The Vautiers: Truck Farmers of Philadelphia

"One does not need to go far to learn the names of the old neck barons. By a visit to the Lutheran Church on Eighteenth street below Passyunk any Sunday morning he will read their ancestral names on the tombstones in the old graveyard. They are the Shetzlines, Myers, Shislers, Vautiers, Youngs, Simons and Wilhelms; the Wilhelms, Vautiers, Youngs, Simons, Shislers, Myers and Shetzlines almost ad infinitum."

~ The Neck Barons," The Times (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 25 April 1891, page 8

One of the more notable families in my genealogy are the Vautiers, who lived in Philadelphia.  The patriarch of this family was one Dominique Vautier, who was born in Saint Aubin-Sur-Aire, near  Meuse, in the Lorraine region of France on 8 January 1766.  He immigrated to the United States at the time of the French Revolution as part of the French 500, and traveled to Philadelphia, where he married Marie Louise DeLaittre on 7 January 1793 at the Old St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Philadelphia.

According to stories passed down through descendants, Dominique was a gardener first in France. and was possibly even employed as a gardener for someone in the Second Estate.  There were many tiny estate farms in France, and since Dominique was from the Lorraine area of France, it is likely he worked on one of these farms.  He was listed as a farmhand on transcriptions of the passenger list for the ship The Patriot, and he may have even worked at one point or another for Count Jean-Joseph De Barth, as De Barth was a witness at the marriage of Dominique and Marie Louise.

The Vautier family first settled in East Southwark, south of Philadelphia, appearing on the 1810 Federal census enumeration as having lived here.  Southwark was a settlement just south of the city of Philadelphia, but no history can be found on the settlement of East Southwark.

By 1820, the family was living in Passyunk, Philadelphia County, on a farm that eventually came to be on Beggar's Town Road (also known as Magazine Road).  Dominique settled his family in the area of Passyunk that would become known as "The Neck."

The Neck was an area marshlands south of the city of Philadelphia that had been farmed by settlers since before the Revolution.  The Neck's northern order was the city of Philadelphia as it existed before 1854, and its southern end was the area where the Schuylkill and the Delaware Rivers meet. It was named for the way the land snaked by the rivers and its resemblance a goose's neck.  The area had a rural way of life that had existed for many years.  Much of the land in the Neck was used for some sort of farming of vegetables and livestock to feed Philadelphia's population, though that sort of agriculture in the area was a precarious business, as flooding was a possibility.

In the Neck's heyday it was almost a romantic place, known as a place of adventure, almost ruffian of sorts. Two sorts of people lived in this area.  They were known as the Neckers and "Ma'shers (Marshers)," and there was a distinction between them. The Neckers were the farmers who owned the farms that were situated on the best land in the neck.  The were the bourgeois and the truest of them had Revolutionary war hero blood running through their veins.  Their predominate trade was truck farming, and their produce and livestock fed the growing city of Philadelphia.  Ma'ashers lived in the lower lands that became marshes in the spring when the ice and snow melted, often in shanties that cropped up.  They also made their living, somewhat precariously, through farming, although they were also looked down upon as often being squatters, as they rarely owned the land they lived on.

The Vautiers were Neckers, although they could not claim to be the truest Neckers, as Dominique settled in the area in the nineteenth century.  Nevertheless, documents and family history suggest that he became prosperous, and the Vautiers became one of the more affluent farming families in the area.

Dominique Vautier died 27 January 1828 from paralysis, likely on his farm in Passyunk.  He was buried two days later at the cemetery at Holy Trinity Catholic Church two days later.  He died intestate, so his eldest son, Charles, became the administrator of his estate.  The total value of the estate of Dominique Vautier, late of Passyunk, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, was worth $1556.99.

While farmers were necessary to feed Philadelphians, the business of truck farming seemed to be looked down upon by the city of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  On 9 February 1828, local truck farmers, including the sons of Dominique Vautier  (namely Michael, Charles, John, and Peter) signed a petition that appeared in the local paper.

