tends to his house will depart from the world with joy. Because surety, in contrast, can provoke eternal death.
 

Category: Birth and Baptismal Certificate (Geburts und Taufschein)
Media Type: Letterpress Prints
Source: Rare Book Department
Notes:

Hand-colored; hand-lettered; printed form. The central text in Fraktur with blanks infilled by hand and two verses are in a rectangular frame in the center of the document. Two verses are in frames in the upper corners, and a third is within a frame in the lower center of the page. The main text is flanked by two large inward-facing angels with lyres, one holding a wreath and the other with a bird. A putto, with a trumpet and a sealed letter, lounges on clouds in the upper center. In the lower corners are birds on branches. A sheaf, cornucopia, and leaves are above the verse in the lower center.

The "Albany" beside the scrivener's signature is most likely a reference to Albany Township, Berks County.

Associated Names: Schmidt, Isaac
Bibliography:

"Isaac Schmidt" in Russell D. and Corinne P. Earnest, Papers for Birth Dayes: Guide to the Fraktur Artists and Scriveners (East Berlin, Pa.: Russell D. Earnest Associates, 1997), 2^nd ed., vol. 2, p. 674.

Klaus Stopp, The Printed Birth and Baptismal Certificates of the German Americans (East Berlin, Pa.: Russell D. Earnest Associates, 1998) vol. 4, p. 291.

Secondary Place Town/Township: Geographic Coverage State/Province:Pennsylvania
Geographic Coverage City/Town/Township:Windsor Township
Geographic Coverage Note:Based on location of birth
Geographic Coverage Region/County:Berks

Creation Place Town/Township: Creation Place Note:Based on location of printshop
Region/County:Berks
City/Town/Township:Reading
State/Province:Pennsylvania

Creation Year (Single Year or Range Begin): ca. 1851
Image Dimensions Width: 41 cm
ShelfMark: FLP 1171
Creator Name: Arnold Puwelle (1809-1879) - Printer/Publisher
Isaac Schmidt (active c. 1850-1872) - Scrivener
Anonymous - Decorator