Witajcže K’nam
Hier ruht in Frieden Jan Matej Knéžka Johann Matthaeus Kneschke John Matthew Kneschk geboren am 5. März, 1833 in Weisswasser, Preussen gestorben am 9. Januar 1909 in Sagerton, TX The accompanying photo is of the grave marker my brother and I made for our Wendish immigrant ancestor, Matthaeus...
The following is another letter discovered in the digitally archived issues of the “Serbske Nowiny” – the Upper Sorbian-language newspaper that our ancestors read. I wish to thank Dr. Gerald Stone for translating the article into English. “Serbske Nowiny”. 15 July 1871. pages 221-222. A Letter from America....
Helping fellow members of the faith has a long history with the Texas Wends. Both German and Wendish newspaper articles that reported the departure of the 1854 migration from the Bautzen train station also stated that the poorer immigrants received financial support from those who were well-to-do. And...
Andrew (Andreas) Urban, A Wendish Craftsman Introduction by Dr. George Nielsen, Special Features Editor One aspect of Wendish life that is generally ignored in Wendish studies is the daily activity of making a living. While most Wends took up farming, there were also some who became craftsmen. One...
In the two previous issues of the TWHS Newsletter, I attempted to show how the religious environments of Prussia and Saxony contributed to the creation of the first St. Peter church in Serbin. While this first separatist group remained small and the congregation was short-lived (1858 to 1867),...
The Wendish language and the awareness of being Wendish were slowly dying in the minds of the descendants of the Wends who migrated to Texas. Rev. Herman Kilian wrote the last Wendish obituary on the occasion of the death of Emma Christiana Schubert on 15 May 1906. It...
Prussia It was in 1817 that the Prussian king, Friedrich Wilhelm III, decreed the creation of a single church that merged the two Protestant faiths-Lutheran and Calvinist-although participation was voluntary. Compliance was anemic, and the king did little more than make the change at the garrison church in...
Walter Penk, acclaimed Veterans Administration researcher into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), will be the speaker at the 16 August 2015 General Membership meeting. Since this year marks the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War, I have asked him to speak to us about what...
Because some of the Texas Wends originated from Prussia and some from Saxony a question could be asked if origins made a difference. Does political geography influence the way people think and act? If you were asked about your origins, would it make a difference if you said “United...
Jan Ernest Smoler and Jan Kilian were contemporaries, although not always friendly ones. As editor of a newspaper in Bautzen, Smoler published negative letters sent from the Serbin colony leading to years of tension between Smoler and Kilian. Thirteen years before the immigration to Texas, in 1841, Smoler and a...
More
Wendish living history demonstration on April 27
April 4, 2024
Museum Closed from March 26-31 for Easter
March 24, 2024
Coffee Cake Baking Class at the Museum
March 15, 2024
Membership Meeting Presentation – October 2023
October 24, 2023
October 24, 2023
October 5, 2023