I am behind with my posts because we were traveling. A nice visit to Montreal and Quebec City definitely got in the way of writing. The theme for week 35 was “School Days,” and I am focusing on Johann Jacob Elsässer who was my 4th great-grandfather and a teacher. He was also the father of Peter Elsässer, who also became a teacher in Vinningen in the Südwestpfalz. The occupation of both father and son is frequently referenced in Latin in the relevant church records as “ludimagister.”  A German transcription of those records gave Johan Jacob Elsässer’s title as “schulmeister”;  this can be translated as “schoolmaster”  – an elegant way of saying that he was a teacher.

I found myself wondering what being an educator was like for a village teacher in the Pfalz. But first, let me provide some background on Johann Jacob Elsässer. He is one of the more recent additions to my family tree, so I consider him a work in progress. I had traced his son, Peter, backwards from Vinningen to Massweiler, but found that he was born in Wiesbach near Homburg. Peter’s baptism record showed his parents to be Joannis Jacobi Elsässer and Anna Elisabetha Ganter. I found a significant presence for Jacob in both Massweiler and Wiesbach; he was married three times and had five sons and six daughters between 1771 and 1795. What was missing, however, was a christening record for Jacob in Wiesbach; and could I not find any indication that he married his first wife, Catharina Peréchon, there. The first mention of Jacob Elsasser in Wiesbach is in January of 1793 when he married Anna Elisabetha Hemmer. The marriage record pronounced that the groom was the widower of the deceased Catharina Peréchon. I descend, however, from Jacob’s third wife, Elisabetha Catharina Ganter, daugther of Christian Ganter. They were married on 16 June 1778, when she was probably about 19.

Note: There is some question in my mind about whether I have identified the correct Elisabetha Catharina Ganter. In the baptismal records for Massweiler, she seems to be called just “Elisabetha.”  Did the priest make an error? She would be the only child in her family without two given names.

Baptism of Elisabeth Ganter; Kirchenbuch, 1729-1937; Katholische Kirche Maßweiler (BA. ZweibrückenTaufen 1729-1798; Family History Library; Film 351905

Since I had combed the Wiesbach Catholic church records pretty thoroughly for Jacob Elsasser prior to 1773 and found neither him nor other family, I concluded that he must have come to Wiesbach from elsewhere.  Where was his hometown?  I thought I may not find his birth place for years, but decided to hunt for him a different way. I searched Ancestry.com, instead, for Catharina Peréchon.  Low and behold, I had a hit in a public family tree for Maria Catharina Peréchon who was married to Johann Jacob Elsaesser.  I had probably been searching using the Latin variation of his name. (Mental head slap – remember to search both ways!)  The date of death in this tree is incorrect, because it shows Jacob Elsasser as dying in 1779.  Further investigation located a 1771 marriage record for Jacob and Catharina in Contwig near Zweibrucken.

I have mentioned before that writing these blog entries is often a big boost to my research.  The intense examination of a person on subject almost always leads to new information.  Reviewing the images that I saved for Elsässer baptisms led to the realization that the godmother of Anna Elisabetha Elsaässer, is Jacob’s sister, Anna Elisabetha Kiefer(in) of Contwig.  I love when everything fall into place like this.  The presence of Anna Elisabetha Kiefer in a Wiesbach christening record gives me reassurance that Jacob was, indeed, from Contwig.

Taufen, Heiraten, Tote 1778-1798 Jahre teilweise nicht in Reihenfolge; Kirchenbuch, 1744-1961; Katholische Kirche Wiesbach (BA. Homburg) Family History Library; Film 247677

So, what was teaching like in the late 18th century? I have found little written in English, but have discovered through sources in German that this was a transitional period for education. I was surprised to learn that education became compulsory in Bavaria by 1806. As early as 1802, education was placed under the responsibility of the state rather than the church. Argument has been made that education was compulsory much earlier than the nineteenth century. There were “school rules” from 1659 (renewed in 1682 and 1738) that can be interpreted as making school attendance “compulsory.” Further, the Bavarian Schulmandat (school mandate) in 1770 and the Education Ordinance of 1795 are also described as being mandates for compulsory education. Of course, there were many exceptions and it would take nearly a hundred years before education was truly universal in Bavaria. (“1806 – 2006: Vom neuen zum modernen Bayern- Schule im Spiegel der Zeit”; Liedtke, Max; Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg; June 2006; Retrieved 9 September 2015 from https://www.km.bayern.de/download/1838_km_li_200jahre_schule_060710.pdf   (This meant that Johann Jacob Elsasser probably instructed many of the younger boys in the village, although children of wealthier families were not likely to have attended school, taking their lessons from private tutors at home. We are familiar with one room schoolhouses in the United States, and Jacob’s school was probably something like this. Some communities didn’t have a school building at all and were obliged to rent the space. Education had been the purview of the Catholic Church for centuries and it would be a long time before its influence subsided. Religious instruction, plus reading, writing and arithmetic were the main focus of lessons.

It is doubtful that Jacob Elsasser received any specialized training for teaching and most likely had not attended university. Some teachers had other occupations, which they practiced at concurrently; however, there is no indication that Jacob was one of these. As regulations for attendance became more strict, it is possible that a shortage of teachers followed. This may be why Jacob’s son, Peter, took up teaching as a profession.  Teachers are described as often not reading or writing well themselves (Liedke, op. cit.).  Something that I noted from the church records is that Jacob Elsasser signed his name with a fair hand. He often appears as a witness to marriages in Wiesbach, although sometimes his signature seems to be quite different.

Signature of Johan Jacob Elsässer

Jacob seems to have taught for at least thirty years. As I mentioned earlier, his son Peter also became a teacher, and he had a grandson who taught music in New Orleans for a while. I am not sure exactly when or where Jacob died.