Item Info

Scripts/Text: Fraktur; Roman script; Hebrew
Language: German; English; Hebrew
Weiser Number: 478
Physical Description: Leaf
Material: Wove paper; watercolor; ink
Transcription:

Geburts= und Tauf=Schein.
Den beiden Ehegatten, als: Enos Stumb und seiner \ Ehefrau Elisabeth eine geborne Luwisin beide wohn= \ haft in Rachhil ist ein Sohn zur Welt geboren \ den 13ten May im Jahr Christi 1838 Dieses Kind wurde hier= \ auf getauft den [blank] durch Herrn Pfarrer Keller und \ erhielt den Namen Jacob Die Taufzeugen waren: \ Luwis Jacob Luwis und seine frau Maria

1. Ich bin getauft auf deinen Namen, \ Gott Vater, Sohn und heiliger Geist! \ Gezählt zu deinem neuen Saamen, \ Der dich für seine Rettung preis’t. \ O welch ein Glück ward dadurch mein! \ Laß mich dir ewig dankbar seyn!

2. Du hast zu deinem Kind und Erben, \ Mein lieber Vater, mich erklärt,\ Du hast die Frucht von deinem Sterben, \ Mein treuer Heiland, mir gewährt; \ Du willst, mein Leben dir zu weih’n, \ Geist Gottes! selbst mein Beistand seyn!

3. Die Liebe ist nicht zu ermesen, \ Die du, mein Gott, mir zugewandt. \ O laß mich nie die Pflicht vergessen, \ Dazu ich selbst mich dir verband, \ Als du in deinen Bund mich nahmst \ Und mir mit Heil entgegen kamst!

4. Du bist getreu, auf deiner Seite \ Bleibt dieser Bund wohl ewig stehn; \ Wenn aber ich ihn überschreite, \ So laß mich nicht verloren gehn! \ Ach, irr ich von der rechten Bahn, \ Nimm mich, dein Kind, doch wieder an!

5. So geb ich denn, mein Gott, aufs Neue, \ Dir Seel und Leib zum Opfer hin; \ Erwecke mich zu neuer Treue, \ Und bilde mich nach deinem Sinn. \ Weich, eitle Welt! o Sünde, weich! \ Gott hört es, jetzt entsag ich euch.

6. Befestige dieß mein Versprechen, \ Mein vater! und bewahre mich, \ Daß ich es niemals möge brechen, \ Mein ganzes Leben preise dich! \ Gott meines Heils, sey ewig mein, \ Und laß mich dein auch ewig seyn.

[captions]
I. Gebote Mosis.
II. Der Glaube.
III. Gebet des Herrn.
IV. Die heilige Taufe.
V. Einsetzung des Abendmahls.

[in eagle’s banner]
E PLURIBUS UNUM

[in lower right corner]
Reutlingen, in der Kurtz’schen Kunsthandlung.

[along right edge]
Thirasia Lavy \ Was Born in \ January 13 1839 in \ Lower Milfort township Lehigh County state Pa. Was Married 2 November 1867 and Died September 7 1869 \ Jacob Stumb Was Converdet in 1860 by Peteter S. Fisher

Translation:

To these two married people, namely Enos Stumb and his wife Elisabeth, a born Luwisin, both residing in Rockhill, a son was born into the world the 13th May in the year of Christ 1838. This child was subsequently baptized on the [blank] from Mister pastor Keller and received the name Jacob. The sponsors were Jacob Luwis and his wife Maria .

1. I am baptized into Your Name, God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! I am counted as one of Your new seeds, who cherishes you as his salvation. O what fortune became mine trough this! Let me be forever grateful!

2. You have declared me to be Your child, my loving Father, You have offered me the fruits of Your death, my faithful Savior; You want me to dedicate my life to God, God’s Spirit will be my comfort!

3. The love cannot be measured, that You, my God, gives to me. O, let me never forget the duty to which I bound myself to you, when you took me into your covenant and came toward me with salvation.

4. You are faithful, this covenant surely will abide on your side; however, when I transgress it don’t let me get lost! Oh, when I get off the right path, take me, your child, back again with mercy.

5. Thus I give once again to you, my God, soul and body as sacrifice. Awaken me to new faith, and form me according to your sense. Give way, proud world! o sin, give way! God hears it, now I am abnegating you.

6. Secure this my promise, my Father! and protect me, that I will never break it, praise you my whole life! God my salvation may be forever mine, and let me be yours forever too.

[captions]
I. Commandments of Moses
II. The Creed
III. The Lord’s Prayer
IV. The Holy Baptism
V. The occasion of the Lord’s Supper

[in eagle’s banner]
E pluribus unum

[in lower right corner]
Reutlingen, in Kurtz’s art dealer’s shop.

[along right edge]
Thirasia Lavy was Born on January 13 1839 in Lower Milfort Township, Lehigh County, state Pa. Was Married 2 November 1867 and died September 7 1869. Jacob Stumb was converted in 1860 by Peteter S. Fisher.

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

Hand-colored; hand-lettered; printed form. The main text in fraktur with blanks infilled by hand is within a large arch. The two columns are decorated with framed images of various biblical scenes. On the left is an image of Jesus and his disciples. Below it is an image of Moses receiving the tablet with the Ten Commandments. On the right column is a framed image of Jesus being baptized in the river Jordan. Below it is a picture of a woman holding a cross, the bible and an urn with holy water (The Creed). At the top of the arch is an image of the Lord’s Supper flanked by cornucopias. Above it is a spread-winged eagle bearing a shield, with a banner in its beak. A garland of flowers extends on top and across the arch. Two urns with smoke billowing from them are on the top of the arch. At the bottom is a scene of discarded relics, including a statue of the Golden Calf, an urn, a column fragment, a statue, an axe and two tablets with inscriptions in Hebrew.
The information concerning Thirasia Lavy and Jacob Stumb’s conversion was added later in English in Roman script along the right edge.
Verses 1, 2, 4 and 5 are from a Lutheran baptismal hymn written in 1734 by Johann Jacob Rambach (1693-1735).
This certificate was printed in Germany for the American market, as evidenced by the American eagle at the top, by the Kurtz’sche Kunsthandlung (art dealer’s shop) of Benjamin Gottlob Kurtz (1787-1845), run after his death by his relative Carl Gottlob Kurtz (?-1865). Similar versions were distributed through the Philadelphia printshop, The German European Book and Print Store. See FLP 251 for an English-language example from this bookshop.

Associated Names: Stumb, Jacob
Provenance: Levi E. Yoder

Bibliography:

Klaus Stopp, The Printed Birth and Baptismal Certificates of the German Americans (East Berlin, Pa.: Russell D. Earnest Associates, 1998) vol. 6, p. 162-163.

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

Creation Place Town/Township: Creation Place Note:Based on location of printshop.
City/Town/Township:Reutlingen
State/Province:Germany

Creation Year (Single Year or Range Begin): 1839
Image Dimensions Width: 43.5 cm
ShelfMark: FLP 271
Creator Name: Anonymous - Decorator
Anonymous - Scrivener
Benjamin Gottlob Kurtz (1787-1845) - Printer/Publisher