"We, the undersigned, Proprietors and Tenants of Lands in the vicinity of the Southern part of Philadelphia, commonly called the Neck, having seen the report of a certain meeting, convened at the Commissioners' Hall, in the District of Southwark on the 26th of January, for the purpose of forming a Canal from the Schuylkill to the Delaware, which must be cut through many of our gardens, do hereby declare that we shall do all in our power to prevent it, by respectfully petitioning the Legislature of the State, showing that such a Canal would be highly injurious in many ways to our properties, running through and ruining many a poor man's garden, in some instances not more than 6 or 7 acres, for the support of himself and a numerous family; and that such a Canal is not necessary to the good of the community at large, but only may be serviceable to a few interested individuals. Signed by us, residents in the immediate vicinity of the site of the projected Canal."  ~ The National Gazette (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 9 February 1828, page 2

The Vautier brothers all owned land in the neck at one point or another, although locating the deeds from Philadelphia County has proven difficult.  The brothers all sold their wares at the Callowhill Market, located on Callowhill Street between Fourth and Seventh Streets north of Center City.  Peter Vautier, my ancestor, held a stall in Section 26 at the market for at least three years, according to the city directories, while his farm was miles away on Jefferson above Buck Road in Passyunk Township.

Farming and raising animals was not unadventurous.  In the Public Ledger (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 12 June 1843 edition on page 3 appeared this advert:

"Five Dollars Reward," advertisement, Public Ledger (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 12 June 1843, Volume: XIV; Issue: 68; Page: 3; online archive, Genealogy Bank (www.genealogybank.com : 23 October 2016 ).

It is not known if Peter found the cow.

According to reminiscences from Peter's sons William and John, the family woke up early in the morning and load their produce wares onto their wagon (or truck, hence "truck farming") and head out before dawn to the market.  The best way to get to the market was to travel up Passyunk Street from the farms to the edge of the then incorporated city and then travel through the labyrinth of city streets to the market.  By evening, the family had usually sold all of their produce, and loaded up their empty baskets and boxes onto their truck and traveled the same route in reverse to come home.  The round trip took several hours, but was only twice or trice a week.  The rest of the week, farmers spent tending their crops and readying their wares for sale.

Peter Vautier died from pulmonary congestion on 28 November 1860 at his farm, which had been consolidated into Philadelphia by the time of his death.  His widow, Sarah, either sold the farm or lost it after his probate (records have not been located for his probate, although there is a letter of administration) and moved around the city, having been listed at several addresses around the city between the years of 1862 and 1891, when she died on 1 October 1891 at 1224 Wisner street of old age.

Consolidation of all of the Neck into the city of Philadelphia happened on 2 February 1854. One of the reasons for consolidation was that the surrounding neighborhoods, known then as colonies of Philadelphia, were unruly places, and there was no proper police force to govern any of Philadelphia county.  Population in these colonies grew, and there was so much diversity.  As a result, there was also a great deal of unrest. The act extended the boundaries of the city to the whole territory of the county of Philadelphia.  What was once the Dominique Vautier farm by 1910 was owned by the Atlantic Refining Company, per maps available at PhilaGeoHistory.  By the 1890s, what was once the farm of Peter Vautier was built up into the city.  By 1955, all traces of the Neck were obliterated as the last of the farms were shut down.  The area that encompassed what was the truck farms of the Vautiers are now the neighborhoods of Girard Estates and South Philadelphia and the area west of those neighborhoods.

Sources Used
"1810 United States Federal Census," database online, Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 October 2016), Entry for Domique Vautier, Year: 1810, Census Place: East Southwark Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Roll: 56, Page: 134, Image: 00192, and Family History Library Film: 0193682; citing Third Census of the United States, 1810. (NARA microfilm publication M252, 71 rolls). Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

"1860 United States Federal Census," database online, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 October 2016), Entry for Peter Vautier and family, Year: 1860, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 1 Division 1 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Roll: M653_1151, Page: 52, Image: 56, and Family History Library Film: 805151; citing 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

Ancestry.com, "1820 United States Federal Census," online database, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 October 2016), Entry for Domonique Voleer, 1820 U S Census, Census Place: Passyunk Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Page: 143, NARA Roll: M33_110, and Image: 408; citing Fourth Census of the United States, 1820. (NARA microfilm publication M33, 142 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Ancestry.com, "1840 United States Federal Census," database online, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 October 2016), Entry for Peter Vautier, Year: 1840, Census Place: Passyunk Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Roll: 491, Page: 181, Image: 911, and Family History Library Film: 0020556.

