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ARTES SCIENTIA VERITAS
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THE PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY.
HENRY HARBAUGH.
B. OCTOBER 28. t8t7. D. DECEMBER 28. 1867.
WAYNESBORO. PA.
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pennd^lvania*(3etman Dialect
Mtitings anb tbeit Mtitets
A Papeb Prepared at the Request
OF THE Pennsylvania-German Society
BY
HARRY HESS REICHARD, Ph.D.
MimbiT cf tht Modem Langmage As^ciatian cf America; Member of the New
Jersey Modem LtmgHagt Teachers* AssocUUion; Member of Ike
. Petmsylwania'German Society; Teacher of Germam in
the Atlantic City, New Jersey, High School
LANCASTER. PA.
1918
*
f
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COPTRIGHTBD I918
BYTHK
9eiiiif|Iftiila«9cniiaii ffocUtf •
THI NEW CRA PHINTtNQ COMPANY
UNOAtTU. PA.
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ri'n
T T T T T
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
1 I I 1 I
Page.
Acknowledgment vii
Foreword ix
Introduction i
I. Not a History of the Literary Activity of the Ger-
mans of Pennsylvania 13
II. Raison d'etre — ^What This Work Is and Why. ... 20
III. What the Pennsylvania-German Dialect Is 25
IV. What Pennsylvania German Is Not 27
V. Why There Is a Dialect Literature 28
VI. The Range of Pennsylvania-German Dialect
Poetry and the Types of Pennsylvania-German
Dialect-Writing 37
VII. A Word about the Arrangement 45
The Earlier Period and Writers No Longer Living 46
1. Miller, Louis 46
2. Rondthaler, Emanuel 49
3. Harbaugh, Henry, Best Known, Most Popular. ... 54
4. Rauch, Edward H., the Old Nestor 74
5. WoUenweber, Ludwig A., a Pennsylvania-German
by Preference loo
6. Fisher, Henry L., the Poetic Chronicler of G)m-
munity and Home Life 105
iit
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IV Tabu of Contents.
Paqb.
7* Home, Abraham R., the Educator ii8
8. Rupp, Israel D., the Antiquarian 129
9. Brunner, David B., Newspaper Writer, Occasional
Poems 131
10. Grumbine, Lee Light, Editor, Poet 137
1 1. Mays, George, Occasional Poems 150
12. Shuler, Henry A,, Editor 155
13. Miller, Daniel, Newspaper Writer, G)llector 158
14. Hofiman, Walter J., Scientist, Compiler of Dic-
tionary 162
15. Zimmerman, Thomas C, Translator 164
16. Hermany, Edward, Satirist 178
17. Dissinger, Moses, The Pennsylvania German
"Baiy " Sunday 180
The Later Period: Writers StUl Living.
18. Eshelman, Edgar M 188
19. Grumbine, Ezra, Song Writer, Sadrist, Dramatist. . 192
20. Harter, Thomas H., " Boonasriel " 203
21. Henninger, Milton G., Songster and Prophet 210
22. Keller, Eli, a Writer of Great Charm—" Der Kalen-
nermann " 216
23. Lins, James C, Newspaper Writer, Dictionary-
maker 221
24. Meyer, Henry 225
25. Maier, Harvey M. ("Solly Hukbuck"), Some-
what after the Manner of Walt Mason 229
26. More, Charles C, Story Writer 241
27. Newhard, Elwood L., the Singer 254
28. Rhoads, Thomas J. B., Occasional Poetry 267
29. Stump, Adam, Occasional Poetry 269
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/ 3 • /S^9C.^
Table of Contents. v
Pagb.
30. Wcitzcl, Louisa, One of the Few Women Writers. . 275
31. Wuchter, Astor C, One of the Most Voluminous of
Living Poets 279
32. Ziegler, Charles C, The Poet Laureate 285
O)nclusions 313
Bibliography of Newspapers, Magazines, Reviews, Books and
Other Publications cited 321
Bibliography For Writers Not Specially Treated 333
Index of the Pennsylvania-German Dialect Literature 336
Abbreviations Used 336
1. Poetry 338
2. Prose 372
3. Dictionaries and Word Lists 396
4. A Partial List of Newspapers Now, or at One Time,
Publishers of Pennsylvania-German Dialect Selec-
tions 398
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TO DR. SAMUEL P. HEILMAN.
fT is eminently due him here to say in this open way
and in a dedicatory sense that the inception of this
work is entirely due to my friend and fellow-member of
the Pennsylvania-German Society, Dr. S. P. Heilman,
formerly of Heilman Dale, Lebanon County, now of Leb-
anon, Pa.
Furthermore, during the period of its preparation Dr.
Heilman unceasingly gave the project his strongest sup-
port, in many ways promoted its progress, was a source
of inspiration to the writer all through, and but for the
fact that he tided it over certain critical periods, the work
might never have reached completion. Whatever merit
the Society may mete the writer of this work, his own
tribute to his friend and co-worker is dear and explicit.
To enumerate those who have generously furnished in-
formation would be to name almost everybody whose name
appears herein, or some member of their families. This
opportunity is taken to express to them all sincere grati-
tude.
EDiroR AND Compiler.
vu
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FOREWORD.
HT the Annual Meeting of the Society held at Norris-
town, November 2, 19 16, the following report was
submitted, and as in it is recited the inception, progress
and completion of this work It is placed here as a fitting
foreword.
To THE Pennsylvania-German Society:
At the annual meeting of the Society, held at Lancaster,
November 5, 1908, Dr. S. P. Heilman offered a resolu-
tion, which was adopted, providing for the appointment
of a Committee of the Society to compile a bibliography
of Pennsylvania-German Dialect Literature. (Page 22,
Vol. XIX.)
No further action was taken as to this matter, so far
as the Society was concerned, until the meeting at York,
October 14, 19 10, where and when a Committee was named
to undertake the compilation ordered in the resolution
adopted at Lancaster two years previously. This Com-
mittee consisted of S. P. Heilman, M.D., Heilman Dale,
Pa.; Rev. A. Stapleton, D.D., Williamsport, Pa.; Daniel
Miller, Reading, Pa.; Prof. L. Oscar Kuhns, Ph.D.,
Middletown, Conn.; Prof. Harry H. Reichard, Ph.D.,
State College, Pa. ; Rev. John Baer Stoudt, Northampton,
Pa., and Edwin C. Jellett, Germantown, Pa. (P. 26,
Vol. XXL) Two of these appointees, namely. Rev. Dr.
ix
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X The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Stapleton and Daniel Miller, have since then departed
this life.
The Committee agreed that Prof. Reichard should act
as editor for the Committee, as he had already given the
matter of a bibliography of Pennsylvania-German Litera-
ture considerable study and had also gathered much ma-
terial along that line.
At the meeting of the Society held at Harrisburg, Oc-
tober 20, 191 1, a first report as to the progress made on
the bibliography was submitted by your Committee, and
manuscript matter, compiled to the extent of about 400
pages, was laid before the Society. In illustration of the
textual content of said manuscript Prof. Reichard also
read to the Society the chapter on Charles Calvin Ziegler,
one of the many Pennsylvania-German poets portrayed in
the bibliography. The action then was referring the sub-
mitted manuscript to Rev. Dr. Schmauk for his review and
report to the Society's Executive Committee.
On September 5, 19 12, a conference on the part of Prof.
Reichard, editor, and Dr. Heilman, chairman, of the Com-
mittee on Bibliography, was held at Lebanon with Dr.
Schmauk, at which time the latter in a general way signi-
fied his approval of the Index matter as far as it had then
been compiled, but suggested the insertion of an introduc-
tory chapter with particular relation to the writings of Pas-
torius, Falckner, John Peter Miller, Conrad Weiser, Con-
rad Beisel, Bishops Kammerhof and Spangenberg, Boehm,
Muhlenberg, Sower, and others of the pre- and post-revo-
lutionary period as the fountain heads of a Pennsylvania-
German Literature.
Reports of progress on the Index project were made by
the Committee on Index at the meetings of the Society
held at Riegelsville, October 4, 19 12, and at Philadelphia,
October 17, 19 13.
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Foreword. xi
At a meeting held in Reading, June 24, 19 15, at-
tended by Drs. Schmauk, Sachse, and Nead, Rev. Mr.
Stoudt, Prof. Reichard and Dr. Heilman, this introduc-
tory chapter drawn up along lines suggested by Dr.
Schmauk, September 5, 19 12, was submitted by Prof.
Reichard, gone over by those present at the meeting, a few
changes made as to minor points, the suggestions of Dr.
Sachse conrunended to Prof. Reichard, and then an under-
standing arrived at that the Index matter shall appear in
Vol. 26 or 27 of the Society's publications. At the same
meeting the Index title was changed from an Index of
Pennsylvania-German Dialect Literature to Pennsylvania-
German Dialect Writings and Their Writers.
This in brief is a hurried review of this Index project,
from the time of its inception at Lancaster eight years
ago to the present time, and may be taken as a final report
from your Committee on Index, appointed six years ago.
The Index manuscript is ready, and awaits the call of
your Publication Committee.
Your Conunittee cannot close its report without con-
gratulating the Society on its acquisition in this Index of
something that will add so materially to its other valuable
publications, and without expressing Its deep appreciation
of the long, arduous and masterly work done by the Com-
mittee's editor. Prof. Reichard, in compiling the Index
material, an accomplishment for which the Society can
well be profoundly grateful.
Respectfully submitted,
S. P. Heilman,
Jno. Baer Stoudt,
Of the Index Committee.
NoutmowH, Pa^
November a, 19x6.
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INTRODUCTION.
I. Not a History of the Literary Activity of the
Germans of Pennsylvania.
^T'HE present work does not concern itself with the Ht-
^ erary activity of the German settlers of Pennsyl-
vania which found expression in the literary language of
their native land, the High German language, nor yet
with their productions in the language of their adopted
country — the English language.
Ellis Paxon Oberholzer in his " Literary Philadelphia *'
says: '^ It has not been fair in the past, nor is it just to-day,
to leave out of account the intellectual activity of the Ger-
mans who so soon followed the Quakers to Pennsylvania.
Through the industrious research of patient antiquarians
like Pennypacker, Sachse and Seidensticker justice is be-
ing done to their memory. They spoke, wrote and printed
in another, and a despised language. Indeed, many were
fluent masters of several languages as well as of their own,
the German. They were the flower of the Continental
universities, wherefore they were not understood by the
English colonists, for the most part men of less erudition."
The very first German immigrant to Pennsylvania,
Francis Daniel Pastorius, who landed at Philadelphia on
August 20, 1683, a few weeks before the first shipload of
13
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14 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
German Colonists, seems to have felt that in accepting
citizenship in William Penn's colony it was incumbent on
him and his people to learn the language of the colony,
and in 1697 he published "A New Primer, or Methodical
Directions to attain the true spelling, reading and writing
of English" — ^the first book of its kind in America.
A similar thought must have been in the mind of
Johannes Kelpius, the leader of the Mystics, who settled
on the Wissahickon, for one of the two MS. volumes
which he left contains a number of hymns with the musical
score. The hymns are in German and English, and on
opposite pages. Kelpius was educated at the University
of Altdorf, and arrived in Philadelphia in 1694; he died
in 1708. The other MS. volume he left is a Latin diary
and copies of his letters to members of his faith in Europe.
Much of the history of the intellectual activity of the
Germans of Pennsylvania during the eighteenth century
can be summed up in the history of the Sauer press,
founded 1739. In illustration of the fact above stated it
is to be noted that Sauer published in 175 1 an English
German Grammar of 287 pages and that the same was
reprinted in 1762 and again in 1772. A complete list,
as at present known, of the publications of the Sauer press
between the years 1739 and 1797 is to be found in Flory's
" Literary Activity of the Baptist Brethren," and among
the 372 works issued (newspapers and magazines are
counted as one for each year of issue) there is a consid-
erable number in the English language.
In line with the same movement G. H. E. Muhlenberg
published in 18 12 at Lancaster a German-English and
English-German Dictionary.
In order to illustrate the nature of the writings of the
early German settlers of Pennsylvania in the language of
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Pennsylvania^German Dialect Writings. 15
their native land, a few illustrations will be briefly cited.
The facts are gleaned for the most part from the writings
of Hausmann, Seipt, Flory, Pennypacker, Seidensticker,
Sachse and Learned.
Of Francis Daniel Pastorius, the German Pioneer and
founder of Germantown, Learned says: "In spite of the
untoward condition of his lot, he became the most many-
sided literary man in America, far outclassing Cotton
Mather, his famous Puritan contemporary in the Bay Col-
ony. The range of his activity has scarcely found a
parallel in America from that day to this." He had
studied at the Universities of Altdorf, Basel, Strassburg,
and Jena, and was thoroughly versed in Greek, Latin,
German, French, Italian, Dutch, and English. From
1664 there are extant two of his letters, one to his parents
and another to friends, containing "Sichere Nachricht
aus Amerika wegen der Landschaft Pennsylvania." In
1688 he, with three fellow colonists, presented to the
Quaker meeting the first formal protest in America against
slavery. If he was not the author (the style indicates
that he was) one of the other Pennsylvania Germans was,
or in all probability all four who signed the document
shared in the authorship. His Primer on the study of
English, published in 1697, has already been mentioned.
In the same year there appeared in Germany, as an Ap-
pendix to a work published by his father : " Kurtze Geo-
graphische Beschreibung der letztmals erfundene Ameri-
kanischen Landschaft Pennsylvania mit angehenckten
einigen notablen Begebenheiten und Bericht Schreiben an
dessen Herm Vattem, Patrioten und Freunde." In 1700,
this was published as a separate volume of 132 pages —
"Umstandige Beschreibung." This was still further en-
larged in the second edition of 1704. Finally, so as not
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i6 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
to rehearse at too great length what has been said else-
where, there is his large folio MS. "The Beehive." To
quote once more from Learned : " It is safe to say, that of
all the original Pennsylvania-German documents repre-
senting European culture in the colonial period, the most
interesting and extensive is the unicum, the folio MS. left
by Francis Daniel Pastorius, the Pennsylvania Pilgrim,
the founder of Germantown. This document, containing
Pastorius' Beehive or bee stock, is the Magna Charta of
German culture in colonial America and a veritable specu-
lum scienHarum of the seventeenth century — ^the first
American Encyclopedia, antedating the epoch of the
French encyclopedists. Whittier writes:
At evening while his wife puts on her look
Of love's endurance, from its niche he took
The written pages of his ponderous book
And read in half the languages of man
His " Rusca Apium " which with bees began
And through the gamut of creation ran.
Heinrich Koster, another of the band of Wissahickon
Mystics, educated at Breslau, published, in the course of
a religious controversy, a Latin thesis, being the first Latin
book written in Pennsylvania; because Pennsylvania had
no printer then, he tried to have it published in New York
but Bradford declined for want of a proof reader to do
the work intelligently; it was finally published 1702, in
Lippe-Detmold. During the same controversy appeared
" Ein Bericht an alle Bekenner und Schriftsteller," 1696 or
1697, published for him in New York, the first German
work written and printed in America.
The most important work of Daniel Falckner, and one
of the most important books for the history of conditions
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Pennsylvania^German Dialect Writings. 17
in early Pennsylvania, is " Curieuse Nachricht von Penn-
sylvania in Nord Amerika" (the original, and a transla-
tion by Julius F. Sachse, Litt.D., are in the Proceedings
OF The Pennsylvania-German Society) .
Religion having been the impelling factor in the col-
onization of the State, it was natural that if there was any
literature, its cast would be in the main religious. In
1728 Conrad Beisel, of the Ephrata Contununity, pub-
lished "Das Biichlein vom Sabbath," in 1728 "Ein Ehe-
biichlein," and also on Franklin's press " Gottliche Liebes
und Lobes Gethone," these as hymns; in 1732 and 1736
two other volumes of hymns. In the Chronicon Ephre-
tense we read " Ein heiliger Trieb, um Theil zu haben an
dem Grossen Lieder-Vorrath welcher die Erweckten in
Deutschland haben ans Licht gebracht, hat die Einsamen
bewegt eine Sammlung gedachter Lieder zu untemehmen,
welche auch damals daselbst in der hemach so beriihmten
Hochdeutschen Buch Druckerey unter dem Titel, * Zioni-
tischer Weyrauchshugel' ist ans Licht getreten." The
"Weyrauchshiigel" consists of 654 hymns with an ap-
pendix of 37 more, published in 1739 by the new press of
Christopher Sauer. In 1747, 1755, 1756 (2 volumes),
and in 1776 other hymn books appeared from the Eph-
rata Press, most of these latter were by Beissel. Speak-
ing of some of these hynms written on the walls of the
chambers in the Sisters House at Ephrata, Hausmann
says : " These Alexandrines are equal if not superior to any
hymns written abroad in the eighteenth century."
In 173 1 Sauer published "Eine Emstliche Ermahnung
an Junge und Alte *' — and the same year began " Der
Hoch Deutsch Amerikanische Kalendar.*' Two poems
are also known to have been issued from this press in the
same year. In 1739 also came: " Ein A, B, C, und Buch-
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1 8 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
stabierbuch," and the newspaper, Der Hoch Deutsch
Pennsylvanische Geschicht Schreiber. In 1741 from the
pen of Sauer: "Eine Betrachtung des Lasters der Trun-
kenheit" — ^showing the Pennsylvania German's early in-
terest in temperance. In 1744: " Verschiedene Alte und
Neuere Geschichten von Erschelnungen von Geister/*
This book of ghost stories was reprinted in 1748, 1755 and
1792. In 1755: "Hochst notige Wamung und Erinne-
rung an die freye Einwohner der Provintz Pennsylvania "
— a political address by Sauer.
Christopher Dock, a Mennonite, wrote hymns, some of
which are still used, and in 1770 Sauer published his " Ein-
faltige und grundlich abgefasste Schulordnung," the first
worlk on pedagogy in this country in any language. Full
treatment of Dock is to be found in the writings of Sachse,
Pennypacker and Brumbaugh.
The English Grammar of 1751 has been mentioned.
From 1764 to 1772 was published the Geistliches Maga-
zine, one of the first magazines of any kind to appear in
the colonies. In 1770: "Ein Ross Artzney Buchlein,"
200 pages, was published.
The greater part of the publications of the Sauer press
naturally were religious or moral treatises — the number
includes the three famous quarto Bibles, Sauer's greatest
triumph, seven New Testament printings, several books of
the Psalms and one Children's Bible. He published
hymn books for the Dunker, Lutheran, Reformed, Men-
nonite, Schwenkfelder and Moravian churches, for the
Ephrata Community and several undenominational hymn
books. Not all of these contained new or American prod-
ucts but many of them did; nor should the work of the
translators be passed over: George Whitfield's sermons
were issued in German, also Bunyan's ** Pilgrim's Progress,"
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 19
before ever an English edition was published in this
country. The above sununary is intended merely to give
some idea as to the variety of the productions of the
German writers. Politics, botany, medicine, poetry, re-
ligion, pedagogy, hymnology, school texts, astronomy,
music, temperance — these are some of the subjects that
engaged their attention. It is to be noted that the Sower
firm has continued to be an influence in the book world to
this day.
Hausmann has counted twenty-seven hymn writers to
1800, but the number is much larger, as more recent in-
vestigators have shown, A. A. Seipt having added eight
names from the Schwenkfelders, none of whom were
known to Hausmann, all but one before 1800. Zinzen-
dorf, the most prolific of the Moravian writers, composed
over 2,000 hymns before his return to Europe, and of
these Bishop Spangenberg wrote: "Nowhere else have
been composed such beautiful and edifying hymns for
shepherds, ploughers, threshers, reapers, spinners, knitters,
weavers and others. They would fill a whole farmer's
hymn book."
To the works of the early colonial period must be added
such important historical documents as Pastor Muhlen-
berg's letters to the orphanage at Halle, the now famous
"Hallesche Nachrichten," Bishop Cammerhof's "Letters
and Diary," and John Philip Boehm's " Reports to the
Coetus of the Reformed Church in Holland." The
translation and publication by the monks at Ephrata of
the "Martyrer Spiegel," a massive folio, was itself a
monumental achievement, not to mention all the other pro-
ductions of the Ephrata cloister. There were also other
German presses in Pennsylvania, at one time more Ger-
man presses than English.
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20 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
To investigate the niunber and the nature of the writ-
ings of these people in the language of their Fatherland
would be a fruitful subject of study, no less than a similar
study of their literary productions in the English Ian-
guage. The present work has nothing to do with either
of these subjects.
It is not a history of the literary activity of the Penn-
vania Germans; it does not concern itself with anything
that they have written in German or in English.
II. What this Work is, and Why.
The present writer was encouraged to undertake this
study partly because of words like these from so eminent
an authority as Rev. John S. Stahr, Ph.D., D.D., LL.D.,
late President of Franklin and Marshall College: "Art,
science and all the varied interests which pertain to the
national life at large are expressed in the literary language,
but those peculiar and to some extent deeper traits which
find expression in the domestic life and the daily walk and
conversation of the people are naturally clothed in the
form of a dialect. The Pennsylvania-German dialect in
this way effectively expresses the simplicity, honesty, inno-
cence, pathos and beauty of the daily life of these people
and the experiences which they have made as part of their
history. There is certainly room, therefore, for the study
of such literature as they have produced on this plane."
And again: "If Josh Billings and Hans Breitmann
with their corrupt and mongrel English serve to amuse
and are said to be not without merit by persons who ought
to be critics — if these productions, the language and or-
thography of which are very often made up to serve a
purpose, may exhibit certain phases of American life, and
thus have some literary value, how much more is this the
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 21
case with our Pennsylvania-German poems. Here every
word to a Pennsylvania German is a sound from home,
every description a vivid picture, every expression strikes
a chord in the soul that thrills every nerve, and the echoes
of which haunt the spirit after the sound itself has died
away."
This more comprehensive study was undertaken be-
cause, although the writers of the dialect are often alluded
to, and frequently in these days spoken of in commenda-
tory terms, yet not one of these works gives the reader
any idea of the body of these productions, how vast it 15,
how complete its descriptions of Pennsylvania-German life,
or how many the writers who have tried their hands at
turning a rhyme.
To note a few representative works where these dialect
writers and their writings have been briefly described:
Oscar Kuhns. " German and Swiss Settlements in Penn-
sylvania," Chapter V, p. 121 ff. — only three poets
are briefly discussed, a fourth is mentioned in a foot-
note; and one prose writer.
Karl Knortz. " Streifzuge auf dem Gebiete Amerikani-
scher Volkskunde," p. 76 ff. speaks of only two poets;
and in his "Geschichte der Nord Amerikanischen
Litteratur," Vol. II, p. 190 ff., three writers are men-
tioned.
Julius Goebel. "Das Deutschthum in den Vereinigten
Staaten von Nord Amerika " refers to one poet, p. 30.
The collection " Deutsch in Amerika " edited by Dr. G.
U. Zimmerman, Chicago, describes three writers, pp.
xlv and 245 ff.
Georg von Bosse. "Das Deutsche Element in den Ve-
reinigten Staaten," p. 436, mentions one writer and
one volume of collected poems.
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22 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Albert Bernhardt Faust. "The German Element in the
United States'* discusses two poets, Vol. II, p. 340;
and gives a somewhat fuller list in the bibliography.
In the case of the works above cited, it is invariably the
same authors that are discussed. In all about half a dozen
different writers are mentioned. Professor Faust, in the
latest authoritative work that mentions the literature, is
able to give less than two pages to it, but says it is " re-
freshing and historically valuable." If this be true it
ought to be worth while to have a more extended knowl-
edge of it.
" In poetry,*' says Kuhns, " much more of a higher sort
has been written, generally, however, in the form of trans-
lations from the English, and occasional poetry appearing
for the most part in newspapers or recited on festive occa-
sions." The fact that for a short time a magazine was
published in the dialect does not seem to be known to any
one that has written about the dialect literature (cf.
Rauch) . An Almanac in the dialect (see Keller) Is men-
tioned in the " Americana-Germanica " ; another one (see
Schuler) has been found. The prose written in the form
of weekly letters to a large number of newspapers has a
value and an interest that has never received its due ap-
preciation (cf. Grumbine, H. Miller, Harter, Rauch, Zim-
merman, Lins, D. Brunner).
Moreover the present writer has for many years been
a collector and believes that he has in his possession, or
has seen, all the books that have ever been written in the
dialect. He has also collected poems of the kind men-
tioned by Kuhns, and now has a very large number in his
collection (some of these have never appeared in print) ;
and, therefore, believes that he can give, or has given, a
much fuller and more comprehensive view than has ever
appeared heretofore.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 23
In the third place by a more detailed investigation of
the circumstances connected with the productions of any
individual writer, it is believed that a means has been found
to mediate between widely divergent views. For instance,
Karl Knortz, in discussing Fischer, one of the two poets
mentioned by him, says: "Einer der neuesten Beitrager
zur Pennsylvanisch-deutschen Litteratur . . . bildet, um
es kurz und biindig zu sagen das allertraurigste Erzeugnis
derselben." " Der Verfasser der noch nicht einmal seine
sogenannte ^ Muttersprache ' kennt, steht mit den Regeln
der Dichtkunst auf gespanntem Fusse," and then goes on
to show that the book has no legitimate excuse to justify
its existence. It is of the same man and the same book
that Dr. Zinmierman in his collection, " Deutsch in Amc-
rika," says: "Von Natur mit gesundem Humor begabt,
schrieb er viele Gedichte und Skizzen in Pennsylvanisch-
deutscher Mundart, das Alltagsleben der Deutschen in
Pennsylvanien meisterhaft schildernd." And again this
same man and this same work is referred to by Prof.
Faust when he says : ** The two most prominent poets, for
such a title may be bestowed upon them'* and when he
says: "This poetical literature of the Pennsylvania Ger-
mans is one of the few original notes in American lyrical
poetry."
To cite another instance of widely divergent critical
views : In the " Friedensbote," published at AUentown,
Pennsylvania, a Pennsylvania German writes a letter in
the dialect, apropos of the book to be issued on and in
the dialect by Dr. Home, then principal of The Key-
stone State Normal School at Kutztown, Pennsylvania.
After discussing the ancestry of the dialect, he proceeds
to consider the books that have been written in the
dialect, with a view to giving the prospective author ad-
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24 The PennsylvaniihGerman Society.
vice as to what errors of former writers he must avoid.
The particular paragraph that I have at present in mind I
give in the original dialect : ** Nau, wann du dra' gehst for
sel Buch schreiwe los des verhenkert Englisch Kauder-
welsch haus wo gar net in unser Sproch g'hort. Ich arge
mich allemol schwarz un bio wann so dumm stoff gedruckt
un in die Welt g'schickt werd wo Pennsylvanisch deitsch
sei soil, awer lauter geloga is. 'S is uns vorlaschtert wo
mirs net verdient hen. Un wann dei Buch mol fertig is
un's kummt mir unner die Finger un 's is so '« elendiger
Wisch wie kerzlich eener in Fildelfi raus kumme is, dann
ufgebasst — for dann verhechel ich dich dass du aussehnst
wie verhudelt Schwingwerk, un die Leut dich for'n Spuks
awgucke."
" Schinnerhannes vom Calmushiwel."
The above is the opinion expressed by a Pennsylvania
German editor, of a book published in Philadelphia, ** Ge-
malde aus dem Pennsylvanischen Volksleben; Schilderun-
gen und Aufsatze in poetischer und prosaischer Form in
Mundart und Ausdrucksweise der Deutsch Pennsylvanier,"
von Ludwig August WoUenweber, Schafer und Koradi,
Philadelphia und Leipzig, 1869. The same work that is
called " 'N elendiger Wisch " is referred to by Karl Knortz
as ** ein wertvolles Werkchen," and then he tells us that
here we may expect the truth, for the author was himself
one of these people, etc.
The present writer has tried to ferret out the reasons
for these differences of opinion, and errors of fact have
been corrected. Adverse criticism has too frequently
come from persons who do not understand the dialect or
who have measured dialect literature by the canons of
higher forms of literature; favorable criticism too fre-
quently from over-zealous defenders of the dialect.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 25
By gathering more facts than were at the disposal of
the above critics, and by searching into the motives that
induced these writers to produce their works, and by judg-
ing them in their own sphere as dialect writings, and not
by comparing them with classical writings of a written
language, but rather with writings in the various dialects
of Germany, he has sought in the proper places to mediate
between divergent opinions and attempted to arrive at a
true conclusion.
III. What the Pennsylvania-German Dialect is.
The settlers of Pennsylvania that came to be known as
Pennsylvania Germans came chiefly from the valley of the
Upper Rhine, the Palatinate and Switzerland. The books
they brought with them and those that in the colony were
printed were High German ; the language of their churches
and their schools was High German; but in the home, in
their simple dealings with each other they used the dialects
of their native districts, the Lower Franconian and Ale-
mannic dialects, and out of these two basic forms there de-
veloped in Pennsylvania an almost homogeneous dialect,
in which, however, the former predominated. As time
went on and occasion required, a large number of Eng-
lish words were pressed into service, though they were
always subjected to dialect inflections and constructions.
Objects for which there was no name in their speech re-
ceived the English name. The people no longer had any
connection with the Fatherland except in matters of re-
ligion, and gradually acquired the English language or
such parts of it as their needs required. With the acqui-
sition of English it came about that the people never hesi-
tated to draw upon an English word when speaking the
dialect and memory failed or a suitable dialect or High
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26 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
German word was missing, or an English word served
the purpose better. The entire terminology of the law,
at least so far as they needed it, was adopted into the
dialect. This became so conmion that Dr. Henry Muh-
lenberg and B. J. Schipper in their German-English Eng-
lish-German Dictionary, Lancaster, 1812, say that it often
happens that without special reflection or consulting a dic-
tionary the people are no longer certain whether they are
using an English or a German word.
" Durch den bestandigen Umgang mit den Englischen,
kommen wir so in die Gewohnheit hier und da ein Eng-
lisches Wort im Gesprache zu gebrauchen das wir (ohne
besonderes Nachdenken oder ein Worterbuch), oft nicht
wissen ob es Englisch oder Deutsch ist." And in an Ap-
pendix they give a large number of such words — " Solche
Worte die wir Deutsche theils wegen dem haufigen Ge-
brauch der Englischen Sprache, theils notgedrungen um
neue Gegenstande zu benennen so zu sagen, in unsere Mut-
tersprache aufgenommen haben." A few of these words
in the form in which they appear in the Dictionary are
here added. Arbitrehschen (arbitration), Bahl (bail),
Dschodsch (judge), Kautoback (Kau — German, chewing
tobacco), Minsspie (mince pie), Serdschant (sergeant),
Schmidtschop (Schmidt — German, blacksmith shop), Ein-
fensen (ein — German, to fence in), Skalp (scalp). Vendue
(a public sale), Quilten (to quilt).
At its best — or worst — the Pennsylvania-German dialect
includes all of the original dialect vocabulary, a large num-
ber of words from High German, especially religious and
biblical, and all of the English language known or needed.
Wusstman has correctly said " Der Mann aus dem Volkc
weiss in den meisten Fallen gar nicht, dasz er Fremdwor-
ter gebraucht.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 27
From the point of view of the scholar and the philolo-
gist the best answer to ** What is Pennsylvania German "
is Prof. M. D. Leamed's Pennsylvania-German Dialect,
Baltimore, 1889.
IV. What Pennsylvania German is Not.
Not long since a well-educated young lady in New York
inquired of one of her friends, a lawyer, whether he him-
self could speak that peculiar dialect of his ancestors.
When he assured her that he still had that accomplish-
ment, she requested that he give evidence of his ability
along those lines. When he very glibly proceeded to do so,
he found himself promptly cut short with the suggestion
that he was trying to hoodwink her. She knew exactly
what she wanted, and began to illustrate by examples like
the following : " Did you hear Lizzie, Abe Snyder's wife,
she died fur him last night, and her only sick a week yet?
Ach, reely did she though ? Yes, and her so well always
and him so sickly that way all the time, don't it now beat
all?" or "Here is a algebray, I am going to college, I
must know many things that I never yet heard of in this
world and you are to learn me." ** A teacher ought to be
English but he is very Germaner than the scholars."
"Would you spill the salt yet, you put a hex on every-
thing." " Well, I must say it don't look wery nice of you
to talk down on us and you living here with us." " Firstly
I want you to please git me a Lancaster lawyer to come out
here as soon as you otherwise kin."
It may be that some people talk this way; to discuss
that does not lie within the province of this paper; It is
enough to say that it is not Pennsylvania-German dialect.
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28 The PennsylvaniihGerman Society.
V. Why there is a Dialect Literature.
The rustic at home pokes fun at the fine phrases of the
urbanite, while the city man ridicules the language of the
peasant. The city man, however, seems to have more of
authority and the countryman is usually on the defensive.
This relation subsists also between the language and the
dialect, as soon as a more or less standardized language
is evolved out of kindred dialects.
In the Middle Ages, when the aristocratic court poetry
gave way to writers representing the Middle Class spirit,
Hugo von Trimmer in his poem "Der Renner" thus
apologizes for his dialect:
£in leglich mensche sprichet gem
Die sprache, bi der er ist erzogen ;
Sint miniu wort ein teil gebogen
Gen Franken, nieman daz si zom,
Wan ich von Franken bin gebom.
It matters not what dialect or what period we examine,
the results are the same; thus in a little volume, " Marsch
und Geest: Gedichte in niederdeutscher Mundart" von
Franz Poppe, Oldenburg, 1879, we may read on the first
page:
Se saen, wi Noorddutschen
Verstunnen kin Gesang
An'n Rhiin un an de Donau,
Dar harr de Sprak blot Klang.
Dat bet us lang verdraten
Dat se us so veracht't
As harr'n se't Recht torn Singen
Far sick alleenig pacht't.
Even Goethe had to defend himself against the charge
that his speech was colored by South German dialect. To
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 29
this he replied: "Jede Provinz liebt ihren Dialekt; denn
er ist doch eigentlich das Element in welchem die Seele
ihren Atem schopft."
In different parts of the world, dialects have the same
reproaches hurled at them, have the same prejudices to
contend with. Out of pure self-defense they have sought
adequate expression. The spirit thus arouses itself in one
of two ways : in the one case men of poetic bent, often men
who have already written poetry in a recognized literary
idiom, now at last, either of their own motion or by re-
quest, essay the rhythms of their native speech and bring
forth their productions with a defiant " Tliere now, stand
corrected"; on the other hand, men will burst out with
declarations of their affections for their despised tongue
and in their very passion create poems- What is true of
dialect writing in general finds its exemplification in the
Pennsylvania German.
Rondthaler wrote his first poem to prove a point (see
Rondthaler). Harbaugh, who had already published
English verse, required urging before he ventured to write
dialect and even then published at first timidly, without
affixing his name. J. Max Hark wrote "En HondfuU
Farsh" as an experiment and with those poems rested
his case (see Proceedings of The Pennsylvania-Ger-
man Society, Vol. X.). Lee Light Grumbine began in
the same way, and was encouraged to do more work of the
same kind. Col. Thos. Zimmerman, after very sucessfuUy
translating a great deal of German into English, was per-
suaded to translate Scotch, English and Irish ballads into
Pennsylvania German. All of these men enjoyed a wide ac-
quaintance with literature; all could frame their thoughts
as readily in Pennsylvania German as in English. All had
written English poetry or rendered translations into Eng-
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30 'The Pennsylvania-German Society.
lish. To the last three the Pennsylvania-German Society
had said in effect, " Why not speak for and in the dialect ? "
and this they proceeded to do, the last two continuing the
work after the success of their first experiments (see the
respective chapters — ^L. L. Grumbine, Zimmerman).
To the second class belong such poems as that of wor-
shipful adoration of his mother tongue by Adam Stump,
of which the last stanza runs thus:
O sanfte, deire Muttersproch!
Wie Hunnig fliesst sie darrich mei Sinne!
Un wann ich mol im Himmel hoch
Mei scheene Heemet duh gewinne
Dann heer ich dort zu mcincm Wohl
En Mutterwort — ja, ah ebmol.
Or the word of Ziegler, confident of its powers:
Will ich rccht vc'stannig schwetze
Eppes ausennanner setze —
A, B, C, un ccns, zwcc, drci,
So diss jeder commoner Mann
Klar un deitlich sehne kann
Well *as Gold is un wel Blei, >
Ncm ich gutc deitsche Wartc,
Weis un schwarzi, weech un harte
Noh voUbringt die Sach sich glci.
Or again the vigorous words of Dr. Keller :
Ich schwetz in der deitsche Sproch
Lieb sie ah un halt sie hoch ;
Sie is ah ken Nevekind
Das mcr in de Hecke find —
Sie kummt her fum schone Rhei
Wu sie Trauwc hen un Wei!
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Pennsylvania^German Dialect Writings. 31
This incentive to write finds its parallel again in
Europe; listen once more to Franz Poppe:
Us' Sprak is as us' Heiden
Ursprungdk noch un free
Us Sprak is deep un machtig
Un prachtig as de See. . . .
Min Modersprak, wu klingst du
So s5t im doch so stark!
Wo Icew' ich di van Harten
Du Land vuU Kraft un Mark!
For the earliest example in print of what purports to
be a specimen of the dialect we must undoubtedly have re-
course to Johann David Schopf's "Travels" (1783-
1784), published at Erlangen in 1788 and reprinted in
Radlof s ** Mustersaal aller teutschen Mundarten," Bonn,
1822, Vol. II, p. 361; but the man does not exist who
would acknowledge this as his dialect, or who would recog*
nize it as a native idiom at all. Professor Haldemann,
who dted the same passage in his " Pennsylvania Dutch,"
agrees in regarding it as nothing other than a sportive
example and a spurious joke.
In Firminich, " Germaniens Volkerstimmen," Vol. Ill,
p. 445, Berlin, 1854, there is another longer specimen
which was taken from a Pennsylvania newspaper.
