You are welcome to print these sample alphabet letter pages to use as a research help only, please do not use for any other purpose without permission. Thank you!
01 June 2024
Sample Alphabet Letters
When trying to puzzle out a particularly tricky word, sometimes it helps to see several different examples of how certain Gothic letters were written. I decided to compile a list of sample letters -- most of these samples came from online matriky books (vital records) on the Czech archive websites, and a few of them came from some of our old family letters. I placed each letter in relationship to the line as it was written in the original source.
01 May 2023
Life story of Ludwig/Louis Spohr
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| Ludwig "Louis" Spohr |
Ludwig Spohr was born in Eger, Bohemia in the Austrian Empire on 6 August 1871, the second son of Karl Spor and Ludmilla Breinl. He was the youngest of seven children.
His siblings were:
Karl Christof born 26 April 1860.
Anna Elisabetha born 9 June 1861.
Johanna born 18 June 1863, died 3 March 1866, almost three years old.
Rosa Francisca born 3 December 1865, died 13 days later.
Mathilda Amalia born 14 March 1867.
Ludmilla born and died 24 February 1870 (emergency baptism performed by the midwife).
By the time Ludwig was born, only three of his six older siblings were living.
Ludwig’s father was born with the surname Spor. Both Spor and the spelling variation Spohr were seen during his lifetime. Ludwig was born with the surname of Spohr, and this is the only spelling ever used in reference to Ludwig.
Karl, Ludwig’s father, was the choir master in the St. Nicholas Church in Eger, Bohemia. The family lived in a house that was directly across the street on the north side of the church. Ludwig was baptized in that church in a baptismal font that was a relic from the medieval church originally on the same site. The north side of the church still has the old gothic entry, and this would be the view the family would have seen as they left the front door of their home.
Ludwig’s family suffered so much loss when he was young.
His mother Ludmilla died 31 January 1873 when he was only a year and a half old.
His father Karl died 19 May 1878 just before Ludwig turned 7.
His oldest sister, Anna Elisabetha, was just shy of 19 years old when she died 2 April 1880. Ludwig had lost both parents, and when he was still 8, he lost Anna, too.
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| Family Photo of Seifner Bräuhaus |
larger section of the L-shaped structure was the brewery. This is the home Ludwig would have lived in with his grandparents, an aunt and uncles, and cousins.
Another view of the home and brewery shows the "L" shaped structure of the building. This photo is found on a large sign in Ryžovna, Czech Republic, formerly Seifen, Böhmen. The sign displays photos of the Catholic church, a local band, other homes in Seifen, etc., and a brief history of Seifen. The caption on the sign under the photo of the brewery is in both Czech (English translation: former state brewery - closed in 1912) and German (English translation: The former state brewery, brewing operations ceased in 1912).
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Byvaly statni pivovar - uzavren roku 1912 Die ehemals staatliche Brauerei, Braubetrieb 1912 eingestellt |
When Ludwig was 10 years old, his brother Christof left Bohemia and emigrated to Cincinnati, where his great uncle, Wenzel Breinl, owned a pub and inn. Christof lived with and worked for his great-uncle.
Amalia emigrated to Cincinnati in August 1883. Ludwig was 12. Amalia’s address and occupation put her living with and working for her great uncle the first few years she lived in Cincinnati, too.
Ludwig and his sister Amalia suffered another terrible blow when their older brother, Christoff, committed suicide in 1884.
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Ludwig Spohr |
From entries in the Cincinnati city directories, it appears that Ludwig never lived with or worked for his great uncle like his siblings did when they first arrived. He did live at the same address as his sister off and on during those years. And at one point, he lived in the same tenement building as his future mother-in-law, Anna Ott. He had many different occupations, as seen in city directories.
Cincinnati, OH
1888 – driller (Ludwig)
1889 – locksmith
1890 – machine hand (Louis)
1891 – metal worker (Louis)
1892 – sword maker! (Ludwig)
1893 – metal worker (Ludwig)
1894 – locksmith
1895 to 1898 – jeweler (Louis)
In the 1898 Cincinnati city directory, not only did it give his occupation as a jeweler, but it included the note: removed to Madisonville, IL. The correct name of the town he moved to was Madison, IL, but this gives a time frame for his relocation. Since city directories collect information one year and print that information the next year, Louis most likely moved to the Madison, IL/St. Louis, MO area in 1897.
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| Wedding photo of Louis (right) and Anna (sitting) and Louis' sister Amalia and brother-in-law Wilhelm Schaefer |
A letter in which Louis writes to his sweetheart Anna, is dated December 28, 1897, and sent from Madison, IL, confirming the 1897 move. In that same letter, Louis also talks about his sister Mallie (Amalia) and it is clear from the letter that Mallie and her family also live in Madison. Louis talks of how he dreams of Anna almost every night and he closes with these words: "kisses to my Beloved.” His letter was signed Loui, the nickname he went by. The letter is written in German.