Ancestry.com, "1850 United States Federal Census," database online, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 October 2016), Entry for Peter Voutier and family, Year: 1850, Census Place: Passyunk Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Roll: M432_820, Page: 63A, and Image: 134; citing Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C..

Archives Départementales de la Meuse, "Etat Civil," database, Archives Départementales de la Meuse Archives En Ligne (http://archives.meuse.fr/search/home: accessed 26 October 2016), Dominique Vautier; Baptême; 9 Jan 1766; image 94; citing Baptêmes, Mariages, Sépultures , 1753-1768 de Saint-Aubin, Cote du document original : E dépôt 346 (1 E 15).

Blumart, Jake. "Lens: Finding Stonehouse Lane, South Philly’s lost neighborhood," online, PBS, Whyy (https://whyy.org/articles/lens-finding-stonehouse-lane-south-philly-s-lost-neighborhood/ : accessed 8 January 2020).

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [LDS], "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 2016), entry for Dominique Vautier https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:99LP-PVD; submitted by submitted by jmiller2719484 (CD #13 Pin #313539).

"City Directories for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania," online database with images, Fold3 (www.fold3.com : accessed 30 September 2016), year: 1858; page: 700; "Vautier Peter farmer Jeff av ab Buck road".

"City Directories for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania," online database with images, Fold3 (www.fold3.com : accessed 30 September 2016), year: 1859; page: 203; "Vautier Peter 84 Callowhill mkt sec 26".

"City Directories for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania," online database with images, Fold3 (www.fold3.com : accessed 10 February 2019), year: 1860; page: 1019; "Vautier, Peter, gardener, 84 Callowhill St Market, h Moyamensing av n Buck rd."

Egan, Maurice F. "A Day in the Ma'sh," Scribner's Monthly, July 1881, Volume 22, Issue 3, Adam Levine, Philly H2O: The History of Philadelphia's Watersheds and Sewers (http://www.phillyh2o.org/backpages/neck1881.htm : accessed 15 January 2019), information on the Neck and Marshers; reprinted online.

Ellet Jr., Charles. A Map of the County of Philadelphia from Actual Survey (Philadelphia: Charles Ellet, 1843); digital image, Greater Philadelphia Digital History Network (https://www.philageohistory.org/tiles/viewer/ : accessed 15 February 2019), Vautier farm on Beggar's Town Lane has been determined to be Charles Nichoals Vautier's Farm.

"Five Dollars Reward," advertisement, Public Ledger (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 12 June 1843, Volume: XIV; Issue: 68; Page: 3; online archive, Genealogy Bank (www.genealogybank.com : 23 October 2016 ).

Haney, Beth.  Gallia County Genealogical Society OGS Chapter, Inc., The French 500 : Passenger List for the ship Patriot (http://www.galliagenealogy.org/French500/patriot.htm : accessed 26 October 2016), "Vautier, Dominique, Farmhand, male, from Aubin, Lorraine, age 22".

Kelitad, "The "French 500" who came over to America in 1790," article, (9 September 2012), HubPages (https://hubpages.com/education/1790-French-500 : accessed 9 September 2012).

Kropp, Sonny. A White Star On My Cap by William J. Vautier (N.p.: Sonny Kropp, 1983).

Kyriakodis, Harry. "The Life And Death Of Callowhill," Hidden City, 10 Feb 2016; online, Hidden City: Exploring Philadelphia's Urban Landscape (https://hiddencityphila.org/2016/02/the-life-and-death-of-callowhill/ : accessed 8 January 2020), information on Callowhill Street Market.