The earliest example in print of writing in the dialect
by such as also spoke it must be sought in the early news-
papers of Eastern Pennsylvania. Der Deutsche in Ame-
rika of 1 841 contained many rhymed compositions. In
1846, advertising doggerels appeared in the Allentown
Friedensbote. One after another the newspapers took up
the matter, publishing short prose or verse selections;
their readers wanted it ; except in familiar intercourse with
each other the rural population of eastern Pennsylvania
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32 The Pennsylvania^German Society.
was obliged to use one or the other of two foreign lan-
guages; in business chiefly, and in law entirely, it was the
English; in their religious and intellectual life it was the
High German; accordingly they seem to have welcomed
almost anjrthing that was in the language of their daily
speech ; they seem to have felt a void because their speech
was only something to be heard and not also something that
could be seen. And then, when in many papers they could
see their speech in print every week, there manifested itself
a more ambitious desire to see their speech between the
covers of a book. The story in the Introduction to Wol-
lenweber's "Gemalde aus dem Pennsylvanischen Volks-
leben " fairly represents the feeling of the dialect-speaking
Pennsylvania-German population.
Ich war nie uf de Gedanke komme das Buch zu schreiwe, aber
do war ich das Fruhjohr uf dem grosse Felse bei Allentaun, un
hab uf dem wunnerbar schone Platz, wo mer viele Meile wcit die
schone Berge un das vun Gott so gesegnete Land sehne kann.
Un wie ich do so gestanne, un die Natur so bewunnert hab,
das mei Herz ganz weeg geworre, un's Wasser mer schier in die
Auge komme ischt, da kommt uf e mol en alter Mann dorch die
Hecke un stellt sich grad nebe mich un frogt mich, wie ich die
Ansicht do glciche that. Sehr gut, geb ich ihm zur Antwort.
Well, sagt er, ich wohnc a paar Meile von do, un komme wanns
Wetter scho ischt, schier alle Monat uf de Felse, un wann ich
dann mich so recht satt gesehne hab, do geht mei Herz uf, un ich
mchn ich war im rechte Tempcl Gottes, und dank dem guten
Vater un Schopfer mit ganzem Herze, dass er uns c so schon's un
gut's Land gegebc hot. Un wann ich von mciner Bcrgras wiedcr
hem humm, bin ich ganz vergnugt, un predig meincr Fraa un
Kinner, wie scho als Gott die Welt gemacht hot, un wic mer ihm
dafiir danke sollte.
Nau hab ich schon dran gedenkt, wcnn c mol c Bucherhandler
dran gchn dat, un dat e Buch druckc losse, wo mer in uns'rc egene
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 33
Sproch, uber unser Land un Volk lese konnte, un nenebei a so
gespassige Stuckelchen nei bringe, wie sie manchmol im Doyle-
stouner Morgenstem un im Express stehn, un wie sie die Johre
zuruck im Kutztowner Neutralist gestanne hen, das em der Bauch
vor Lache gewackelt hot, un ich bin schur davon alle meine Noch-
bore date so e Buch kafe, un der Buchhandler dat net schlecht dabei
ausmache und sich noch Dank dazu verdiene.
Well, sagt ich zu dem Alten, ich geh morge niiber noch Phila-
delphia, wo ich die Buchhandler Schafer und Koradi kenn und
ich will mit ihne von Eurem Vorschlage schwatze, vielleicht gehn
se dran, un losse so a Buch drucke, un bis mer dann wieder e mol
uf dem Felse zusamme kumme tschts Buch vielleicht fertig. Awer
Drubel wards koste, dann unser Pennsylvanisch Deutsch ischt hart
zu schreiwe, un mancher verenglischt es so, dass mer gar nijnme
draus kimmie kann. Doch denk ich wann a hier un da a Mistak
im Buch gemacht werd, warre die Leut es net so hart ufnehme,
sischt jo es erscht Probestuck, e Buch in Pennsylvanisch Deutsch.
Nau, sagte der Alte, wann du sell sewege bringst un e Peddler
kommt mit dem Buch in unsere Gegend, do wett ich ens gege zwe,
dass er all verkauft wo er hot; und dass er geschwind mit fertig
werd, will ich ihm mei bester Gaul gebe for rum zu reite.
Der alte Mann druckte mir die Hand und sagte, very well.
Ich war aber noch net satt genunk uber die Scho Gegend zu gucke,
un es war schier Nacht wie ich hem kimmie bin. — Dem alte Mann
sei Geschwatz ischt mir die ganze Nacht dorch de Kop gegange,
un nachste Morge bin ich noch Philadelphia im well mei Geschaft
a bald gesettelt war, hab ich dem Buchhandler dem alten Mann
von Lecha G)unty sei Wunsch gesagt, un sie ware a gleich redy
for die Sach' un nau werd bald das Buch iiberall rum gehn, wanns
nur a gefallt, das dat dem Schreiwer en arge Freud mache, im er
dat uf sei Pennsylvanier un sei Pennsylvanien noch stolzer werre
wie er jetzt schun ischt
The same forces which called these first newspaper ar-
ticles and this first book into existence continued to operate
and to a certain extant are still operative. In a recently
3
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34 The PennsyhaniihGerfnan Society.
published book, entitled *' Boonastiel, Pennsylvania
Dutch," by Thomas Harter, the author expresses himself
thus in the preface: "The articles contained in this volume
were published from time to time in the Middlehurgh Post
(Pa.) of which I was editor until 1894, and since then in
the Keystone Gazette, Bellefonte, Pa., under the heading
* Brief Fum Hawsa Barrick,' addressed to myself as
*Liewer Kemal Harder* and signed * Gottlieb Boonas-
tiel.' At first they were written only for personal amuse-
ment, and appeared only occasionally, but I soon found
them so essential to the prosperity of my paper that in
order to keep up its circulation I was compelled to write
every week and now have a great number of letters on
file, out of which I have selected the substance that com-
poses this volume/*
A number of other persons, correctly gauging this de-
sire of the people to see their dialect in book form, have
issued collections of their own writings or of those of a
number of authors. These books have never been a drug
on the market and to my certain knowledge several other
writers have frequently been urged by their friends to pub-
lish, but have not yet consented to do so.
A book in the dialect naturally will obtain only a small
circulation outside of the district where the dialect is
spoken. It is none the less valuable, for if the book is
written by one of these people, and for them, and for the
most part about them, and accepted with satisfaction by
these people, we may be reasonably certain that we have
either a flattering idealization of them or at least a faithful
portrait and not a caricature. It may be noted, in illustra-
tion of this point, that Mrs. Helen Riemensnyder Martin's
novels are not among the most popular works in the dis-
trict about which she writes, and for the obvious reason
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Pennsylvania^German Dialect Writings. 35
that she always selects one of the worst types it is possible
to find and sets him off against a very high type from some
other part of the country, as for example a low-type Penn-
sylvania German against a high-type New Englander.
** Ein Bauer der seine Sprache f rei und sicher spricht, ist
ein Mann, er bringt uns den Hauch einer eigenen Welt,
seine Weltanschauung mit; so hart sie sein mag- er kommt
nie an uns heran ohne Erquickung der Seele," says Klaus
Groth. That a number of writers, by responding to the
desire of the people to have something in their own speech,
have succeeded in giving us the "Weltanschauung" of the
body of the Pennsylvania Germans will be shown by the
words with which they have been greeted by their own
people and the success which has attended their endeavors
as authors. Almost every chapter will bear evidence to
this fact.
Once the current was fairly under way, and the columns
of the newspapers open, many came forward with efforts
that might otherwise never have found their way into print.
The establishment of the Pennsylvania-German Maga^
zine some years ago, affording a reasonably large audience
of interested readers, has been instrumental in brining
forward a number of new singers, and from a Pennsyl-
vania poetess the call has gone out :
Wu sin die deitsche Dichter
Sie sin verschwunne all
^ Wu sin die grosse Lichter
In unsere Ruhmeshtll
Heraus, heraus Reimreiser,
Wu sin ihr all versteckt
Ihr sin jo die Wcgwciscr
Die Schoheit uferweckt.
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36 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Another small class of books may be mentioned as owing
their existence to a very real necessity; it is stated thus in
preface to the second edition of Home's " Pennsylvania
German Manual," 1895: "The great problem pre-
sented for solution is how shall 600,000 to 800,000 in-
habitants of eastern Pennsylvania, to say nothing of those
of other parts of our own State and of other States, to
whom English is as much a dead language as Latin and
Greek, acquire a sufficient knowledge of English to enable
them to use that language intelligently." As a guide to
the study of English the manual, which includes a guide
to pronunciation, a select reader, and a dictionary, was sub-
mitted to the public for use in schools and families. The
book was first published in 1875 and a fourth edition has
made its appearance.
The earlier writers wrote to show that it was possible
to use the dialect for literary expression, to satisfy the de-
sire among the people for stories in their daily speech, to
teach those who dealt with the Pennsylvania Germans in
business the elements of their speech and to use the dialect
as a means of teaching the Pennsylvania Germans the Eng-
lish language.
Of subsequent writers some wrote because others had
written before them — inspiration ; where possible the rea-
sons have been ferreted out in the case of each individual
writer and in each chapter noted; a large number, how-
ever, have had no other reason for writing than the Sanger
of Goethe, and have asked no other reward than that one
did:
Ich singe wie der Vogel singt
Der in den Zweigen wohnet
Das Lied das aus der Kehle dringt
1st Lohn der reichlich lohnet.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 37
VI- The Range op Pennsylvania-German Dialect
Poetry and the Types op Dialect Writing.
Wide is the range of literary forms that our dialect
writers have cultivated. In verse there is much narrative
and descriptive poetry, considerable that is truly lyrical
(in the modem sense) , and some selections that have had a
wide popularity as songs (see L. Miller, E. Grumbine,
Henninger). A number of sonnets have been written
(Hark, Ziegler), and just as in the more serious litera-
tures, a claim has been set up by one writer to have written
and iirst sonnet in the dialect (Hark, Proceedings P. G.
S., Vol. X.). This daun has been disproved (see article
on Ziegler) • Ziegler, in humorous vein, has even written
a sonnet on the sonnet as a literary form. There is a great
deal of occasional poetry, this usually was intended to be
read at the reunions of families, the gathering of former
students of a school, for birthdays, to celebrate the com-
ing of the New Year, one for a College Class Day (Hen-
ninger), one to settle a factional fight in a church (Koplin),
and at least three " In Memoriam " — ^Weiser : Zum An-
denken an Dr. H. H.; Gruber: Zum Andenken an L. L.
G. ; the latter full of snatches from Grumbine's own verse
ddllfuUy woven into the poem, and finally Ziegler's
"An Meine Mutter.** All are good; the latter actually
takes Tennyson for his model and in some places para-
phrases, and very successfully, parts of that poem. Of the
latter it can be said that never has a dialect writer set
himself so lofty a model and then approached the same
so nearly in form and feeling as has Ziegler.
The poetics of dialect literature has never been written,
but here and there we may gather some of the laws that
will be incorporated in it. Karl Weinhold in an essay
"Ueber Deutsche Dialekt Forschung,'* when speaking
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38 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
of the new life that entered Dialekt Dichtung through
Hebel, adds "Viele meinten es ihm nachtun zu konnen,
allein nur einer unter den zahlreichen Dialektdichtem hat
erreicht was er woUte." In accounting for this he says
" Er hat nicht wie die anderen Landschaftliche Laute und
tVorte Zusammengeleimt sondern das Fuhlen, Denken
und Sprechen des Volkes Glucklich wteder erschaffen.
Das ist das Einzige und Hochste was diese Literarische
Gattung leisten kann, alles andere ist leere Spreu und eitle
Tandelei.
If now we examine the titles of their poems, we find that
the Pennsylvania-German writers have treated almost
without exception themes that lie near to the "Denken
und Fuhlen of the Volk.'*
They have lingered long and lovingly around the old
homestead, "Unser alty Heemet" (Ranch, Meyer,
Gruber), literally from the cradle to the grave and the
new home beyond the grave. From the time the joyous
cry goes up "it's a boy" — "En Buwele is es" (KeUer)
to the graveyard, "Der alt Kerchhof " (Weitzel), where
mother sleeps — "Die Mammi schlofft" (Stump) and to
the heavenly home, "Es himmlisch Heemweh" (Bahn).
Boyish pranks find their gleeful narrators; the catching
of the fabled bird or beast, " Die elfatritsche Jagt " (J. J.
B.) , teasing the old buck, " Der alt Schofbok " (DeLong) ,
sneaking into mother's pantry, "Der Tschell3rschlecker "
(More), the forfeits the boy pays when mother comes
with the shingle, "Der Mammi ihre Schindel" (tranla-
tion, Schuler) , childhood's pastimes, such as making chest-
nut whistles when in the springtime the sap begins to flow,
"Keschts Peifa" (Keller), boys' work on the farm, pick-
ing stones in the fields newly cleared for cultivation, oh
how the boys hated the job, "Der Bu am Schteeleesa"
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PennsyhamaXjcrmaH Dialect Writings. 39
(Stump) , and there were some who ** played off '* when the
boss was not watching, as Dinkey's hired man, ** Em Din«
key sei Knecht" (Wuchter).
There are dozens devoted with loving tenderness to
the country schooL This point need not be enlarged upon
farther than to say that Harbaugh*s Old Schoolhouse by
the Creek, *' Das alt Schulhaus an der Krick,'* was the in-
spiration of the entire body of poetic literature in the dia-
lect.
Every kind of work has its singer, haymaking, ** Hoyet
und Emdt" (Mays), flax culture, "Flaxbaue'' (Keller),
a veritable litde epic of toil in ten short cantos; many have
described the old-fashioned applebutter bee, of which it is
hard to say whether it was work or sport, ^^Latwerk-
koche" (Grumbine, Fischer, etc.).
On Saturday evening, when the woik of the week Is
over the young will gather at singing school, ** Die Sing-
schule '' (Henninger) , on Sundays at the old church, ^* Die
alt Kerch" (Reinedce), in the fall everybody gathers at
the fair, "An der Fair'' (Hark).
The seasons are sung; one writer (Bahn) celebrates
them all; what joy there is in winter, "Hurrah fer der
Winter" (Wuchter), and its sports, coasting, "Es Glatt
Eis Fahre" (Keller). There is also a melancholy side
to the ice storm that breaks the trees, "Es Glatt Eis"
(Bahn), yet who does not welcome the snow, "Der
Schnee I " (Wuchter) . But when the cruel winter is over
everybody rejoices in the merry springtime, "Es Friih-
johr is do un alles is fro" (Mays), while another is ^ad
for the opportunity to work — "Im Summer" (Wollen-
weber). Autumn, "Schpotjohr" (Leisenring), too, has
its poet.
The festal seasons of the year have not been forgotten,
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40 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
a birthday, "En Geburtsdawg ** (Witmer) ; the Fourth
of July, "Der Viert" (Grumbme, Miller); Christmas
eve, "Die Nacht vor der Chrischdawg '* (translation,
Zimmerman, Miller); New Year's Day, "Neujohr"
(Weitzel) ; Shrovetide, " Fahsnacht" (Wuchter) ; a Mo-
ravian Eastermoming, "En Herrenhoodter Oschtre-
morja" (Hark); Santa Claus, "Der Belsnickel," "Das
Krischkinder' (Harbaugh).
The delight of those who have lived near to nature's
heart is not only in the phenomena of nature but also in
her creatures; the birds have called forth rhyme, the
whippoorwill, "Der Wipperwill" (Fischer) ; the peewee,
"Der Pihwie" (Harbaugh, Wuchter); the birdhouse,
"Es neu Vogelhaus" (Eshelman) ; the robin, "Die Am-
schel " (Hark, Weitzel) ; a hen and her chicks, " En Gluck
voU Beeplin" (Grumbine, E.) ; likewise the trees, the old
willow, " Der alt Weidebaam " (Bahn) ; under the spread-
ing chestnut tree, "Unnich 'em alte Keschdabaam"
(Hark); the chestnut tree, "Der Keschdabaam" (Kel-
ler); the woods, "Der Busch" (Weitzel, Stump); in
Brush Valley, "Im Heckedahl" (Meyer).
By no means of least importance are the rhymed char-
acter sketches, a character, "En Character" (Weitzel);
the old schoolmaster, "Der alt School meeschter"
(Fischer); the braggart, "Der Prahlhans" (Grumbine,
E.) ; our Henry, "Unser Henny" (Hark) ; Jacky, "Der
Jockel" (Keller); the clown, "Der Hansworscht"
(Mays); the beggar, "Der Bettelmon" (Minnich) ; a
plain man, " En simpler Mon " (Ziegler) ; the miser, " En
Geitz " (Wuchter) ; the old charcoal burner, " Der alt
Kohlebrenner " (Mays) ; the washerwoman, "Die Wasch-
fraa " (Keller) ; the toper, " Mei arme Bee " (Grumbine,
L. L.) ; the fisher, " Der alt Fischermon" (Gruber).
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Pennsylvania^German Dialect Writings. 41
Finally, although this does not exhaust the categories,
nor the titles that could be cited under each, but is in-
tended merely to illustrate the rule which forms the sub-
ject of this chapter, we end as we began, with the old
homestead; it has been ransacked from the topmost floor,
"Ufm owerschte Speicher" (Stein), "Der alt Garrett"
(Brunner) ; the bedroom, "Die Schlof schtub " (Har-
baugh) ; the old hearth, "Der alt Feuerheerd" (Har-
baugh) ; the old arm chair, " Der alt Schockelschtuhl "
(Bahn) ; a quilt, "Juscht en Deppich" (Eshelman) ;
every nook and every object to which the memory fondly
clings has been glorified in song.
If the poems themselves be examined it will be found
that these writers have not only recreated the thought and
feeling of the Volk, but that they come safely also under
the third requirement as set down in Weinhold's rule —
they have remained faithful to the language of the Volk.
At times the writers have transgressed the rules, and in
consequence have not been wholly successful in their under-
taking; in this class it has always seemed to the present
writer should be included Lee L. Grumbine's translation of
the Ancient Mariner, the theme not being adapted to
dialect treatment; his other translations are truer reflexes
of the Volk mind. On the other hand Bryant's "Thana-
topsis" has been translated by Ziegler with wonderful
fidelity to the thought into a language smooth and rhyth-
mical, so that in words and in structure it remains, as the
language of true poetry often does, strangely near the lan-
guage of daily speech.
Parody has a number of illustrations, as in Gruber's
" Die Letscht Maud Muller " ; E. Grumbine's " Die Mary
un ihr Hundley," among others. There is more that
might be called reminiscent of the other writers — ^H. Mil-
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42 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
ler's " Bells " after Tennyson, Ziegler's " Schneckehaus **
after Holmes* "The Chambered Nautilus"; Fischer is
full of Burns; in one case he is thinking of Longfellow'9
" Under a Spreading Tree '* ; E. Grumbine's " Der Alt
Busch Doctor" is after a poem by Will Carleton; Ziegler
has one that recalls Horace's "Exegi Monumentum."
Others have borrowed from earlier dialect writers as
Mays, and others from Harbaugh, or Harbaugh (per-
haps) from HebeL
In the field of translation, the ground that has been
covered is vast, the authors that have been drawn on are
many. J. Baer Stoudt has rendered Longfellow's "The
Rainy Day," a number have tried " The Psalm of Life,"
while Ziegler has rendered several others from Longfel-
low as well as Bryant's " Thanatopsis." L. L. Grumbine
has gone to John Vance Cheney and rendered all of Cole-
ridge's " Ye Ancient Mariner," Zimmerman has one from
greek anthology, Ranch from Hamlet, and from Poe.
Dialect has been turned into dialect, several writers turn-
ing Suabian into Pennsylvania German; Schuler, a ballad
after Breitman, " Ven der angry passions gaddering," into
the Pennsylvania German. Likewise, several have come
from Irish and Scotch originals, notably, "Auld Robin
Gray" and "The Bairnies Cuddle Doon at Nicht" (Zim-
merman) ; finally, and not least, Elwood Newhard has ren-
dered parts of Gilbert and Sullivan's Comic Opera " Pina-
fore," travelled over Pennsylvania with a company and
sung these parts in the dialect, meeting with great success.
It must be remarked in passing that amongst the Penn-
sylvania Germans there are known in dialect form a great
many rhymes, riddles and weather rules in metrical form.
Their origin is like Topsy's — "They just growed," or as
Theodor Storm says " Sie werden gar nicht gemacht, sie
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 43
wachsen, sie fallen aus der Luft, sie fliegen fiber Land wie
Mariengam, hierhin und dorthin tind werden an tausend
Stellen zugleich gesungen." J. Baer Stoudt has collected
these and published them in the Proceedings of The
Pennsylvania^erman Society, Vol. XXIII.
The bulk of the prose has been in the form of news-
paper letters (Rauch, D. Miller, H. Miller, Wollenweber,
Harter, etc.). While these are, in the main, humorous,
we get snatches of other forms here and there. Book
reviews occur, such as Leisenring on Wollenweber's book
(see p. 24). The present writer has in his possession a
letter in the dialect by a professor at the Theological Sem-
inary at Lancaster commending a young pastor for a
dialect poem he has written in the interests of peace in a
factional church. Home advertises Ziegler's book in a
broadside to prospective buyers. A bit of brief Biogra-
phy — Conrad Gehring's " Lives of the German Governors
of Pennsylvania" — has appeared in Home's Manual,
while Joseph Wamer has published a " Comic History of
the United States," modeled on a book of similar title in
English. Two dramolets were written and also played in
many a crossroads schoolhouse (see Rauch, £. Grumbine) .
Several other types of composition, though not in print,
must be mentioned here:
Sermons. — Many preachers no doubt used, instead of
German, a language closely approximating the dialect, but
there is one that stands in a dass by himself — Moses Dis-
singer, "The * Billy' Sunday of the Pennsylvania Ger-
mans." Some of his stories, his figures of speech, his
striking illustrations, have appeared in print, many more
are still vivid in the minds of those who had the oppor-
tunity to hear him preach.
Lectures. — ^At least one Pennsylvania German, Rauch,
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44 The PennsyhaniO'German Society.
had a set lecture with which he travelled; a part of this
is reprinted in one of the earlier volumes of the Pennsyl-
vania-German Society's Proceedings. In addition to
delivering this lecture he also read his own and from Har-
baugh's poems.
'Letters. — ^These have been referred to above; others are
mentioned in the article on Harter. In gathering the
material for this work, the present writer found that in
soliciting information he could get nearer to his corre-
spondents if a few paragraphs were written in the dialect.
The Pennsylvania-German writers had been so much mis-
understood that they seemed to open their hearts in a
different way when made to realize that the writer not
only knew and used their dialect but understood their point
of view and appreciated their feelings.
Political Speeches. — ^The politicians early learned to
know the value of the dialect as a means of approach to
the voters. Many are the names that might be cited here
and under this rubric would be included the speeches of
the Hon. W. H. Sowden, of AUentown, although he, their
author, was a native of Cornwall, England. (For notes
on the dialect in the Courts see article on Rauch. Com-
pare also footnote to President Fackenthal's address Pro-
ceedings of the P. G. S., Vol. XXIV, p. ii.)
After Dinner Speeches and Addresses. — Henninger was
perhaps the prince of those in the list. Henry Houck,
too, will long be remembered for his efforts along this line.
See also Dr. N. C. Schaeffer on Henry Harbaugh in In-
troduction to Lynn Harbaugh's life of Henry Harbaugh.
Almanacs. — ^At least two almanacs appeared entirely
in the dialect; of one of these Eli Keller was the editor
and compiler, H. A. Schuler of the other. They both
came from the Friedensbote Press, Allentown.
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Pennsylvania^German Dialect Writings. 45
VII. A Word about the Arrangement.
The problem of arrangement presented many difficul-
ties. There were clearly a number of writers that be-
longed to the founders of the literature. Among these
are Harbaugh, Rauch, Fischer and Home. At the same
time Eli Keller, who published some of his best poems in
Rauch's almost forgotten "Pennsylvania Dutchman," is
still producing good poems; the life of Ezra Grumbine
also covers almost the entire period. Milton Henninger
produces a poem at intervals of almost a score of years.
Home, who belongs to the earlier writers, continued to
revise and reprint his book, and it has even had a number
of editions since his death, revised by his son.
Since the treatment has been in the main biographic, the
course taken has been to group together certain writers as
of The Earlier Period, including amongst these the con-
sideration of all writers no longer living. Those grouped
in The Later Period, comprising writers still living, have
been arranged in alphabetical order. For convenience
some have been characterized by a line or a phrase. Of
those not so characterized some are so well known as not
to need it, in the case of others it has been possible to sum
up their work in the manner indicated, that is, by a line or a
phrase.
It is also proper to add that no effort has here been
made to constmct a phonetic alphabet to be adhered to
throughout, or to invent a uniform system of spelling the
dialect. The writers do not agree on this point; indeed
they often quarreled with each other about it. It, there-
fore, seemed best to the editor and compiler, with a view of
affording the widest representation, to leave the quoted
parts in exactly the dialect setting and spelling in which
they were put by the writers themselves.
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THE EARLIER PERIOD AND WRITERS NO
LONGER LIVING.
I. Louis Miller.
BmUOGItAPHY AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
Amcrikaiiische Volkskonde. Karl Knortz, Leipzig.
Proceedings of the Penngylvania-German Society, Vol. XII.
Short Sketch of the PennsylTania Germans. H. L. Fisher, Chicago, III.
Antedating Rondthaler usually accounted the first to
have essayed dialect verse is another Pennsylvania-Ger-
man poet whose poems were, however, in all probability
not in print at so early a date. Louis Miller was bom the
son of a school teacher, at York, Pa., December 3, 1795;
he became a carpenter and later a builder, and is said to
have gained credit and distinction as such; he was a man
of ready wit, and of a culture unusual for his time and in
his community. This fund of information he acquired by
diligent self-instruction and by one very extensive trip
through Europe. Besides this he was a talented cartoonist
and caricaturist, as is shown by two volumes of his sketches
still extant. So far I possess only one of his poems ; it is
a driver's song which was said to have had a goodly share
of popularity in the days when the German farmers of
southern Pennsylvania used to convey the products of their
farms and distilleries to market in Baltimore in their great
Conestoga wagons.
46
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 47
Nooch Baltimore geht unser Fuhr
Mit dem bedeckte Waage;
Der Turnpike zeigt tins die Geschpur,
Die Gaul sin gut beschlaage.
En guter Schluck, Gliick zu der Reiss,
Der Dramm, der stcigt un fallt im Preis —
So bloose die Posauner —
Hot, Schimmel, hot! ei, Brauneri
Mer fahre bis zum Blauen Ball,
En deutscher Wirt, ein guter Schtall —
Der Eirisch isch Schalk Jauner —
Hot, Schimmel, hot! ei, Brauner!
Do schtcht 'n Berg, dort ligt 'n DaM,
Un 's ZoUhaus gegenuwer;
Es singt en Lerch, es pfeift 'n Schtaar;
" Die Freiheit isch uns liewer."
Es regert sehr, der Pelz wert nass,
Mer steige aus dem Waage,
Un ziege aus dem kleene Pass,
Was taugt fur unsere Maage;
Seenscht net das, nau, schun schpreier geht?
Mer bleiwe net dahinde,
Un wer das Puhrwerk recht verschteht,
Losst sich net lodisch finde.
Den Dramm, den hen mer jetz verkauft,
Un 's Gelt isch in der Tasche;
Jetz fahre mer vergnugt zu Haus,
Und lere's in die Kaschte;
En guter Schluckl Gluck bu der ReissI
Der Dramm, der schteigt un fallt im PrcissI —
So bloose de Posauner —
Hot, Schimmel 1 hot, ei Brauneri
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48
The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Jetz henmer schun en gute Loth
Von allc Sortc Waarc,
Die wolln mer jetz heemzus graad
Auf*s schmaale Eck hi fahre.
Der Fuhrloh zaalt des Zehrgeld znick,
En guter Schluck, zu allem Glick,
Mir sin ke Schalke Jauner!
Hot, Schimmel! hot, ei Brauner!
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2. Emanuel Rondthaler.
BlBUOGRAPHT AND OTHER SOURCES OF INIORMATION.
Correspondence with members of his family.
Life of Harbaugh. Linn Harbaugfa, Philadelphia, 190a
Life of Philip Schaff. D. S. Schaff, New York, 1(97.
Nazareth Hall and Its Reunions. Reichel, Philadelphia, 1Z69.
Pennsylvania German, Vol. I, z^ i8>.
Pennsylvania German, Vol. VII, 3, 121.
The song for which the claim has been made that it is
the earliest known poem in the dialect was entitled
"Abendlied," when, in August, 1849, i* first appeared in
the Deutscher Kirchenfreund, published by the Rev. Dr.
Philip Schaff. Up to 1857, Dr. Schaff declined to reveal
the identity of the author, but shortly thereafter attributed
its authorship to Rev. Edward Rondthaler, Sr., a Mo-
ravian missionary and minister who was for a time tutor
and subsequently principal of the famous Moravian
school, Nazareth Hall, Nazareth, Pa., and who died in
1855.
On the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of the
founding of this school in 1769, a book was prepared by
William C. Reichel, "Nazareth Hall and Its Reunions,"
Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1869, in which our poem is in-
cluded in an appendix, but under the title "Morgets un
Owets" and with a slightly modified orthography; we are
there informed that the author was Rev. Emanuel Rond-
4 49
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50 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
thaler, a brother of the above named, who had also been a
teacher in the same institution, and who died in 1848.
This last statement is confirmed by Bishop Edward Rond-
thaler, of Winston-Salem, N. C, a son of the former, and
by Miss Elizabeth Rondthaler, of Bethlehem, Pa., a
daughter of the latter, from whom also comes the state-
ment that it was written by her father about 1835 when
he was twenty years old, because he desired to prove as
above stated that the Pennsylvania German, so generally
despised, could be used to express poetic and refined sen-
timent. A consideration of certain phenomena of nature,
and particularly of the morning bringing favorable omens
as compared with those of evening, leads our divine to
note in general the mutability of human fortune, on which
follows the comforting reflection that " up yonder " what
is fair in the morning will be no less so at eventide if there
be an eventide there at all. Hereupon the poet bursts
into an expression of passionate longing for that blest
abode, and calls upon his friends not to grieve for him
when he is laid in the tomb and enters the realms where
there is no change. (Cf. for subject matter I. Thess.,
IV, 13.)
Prof. Reichel in his introductory remarks declared it as
his belief '' that it is one of the first attempts to render that
mongrel dialect the vehicle of poetic thought and diction.'*
He commends the poem for the touching appeal it makes
to the finer feelings of our nature and the spirit of Chris-
tian faith and hope with which it is imbued. The pro-
fessor adds a translation into English in a different meter
which is, in reality, more in the nature of a paraphrase.
As to the "mongrel dialect," it is interesting to note
that of the 162 words in the poem, only two are English.
ReichePs version betrays an effort made by means of
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 51
the orthography to accentuate the difference between the
pronunciation of the dialect and the High German. While
a few of his changes might meet with acceptance, his ver-
sion is not on the whole successful, and at least one change
is made in gender which violates present usage in that same
county, as well as the High German.
Abbndlibd.
Margets scheint die Sun so scho
Owets geht der gehl Mend uf,
Margets leit der Dau im Klee,
Owcts tritt mcr dnicke dnif.
Margets singe all die Vogel,
Owets greischt die Loabkrot arg.
Margets gloppt mer mit der Flegel,
Owets leit mer schun im Sarg.
Alles dut sich annem do,
Nix blcibt immer so wie now.
Was ei'm Freed macht, bleibt net so,
Werd gar arg bald hart un rau.
Drowe werd es anners sein,
Dart, wo's now so blow aussicht ;
Dart is Margets alles feih.
Dart is Owcts alles Licht
Margets is dart Freed die Full:
Owets is es au noch so,
Margets is em's Herz so still,
Owcts is mcr au noch f rob.
Ach ! wie dut me doch gelischte
Nach der blowe Wohnung dart;
Dart mit alle gute Chrischte,
Freed zu babe. Rub alsfort.
Wann sie mi in's Grab nein trage,
Greint net, denn icb hab's so scho:
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52 The PennsylvaniO'German Society.
Wann sie es dcs Owcts sage
Denkt — bei Ihm is sell all anes!
1849. Deutscher Kirchenfreund, Aug.
MORGBTS UND OWBTS.
Morgets scheint die Sun so scho,
Owcts gcht der gehl Mond uf ,
Morgets leit der Dau im Gla
Owcts drctt mcr drucke druf.
Morgets singe all die Feggle,
Owcts grc3rscht der Lawb-krott arg,
Morgets gloppt mer mit der Fleggle,
Owcts leit mer sho im Sarg.
Alles dut sich ennere do,
Nix bleibt inuner so wie nau ;
Wos' em Frad macht, bleibt nett so,
Wcrd gar arg bald harrt un rau —
Drowe wcrd es anners scin,
Dart wo nau so bio aussicht,
Dart is Morgets alles fein,
Dart is Owcts alles Licht
Morgets is dart Frad die Fill,
Owcts is es o noch so;
Morgets is cms Herz so still ;
Owcts is mer o noch fro.
Ach ! wie dut mer doch gclischte,
Nach der blo'c Woning dart ;
Dart mit allc gute Christe
Frad zu have — Roo als fort
Wann sie mich ins Grab nei drage,
Greint nett — denn ich habs so scho —
Wann sic — "Ess is Owetl" — sage —
Denkt — ^bei ihm is sell, " allone."
Nazareth Hall and Its Reunions, 1869.
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Pennsylvania-Gertnan Dialect Writings. 53
MoRGBTS UND OwETS. (Translation.)
In the morning the sun shines cheerful and bright,
In the evening the yellow moon's splendor is shed :
In the morning the clover's with dew all bedight,
In the evening its blossoms are dry to the tread.
In the morning the birds sing in unison sweet,
In the evening the frog cries prophetic and loud ;
In the morning we toil to the flail's dull beat,
In the evening we lie in our coffin and shroud.
Here on earth there is nothing exempt from rude change —
Naught abiding, continuing always the same;
What pleases is passing — is past, oh how strange I
And the joy that so mocked us is followed by pain.
But above 'twill be different I very well know —
Up yonder where all is so calm and so blue I
In the morning there objects will be all aglow.
In the evening aglow too with Heaven's own hue.
In the morning up yonder our cup will be filled.
In the evening its draught will not yet have been drained.
In the morning our hearts will divinely be stilled.
In the evening ecstatic with bliss here unnamed.
And oh, how I long, how I yearn to be there.
Up yonder where all is so calm and so blue.
With the spirit of perfected just ones to share
Through Eternity's ages joy and peace ever new.
And when to my grave I shall slowly be borne.
Oh weep and lament not, for I am so blest I
And when " it is evening " you'll say or, " 'tis mom " —
Remember for me there is nothing but rest I
This is the translation of Rondthaler's "Abendlied"
made by Prof. William C. Reichel, Pennsylvania German,
May, 1906.
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3. Henry Harbaugh.
BiBUOGRAPHY AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
Life of Harbaugh. Lynn Harbaugh, Philadelphia, 190a
Harbaugh's Harfe. Bausman, Philadelphia, 1870. Introduction.
Allemania. Bonn, Vol. II, p. 240.
Harbaugh. P. C. Croll, Pennsylvania German, Vol. V, a, 51.
Pennsylvania Dutch Handbook. Rauch, Mauch Chunk, 1879.
The Penn Monthly, Philadelphia, Vol. I, p. 281.
National Cyclopedia of American Biography, New York, 1904, Vol. X2.
The German Element in The United States. Faust, Boston and New
York, X909.
Geschichte der Nordamerikanischen Litteratur. Knortz, Berlin, 1891.
Pennsylvania German, Vol. VII, 4, 178.
Life of Philip Schaff. D. S. Schaff, New York.
The Guardian, Lancaster.
The Independent, June, 1880: Dr. Steiner.
Pennsylvania-German Manual. Home, x87>5.
Annals of Harbaugh Family, Chambersburg, x8^x.
Proceedings of the Pennsylvania-German Society. Vol. XVIII. U. S.
Koons.
Deutsche Pionier, Cincinnati, Vol. 15, 377.
Dialekt Dichtung in Amerika. H. H. Pick.
German and Swiss Settlements in Pennsylvania. Kuhns, New York.
Transactions American Philological Association, Vol. I, 8a
Deutsch in Amerika. Zimmermann, Chicaga
Das Deutsche Element in den Ver. Staaten. Von Bosse, p. 436.
Das Deutschtum in den Ver. Staaten. Goebel, p. 3a
Auswandening u. Koloniegrundung der Pfilzer. Hiberle, Heidelberg.
Geschichte der SchwSbischen Dialekt Dichtung. Holder, Heilbronn, 1896.
Amerikanische Volkskunde. Knortz, Leipzig.
Reformed Church Messenger.
54
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Die Alte Zeit Mann, Philadelphia.
BlesMd Memory (The) of Heniy Harbaugh. Joe Dubba, D.D., P. G., Vol.
X,i. I.
Henry Harbaugh is well known ; Pennsylvania-German
literature has often been interpreted to mean little else
than Harbaugh's Harfe, the volume of his collected dia-
lect poems. His name is mentioned by every one who has
spoken or written of Pennsylvania-German literature;
moreover an excellent Life has been written by his son,
Lynn Harbaugh, and published by the Reformed Church
Publication Board, Philadelphia, 1900, and few new facts
could be added to the material presented in that work.