Louis married Anna Maria Ott on 31 August 1898 in Cincinnati, OH. They set up housekeeping in Madison, IL. They had four sons. Louis Christopher was born 23 October 1899 in Madison, IL. Carl John was born 21 September 1903 in St. Louis, MO. Twin sons were either stillborn or died shortly after birth, but the exact date and location are not available.
Madison, IL
1898 – Jeweler
1899 – carpenter
1900 – banker
St. Louis
1903 – machinist (living at 2417 N. 12th)
1904 – machinist
The city directory shows that he lived at 1310 Hebert Street in St. Louis, MO.
1906 - confectionery
Madison, IL
1910 – confectionery
1911 – confectionery proprietor
The St. Louis World’s Fair (technically the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition) ran from 30 April 1904 to 1 December 1904 with an average of 100,000 people attending each day. Over 20 million people saw the exhibition that covered over 1200 acres. Were the Spohr’s among them?
The fairgrounds covered an area greater than any other World’s Fair in the history of the event. Ferris’s Big Wheel gave people an aerial view of the Exhibition. Technological innovations were debuted: the x-ray machine, the electric typewriter, the dishwasher and more. Purportedly, foods that were introduced for the first time at the Fair were the hotdog, the hamburger, the ice cream cone and more. Many of the tales of these foods originating in St. Louis have been debunked over time. Another huge event took place in St. Louis in 1904. This was the first Olympic Games to be held on US soil and the only Olympic Games to be held during a World’s Fair.
Louis worked at a confectionery in St. Louis and then in Madison, and then became owner of his own confectionery.
A confectionery is generally thought of as a candy-making enterprise, but the confectioneries in the St. Louis/Madison area at that time were stores that handled, among other things, cigars, tobacco, ice cream, stationery and periodicals.
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| L. Spohr Confectionery, 1518 3rd Street, Madison, IL |
Louis’s confectionery was located on Third Street in Madison. It was part of a two-story building. On the bottom story were two places of business, Louis’ confectionery and a Billiard Hall owned and run by Anna’s two brothers, Frank and Louis. Above the two businesses were three apartments. Louis and Anna lived in one, and most probably each of Anna’s brothers lived in the other two. Louis would come up from the store at the lunch hour to have his meal with Anna. (Many years later, Anna lived in one while each of her living sons and their families lived in the other two apartments.)
And tragedy struck again. On 23 December 1912, sometime in the early afternoon, Louis was late coming up for lunch. Anna went down to the confectionery to see what was delaying him and found him dead. It appeared that he had climbed up on a counter to reach something and fallen and hit his head. His death certificate reports he had a heart attack. He was only 41 years old when he died. It is so sad that he was orphaned as a child and that then his own children were left fatherless at his early demise.
30 December 2021
Using the Litoměřice & Plzeň Regional Archive Websites
I wanted to share the videos that Amy & I made when we taught classes on how to use the Litoměřice & Plzeň Regional Archive websites for FamilySearch.org's virtual Czech Research Seminar in October:
Using Online Czech Records: Litoměřice Regional Archives
Using Online Czech Records: Litoměřice Regional Archives
Table of Contents:
0:00 Navigating the Litoměřice Regional Archives website 0:23 Map of areas covered by each Czech Regional Archive 0:35 Use www.genteam.at to find which Archive to search in 1:00 Select Website Language 1:43 How to view all records, or just those with digitized images 1:54 Where to view collections of different types of records (in addition to vital records) 2:23 Narrow your search by entering a time range 2:36 Narrow your search to just the 'Matriky' or vital records (birth, marriage, & death records) 3:00 Searching for records from a specific town 3:34 What do "N, O, Z, & I" mean? (Birth, marriage, death, & index) 5:19 Further narrow your search within the Parish Register books 6:53 Detail page for each Parish Register book 8:23 Navigating through the pages of a Parish Register book 10:11 Different ways to view a page in a Parish Register book 13:21 Saving a link or an image
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Using Online Czech Records: Plzeň Regional Archives
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If you're interested in viewing the rest of the video lessons from FamilySearch's Czech Research Seminar, they can be found at the following links. These classes would be a great place to start for any researchers who would like an introduction & helpful tips for using the websites for each of the Czech Regional Archives, the GenTeam gazetteer, online maps, or finding Jewish records using the Czech National Archives.
Beginning Czech Research
13 Lessons
Presenter: Gina Palmer, MS
An introduction to the GenTeam website and how to register to use the free website. This class focuses on how to use the Gazetteer of the Austrian, Czech, Slovak, and Slovenian Republic. This gazetteer can help identify parishes and archives where records are held.Presenter: Gina Palmer, MS
This class will introduce the maps and available tools found at mapy.cz and maps.arcanum.com. Learn how to view and use historical maps of Czechia and other parts of Europe.
Presenter: Mckenna Cooper, AG
Learn how to use the website of the Czech National Archives to find Czech Jewish records.