McElroy's Philadelphia city directory (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: A. McElroy & Co, 1861), 1015, "Vautier Peter, gardener, stall 84 Callowhill st Market, h Moyamensing av n Buck la"; digital image, Geneanet (http://en.geneanet.org : accessed 7 September 2017).

"The Neck Barons," The Times (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 25 April 1891, page 8; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 23 January 2019).

"Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985," online database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 October 2016), Entry for Dominicus Vautier; Burial date 29 Jan 1828; Organization Name : Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church; image 48; Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Collection Name: Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records; Reel: 960; citing Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

"Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 30 October 2016), 004009791 > image 331 of 582; (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-12116-151655-97?cc=1320976); citing Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

"Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 16 October 2016), Entry for Peter Vautier, 28 Nov 1860; FHL microfilm 1,977,524; (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JK9D-P57); citing Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. certificate.

"Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 16 October 2016), Entry for Peter Vautier, 28 Nov 1860; v 1 p 13; FHL microfilm 1,003,690; (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VKZ6-G4V); citing Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. death register.

"Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 4 November 2016), Entry for Sarah Vantier, 01 Oct 1891; cn 6783; FHL microfilm 1,888,605.; citing Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

"Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 4 November 2016), Entry for Sarah Vantier, 01 Oct 1891; v B p 166; FHL microfilm 1,011,821; (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VK8P-W7C); death register; citing Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

"Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 October 2016), Entry for Domimig Vantier; probate date 1828; Case Number: 19; Administration Files, No 271-307, 1-20, 1827-1828; Pennsylvania, City of Philadelphia, administration files; Author: Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). Register of Wills; Probate Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 9 pages total; citing Pennsylvania County District and Probate Courts.

Philadelphia County Register of Wills, Wills, 1682-1916; indexes to wills, 1682-1924, Administration index, 1682-1900, Sm-Z, year 1860, Number 511, Peter Vautier, Administration Book R, page 472; FHL microfilm 21841.

Philadelphia Orphans' Court, Orphans' Court records 1719-1856 ; Index 1719-1938, Book 32, page 110; Item 44; Settlement of the estate of Dominique Vautier, filed 21 May 1830; Philadelphia City Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; FHL microfilm 7726605.

"Philadelphia Roman Catholic Parish Marriages," database online with images, Find My Past (www.findmypast.com : accessed 9 September 2018), Entry for Dominicus Vantier and Maria Luisa de Laittre, married 07 Jan 1793; referencing Old St. Joseph Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania marriages, page 50, first entry, film number 79.04; citing Archdiocese of Philadelphia parish registers.

Robinson, Sam. "In Defense Of Consolidation, 160 Years Later," online article, Hidden City Philadelphia (https://hiddencityphila.org/2014/02/in-defense-of-consolidation-160-years-later/ : accessed 15 January 2019), information on the consolidation of Philadelphia.

"Untitled Petition," legal notice, The National Gazette (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 9 February 1828, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 16 January 2019).

"U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s," database online, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 October 2016), Entry for Dominique Vautier; Place: Alexandria, Virginia; Year: 1790; Page Number: 49; Source Bibliography: EVANS, HENNY AND JOCELYN ZANELLI. Genealogical Special: 1790 Ship Passenger Lists Emigration from Le Havre France, to Alexandria, Virginia. In The Gallia County Glade (Gallia County Historical/Genealogical Society, Gallipolis, OH), vol. 19:3 (Fall 199?); citing Filby, P. William, ed. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research, 2012.

Vautier, John D. The Personal Diary of John D. Vautier, transcribed copy (n.p., n.d.); online transcription, Robert Weaver and Phyllis Weaver Bickley, WikiTree (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Vautier-28 : accessed 4 November 2016.

Vidumsky, John. "In “The Neck,' A History Of Stiff Resistance To Change," online article, Hidden City Philadelphia (https://hiddencityphila.org/2013/01/in-the-neck-a-history-of-stiff-resistance-to-change/ : accessed 15 January 2019), information on The Neck.