The biography, however, has distinctly the tone of being
written for those who knew him as a pastor and a theo-
logian and the reader would little suspect his real rank as
a dialect poet from the half dozen pages devoted to this
side of his career. It is rather as the beloved shepherd
of the flock, the careful church historian or the learned
professor of theology that he appears, and his life work is
in large measure covered by these terms. Yet his dialect
productions mark the crest of a wave of influence that was
set in motion at the beginning of the nineteenth century
in a little secluded valley of the southern Black Forest by
John Peter Hebel, through the publication of a small
volume of poems in the Alemannic dialect, a wave of in-
fluence which in time spread over the whole of Germany.
" Die Anregungen zur Nachfolge zu verfolgen," says
HebeFs biographer in the Allgemeine Deutsche Biogra-
phic, " und zu fragen wer sich hat durch Hebel's Vorgang
und leuchtendes Beispiel begeistern lassen auf dem Gebiet
deutscher Zunge, von der Schweiz bis zum norddeutschen
Plattland, seiner dichterschen Muse das Gewand des Dia-
lekts umzulegen, ist nicht dieses Orts.'* If the writer had
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ever undertaken this task, he would have found it neces-
sary to extend the geographical limits set and to add '' und
sogar uber das Meer nach Amerika."
Henry Harbaugh was bom near Waynesboro, Pa., Oc-
tober 28, 1 8 17; his ancestors had come from Switzerland
and were tillers of the soil; at nineteen he left the farm
and his home, in order to have a freer hand in working
out his future. After four years of life in Ohio, carpen-
tering, going to school and teaching school, he was able to
return and enter Marshall College, Mercersburg, Pa.;
three years he spent in Preparatory School, College and
Theological Seminary, then, in 1843, served successively
three congregations as pastor, at Lewisburg, Lancaster
and Lebanon, Pa., until 1863, when he became professor
of didactic and practical theology at the Seminary of The
Reformed Church at Mercersburg. During the later
periods, from 1843 ^^ his death, he founded and edited
The Guardian, a monthly magazine, contributed fre-
quently to the Mercersburg Review (editor, 1867 to his
death), wrote numerous books chiefly on theological and
biblical subjects, biography, poetry, addresses, lectures
(unpublished) and artides for encyclopedias. Decem-
ber 28, 1867, in the midst of his labors, he ended this life.
On January 9, 1868, his friend Dr. Philip Schaff wrote
in the Christian World, among other things as follows:
" As the poet in the Pennsylvania-German dialect he stands
alone, if we except an isolated attempt made before,
namely, the touching evening hynm, ' Margets scheint die
sun so schee,' written by a Moravian minister, the late
Rev. Mr. Rondthaler, and published in (Schaflf's) Kir-
chenfreund in 1849. I ^^^ directed his attention to this
piece of poetry and suggested to him the desirableness of
immortalizing the Pennsylvania German in song before it
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dies out as the Alemannian dialect has been immortalized
by Hebel. He took up the hint and wrote his ^ Schulhaus
an der Krick' which he modestly submitted to me and
which, when published in several newspapers, produced
quite a sensation among the Pennsylvania Germans and
found its way even to Germany. The *Heemweh* and
other pieces followed from time to time and were received
with equal favor. These poems can, of course, be fully
appreciated only in Pennsylvania ; but in originality, humor
and genuine Volkston they are abnost equal to the cele-
brated Alemannian poems of Hebel. They are pervaded
moreover by a healthy moral and religious feeling."
Schaff's opinion of Harbaugh's capacity for writing
poetry had been expressed upon the occasion of the ap-
pearance of Harbaugh's first volume of English poems
thus : " The appearance of a volume of poems by H. Har-
baugh was to us simply a question of time. It had to come
sooner or later by an unavoidable necessity. The bird
will sing and the poet will write." Singing, speaking,
thinking and writing did fill the circle of his life. The
bent of his mind from childhood foredoomed him to be a
poet. How else could the farmer boy on a trip to a
neighboring sawmill have been more interested in the
Legend of Mount Misery than in the proper loading of
logs upon the wagon ; why else should the flight of birds
have for him such a solemn mystical meaning; why should
there have been to him majesty in the forest and not mere
trees for lumber; would the real farmer boy have stolen
off to the hills with a well-thumbed book to read and medi-
tate? Who else would have thought of becoming a miller
because when the hopper is filled and the waterwheel is
set in motion the miller has time to read and study, and
not rather time to play at cards with the idlers that gath-
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ered from the neighborhood? When we think of him as
keeping a notebook almost from the time that he could
write, privately schooling himself, writing letters, essays,
addresses (and on occasion delivering them), and with it
all, always singing and teaching others to sing — ^we have
a picture not only of the youth but a sure token of the
man that he was to become.
Some of his English poems have been very widely read
and give promise of continuing to live, especially "The
Mystic Weaver" and "Through Death to Life**; of his
spiritual songs, several are being used in the church services
of his own church, The Reformed Church in The United
States, and at least one, " Jesus, I live to Thee," has taken
its place in the Protestant Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist
and Presbyterian Hymnals and in a number of other col-
lections.
At the end of the third chapter of the biography, Lynn
Harbaugh says: "Much of it all — ^the downfaUings and
uprisings, the smiles and tears, and aught else that goes to
make up the lights and shadows of an eventful life — may
be rounded out from the diary of one's own experience, for
the old world wags much the same for all, and life's story
is an old one." In these words we can explain the popu-
larity of Harbaugh's dialect poetry. He has chronided
these downfaUings and uprisings, these smiles and tears,
these lights and shadows, and their appeal is universal be-
cause these experiences may be rounded out in the diaries
of the lives of so many of those who have heard or read
his lines, of those for whom they were written.
In "Das alt Schulhaus an der Krick" the speaker, a
person who had gotten tired of home, has gone "owwe
naus"^-out west, as we would say — and after twenty
years of fortune-chasing has come back to proclaim that
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there's nought but humbug "owwe draus," that brown-
stone fronts and boundless wealth are not to be compared
in value with the little old schoolhouse near his father's
house, before which he stands. As he stands and looks
and thinks he finds all still as of yore, the babbling brook,
the alder bushes by it, the little fishes in It; the white oak
at the schoolhouse door, the grape vines twining over it and
the swallow's nest at the gable. All is so realistic, it cannot
be but that he is back again in his youth, his joyous laughter
affirms it, but tears flow the while he laughs, denying it;
thus he continues through the many descriptive stanzas
that follow; sometimes in the present tense things are and
again in the past they were; we get a complete picture of
the old-time schoolmaster, the architecture and furnishing
of the schoolroom, the seating of the pupils, the discipline
of the teacher, the games on the playground, schoolday
flirtations, tricks played upon the teacher. So vivid does
the narrator make it all that he is suddenly brought to
himself with the question, where are those pupils now?
Facing actuality once more he is again torn with the con-
flicting emotions — ^joy at being in its presence and the de-
sire to weep for the past that is no more; finally he bids
good bye to the old schoolhouse, pleading with those who
still live there to take good care of it at all times.
Ulysses S. Koons has written : " What tenderness, what
pathos and humor pervade this poem in its picturing of
the humble schoolhouse of long ago I We do not wonder
that this poem has always been a great favorite." And
speaking of the lines :
Die kleene Mad hen Ring geschpielt
Uf scUem Wassum da;
Wann grosc Mad sin in der Ring —
'S IS doch en wunnervolles Ding —
Sin grose Buwe ah I
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Die Grose hen die Grose 'taggt,
Die Kleene all vermisst!
Wie sin se g'scbprunge ab un uf
Wer g*wunne hot, verloss dich druf,
Hut dichdiglich gekisst !
he adds : " If universality is one of the characteristics of
genius these lines must be considered a masterpiece, for
where on earth has there ever been a schoolhouse where
this ring kissing game of joyous memory has not been
played precisely as set forth by our poet."
But the present writer says there is universality in every
line and every thought. What family was there, or is
there, that did not have its dissatisfied boy who must needs
seek his fortune abroad? What tender-hearted mother or
stem father but has doubted whether their dear one, in
spite of material things that may have come to him, is
quite as well oflf as he would be at home, and, therefore,
gives ready assent to the sentiment that there's nought
but humbug "owwe draus.*' The present writer recalls
the occasion when he was very young, a new schoolhouse
near his home replaced an older one, and the new one was
being dedicated by a Sunday School which made use of the
building on Sundays; a very old man was one of the
speakers; there were addresses in English and addresses in
German, all of which he has forgotten, if he ever under-
stood them; the old man had finished his address in Ger-
man and had taken his seat when he suddenly jumped up
and said "Oh, ich het schier gar vergesse — ^Heit is es
exactly zwanzig jahr " and recited the whole poem to the
end, amid the smiles and winks of the younger men and
the deep sighing and even tears of the older men and
women, and so true, so realistic did it all seem that he did
not know until years later that the old man had not spoken
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of himself and been describing the schoolhouse that had
stood on that very spot in years gone by; and yet the
schoolhouse of Harbaugh and the one where this oc-
curred were as far apart as the most eastern and the most
western counties of German Pennsylvania.
He gives us a picture not only of a schoolhouse, and of
bygone days, not only a portrayal of man's inwardness and
its expression, but of the thoughts and feelings of the
people of whom and for whom he writes. "Er war,*'
says Benjamin Bausman, ^^ obschon er beinahe ausschiess-
lich in Englischer Sprache schrieb, von Haus aus ein so-
genannter Deutsch Pennsylvanier. In seinem vaterlichen
Haus wurde Pennsylvanisch Deutsch gesprochen. Den
eigenthiimlichen Geist dieses Volkes saugte er von seiner
fruhesten Kindheit ein. Er liebte dessen Gebrauche,
dessen kindlichen Sinn und dessen schlichte Frommigkeit,
und fiihlte sich nirgende so wohl zu Haus als in den Fa-
milien und grossen Kirchen Ost-Pennsylvaniens." Then
follows this very significant sentence : " Bei seinen Besuchen
unter diesem Volk bemiihte er sich jedesmal, etwas aus
dessen geschichtlichem Leben zu sammeln, und aufzube-
wahren." To this people he brought in his poems re-
flexes of their better selves in youth and in old age, in
deepest sorrow or greatest joy, when sunk in dark de-
spair, when buoyed up by a confident trust in the Master's
promises : it was no wonder, as Fick says, quoting Bausman,
"dass das Volk sein Gemutvollen Gedichte an den Feu-
erherden las, und daruber weinte und lachte." It is no
wonder that the volume of his poems lies alongside of the
Family Bible, as Karl Knortz tells us it does; it is small
wonder if it were true as he too tells us that they can re-
peat "Das alt Schulhaus an der Krick" from memory
better than their confession of faith.
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62 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
During the years 1861 and 1862 most of his poems
were published in the Guardian; in January, 1861, "Der
Regeboja*' without comment; in August, "Das alt Schul-
haus an der Krick,'' with a half apologetic explanatory
note by the editor, and no indication of authorship; in
November, "Haemweh,*' one of his best, still anonymous;
in February, 1862, to " Lah Business " — a poem of which
Dr. Dubbs has written that " it is so much inferior to his
other productions as hardly to appear to be from the same
hand" — ^was first added "By the editor." From this
time the poems appear almost every month " By the edi-
tor" for about a year, when his activity along this line
ceased under pressure of his new duties as professor of
theology. Nor was it granted him during his busy life
to fulfil the wishes of his friends that he publish a collec-
tion of his poems. Immediately after his death Dr. Pas-
savant, of the Lutheran Church, in a letter to Dr. Schaff,
in which he declared that he felt " Haemweh " to be the
equal of Goldsmith's " Deserted Village," urged upon him
to undertake the work. By Dr. Schaff it was in turn re-
ferred to the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Bausman, under whose
editorship the " Harf e " appeared — a collection of fifteen
dialect poems with the author's own English version of four
of them ; it is illustrated also with woodcuts of " Das alt
Schulhaus an der Krick," "Die alt Miehl" and "Haem-
weh " ; also a portrait of the author. There is a Vorrede
and a biographical sketch by the editor, and an In
Memoriam — in the dialect — " einen riihrenden poetischen
Nachruf," says Dr. Flck — ^by a descendant of the old
Pennsylvania-German Indian agent, the Rev. Conrad Z.
Weiser.
"Es sind meistervoUe Gcnrebildcr," says Fick, "wcnn er des
alten Feuerherdes, der Schlafstubc, der alten Miihle gedenkt, oder
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wenn er erzahlt wie er von seiner Mutter beim Fortgehen aus dem
Eltemhause abschied und sie weinend auf der Veranda stehend,
ihm nachblickte."
Writers on the history of music tell us that before a
certain pedal arrangement was perfected for the harp it
was not practical for the performer to play all the keys.
In the last poem referred to above, " Haemweh,*' Har-
baugh's Harfe had all the improvements in rapid succes-
sion, running the whole range of tonal coloring. The
poem begins with the simple calm suggestion, unreasoned
and ununderstood, that he ought to go to see the old
homestead, an annual thought. It grips him, however,
and he sets out, and now it drives him faster and faster,
until as he nears the top of the last hill that hides it from
his view the joy of anticipation rises to such heights that
he must literally leap into the air to speed his first glimpses.
More slowly now, but still in rapid panorama the familiar
scenes of childhood pass until he reaches the gate where
his heartbroken mother waved him his last farewell, here
he touches the very depths of grief. The light of the
veranda brings thoughts of his father gone, but he had
lived to see the day when he could give his hearty approval
to the course his son had pursued. He now stands before
the door. Shall he step inside?
Es is wol alles voU inside
Und doch is alles leer.
Full and yet empty, the contrast of these two lines are
the contrast of the whole poem. His joy was like a
glorious sunburst but the grief-stricken outcry like a crash
of thunder in the darkness of the storm. Over it all the
rainbow of hope rises once more, and, resigned, he goes
back to the tasks of this world until it be the will of God
to caU him home.
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64 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
That rainbow still stands over Harbaugh's tomb, for
on one side of the marble monument that marks the spot
where Harbaugh sleeps are cut the words from " Haem-
weh"
O wann's net vor der Hinmcl war
Mit seiner scheene Ruh,
Dann war mYs do schun lang verlcedt,
Ich wisst net, was zu dhu.
Doch Ho£Enung leichtet meinen Weg
Der ewigen Heemet zu.*'
And from the same poem, these lines on the other side:
Dort find mV, was m'r do verliert
Und b'halt's in Ewigkeit;
Dort lewe unsre Dodte all,
In Licht und ew'ger Freid.
"Der Pihwie" is a dialogue between a farmer and the
Peewee — ^harbinger of spring. In the Guardian, Dr. J.
H. Dubbs says that this, though otherwise a fine poem, has
a strong, though undesigned, resemblance to HebePs " Der
Storch." This seems to have been an unfortunate expres-
sion; it is quoted in Lynn Harbaugh's Biography and in
his essay. He has even been constrained to add there was
nothing like servile imitation or outright plagiarism.
Such words would have been unnecessary if the two
poems had ever been printed side by side. Harbaugh had
been a boy for whom the birds sang; he had no doubt, be-
fore he knew what poetry was, said "Ei Pihwie bischt
zerick." It is a method of welcome common to all
peoples for the bird of spring. Another Pennsylvania-
German poet has treated the same subject in the same way,
often in the same phrases. If that part of HebePs poem
be omitted in which he talks with the stork on the war and
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the return of peace we are on common ground in all three
poems. There is no other way of treatment — ^there arc
no other things to say. It must be dialogue, and what
can you say except " Welcome " ? what discuss except " the
weather " ? are you sure the winter is over, summer will
now surely come; his nest — show him a place, invite him
to proper materials for building it; his food — ^what he
may have, or you may tease him about what he steals.
Harbaugh had studied Hebel, and in this way may have
received the suggestion of writing a poetic welcome to the
bird that to him as a boy had heralded the advent of
spring. The rest was inevitable.
The narrow range of theme for dialect writers, the
similarity of the ways of thinking the world over will
lead us not to be surprised if we find, but surprised if we
do not find, such similarity.
O heert, ihr liewe Leit, was sin des 2fcite
Dass unser eens noch erlewe muss!
sings Harbaugh, 1862.
Die Welt werd annerscht, un die Leit
'S giebt ganz en anner Wese. —
Des was e 2Jeit ihr liewe Leut
*S werd ke me so gebore
says Karl August Woll, Heidelberg, 1901.
In "Busch un Stadel," Harbaugh makes the country-
man go to town and reason why he does not like it there.
In a poem with the same title H. C. Wilhelmi has made
the countryman describe the supercilious attitude of the
city man when he comes to the country and in mock irony
makes him say:
Wie traurig ist das Factum doch
Dass solch viel Volk unwissend noch.
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In ''Das alt Schulhaus an der Krick'' Harbaugh says,
comparing the rest of the world with home:
Ich sag ihm awer vome naus
Es is all humbug owwe draus.
A Hollander who has migrated to America writes of his
home:
Hew up de ganze Welt nix sehn
Wat di to gliken war.
We have seen how in "Haemweh," Harbaugh says:
Ich wees net was die Ursach is
Wees net, warum ich's dhu;
'N jedcs Johr mach ich der Weg
Der altc Hecmct zu.
A Platt-Dutchman from Bremen, Gustav Halthusen, does
not actually make such a journey, but fain would do so:
Suh Friind, mi will de Heimath
Noch gar nich ut den Sinn
So ol ik ok all worden
So lang ik wek ok bin
Un is en Frohjahr weller
Mai kamen up de Eer
Dan trekket de Gedanken
Noch jiimmer ocwert Meer.
The dialect writers are a close fraternity, and must
often be expected to express identical thoughts in all but
identical terms.
In the biography we are told that Dr. Harbaugh loved
childhood and children; that it was his delight to watch
them at play and to cherish their sayings in his heart.
He was particularly skilful in addressing little children,
telling them stories — Christmas stories, stories sometimes
of his own invention. This side of his nature also re-
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ceived recognition, found expression not only incidentally
as in ^^ Das alt Schulhaus an der Krick '' but in separate
poems like "Will widder Buwele sein/* "Das Krisch-
kindel,""DerBelsnickeL"
Dr. Nathan C. Schaeffer, superintendent of public in-
struction of Pennsylvania, has said of Dr. Harbaugh:
"He was a typical Pennsylvania German. The dialect
and its range of ideas he acquired at his mother^s knee and
from the companions of his childhood and youth. His
powers of work and his love of fun were developed under
the tutelage of the old farm and under the influence of its
customs, traditions, and forms of speech. He was thor-
oughly familiar with the homes and habits, the social and
religious life of the Pennsylvanians of German ancestry.
He knew their merits, foibles and shortcomings, their
peculiar ways and superstitions, their highest hopes and
noblest emotions. He admired their frankness and sim-
plicity, their thrift and industry, their honesty and in-
tegrity. He shared their fondness for good meals, their
sense of humor, their hatred of every form of sham and
humbug. He summed up in his personality and exempli-
fied in his life the best characteristics of these people."
To this excellent characterization it might be added that
the few dialect poems he wrote are an epitome of the
manners and customs, the life and thought of these Penn-
sylvanians.
What can be said of his poems may fairly be counted as
characteristic of the best that has been written in the
dialect. The last mentioned poem, "Der Belsnickel,"
was cited by the Philadelphia Demokrat to show that the
dialect does not or need not, if it stays in proper bounds,
adopt many English expressions. On the other hand, a
poem on the harvest field attributed to Harbaugh, though
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not printed in his Guardian and not in the collected poems,
is so full of slangy English expressions dragged in to
rhyme with German words that it might easily stand
alongside of those that give most oflFense from this point
of view.
There is another poem which he published in the
Guardian in August, 1862, as " By the editor," which was
not taken into the Harfe; it is short — 12 lines — is entitled
" Das Union Arch," majestic, beautiful and firm it stands;
'tis treason to lay hands upon it to tear it asunder; it will
stand many an assault, nor will it be rent, for Lincoln is
its guardian.
Das Union Arch.
Sehnst du sell arch von vienindreissig ste?
Un wescht du was sell bedeuta dut?
E^ stellt die Union vor, gar grieslich schoe,
Der Keystone in der Mitt steht fescht un gut.
Sell Arch loss sei! -ke single Ste reg a;
Dort mus es steh bis Alles geht zu nix
Wan eppes legt sei Treason Hand dort dra
Don schiest mir wie en Hund mit Minnie 's Bix!
Sell Arch is vcsht cement mit hertzen Blut ;
Es stant en barter Rebel sturm, FU bet ;
" Verreist's 1 " kreisht aus die gans Sesession Brut —
Der Lincoln watdit sie close un losst sie net
Schaff had suggested that the dialect was dying out,
Harbaugh accepted this view. August Sauer in the In-
troduction to "Die deutsche Sacular Dichtungen an der
Wende des 18 u. 19 Jahrhunderts " says: "Wenn das
Leben des Menschen sich dem Ende neigt so treten die
Ereignisse seiner f riihesten Jugend am starkesten in seinem
Gedachtnisse hervor." In "Geron, der Adelige" Wie-
land has said the same thing thus :
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Das Alter ist geschwatzig, wie ihr wisst,
Es liebt zu reden von den guten Zeiten
Die nicht mehr sind, in denen es, als wie
In einem Traum allein noch lebt
As the dying swan, of which Harbaugh wrote else-
where, the dialect in Harbaugh's hands sang of the " old,*'
six of the fifteen titles have the word old — "Das alt
Schulhaus," " Der alt Feuerheerd," or in contrast new —
" Die neie Sort Dschentleleit," or some suggestion of com-
parison of past and present — " Will widder Buwele sei,''
three others in the first stanza, two in the first line betray
the same theme. In "Die Schlofstub*' he says: "Als
Pilger geh ich widder hin. Ins Haus wo ich gebore bin."
In " Das Krischkindel " : " Oh du liewer Kindheeds krisch-
dag," and in " Haemweh " : " 'N jedes Johr mach ich der
Weg, der Alte Heemet zu."
In thus picturing the old and the new Harbaugh has
touched Pennsylvania-German life at so many points that
those who came after him were almost under the necessity
of paying tribute to him by taking the same title and treat-
ing it diflferently. Solly Holsbuck, " Will widder Buwele
sei"; Wuchter, "Der Pihwie" — ^varying the title slightly
and giving us a diflferent angle; Brunner, "Wie mer Glae
wara "; Bahn, " 'S Himmlisch Haemweh"; Flick, " 'S alt
Schulhaus am Weg," by taking a line or a thought and
developing it as a separate poem, or by something suggested
as additional material in completing an exhibit; Brunner,
"Der alt Garret"; DeLong, "Die Gute alte Zeita";
Daniel, "Zeit und Leut annere sich"; Gerhart, "Die alt
Familie Uhr"; Gruber, "'N Schoenie alte Hemath";
Hark, "Der aide Karchhof ufm Barg"; Horn, "Der
alte Grabmacher " ; Fischer, " Das alt Marikhaus " ; Craig,
"Die alt Kettebrick."
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Henry L. Fischer, quoting Goethe's lines " Von Mutter-
chen die Frohnatur, Die Lust zum Fabulieren," as apply-
ing to himself, means to tell us that he is not only figura-
tively of Harbaugh's school, but that he is a lineal de-
scendant of the same Jost Harbaugh from whom both
Henry Harbaugh and the poetess Rachel Bahn were de-
scended.
A couplet from George Mays :
In sellem schane Deitsche Schtick
Das alte Schulhaus an der Krick
reveals to us that writer's ideal; when Henry Meyer for
a Family Reunion writes :
Heit kumme mer noch emol z'rick
Ans alte Blockhaus an der Krick
Der Platz wu unser Hcemet war
Shun linger z'rick wie sechzig Johr,
we see not only how well he knew his Harbaugh, but also
how closely, at least in this stanza, he has imitated him.
E. H. Rauch, contemporary of Harbaugh and master
of another form of dialect writing, could not forbear at-
tempting a metrical composition, " Die alte Heemet,"
the title of which is reminiscent of Harbaugh, and which
in every one of its prosy lines reeks with Harbaugh's
thoughts and words with none of his skill in handling them.
In the chapters Harvey Miller and Charles C. Ziegler
it is shown how these two writers were drawn under the
spell, the former by reciting, the latter by hearing recited
in school on a Friday afternoon, Harbaugh's "Das alt
Schulhaus an der Krick." Ziegler's beautiful lyric,
" Draus un Daheem," from which his book takes its name,
might be called an expansion and elaboration of the idea
of the third stanza of " Das alt Schulhaus."
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In this way do all of the writers in the dialect — some by
word of mouth, some by the evidence of their works, some
by both — ^show how they have come under the influence of
Henry Harbaugh, the Pennsylvania-German Hebel. The
Pennsylvania-German Hebel because he stands at the foun-
tain head of Pennsylvania-German dialect literature as
Hebel does to Modem German Dialect literature, because
he was a careful student and close follower of Hebel.
(In an article in "Hours at Home," on Bums, October i,
1866, this Pennsylvania-German dialect writer brings to-
gether the names of the two great dialect writers of Ger-
many and Scotland, "Hebel the German Bums." Karl
Knortz, Nord. Am. Lit., Bd. II, s. 190, has found an ad-
ditional bond besides that of being dialect writers: "Er
fand wie Robert Bums bei seinen landlichen Arbeiten
immer noch Zeit und Musse genug, seinen wahrend weni-
ger Wintermonate Genossenen Schulunterricht durch be-
harrlichen Selbstunterricht fortzupflanzen. Beim Pflugen
las er bestandig und g^ng nie aus ohne ein Buch in der
Tasche zu haben.")
He deserves to be called the Pennsylvania-German
Hebel because he has been so recognized at home and
abroad. Dr. Fick, of Cincinnati, says: "Es ist gewiss
nicht zu viel gesagt wenn man Harbaugh den Hebel Ame-
rikas nennt." In Germany, in 1875, he was hailed as
"Ein Pennsylvanisch deutscher Hebel" by that devoted
student of German dialects, Anton Birlinger, of Bonn Uni-
versity, in his Alemannia, Vol. II, p. 240.
One more point should be briefly discussed before leav-
ing this writer — his use of the dialect, and of the English
and German languages — ^because in this too he is t3rpical of
the Germans of Pennsylvania. The language of his boy-
hood home was the dialect, of his early school days Eng-
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72 'The Pennsylvania-German Society.
lish; in youth he gave himself a severe schooling to acquire
a ready English; when preparing for the ministry the
claim of German made itself felt and he again set himself
to preparing himself properly. This he did by reading,
by translating and by becoming a member of a college
debating society using the German language. The mem-
bers of this society were unsparing in their criticism of
each other and Henry Harbaugh was often sternly called
to order for his tendency to drift into the use of the dialect.
All his life he worked among people using the dialect, all
his life he had to preach English and German; in the
preparation of his works on Church history and on theo-
logical subjects he had constantly to use German sources
and authorities. Yet it was always an effort to preach
German and always a relief to resort to English. Even
in his sermons this characteristic Pennsylvania-German
trait cropped out — " once in a while his sermon was made
singularly emphatic by a little hesitation and then the intro-
duction of a broad, crisp Anglo-Saxon word in place of the
German one that could not be recalled."
He must be included in the list of Pennsylvania-German
dialect orators; he must have delivered many speeches
and addresses in the dialect from his college days on, when
he was criticized, to a famous one the year before he died
at an alumni banquet of Franklin and Marshall College at
Lancaster. Thirty-three years afterwards Dr. Nathan C.
Schaeffer, superintendent of public instruction of Pennsyl-
vania, who was present as a student on the occasion, writes :
*' Its humor and delivery made a deeper impression than
the oratory of all the eminent men at home and abroad
whom I have had the good fortune to hear at banquets,
in the pulpit or from the rostrum." As if he had said too
much, he then adds: "This may be due to the fact that
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the speech was delivered in the dialect of my boyhood ; "
but later on he adds: "The impression made by his enu-
meration of the contributors (the subject of the toast was
The Mercersburg Review) and by his description of the
work it accomplished before it was suspended is evident
from the fact that the Review was revived and under dif-
ferent names its publication has been continued to the
present time." In his hands the dialect was a noble and
forceful instrument, whether used for prose or verse.
The prayer of the editor, Benjamin Bausman, " Mochte
die lieben Leser bitten * die Harf e ' nicht an die Weiden
zu hangen, sondern recht oft ihre schonen Klange im
Kreise der Familie ertonen zu lassen," seems to have been
heard and answered, for as this chapter is written The Re-
formed Church Publication Board is announcing in the
papers of eastern Pennsylvania a new printing of Har-
baugh's"Harfe."
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4. Edward Henry Rauch.
BmLIOGRAPHT.
Alliboae's Dictionary of Authors. Supplement 1&91.
Canton, Ohio Repository and Republican, Canton, Ohio.
Carbon County Democrat, Mauch Chunk, Pa.
College News, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa.
Early English Pronunciation. Ellis, London, 18^
Father Abraham, Reading, Pa., 181(4.
Father Abraham, Lancaster, Pa., i8<6i.
Geschichte der Nordamerikanischen Litteratur. Karl Knortz, Berlin, 1891.
History of Carbon and Lehigh Counties. Matthews and Hungerford, 1884.
London Saturday Globe, August i8v 18^
Lebanon News, Lebanon, Pa.
National Baptist.
New York Deutsche Blaetter.
Pennsylvania Dutch Handbook, Mauch Chunk, Pa., 1879.
Philadelphia Press, Philadelphia, Pa.
Proceedings of the Pbnnstlvania-Gbrman Societt, Vol. IIL
Reading Times and Dispatch, Reading, Pa.
Rip Van Winkle, Mauch Chunk, Pa., 18813.
The Pennsylvania Dutchman, Lancaster, Pa., 1873.
In Col. Edward Henry Rauch were centered a cease-
less activity, a wonderful initiative and an untiring energy
that meant more for the growth of Pennsylvania-German
literature than any other individual group of forces. To
trace in detail his movements in Pennsylvania would be
too long a story, yet they must be passed in rapid review,
in order that we may be able to understand his relations
to the people of the State. He was bom in Lititz, Pa.,
74
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July 19, 1820, grandson of Johann Heinrich Rauch, who
had come from Kohi in 1769.
Presently we find Mr. Rauch in politics, as clerk in the
office of the Prothonotary at Lancaster, 1845; ^^^ three
years later, 1847, Deputy Register of Wills; again three
years later entering journalism, and under the leadership
of Thaddeus Stevens editing and managing two anti-slav-
ery Whig papers — the Independent Whig and the Inland
Daily; in 1854 on his own account going to Bethlehem
and starting the Lehigh Valley Times, which he sold in
1857 and purchased the Mauch Chunk Gazette, to which
he added in 1859 a German paper — ^the Carbon Adler.
In 1859, he became transcribing clerk of the State Legis-
lature and in 1 860-1 862, chief clerk, although he ac-
cepted this office only on condition that he should have
leave to go with the company he had raised for the war.
Three years he was at the front, when, on being discharged
because of physical disability, he started the Father Abra^
ham at Reading, Pa. — a militant campaign sheet in a
county of doubtful loyalty. Next he became city editor
of the Reading Eagle; in 1868 we find him once more in
Lancaster, a second time founding a Father Abraham.
With Colonel McClurc he was one of the Greeley cam-
paign managers in 1872, four years after he published the
Uncle Samuel in the Tilden Campaign; in 1878 political
conditions invited him once more to Mauch Chunk where
he founded the Carbon County Democrat, and was soon
able to absorb his rival, whereupon he settled down to the
end of his days. He died September 8, 1902, in Mauch
Chunk, in which place his son is still conducting the same
paper.
Among minor accomplishments Mr. Rauch had the
ability to simulate almost any handwriting or to reproduce
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76 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
any signature. This led him to study the subject until he
became an expert, and as such, during a period of almost
fifty years, he was called into the courts of many states in
cases involving disputed handwriting.
But this military and civil tribune was withal a dialect
writer. Already in his first Father Abraham there ap-
peared an occasional short selection in dialect, but those
were times of too terrible earnestness for such work; but
later, in 1868, with the advent of the second Father Abra^
ham, contributions in the dialect over the signature of "Pit
Schweffelbrenner fum SchliflFeltown " became a regular
feature.
Karl Knortz has referred to these selections as "Hu-
moristisch sein soUende Briefe"; a conmientary on this
reader's capacity to appreciate humor, for five years later
the author of the letters could speak of them as follows :
" Our first regular productions in Pennsylvania Dutch ap-
peared in the Father Abraham campaign paper over the
signature, * Pit Schweffelbrenner.* They contributed more
to the remarkable popularity of that paper than anything
else it contained, and the circulation increased rapidly, not
only in Pennsylvania but also in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Maryland, Wisconsin and other States." A bit of pre-
sumably disinterested opinion is the following: While
these letters were running in the Father Abraham, the
Philadelphia Press published a translation of one of the
letters for the benefit of its readers and prefaced the pro-
duction by the following statement :
Pennsylvania Dutch.
We give below a first class specimen of that unique literature,
which has within a few years become intensely popular, and which
carries with it a quaint logic often more convincing than harder
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facts wrapped in satin ornaments. Everyone has read with delight
the celebrated Bigelow papers, which gave point and pungency to
thoughts that the language of the forum or the parlor would have
suffered to lie dormant. The shrewd observations of Naseby have
not only inunortalized the man, but have answered a purpose which
no other literature could have met Thousands of dogmas are
presented which no argument can banish, simply because they
cannot be reached by argument. They can be pushed aside by a
comparison, exploded by a joke, vaporized by a burlesque, or the
victimized party may be made ashamed of himself by seeing how
ridiculous his neighbor appears, who carries out the doctrines he
so gladly entertains and so blindly believes. Great good then,
may be done by the adoption of such a literature. Why, it is hard
to tell, but the fact is true, as every one will admit.
The East has thrown its patois into the books of James Russell
Lowell, under the signature of Hosea Biglow, and no one regrets
their perusal. The Southwestern form of speech and method of
argument has been incorporated in side-splitting letters by Pe-
troleum V. Naseby. The Pennsylvania Dutch is a language pecu-
liarly susceptible to similar use. Mr. Rauch, editor of Father
Abraham, a spirited campaign sheet, publbhed in Lancaster, con-
ceived the idea of rounding this language, or rather this compound
of English and German languages, into effective and popular can-
vassing logic. His success has been complete, and the letters of
Pit Schweffelbrenner, from Schliffeltown, have created a sensation
if not as widespread, as intense as those from the '' G)nfederate
Crossroads which is in the Stait of Kentucky." The translation
we append is merely to give the substance of the original. It
conveys no idea of the peculiar and inimitable merits of the Ger-
man version, which consists more in the manner of saying it than
in what is said. (From The Pennsylvania Dutchman, Vol. I, No.
ii 1873, January.)
Interesting in this connection is a notice In the work
"Early English Pronunciation," by Prof. Alexander J.
Ellis. If we recall that some of these early letters were
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78 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
issued as a small pamphlet, the quotation is self-explana-
tory. " While I was engaged with the third part of my
* Early English Pronunciation,* Professor Haldeman sent
me a reprint of some humorous letters by Ranch, entitled
* Pennsylvania Deitsch: De Campaign Breefa fum Pit
Schwcffelbrenner.* Perceiving at once the analogy be-
tween this debased German with English intermixture and
Chaucer's debased Anglo Saxon with Norman intermix-
ture, I requested and obtained such further information
as enabled me to g^ve an account of this singular modem
reproduction of the manner in which our English language
itself was built up, and insert it in the Introduction to my
chapter to Chaucer's pronunciation."
In 1873 another enterprise that Ranch had had under
consideration for a number of years saw its beginning with
the issuing in January, 1873, of the first number of The
Pennsylvania Dutchman — a monthly magazine. This
first number contained the publisher's announcement in
parallel columns of English and Pennsylvania German
(this will be included in entirety elsewhere with the con-
tents of all the known numbers of the magazine and speci-
mens of the articles mentioned) ; familiar sayings in simi-
lar parallel columns; a poem by Tobias Witmer together
with a translation into English by Professor Haldeman,
of the University of Pennsylvania ; a poem by Ranch him-
self, evidently in the manner of Harbaugh and entitled
"Unser Alte Heemet"; a Pennsylvania-German letter;
the first of Ranch's Shakespeare translations; a number of
pages of English short stories and poems, followed by the
first installment of the author's Pennsylvania-German Dic-
tionary with this interesting note: "We are confident that
before the first of January, 1874, every reader of the
Pennsylvania Dutchman by simply studying this part of
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Pennsylvania^German Dialect Writings. 79
the publication together with the pages of familiar sayings
will be able to reap substantial benefits and use the lan-
guage for practical business purposes."
That the language was necessary for business purposes
will seem evident by the parallel column advertisements
in which lawyers and merchants assure their readers that
they speak ^* Deitsch so goot dos English/'
Apropos of the use of dialect for business purposes, it
might be remarked that as recently as 1905 a candidate
for judge in a county in which his party was in overwhelm-
ing majority was defeated because, diough he had been
long a resident of the county, he had not thought it worth
while to learn the dialect. Lest this cause any surprise,
I call attention to the remarkable parallelism between the
argument used by the organ of the party that opposed him
and the statement made by Jos. Grimmer in the Strass-
burger Post of September 19, 1905, the very same year.
The paper said: "The question whether the judicial can-
didate can or cannot speak Pennsylvania German is a vital
issue in this campaign, and it in no way reflects upon the
intelligence of any public man to be able to do business
in a language that has been spoken from the earliest his-
tory of the county. On the other hand it is important
that the man who sits upon the Bench to administer justice
with an even hand shall be ccmversant with the dialect of a
large majority of the people and which does not always
admit of a strict interpretation." What Grimmer said
in his article I can only report at second hand, but the Zeit-
schrift tur Deutsche Mundarten, 19 10, I, 52 ff., says:
"Die Mundart in ihrer Stellung zum offentlichen Leben
erortert eine Auslassung von Grimmer der die Notwen-
digkeit dass der Richter die Mundart der Gegend in der
er seines Amtes waltet wo nicht beherrsche so doch ver-
stehe, an gut gewahlten Beispielen erlautert."