Presenter: Amy Spohr Chidester
Learn how to navigate the website of the Plzeň Regional Archives to find your ancestors' birth, marriage, and death records.
[Pilsen]
Presenter: Stephanie Bradshaw
Learn how to navigate the website of the Litoměřice Regional Archives to find your ancestors' birth, marriage, and death records.
[Litomerice]
Presenter: Camille Andrus, AG
Learn how to navigate the website of the Prague Regional Archives to find your ancestor's birth, marriage, and death records.
[Praha]
Presenter: Daniel Jones, AG
This class explains how jurisdictions within Prague work in relation to research, as well as showing how to navigate the Prague City Archives website online to find records.
[Praha]
Presenter: Ellie Vance
Learn how to use the Zámrsk Regional Archives website to access church records.
[Zámrsku]
Presenter: Charlotte Noelle Champenois, AG
Learn how to navigate the website of the Brno Moravian Provincial Archives to find your ancestors' birth, marriage, and death records.
[Brně]
Presenter: Ellie Vance
Learn how to locate church records using the Opava Regional Archives website.
[Opavě]
Presenter: Mckenna Cooper, AG
Learn how to read Czech parish baptism registers.
Presenter: Mckenna Cooper, AG
Learn how to read Czech marriage parish registers.
Presenter: Mckenna Cooper, AG
Learn how to read Czech death parish registers.]
26 October 2021
Announcement: Czech Research Seminar in one week!
I wanted to announce that FamilySearch is hosting a Czech Seminar in one week on November 3rd. It's a free virtual event which will focus on teaching how to use the gazetteer at GenTeam.at to find out which Czech archive holds the records of the town where you are researching, followed by instruction about how to use each of the Czech Regional Archive websites, and then three classes about reading the birth, marriage, and death parish register books. I will be leading the instruction about how to use the Litoměřice Regional Archive, and Amy will be leading the instruction on the Plzeň Regional Archive. And after the seminar the recordings for each of these lessons will be posted on familysearch.org for anyone to view. Use the link below to register for the seminar.
There is a Czechia Research Seminar Day on Wednesday, 3 November 2021 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM MDT. The classes will be 20 minutes with a 10-minute question and answer. All times are Mountain Daylight Time (MDT). Here is a list of the classes:
9:00 AM - GenTeam Gazetteer and Maps
9:30 AM - Finding Jewish Records at the National Archives
10:00 AM - Plzeň Regional Archives
10:30 AM - Litoměřice Regional Archives
11:00 AM - Prague Regional Archives
11:30 AM - Prague City Archives
12:30 PM - Třeboň Regional Archives
1:00 PM - Zamrsk Regional Archives
1:30 PM - Brno Regional Archives
2:00 PM - Opava Regional Archives
2:30 PM - Reading Czech Parish Registers – Births
3:00 PM - Reading Czech Parish Registers – Marriages
3:30 PM - Reading Czech Parish Registers – Deaths
Click here to learn more, register, and attend: https://churchofjesuschrist.zoom.us/webinar/register/4616074459401/WN_coqRxxuFRbeF-je8rQ2kRA
10 September 2021
Triplets
Although twins weren't especially uncommon, we've only come across the birth records of triplets 2 or 3 times during all of our Bohemian research. So I thought I would share this birth record that I came across recently. I love the names of these triplet brothers: Caspar, Malchar, & Baltazar.
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“17 Janua: Z Miesta Bilyny Paren: Pacholek Za Launy gesttio Anna Coniunx Infantes ti Sunt Caspar, Malchar, Baltazar Patrinj 1 nimu Jan Rržiapal Martyn Ratansky Anna Kubysstowa 2 gemu Gira Podusska Syn Pacholek Sedlarzu Margita Mazanczowa 3 timu Ondra Perlenecz Giržicžek Kubyssta Martina Syn Bartowa Anna” “17 January [1593]: From the place Bilyny, Parents: Pacholek Launy gesttio (?) Wife, Anna The infants are Caspar, Malchar, Baltazar Sponsors 1 name [witnesses for the first child] Jan Rržiapal Martyn Ratansky Anna Kubysstowa 2 gemu [witnesses for the 2nd child] Gira Podusska’s son Pacholek Sedlarzu Margita Mazanczowa 3 timu [witnesses for the third child] Ondra Perlenecz Giržicžek Kubyssta, Martina’s son Anna Bartowa” Book 5/1, page 9, image 6/742, containing birth & marriage records 1591-1727, Town of Bilin. |
09 September 2021
J vs. I
I've been teaching my 10 year old niece how to read our ancestors' old Bohemian records, and we came across an excellent example of how the capitol letters I and J were written identically by many German scribes. In these cases, the only way to differentiate between these two capitol letters is to keep reading: if the letter is followed by a vowel it is a J, or if it is followed by a consonant it is an I.
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| Here we see the given names Joseph and Ignaz written with the same initial letter. |