"WikiTree Wiki", database, WikiTree (www.wikitree.com : accessed 4 November 2016), "Vautier," Entry for Peter Vautier, Vautier-29; submitted 6 March 2014 by Bob Weaver.

Wilde, Robert. "Pre-Revolutionary France," article, (30 June 2018), ThoughtCo (https://www.thoughtco.com/french-revolution-pre-revolutionary-france-1221877 : accessed 16 January 2019).

The Franco-Prussian War and Its Impact on my Alsatian family

In the last blog I typed I wrote about Alsace and its history, particularly the commune of Erstein where my great-grandfather and his father were both born.

I also hinted that the Franco-Prussian war was a blog all on its own, and was one of the reasons why I feel my family, though ethnically German, was more French than German.

While I love history in general, my forte is and has always been American History, particularly the Civil War.  As a child, European history kind of bored me (Sorry!) and I wasn't good at memorizing European history dates and the like as I was American events in history.  But after doing a great deal of extensive research on this side of the pond, I knew it was time to begin to focus my attention across the Atlantic as to why my European ancestors immigrated to the United States in the first place.

Since historically, my Waldspurgers were the LAST to cross the pond genealogically, they seem to be the first for my focus.  I actually was researching the area of Lorraine, as my ancestor Dominique Vautier was from that region, but the same works that focused on Lorraine also by default seem to include Alsace, so it just naturally evolved from research on Lorraine and Alsace to that of just Alsace at the moment.  Some future blog will likely tell the story of Dominique and the French Revolution.

Anyways, on to the Franco-Prussian War.

Alsace became a part of France in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia, although parts of it were not joined until as late as 1670 or later, including Erstein, where Florian Waldspurger was born, and Eschau, where his wife Elizabeth Marie Hans was born.

But Germans never forgot their kin across the Rhine River.  After all, most Alsatians are ethnically German, even if some chose not to see it that way.

There was, as there always seems to be throughout history, some political drama going on in Europe.  After the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 was settled with the Peace of Prague, Prussia annexed several German states after signing the Augustbündnis (August contract).  It created a German federal state known as the North German Confederation.  The brain behind this was Minister President of Prussia Otto Von Bismarck.  While not all of the small German states had yet joined, Prussia hoped one day to unite all Germanic peoples into one empire.

France, on the other hand, was alarmed at the power the Germans were amassing.  They were afraid that should all of Germany unite into one empire, it would disrupt the balance of power in Europe, which was always delicately balanced.  They were also afraid because not only did they share a border with the German state of Baden, which hadn't joined the Confederation yet, but also had Germanic peoples living in the region of Alsace, which some Germans considered part of Germany.  France was afraid that Bismarck would seek to unite Alsace with the rest of the Germanic people in one empire.

There was also the fact that Europe was too small for the political powers of Germany and France to co-exist peacefully, and the rest of Europe seemed to realize that.

Another bit of drama was the small matter of the Spanish Succession.  In 1868, the Spanish government under the reign of the reactionary and ultramontane queen Isabel II was overturned and a new leader of the Spanish government needed to be picked, as the revolutionaries who overthrew Isabel lacked leadership to govern.  Several candidates from throughout Europe were nominated and debated as her successor, including her son Alfonso, who was France's pick, and Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern, who was Germany's pick.  For several months, speculations and rumors flew, including one that Leopold, a Prussian prince, had accepted the nomination as king and was about to be crowned.  France, angry at the thought of sharing a border with two Prussian-controlled countries, declared war on the North German Confederation on 16 July 1870, before the Spanish Succession issue was even resolved (Leopold actually had to withdraw from the nomination).

France was counting on support from Austria if the North German Confederation attacked, but Bismarck was shrewd.  He convinced Russia to ally itself to Germany.  Because of this alliance, Russia was able to prevent Austria from helping France during the conflict, as Russia threatened to mobilize troops and send them into Galicia should Austria attack Germany.