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8o The Pennsylvanio'German Society.
In this connection it may not be out of place to cite
from a newspaper of 1907. "Three different kinds of
German were spoken recently in court at Harrisburg. A
witn^s spoke High German, Judge Thomas Capp spoke
the Pennsylvania Dutch of Lebanon County, and Senator
John E. Fox, the defendant's counsel, spoke the Pennsyl-
vania Dutch of Dauphin County." I have myself heard
a lawyer review in the dialect before the jury, testimony
that had been given in the dialect, at such length that the
judge stopped him to inquire whether he purposed to give
his entire plea in the dialect. Curiously enough, the
lawyer in question was a native of Cornwall, England,
but he at least appreciated what Rauch implied, that a
knowledge of the dialect was a business necessity.
But to return to the Pennsylvania-Dutch magazine.
After the Dictionary there followed strangely enough in
the first number of the magazine "Answers to Corre-
spondents," and then a page of editorials. " Here is rich-
ness for you " is the way a Mt Joy paper expressed itself
over this new magazine. The Reformed Church Mes'
sen get, although objecting to the name Dutchman, found
the enterprise " a commendable one " and " hoped it would
prove a success." The Canton, Ohio, Repository said:
" Mr. Rauch is best known to our readers under the title
of Pit Schweffelbrenner; he has done more to popularize
this amusing dialect than any man in America," while the
following is from the New York Deutsche Blatter: " In
Lancaster erscheint jetzt ein neues Magazin — ^Dcr Penn-
sylvania Dutchman— es ist Teils Englisch und Teils in
dem eigentumlichen Pennsylvania Deutsche Dialect ge-
schrieben und fiihrt nicht bloss die Sprache sondem die
Sitten vor, welche sich unter den deutschen Ansiedlem im
Innem des Staats erhalten haben. Die Zeitschrift wird
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 8i
ohne Zweifel sowohl hier als In Europa das Interesse der
Philologen errcgcn.** This last prophecy can hardly be
said to have come true, for that this magazine had ever
existed seems to have been completely forgotten, nor is it
anjrwhere mentioned.
Three issues of the Magazine have I seen; it must
have survived a little longer, if the Deutsche Pioriier of
Cincinnati is correct in citing from it material that does
not appear in these first three numbers. At the most, its
life was no doubt a short one. On the editorial page of
the first number Rauch had said: ^'It is the only publica-
tion of its kind, but that it will be the last one we do not
believe." In this he was correct, for the Pennsylvania-^
German Magazine, now in its twelfth volume, although
operating along entirely different lines, may be counted as
its logical successor. Another magazine though of a
very different character "Sam Schmalzgsicht '' was pub-
lished in Allentown for a brief period.
Ranch's next undertaking was in the shape of a book;
according to the Supplement to Allibone's Dictionary of
Authors, Vol. II, p. 1891, a first venture, entitled "Penn-
sylvania Dutch Instructor,*' Lancaster, Pa., 1877, i6mo,
followed by a second, " Pennsylvania Dutch Handbook, a
Book for Instruction," Philadelphia, Pa., 1880, i8mo.
These publications have thus far eluded my search, but a
book under the latter title was published at Mauch Chunk,
1879. This contains an English-Pennsylvania German
Preface from which I cite the opening paragraph.
" About im yohr 1 870, hob ich my mind uf gamaucht f or'n
booch shreiva un publisha fun Pennsylvania Deitsh in Eng-
lish, un English in Pennsylvania Deitsh, mit der obsicht for
practical un profitliche instructions gewa, abbordich for
bisness menner os in pletz woona fun Pennsylvania Deitsh
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82 The PennsylvanUhGerman Society.
schwetzende Leit un aw for die f eela daussende fun Penn-
sylvania boova un maid os in de Englisha shoola gane un
doch sheer nix schwetza derhame un in der nochberschaft
OS Pennsylvania Dcitsh."
The first part of the book consists of his English-Penn-
sylvania German and Pennsylvania German-English Dic-
tionary, then follow several general chapters on the use
of words and practical exercises, reminding one of the
first aids to those landing on foreign shores, handed out
by trans-Atlantic steamship companies, together with
special chapters entitled: ^'Bisness G'schwetz." The first
of these conversations is "Der Boochshtorc" — a talk be-
tween the Booch hondler and a customer, in which we learn
how fast Rauch's Handbook is selling. Clothing store,
drugstore, doctor, drygoods, furniture store, hotel and
lawyer are the subjects of the succeeding conversations.
A brief history of the dialect literature up to that time
follows, with illustrative examples, including the author's
own Shakespeare translations, a translation of Luke XV,
of Matthew, VII, 13-20, and of The Lord's Prayer. A
chapter illustrating Professor Witmer's ideas on spelling
reform and a few recent Pit Schweflelbrenner letters con-
clude the volume.
Ranch referred slightingly, p. 209, to Col. Zimmer-
man's Pennsylvania-German work, and Zinmierman in his
turn published a merciless review of his critic's book in the
Reading Times and Dispatch; Rauch's controversy with
those who did not spell as he did was perennial, and Zim-
merman continued to pile up evidence of Ranch contra-
dicting Ranch in spelling, until all eastern Pennsylvania
was convulsed. Ranch strove in letters to all the papers
that reprinted Zimmerman's review to defend himself,
and as Zimmerman was content with his first article, the
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 83
controversy went no farther. Rauch's contention was,
that inasmuch as English was the language that Penn-
sylvania Germans studied in the schools, and that inas-
much as they and not people trained in German were ex-
pected to read Pennsylvania German, it ought to be spelled
according to the rules of English orthography. Profes-
sor Haldeman once wrote him, saying that in order to
read what Rauch wrote, a German had first to learn to read
English, to which Rauch replied, "very true"; that that
was what Pennsylvania Germans did in the schools, where-
as if they wanted to read what some others wrote, then
Pennsylvania Germans would first have to learn High
German.
Since many disagreed with Rauch, not only on this point
but also on the propriety of calling the dialect Pennsyl-
vania Dutch, he proposed at one time that those who
spelled after the German fashion should be styled Penn-
sylvania German and those who used the English orthog-
raphy should follow him and call themselves Pennsyl-
vania Dutch. This initial controversy as to how the
dialect should be spelled involved constantly widening
circles among the Pennsylvania Germans, nor was it cpn-
fined wholly to them; Karl Knortz, a German, has made
his contribution, as well as a writer in the London Satur-
day Globe. The latter, while conceding that Rauch was
a very popular writer and the author of a Dictionary, dis-
approves nevertheless of his "Phonography," which he
characterizes as a very inaccurate and misleading method
of spelling one language according to the standard of an-
other.
The last word in the controversy, at least from the scien-
tific point of view, will be the publication of the Dictionary
by Professors Learned and Fogel, who are using a good
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84 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
phonetic alphabet, but among the folk the strife will doubt-
less continue, until the last writer in the dialect has uttered
his last word, spelled as he and a kind Providence wills.
Rauch's apparent coldness to Zimmerman in this book
seems strange in view of his tone towards him two years
before. The former passage I include here as a specimen
of the dialect when it essays literary criticism :
ScHLiFFBLTOWN, Jonuawr I, 1877
Mister Drooker: Ich winsh deer un all dine freind en rale olt
fashioned neies Yohr. De Wuch hut mei olter freind Zimmer-
man, der Editor fum Readinger Times un Di^atch en copy fun
seiner Tseiting mit a Pennsylvania Deitsh shtickly drin g'schickt.
£s is 'n Iwersetzung fun a English shtickly im ich muss sawga
OS der Mr. Zimmerman es ardlich ferdeihenkert goot gadu hut.
Des explained now oUes wo oil de iiela sorta shpeelsauch un tsucker
sauch her cooma. Now whil der Z- so bully goot is om shticker
shreiwa set er sich aw draw macha for 'n New Yohr's leedly.
Another form of activity in which this busy man en-
gaged is indicated by the following notices culled from
the columns of The Pennsylvania Dutchman. " The edi-
tor of the Dutchman will deliver a lecture under the
auspices of the Millerstown (Lehigh County) Lecture As-
sociation, on Saturday evening, March 15, 1873, '^^ the
Pennsylvania Dutch language on the subject of *Alte un
Neie Zeite.' He will also read Rev. Dr. Harbaugh's
* Das Alt Schulhaus an der Krick * and several other popu-
lar productions, including *De alt Heemet' and *De
Pennsylvania Millitz.'" (Incidentally it may be men-
tioned that this Millerstown is the same as the town where
some of Elsie Singmaster's stories — ^published in the Cen-
tury magazine, — are localized ; the town is now Macungie,
though still locally known as Millerstown.) This lecture
he frequently repeated before other audiences, and notably
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 85
before the Pennsylvania-German Society (which he wanted
named Pennsylvania-Dutch Society) at one of its earlier
meetings. The discourse is in part reprinted in one of
the early volumes of the Proceedings of that organi-
zation.
Finally, in 1883, Rauch published a Pennsylvania-
Dutch Rip Van Winkle; a romantic drama in two acts,
translated from the original with variations. In the ap-
pendix to this essay I give the characters of the play, the
costumery as prescribed by the author and an outline of
the skit. Home writes of it in Matthews and Hunger-
ford*8 "History of Carbon and Lehigh Counties**:
" Rauch's Dutch Rip Van Winkle is a very happy transla-
tion and dramatization of Irving's story, the scene being
changed from the Catskill to the Blue Mountains to give
it a locale in keeping with the language in which it is ren-
dered.** I will add that in one remarkable instance our
author has forgotten himself. In Scene III of the Sec-
ond Act, when Rip returns to the town of his nativity, a
town no more but a populous settlement, George III no
longer swinging on the tavern sign, but George Washing-
ton instead, he also sees the harbor filled with ships I But
perhaps he meant the harbor of Mauch Chunk on the
Lehigh River 1
The dramolet is well adapted to local townhalls where
it was intended to be and was performed. It is boisterous
and tumultuous, but we do not expect anything altogether
refined in the home of the old sot Rip, nor in a play which,
as far as the First Act is concerned, might well be con-
strued as a horrible example to illustrate a temperance
lecture.
The language of the romantic parts, of Rip's dealing
with the spirits of the mountains, is interesting as an illus-
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86 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
tration of what form the dialect takes on, in the hands of
a man who never hesitates for a word; if he finds it not
in the dialect vocabulary, he reaches over and fetches one
out of the English; indeed, Rauch worked on this prin-
ciple all his life, and it must not be denied that this is the
way a large number of Pennsylvania Germans are doing
all the time.
One more word about his influence: Kuhns calls him
the Nestor of all those who have tried their hand at com-
position in the dialect, and of his influence on subsequent
writers there can be no doubt. Sometimes the acknowl-
edgment comes incidentally, as when a writer in the Spirit
of Berks, speaking of Zimmerman's poetry, says " Er kann
em Pit SchweflFelbrenner die Auge zu schreiwe," but
quickly adds : " Wanns awer ans Breef a schreiwe geht dann
is der SchweflFelbrenner als noch der Bully Kerl." Some-
times the acknowledgment comes indirectly as when some-
body signs himself " Em Pit SchweflFelbrenner sei Cousin "
and sometimes it comes frankly and freely as in the case of
Harter (Boonastiel) in a private letter I received from
him.
Pennsylvania Dutchman, Vol. I, No. I, January, 1873,
PAGB I.
Prospectus:
Der Pennsylvania Dutchman is net jruscht intend for laecherlich
un popular lehsa shtuflF for oily de unser Pennsylvanisch Deitsch —
de mixture fun Deitsch un English — ferstehn, awer aw for use-
fully im profitlichy instruction for oily de druf ous sin bekannt tsu
waerra mit der sproch, un aw mit em geisht, character un hond-
limgs fun unserm fleisicha, ehrlicha un tsahlreicha folk in all de
Middle un Westliche Shtaate.
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Pennsylvania-German Diakct Writings. 87
Der title, Pennsylvania Dutchman, hen mer select noch dem das
mer feel driwer considered hen, un net ohna a wennich tzweifel
derwaega, weil mer wissa dass a dehl Deitsha leit uf der mistaken
notion sin das an '' Dutchman " g'hehsa waerra waer disrespectful
awer sell is an mistake. Un weil unser Pennsylvanisch Deitsch
sproch iwerall bekonnt is alls Pennsylvania Dutch wun's shun
wohr is das es Deitsh is, un net Dutch odder Hollendish — awer
an g'mix fun Deitsh un English, sin mer g'satisfied dos mer net
besser du kenna dos fore 's public tsu gae unner 'em plaina title
wo mer select hen. Un wann mer considera was waerklich der
allgemeina character fim de Pennsylvania Deitsha is, donn feela
mer dos mer specially gooty reason hen shtoltz tsu sei dos mer
selwer tsu dem same folk g'hehra, un das mer mit recht de hoff-
nung hen ehra getreier diener tsu sei in unser neie editorial aerwet
de fore uns is.
Es is imser obsicht freind tsu treata mit a liberal supply fun
neia articles, shtories, breefa, poetry, etc. in dere pure Pennsylvania
Deitsh sproch g'schriwa unner der Aenglish rule for shpella, so
dos aw oily leit es lehsa kenna. Mer hen aw im sin iwersetzung
tsu gewa fun kortzy shticker, un mer hen aw an Pennsylvania
Deitsh Dictionary aw g'fonga wo mer expecta tsu drucke in buch
form. Awer um die yetziche publication recht interesting tsu
mache hen mer conclude aw tsu fonga, un in yeder nummer an
dehl fum Dictionary tsu publisha. Awer es is yusht an awfong.
Mer assura aw all unser freind dos gor nix ersheina soil in dem
publication dos net entirely frei is fun indecency, odder im ger-
ingshta unmorawlish sei konn.
Ea copy, ea yohr • • • . $1.50
5 copies " " . . 7.00
Tsea " " " . . . 13.00.
Ehntzelly copies 20 c, un sin tsu ferkawfa bei oily News Dealers.
E. H. Rauch, Lancaster, Pa.
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88
The PennsyhaniihGerfnan Society.
Page 2.
A Bxi^t Star Quenched.
Under this ca|>tion the PhiUu
Press of Nov. 30 contained m
highly appropriate and ably
written editorial, evidently from
the pen of G>1. Forney on the
death of Horace Greeley from
which we extract.
One of the rarest characters
in history is suddenly dropped
from the ranks of men*
An Heller Shtam Ousgonga.
Unner dem heading finna mer
in der Phila. Press fum 30th
Nov. an iwerous schicklich un
goot g'shriwa editorial — ^wohr-
sheinlich fum G>L Forney
seiner fedder fun weaga 'm
Horace Greeley seim doht» fun
wellam mer a paar lines cop3ra:
Ehns fun de rahrste char-
acters in unser g'schicht is uf
amohl gediopt fun mensha
ranks.
(Etc almost to end of page 2.)
Familiar Sayings.
I wish you a Happy New
Year.
What business are you driv-
ing now?
The Assembly will meet in m
few da3rs. -
A good man is kinder to his
enemy than a bad man to his
friend.
Carpets are bought by the
yard and worn out by the feet.
A man suffering from influ-
enza was asked by a lady what
he used for his. cold. He
answered "Five handkerchief
every day."
Ich winsh der an glick-seh-
lich Ncies Yohr.
Waes for bisness treibsht
olla weil?
De Semly kummt tsomma in
a paar dog.
An guter mon is besser tsu
seim feind dass an schlechter
mon tsu seim freind.
Gurpets kawft mer by der
3rard un weard se ous mit em
fuss.
An mon daer der schnuppa
g'hot hut is g'froked warre by
a lady wass er braucht fer sei
kalt. Sei ontwart war "Finf
shnupdicher oily dog."
Etc., to middle of page 4.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 89
Rest of page 4.
De Freschlin The Frozs.
by Tobias Witmcr. Trans, by S. S. Haldeman.
Pages.
Unscr Olty Hehmet — Poem by E. H. Rauch (almost a
column).
Fum Jonny Blitsfinger: Dunnerstown, Dec 15, 1872.
Mr. Dutchman Drucker, Dare Sir: — Weil ich un du olty bc-
kannte sin, un wie ich ous g'funna hob des du im sin husht eppes
neies tsu publisha, in goot alt Pennsylvania Deitsh so dos unser
ehns es aw lehsa un fershtea konn, hob ich grawd amohl my mind
uf g'macht der en breef zu shreiva.
Etc, to end of page 6.
Page 7.
Shakespeare in Pennsylvania — page 7 and part of page 8. Rest
of page 8.
Der Freedmans Bureau. For'n gooty Fraw choosa. The
puzzled Dutchman.
Page 9.
Select Reading. A poem, Christmas Tide, by Rev. H. Hast-
ings Weld. Justice — from the Christian Union, To page il.
25 cents — ^through page 12. The Green Spot — ^Thc Nation —
How to Amuse Children — Arthur's Mazazine — middle of page
14. Anecdote of Luther, Mrs. M. O. Johnson.
Page 15.
The Loaf of Bread. Watching One's Self. Poison for
Children.
Page 16.
Original Articles. Pure German in Pennsylvania. Lititz.
Anno Domini 1973 — vl dialogue.
Page 19.
The first Railroad. Ephrata.
Page 20.
Lancaster.
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90 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Page 21.
Kris Krinkle. Der Easel (in dialect).
Page 22.
Miscellaneous Reading. Meade at Gettysburg, a Pennsylvania
soldier to his son. A German story.
Page 23.
The slanderous tongue. From the Christian Advocate.
Letter of recommendation.
Page 24.
Thaddeus Stevens Monument. Cured of Romance. A
singular incident.
Page 25.
The House and Farm.
Page 26.
Dutch Governors. Wit and Humor.
Page 29.
English and Pennsylvania Dulch Dictionary. We are confident
that before the first of January, 1874, every reader of the Penu'
sylvania Dutchman by simply studying this part of the publication,
together with the pages of Familiar Savings will be able to reap
substantial benefits, and use the language for practical business
purposes.
Page 30.
Answers to Correspondents.
The popular Pit Schweffelbrenner letters in the Pennsylvania
Dutchman written by the editor of the Dutchman will continue
to appear as heretofore in the Father Abraham newspaper for
which, imder existing conditions they are expressly written.
Page 31.
Editorials. The purpose of the publication. On the spelling
Haldeman to Pit. " In order to read your Dutch a German must
first learn to read English," "very true." Review of book and
article by S. S. Haldeman. Our first regular production in
Pennsylvania Dutch appeared in the Father Abraham campaign
paper in 1868 over the signature Pit Schweffelbrenner. They
contributed more to the remarkable popularity of that paper than
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 91
anything dse it contained and the circulation increased very
rapidly not only in Pennsylvania, but also in Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Maryland, Wisconsin and other states. Our present
enterprise has been under consideration for over two years and
from all we can learn and from words of encouragement by a
number of highly esteemed friends including gentlemen of learn-
ing and position in the community we cannot and do not doubt
our entire success. It is the only publication of this kind, but
that it will be the last one we do not believe."
Page 32.
Where spoken. Prof. Haldeman on Bellsnickle. From PhUa-
ielphia Press,
Advertisements.
Inside first page. Singer Sewing Machines. Jos. Barton's Old
Southern Hat and Cap Store.
Inside last page. Bookbinding. Wylie and Griest. G>nfec-
tions.
John Seltzer Eng. Attorney at Law
Pennsylvania Deitsh Lawyer
Deitsh so goot dos English.
Pennsylvania Dutchman, Vol. I, No. 2.
1. Familiar Sayings.
2. Extract from a poem by Tobias Witmer. Translated by S.
S. Haldeman.
3. We feel lenger? Ehns fun de grossy froga dos bol amohl'a
Amerikanisha folk ontwarta muss is we feel lenger de rings
fun deeb corrupdonists un adventurers in politics erlawb-
niss hawa scdla de greashty responsible offices im lond tsu
filla.
4. De Pennsylvania Millitz. E. H. Rauch.
5. Uf Unser Side. Translation of article from January number
of Educator by A. R. Home.
6. Was is Millich?
7. Key to sounds of the voweb in Pennsylvania German by
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92 The Pennsyhania-German Society.
Tobias Witmer. (He refers to Haldeman's system as a
complete one.)
8. Love Letter an mei Ann! — Peter Steineel.
9. Letter from Jonny Blitzfonger.
10. En shtickly Hoch Deitsh. (Ode on das Schwein.)
11. Uwa nous gonga. (How slow trains go.)
12. Der Process.
13. Unser Klehny Jokes.
14. Select Reading.
15. Original Articles — ^Lidtz.
16. Tobias Witmer, 474 Main Street, Buffalo, N. Y., in praise
of the undertaking. He follows the German method of
pronunciation.
17. Lexicon.
18. Answers to G>rrespondents.
19. Editorials. College Days of February, 1873, contain^ an edi-
torial by W* U. Hensel on Pennsylvania Dutch and an
extract from Professor Schaeffer's speech at the Lehigh
County Institute. Reformed Church Messenger: "The
enterprise of Rauch is a commendable one and it will afford
us pleasure to find it proving a success," etc They object
to the name. Rauch defends it. Haldeman approves his
naming.
20. Ourselves. "Here is richness for you," Mt. Joy Herald.
"Unser Olty Hehmet" reminds one very much of Dr.
Harbaugh's "'S alt Schulhaus an der Krick." "E. H.
Rauch is best known to our readers under the title of Pit
SchwefFelbrenner. He has done more to popularize this
amusing dialect than any other man in America." (Can-
ton, Ohio Repository and Republican.) "Judging from
its first number it should commend itself to all who are
fond of those staid and sober people who form a large
portion of the population of our interior counties."
(National Baptist.) Note the usefulness to those learn-
ing the language. " In Lancaster erscheint jetzt ein neues
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 93
Magazin — Der Pennsylvania Dutchman— t& ist teils Eng-
lish teils in dem eigenthumlichen Pennsylvania Deutsche
dialect geschrieben und fuehrt uns nicht bios die Spnu:he
sondem die Sitten vor, welche sich unter den deutschen
Ansiedlem im Innem des Staats erhalten haben. Die
2^itschrift wird ohne Zweifel sowohl hier als in Europa
das Interesse der Philologen erregen." {New York
Deutsche Blaetter.)
Pennsylvania Dutchman, Vol. I, No. 3.
1. Familiar Sayings. English and Translation.
2. "Meaha mit der Deltsha Sense'' by Eli Keller. Criticism.
3. Letter in praise of the Magazine and in the letter a poem on
'^ De Deutsche Baura un de Morrick Leit."
4. For der Simple Weg. (Spelling.)
5. Unser Klehner Omnibus.
6. Der Shnae. — ^Tobias Witmer.
7. An Temperance Lecture.
8. Dc Beera Wella Net Folia.
9. Parable of the Prodigal Son. Miss L. A. Ash, Myerstown,
Pa.
10. Der Himmel Uft Eerda. Tobias Witmer.
11. Open Letter to Editor on Dialects. L D. Rupp.
12. Pennsylvania German. A. R. Home.
13. Seeking One's Vocation. (A story.)
14. Scandal in Congress.
15. Society and Scandal.
16. Local Option.
17. Popular Proverbs.
18. Signs and Omens.
19. Wit and Humor.
20. Origin of a Fashion.
21. Billing's Advice to Joe.
22. Use Your Life Well.
23. Curious Epitaphs.
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94 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
24* A Quaint E^ssay on Dogs.
25. Our Tabic Drawer.
Rip van Winklb.
Act I, 1763.
Rip van Winkle A Dutchman
Knickerbocker A Schoolmaster
Derrick von Slaus The Squire
Hermann von Slaus His Son
Nicholas Vedder Friend to Rip
Clausen Friend to Rip
Rory van Qump A Landlord
Gustaffe A Young Man
Dame van Winkle Rip's Wife
Alice Rip's Sister
Lorena Rip's Daughter
Swaggerino 1
Ganderkin > Spirits of the Blue Mountains
Icken J
Act II, after a lapse of 20 years, supposed to occur between the
First and Second Acts.
Rip van Winkle — ^Thc Dreamer
Hermann van Slaus
Seth Slough
Knickerbocker
The Judge
Gustaffe
Rip van Winkle, Jr.
First Villager
Second Villager
Alice Knickerbocker
Lorena
Costumes.
R;p_(i) A deerskin coat and belt, full brown breeches, deer-
skin gaiters, cap. (2) Same, but much worn and ragged.
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Pennsyhania-German Dialect Writings. 95
Knickerbocker — (i) Brown square cut coat, vest and breeches,
shoes and buckles. (2) Black coat, breeches, hose, etc
Derrick — Square cut coat, full breeches, black silk hose, shoes,
buckles, powder.
Hermann — (i) Ibid. (2) Black frock coat, tight pants, boots
and tassels.
Vedder '
Clausen Dark square-cut coats, vests, breeches, etc.
Rory
Gustaffe — ^Blue jacket, white pants, shoes.
Seth Slough — Gray coat, striped vest, large gray pants.
Judge — Full suit of black.
Young Rip — ^A dress similar to Rip's first dress.
Dame — Short gown and quilted petticoat, cap.
Alice — (i) Bodice with half skirt, figured petticoat. (2) Brown
satin bodice and skirt, etc
Lorena — ^Act I. Child. Act II. White muslin dress, black
ribbon belt, etc
L.R. SEL. SER. UEL. UER. C. L.C. R.C.
TEL. TER. CD. DR. D.L. UDL. U.D.R.
Reader on stage facing audience.
Village Inn.
Act, I. Scene I. Chorus.
Vedder, Knickerbocker and Rory talk with the landlord.
Where is Rip? Knickerbocker determined to wed Rip's sister.
Mrs. Rip evidently opposed. Knickerbocker knows.
Alice and Lorena come. Music They have delayed because
Alice wanted to see Knickerbocker. Knickerbocker turns up —
would call. Lorena volunteers a way in which he can see Alice.
Knickerbocker says he cares no longer for Dame van Winkle. At
that moment she is calling Alice from outside. They leave
hastily. Rory and Vedder comment on the old woman. Where
is Rip? Rip appears from a hunting trip. Has sworn off. Is
persuaded to '' take one." Talk turns to Rip's inability to manage
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96 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
his wife. Rip refuses to take a drink to keep his oath. Having
shown he can control himself he takes one/ Rip sings a song.
Mrs. Rip is heard outside. Rip gets under table with a bottle.
Music Mrs. Rip enters with a stick— chases them. Upsets table
and discovers Rip. She gets him by the ear and would know what
he has been doing. Hares — ducks — ^the bull — she leads him home
by the ear and beats him.
Scene II. A Plain Chamber in First Grooves.
Derrick complains about his spendthrift lawyer son. The son
is heard outside. He has a plan. Rip's sister made a will in
favor of Alice. He proposes to get a paper too from Rip to wed
Alice when she is of age to marry him and then get the money in
advance. Rip's rent is due and they decide to try it. Son says
of course a lawyer must not have too much conscience.
Scene III. Rip's Cottage.
Knickerbocker enters and Alice comes soliloquizing how she
loves him ; he catches her in his arms. Mrs. Rip is heard outside.
Knickerbocker is concealed in clothes hamper. Music Mrs. Rip
and Rip come; she would know where is the game, the money
for the rent, then she turns on Alice, who she says has done
nothing. Rip begs for a drink. Alice and Mrs. Rip withdraw,
then Rip proceeds to cupboard. Music. — Rip steps on Knicker-
bocker, who yells; Rip falls, upsetting dishes. Knickerbocker
rushes out into a chair. Alice throws cloak over him. Mrs. Rip
enters. The Devil has been in the cupboard. She raves, falls
into a half faint in a chair. Asks Alice to get bottle from her
pocket. Rip and Mrs. Rip drink. Alice tries to get Knicker-
bocker off, but he retreats again. Alice announces Squire's com-
ing. Rip would to bed but is compelled to meet the Squire while
Mrs. Rip goes calling. Alice is excused. Rip tells how honest a
man he is. Squire would talk of other things. They make the
contract, but Rip may withdraw in twenty years and one day.
" Still du Hex." Rip is to live free of rent. A bottle is always
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to be at Rory's for Rip. He goes at once. Knickerbocker would
escape, but Mrs. Rip approaches. To put on the pedlar woman's
dress. Mrs. Rip comes. She discovers Rip's Identity. She goes
after him with the broom and he goes out through the window.
Scene IV.
Half dark, a front wood. Gun heard. Rip enters. He has
missed his aim. Decides not to go home. Tomorrow a new rule.
No drinking. Dead pause. Noise like rolling of cannon balls.
Discordant laughter. Rip wakes and sits up astonished. Some-
body calls Rip. Music Swaggerina Grotesque dwarf with
large cask. Music Swaggerino asks Rip to help him up the
mountain with it. Cask is put cm Rip's shoulder.
Scene V.
Dark. The Sleepy Hollow in the bosom of the mountains
occupjdng the extreme of the sts^e. Stunted trees. Rocks.
Moon. Entrance to an abyss. Music — Grotesque Dutch figures
with enormous masked heads and lofty tapering hats, playing cards,
Dutch pins, battledore and shuttlecocks. Most of them seated on
rocks, smoking and drinking. Heit is unser iiredawg. Fooftzich
yohr is unser zeit im barrick doh, un luss uns all now looshtich si."
What penalty, if any, has detained their brother. Spirits take
immovable attitude. Rip amazed. Music Figures advance and
stare. Swaggerino taps cask and asks Rip to hand around. Rip
is pleased, believes they are witches. Drinks. Music Gro-
tesque dance. Rip drinks, dances, reels, sinks. Dance stops.
Music Curtain slowly descends.
Act II. Scene I.
Last of Act I repeated, but in the distance a richly cultivated
country. The bramble by Rip's side is a tree. Rip's gun has
only a rusty barrel left. Bird music Rip asleep. Awakes. Had
a good time but is stiff. The fellows stole his gun! Sees the
7
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98 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
tree. Not sure whether he is asleep or awake. Old woman will
tell. Music He starts.
Scene IL
Well furnished apartment in the house of Knickerbocker.
Lorena soliloquizes on her sad lot. Must give up all if she does
not wed a man she does not like. Knickerbocker and Alice enter.
Are surprised to find Lorena. Note her trouble. Lorena is en-
couraged to hope. She would marry GustafiFe only. His ship is
coming and he will come. Sophia enters, announcing the lawyer.
Knickerbocker is going to take care of him. They withdraw.
Lawyer insists on carrying out the terms. Knickerbocker says that
Rip was not capable, as he knows. They get rid of him, but
trouble is feared. Alice and Knickerbocker see a fine young man
come. Gustafie rushes in.
Scene III.
Town of Rip's nativity, instead of village, a populous settle-
ment. No longer George HI but George Washington. Harbor
filled with ships. Seth Slough. Temperance election is over.
Hello, who is this old fellow? Music Villagers enter laughing.
Where is he ? Can they talk German ? Who is your barber ? Is
advised to go home. Rip is dead twenty years. " Vm sorry,
Rip." Seth gives him a drink. Rip's wife is dead. Are you a
Democrat or Republican? Tory! Music They hurry him off.
Gustaffe arrives. Q)wards. What's your name? Rip van
Winkle. Have you a daughter Lorena? Do you remember a
paper? G)me with me.
Scene IV.
Knickerbocker's House. Knickerbocker elected to Assembly.
Enter Herman (lawyer) ; wants to have the matter settled.
Gustaffe enters. Hurra for Knickerbocker.
Last Scene.
G)urt House. Judges seated. Knickerbocker asked to bring
Alice Paper is read. Who can testify? Herman sa3^ Knicker-
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 99
bocker knows and will say so, if honest. How was the contract
drawn?. Herman explains. Lorena refuses him. Judge sajs
contract must be carried out. Knickerbocker appeals. Gustaffe
enters. Rip van Winkle! If this is Rip, Herman wants to know
where he has been. "Last night I went" — ^Judge would jail
him. Nobody seems to recognize him. Did you forget how to
save your life? Herman demanded justice. Judge ^zjs if he is
Rip he ought to have a paper. He fumbles — ^finds it. Judge
decides it is all right. All shout and shake hands.
Herman — Ous g'shpeeld, ufgused, obgawickeld!
Gustaffe — ^Mach plotz, 's kint will nochamol sei dawdy sana.
Gus and Lorena, Alice and Knickerbocker. Who is this? Ei,
hruder!
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5. LuDwiG August Wollenweber.
BlBUOGRAPHT.
Der Deutsche Pionier, Cincinnati, Vol. I, p. 871; Vol. V, p. 66.
Dialekt Dichtung. Hermann Pick.
Gem&lde aut dem Pennaylvanischen Volksleben. Wollenweber, Philadel-
phia und Leipzig^ 1869U
Geschichte der Schw&biachen Dialekt Dichtung. August Holder, Heil-
bronn, 1Z9C.
National Cyclopedia of American Biography, The.
Pennsylvania Dutch. Phoebe Gibbons, Philadelphia, Pa.
Pennsylvania German, Vol. Ill, 4, 19a.
Publications of the Deutsche Pionicr Verein, Philadelphia.
Records of the Berks County Historical Society.
Few of the later immigrants from Germany have been
able to conform their language even approximately to
the compound dialect which formed itself as the speech
of the descendants of the pre-Revolutionary German
settlers of Pennsylvania, who, according to the fiat of the
Pennsylvania-German Society, were the true Pennsylvania
Germans; to state the truth, fewer yet of those who came
over later wished even to be classed with or cared to claim
to be Pennsylvania Germans. Gen. Louis Wagner and
certain others, afterwards prominent in the work of Ger-
man-American Societies, did at one time hope to have the
Pennsylvania-German Society established on a broader
basis, but subsequently accepted gracefully the ruling of the
Society's founders.
100
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Pennsylvania^German Dialect Writings. loi
One of those who did come later, who thought he had
learned their speech, who protested he was a Pennsylvania
German, who wrote in what he called their dialect, was
Ludwig August WoUenweber. Bom at Ixheim, near
Zweibrucken, Rheinpfalz, Dec. 5, 1807, he early lost his
parents, was obliged to give up his hope of a university
education, and became a printer. In 1832 he was em-
ployed on the Deutsche Tribune in Hamburg, a paper
which was shortly afterwards suppressed by the German
Diet, and WoUenweber fled to America via France and
Holland, to escape persecution for his connection with
anti-government movements.
After arriving in Philadelphia, he travelled through the
state on foot, then returned to Philadelphia, and worked
on Wesselhoft's journal. Die Freipost, himself established
Der Freimiitige, and ended by purchasing The PhiladeU
phia Democrat. In 1853, he retired from the newspaper
business and shortly afterwards from all but literary labors,
removing first to Lebanon, and later to Reading, Pa.,
where he died in i888.
He wrote chiefly in the literary (High) German, but
for the most part on subjects pertaining to the early his-
tory of Pennsylvania. ^^Gila, das Indianer Madchen,
oder die wiedergefundenen deutschen Kinder unter den In-
dianem," "Freuden und Leiden im Amerika, oder die
Lateiner am Schuylkill Canal" (plays), "Gen. Peter
Muhlenberg," "Sprache, Sitten und Gebrauche der
Deutsch Pennsylvanier," " Aus Berks County's Schwerster
Zeit," "Die drei Graber auf dem Riethcn Kirchhof,"
"Die erste Muhle am Muhlbach," are among his chief
works. In what he calls the " Mundart und Ausdrucks-
weise der Deutsch Pennsylvanier " he wrote "Gemalde
aus dem Pennsylvanischen Volksleben." The genesis of
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I02 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
this book has already been told (see p. 32, Introduction),
also a Pennsylvania-German opinion of the same (see p.
24, Introduction).
'^Daraus kann man das deutsch Pennsylvanische Leben schon
kennen lemen, denn der inzwischen verstorbene Verfasser behorte
dem Stamme selber an und konnte sich daher mit grosser Berecht-
igung der Aufgabe unterziehen, lebensgetreue Schilderungen aus
alien Phasen des Volkslebens zu entwerfen," sa]rs Karl Knortz.
'* Das Buchlein enthalt derbe Heiratsantrage, Gesprache aus dem
Faraierleben, Sagen, Geistergcschichten, Klagen uber die Allmacht
der demoralisierenden Mode, verzeihliche Sehnsuchtsblicke nach
der guten alten Zeit, wo die Buwe noch keine ' teite ' Hosen und
'Standups' un die Mad keine bauschigen 'Hupps' batten und
* gchle Brustspells ' anstcckten."
That Wollenweber succeeded in passing for a Penn-
sylvania German was no doubt due to his poem :
Ich bin e Pennsylvanier
Druff bin ich stolz und froh.
Das Land is scho, die Leut sin nett
Bei Tschinks: ich mach schier en'gc Wett,
'S bicts kc Land der Welt
His long and intimate association with the people of
the state did indeed enable him to give a true account of
their life, but why Knortz should find Wollenweber's
" Sehnsuchtsblicke nach den guten alten Zeiten " verzeih-
lich, while damning the same when coming from a real
Pennsylvania German (see Fischer), remains unexplained.
Dr. H. H. Pick — Die Deutsch Amerikanische Dialekt
Dichtung (following Deutsch Amerikanische Dichtung)
— ^thus records his opinion of the chief merit of this " eif ri-
gen Beschutzer und Lobredner des Deutsch Pennsylvania."
" Konnen seine Schrif tstellerischen Arbeiten sich auch nicht
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 103
mit denen Harbaugh's messen, so zeugen sie doch von
einem redlichen Streben im Volke Biederkelt und Gesittung
wachzuerhalten. Fast seine sammtlichen schriftstellerl-
schen Arbeiten lassen diese Tendenz durchblicken und in
seinem humanisierenden Einflusse haben wir auch das
Hauptverdienst des ausgezeichneten Mannes zu suchen."
