Here’s a copy of Joseph Rademacher’s birth record as found in the church records in Olpe. You might want to click on the image and open it in a new window f you want to refer to the full-size version as we go along.
So the title at the top says “Geborne und Gefaufte im Jahre 1843”. This translates as “Births and Baptisms in Year 1843.”
If we go down to the third entry in the list (the first two being “Wilhelm” and “Franz Wilhelm”), we come to “Peter Joseph”. Peter? Yes, that’s right. At that time, the custom was to put the saint’s name first, and the ordinary given name second.
The next column over tells us that he was born on the 13th of January at 7:00 in the morning.
To the right of that, the little scribbly inscription means “legitimate”.
Next, the father is listed. He is Johann Anton Rademacher, Master Shoemaker.
Next the mother – Elisabeth Cramer.
Next column – he was born in Olpe.
Next column – baptized on January 13th.
The next column is the name of the priest. The inscription there means “ditto” and refers to the name at the top of the column – Fr. Hengstebeck.
The far right column tells us about the godparents. For newborn baby Peter Joseph, they were:
Peter Joseph Harnischmacher and Katharina Elisabeth Cramer, widow of Peter Schneppe, both from Olpe.
So there you have it. Your ancestor made shoes. What do you think about that? And aren’t these fun names to say – Harnischmacher (“harnishmocker”) and Schneppe (“shneppeh”) and Hengstebeck (“hingstebeck”). And yes, the proper pronunciation of Rademacher is “rodimocker”. You’ll sound even more authentic if you gargle the first “r” and the “ck” sound a little bit.
