Title

Birth and Baptism Certificate for William Heiser

Printer

Gustav S. Peters (1793-1847)

Preview

Scrivener

Conrad Otto (circa 1766-1857)

Accession Number

PAG1998.218

Date Range

1770-1857

Description

Color-printed Taufschein in red and yellow with angels in profile at sides, pair of birds on vine in bottom corners, spread eagle at top center.

Dimensions in Inches

16 3/8 x 12 7/8

Dimensions in Centimeters

42 x 33

Materials

Ink on Paper

Technique

Drawn, Hand colored

Print Shop Location

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Associated Places

Jackson Township, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania

Category

Birth and baptismal certificate (Geburts-und-Taufschein)

Motifs

eagles, birds, angels, clouds, leaves, flowers, baskets

Associated Names

Jacob Seiler, Elisabeth, John Ebrecht, Wiliam, William, Ruethelf Diner, Rudolph Dunger

Rights

Please contact the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College for permissions which fall outside of educational fair use.

Source

Ursinus College Library Special Collections and the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art

Provenance

Pennsylvania Folklife Society

Script/Text

Fraktur lettering, German script

Language

German

Transcription

Wann wir kaum gebohren werden/Ist vom ersten Lebenstritt/Bis zum kühlen Grab der Erden,/Nur ein kurz gemeß’ner Schritt./Ach! mit jedem Augenblick/Gehet unsre Kraft zurück;/Und wir sind mit jedem Jahre,/ Alle reif zur Todten=Bahre.

O! wer weiß, in welcher Stund,/uns die letzte Stimme weckt;/Denn Gott hat’s mit seinem Munde,/Keinem Menschen noch endeckt./Wer sein Haus nun wohl bestellt;/Geht mit Freuden aus der Welt./Da die Sicherheit hingegen,/Ewiges Sterben kann erregen.

Geburts=und Tauf=Schein./Diesen beyden Ehegatten, als: Jacob/Heiser und seiner ehelichen/Hausfrau Elisabeth eine Tochter von/John Ebrecht ist ein sohn/zur Welt geboren, den 13 Tag Jenner/im Jahr unsers Herrn, 1843 Dieser Wiliam/ist geboren in Tschäckson Taünschip in/Northumberland Caunty, im Staat Penzil/vannia in Nord=Amerika, und ist getauft worden/und erhielt den Namen Wiliam Heiser/den Tag im Jahr unsers/Herrn, 1843 von Hrn. Ruthelfdiner/Die Tauf=Zeugen waren:/die Eltern

Conrad Otto

Ich bin getauft, ich steh’ im Bunde,/Durch meine Tauf’ mit meinem Gott!/So sprech’ ich stets mit frohem Munde,/In Kreuz, in Trübsal, Angst und Noth,/Ich bin getauft, des freu’ ich mich,/Die Freude bleibt mir ewiglich./Ich bin getauft in deinem Namen,/Gott, Vater, Sohn und heiliger Geist!/Ich bin gezählt zu deinem Saamen,/Zum Volk, das Dir geheiligt heißt./O! welch ein Glück ward da durch mein!/Herr, laß mich dessen würdig seyn!/Ich bin getauft, ob ich gleich sterbe,/Was schadet mir das kühle Grab?/Ich weiß mein Vaterland und Erbe,/Das ich bey Gott im Himmel hab’:/Nach meinem Tod ist mir bereit,/Des Himmels Freud und Feyer-kleid.

Gedruckt und zu haben bey G. S. Peters,-Harrisburg, Pa.

Translation

When we are just born…

Birth and Baptismal Certificate. To both of these spouses, Jacob Heiser and his legal wife Elisabeth a daughter of John Ebrecht is a son to the world born, the 13th day of January in the year of our Lord, 1843. This Wiliam was born in Jackson Township in Northumberland County in the state of Pennsylvania in North America, and was baptized and received the name Wiliam Heiser the day in the year of our Lord 1843 by Mister Ruthelfdiner. The baptismal sponsors were the parents.

[Name]

I was baptized, I stand in the union…/I was baptized in your name…/I was baptized, if I die immediately…

Printed and for sale by G. S. Peters,-Harrisburg, Pa.

Comment

Gustav Peters was the first printer to produce fraktur in color, beginning with red and yellow. He also printed numerous children’s story books in color, beginning in the late1820s. Gustav Peters, with his partner Johann Moser, developed Taufscheine in 1825 in Carlisle. After they moved their business to Harrisburg, their partnership soon ended. Peters continued publishing over thirty editions, with little variation on the red and yellow form. This Taufschein was signed by Conrad Otto, who used a distinctive zig-zag line with dots to fill in empty spaces. Conrad was a son of the major fraktur artist Henrich Otto and usually signed his work, as he did on this example.

Condition

Good

Bibliographical Reference

Stopp #385.5

Published

Minardi, Lisa. "From Millbach to Mahantongo: Frakture and Furniture of the Pennsylvania Germans," American Furniture, ed. Luke Beckerdite (Lebanon, New Hampshire, Chipstone Foundation, 2011). p. 75. Minardi, Lisa. Roots: Ursinus College and the Pennsylvania Germans (Trappe, PA.: Historic Trappe, 2019). p. 72, fig. 3.46. Stopp, Klaus. The Printed Birth and Baptismal Certificates of the German Americans. 6 vols. (Mainz, Germany, and East Berlin, Pa.: privately published, 1997–99). vol. 3, pp. 43, 70.

File Format

.jpeg

Type

image