As to his language, it resembles that which many an-
other High-German-speaking native of Germany con-
structed in trying to speak the dialect, and, as is usual in
such cases, it is full of reminiscences of High German and
remains on the whole remote from the actual language of
the people. Many natives of England and Ireland that
I have known, unembarrassed as they were by a knowl-
edge of High German, have not only acquired the dialect,
but have reached a comparative degree of naturalness and
ease in its use, which seems denied to the imported High
German. It is true that in those days (1*69) German
newspapers were more common than now, German preach-
ing more general, circumstances which afiFected the vocabu-
lary atavistically, as it were. The same differentiation
may be observed at the present day; the grandmothers of
the children now growing up retained in their vocabulary
many words that to the young folks seem to smack of the
High German and in place of which they now use an Eng-
lish word. In all such cases the vocabulary in its inflec-
tions bears the characteristic marks of the dialect and not
of High German. A constantly recurring uncertainty in
WoUenweber's inflections is clear enough proof of the
struggle within. Now he says " Ich bin ge komme," and
now as in the dialect ^^ Ich bin kumme," at times he uses
English words and forgets that the dialect treats an Eng-
lish verb as though it were German; accordingly, in in-
cautious moments he says *' satisfiet " ; at another time he
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104 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
remembers and amends it into " g'satlsfied," or even ven-
tures to the extreme of " ge-satisfied.'^
Farms and Farmhaus, words I have frequently heard
in Germany and seen in High-German newspapers, he
uses about as frequently as Bauerei and Bauerehaus, which
are the only words I have ever heard in Pennsylvania. He
says "Schon Obst" and "Scho Obst" within a half a
dozen lines of each other; similarly wir alternates with
mir and mer; the infinitive ending with n and without n;
hat and hot; sometimes he writes habe, then hawe, hent,
haben and hen, as plural forms of the auxiliary verb. He
uses erzShle more frequently than verzahle. Von inter-
changes with vum, fum.
In gewesen he drops the n as in the strcmg participles,
instead of treating it as weak, gewest. These are a few
examples that could be increased ad libitum, of his striving
to write the dialect as spoken, and his inability to disso-
ciate it from the High German.
Still he loved the people and their dialect, and they
were glad for his book; he was probably the only one of
the later inunigrants who deliberately wanted to be counted
as a Pennsylvania German, and tried to speak and write
or thought he was speaking and writing their idiom.
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THE PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY^
^^h^c.^^C'^t^
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6. Henry Lee Fisher.
BlBUOatAPHT.
Annals of the Harbaugh Family. Henry Harbaugh, Chambenburg, 1861.
Der Dentiche Pionier, Cindnnad, Ohio.
Deutich in Amerika. G. U. Zimmermann, Chicago^ 111.
Gcnnan and Swiss Settlements of Pennsylvania. Oscar Kuhns, New York.
Geschichte der Nordamerikanischen Litteratur. Karl Knortz, Berlin, 1891.
Geschichte der Schwibischen Dialektdicfatung. August Holder, Heilbronn,
1S96.
Independent, New York, June ao, i8Sa Dr. L. Steiner.
Kurzweil un Zeitvertreib, York, i89», ad edition, 2896^
Pennsyhrania Dutch. Mrs. Phoebe Gibbons, Philadelphia, Pa.
Pennsylvania German, Vol. VII, 4, Z7&
Pennsylvania German, Vol. XI, i, a f. Dr. Betz.
Pennsylvania-German Dialect M. D. Learned, Baltimore, X&89W
Proceedings of the Pennstlvania-Gbrman SoaBiT« Vol. Ill, 156.
'S Alt Marik Haus Mittes in IVr Sudt, York, 1879.
The German Element in the United Sutes. Albert Bernhardt Faust, Bos-
ton and New York.
York County Historical Society Publications, York, Pa.
Henry Lee Fisher was bom 1822, in a part of Franklin
County, Pennsylvania, called the Dutch Settlement. In
those days life was in many respects more primitive than
now; and before Fisher died in 1909 he had witnessed
many changes in the manner of living and the ways of
thinking of even so conservative a people as the Germans
of Pennsylvania. When past middle age, he wrote a
105
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io6 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
book in which he described things as they had been : how
in his youth father and mother, if well to do, saddled their
animals and rode on horseback to church, where now
several automobiles are lined up on Sunday morning. The
stage coach made its trips through the valleys at intervals
during the week, where now express trains speed along
several times a day. In the harvest field the farmers bent
over the sickle for weeks, where now the self-binding har-
vester accomplishes everything in a few days; in winter
they threshed with flail and horses, where now the steam
thresher does the work before the grain leaves the field.
In the days of his youth the shoemaker and tailor still
went their rounds to make shoes and clothes for the fam-
ily from leather often tanned in their own or a community
tannery, and from wool and flax raised and prepared on
the home farm. The young folk gathered at a neighbor's
house in the evening to play their simple games, or as-
sembled at a nearby schoolhouse for Singschule, etc.,
where now for the most part they board a trolley and find
their amusement in the town.
As a boy Fisher attended school at that schoolhouse —
as he was fond of telling — ^which was later immortalized
as " Das Schulhaus an der Krick." On the title page of
his first book in the dialect he printed the well known line,
Vom Mutterchen die Frohnatur, und Lust zu fabuliren^
by which he intended to call attention to the fact that on
his mother's side he was descended from that same Joost
Herbach who was the great grandfather of two other
dialect poets — ^Henry Harbaugh and Rachel Bahn. In
his young days, the sons of Pennsylvania Germans were ex-
pected by their kin to take up some of the yet unoccupied
land and follow in the same peaceful and honorable occu-
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 107
pation as those before them — namely agriculture — and not
to follow any of the learned professions. These, with
the exception of the ministry, were generally looked upon
with distrust, or at any rate with suspicion. Our youth
did not share these prejudices, and what with working on
the farm and attending the public schools, he prepared
himself to become a teacher. After several years of
teaching in Ohio and Pennsylvania, he took up the study
of law and in 1849 ^^^ admitted to the bar at Chambers-
burg. Like many others at that time, he felt the lure of
the West, but was dissuaded from carrying out his adven-
turous plan, and upon the advice of the same friends
settled in York, Pa., in 1853, where for half a century he
continued active in his profession, and achieved distinc-
tion.
York was an historic town, was for a time the seat of
the Government of the United States during the Revolu-
tionary War, when the Continental Congress had to flee
from Philadelphia upon the approach of the British. In
more than one old town of Pennsylvania are still to be
seen the traces of the first municipal architecture in the
way of a public square in the center of the town and in the
middle of the square a circle, on which originally stood
the Court House. This selection and laying out of town
sites goes back as a rule to the first charters granted di-
rectly by William Penn or by his sons John and Richard.
These squares and circles became the center of public busi-
ness, and around them were grouped the offices of all the
functionaries of the government, of the officeholders and
the justices and the lawyers. When the proprietaries
similarly granted to these towns the privilege of holding
a public market, wares were usually displayed on the pave-
ment surrounding the circle in the Center Square. In one
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Pennsylvania city of considerable size, this is still the only
public market.
In York, the Court House stood not in the center of the
Square, but along the side, and consequently there grew up
in course of time a row of market stalls and sheds and
shambles right through the center of the block and also
along the sides of the street. Through these busy haunts
of men, Fisher passed daily for a quarter of a century, and
whether he courted the muse, or, as he himself said, was
possessed by a muse, snatches of rhyme were continually
taking form and shape as he went in and out to his office
and back, and to and from the Court House.
In 1875 he was confined to his room with an illness and
during this time he gave his rhymes permanent form. He
must have derived pleasure from this work, for, on pub-
lishing it later he declared: ^'Oebs mer net au e bitzli
grothen isch, wereder scho finde. Hene numme halb so
vil Vergnuge bym Lese asz i g'spurt ha bym mache, so
wirds so schlecht nit ausfalle sy." And because every-
body was making Centennial objects, resurrecting antiques,
and also labelling reproductions " Centennial," in antici-
pation of the Hundredth Anniversary of American Inde-
pendence, he kept on rhyming on half a hundred things in
and around the old Market House in the middle of the
town undl a Centennial poem had taken shape, in number
of stanzas one hundred. Even the slenderest bond of
unity is lacking to the poem, save that each stanza is sug-
gested by something about that spot, and that they nearly
all end in the refrain "Am Marik Haus Mittes in D'r
Stadt," or some variation of it. Many bits of local lore,
many thrusts at local politics, many a picture of a rare old
character has he preserved in these verses which gain,
when considered as single stanzas or at most in small
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Pennsyhania^German Dialect Writings. 109
groups of stanzas, but which are entirely inadequate as
parts of a longer poem. It must be said, however, that
they were not intended for the public eye, although he
was urged to publish them by some friends to whom he
had read them in private.
But he did not stop musing when he had finished these
hundred stanzas. His mind takes a bolder flight, and in
fancy he wanders with a companion to visit the old place.
In the key of Byron's
'Tis sweet to hear the watch dog's honest bark,
Bay deepmouthed welcome as we draw near home.
he begins thus :
Horrich! hdrscht du net? der Wasser gautzt,
Er seen'd uns dorich de Bam ;
Er hockt im Hoof, dort for'm Haus,
Un gautzt uns welcome heem.
Then he dreams himself back again into boyhood, and
from Plumsach and Blindemeisel and all the other joyous
games of childhood onward, there are few experiences in
the life of those people that do not pass in review until the
time when he goes
Mei alte Heemet seehne;
Doch guckts gar nimme wies ak hot
Die alte Bekannte sin all fort,
Mei Age sin voU draene;
Ich niuf un froog " Wu sin sie all?"
Der Schall antwort " Wu sin sie all?"
E dehl sin weit fort Owenaus,
Weit, weit fum alte Heerd;
E paar so alte sin noch do,
Un die sin krumm un schop un groh,
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Un feel sin in der Erd,
Ihr alter un ah wie sie heese,
Kannscht uf de Schtee im Kerch Hoof leese.
It is in these verses that he is at his best; they have
been read and reread and printed times without number.
Karl Knortz, in his " Geschichte der Nordamerikanischen
Litteratur " rejects the whole book in terms that are only
less bitter than the condenmation which Karl Knortz's
own poetry has received in a recent Chicago dissertation.
Knortz says: "Einer der traurigsten Beitrage zur Penn-
sylvanisch deutschen Litteratur fiihrt den Titel *'S Alt
Marik Haus Mittes in D'r Stadt un die Alte Zeite ' En
Centennial Poem in Pennsylvanisch deutsch, bei H. J.
(?) Fisher, York, Pa, 1879. Der Verfasser, der noch
nicht einmal seine sogenannte Muttersprache kennt, steht
mit den Regeln der Dichtkunst auf sehr gespanntem Fusse
und dass er wie er sagt, seine Verse nur zum Zeitvertreib,
als ihm ein hartnackiger Rheumatismus an das Zimmer
fesselte, schrieb, entschuldigt wenigstens die Veroffent-
lichung derselben nicht."
The dishonesty of Knortz deserves to be noticed in this
connection; he had evidently read the introduction, but he
chose to suppress that part of it in which the author tells
how the book was not intended for publication ; how that
friends who had heard him read in private had invited him
to read at the York County Teachers' Institute, and how
only after the contents had become semi-public property
had he consented to publish the book and then only with a
full realization of its imperfections. The fact that those
who succeeded in persuading him to take this step did not
have Knortz's literary estimates must not be laid alto-
gether to the author's charge. If Knortz had read the
introduction to Fisher's next book which was issued nine
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. iii
years before Knortz's own " Gcschichte," he might have
read in reference to the first one: "Es erfreut mich zu
wisse dass en Buch das gute Worte grigt hut fon so Leit
wie — ^Longfellow, Steiner, Haldeman, Zimmerman, Stahr,
Kriegs Secretary Ramsay un noch hunnert annere net gans
wertlos sei kan."
But to cite further: "Er schildert in diesem obendrein
auch noch mit schauderhaften Illustrationen verunzierten
Buche das alte und neue Leben und Treiben seines Vater-
stadchens, York, und verselt unzusammenhangend liber
Moden, Scheerenschleifer, Landstreicher, Friedensrichter,
und aberglaubische Gebrauche." This, as I have indi-
cated above, refers of course only to the first part of the
book. The rest, which has to do with the second part,
shows by its whole tenor, as clearly as possible, how faith-
fully the author has portrayed a certain period In the life
of the people. ** Naturlich lobt er dabei wie jeder bejahrte
Bauer, die gute alte Zeit in der es noch kein Prozesse gab,
man nichts von Temperance wusste und die Sohne und
Tochter noch den Lohn fur Knechte und Magde erspar-
ten. Ja, in der guten alten Zeit, da nahm man noch den
Mann beim Wort und den Ochsen beim Horn. Da gab
es keine Kartoffelkafer und Versicherungsgesellschafiten
und nur hochst selten brannte einmal eine Scheune ab.
Die beste Bank war damals ein alter Strumpf und dieselbe
war viel sicherer als alles jetzigen Geldschranke mit ihren
gepriesenen Patentschlossern. Da nahmen noch Nadel und
Fingerhut die Stelle der Nahmaschinen ein und die einzige
Zeitungen dies es gab, war der hundertjahrige Kalen-
der. Da batten die Madchen noch den schonen Glauben
dass der Teuf el im Kornfeld versteckt sei, weshalb sie sich
stets einen schonen kraftigen Burschen wahlten wenn sie
darin zu arbeiten batten. Da setzte man am Freitag
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112 The Penn5ylvani(hGerman Society.
keine Hitikel und deshalb hat auch damals nie eins den
•Pipscrgrigt.'"
Knortz's utter inability to understand the book is shown
by this last sentence : '' Diese alte Buschbauemheit ist nun
langst vorbei (Mr. Fisher was only too well aware of
this) und wir glauben auch nicht dass es der Poesie Fisher's
je gelingen wird das entschwundene Paradies zuruck zu
zaubern/' a statement with which Fisher would have been
in hearty accord, nor would he have wished to call it back
had he been able, but that he described it faithfully few
will deny.
Dr. G. U. Zinunermann, in his " Deutsch in Amerika,"
says: ^'Der bedeutendste Dichter dieses Dialectes aber
war Heinrich Harbaugh, dessen Dichtungen insgesanunt
eine Frische und Ursprunglichkeit athmen, wie man sich
origineller kaum denken kann ; dabei giebt sich ein reiches
Gemuth mit feinem Humor kund. Getrost durfen wir
ihn neben Karl von Holtei stellen/* and he adds of our
author — "Ebenso naturwahr schildert uns Heinrich L.
Fisher das Leben der Deutschen in Pennsylvanien in dieser
Mundart : nur geht ihm das tief e Gemuth Harbaugh's ab,*'
and in another place the same author says of Fisher: ** Von
Natur mit gesundem Humor begabt schrieb er viele Ge-
dichte und Skizzen in Pennsylvanisch-deutscher Mundart,
das Alltagsleben der Deutschen in Pennsylvanien meister-
haft schildemdr
Oscar Kuhns in his ^' German and Swiss Settlements of
Pennsylvania " recognized the work as the " picture of the
life of the Pennsylvania-German farmer fifty years ago,
describing among other things old customs, superstitions,
work in the fields and house, planting, harvesting, thresh-
ing, beating hemp and spinning flax; the joys, toils and
pleasures of the farmer*s life — ^butcherings, butterboilings.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 113
huakings and quilting parties/' His next statement, that
the volumes contain in the main only imitations of Ger-
man originals or translations from English and especially
American poetry, must be amended so as to read that this
applies only to the author's second volume, ^^ Kurzweil un
Zeitvertreib," and only to a very small extent to the volume
at present under consideration.
A short time after the publication of this volume, Dr.
L. H. Steiner, of Frederick, Md., contributed an article
to the Independent of New York, which may be taken as
the conservative Pennsylvania-German estimate of the
book: ^' Along with the disappearance of the dialect,''
says Steiner, '^ the manners and customs of those who em-
ployed them are also dying out. Surely historic pride
should struggle to preserve a faithful record of these as
of a people who have contributed so much to the upbuild-
ing of the Keystone state and whose children have made
their homes in Maryland and Ohio abodes of manly and
womanly virtues. Such a record could only be made in
the dialect ordinarily employed by them. It would seem
in English as awkward as even the best translations from
the Greek and Roman writers always do to a careful
student. To meet such a want, H. L. Fisher, a member
of the York County Bar, has recently made quite a notable
contribution. Living in a town which was honored for
a few months in 1777 as a place of meeting of the Amer-
ican Congress, he has endeavored to collect the historical
reminiscences of York and to enshrine those of the Old
Market House along with the customs of the Pennsyl-
vania Germans."
"While Fisher nowhere shows the tender poetic fire
that pervaded the genial Harbaugh's lines yet his descrip-
tive powers are unusually accurate in seizing the minute
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114 ^*^ Pennsylvania-German Society.
peculiarities of the Pennsylvania customs and his verses are
very valuable as embodying detailed accounts of the simple,
honest ways of the Pennsylvania Germans. A vein of
humor moreover pervades his lines that makes them very
acceptable/' (This is the point that Knortz missed en-
tirely.) "He has seized the serio-comic rather than the
pathetic side of the life he undertakes to portray, which
does not detract from the value of his work. He has also
called upon the pencil of the artist in his task, and over
one hundred woodcuts, illustrative of domestic habits,
manners and customs have been incorporated into the
book, which, if not Indicative of high art, are nevertheless
exceedingly interesting as faithful delineations of scenes
described by the author in the text. Fisher gives a re-
liable account of the home life of the Pennsylvania Ger-
mans which will be read with interest by the lovers of the
curious as well as the student."
The latest recognition the author has received is con-
tained in Faust's prize book on " The German Element in
the United States." According to Faust, " The two most
prominent poets, for such a title may be bestowed upon
them, who wrote in Pennsylvania Dutch are Henry Har-
baugh and Henry L. Fisher." We may not be ready to
agree with his statement that these are the two most
prominent poets (Faust is evidently not acquainted with
Ziegler's work, though he mentions his name in the Gen-
eral Bibliography) but every one qualified to judge will
agree with him in maintaining their right to be considered
poets. Faust also accepts the book as an authentic ac-
count of conditions that once existed and adds: "This
poetical literature of the Pennsylvania Germans is one of
the few original notes in American lyrical poetry."
Fisher's second book, "Kurzweil un Zeitvertreib,"
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Pennsylvania^German Dialect Writings. 115
York, 1882, consists almost entirely of translations and
adaptations of English and American poetry and of Ger-
man dialect writers. Of the latter, Hebel, Nadler, and
Felner are drawn upon most extensively. His first selec-
tion
Dort unner 'm alte Keschte Baam
Dort war der alt Schmidt Schop
is full of reminiscences of Longfellow. Bryant, too, has
been rendered into the dialect. Except for the few poems
of his own in which he deals with the natural scenery of
places near his home, or where, as in "Hesse Dhal,*' he
tells the story of a stockade in which Hessian prisoners
were kept, or when he takes a drive into " Backmult Val-
ley," the poems have nothing distinctively Pennsylvania
German. The language is of course the one exception,
but even here he gets into trouble, where the Alemannian,
Swabian or Palatinate will not yield him a corresponding
Pennsylvania-German rhyme. His renderings of the
German dialect poets are, however, not confined to trans-
lation. Many of them are adaptations and not infre-
quently he expands them or adds to them ideas of his own.
Several of them are printed as of the German dialect in
which they were written. This book appeared in a second
edition in 1895.
Ludwig Eichrodt in his " Rheinschwabisch-Gedichte in
Mittelbadischer Sprechweise '' says in the Schluss Rheim
"Druckfehler glaw e sen net drin, sonsch gabts noch e
Verzaichnuss." This our author could not say of his
book; he has given us his ** Verzaichnuss " in quatrains:
In neechster 2^il, graad unnedra
Es fierte Wort lecst Schwarz
Dort mach en e noch hinnedra
Sunscht fall't die Zeil zu karz.
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ii6 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
On the misprints he says:
Druckfehler, die ferderwes Buch,
Wiescht sin sie ohne Zweifd
Was badds em wann mer driwer flucht!
Mer gebt die Schuld dem Deufel.
Eichrodt had said similarly:
Un wo urn's Lewe net der Spass, odar z'varstehn isch letz gar
Do denkt» 's isch am end e Dail L^ifehler vomme Setxar.
This sketch would not be complete without mention of
a poem which Fisher did not include in the collection, not-
withstanding it is by no means one of the worst; it is his
translation of Poe*s " Raven " into the meters of the orig-
inal. The most obvious fault of the translation is a too
frequent wandering fr6m the exact sense of the original;
its greatest virtues are a certain rude vigor and a surpris-
ing skill in reproducing the rhythm.
Un so wie ich mir erinner
Wars so ahfangs in em Winter
Un en jede gluhend Zinder
Macht sei Geischtli uf em Floor.
Un ich hob gewinscht 's war Morge
Awer do war nix su borge
Aus de Bicher — ntx as Sorge
Sorge fer de lieb Lenore
Ach dass sie noch bei mir wir
Engel hen sie gnennt Lenore
Do genennt doch Nimmermdir.
Falsch Propheety du, ohne Zweifel,
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 117
Ung^icks Fogd oder Deifd
Mich zvL ketzere un zu quale
Wu der Deifel kummscht du her?
Warum duscht du mich besuche
Was huscht du bei mir zw suche
Wit mich in die Hell verfluche
Mit deim ewig Nimmermehr?
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7. Abraham R. Horne.
BlBUOGKAPHT.
Beginner's Book in French. Sophie Doriot, Boston, i88^
Correspondence tnd interviews with members of his family.
Der Deutsche Pionier, Cincinnati, Ohio, Vol. VII, p. i6i.
Matthews tnd Hungerford's History of Ctrbon tnd Lehigh Counties, 18S4.
Nttiontl Educator, Alkntown, Pt., Jtnutry, 1903.
New York Joumtl, New York, N. Y.
Pennsylrtnit-Germtn Mtnual, Kutztown, Pt., 1S75; Allentown, 1895;
Allentown, 1905/ tnd 191a
Proceedings of the Pennsylvania-German Socibtt, Vol. U, p. 4^; Vol.
Ill, p. i^i.
Prominent Pennsylvanians, Vol. I.
Reading Eagle, Reading, Pa.
The Pennsylvania Dutchman, Lancaster, Pa., 1873.
In November, 19 10, there appeared at Allentown, Penn-
sylvania, "'M Horn sei Pennsylfawnish Deitsh Buch, *s
f ert mol un feel farbes'rd.*' This book, which is a sort of
Raritaten-Kasten, gives evidence, nevertheless, of a far
more serious purpose than any of the other works in the
dialect; this purpose we may better understand after see-
ing who the author was. Abraham Reeser Horne was
bom in Bucks County, Pa., on March 24, 1834; his ances-
tors, who were of the Mennonite faith, had emigrated
from Germany and had purchased land from John and
Thomas Pcnn early in the eighteenth century. His own
religious tendency manifested itself early in life, when at
eight years of age he is said to have preached to the fowls
118
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 119
of the barnyard what he remembered of the sermons he
heard, and perhaps some things he had not heard. At
the same age he had made sufficient progress in his studies
to await eagerly the postrider who once a week distributed
the county papers throughout the country.
When he was sixteen years old he began to teach school
and at twenty he was principal of the schools of Bethle-
hem, Pa. At this time he entered Pennsylvania College
at Gettysburg, teaching vacation school to raise funds to
complete his course. Upon graduation he established in
1854, at Quakertown, Pa., the Bucks County Normal and
Classical Institute. Starting with three students, at the
end of his five years' work here he was employing fifteen
teachers to instruct the ever-increasing number of students.
This school was virtually the forerunner of the normal-
school system of Pennsylvania, there being at that time no
other school in the state that was conducted so nearly
along the lines subsequently followed by the normal
schools.
It was during this period that he founded a school
journal, which, under various names, but best known by
its last. The National Educator, he continued to publish as
long as he lived. It was during this same time that he
was ordained a Lutheran minister and served a number of
congregations as pastor. In 1865, he went to Williams-
port as pastor to several Lutheran congregations there,
and two years later became city superintendent of schools
at Williamsport. It was here that he was associated with
Frank Thompson, late president of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road, who was a director of the schools. After five years
( 1 867-1 872) of successful labor, he was called to the
principalship of the State Normal School at Kutztown, Pa,
After five years (1872--1877) in this position he organ-
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I20 The PennsylvaniihGerman Society.
ized and directed the Normal and Preparatory Department
of Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa., also for a period
of five years (i 877-1882) •
The foregmng account does not by any means include
all the activities of the life of the man who, even when
almost seventy, was popularly known as AUentown's busiest
man« In addition to his work as preacher, as teacher and
as editor, he wrote frequently for magazines, newspapers
and educational journals; as a lecturer and uistructor at
teachers' institutes he was always in demand, not only in
Pennsylvania but in neighboring states and through the
South, where he made four extensive lecture tours, after
he had ^ven up his work as a teacher in 1882. It was
after one of these trips that he was elected president of the
University of Texas, but declined the position. During
these trips he was also correspondent of Philadelphia
papers.
A lover of nature, he knew all the wild flowers, and as a
help to students who wished to be introduced to these de-
lights he published his first '^ Handbook of Botany.** As an
aid to teachers, in the art of self-help, he published his
** Easy experiments in chemistry and kindred subjects.** Be-
lieving that if persons took care of themselves as he did
their health would equal his own, he published his ^^ Ccmi-
mon Sense Health Notes.** He was a mraiber of many
societies and prepared and read many papers before them,
among others he was one of the founders of The Penn-
sylvania-German Society. In 1898 he was appointed by
the governor to be the state educational commissioner to
the Omaha Exposition. Late in life, he planned, organ-
ized and became president of a railroad company and built
a railroad. He also published the "Memoirs of Rev.
Joshua Yeagcr,** a noted preacher of eastern Pennsyl-
vania.
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Pennsyhama^erman Dialect Writings. 121
A Pennsylvania German by birth, a teacher in the public
schools at a time and in a place where the dialect only was
9pokeni principal of a normal school which is notorious
for the percentage of Pennsylvania Germans among its
students, he appreciated, as few had done, the difficulty
these students had to contend with in getting an English
education. Indeed, the original object of his paper was
^* to supply a long-felt want in education among the Penn-
sylvania Germans, namely an organ for the schools and
parents of the German section of the state, specially de-
voted to their interests." During his first twenty-five
years as a teacher he had become convinced, as he tells
us in his Manual published in 1875, ^^^ ^^^ system of
education generally pursued among this people admitted
of very great improvement, as far as it pertained to lan-
guage instruction. In thinking and reasoning, as for in-
stance in mathematics, he found the Pennsylvania Germans
not only the equals but superior to many of English an-
cestry; but where there was required readiness of expres-
sion he found them greatly handicapped by their inability
to use the English language.
The great problem presented for solution, is how shall sue to
eight hundred thousand inhabitants of eastern Pennsylvania, to
say nothing of those of other parts of our own state and of other
states, to whom English is as much a dead language as Latin
and Greek, acquire a sufficient knowledge of English to enable
them to use the language intelligently? ... To render such
assistance to those who speak Pennsylvania Geraiian only as will
enable them to acquire the more readily the two most important
modem languages, English and German, has induced us to pre-
pare this Manual.
It will be noticed that he says to teach English and Ger-
man; this idea was not a new one with him; in an article
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122 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
in the Pennsylvania Dutchman, Vol. I, No. 3, 1873, which
discusses, among other things, to what extent the German
language should be taught by the side of English and in
what manner this should be done, he had already recom-
mended Pennsylvania German for Pennsylvania-German
pupils and High German for European Germans as the
first language of instruction. For those who are accus-
tomed to speak Pennsylvania German he recommended
the use of articles in "pure Pennsylvania German" ( !)
in newspapers and especially Harbaugh's poems to teach
pronunciation, translation, construction and simple gram-
matical forms. Then, turning to the question of English,
he says every child attending the schools should receive a
sufficient knowledge of English to be able to hold intelli-
gent conversation and conduct correspondence in this lan-
guage; two thirds of our Pennsylvania German pupils fail
to do this at present; having shown how, according to true
pedagogical principles, the teacher must pass from the
known to the unknown, he goes on to demonstrate how
corresponding words and sounds in English and Pennsyl-
vania German should be made the basis of exercises in
pronunciation. Finally, some book in Pennsylvania Ger-
man like Harbaugh's "Harfe** or Rauch*s "Pennsyl-
vania Dutch Handbook" should be placed in the pupiPs
hands. In the same number of The Dutchman there ap-
peared an editorial commending the scheme.
Filled with these ideas. Home began, while principal of
the normal school, the collection of material for a book
which should be more adapted to school work along the
lines of his articles than either Harbaugh's " Harf e " or
Rauch's "Handbook." The first part of the book, in-
tended to be the basis for the correct pronunciation of
English, takes up seriatim the sounds supposed to be most
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 123
difficult to acquire with rules for pronunciation. Exer-
cises for practice are appended, of which such sentences as
" He that refuseth thriftlessness and rejoiceth in thorough
thinking thrives" and "What whim led White Whitney
to whittle, whisper, whistle and whimper near the wharf
where a whale wheeled and whirled?'* may stand as
examples. Those who were in his dassrooms bear testi-
mony to the rigorous drills he used to subject them to at
this time whenever he caught them mispronouncing Eng-
lish; meanwhile the news got abroad that the professor
was preparing a book; it was being noised about in the
newspapers. The following letter in the dialect contrib-
uted to the Allentown Friedensbote by Edward D. Leisen-
ring about the professor and his forthcoming book I in-
clude here partly for general reasons, but also because it
contains the views of Mr. Leisenring, who deserves to be
heard on the vexed question : What is Pennsylvania Ger-
man? Incidentally it contains a criticism of WoUen-
weber's "Gemalde aus dem Pennsylvanisch Deutschen
Volksleben," which had appeared a short time before, and
also of the poems of Harbaugh; besides all this it is a
specimen of a dialect newspaper letter, such as the latter
becomes when it discusses serious things in a serious vein.
'N Brief an dbr Hochwbrdig Prof. Hornb von dbr Kutz-
TAUNBR NORMALSCHUL.
Hochwerdiger Professor: Ich hab schon viel von d'r gelese im
Friedensbote iin annere Zeidinge, un g'sehne, dass du dich bis uf
die ncunt Haut wehrc dhust for unscr schone Pennsylvania
Deutsche Sprach ufzuhalte, dass sie net unnerdriickt un vemicht
sott werre von dene Englishe kerls, wo doch net English kenne
un leeber Gott, ah kenn Deutsch. 'S hot mich werklich geplasirt,
dass so'n gelemter Kcrl, wic du ccncr bist, unser Part nemmt
Ich bin 'n Pfalzer, mei Grossdadi is aus der Palz niwer kiimme,
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124 *r*^ Pennsylvanii^German Society.
un dieweil die gdemte Leut behaupten, der Grossdadi dhat als-
fort widder im Enkd raus kumme, do bin ich dennoch met giOM-
dadi selwerti wo von der Palz niwer kumme is. Uf sdl bin ich
stolz, vonwege er war'n tchmarter Mann.
Was ich awer eegentlich hab sag^ woUe is des ''Ich hab in
der Zeidiing gdese, du dhatst mit dem Gedanke unigeh» 'n Buch
un 'n Dickschonary iiwer Pennsylvanisch Deutsch rauszugewe.
Weest was — so 'n Buch dhat 'n die Leit do in Pennsylvania un
sunst uwerall wo die Pennsylvanisch Deutsch Sprach schwatze
gewiss arg gleiche, un die Nalljrann is redit in die Hoh g'huppst
for Freede wie ich sell Stuckel in der 2Mdung vorgelese hab.
Awer sag ich zu der Nallyann, wo mir oweds beinanner g'sotze
hen, wie sie beim FettUcht 'n paar Blacke uf eens von de Buwe
sei' Hoseknie genaht hot. Nellyann» sag ich» denkst seller Pro-
fessor wees was er unnememmt? Nau, du bist 'n dorch un
dorch Pennsylvanisch Weibsmensch alle zoll von d'r. Glaabst
so'n Buch konnt zuwege gschriwe werre, dass m'r sich net schamme
brauch mitt? Well, sagt sie, weil sie ihre schone braune Aage
uwer der Disch zum'r niwer g'schmisse hot, sagt sie, ich glaab
wol net dass es der ufgeblose, hochmudig Hannewackel drunne im
Wanzedhal dhu' konnt, was seller Professor dhu kann wees ich
net, awer sell wees ich, dass wann mei Hannes so'n Leming hatt,
dass er 's dhu konnt Guck, wer so'n Fraa hot, lebt noch so long,
sagt der Sirach in der Biwel, im sel hot mich ufgeweckt, dass ich
d'r den do Brief schreiwe dhu.
Ich bin, denk ich net ganz so g'scheidt wie die Nellyann meent
awer wann du sell Buch schreiwe wit, mocht ich d'r eppes von
Adveis gewe, vonwege weil ich selwert 'n Pennsylvanier im noch
newebei 'n Palzer bin wie ich d'r bewisse hab. Nau die Palzer
Sprooch im die Pennsylvanisch Sprooch sauwer g'schwetzt, sin
eens, im is schier keen Unnershied dazwische. Les mol " Froh-
lich Pfalz, Gott erhalts" (Nadler) noh geh ufs Land im geb gut
acht wie di Leut schwatze; was die Buwe un die Mad zu nanner
sage an der Singschul, vor'm Schulhaus wann's dunkd is: was die
Baure sage von de Gaul, vom Rinsvieh, von de Sau, vom Weeze,
vom Wclshkom un vom Hai; was im wie die Weibslcut mitnanner
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Pennsylvanio'German Dialect Writings. 125
dischkurire uwer allerhand Sache» die juscht sie alleen a'belange,
un du wencht bal erfahre, was Pennsylvamsch Deutsch is. Do
sin viel von dene kerls wo's piowirt hen, die meene, wann sie
redit htinsgeschmee schlecht Hoch Deutsch schreiwe un fercfater-
Uch vid Englisdie worte dninner dhate, sell war Pennsjrlvanisdiy
un so narrische Deutsdie, wo's net besser verstehen, spend 'ne dann
grosse Lorbeere for "dieses Gottlidie Verhunzen der so edlen
deutsdien Spradie." Vor selle» hodiwerdiger Professor, modit idi
didi gewamt hawe.
'S kann gewiss niemand hoherer Req>ect hawe vor selle Lieder,
wo der Parre Harbadi g'sdirlwe hot, wie idi. Idi wees, wie's'm
urn's Herz war, wie'r alsemol selle Lieder g'sdiriwe hot — dotlidi
weedi, heemwehrig. Herzweh nodi de unsdiuldige Kinnerjohre
un bei so Gdegenheite hot noch eppes von owerunner aus der
annere Welt uf n gewerkt — so dass m'r vid von seine Lieder die
Poesie gewiss net ablegle bum; awer die Sprodi, well idi will
nids druwer sage — just, wo in're Sdirift oder in'me Lied so
vid Englisdi wie Palzidi oder Deutsdi vorkummt, is net Penn-
sylvanisdi Deutsdt
Nau wann du dra' gehst, for sel Budi zu sdireiwe los des
verfaenkert Englisdi Kauderwelsdi haus, wo gar net in unser
Sprodi g'hore dhut Idi arger midi allemol sdiwarz und bio,
wann so dumm stofiE gedrudct un in die Wdt g'sdiidct werd wo
Pennsylvanisdi Deutsdi sei sol, awer lauter gdoge is. 'S is uns
verlasditert wo m'r's net verdient hen. Un wann dei Budi mol
fertig is, im 's kummt mir unner die Finger un 's is so'n dendiger
Wisdi wie kerzlidi wieder eener im Filddfi raus kumme is, dann
ufgebasst for dann verhedid idi didi, dass du aussehnst wie ver-
huddt Sdiwingwerk, un die Leut didi for'n Spuk a'gudce.
SCHINNBRHANNBS VOM CaLMUSHOWBL.
Home found it impossible to get his promised publica-
tion ready by Christmas of 1875, but the students were
so eager to have the book to take with them during the
holidays to canvass for its sale, that a number of apedmen
copies in the form of agents* samples were struck off for
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126 The PennsylvaniihGerman Society.
their use; of these I possess a mutilated copy. When the
book appeared, the second part was entitled Pennsylvania-
German Literature, consisting first of directions for the
use of the exercises, a phonetic key, and then a long series
of object-lesson pictures, serious, humorous and comic,
each supplied with a title in English, Pennsylvania Ger-
man and High German.
This part of the book (as well as the first part) finds a
certain pedagogical justification and example. Ten years
later (1886) the firm of Ginn and Company published
"The Beginner's French Book" by Sophia Doriot "with
Humorous Illustrations." In the author's Introduction
she says : " Experience has taught me further that children
as a rule are rather hard to please and not very willing to
submit to arduous and humdrum work; It is necessary to
amuse them. ... I also rely on pictures which have been
made as humorous as possible. . . . Children who do not
know how to read should be taught the words and expres-
sions contained in each lesson by means of pointing to the
different parts of the picture." In fact, her entire Intro-
duction might be bodily transferred to our Pennsylvania-
German book; this evidently belonged to the pedagogy of
the time.
Next follow proverbs, riddles, rhj^es, anecdotes, de-
scriptions of old customs by the author; lives of distin-
guished Pennsylvania Germans, especially of the Penn-
sylvania-German governors and of the state superintendent
of education, by Conrad Gehring of the Kutztown Jour^
nal; and finally selections from dialect poets. The third
part contained a brief grammar, a dictionary of Pennsyl-
vania-German words with their English and High-German
equivalents. As a guide to the study of English and Ger-
man, the book was submitted to the public for use in
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 127
schools and families (vide Introduction). The editor of
the Reading Eagle had attacked Home's scheme, when
first he had proposed to introduce the dialect into the
schools; Rauch of Lancaster championed Home in an
editorial, in which he said he supposed the professor would
attend to the fellow, and then encourages him thus : '' Du
*m mohl sei dicker dum-cup t'zurecht setza."