By 22 August 1870, the Prussians had invaded the town of Erstein.  They made demands of the citizens for requisitions, including 6000 cigars, food to feed nearly 150,000 troops, and other forage.  The tiny town, and other around, could not produce the required requisitions, and many faced punishments for the failure.  At the same time, the Germans laid siege to Strasbourg, and forced citizens in Ersein to assist in changing the course of the River Ill, which cut off a supply of water to Strasbourg during the siege, which lasted six weeks and cost the lives of hundreds of citizens, as well as thousands of soldiers.

While I don't know for sure what part Florian may have had in the war, I am certain he at least witnessed it.... as he was 25 year of age. Most likely, he has registered for the French version of the Selective Service.  I have an email out now asking the city archivist in Erstein if those records exist and how I might be able to locate them.

When an armistice was called on 10 May 1871, Prussian claimed the lands of Alsace and Lorraine as its territory in the armistice.  This claim was met with indignation from the rest of the powers in Europe, as many viewed the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine as a way to punish France for declaring war.  However, Germans saw it as a legitimate prize for winning the war.  They also saw the annexation as a way to keep the peace in Europe, as it would prevent French aggression in the future because the addition of both Alsace and Lorraine solidified German strength.

After the war ended and the treaty was signed, Germany had become an hegemonic empire, which later helped to set the stage for the World Wars that followed.  The Germans were ecstatic because their lost brethren that had been taken away into France had come back to the fold with the addition of the territory of Elsass-Lothringen to the German Empire.

But to the people living in this newly created territory, the idea of suddenly being German was not a good thing.  Germany sought to stamp out anything French.  Suddenly, German was the language taught in schools, and anything French was seen as an affront to the nationalist tendencies of the German empire.  This idea of German nationalism wreaked havoc on the Pro-French proclivities of the Alsatians who were used to having some autonomy in their lives.  The Alsatians in particular, while German ethnically, had thought of themselves as French, so the annexation was punishment for them.

Elizabeth Marie Hans Waldspurger
Florian's wife

Many moved away as soon as they could, but for some, like Florian Waldspurger, they couldn't leave their homeland right away.  Florian remained a citizen of Germany for eight years after the war until he had saved enough to migrate to the United States.  By then, he had a wife, Elizabeth Marie Hans, and two sons, Edward and Eugene.  On 3 April 1880, Florian left Le Havre, France aboard the mail steamer, SS St. Laurent, bounded for New York.  He arrived on 11 April 1880.  His wife and sons followed two months later, with an F. or J. Waldspurger (research seems to suggest this unknown male was Florian's brother Frank), aboard the steamer Amerique on 7 July 1880.  According to his grandsons, Florian vowed to leave his homeland because he could not reconcile himself to the atrocities that Germany had committed during the war, and did not want to remain under German Rule.

Edward Charles Waldspurger
 Florian's eldest son

The family settled in Philadelphia and moved around in the countryside of the counties surround Philly.  Florian renounced the German citizenship he detested on 9 June 1894 with the intent on becoming an American citizen.  However, he met with a disaster on 2 September 1900, when he was killed in the Hatfield train wreck.

Florian Walspurger's Renunciation of Germany, 9 June 1894,
Case number not listed, Court of Common Pleas; State of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Personal genealogical research by the author was also used in this research, as well as the sources listed below.

Sources Used in Research
"Augustbündnis." Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias. 2019. http://deacademic.com/dic.nsf/dewiki/113536.

Barber, Christopher Ernest. "The 'Revolution' of the Franco-Prussian War: The Aftermath in Western Europe." Australian Journal of Politics & History 60, no. 3 (2014): 334-45. doi:10.1111/ajph.12061.

Blumenthal, Daniel. Alsace-Lorraine; a Study of the Relations of the Two Provinces to France and to Germany, and a Presentation of the Just Claims of Their People. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1917.

"Later War News: Prussian Requisitions - A Surprise," The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 22 August 1870, 1; Newspapers.com. www.newspapers.com

Smith, Willard A. "Napoleon III and the Spanish Revolution of 1868." The Journal of Modern History 25, no. 3 (1953): 211-33. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1874741.

