Dear FOLKS,
Here it is the beginning of a new work week for many people and I want to start this week off by transcribing a document that is important to my cousin Ed's family research. Edwin J. Ostrom is my late cousin and I have been publishing stories from the information he left to work with.
Here it is the beginning of a new work week for many people and I want to start this week off by transcribing a document that is important to my cousin Ed's family research. Edwin J. Ostrom is my late cousin and I have been publishing stories from the information he left to work with.
Amanuensis Monday is a weekly blog theme that was started by John Newmark, the author of TransylvanianDutch blog. John defines Amanuensis as "A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another." I also appreciate the good work and format examples of San Diego genealogist Randy Seaver of the blog Genea-musings. Thanks guys.
Transcribing helps me to learn what a document contains. I have learned over time that I have a tendency to "skim" over an item; a bad trait for a researcher who needs to learn even the smallest details documented records contain. Transcribing helps me to slow down and "smell the roses," and to capture all aspects of the paper in hand.
The documents I am transcribing today are the birth records I currently have from recent online searches and in cousin Ed's files for Dora Elise Nilson (1877-1965). Dora was Ed's paternal grandmother.
1. Nordland Lutheran Church Record
The following image is a Baptism page from the Nordland Lutheran Church registry. This church is near Hawick, Kandiyohi County, Minnesota, near the family farm where Dora Elise was born. The translated printed items I typed in blue and the handwritten portions are typed in red, bold italics. My own comments are in square brackets [ ].
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| IMAGE: Birth & Baptism Records for 1874-1877 from the Nordland Lutheran Church in Hawick, Kandiyohi County, Minnesota. This registry was submitted and kept by the church in Paynesville, MN and is now part of the Ancestry.com, U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records, 1875-1940. Highlighting the entries for Jakob Andreas (1875) and Dora Elise Nilson (1877). [1] |
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| IMAGE: Snippet-1 from above church record shows entry for Jakob Andreas Nilson, 6 January 1875. |
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| IMAGE: Snippet-2 from above church record shows the entry for Dora Elise Nilson, 6 January 1877. |
18/74/75/76/77.
Döbte.
[Baptized]
Döbte.
[Baptized]
Anmirkninger
[Annotations]
No.
6 [1875]
2 [1877]
Fodselsdatum
[Birth Date]
6/1/1875
6/1/1877
Daabsdatum
[Christening Date]
27/4/1875
21/5/1877
Barnets Navn
[Child's Name]
Jakob Andreas
Dora Elise
Forældrenes Navne
[Parents' Names]
Peder & Gurine Nilson
Peder C. & Gurine Nilson
Faddemes Navne.
[Godparents' Names]
Israel V. & Jensine M. Andersen, Pedersen, Hendrickson & ???
Christian & Sarah Pedersen, Jonas Thomassen, ???
Hjemmedobt
[Home Baptized]
Dobt
[blank]
Fremmedes
[Strangers]
[blank]
[blank]
-------- Transcription / Translation begins --------
2. The Emerson Family Book --
The following image is a transcribed page from a book that lists the birth dates of the Nilsen family. It appears to be some mixture of Norwegian, Danish and English languages. It could be also that some of the words used are now no longer favored and are no longer in available dictionaries and online language translators. This is possibly a family bible, as the complete book has not been described, although Cousin Ed's note calls it a bible. There is a similar page that tells these two were initially transcribed by Francis Bergt in July, 1997.
On the hand written image I have highlighted Jacob Andreas' entry in blue and Dora Elise's entry in red. I have typed the transcription in Bold Italics and the translation I have typed that in blue bold italics. My own comments are in square brackets [ ]. I hope these features help with the clarity.
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| IMAGE: Scanned transcription of Emerson family book, possibly a bible that lists the dates children were born. Highlights showing #10 Jacob Andreas and #11 Dora Elise. from the digital family history collection of Edwin, J. Ostrom. [2] |
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| IMAGE: Snippet of above document. Shows close-up of entry for #10 - Jacob Andreas and #11 - Dora Elise. |
Bogen telhorer
Peder Christian Nilssen og Huftorie
Gurine M. Thomasdatter, Sjannes.
Børnenes Navne ere:
[ other children are omitted here]
10 - Jacob Andreas födt 6 January 1875
11 Dora Elise födt 13 January 1877
-------- transcription ends --------
-------- translation begins --------
Book belongs
Peder Christian Nilssen of Huftorie
Gurine M. Thomasdatter, Sjannes.
Children's names are:
[ other children are omitted here]
10 - Jacob Andreas born 6 January 1875
11 Dora Elise born 13 January 1877
-------- translation ends --------
3. Dora Elisa Nilson's Own Story
In Dora Elisa's own words, she tells in her story, written in November, 1959, "I was born January 13, 1877, in Meeker County, Union Grove Township on a farm of 160 acres, eighty in Kandiyohi County." [2]
Sources:
1.) "U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records, 1875-1940," indexed database and digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Sep 2016), Minnesota, Kandiyohi County, Paynesville, Nordland Lutheran Church, page 18/74/75/76/77, entry for Jakob Andreas [Nilson[, line 6, 6 January 1875 and entry for Dora Elise Nelson [Nilson], line 2, 6 January 1877.
2.) Ostrom Family Collection. Privately held by Darlene Steffens, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Lincoln City, Oregon, USA, 2016.
We learn, according to the church register, brother and sister were both born on January 6, two years apart. We also know that within her family's memories and Dora Elisa's knowledge she was born a week later on January 13. That is when her birthday was celebrated.
Is it possible that her parents and siblings purposefully separated Jacob and Dora's birthdays by one week? If one week apart, then each individual didn't have to share their special day with a sibling. It is possible that the family continued this practice long enough, it become shared knowledge and then a tradition. Jacob celebrated on January 6th and Dora celebrated on January 13th, one week later.
On the other hand the church register could be wrong. Notice that the names are listed in the order of baptism. Dora's birth and baptism are more than 5 months apart. The date of birth would have been told to the pastor. There is a huge possibility that the wrong date was given to the pastor by the informant. Maybe January 13th is correct.
It can actually go either way. For now the conclusion I am taking is that the family is correct and Dora Elise Nilson's birthday was January 13, 1877. But I'll continue to be on the alert for more evidence. To keep sight of the church record's input, within the database, I have set January 6 as an Alternate Fact. For now... this is my current thinking.
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The URL for this post is: http://homefolktales.blogspot.com/2016/10/amanuensis-monday-birth-record-for-dora.html
Please comment regarding this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then use the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Or contact me by email at dsteff4246[at]gmail[dot]com. Wishing you a good day and a great week. Thank you for stopping by today.
Copyright (c) 2016, Darlene M. Steffens. All rights reserved.
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