I have inquired of those who ought to know whether
the book ever got into the schools; the result is disappoint-
ing, save this from a letter from David S. Keck, of Kutz-
town, who was superintendent of the schools in Berks
County in those days; he says: ''I occasionally found a
copy on the teacher's desk, the teacher sometimes consulted
it to get the English names of conmion objects." (Letter
of February 13, 191 1.) The situation which the book
was intended to meet seems to have been generally recog-
nized as actually existing, for on the appearance of the
book, the New York Journal said: "Prof. Home, be-
kanntlich einer der unermudlichsten Verfechter des
Deutschtums in Amerika, gibt ein Lesebuch. Dies Buch
wird einem lang gefuhlten Bediirfnisse abhelfen, da dann
Pennsylvanisch Deutsche Kinder das Englisch nicht bios
lesen sondem auch verstehen lemen konnen. Ein solches
Werk ist nicht bios wunschenswerth sondem gar unter den
jetzigen Verhaltnissen zum dringenden Bedurfnisse ge-
worden." It is of course possible that almost all of this
was read out of the Introduction by the reviewer, but it
was in tum quoted by the Deutsche Pionier of Cincinnati,
Ohio.
After the Manual had been ten years out of print, a
second edition was issued in 1896 with numerous additions
to all three parts, with the addition of a supplement com-
prising an English Dictionary with the Pennsylvania-Ger-
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128 'The PennsylvaniO'German Society.
man equivalent. The author had dropped the word Ger-
man from his preface and has in mind only a Manual for
the acquiring of English. He says further that although
the necessity for such a work might be supposed to exist
no longer, yet experience and observation show that in
Pennsylvania-German districts on the very eve of the twen-
tieth century, what was said in the preface in 1875 may
be again repeated. In referring to the second edition
The Pennsylvania German calls it ** a book that has for
years been a standard among those having to do with the
mastery of the dialect or the English education of the
children who speak this tongue.'* In response to a wide
public demand, Mr. Home's son was induced to issue a
third edition in 1905 : it has again been enlarged in every
part and purports no longer merely to serve as a guide
book for the study of English, but also to show how the
Pennsylvania German is spoken and written; an uidication
that the book is on the way to become a historical docu-
ment and will presently show how Pennsylvania German
was spoken. In November, 19 10, as stated at the outset,
the Manual was issued ** Es f ert mol un feel f erbessered."
Such is the history of one of the most popular Pennsyl-
vania-German books by one of the most widely known
Pennsylvania Germans, one who, wherever he was, was
fond of applying Wollenwebcr's liites to himself:
Ich bin 'n Pennsylfawni Deitscher
Dnif bin ich shtuls un fro.
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8. Israel Daniel Rupp.
BlBUOGRAPHT.
Egle, W. H., in The Historical Magazine February, 1871.
R. in the Deutsche Pionier, Vol. X, p. aoa
Ringwalt, Mrs. Jessie C, in the Deutsche Pionier, Vol. VI, p. $$1.
Pennsylvania German, Vol. VII, i, x. P. C. Croll.
The name of the author of " Thirty Thousand Names
of German and other Immigrants to Pennsylvania" is
known to all students of early history, as is also his re-
markable series of county histories which has become the
storehouse whence all later writers have drawn. Bio-
graphical sketches of him have appeared in the Historical
Magazine, February, 1871, by his friend Dr. Egle; in
Der Deutsche Pionier, 1874, p. 351, a translation of an
English paper by Mrs. Jessie C. Ringwalt ; in Der Deutsche
Pionier, 1878, p. 200, by some one who signs himself R.
( Rattermann, H. A. ?) ; in the Pennsylvania Magazine,
January, 1 891, by the late Professor Seidensticker, of the
University of Pennsylvania ; and in the Pennsylvahia^Ger-
man Magazine, January, 1906, by Rev. P. C. Croll.
While no new material on Rupp has been discovered, it
is due to his memory to recall here how he went through
Pennsylvania with a horse and wagon and a load of books
to sell, while gathering information from house to house;
how he went from town to town teaching school, either
obtaining a position or starting new schools, in places
9 129
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130 The Pennsylvania^German Society.
where there were records to be searched while he later, as
itinerant life-insurance agent, travelled for nineteen years
through Pennsylvania, all the while picking up the ma-
terial out of which his famous works were evolved.
A master of many languages and a student of language
as well as of history, he found time to scrutinize the dia-
lects of Germany, and frequently wrote for magazines, ar-
ticles in which he compared these several dialects of Ger-
many with the Pennsylvania German. Such a one is a
dialect article in the Deutsche Pionier: "En kurze
G*schicht von meim Grosvatcr Johann Jonas Rupp ; " two
other articles he wrote for the same magazine are en-
titled "Eppes fiber Pennsylvania Deutsch" and "Eppes
Wege dc deutsche Baurel"
In 1 87 1 Dr. Egle wrote of him: "There (in Philadcl-
phia) he still resides, pursuing his vocation, laying up
treasures of history for the great work of his life, *An
Original Fireside History of German and Swiss Immi-
grants in Pennsylvania from 1688 to 1775.* It is nearly
completed and it is hoped that Mr. Rupp will soon give it
to the public who have been on the lookout for the work
for so many years."
In 1873, in an article sent to Rauch's Pennsylvania
Dutchman, he said himself of the chapter on Pan Patois of
Pennsylvania German that was to appear in the above men-
tioned volume: "I have for nearly fifty years been study-
ing the Pan Patois, Kauderwelsch spoken in Pennsylvania.
I have in my budget a varied collection of German phrases,
words, idiomatic sentences, written by myself as pro-
nounced in different counties in Pennsylvania, noted care-
fully in the dialect variations." In 1878, when he died,
the work which would no doubt vie with all his other col-
lections and compilations in value, had not yet been pub-
lished, nor has it to this time seen the light of day.
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9- David B. Brunner.
Bibliography.
Biographical History of Berks County. Morton L. Montgomery, Chicago,
111., 1909.
Pennsylvania German, Lidtz, Pa., Vol. VII, 4, 178*.
Proceedings of the Pennsylvania-German Society, Vol. IV, p. 159.
Publications of the Berks County Historical Society, Reading, Pa.
Personal interviews with his friends.
David B. Brunner, of Reading, Pa., wrote a small
number of so-called "Xenien," rhymed proverbs, apho-
risms, Bauraspriiche, to which he signed himself " Goethe
von Berks," i. e., from Berks County.
Wer sucht for'n rechter barter Job
Der geh un wart sich selwer ab.
Ihr misst net immer voma dra sei
Un alfert im a Schuss;
En blinde Sau finnt ah ebmol
En Eachel odder 'n Nuss.
Wann en Mann en Hinkel schtehlt,
Dann sperren sie en ei'
Doch wann er dausent Daler schtehlt
Geht er gewehnlich frci.
A thorough search of the files of the Reading Adler
(established 1796), for which he wrote frequently, would
yield a large number of these.
131
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132 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Widely different in character is a poem by Bnmner con-
tained in Home's "Pennsylvania German Manual," en-
titled " Der Washington un si Bile." The familiar cherry-
tree story is rehearsed; George's father is portrayed as a
thrifty Pennsylvania-German farmer, who had seen to it
that his estate had its due share of cherry trees growing
all about. George, who was a good boy — "wann er als
bei seim pap war" — ^was tempted by the ripe red fruit;
his prudence is praised in not electing to diwb the tree;
suppose he had fallen and crushed out his young life —
Now won des ding so ghappened het
Un sis uns goot geglickt
Don hetta mir silawa ken
United States do grickt.
George's father discovers the deed, and to the question
why he cut down the tree with his little hatchet, George re-
plies with the countrjrman's joke — ^because he could not
find the axe. Half in jest and half yielding to the tempta-
tion to point a moral the selection ends
Der George hut net viel chansa g'hot
Eer grosse Buwe het
Der George hut gor net leaya kenna,
Ihr kennt, doot ov vcr net.
Daniel Miller's collection of Pennsylvania German
contains five selections in verse by Brunner.
I. "Wann ich juscht en Bauer war" — in praise of
country life :
O! wann ich juscht en Bauer war,
Un hatt en gut Stuck Land
Dann hatt ich ah mei Sack voll Geld,
Un ah noch in der Hand.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 133
In rapid survey are passed in review all the arguments
that used to be brought forward by the aflGirmativc, when
in the old days was discussed in '^ Speakin-school '* the ques-
tion: ** Resolved: That country life is preferable to city
life." Not until we have read the last four lines of the
poeni|
O I wann ich juscht en Bauer war,
Wann's ah juscht dauere debt
Bis dass 's gut Sach gesse is
Un's an die Erwet gehtl
do we realize that this is a satire; that our author is sport-
ing with us and with his subject; that he has, in his humble
way, contributed to a type of literature as old as litera-
ture itself.
2. " Bezahlt euer Parre " narrates how a witty parson
moved a wealthy though delinquent congregation to meet
its financial obligations, and ends with a merry explanation
of the similar phenomenon, that a preacher also cannot
live without pay.
3. "En gross Misverstandniss " —
Die scho un lacherlich G'schicht,
So duhn viel sie heese,
Hab ich in meiner Kerche 2^itung
Sechs Johr zuriick gelese.
Wahrscheinlich is die G'schicht ah wahr,
So hot sie mir geguckt,
Sunst hatte unser Parre sie
Sei lebdag net gednickt.
The " Misverstandniss " is great enough to arouse the
keenest expectation, while the disillusionment is invariably
followed by a burst of laughter, for in the main it is true
that the Pennsylvania German loves a joke on the
** Parre."
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134 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
4. "Die Grundsau" — after considering this creature
and all her ways and all her claims, and all her influence,
he finds that we have to do with a thorough humbug, and
that
Exactly wie die Grundsau is,
So duht ihr Manner finne;
Auswennig sin sie Gentelleut
Un humbugs sin sie inne.
This gives Brunner occasion to consider the ways of vari-
ous kinds of sharpers that are neither what they seem, nor
what they claim to be; und
Nau geb ich euch en guter Roth
Un den du ich euch schenke,
Wann ihr so humbugs ak ahtrefiEt,
Duht an die Grundsau denke.
5. "Der alt un der jung Krebs" tells of an old cray-
fish (perhaps better translate it by the slang term "lob-
ster") that chid his offspring for swimming "hinnersch-
f odderscht " ; but the saucy youngster replies that he has
learned it from his father.
Es is ihr wisst en alte Ruhl,
Dass schier gar all de S5h
Grad duhne was der Vatter duht,
Un juscht en bissel meh.
By a number of salient examples our author shows that
fathers and mothers must not expect to forbid their sons
and daughters the follies they themselves are guilty of,
with any prospect of their being obeyed.
In " Der Dan Webster un Sei Sens " he treats another
well-known tale after the manner of the George Washing-
ton story. Dan is a Pennsylvania-German boy who has
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 135
gone to college and comes back having forgotten how to
work, prefers to talk English and would rather sit in the
shade than do anything else. This is a favorite theme of
our writers; Daniel Miller has a prose version of this same
story: the effect of the first year of college life on the
farmer boys has received the attention of a number of
writers — one notable selection having been prepared by
T. H. Harter (Boonastiel, q.v.) at the instance and to
the complete satisfaction of a former president of The
Pennsylvania State College.
Brunner wrote also occasional prose letters for the
papers, notably in his campaign for Congress; during this
time he had his own letters appear in numerous county
papers, but over the signature of those who ordinarily con-
tributed dialect productions to the respective papers.
It is time to consider briefly what manner of man this
strange handicraftsman of literature was. David B.
Brunner was fifth In line of descent from Peter Brunner,
who emigrated from the Palatinate about 1736. The
subject of our sketch was bom in Amity Township, Berks
County, Pennsylvania, March 7, 1835; he attended the
public schools until twelve years old and then followed
the carpenter's trade with his father till he was nineteen,
meantime continuing his attendance at school during the
winter months. He taught school three years and pre-
pared himself for Dickinson College, which he entered
in 1852, graduating in 1856; he conducted the Reading
Classical School until 1869, whereupon he was elected Su-
perintendent of the schools of Berks County. After
serving two terms, he founded the Reading Academy of
Sciences and the Reading Business College; in 1880 he be-
came superintendent of the city schools of Reading and
from 1888 on served two terms In Congress.
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136 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Brunner was interested In archsology, and published
works on the Indians of Berks County and of the state;
in the domain of microscopy and mineralogy, his studies
on the minerals of his country having been incorporated into
the publications of the Second Geological Survey of Penn-
sylvania. He died on the 29th of November, 1903. His
dialect writing was an incident and a diversion in a busy
life. His prose letters will be found chiefly in the files
of the Reading Adler.
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lo. Lee Light Grumbine.
Bduogkapht.
AlleDtowD Daily City Item.
Bethlehem Timet.
Biographical History of Lebanon County, Chicago, 1904.
Der Alt Dengelstock. Gnimbine» Lebanon, 1903.
Harritburg Star Independent
Lancaster New Era.
Lebanon County Historical Society, Vol. I, No. 11.
Lebanon Courier.
Lebanon Evening Report
Lee Light Grumbine. P. C. Croll in Pennsylvania German, Vol. V, p. 14s*
Letters in the possession of S. P. Heilman, M.D.
National Cyclopedia of American Biography, New York, 1994, Vol. V.
National Educator, Allentown, Pa.
Pennsylvania German, Vol. V, z, 9$. "Der Dengelstock."
Pennsylvania German, Vol. VII, 4, 17^
Philadelphia Inquirer.
Proceedings of the Penmstlvamia-German Soqeit, Vol. IV, 169; Vol.
XIV, 55.
Publications of the Lebanon County Historical Society, Vol. Ill, 3.
Transactions of the American Philological Association.
Lee Light Grumbine was born in Fredericksburg, Leba-
non County, Pennsylvania, July 25, 1858. The ancestry
of his family is discussed in the article on his brother
Dr. Ezra Grumbine (q.v.) where also it has been noted
that ** to scribble and to rhyme runs in the family." Lee
Light Grumbine possessed another talent that is char-
acteristic of the best dialect writers according to a writer
in the Forum (Vol. XIV, Dec, 1892, p. 470) who
137
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138 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
says : " Recalling Col. R. M. Johnston's dialectic sketches
with his own presentation of them from the platform, the
writer notes a fact that seems to obtain among all true
dialect writers, namely, that they are also endowed with
native histrionic capabilities. Hear as well as read Twain,
Cable, Johnston, Page, Smith and all the list, with barely
an exception."
In the public schools and at Palatinate College Grum-
bine gave evidence of his ability along this line, and when
a student at the Wesleyan University, Connecticut, he
began giving public elocutionary entertainments, and this,
with lecturing and teachers* institute work, he kept up as a
diversion during his lifetime.
When he had graduated from Wesleyan University,
Conn., in 188 1, he took up teaching, but began the study
of law at the same time, and three years later was ad-
mitted to practice in the courts of Lebanon County, and
in 1887 ^^ practice before the Supreme Court of Penn-
sylvania ; for a time he was the law partner of the late Gen.
Gobin. In 1886 he was appointed instructor of elocution
at Cornell University, but never entered upon the duties of
his position; in 1889 he was principal of the School of
Oratory at the Silver Lake (New Yoric) Chautauqua.
In 1889 he became the founder and editor of the Leba^
non Daily Report, which he conducted along independent
lines, making it the organ of reform movements, and the
dread of evildoers and machine politicians. In politics
a Prohibitionist, he held a high place In the councils of his
party, both in the state and in the nation, and as a platform
orator and as candidate he made many a vigorous fight
for a forlorn hope.
Grumbine was also one of the prime movers in the or-
ganization of The Pennsylvania Chautauqua at Mt.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 139
Gretna, Pa. ; a member of the Lebanon County Historical
Society; a member of the American Philological Associa-
tion, for which he prepared several papers on the results
of his study of the provincialisms of the English speech
of eastern Pennsylvania which have their origins in Ger-
man idioms and expressions. He was one of the founders,
and during his life, vice-president and director of the
Lebanon Trust Company.
It was his paper. The Lebanon Daily Report, that first
suggested in December, 1890, and January, 1891, the or-
ganization of a Pennsylvania-German Society, and when
other papers quickly seconded the idea, it led to the or-
ganization of that Society early in the same year (1891).
At its first regular meeting, after the organization Oc-
tober 14, 1 89 1, he read an English poem entitled "The
Marriage of the Muse" in twenty-one twelve-verse
stanzas. He calls for
The happy bard, the poet and seer»
Whose voice, with its tuneful charm, will make men hear.
As Kc tells, in stately epic or lyric story.
Of a quiet and simple folk, of their trials and glory —
As he sings with wisdom and grace and musical measure,
To their children's glad delight, or a busy world's pleasure
The sterling virtues of that brother band,
" The sorrowing exiles from the Fatherland,
Leaving their homes in Kriesheim's bowers of vine,
And the blue beauty of their glorious Rhine,
To seek amid their solemn depths of wood
Freedom from man and holy peace with God."
The last five lines are an incorporation of verses from
Whittier's " Pennsylvania Pilgrim."
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140 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
A timid youth,
Who only knows to speak with simple truth
His love,
Appears as suitor to the Muse;
after explaining
who dares by such a bold demand
Persistent, sue the Muse's heart and hand?
the poet proceeds to tell of the noble ancestry of the youth,
and finally makes bold to reveal his name — it is The Penn-
sylvania-German Society. His petition is evidently heard,
for the successful organization of the Society is celebrated
as the " Nuptial Feast " and the hope is expressed that
From this holy union there may spring
A progeny of poets, that will sing,
The praises of those hero souls who came,
In search of neither Fortune nor of Fame,
From Alpine slopes and banks of casded Rhine,
To land where Liberty's fair sun would shine«.
The second and third parts of this poem are entitled
respectively "Their Dowry" and "Our Heritage."
Grumbine remained an active member of the Society
imtil his death in 1904; at that time he had in course of
preparation a history of the Mennonites, which he was
writing for the Association. In 1901 he presented a
paper to the Society, " An essay on the Pennsylvania Ger-
man dialect: a study of its status as a spoken dialect and
form of literary expression, with reference to its capabili-
ties and limitations, and lines illustrating the same," also
undertaken at the request of the Society. In part it con-
tains good poetics, as when he says :
The Pennsylvania German occupies a unique place among the
tongues of Babel and their derivations. It is like a provincial
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 141
rustic youth, strong in the vigor of athletic young manhood, lusty
in the spirit of adventure and joviality, schooled in self-reliance,
honesty and industry, trained in all the domestic virtues, love of
home, of work, of kin and of God, but not used to the courtliness
of state, unskilled in the hoUowness of vain compliment, untutored
in the frippery and polish of artificial society, unacquainted with
the insincerity and diplomacy of the wider world, removed from
kith and kin, and thrown upon his own resources among strangers
and new surroundings. The feelings and sentiments of its own
provincial home life it can express with a force and beauty, a
directness, a tenderness and humor all its own, but in the more
cosmopolitan relations it is awkward and wholly inadequate, prob-
ably because as soon as the Pennsylvania-German individual strikes
out into the larger world of human endeavor, beyond the modest
and circumscribed limits of his provincial sphere; to the extent
that he becomes a cosmopolitan in taste, in education or culture or
achievement he discards the provincial for the national; he loses
the marks of his native racial and linguistic individuality; in short,
loses himself in the great mass of national commonplace. He dis-
cards the mother tongue and adopts the ruling speech, the English.
Or again when he says :
A foul tongue cannot express a pure mind, even though a
corrupt mind may at times clothe itself in fair language. The
artist, the poet, the writer, the musician, each expresses his thought,
his life, his inner self; and what the vocabulary is to the indi-
vidual that the dialect is to the community, and the language to
the nation. If the people as a people are concerned with the
heroic affairs of human activity — ^with statecraft and commerce,
with science and art, with schemes of metaphjrsics and education,
with the pomp of wealth and the parade and pageantry of artistoc-
racy, with the stilted ceremonials of society and the outward
formalities of religion — their language will be stately, courtly,
scholarly, classical, majestic and sometimes hollow and insincere.
The stormy passions of the soul, the machinations of ambition, the
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142 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
intrigues of politics, the plottings of hatred and revenge, and the
cruelties of persecution can only be portrayed upon the large theater
of the world, where are played the dramas of statecraft, and where
great events and movements mark the onward march of history
from epoch to epoch. For these the language and life of the
Pennsylvania Germans furnish neither example, opportunity, nor
means of expression. It were ludicrous to try to write an epic
poem in the dialect of a provincial community whose interests do
not go beyond " the daily task, the common roimd " of its simple
life. Cathedrals are not built upon the plan or out of the ma-
terials of which dwellings are constructed, and yet while the
cathedral with its noble proportions, its majestic arches and softly
colored light,
Where through the longdrawn aisle and fretted vault
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise
may help to lift the devout spirit's aspirations toward the Infinite
God, it is the pure and simple life in the happy homes of the plain
and virtuous people, no matter how humble the architecture or how
modest the comforts, where the Muse of poesy loves to come a
lingering guest. Here are cidtivated the tender sentiments of the
fireside, afiEection, kindness, filial love and obedience, paternal solici-
tude, generosity, unselfishness. Here dwell the domestic virtues —
truth, sincerity, charity, confidence, candor, devotion, chastity.
Here, too, is religion's real altar, where piety, reverence and holi-
ness are not the formal profession of the lips, or the ceremonial
and perfunctory offices of the priest, but the true expression of the
heart in daily right living. Sportive humor plays its mirthful part,
songs of contentment and the rippling laughter of childhood enliven
the labors of happy industry. These are some of the sweet notes
in the joyous minstrelsy which rises to Heaven when the poet sings
of the Pennsylvania-German life and people. The common range
of everyday human experience, human activities, human feelings
and failings, these are the domain and these the materials and
opportunity for the Pennsylvania-German poet; and if he cannot
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 143
produce the heroic measures of the music drama with its grand
world chorus of immortals, or the stately epic with its mighty
epoch making movements of nations and of gods, he can at least,
on the sweet-toned lyre of his provincial dialect, play simple pastoral
songs and melodies.
Grumbine is not unfamiliar with some of the dialect
poets of Germany and it is to be noted that not all the
poems that accompany the essay were written to illustrate
the essay, some having appeared earlier, nor can It be said
that he has touched upon all the phases that his Introduc-
tion points out as possibilities for the dialect poet. Ac-
companying the essay Is a brief prefatory note, explaining
the basis of several poems as well as furnishing a sort of
psychological self-analysis of the author's moods and an
explanation of his alms. I Include this In Its entirety, so
that anyone who cares may have the opportunity of decid-
ing for himself In how far he has succeeded or failed In his
endeavors.
It may be said in a general way that everything here written is
founded on actual fact or incident within the writer's observation.
The verses are pictures from Nature. Take for example those
on a country Sabbath Mom — ^"Sonntag Morgeds an der Ziegel
Kerch." If I had the hands of an artist and could translate the lines
into the language of pictorial art almost every verse would make
a complete picture which each one of you and every Pennsylvania
German would recognize as a glimpse into the mirror of his own
life. And yet I may say that the whole poem was suggested by
Robert Louis Stevenson's '' A Lowden Sabbath Mora," of parts of
which it is a more or less liberal translation adapted to the condi-
tions of Pennsylvania-German country life. "Elendig" is an
almost literally true narrative of an actual incident, but even if it
were not it is absolutely true to the pathetic fact in life that when
we are becoming phjrsically infirm we speak of it ourselves in the
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144 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
hope of dieting comfort from our friends and the assurance that
things are not as bad as we think; but we do not like it when
others mention the fact, and we invariably resent it when our
friends take us at our word. The several translations further
serve to illustrate what has been stated in reference to the limita-
tions and capabilities of the dialect Whittier's "Barbara
Frietchie " and John Vance Cheney's " Kitchen Clock " show how
readily the themes and incidents of provincial, pastoral or personal
everyday life lend themselves to dialect treatment; while on the
other hand the more dignified philosophical or moral theme of
Longfellow's " Psalm of Life " could not be rendered into Penn-
sylvania German without the effect of burlesqueing it, but calls for
the statelier measures of a more classical German.
" Mei Arme Be," with a mixture of satire, humor and
pathos, paints a very common character familiar to us all —
the village toper — ^who makes every ridiculous pretext an
excuse for his indulgence, blames everything but himself
for his weakness, and who protests up to the day that he
dies of delirium tremens, that "he can drink or let it
alone."
"Der Schumacher" is another character common to
every village and suggests his various brothers in the guild
of handicraftsmen who would furnish subjects for simi-
lar treatment — Der Weber, Der Schmied, Der Wagner
and others. " Der Viert July " is a somewhat ill-natured
portrayal of the national holiday and the painful, senseless,
wasteful and almost intolerable way in which it has come
to be celebrated In our cities. It was written while still
smarting under the tortures which the " Glorious Fourth "
entails upon the sensitive nerves of a suffering people.
Lest the lines under the tide " Ich war Jurymann " might be
thought to contain expressions unnecessarily emphatic, or indegant
perhaps, it is mentioned that the poem was suggested and is based
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PennsylvaniihGerfnan Dialect Writings. 145
upon the following true incident, beyond the statement of which I
have nothing to add in justification or apology: There lived where
I spent my childhood a little old man, who in the happy days before
individualism in industrial life was entirely crushed out by the
spirit of combination in our commercial evolution, earned a liveli-
hood in the pursuit of his chosen handicraft — ^that of a tailor. He
lived in the country several miles back of my native village and
the demands of fashionable society made no heavy draft upon his
artistic powers, it may be assumed; but he lived a contented and
useful life contriving wonderful garments for youthful rural swains
to court and get married in, which were ever afterwards preserved
from the ravages and corruption of " moth and rust " with scru-
pulous care and never worn again except upon some occasion of
equal state. In those days it was a particularly shiftless and im-
provident lout unworthy the name or the station of a householder
who did not preserve his " Hochzig-kle'der " to the day of his
death, when they might fulfil the last important function in their
and their owner's career, namely that of shroud. It happened by
rare chance that the under or deputy sherifiE stopped at his house
one day to his infinite astonishment and satisfaction with a sum-
mons to do jury duty at the County Court ten or twelve miles
distant. This was such an unusual event in the old man's life,
never having happened before, and withal invested him with such
dignity and importance in his own eyes that he straightway cele-
brated the event with one of his mild sprees in which he was wont
to indulge upon every occasion of excessive feeling, and he devoted
that entire day to little excursions between the bottle in the cup-
board and his other duties, strutting about meanwhile with infinite
self-satisfaction before the proud gaze of his admiring spouse and
giving vent to the contemplation of his sudden greatness in the
oft repeated exclamation : " Bin ich awer net e'n donnerwetterser
Jurymann!" In after years when I became more familiar with
the scenes, the characters and the methods of courts of justice my-
self this remark was often recalled and as often served to give
suitable expression to my own estimate, not only of jurors, but of
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146 The Pennsylvanta^German Society.
various other important functionaries that figure there, as well as
the sort of justice that, in the language of the Irishman, is " dis-
pensed with '' upon occasion.
"'S Latwerg Koche" and "Der Alt Dengelstock" are two
other pictures of the happy contentment and peaceful domestic
simplicity of rustic Pennsylvania-German home life, which every
one who has ever seen or known it will recognize as coincident with
his own e?q>erience or observation. I had just enough of both to
qualify me '' to speak by the card " on the subjects depicted, to wit:
the boiling of applebutter at the particiilarly eventfiil moment when
it is finished as described in the lines:
" Er is gar: du kannst 's net besser treffe;
Henk der Kessel ab, un' schoepp's in die HoefiEe;
Was muss der kle' Joe doch die Zung 'raus strecke.
Fur der LoefiEel un' der Riihrer ab zuschlecke."
And equally of that second occasion in the ha3^eld where the
very spot can be pointed out that will be forever linked with the
feeling and the situation suggested by the other lines:
" Dort hoert m'r laute stimme,
Die Buwe sin am schwimme,
Im Damm wird gebotzelt un' gekrische;
Un* dort drunne im Krickle,
Im Loch un' er'm Briickli,
Wahrhaftig sin sie a' am fischel"
Whoever has seen a Pennsylvania-German home on a prosperous
eastern-Pennsylvania farm has seen the most perfect and idyllic
picture of contentment, of manly independence, of plenty, of com-
fort, of good cheer, of peace of body and of mind that is to be
seen anywhere on the face of the globe.
Grumbine clearly had the feeling that he was contradict-
ing his own principles when he undertook the translation
of Coleridge's " Ancient Mariner " into the dialect, though
he defends himself by stating that the original in the sim-
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 147
plicity of its character, its language, its plan and its teach-
ing, is consonant with the simplest life and therefore ad-
mits of adequate expression even under the limitations of
a provincial dialect. Hon. G. F. Ferdinand Ritschl, im-
perial German consul at Philadelphia, who was present
when the poem was read, expressed his surprise at the
adaptability of the dialect to a subject like the " Ancient
Mariner*' — a criticism that might easily be made by one
who did not know that the dialect had no perfect tense, no
genitive case, that when lacking a word in the dialect it
prefers as a rule an English one to a German one. These
facts, I am inclined to think, the German consul was not
acquainted with.
When Grumbine himself says that he has constantly
kept in mind that he is writing in a German dialect for a
German- rather than an English-speaking constituency,
and has discarded English words to a much larger extent
than an ordinary Pennsylvania-German conversation, he
admits that he has created an artificial language, which,
while it may be intelligible to native-bom Germans, as he
says, is however not the language of the Pennsylvania Ger-
mans. In the matter of language, we must heartily agree
with the Philadelphia Inquirer, which at the time of the
publication of the essay and the poems in book form said :
"The fact remains that his dialect is very diflFerent from
that of current publications such as the fugitive pieces
which papers published in Pennsylvania-German com-
munities occasionally give their readers — such as for ex-
ample the "Old Schulmashter" letters printed weekly in
the Daily News of his own city of Lebanon, Pa. Does
it not seem likely that the latter, being in the common
speech of the people, represent the real Pennsylvania Ger-
man?"
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148 The Penniylvania-German Society.
His original poems deserve higher praise than his trans-
lations; the degree in which they appeal to Pennsylvania
Germans far away from the old roof tree is illustrated in
a letter from Rev. Francis T. Hoover, a former Berks
Countian, pastor of the Congregational Church at Lock-
port, N. Y., and author of ** Enemies in the Rear,'* etc.
" I am free to say that few things could have given me
more pleasure. My copy of the Pennsylvania German
came with the same mail, and so I've spent two whole even-
ings and part of the nights reading the vernacular of my
old Berks County home.
''Last evening, I read among other pieces, 'Ich war
Jurymann.' To say I laughed is putting it a trifle mildly.
But say I How did that * donnerwetterscr Jurymann'
ever hear of the gentle " keusch Portia ? " Good I Only a
lawyer — one who knew all the ins and outs of the * donner-
wetters Gericht' — could have produced *Ich war Jury-
mann.'
" Then I read * Der alt Dengelstock ' and when I read
the stanza "S Dengel lied hat g'shtoppt' a feeling of
sadness came over me, for the picture of my old father,
mowing in the meadow in front of the house, came up be-
fore my vision, and I was carried to the grave at *Eck
Kerch' where he has slept since 1864.
" Next comes * 'S Latwerg Koche ' and I confess that
when the eye took in the words,
AchI wie schnell vergeht die Jugend's ZeitI
Gut nacht, zu'm Latwerg koche:
a feeling of " he'm-weh " took possession of me for a time.
'' You have done a splendid piece of work and though
not presuming to be an expert in the dialect, I believe your
work equals that of Dr. Harbaugh in this department of
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 149
literature. Indeed you have tested and proved the capa-
bilities of Pennsylvania German more fully than the bard
of Mercersburg.*'
Prof. Oscar Kuhns, of the department of Romance lan-
guages, Wesleyan University, too thought the poems
would be placed beside Harbaugh's "Harfe," while Pro-
fessor Learned, of the University of Pennsylvania, re-
ferring to "Der Dengelstock" (or to the book of that
name?) says it belongs to classical dialect poetry and
takes its place alongside of Hebel's, Schandein's or Nad-
ler's best.
In 1903 the essay and poems were published in a hand-
some limited (300 copies) autograph edition. For "The
Rime of The Ancient Mariner '* Elbert Hubbard loaned
the cuts and head and tail pieces which were used in illus-
trating the beautiful Roycroft edition of the "Ancient
Mariner."
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II. George Mays.
BtBLIOGRAPHT AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
Christ Reformed Church News.
Heidelberg Herild.
History of Schiefferstown. A. S. Brendle, York, 1901.
Interviews with the family.
Lebanon Courier and Report
Montgomery Transcript
Papers of the Philadelphia County Medical Society.
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.
Philadelphia Public Ledger.
Proceedings of the Pennsylvania-German SoaETr.
George Mays, who was born of Pennsylvania-German
parents, at Schaeflferstown, Pa., July 5, 1836, could not
talk English before he learned it in the public schools.
At the University of Pennsylvania he completed a course
in medicine in 1861; entered the army as surgeon; later
practised his profession at Lititz until 1871, when he re-
moved to Philadelphia, where he lived until his death in
1909.
Almost €very year after coming to Philadelphia he re-
turned to old Schaeflferstown for the summer, and his
greatest delight was to drive over all the familiar roads
of the adjoining country.
According to his intimate friend. Dr. Stretch, of Phila-
delphia, his dialect productions were written not so much
for their poetic beauty as carefully to preserve In phonetic
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 151
form a language which he felt sure would soon be extinct,
insisting that much that was being published in the Penn-
sylvania-German Magazine and elsewhere was not Penn-
sylvania German at all but only a mixture of English and
German with a sprinkling of the dialect. The poems
were written primarily for himself and his friends. Some
of the later ones found their way into Daniel Miller's Col-
lection and others into the colunms of the Pennsylvania-
German Magazine. Nine such productions were known ;
a few more finished or partly finished I found among his
effects.
Only poetic in form, as he insisted, they yet give us
touches that other writers have passed by — ^while, for in-
stance, writers have described the parties and pastimes of
Pennsylvania-German rural life, it is nowhere else that I
find a party of the foUowing kind referred to.
En Schpinning Party finsht du oft
Wu gar net denksht, ganz unverhoft
Un wann du ergends besuche wit
Heest gleich, nem ah dei Spinnrad mit
An unserm Haus in seller Zeit
Do sammie oft die Nochbers Leut
Mit'm Spinnrad dort zu spinne
Un dabei Piaster zu finne.
Dort hen sie g'schpunne un gelacht
Stories verzahlt un spuchte gemtcht
Wie oft hab ich dort zugeguckt
Un was es gebt mit Luste geschluckt
His attitude toward a possible reading public is clearly
shown in the lines with which he began one tale :
Die Schtory de ich hier beitrag,
Is'n wohri G'schicht so gViss ich sawg
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152 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Wen schon ehns denkt ich moch si uf
Ken dier eich sure ferlussa druf.
Tniz dem es is en alte G'schicht
So mehn ich doch sis unser Pflicht
Solche soche fohr zu stelle,
For de leit wo*s lehse welle.
In many of his verses he thus goes back to memories of
long ago and places of local interest. As with so many
of the Pennsylvania-German writers, the churchyard and
the tolling of the beU make strange appeals. In one se-
lection he celebrates the waterworks of Schaeflferstown —
Das aller erscht Werk, vun dem
Mer lese, is in Bethlehem;
Dann kummt wie ich hier bemaik
Das Schafierstadtel Wasserwerk.
Ich hab des net vum Horesage
Drum kannst du mir es herzlich glatbe
Der alte Charter weist es plahn
Das Jedermann kann heut noch sebn.
Interesting are the verses found among his effects in
which he tells why some Pennsylvania Germans opposed
the Free School Law. The poem was never completed;
I have it in three diflPerent forms, each with some new
stanzas; but what was to be its final form we can not
exactly determine.
That the Germans were not as a body opposed to free
schools any more than the Quakers, notwithstanding many
of both classes for various reasons were opposed to the
law of 1834, is well known (cf. Dr. ShimmePs article,
Pennsylvania German. The Quakers opposed the propo-
sition because, having schools for themselves, they were
averse to supporting schools for others; the Germans be-
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Pennsylvania^erman Dialect Writings. 153
cause the law was enacted in accordance with a recom-
mendation in the Constitution whereby a law should be
enacted to establish schools where the poor might be
taught gratis and they had none of that class amongst
themselves.
Other reasons of some Germans are given by Dr. Mays :
Will ich bci dcr Worct blciwc
Muss ich eich tu des noch schreiwe
'S waar net de Oraiut bei de Leit
Dos Schule raar mocht selle Zeit.
Sie wisse os de frei Schul law
Die greift yo ihre Geldsock au
In fact 's war nix os ihre Geld
Os sclli Leit so long z'rick held.
Sell Gsets mocht unser Toxbill gross
Un benefit die Schtatleit bios
Kauft uns ken Blotz net mol en Gaul
Und mocht yusht unser Kinner foul.
So waar's bi feeli Baure's Gschwetz
So hen si g'fuchte geges G'setz
Un moncher glaubt er wert gedrickt
So bol mer mohl de freischul krickt.
(Hort hen sie g'fuchte geges Gsetz
Un feel de mehne es ware letz
Sich en Laming au zu schoffe
Weil es debt Foulcnscr moche)
Onri glauwc oni Zwcifel
01 de Leming kumt fum Teifel
Un dcr wo'n Dorsht for Bichcr hut
Wert efters shendlich aiisgeschput
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The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Our author did not agree with these notions, as several
other discarded or not yet incorporated stanzas show —
Uf der Bauerei zu schofiEe
Un de Erwet leicht zu moche
Doh hdft uns net des Schulgesets —
Sel waar of course en dummes g'schwetz.