Putnam, Ruth. Alsace and Lorraine, from Caesar to Kaiser 58 B.C.-1871 A.D. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1915.

Vizetelly, Ernest Alfred. The True Story of Alsace-Lorraine. New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1918.

"The War in Europe," Daily Evansville Journal (Evansville, Indiana), 23 August 1870, 3; Genealogy Bank. www.genealogybank.com

Wells, Mike. "Russia and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71." History Review, December 2006, 40-44.

Zimmerman, Thomas.  "Siege and Fall of Strasbourg." History of the Franco-Prussian War. 2008. http://francoprussianwar.com/Strasbourg.htm.

Alsace: Is it German or French?

My mother's paternal grandfather came from a small town in Alsace called Erstein.  He immigrated to the United States in 1880 as a young child with his mother and younger brother.  His father had already made the trip a couple months before.  Years later, my great-grandfather's nine sons had very loud debates about whether they were French or German.  Given the history of the region, it was no wonder they argued.

Alsace, or Elsass in German, is a small fertile valley of land between the Voges mountains and the Black Forest Mountains in Europe, located geographically smack dab between the two great nations of France and Germany. The Rhine river, now the border between France and Germany, runs through the region.  Today, Alsace is a French region, but historically it has been both, and both countries have very valid reasons for having laid claim to it over the centuries.

Because borders were often rapidly changing, the history of the region is somewhat muddled.  In fact, different history books often don't mention all of the varying kingdoms of which Alsace belonged to just because it changed rulers and kingdoms so often.

What is known is that what is now the Alsace area was inhabited by Celtic peoples called Gauls from from well before the modern era until the time of the Roman Empire.  The Romans colonized the area as well, and co-mingled with the Gauls.  The city of Strasbourg, in the Bas Rhin region, was founded in this period.  But by the fifth century, Germanic peoples known as the Alemanni began to cross the Rhine River and attack Gallic and Roman fortifications in an invasion attempt.  By 496, the Alemanni had been conquered by the another Germanic people, the Franks, under Emperor Clovis, and the area was on Christianized. By the ninth century, Alsace was combined into the kingdom of Lothringia and then the Duchy of Swabia.

In the twelfth century, Alsace was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire, with who it would be united until the mid-17th century, passing from one landgravate to another.  After the Thirty Years War, Alsace was granted to the kingdom of France by the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 and would become French in nature for more than two hundred years.  The region also became a hotbed of Reformation and religious freedoms, and Strasbourg was known as the capital of these radical ideas.

Because it was peopled by the Gauls, the Romans, the Alemanni and the Franks at various points in history, both France and Germany felt a kinship to the people who lived there, who were distinctly French and German and distinctly their own culture all at the same time.  The upper classes spoke or at least understood French, traders spoke both German and French given that both traded quite frequently in that region, while most everyone spoke Alsatian, a High Germanic language.  While many had German sounding last names, they had very French first names.  In the case of my great-great-grandfather, he was named Florian Waldspurger.  He was also the father of the man who later had nine sons.

Florian Waldspurger

Florian Waldspurger was born at 10 at night on 5 May 1845 in house number 66 of the quartier blanc in the small commune of Erstein in Alsace.  He was born the sixth of nine children to a stocking maker (faiseur du bas) named Francois and his wife, Sophie Egermann.

Erstein was an old fortified town just along the Rhine river and is located just south of the capital of Strasbourg. In the Middle Ages, a Benedictine Abbey was located in the commune.  During the time of its union with the Holy Roman Empire, Erstein became part of the Archdiocese of Strasbourg when the Bishop of Strausbourg, John of Lichtenberg, purchased the landgrave of Erstein in 1359 for 32,000 gold florins.

Erstein, due to its proximity to Strasbourg, saw conflict during the Thirty Years War, when over half its population was wiped out.  While the Treaty of Westphalia ended the war in 1649, Erstein, because it was attached to Strausbourg, did not join Fraince until the 1670s.

