This post was not part of the original blog “The Aroma of Bread,” but I think that it belongs catalogued with these posts.
As we continue to work on preparing my in-laws home for sale, rooms are cleaned out and items tossed or prepared for the estate sale. Last night I attacked a box of sheet music that had resided in the attic for decades. Not being able to resist, I started sorting through the pages. I hadn’t gone too deeply into the box when I hit gold! My mother-in-laws piano report card from when she was 16 years old and taking lessons back to back with her brother Arthur. Marie on piano, Arthur on violin.
The next item to make my heart sing was the 1945 piano music for “Till the End of Time.” I had chosen this song to end the video I made about two years ago to honor my in-laws. How many people are lucky enough to possess moving images from a wedding that took place in 1946? I chose the song hoping that it had been a favorite, but figuring that I would never know. But last night I learned that they did enjoy this song. I still think it is a perfect way to end the video.
St. Francis Catholic Church Our Favorite Recipes, 1988, p.90
It is hard to remember the internet without the term “Well just Google it!” What a difference it has made in our lives, and in our genealogy.
I recently began working on a revised edition of my book about the Fassbenders, and one sleepless morning I attacked the pages of the book that chronicle their lives in Oedekoven, Germany. It had been a few years since I had Googled Oedekoven, and wanting to beef up the early history section of the book, I started an intense Google search. Knowing the Fassbenders had been Roman Catholic for “as far back as can be traced,” [1] I was looking closely at the history of the Catholic church in the region. My morning Google search showed me that the small chapel built in Oedekoven in 1756 was only large enough for private prayer, so regular church attendance in 1856 still occurred at St. Lawrence in Lessenich. This confirmed why all of the baptism, marriage and death records were recorded in this nearby village. Wikipedia, translated from its German page, gave me an insight into the chapel, now called St. Mary’s Marriage.
Later that morning as I was heading down to our lower level, I stopped on the landing to look at a chalk drawing that I received from Peter Fassbender’s grandson, Arthur. The drawing was done in 1904 by an unnamed cousin of Peter’s. Looking at the drawing I let out a gasp! For up in the hills sat the exact chapel that I had been learning about during my Google morning.
If you haven’t Googled an ancestor’s homeland in a while, do so, I bet you will be amazed at what has been uploaded since you last searched.
SOURCES:
Commemorative Biographical Record of the Fox River Valley Counties of Brown, Outagamie and Winnebago, (Chicago, Illinois: J. H. Beers. 1895), 571.
I have started my journey with a new website platform. Moving the site to WordPress allows me the freedom to update and blog whenever, and wherever I may be. I am no longer chained to just one computer located in a static location. I am looking forward to the freedom this allows me!