'S gebt heit noch Leit de bases letz •
Un schteibere sich om Scbulg'setz
Doch wons net fer de Scbullaw wehr
Kemt moncher net so schmart do hefar.
Two lines from one of these poems :
In sellem shane Deitsche Schtick
Des alte Scbulhaus an der Krick
are interesting as showing that to this writer too Dr. Har-
baugh stood as a model and ideal. One of Dr. Mays'
best and most sustained pieces is his picture "Der Olt
Mon."
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12. H. A. Shuler.
BlBUOGRAPHT.
Penniylvania German, Vol. IX, 3, 99 ff. By H. W. Kriebel.
Proceedings of The PBNNaYLVAMiA-GERMAN Societt, Vol. XVII, p. 5^
Town and Country, Pennsburg, Pa.
Weltbote, Allentown, Pa.
Henry A. Shuler, bom July 12, 1850, in Upper Mil-
ford, Lehigh County, Pa., was a strange character; an
unusually precocious boy. There are copybooks still ex-
tant containing expressions in German, English, Latin,
Greek, Hebrew and French, which he copied at the age
of nine years. Early in life he began painfully detailed
accounts of his doings, of his incomes and expenditures, of
his thoughts and musings on his doings, of outgoes and
expenditures; all this he rewrote after new ponderings
and meditations. All this material we possess.
For eleven years (1870-1881) he taught school, then
became editor of the Friedensbote, Allentown, Pa., until
1893, and from that time to 1903, conducted the Welt^
bote, Allentown, Pa. In 1906 he assumed the editorship
of the Pennsylvania German, which position he held at the
time of his death, January 14, 1908. For a fuller ac-
count of his life, see Pennsylvania German, Vol. IX,
March, 1908, 99 f.
As a writer of Pennsylvania German he contributed oc-
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156 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
caslonal letters to all the papers he edited, occasionally a
poem and some spirited translations; in the dialect he gave
a third lease of popularity to the rhymes ^* When the angry
passions gathering in my mother's face I see,'' which had
their second vogue in the Hans Breitman form. For
Home's Manual, 3d edition, he wrote a chapter on ** Zee-
chaglawa un Braucherei" and in 1904 during his tem-
porary retirement he compiled for the Bofen Druckerei
" Unser Pennsylvanisch Deitscher Kalenner " for the year
1905 — ^the second almanac ever issued in the dialect.
The ** Kalenner " contains an introduction which explains
the appearance of another almanac amid the multitude
of those already existing; he intended it for the thousands
of Pennsylvania Germans who love the beautiful old
speech and hold it in esteem. He guarantees the accuracy
of his reckoning — "Mer stehn dafor dass sie recht is —
dass die Daga grad so long sin, dass der Moond grad so
sei G'sicht weist im verstetkelt, dass die Sterne grad so
laaf a im die Fmschtemisse grad so kununa wies dart steht."
For each month he has a Geburtsdag Kalenner as well as
an essay. " Was no's iwrig Geles a'geht dart hen mer's
bescht for eich rausgsucht. Rezepta wu mer sich druf
verlossa kann; Baurasprich wu aushalta; stories wu in-
teresting sin un wu mer lacha kann driwer bis em der
Bauch weh dut, un viel annera Sacha." Among the merry
tales are a number of specimens which will find their place
in the anecdote book long projected by the Pennsylvania-
German Society.
"Nau hot der Kalenner Mann sei kleene Spietsch ge-
macht. Er prowirt eich all zu pliesa un hoft, ihr nenunt
sei Kalenner so gut uf dass er's neekscht Johr widder
kumma darf un alia Johr bis er so alt werd wie der
Redingtauner. 'S war jo a Schand, wann unser Leit net
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 157
ihr egener Kalenner ufhalta kennte.'^ But no continua-
tion has ever appeared.
Noteworthy was Shuler's contribution to the contro-
versy as to how the dialect should be spelled: *'Mer
schwetza Deitsch wie mer's vuh der Mammi un vum Dadi
gelemt hen, un mer schreiwa'a ah Deitsch, dass mer's amd-
lich lesa kann, des heest; mer schpella's uf de deitscha
Weg, wie sich's g'heert."
The Pennsylvania-German Magazine spoke of the Al-
manac as follows: ''It has come to this, that our people
want even their weather prognostications and signs of the
Zodiac told in Pennsylvania German, and so the fVeltbote
office has supplied the want. There will be more consul-
tation of it in certain parts than of the Church or cosmo-
politan newspaper Almanacs."
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13- Daniel Miller.
BmUOGKAPHT AND OTHER SOUKCBS OF INFORMATION.
Biographical Hittory of Berks County.
Das Deutsche Element in den Vereinigten Staaten. Von Bosse, p. 436.
Interviews and Correspondence.
Pennsylvania German, Vol. I.
Pennsylvania German, Vol. V, x, 46.
PROCEBinNGS OF The Pennstlvania-German Soqety.
Reformed Church Record.
"Jede Amerikanische 2^itung ist froh, wenn sie unter ihren
Mitarbeitem ein Individuum besitzt, das mit der Gabe behaftet
ist» zur rechten Zeit einen witzigen Artikel voai Stapel lassen zu
konnen. Humoristische Skizzen sind natiirlich der Lesewelt viel
lieber als Auszuge aus langweiligen Predigten und wir sind der
Letzte der sie deshalb tadeln wilL Das Leben hat leider so viele
emste Seiten dass man jeden wilkommen heissen sollte, der einem
die Burde des Daseins erleichtert."
With these words Karl Knortz introduces his chapter
on American Newspaper Humorists. What Peregrine
Fickle, Bob Burdette, Orpheus C. Kerr, Petroleum V.
Naseby, Max Adeler and others, who became national
characters, were to the great metropolitan papers, this the
Pennsylvania-German-dialect humorists were to the coun-
try weeklies, and the best of them became at least as widely
influential as the dialect was known.
A case illustrating the commercial importance of these
letters is that of Mr. Daniel Miller, Reading, Pa. In
1869, he came from Lebanon to Reading, a young printer
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 159
twenty-six years old, and established a German newspaper;
a journal with Republican principles in a county, where,
as the story goes, the farmers are still voting for Andrew
Jackson. For forty years, or until, upon his retirement
from business, it was suspended, this was an influential sheet
and gathered among its readers many outside the German
Republican pale of that and the adjoining counties. The
editor credits a large number of these readers to the dialect
letter, which without missing a number was contained in
it, under the caption " Humoristisch." Mr. Miller took
pains to emphasize that his compositions tried to differen-
tiate themselves from the general run of such compositions.
He seems to have had in mind something which Josh
Billings somewhere expresses thus: ''Don't be a clown if
you can help it; people don't respect ennything mutch thet
they kan only laff at," or again a reminiscence of a thought
as expressed by the Oldenburg dialect poet :
Low jo nich» du kunnst de Leeder
So schuddeln ut de man,
As mannig Pap sin Predigt;
Dat geit men nich so gan.
Indeed, more than one name might be cited of such as
confessed that they composed while setting up the type.
It is true, such do not call for further consideration, but
for completeness' sake they may be included in the list of
those who " also wrote."
Upon my request to have it indicated what Mr. Miller
considered representative selections, he presented me with
two: Conversation between Father and Mother on a
Proper Trade for their Son, 1869, and another written in
1870— purporting to be a conversation between two Demo-
crats on politics. Here is opened up another question —
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i6o The Pennsylvania^German Society.
the political influence of the dialect writings; this can,
however, be more appropriately discussed in connection
with another name. (See Ranch.) These two selections
were among his earlier compositions. He also gave me a
number of his very latest — ^which opened a new field in the
dialect literature.
Mr. Miller was a delegate of the Reformed Church in
the United States to the World's Missionary Conference
in Scotland, in June, 19 lo. After the conference and in
company with his son, he traveled in Europe for four
months. Every week from the time when he left New
York until his return he had one or two lengthy letters in
The Reformed Church Record, and every now and then one
of these was in the dialect; thus there is one from Zurich,
one from Rome. His English letters are bald presenta-
tions of the facts of his journey, a chronicle of progress
with the assistance of Baedecker, but his dialect letters are
written in a distinctly quaint and simple language, style,
and manner of one who knows how the " Volk " thinks and
feels, and are interspersed with many a shrewd satirico-
didactic observation on life at home and abroad.
The paper, " The Reformed Church Record " just men-
tioned, was also founded by Mr. Miller, twenty-four years
ago, and in it have appeared many articles in the dialect
by himself and others. The frequency of these had in-
creased as Mr. Miller had gradually resigned the business
of his publishing house to others. This paper and the
Pennsylvania-German Magazine may be said to be the
only two publications now furnishing dialect material, that
have a more than local reading public. Among other
things, Mr. Miller wrote for this paper brief biograph-
ical sketches of the Pennsylvania-German governors of
Pennsylvania which have been reprinted in his book of
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. i6i
selected prose and verse. For this book he wrote ahnost
all the prose portions himself as also he did for a similar
collection published in 1903 and now in its second edition;
among the few in this first volume not written by him are
an address by Dr. N. C. Schaeffer, for the last twenty
years superintendent of public instruction in Pennsylvania,
delivered at a reunion of the Schaefifer family, and a brief
historical sketch by the late Professor Dubbs, of Lancas-
ter, Pa. The book has an English introduction by Rev.
John S. Stahr, D.D., late president of Franklin and Mar-
shall College, a man who can speak with authority on the
subject and who assures us that while the selections are
of unequal value, they afiford, better than anything else, an
insight into the life and character of the Pennsylvania Ger-
mans, their simplicity, their humor, their shrewd common
sense, and their deep feeling and piety.
The second volume follows in part the plan of the
former work, in that it contains selected poems by various
authors and prose articles by Mr. Miller; in part it is
clearly influenced by Home's Manual because the Penn-
sylvania-German governors had already made their ap-
pearance there, in brief sketches by Conrad Gehring; also
in that it contains a collection of sayings and proverbs,
and a brief list of differences of vocabulary within the dia-
lect but with no attempt to localize them.
Daniel Miller died in Reading, July 30, 19 13.
II
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14. Walter James Hoffman.
BlBUOGRAPHT.
Journal of American Folklore, Vol I and Vol. IIL
Procbbdings of Thb Pennsylvania-German Socieit» Vol. IV, 171.
Transacdona of the American Philosophical Society, VoL XXVI and VoL
XXXII.
Walter James Hoffman was bom at WeidasviUe, Le-
high County, Pennsylvania, May 30, 1846. Only the
main lines of his busy life can be pointed out. He became
a physician, served in the German army during the Franco-
Prussian war; and was honored with an iron medal with
the ribbon of non-combatants awarded only to worthy sur-
geons and Knights of St. John.
On his return to this country, he was attached to an ex-
ploring expedition of the United States army into Nevada
and Arizona in 1871 ; this gave the final turn to his life,
and his subsequent appointments were determined solely
by the opportunity to make new studies of the Indian
tribes. From the organization of the Bureau of Ethnol-
ogy in 1877 he was associated with it. As an illustration
of his activity, the fact is interesting that during the sum-
mer of 1884, he travelled 11,000 miles among the In-
dians in the northwestern part of the United States and
in British Columbia. The publications of the Bureau
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Pennsylvama^German Dialect Writings. 163
bear abundant testimony to the work he did in anthropol-
ogy. His talent in painting, drawing and carving served
him in good stead in the study of pictographic writing.
He was the first white man to be initiated into the secret
rites of the Grand Medicine Society of the Ojibways of
Minnesota.
During the Franco-Prussian war, he invented a bullet-
extractor which was recommended by many scientific insti-
tutions and adopted by the government of Turkey. He
was also a musician and a linguist. He was a contributing
member of many learned societies and an honorary
member of many more ; many foreign countries have hon-
ored him with medals and orders. From 1897 until his
death two years later, he was United States Consul at
Mannheim, Germany, another appointment to enable him
to carry on research work.
His first suggestion of studying his native dialect came
to him while serving under Wilhelm I, with the Prussian
Army around Metz, in which position the opportunity
was given him of hearing many of the dialects of South
Germany; with these from the very beginning he seemed
to feel at home. The fruitful results of this stimulus are
exhibited in two articles on tales and proverbs in the
dialect with English tk'anslations in the second volume of
the Journal of American Folk Lore; an article on folk
medicine in Volume 26 of the American Philosophical So-
ciety, in the same volume grammatical notes and a vocabu-
lary of over 5,000 words, and in the 3 2d volume of the
same publication an article in the dialect entitled " G'schicht
fun da Alta Tsaita in Pensilfani."
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15- Col. Thomas C. Zimmerman.
BlBUOGKAPHT AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
Berlin Times, Berlin, Germmny.
Biographicml Annals of Berks County, Chicago, 190^
Carbon County Democrat
German American Annals.
History of Berks County, Montgomery, Philadelphia, 188^
New York Staats Zeitung.
Olla Podrida, Book Notice. Pennsylvania German, Vol IV, 269.
Olla Podrida, Reading, Pa., 1893.
Pennsylyania Dutch Handbook, Mauch Chunk, Pa.
Pennsylyania German, VoL IV, 2, 269; Vol. VII, 4, 178^
Personal Interviews and Correspondence.
Philadelphia Record.
Proceedings of The Pennsylvania-German ScoETr, Vol. Ill, i88«
Scranton Tribune.
Spirit of Berks.
The Ludieran.
Wilkesbarre Record.
In every enumeration of Pennsylvania-German writers
the name of Col. Thomas C. Zimmerman would demand
worthy mention, as that of the translator of song from
many lands, and as the author of some dialect prose. But
upon those Pennsylvania Germans whose reading is con-
fined chiefly to literature in English, Zinmierman has a
special claim. These he made acquainted, through excel-
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THE PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY.
COL. THOMAS C. ZIMMERMAN.
B. LEBANON COUNTY. PA.. JANUARY 23. 1838.
D. READING. PA. . NOVEMBER 3. 1914.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 165
lent translations, with what Is best in German lyric song,
and thus restored and interpreted to them the choicest
literary treasures of the stock from which they sprung.
In this respect Zimmerman occupies a position absolutely
unique among Pennsylvania-German writers.
For many years he carried out a consistent policy of
publishing in the papers he edited, in parallel columns,
German lyrics and his own excellent translations of the
same. For this reason a fuller account of his career is
here demanded, and, inasmuch as no more appreciative
one could well be written than that from the pen of Mor-
ton L. Montgomery, Esq., in " Historical and Biographical
Annals of Berks County," I have made an abstract of his
article. The briefer portion, beginning with p. 171, which
deals with his work in dialect literature is my own.
Thomas C. Zimmerman was bom in Lebanon County,
Pa., January 23, 1838. The only academic education he
ever enjoyed was the public-school training he received
during the years of his boyhood in Lebanon County.
Thus he never had the advantages of a classical education,
and deserves accordingly the higher praise for making
such notable use of his talents and opportunities. When
thirteen years of age he was apprenticed to the printing
trade in the newspaper establishment of the Lebanon
Courier. Upon the completion of his term of service he
went to Philadelphia and worked on the Philadelphia In-
quirer for a brief interval, until January 8, 1856, when
he entered the office of the Berks and Schuylkill Journal
in Reading, Pa., as a journeyman printer. In 1859 Zim-
merman moved to Columbia, S. C, where he worked as
compositor on the State Laws in the printing establishment
of Dr. Robert Gibbs, who afterwards became Surgeon
General of the Confederate Army. In March, i860,
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i66 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Zimmerman returned to Reading, as the anti-Northern
sentiment had become so intense that his life was endan-
gered.
Here he again entered the employ of the Reading Times
and the Berks and Schuylkill Journal and gradually rose
to the position of editor, and co-proprietor. This paper
— the Reading Times — is one of the foremost journals in
the state and exerts a potent influence upon the moral and
material development of its city, being held, furthermore,
in high estimation among political leaders in the state and
at Washington.
A brother editor said of him : '^ He has a genuine taste
for literature, poetry, and the fine arts as many of his
articles attest. He is one of the ablest writers in the com-
monwealth." One of his most widely published and
copied productions was a sketch of his visit to the Luray
Caverns in Virginia. On returning home he chose this
theme for an editorial in his paper. It fell into the hands
of the Cave Company; the merits of this inspiration of
the moment were so appreciated by them that they caused
upwards of 60,000 copies to be published in pamphlet
form for general circulation. The newspapers of Rich-
mond, Va., copied this article and the favor resulted in a
request that Zimmerman visit Alabama and write up the
undeveloped resources of that state.
Very early in life our author began to read poetry for
the intellectual pleasure and profit it afforded him, and at
the age of eighteen he had already made considerable
progress in a carefully systematized perusal of the whole
line of English poets or of as many as lay within his reach.
The instinct of the translator asserted itself in marvelous
maturity when he began to make this one of the prominent
features of the Reading Times. Hundreds of translations
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PennsylvaniO'German Dialect Writings. 167
from the German classics into English appeared from
time to time; the Saturday issue of the paper invariably
containing a translation into English of some German
poem, the original and translation appearing close to-
gether in parallel columns.
One of his most noted translations from the German,
The Prussian National Battle Hymn, appeared in the
Berlin Times and was favorably noted. To the reception
which his translation of Luther's " Ein Feste Burg " won
I cannot do justice here. The fVestliche Post, St. Louis,
Missouri, a few weeks after its publication said of it: "So
beautiful is the translation that there is already talk of sub*
stituting it for the present version in English Lutheran
Hynm Books."
His translation of Schiller's "Song of the Bell" met
with even more favor. Prof. Marion D. Learned, of the
University of Pennsylvania, said of it: "A masterful
hand is visible in all the translations. It is perhaps safe
to say that Schiller's * Song of the Bell ' is the most diffi-
cult lyrical poem in the German language to render into
English, with the corresponding meters. Your version
seems to me to excel all other English translations of the
poem, both in spirit and in rhythm. Especially striking in
point of movement is your happy use of the English par-
ticiple in reproducing Schiller's feminine rhymes. Your
version, however, while closely adhering to the form of
the original maintains at the same time dignity and clear-
ness of expression which translators often sacrifice to meet
the demands of* rhythm. Your poetic instinct has fur-
nished you the key to this masterpiece of German song."
The New York World says : " Mr. Zimmerman's ren-
dering of Schiller's ' Song of the Bell ' is a triumph of the
translator's art, and recalls the work of Bayard Taylor."
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i68 The Pennsylvania^German Society.
The New York Herald says: "Mr. Zimmerman has
placed his name in the category of famous litterateurs by
a very creditable translation of Schiller's 'Song of the
Beli;"
The following ably written criticism is from the pen
of J. B. Ker, who, while a resident of Scotland, once stood
for Parliament.
To Col. T. C. Zimmerman.
Sir: Having read and studied your noble translation of Schiller's
" Song of the Bell," I have been forcibly impressed by the music
of the poem. In estimating the value of the translations of the
great German poems it Is necessary to bear in mind the weight
which the literary and critical consciousness of Germany attached
to the ancient classical canons of poetry. There is no question
here as to whether the ancients were right. The point for us is
that their influence was loyally acknowledged as of high authority
during the Augustan age of German Literature. Proof of this
can be found in Goethe as distinctly as it superabundantly ap-
pears in Lessing's famous dramatic notes, where the poetic dicta of
Aristotle are treated with profoimd respect. In the study of
Arist9tle's work on the poetic, nothing Is perhaps more striking
than his dictum that poetry is imitation with the explanation or
enlargement so apdy given by Pope in the words
Tis not enough, no harshness gives ofiEence,
The sound must seem or echo to the sense.
Now, knowing the German recognition of the law and ac-
knowledging its realization In the works of the leading Teutonic
poets, one of the crucial tests pi a translation of a great German
poem is. Does the language into which the driginal is rendered
form an echo to the sensef It seems to me that one of the
strongest points in 3rour translation of the " Bell " is that the words
which you have selected and gathered have sounds, which like the
music of a skilful musical composer, convey a significarion inde-
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Pennsyhania'German Dialect Writings. 169
pendent of their meaning. Not to protract the remarks unduly,
few words could more appropriately refer to the music of strong
and distant bells than your rendering —
That from the metal's unmixed founding
Clear and full may the bell be sounding.
Very slight poetic capacity must admit the music of these words
as eminently happy in the " Song of the Bell." The echo to the
sense is also striking in the sound of the word symbols in many
places throughout the rendering where the poet describes the occur-
rences conceived in connection with the bell's imagined history.
Speaking of the vision of love,
O, that they would be never ending
These vernal Azys with lovelight blending,
the way in which the penult of the word ending conveys the idea
of finality, while the aflSx of the present participle yet prolongs
the word as though loth to let it depart, is a beautiful and enviable
realization of the Aristotelian rule, a prolongation of the words
which express doubly a prolongation of desire. The four lines
reading
Blind raging, like the thunder's crashing,
It burst its fractured bed of earth.
As if from out hell's jaws fierce flashing
It spewed its flaming ruin forth
have a vehement strength and a rough and even painful and
horrid soimd which apply with sihgular propriety to the horrible
images by which the poet presents the catastrophe to our quickened
apprehensions.
In 1903 Zimmerman published a collection of his ad-
dresses, sketches of out-door life, translations and original
poems in two volumes entitled "011a Podrida." These
volumes were received with great favor and almost the
entire edition was sold within a month, a number of the
public libraries having become purchasers.
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170 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Mr. Zimmerman was also the author of the offidal
Hymn for Reading's Sesquicentennial, sung by a chorus
of 500 voices on Penn Common, June 7, 1898; of the
Hymn for Berks County's Sesquicentennial, March 11,
1902, and of the Memorial Hymn sung at the dedication
of the McKinley Monument in the City Park, in the pres-
ence of one of the largest audiences ever assembled in
Reading.
One of the proudest achievements of Zinmierman's
journalistic career was the erection of a monument to
Stephen C. Foster at his home in Pittsburgh, which, accord-
ing to Pittsburgh papers, had its real inception in an edi-
torial prepared by Zimmerman for the Reading Times
after a visit to that city, during which he found no me-
morial to perpetuate the memory of the world's greatest
writer of negro melodies. The editorial was republished
in the Pittsburgh Press, and endorsed by that paper, which
also started a fund to provide a suitable memorial and
called on the public for popular subscriptions, the ultimate
result of which is seen in the statue which now adorns
Highland Park in that city.
Several years ago, the Pittsburgh Times, in a personal no-
tice of Zinmierman's visit to that Park, said: "Out at
Highland Park yesterday passersby noticed a handsome,
military-looking gentleman making a minute study of
Stephen C. Foster's statue. Every feature of this artis-
tic bit of sculpture, from Foster's splendid face to Uncle
Ned and the broken string of his banjo, was examined with
aflFectionate interest. The man was Col. Thomas C. Zim-
merman, editor of the Reading (Pa.) Times, and the
statue was the fruition of his fondest wish. Col. Zim-
merman has been for many years one of the staunchest ad-
mirers of Foster's imperishable songs and melodies; 16
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PennsyhaniO'Gertnan Dialect Writings. 171
years ago, while in Pittsburgh, he visited the late Maj. E. A.
Montooth; he asked the latter to show him the monu-
ment to Foster, and was painfully surprised to discover
that no such memorial existed. Shortly after his return to
Reading he wrote an editorial for his paper calling the at-
tention of the world in general and Pittsburgh in particu-
lar to the neglect of Foster's memory."
After having translated many German poems into Eng-
lish Zimmerman came out in the fall of 1876 with a
translation in the dialect of Charles C. Moore's "The
Night Before Christmas." This at once caught the fancy
of the press and brought him letters from distinguished
men in public life as well as from philologists, urging him
to continue to test the compass and flexibility of the dialect
for metrical expression. Among the former were Hon.
Andrew D. White, ambassador to Germany, Gen. Simon
Cameron, of Lincoln's Cabinet, and P. F. Rothermel, the
celebrated painter, himself a Pennsylvania German; and
of the latter class Prof. S. S. Haldemann and Prof. M'. D.
Learned among others.
The local newspapers as a rule expressed their appre-
ciation of the work by articles in the dialect of which, as
examples of literary criticism in the dialect, I include a
few specimens here. First the one from Rauch, the
leader of Pennsylvania-German writers at this time, in
which he also cites another paper of this period:
Rauch's Carbon County Democrat —
Der Tom Zimmerman, seller os die Times imd Dispatch rous gebt
in Reading is 'n ordliche gooty bond for English poetry shticker
iwersetza in Pennsylvanisch Deitsch un doh is en shtick os im
"Spirit of Berks" g'stonna hut der weaga: 'Unscr older freind
Zimmerman aver fun der Dimes imd Tispatch drooker conn fer-
hoftlich Englische leder in Pennsylvanisch Deitsch gons goot
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172 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
iwersetza. According zu unser maining coomt ar net feel hinner
der badauerta Porra Harbaugh, un wann mer de wohret sawga
missa, ar conn, wann mer schwetza weaga wass mer poetry haisst,
'm Pit Schwe£Eelbrenner si awga zu schreiwa. Mer missa ower
explaina uf'm Pit si side os ar sich nemohls ous gewa hut for 'n
leeder schreiwer tzu si. Wann's awer ons breefa schreiwa commt
don is der Schwe£felbrenner als noch der bully kerll '
For selly notice dut der Zimmerman seim nochber orrick shae
donka un weil ar der Pit acknowledged os der " bully " Deitsch
breefa schreiwer wella mer don aw donk shae sawga.
A second one by Rauch urges our author to follow up
his Christmas poem by a New Yearns poem :
ScHUFFLBTowN, Yonuawr der i, 1877.
Mister Drooker: Ich winsch deer un all dina freind en rale olt
fashiondes glicklich Neies Yohr. De wuch hut mei olter freind
Zimmerman der editor fum Redinger Times und Dispatch en cc^y
fun seiner Tzeitung g'schickt mit ma Pennsylvania Deitsch shtickly
drin. Es is 'n iwersetzimg fun en Englisha shtick, im ich muss
sawga OS der Mr. Zimmerman es ardlich ferdeihenkert goot gadu
hut. Des explained now oUes wo all die feela sorta shpeelsauch
un tzuckersauch bar cooma. Now, while der Zimmerman so
bully goot is om shticker shreiwa set ar sich aw draw macha for
'n Nei Yohr's Lcedly.
A third done by an unknown writer (in an undated clip-
ping from an unidentified newspaper of apparently the
year 1877) confesses to the encouragement received to
take up similar work, and incidentally rehearses some of
the difficulties and discouragements that stood in the way
of the beginnings of dialect literature, particularly in the
decade preceding 1850:
For about finf un zwanzig bis dreissig yohr zuruck hen mir
alsemol prowirt Reime zu schreiwe in Pennsylvanisch Deitsch:
awer des einbildisch Menschesshtofft hot just druwer ge^>ott so
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 173
dass mer uns endlich sdwer mit g'schamt hen un unser Harf an die
Weide g'hangt hen.
Die Reimen mogen noch Ginne geh- es bezahlt besser in Cash un
Ehr, Sau zu masten un speck im bohne zu rasen as so Reimen zu
schreiwe' hen mer gedenkt. In spaterer Zdt hen annere Manner
die Sach ahgenommen, un so gut gemacht dass sie respektable
worre is, un do is apartig ehner Zimmerman in Reading, ehner von
de beste English editors in der State, kerzlich in selly Bussniss
gange un scheint so gut auszumachen dass er ims uf die Noschen
bringt es ah nochemol zu prowiren wann mir's ah net so gut
thun konne as der Harbaugh, der Zimmerman un so Kerls so
brauchen mir uns doch net schamme mit der Cumpanie. Mer
hen en Reime g'funne im Englische ''Telescope" un machen en
Pennsylvanisch Deutsch stuckle uber sell Pattern. Nau horch
e'mol."
Again in December, 1896, "Der Alt Schulmaeschter "
(Jos. H. Light) in his letter in the Lebanon News repub-
lished the poem " Di Nacht vor de Krischdag, wann der
BelsnickrI als sei appearance macht, en sehr scha poslich
Gadicht dos mei f reind der Kurnel Zimmerman iwwersetzt
hut, er huts ah firstrate gaduh, des waer nau eppes for de
Buwa un Maed ouswennich zu lame."
With the encouragement of the philologians and at the
request of the Pennsylvania-German Society, Zimmerman
continued his experiments, making selections from the
Scotch, Irish, English, and German and from the Greek
anthology; embracing many moods, humorous, pathetic,
didactic, as well as poems of love. The author tells us
that he has endeavored not only to reproduce the rhythm
of the originals but to leave their Idiomatic expressions
intact and as a result '* has been handicapped in not being
able to invest his work with creations of his own fancy
through which he might have gained a more compre-
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174 ^^^ Pennsylvania-German Society.
hensive diction and with it a wider latitude of expression."
Another poem he translated, "The Bonnie George
Campbell," has been turned and returned many times —
William Motherwell partly compiled and partly wrote it
for his collection "Minstrelsy Ancient and Modern,"
1827; O. L. B. Wolff translated it into German; Long-
fellow made the German version the basis of his own and
this was used by our author. I cite the second stanza.
Out came his mother Raus kummt sei Mutter —
Weeping so sadly; Weine'd so herzlich;
Out came his beauteous bride Raiu kummt sei schone Fraa
Weeping so madly. Weine'd so schmerzlich.
All saddled, all bridled All g'sattled ge'zammt
Home came the saddle, Heem kummt der Satte 1
But he nevermore. Doch er nimmeraiehr.
Here is a stanza from " Auld Robin Gray."
He hadna been gane a week but only twa
When my father brake his arm and our cow was stown awa'
My mither she fell sick and my Jamie at the sea,
And auld Robin Gray came a courting me.
Er war net 'n Woch aweck 'xccpt juscht en paar,
Wan mei Fatter brecht sei Ann und die Kuh g'schtolc war,
Mei Mutter sie wart krank, und mei Dschimmy's uf em See,
Un mich zu karassiere kummt der Alt Robin Grey.
Or still another song :
The baimie's cuddle doon at nicht
Wi muckle faucht and din
" O try and sleep, ye waukrife rogues,
Your father's coming in."
They never hccrd a word I speak,
I try to gie a froon;
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 175
My aye I hap them up, an' cry,
Oh baimies, cuddle doon.
Die Kinner lige hie des nachts
Mit Jacht und Fechtcrei;
" Browier und schloft, ihr wackrich Schelm
Euer Fater kummt jetzt rei."
Sie hor'e net 'n Wort's ich sag
Ich guck jetzt bos an sie.
Doch rief ich immer uf und schrei,
"Oh, Kinner, legt eich hie."
Or, finally from the Greek anthology;
My Mopsa is little and my Mopsa is brown
But her cheek is as soft as the peach's soft down,
And for blushing no rose can come near her.
In short, she has woven such nets roimd my heart.
That I ne'er fnMn my dear little Mopsa can part, —
Unless I can find one that's dearer.
My Mopsy is brau, un mei Mopsy is klee,
Wie die WoU fun de Persching, ihr Backe so scho
Un for blushe, ke Ros gebt't 's frisher is:
En Net hot sie g'wove so ganz um meim Herz,
Ich kann fon mei Mopsy nimme geh unne Schmerz,
Except eane fin ich das besser is.
Other translations that might be mentioned are " Baby
Mine," " The Road to Slumberland," George P. Morrises
" When Other Friends are Round Thee " and Barry Corn-
wall's " Sing, Maiden Sing.'*
It is not surprising that he is at his best in songs that
are the expression of the deep yet simple feelings of the
heart and that his translations of Oliver Goldsmith's
" Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog " or the anonymous
" John Jenkin's Sermon " or the " New Casablanca " have
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176 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
brought forth many turns which Pennsylvania Germans
would call artificialities of their speech. Some fifteen of
such translations were included by the author in his book
" 011a Podrida," in a review of which work in German-
American Annals, Professor Learned, of the University
of Pennsylvania, recognized Zimmerman as belonging to
the school of Harbaugh and Fischer.
Edmund Clarence Stedman, speaking of these transla-
tions, said: "Your metrical renderings of English verse
into the local German vernacular are unique. They have
a special value not only of philological but of curious
poetic craftsmanship. I like your sense of the worth of
what is right at hand, and though still fresh is likely to
pass away in time, and of which I may say ' pars magna
fuisti.' I don't suppose my old friend Leland — ^peace to
his wanderings — ^knew Pennsylvania German well enough
to have written in it. If so, he is the only man who could
have trolled it forth so racily" — from a private letter.
(In this he shows he knows whereof he speaks — ^at any
rate he does not make the mistake often made even by such
as the Atlantic Monthly of taking Leland's own language
for Pennsylvania German.)
Other of Zimmerman's translations are scattered
through the files of the Reading Times and Dispatch, as
are also his infrequent articles in prose — of which the most
famous are the letters purporting to pass between " Wil-
helm" (The Kaiser) and "Mei leewi Grosmonuny"
(Queen Victoria), in which he rebukes her for allowing
herself to be under the influence of Salisbury in the matter
of the Boer War, censures "Unde Wales" (Prince Ed-
ward of Wales) for his gambling proclivities, and threat-
ens that he may have to take a hand in the war himself.
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Pennsylvania'German Dialect Writings. 177
In due time Victoria replies to "Mei leewer Billy" in
regretful and conciliatory tone. These letters were widely
copied by the press, taken up into several anthologies
(Home's and Miller's) and presumably represented
Pennsylvania-German editorial (and perhaps popular)
opinion at the time of the Boer War.
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1 6. Edward Hermany.
Sources of Information.
Correspondence with a member of his family.
In 1895 there died in the town where he was born —
Jacksonville, Lehigh County, Pa. — a curious, eccentric,
old bachelor schoolmaster, Edward Hermany; his life cov-
ered almost the entire nineteenth century, and during this
time he lived much to himself and kept his doings to him-
self.
Up to the time of his death, no human being seems to
have known that he had (k)ne any work of the kind that
his eflFects showed — for among the possessions were found
a collection of over 5,000 verses in Pennsylvania German,
in many of which he has described, often with an almost
brutal frankness, characters only odder than himself. My
informant (a member of the family) tells me that be-
cause of this it is perhaps well these poems have been with-
held from publication for upwards of a generation; the
twenty-four poems in the collection seem to have been
written between i860 and 1872.
His brother Charles, engineer of the celebrated water-
works of Louisville, Kentucky, tocJc charge of the manu-
scripts, intending to publish them; he had written an In-
178
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 179
troduction on the Pennsylvania Germans and on the poems
of his brother when death came to him too and the manu-
script again found its way back to Jacksonville, Pa., into
the hands of another brother.
The poems seem to take in the complete round of life,
the first one is a metrical preface — Furnahahr — the last
one — ^Lebensmiide — ^between them are " Der Dorraday ihr
Huchdsich," "Die Yuggeles Leicht." "Swerd ewa so
sy suUa " is probably not as optimistic as it looks. Of his
sketches, " Die Olid Bluddshawl " which may be rendered
The Old Bald-headed Wench, " Der Olid Knucha Fritz,"
" D'r Porra Tiddle " are probably characteristic. " D'r
Schtodd Ongle im Boosh" is a familiar subject. "Wie
die Ollda noch dV 'Hyo sin" records a chapter in the
early migration to the West. Another subject that lent
itself to his satire he portrayed in "Kerch un Shoodl-
metsch." In more genial vein he writes "Foon d'r
Hoyet," "Fon d'r Ahm," "Foon Lodwerk Kucha," all
well-worn subjects of the dialect writers.
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Stetzel.
Miller.
17. Moses Dissinger.
BmUOGRAPHT.
A Brief Biography of Motet Dittinger.
Penntylvania German.
It IS not exactly accurate to indude Moses Dissinger
among Pennsylvania-German dialect writers, for he could
not write at all until well advanced in years and even
then he did not write ; but he made use of the dialect in a
manner so peculiarly his own, that many of his utterances
have found their way into print. Moreover there was
something so distinctly Dissingeresque about the stories,
the figures of speech, the apt illustrations, the phrases
and words that fell from his lips, that they became an oral
tradition among those who heard him and this tradition
alone would deserve brief mention.
Dissinger was a preacher and presumably not the only
one that used the dialect for his purposes, but he is the
only one so remembered. He belonged to a religious or-
ganization which believed in noisy revival meetings of a
type that even in his day shocked those of other churches
who took a more staid and dignified attitude toward their
religion. The people of his denomination were designated
by the rather uncomplimentary term of "Strawler" and
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of the revivalist preachers of his sect he was confessedly
the most boisterous. " Ihr krechst do rum wie so en alte
Set Mihlraeder, wann net genunk Wasser do is, for sie
recht azutreiwa " are the words with which he sought to
rouse a prayer meeting to a more adequate expression of
the emotions which they felt or which he thought they
ought to feel.
Members of his own church have felt constrained to
apologize for his manner by calling it ''pioneer work in
destroying the power of sin and the Devil," to confess that
those of his " sermons, more free from humorous and rude
expressions were the best and the most eflFective " and to
express their belief " that he might have accomplished more
if he had moderated his manner of speaking, making it
more modest and more conformable to the sacred cause
of the gospel."
Moses Dissinger was bom March 17, 1824, at Schaef-
ferstown, Lebanon County, Pa., and lived a wild and tur-
bulent youth. His eccentricities were marked in earliest
boyhood; being sent to bring the cows from the pasture,
when they did not promptly start for home after he had
opened the bars, he raced after them into the field, jumped
on the back of the hindmost one, waved his arms, danced
and shouted until they were all in mad gallop, whereupon
he leaped down to the ground and proceeded home as
though nothing had happened. The next time they came
at his call and " Wie mer sie ziegt, so hot mer sie," one of
his favorite maxims, was his comment.