During the late 18th and throughout the 19th century, Erstein was the location of a number of textile manufacturers, including stocking makers, but also was known for its tobacco farming.  A number of people migrated from other areas to take advantage of the manufacturing jobs.  In the case of the Waldspurgers, they immigrated from the small village of Dibolshiem, south of Erstein about 20 kilometers.

Some wonderful historical maps of the area can be found on Wikimedia Commons.

Erstein, and indeed all of Alsace, saw a great deal of conflict during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.  The Franco-Prussian War and the fallout from it was the reason my Alsatian ancestors immigrated to the States in the end. But that's a story for another blog.

To answer the question my pop and his brothers would argue over many times, ideally Alsatians are both French and German.  While culturally, the area is a mix of French and German, genetically, at least in the case of my Waldspurger family, they were closer to the Higher Germans and the Alemanni than to the Celts and Franks, at least  according to DNA tests done by myself and my first cousin.  But, as a future blog will demonstrate, the Waldspurgers were more aligned with the French ideals than they were with German ones, even if genetically they were German.

Sources Used for Research

"Alsace." Encyclopædia Britannica. December 31, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/place/Alsace.

Braun, Célia. "Histoire Et Patrimoine." Site Officiel De La Ville D'Erstein. http://www.ville-erstein.fr/se-divertir/decouvir-erstein/328-histoire-et-patrimoine.

"Erstein." Revolvy. https://www.revolvy.com/page/Erstein

"Kings of Lotharingia." The History Files: European Kingdoms, The Franks. January 02, 1999. https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/FranceLorraine.htm.

Putnam, Ruth. Alsace and Lorraine, from Caesar to Kaiser 58 B.C.-1871 A.D. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1915.

Vizetelly, Ernest Alfred. The True Story of Alsace-Lorraine. New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1918.

King of the Wind: 1949 Newbery Award

In March of 2014, I started a new undertaking: reading every single Newbery Medal Winner book. A number of them I have read in the past, but I am reading them with fresh eyes,and reviewing them for others. I am not reading them in order, as some will require some effort on my part to find them all. Want to keep track of which books I read? Check them out at Confessions of a Wannabe Reader!

Cover of the book - used for identification purposes only under the fair use clause

Sham and Agba: Finding Their Way

"When Allah created the horse, he said to the wind, 'I will that a creature proceed from thee."

Agba is a mute orphan and slave horseboy to the chief groom of the Sultan of Morocco.  His favorite mare has died, so he raises her little colt, a horse the color of gold he names Sham.  Sham soon become the fastest horse in the Sultan's stables and is chosen as one of six Arabians to be given as a gift to the King of France.  But because the horses are small, the King of France sends them away.  Thus begins Sham and Agba's long journey to find greatness in Europe.  They journey to England, where the Earl of Goldolphin lives and become part of his estate.  But can Sham, with the help of the mute Agba, show his potential?

King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry, is based on the real story of the Goldolphin Arabian, who was used in the mid-18th century to help found the modern thoroughbred race horse.   The tale is a fictionalized account of his biography.

The tale reminded me of a cross between Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist and Anna Sewell's story Black Beauty.  The tale is the classic story of a bond between a boy and his animal, for better or for worse.  In this case, it is between the beautiful bay horse Sham and the boy who follows him everywhere, Agba.  Agba cannot speak, but he can communicate with Sham in a way in which no one else can understand.  He also learns to understand both English and French in the story, though it is unclear how.  They become impoverished and beaten down, and at one point are left to fend for themselves in the wild, only to have some good fortune smile down on them once more.

I had read a number of Marguerite Henry's books as a fourth grader when I went through a phase where I was horse crazy, but this was the first time reading this particular tale.  While is was a sweet story, it felt a bit contrived for me. The character of Agba seemed to be written into the story to give someone other than the horse the point of view for the story, and it bothered me a bit.  If you love horse and horse tales, this is a good read, otherwise it would bore you a bit.