Similar freakish feats of horsemanship are related of
the youngster. Tall in stature, strong in body, and with
a superabundance of animal spirits, he was always to be
found where a frolic was celebrated, where there was
dancing and noise, where cards were played, where the
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i82 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
strong whiskey flowed and the biggest bully offered op-
portunity for a fight. When at midnight fierce whoops
were heard or the rattle of a stick drawn along the paling
fences roused the villagers from their slumbers, they
would turn over in their beds and with a condoning ** Es
is widder der Mose/' return to their sleep.
It is no wonder that when Mose went with the rest of
the rowdies to a " Strawler " meeting and " got religion/'
folks shook their heads and sagely advised a withholding
of judgment until after the next frolic. The doubters,
however, were doomed to disappointment. Even his
work with pick and shovel now was interspersed with loud
calls upon the Divine Power for grace. His conversion
having become complete, he at once manifested a desire
for, and felt the necessity of, a closer acquaintance with
the Holy Book although he could at this time, when
eighteen years old, neither read nor write. With his ac-
customed vigor he applied himself to the task of learning
his letters and In the course of time acquired considerable
proficiency in German. He now diligently studied his
Bible and committed large portions of it to memory.
In rapid succession he became exhorter, class worker,
local preacher and, finally, a regularly licensed minister
working under the direction of the East Pennsylvania Con-
ference of the Evangelical Association; from 1854 to 1879
he worked In many circuits of eastern Pennsylvania. His
followers professed to see something akin to the miracu-
lous in the change that was wrought In him, and we may
leave them undisturbed in this belief, but In manner and
method. In ways and means the old Mose remained ever
the same, only his aims were different. As he had been
loudest In his profanity, he was now loudest In singing
hymns of praise and shouting Hallelujah. After seven-
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 183
teen " battles " in his youth with the bullies of his native
heath, in the last o£ which he whipped the biggest one and
won that proud title for himself, he made the Devil his
chief protagonist and never ceased fighting him while life
lasted.
At times his fighting proclivities came him in good stead,
as on one occasion when a band of ruffians gathered in the
rear of the hall in which he was preaching with the avowed
purpose of breaking up the meeting. " Horcht amol, ihr
Kerls dort hinne," he said. '' An eich is alles Hund was
an eich is, except die Haut. Eich fehlt juscht noch en
Hundshaut, dann kent mer sehna was ihr seid. Wann ihr
ken Menschahaut uf eich het, wisst mer besser was ihr
seid. Awer so mehnt mer noch ihr waert Menscha. Ich
hab net gewisst dass es doh noch so verfluchta Gadarener
hot. Ihr seid so voU Deifel ass der Gadarener war.
Eich will ich nau saga was ihr zu duh het. Ruhig misst
ihr sei, odder ich kunun nunner un schmeiss eich zu d^r
Dihr naus, dass ihr die Hels verbrecht. Ich kann en halb
Dutzend so Berstelcher, wie ihr seid, ableddera. Dis-
singer heess ich I Un wann ihr mir's net glaabt, bleibt
juscht vor der Dihr steh wann die Versammling aus is, no
will ich's eich beweisa." Then followed this word of
warning to the rest of the gathering: " Es sin awer ah viel
orndlicha Leit doh, wu kumma sin Gottes Wort zu hera.
Eich will ich rota, eier Seistell gut zu verwahra ; for wann
die Deifel mol aus denna Gadarener fahra un fahra in
eier Sei, so verrecka sie gewiss all.*'
At another time Dissinger was actually called upon to
lead his followers against a gang of whiskey-inspired
rowdies who were intent on "starting something" at a
camp meeting. Calling to his men to follow, with his
huge strength he seized in turn and slammed to the ground
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184 The Pennsylvania^German Society.
the first three he met, by which time the rest were beating
a hasty retreat.
There was something about him that seemed to privilege
him, to enable him to do what others dared not. Even
the dogs that in youth he teased to maddening fury,
wagged their tails and became calm, when he came out
from his hiding place and walked up to them. Thus the
sinner to whom he gave a tongue lashing seldom became
his enemy or bore him a grudge. In this way he obtained
a wide hearing. Endowed with an unusual degree of
native shrewdness and a rare talent for creating homely
figures and making ingenious comparisons, his sermons
were not soon forgotten. The withering scorn, the bitter
sarcasm, even the kindly humor of his language which was
too often brutal in its frankness and directness, sometimes
even coarse, brought the curious as well as the devout to
swell his audience. No one ever doubted his terrible and
terrifying earnestness. His words were fairly burnt into
the minds of his auditors. Country Solons around the
stove at the crossroads store still rehearse his sayings.
Preachers visiting among the country folk still give point
to many a story with " Wie der Dissinger als gsawt hot."
It were worth while to make a collection of these stories
before the generation that heard this peculiar Man of
God passes away.
'' Sehnt juscht amol die Sauflodel ah,'' he was wont to
begin. And if his theories about regeneration and ex-
perience are correct, he had a distinct advantage over
many another when preaching on this subject. ** Die hot
der Deifel so erschreddich verhaust, dass mer meent sie
kenta ihr Lebdag nimme zurecht gebrocht werra. Viel
davun hen net juscht ihr Menschlich Ehrgefihl fortg'soffa,
so dass sie alles Schlechte un Dreckige duh kenna, was der
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Pennsylvania^German Dialect Writings. 185
dreckig Helldeifel hawa will dass sie duh soUa^ ohne dass
sie sich schaemma; awer sie hen ah noch ihra Verstand
versofia. Es is jo bal nix meh do an ihna, was zum a
rechta Mensch g'hcert. Der Deifel hot sic jo ganz zu
seina Schuhbutzerlumpa g'macht un en grosser Dehl vun
ihna hen bal Leib un Seel versofia^ un so sauf a sie fort bis
der Deifel sie in die Hell nunner holt, wu all die Sauflodel
hikununa. Nau guckt sie juscht amol recht ah, wie sie
auswennig aussehna. Sie hawa Nasa wie rota Pefferkep,
Ohra wie Fastnacht kucha, Beich wie Fesser, un macha
G'sichter wie die Fichs wann sie Weschpa fressa. Un bei
all dem werd immer noch druf los g'sofia, un sie springa
noch der Drambuttel wie die BuUfreschuf die rota Lumpa.
Wann mer net wisst dass Jesus Christus so niedertrachtige
Menscha wie die sin schun agenomma het um noch recht-
schafina Menscha aus ihne g'macht het, so kennt mer ken
HofiFnung hawa dass so Versofina Dramratta vom Sauf-
deifel erloest kennta werra. Awer Jesus Christus hot
Gnada erworwa for alia Sinder, un doh sin ah die wu im
Schlamm der Sinde ganz dief versunka sin net aus-
g'schlossa. Darch die Kraft des Evangeliums kann der
verdarwenscht Sauflodel errett werra un Kraft bekomma,
dass er im a Strom Dram, der ihm bis ans Maul geht,
schwimma kennt, ohna dass er Luscht het, davxin zu
drinka; un wanns ihm der Deifel ah abieta deet so kennt
er darch die Gnadenkraft des Evangeliums dem Deifel
wiedersteh, un kenn Saufdeifel in der Hell kennt ihn zu
dem verfluchta Dramsaufa zwinga. Darum bekehrt eich,
Jesus Christus kann eich helfa/'
Denunciation of wickedness and exhortation to better
living were Indeed his forte. But elemental in nature
as he was, he played on every chord in the human or-
ganism. He so moved his congregation that often among
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1 86 The Pennsylvania^German Society.
hundreds of hearers there was not a dry eye, and though
little inclined to give vent to his own feelings in this way,
he sometimes melted to tears when his powerful words
brought forth loud " Amens " and shouts of praise amongst
his followers, or bitter crying amongst the penitent.
Like his Master he brought not peace but a sword where
he saw need of a fight, like Him he was meek and lowly,
arrogating no credit to himself, ascribing all his achieve-
ments to his God.
During the Civil War he preached a number of war
sermons, and from a description that has come down to us
we get a characteristic picture of this fighting parson. He
had been asked to assist, the first sermon was to be short,
and then he was to have his chance. While the first
speaker was talking about free government and the duties
of citizenship, Dissinger at first sat motionless; then some-
thing was said of the injustice of slavery and a tremor was
seen to pass over his body; as the preacher went on his
feet began to shuffle backward and forward with increas-
ing rapidity and violence — a veritable warhorse like Job's
who "paweth in the valley when he smelleth the battle
afar off " — until the preacher, seeing what was happening
and realizing that Mose was now fully primed, closed his
speech, whereupon Dissinger jumped up, clapping his
hands and shouting ^* God be thanked for the truth,'' and
delivered a most stirring speech.
He undoubtedly rendered the national cause a great
service by exposing and condemning on every suitable occa-
sion disloyalty and treason of Northerners and the wicked-
ness of those that sjrmpathize with slavery. His feeling
was so intense and his language so violent that now, when
the occasion of its use has passed by and North and South
are happily reunited, it does not seem wise to repeat what
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he said, though in its day it served its purpose and appar-
ently did it well.
From 1879 until his death in 1883, he served under the
Kansas Conference of the Evangelical Association in
Douglas County, Kansas. Toward the end of his days,
he was told that his friends in the East had expressed a
desire to see him, whereupon true to himself and his faith,
he is reported to have said '* Dann misse sie noch Kansas
kumma odder sich bereit macha for der Himmel."
A tradition said that he had been preaching to the In-
dians and had been murdered by them, but this was prob-
ably only an attempt by those who had been under his
lash to mete out to him after his death a very unpoetic
justice.
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THE LATER PERIOD : WRITERS STILL LIVING.
1 8. Edgar M. Eshelman.
Sources of Information.
Corretpoodcooe.
Pennsylvania-Gcmuin Magazine.
"Saw a copy of the Pennsylvania-German Magazine
at the home of a friend, borrowed it, read it, had many
pleasant memories suggested by it and desired to say a
few good things about them out of love and respect for
our people" — this is the story of how another Pennsyl-
vania German who had wandered away from the old settle-
ments came to give us a number of selections in verse.
Edgar Moyer Eshelman was born at Topton, Berks
County, Pa., July 14, 1872, of stock that had come to this
country before the Revolution. His youth was spent in
the Pennsylvania-German region of the state, but having
become a bookbinder, his interests took him away, and
after undertaking work in various cities, and service in the
Hospital Corps during the Spanish-American War, he
located at Washington, D. C, where he is employed in
the Government Printing Office.
** 'S Neu Fogel Haus ** he wrote because he wished to
be classed as a lover of birds; ** My Alty Geik** celebrates
188
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Pennsylvania^German Dialect Writings. 189
the favorite musical instrument of the family, his father
having been teacher of the violin — " 'S Alt Schwimloch "
may be compared with similar poetic treatment of the
same class of themes, by James Whitcomb Riley and
others; " Schnitzpei " celebrates a dish "his mother used
to make " and which only Pennsylvania Germans can pre-
pare to suit his taste —
Ich wees en Madel — gleicht mich gut,
Sie wohnt net wcit aweck,
Sie is ah herrlich, schmart un gut
Un siess wie Zuckerg^chleck
Doch meind — eb sie mich heira dut
Es kann net annerscht sei —
Do muss sie backe kenna — ^heerscht?
En rechter guter Schnitz Pei.
In lively fashion he tells the story of "Der Ferlora
Gaul,** a new version of the " absentminded professor"
but this time based on fact:
Hoscht du schun g'heert vum Jakey Schmitt,
Vergesslich, bees un grob?
" Wu is mci Brill?" kreischt cr, sucht rum
Un — ^hot sic ufm Kop!
Villeicht hoscht ah die Schtory g'heert
Vum Jake seim weissa Gaul.
Hoscht net? Dann hatch. Ich sag der's gam —
Leit wissa's iweralL
Schmitt, inspired by the notion that he had left his
horse in town, goes to the bam, saddles his horse and, gal-
loping down the pike, draws up before the hotel porch.
"Woh!"ruft der Jake. "Ichsagdcr, wohl"
So geht 'm Schmitt sei Maul;
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190 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
" Hen ihr nix g'schna, Buwa, vun
Meim alta weissa Gaul ? "
Jetzt hen sie g'lacht! Deel falla urn
Un schtehna net grad uf.
Sie gehn schier doot — dann kresicht mol Eens;
"Ei, Jake, du hokscht jo druf!"
The best of his serious poems "Juscht en Deppich"
he has written to eulogize one of the loveliest of grand-
mothers of the old-fashioned kind. "The favorite pas-
time of her later years was the piecing of quilts of various
well^own designs; it was a labor of love — all of her
large * f reundschaf t * have one or more of her homemade
quilts, the making of which consumed many precious hours.
Nowadays it is considered a waste of time. It is a relief
to recall her simple ways, manners, dress, in contrast with
modern showy artificial life. Her needs were few. Con-
tentment was her lot ; her life was one of Christian woman-
hood and I shall always cherish her memory."
'S is juscht en commoner Deppich — seh!
En Quilt alt Fashion — ^awer schee.
Was scheckig guckt's! Die Patches fei'
Die scheina Schpotjohrsbletter zu sei.
Hoscht du die Scheeheet schun betracht
Vun so ma Deppich, heemgemacht?
So scheena Placka, gross un klee'
Die Farwa all in Roia schteh ;
Drei — un vicreckig, lang und karz,
En jeder grad am rechta Platz.
Alles in Ordnung zamma g'neht;
Juscht druf zu gucka is en Freed.
Sie hot als Nama for sie g'hat;
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PennsylvaniO'German Dialect Writings. 191
Do is en grosses " Eechablatt "
En '' Sunnadeppich '* lang un breet —
Paar dausent Patches zamma g'neht,
So darrich nanner geht der do,
Sel is der " Ewig Jager " no.
En " Bettelmann " is ah dabei,
Un seUer soil "Log Cabin" sei;
En " Siwaschtem " gar wunnerschee,
En ''Gansfuss" un en " Backascfatee "
Sie hot gemacht en hiinnert schier;
Des war der Grandmam ihr Plessier.
Sie hot net juscht an sich gedenkt;
Die ganz Freindschaft hot sie beschenkt.
Wer in die Freindschaft kiimme is,
Der muss en Deppich hawa gewiss.
Die Grandmam sagt: " 'S kummt handig nei'
Die Kanner missa warem sei'/'
Sie schafft die Schtunna fleissig weg;
En nitzlich Lewa, hocher Zweck.
Guck mol ihr G'sicht, wie fromm un mild —
Nau, is sel net en scheenes Bild?
O, halt in Ehr un Dankbarkeit
So guta, fleissige, alt-fashioned LeitI
Jetzt is die Grandmam nimmie doh ;
Sacht schloft sie unner 'm Himmelsblo.
Ihr Hand sin nau zur Ruh gebracht,
Ihr letschter Deppich hot sie g'macht
Ihr Lewa christlich, herrlich, sicss —
So 'n Seel, die geht in's Paradies.
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^^t^'lfTR
19. Dr. Ezra Grumbine.
BiBUOGRAPHT AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
Biographical History of Lebanon County, Chicago, 1904.
Correspondence with Dr. Grumbine.
Die Inthurance Biitnest. Dramolet. Lebanon. No date.
Interviews with his friends.
Proceedings of The Pennsylvania-German SoaErr, VoL III, p. 15S.
Publications of The Lebanon County Historical Society.
Newspaper clippings.
Stories of Old Stumpstown, Lebanon, Pa., 1910.
Dr. Ezra Grumbine is of the fifth generation in line of
descent from Leonhart Krumbein, who came to this
country in 1754 from the Palatinate and settled in Leba-
non County — or what is now Lebanon County, Pennsyl-
vania. In that same county several branches of the fam-
ily have continued to reside until the present time.
Dr. Ezra Grumbine, the subject of this sketch, was
born in Fredericksburg on February i, 1845, ^^^ except
for the time spent in the study of medicine and eight
months' sojourn in England, France and Germany has
been a resident of the county. For this reason and es-
pecially because as a general practitioner of medicine he
has never failed ta give his services cheerfully to the un-
fortunate who were suffering with bodily ailments, and
because he has never allowed his own comfort or con-
venience to count when any one thought that he could be
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Pennsylvania-Xrerman Dialect Writings. 193
of help to them, he is loved and honored by his fdlow
citizens. Indeed, the only negative note that has ever
been heard from him in cases where his professional aid
has been desired, has been in the shape of some verses on
the intolerable condition of the roads which he was obliged
to travel.
Both horse and cart in every mile,
Are splashed from mane to tire,
And the driver utters words of guile
As the wheek swish through the mire.
And when the darkness settles down
Upon the sodden earth
The trav'ler asks with scowl and frown
"Is life the living worth?"
His early education he received in the public schools of
his native village, at the Lebanon Valley Institute, Ann-
ville, and at Dickinson Seminary, Williamsport. After
this he taught school, read medicine and finally graduated
from the University of Pennsylvania as a Doctor of Medi-
cine in 1 868. Besides taking a lively interest in his pro*
fession, being a member of the County and State Medical
Societies and standing in the forefront of successful prac-
titioners, he has found time to evince his capacity for busi-
ness by organizing a bank and under his presidency — an
office which he still holds — ^making it one of the strongest
financial institutions of the Lebanon Valley.
"To rhyme and to scribble** — these are his words —
are his pastimes and for these he modestly offers the ex-
cuse that ** it runs in the family.** His great grandfather,
Peter Fuehrer, wrote verses in German; his brother Lee
Light Grumbine wrote a book of Pennsylvania-German
poems; while his son, Harvey Carson Grumbine, profes-
13
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194 The PennsylvaniO'German Society.
sor of English at the University of Wooster, Ohio, has
published a small volume of poetry. Dr. Grumbine's own
efforts began when he was about fourteen years of age
with amatory verses for his fellow pupils in school. Among
the earliest of his dialect poems is one " Ich wot ich waer
en Bauer ** which, like Henninger's later song " Des Fahra
in der Train " was written to the tune of ** Michael Schnei-
der's Party." Grumbine*s poem has been sung to the ac-
companiment of the parlor organ at social gatherings on
the Swatara, on the Quittaphilla and on the Tulpehocken.
Others of his compositions have been recited at rural spell-
ing schools, and debating societies all over eastern Penn-
sylvania. It appears also in the papers of other counties
than his own — in the Reading Times, in the Mauch Chunk
Democrat, etc.; Ranch (Pit Schwefifelbrenner) pro-
nounced his " *S Unnersht *S Eversht Landt " a " gem."
More than one of his productions have attracted the at-
tention of the metropolitan press, including the PhiladeU
phia Inquirer and the New York Recorder, which latter
published his " Klag-lied " with three English versions.
Before the Pennsylvania-German Society, of which or-
ganization he was one of the founders, he read a poem —
" Der Prahlhans " — facetiously named " An epic of 1 8 1 2."
It tells the story, based on fact, of a certain well-known
character who, when forces were being raised for the de-
fense of Baltimore during the War of 1812, aimed single-
handed to put the entire British army to rout, but before
he got within a hundred miles of the enemy decided it was
safer at home.
As to the quality of his verse, he has disarmed criticism
by the story he tells of the thirty-cent machine he bought
on which he turns it out. Yet his modesty at this point
must not be taken too seriously — ^he does not venture be-
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yond the proper range of subjects for dialect verse and
there is little that could be designated artificial. The fol-
lowing stanza for instance, from ** En Gluck voU Bieplin "
— in which a Pennsylvania-German boy goes to see the
newly hatched chicks, copies only nature :
Gluck Gluck, Gluck Gluck! du liewer Grund!
Was biescht du doch so bees!
Efaltigs dhier! Ich hab jo gar
Nix gega dich, Gott weessi
Much of his verse is parody — ^but not always pure
parody. His " Mary and Her Little Lamb " is a satire
on some facts in our educational system. Others are ver-
sions, either translations as of Nadler's " 'S bott alles nix "
or approaching translations as Ralph Hoyt's "A World
for Sale " which he has rendered in masterful style.
O, yes! O, yes! Now harcht amol,
Un kommt jetz bei, ihr Itewe Leit,
Ihr all wu wolfel kawfa wollt
Kommt bei, for do is Fendu heit!
Die Welt is " uf " mit Schlechts un Goots,
Der Groyer nemmt ke falsch Gabut,
Die Welt muss fort, sie werdt ferkawft,
Mit Gliick un Elendt, Ehr un Schpotti
One of his tenderest poems, " Der Alt Busch Doktor,"
suggested by one of Will Carleton's, might be interpreted
as a sort of commentary on his own life. Even here, at
this saddest of scenes, the funeral of the good old doctor
who has helped so many, and was always willing, his
playful satire crops out in at least one stanza —
Aer cured en moncher Patient
Un stellt ihn richtig haer, —
Don wor's yo " Gottes Wille "
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196 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Un der Herr der grickt de Ehr!
Is 'n Gionkes awer gfschtorwt
Un der Dott gawinnt der Fccht
Don blamed mer evra der Dokter
Un shellt ihn dumm un schlecht.
A Republican by party allegiance, he did not fail to see
the humorous contrast between " Teddy's " great noise be-
fore, and his great silence after the last election and he has
incorporated his thoughts in two poems "Before" and
"After" in the meter of Longfellow's "Excelsior." It
should be mentioned that in his " Stories of Old Stumps-
town" (Lebanon County Historical Society Publications,
Vol. V, No. 5) he has preserved some Pennsylvania-Ger-
man political rhymes from the time when Buchanan was
running for the presidency.
As one of the organizers and an enthusiastic member
of The Lebanon County Historical Society, he has pre-
pared for its publications a monograph on the " Folklore
and Superstitious Beliefs of Lebanon County" (Vol. Ill,
No. 9). As a trusted physician he has had rare oppor-
tunities to get close to the " Volk " and to learn what they
believe in their heart. In this same monograph he has a
collection of proverbs and sayings, containing a number
that have been nowhere else recorded; and some counting-
out rhymes.
Yet perhaps his most important work as a writer is that
in which he has engaged for the last fifteen years — ^the
writing of the letters — ^first for the Lebanon Report (at
one time owned by his brother Lee Light Grumbine) and
later upon the death of " Der Alt Schulmeeschter " (J. J.
Light) for the Lebanon Daily and Semixveekly News
(widely copied by other papers) over the signature Hon.
Wendell Kitzmiller; in these letters he has been engaged
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 197
for the most part in laughing out of existence the follies
and foibles of his fellow men, "Ridens dicere verum,**
laughingly telling the Pennsylvania Germans the truth.
And although this laughter is generally that of the genial
satirist, he can occasionally be sharp and cutting when he
thinks there is sufficient provocation.
There follow a few extracts culled from his letters which
may be considered characteristic. He advises all, but
politicians in particular: ''Schtail, note braucht ninmie
schafie, un so long as d'uf en lawfuller waig schtailsht,
kummscht aw net in die Jail."
He is of course speaking out of his own experience when
on one occasion he writes of a strange case of illness of a
little child, that baffled all the doctors of a certain species.
"Un dael sawga nuch gawr es waer ferhext. Sie hen
schun aentsigebbes gabroveert awver as will oUes nix botta.
Im aerschta blotz hen se mul die oldt Duckter Betz g'hot,
un de hut oUes gedu was sie gewisst hut. Sie hut em ge-
braucht for die Schweining mul for's aerscht, un note hut
sie don gebraucht om Mbnd wie er om zunemma war
awver do war nix. Des glae is evva als weniger worra."
He has this comment on those who at religious camp-
meetings rise to make confession : " Es is a wenig en kitz-
lich ding so for da bakonnta uf tzu schtea in ra Christ-
licha Fersomlung un en loud gebait moche fore Leit as
aem sei bisness schtraich auswennich wissa." He offers
the above as a playful excuse for not himself having made
a public profession. But genuine wrath intervenes, when
he threatens to withdraw from the Hardshell Church and
start one of his own and become himself its preacher and
treasurer. He complains that although it was for no less
reason than a failure of crops and failure of a bank in
which he had money that he could not make his annual
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198 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
contribution, yet he was from that time on "Der Oldt
KitzmiUer" and "Der fersuffa KitzmiUer" "Now so
long as ich bully gut bezahlt hob won sie rum sin for col-
lecta do waescht war ich der * Bruder Kitzmiller ' ; des war
Bruder hie un Bruder haer, un won ich ah don un won uf
en souf spree bin komma, — do is nix g'sawd worra, so
long as ich tzu da dootzend un drei dinga batzawlt hob
as mir de awga iwer gUufia sin.*' He makes merry at
the expense of the preachers and their attempts to explain
difficult passages of Scripture.
His contribution to academic lore may fitly close the
series of illustrations. Along with satire on extravagan-
cies in religious practice, this may be said to constitute, for
the folk of which we are writing, the higher criticism of
social conditions. The Pennsylvania Germans sent their
sons in great numbers to college. When these not in-
frequently, at the end of the year, came back with long
hair and idyllic notions of loafing under shady trees while
father and mother, and younger brothers and sisters did
the work, but were ever ready with suggestions as to how
things should be done, and were full of superficial knowl-
edge of the causes of things and ever willing to air the
same, the satirist had a proper subject for work. There
are extant no end of stories of farmer boys who thus
came home and had not only forgotten to work, but had
even forgotten the name of the conmionest tools and imple-
ments, etc. While these conditions prevailed perhaps to
an equal degree in other American rural communities, yet
there is this difference, the Pennsylvania-German satirist
stayed at home and labored among his own people, and
so his satire strikes home.
He heads his article as follows: "Wendell Kitzmiller
goes on the new trolley road from Lebanon to Schaeffers-
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 199
town." It was a balky car — a college man explains ohms,
volts, microbes and feverbugs. (This will at the same
time show where the dialect stands in relation to a scien-
tific and technical vocabulary.) Suddenly the car stopped.
" Es het aw nemond ous g'funna was de oor'sach war fun
der balkerei won net 'n dakolletschter Karl druf waer
g'wcst uf 'm car. Well, henyah, aer hut g'sawd, secht
er *So weit as ich saena konn sin^s die-— entwedders de
ohms odder de volts ' * Was sin sell ' hut 'n oldter SchaeflFer-
schtedtler Shoolmaeschter g'frogt os uf m hameweg war
f um a Deestrick Institoot. * Wy de ohms un de volts sin
dinga os uf de same waeg schoffa. Waescht sie kumme
in die wires nei ollagabut, un dort shpeela sie der Deifel
monnich mol. Note gebts was mer en resistance haest,
ebbes as cs ding fershtuppt, uf 'n waeg as we'n lot ohla die
Schnitzkrick Wasserpeifa ferschtuppt hen, saen dir? Of
course die ohms sin net so gross as wie en ohl awver sie
gucka schier so, juscht feel glenner so selle waeg. Sie sin
so gla as wie Mikrobes, die glaene Keffer, die fever bugs,
waescht, woos titefut fever mache un newmony un en
g'schleer (uf em Baertzel) un so. Of course, ich selwer
hob nie kenny g'saena. M'r kon sie net saena oony so
'n rohr, en tellyscope oder nitroschope, wie m'r secht.
Ich waes die hocha wordta ninuny recht. Ich hob so es
menscht football g'shteert.' * Un is sell now die oorsach '
hut der Chim Kichman g'frogt. 'Wy sell is orrig in-
teresting so ebbes tsu wissa. Well now.' "
Even in the latest social discussions, Grumbine's play-
fully serious note may be heard. The present writer re-
calls an incident of last sunmier, when certain classes were
very anxious to know whether the daughter of one of our
ex-Presidents indulged in cigarettes. In answer our author
presented us with an amusing skit of a Woman's Club
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300 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Meeting embodying resolutions offered by the pros and
the cons in favor of and against twenty-cent women's clubs
minding their own and other people's business.
His true catholicity of opinion appears in sayings like
that to Sara Jane, **Mer kon ebmols lema even fun
Schtadtleitf un even fun Leit wu mer mehnt sin nuch
dunmier wie die Hawsa Barricker/' His writings are a
faithful reflex of opinions he has found to prevail, of be-
liefs and customs he knows thoroughly, and from this
homely philosophy might be culled many a proverb and
old saw which he has all unconsciously interwoven into his
stories without even having incorporated them in the col-
lection he has made. He has frequently been urged by
his friends to publish a collection of his letters in book
form, as several other writers of such literature have done,
but he still stands aloof.
Finally, he has written a little play, " Die Inshurance
Business,'' that has been on the boards in many a town
hall or crossroads schoolhouse.
A winter evening scene in a country farm house pre-
sents the old farmer, plaiting a com husk mat and dis-
cussing the price of farm products and the disposal of the
receipts of the day's sale. Mother wants them for a new
dress for the daughter who has a beau, the sons insist they
need new books for school — a neighbor— one who has a
mortgage on their farm — drops in and the old folks agree
that the old times were best, when in the schools all learned
reading, while those who wanted to study writing and
arithmetic could do so with no consequent humiliation for
those who stopped at reading. In those days whiskey
was cheap and there was no talk of putting it away by vote.
Granny has a heavy cold and talks chiefly about her health.
One by one, Granny and the youngsters are packed off to
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 201
bed, the neighbor delivers hid message that he must have
money or he will foreclose, and leaves just in time for
Sally to receive her beau, a clerk in the store, who comes
when the shop doses.
The insurance scamp persuades the farmer to insure
Granny, the agent paying the dues, taking a judgment note
on the farmer, the profits to be divided. Meanwhile they
change Granny's baptismal certificate so as to be able to
establish her eligibility.
Two years have passed, the insurance agent needing
more and nK)re dues to meet assessments, the farmer loth
to drop his policies and thus to lose what he has paid in.
They agree to give Granny something that will put her to
sleep. The farmer, long in a frame of mind that has
caused the neighbors to remark, goes to store for rat
poison; the clerk gives him plaster-of-Paris instead and at
night hastens to tell his suspicions to his sweetheart, who
objects that Granny is too old to be insured; they look up
the certificate and discover the forgery.
In the final scene these two enter the sitting room, as
the agent pours the powder into the hoarhound tea Granny
takes each evening; one of the boys has a cold and decides
he wants some of Granny's tea and drinks of it before the
father can stop him. Father raves because he thinks his
son is poisoned. The clerk relieves the situation by ex-
plaining that it is harmless stuff ; then at the point of his
pistol he recovers the policies, tears them up, bids the
agent leave the country nor return on pain of being in-
dicted for atteonpted murder, then announces that he has
received an inheritance that will enable him to pay off the
mortgage and that he and Sally will, with the father's
consent, relieve him of the cares of life by themselves tak-
ing over the farm. While Granny pours her blessings
over the couple the curtain falls.
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202 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Thus ends what is the only original play in the dialect,
one that, with the exception of the near-tragic element of
the plot — ^which I am inclined to doubt — is, from beginning
to end, replete with pictures from the life of the folk, the
faithfulness of which no one who knows a Pennsylvania-
German farmhouse would presume to deny.
As this volume is going to press Dr. Grumbine has is-
sued a volume entitled "Der Prahlhans" about one half
of which consists of Pennsylvania-German Dialect selec-
tions. The present writer has not yet had an opportunity
to see the work. The following paragraph is taken from
an advertising circular that has come into his hands.
"DER KAISER UN DER TEUFEL."
This is the title of one of the eighty-four longer and
shorter poems contained in Dr. E. Grumbine's new book,
" DER PRAHL-HANS," just issued from the press. It
is written partly in the Pennsylvania German dialect
(Wendell Kitzmiller's vernacular), and partly in English,
and it comprises poems of sentiment, of humor and of hate
for the Kaiser of Prussia.
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20. Thomas H. Harter.
Sources of Information.
CorrespoDdeDce.
Pennsylvania-German Magazine.
Boonastiel, Harter, 1904 and 290^
Keystone Gazette.
Middleburgh Post
Just as in the last generation, Peregrine Rckle, Petro-
leum V. Naseby, Max Adeler and others, and in our own
day George Ade and Mr. Dooley first wrote sketches for
their respective newspapers, next were paid the compli-
ment of being copied by other papers and finally were en-
couraged to issue their productions in book form^ — so did
a number of Pennsylvania-German writers come to be
publishers of works in the dialect. One such Pennsyl-
vania-German dialect writer is Thomas H. Harter, of
Bellefonte, Center County, Pa., and his book, " Boonas-
tiel," named from " Gottlieb Boonastiel " the pseudonym
of the author, is about to appear In its third edition, two
editions of 3,000 copies each of the years 1904 and 1906
having been sold.
In addition to this, the entire book is appearing, letter
by letter. In Harter's paper, the Keystone Gazette, since
June of this year, the author having yielded to the pres-
sure of his readers, who, if they could not have new letters,
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204 The Pennsylvania^German Society.
wanted the old ones over again, many of which, having
been written a quarter of a century ago, are really new to
those of his readers who do not possess the book. Be-
sides this, no less than twenty-five newspapers in Penn-
sylvania and Ohio, having wished to give their readers the
same articles, entered into negotiations with the author
for copyright privileges — ^to all of which Harter has given
the same free of charge, while as many more papers,
cutting off the head and tail to disguise them and escape de-
tection, are publishing the same clandestinely without the
consent of the author.
This popularity of the work is, of course, due to the
complete inside knowledge, which the author possesses, of
the character of the people whose peculiarities and eccen-
tricities he describes; how he comes by this knowledge is
apparent; he was bom on a farm near Aaronsburg, Cen-
ter Coimty, Pa., May 28, 1854, the eleventh child of a
family of eight boys and four girls. Until fifteen years
of age, he worked on the farm ; up to the age of twelve he
could neither speak nor understand English; when he was
fifteen his father moved to the small town and then the
subject of this sketch attended school in winter and was
sent to work on the farm during the summer.
Sent to Ohio to learn the tanner's trade, he saved
enough money to enable him to attend the Smithville,
Ohio, Normal School for two terms. After this he re-
turned to his home in 1872 and learned the printer's trade
in the office of the Center Hall Reporter; it was during
this time that he read all of Shakespeare with his mother,
translating it into the dialect for her as he proceeded.
Two terms at an Academy (Spring Mills) and then in
1876, May I, at the age of twenty-two he started out for
himself as editor and owner of the Nevada (Ohio) En-
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terptise, which he conducted for seven years, whereupon
he purchased the Middleburgh Post in 1882.
As editor of a county paper in Pennsylvania he nat-
urally knew of the Pit Schweff elbrenner letters which Ranch
had made famous; he began to look over these letters in
his exchanges, and to hand out some of his own "fun
and filosophy '' in the shape of occasional letters under the
heading of "Brief Fum Hawsa Barrick" addressed to
himself as " Liever Kemal Harder " and signed " Gottlieb
Boonastiel.''
He had reckoned without his host: his readers clamored
to have them regularly and threatened to drop off his sub-
scription list unless he acceded to their requests. When,
after twelve years, he sold his paper and bought the Key*
stone Gazette, at Bellefonte, Pa., he continued the letters.
In 1904 he made a selection from his large collection and
issued them in book form; as intimated above he is no
longer writing new articles, and he gives me two reasons :
that he has no time, and that he is pumped out of original
ideas; those who know him, however, are not ready to
admit that the well spring of humor whence these letters
sprung has run dry; the fact is that what with his business
and political interests, serving as postmaster of his city,
hunting big game, and attending to his numerous interests,
his time is fully occupied and he need not write new letters,
for, to the present generation of his readers who do not
possess his book the old letters are really new — a proof
at the same time that his productions are filled with a
freshness that does not at once grow old.
The criticism has often been made that many (criticism
has usually said all) of the newspaper letters in the dialect
were characterized by a certain tendency toward the vulgar
or the profane and catered to a depraved taste. The time
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has come for a distinction between letters and letters, and
of those which, and deservedly, will survive is this volume
of mild satire. Privileged to tell plain and disagreeable
truths to his own people, and being guaranteed an audience
because he continued to love them even when he chastened
them, he has already accomplished the two purposes he
avows in the preface to his book: (i) To assist in per-
petuating the memory of the Pennsylvania Germans, and
(2) by the combination of fun and philosophy, charac-
teristic of the language, to correct the wrong and strengthen
the right, to stimulate noble thought and action and lead
to honor, happiness and success.
This, however, must not make us forget the other side
of the book, the joy of reminiscence it gives to large
numbers of Pennsylvania Germans who have left the
farm for service in other fields. In this connection three
letters received by Harter may be cited: the sincerity of
their tone can hardly be denied; they produce the con-
viction that they were written because the writers had a
certain feeling about the book which they were impelled to
conununicate to the author. The first one reads: "It is
an undoubted fact that when two or three Pennsylvania
Dutch assemble together socially, they can get more fun
to the square inch reading your *Boonastier than any
other book published in America. Many of your pieces
carry me back to my boyhood days, to the old farm in
Somerset County, and forcibly recall the old fashions and
peculiar expressions and phrases which I had not heard for
the last forty-five years. You bring them back into life
with the old familiar sound and jingle. It seems mar-
velous that you can weave them all into your stories and
spell them that any one can pronounce them. You cer-
tainly deserve great credit for thus preserving our mother
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 207
tongue and perpetuating the memory of our sturdy an-
cestry," This is from a letter from H. J. Miller, an at-
torney in Kttsburgh, Pa.
The next comes from Washington : " To say that I am
delighted would not express one tenth of my admiration
and appreciation of the work. In perusing its pages so
full of genuine humor and expressed in the true vernacu-
lar of the old-fashioned farmer, I can scarcely realize that
a generation has come and gone the way of all the living
since I was familiar with this peculiar dialect. Well do
I remember the time when I did not know the English
name of that handy little tool — ^nogel bore (gimlet) —
used by my father in plying the cooper's trade ; hence you
can very readily perceive the tender chord of memory
your book has so fondly touched. It recalls to memory
the joyful days of youth and the happy years spent on the
old farm after the manner of the good old song in Den-
man Thompson's impressive play " The Old Homestead " :
Take me back to the days when the old red cradle rocked,
In the sunshine of years that have fled,
To the good old trusty days when the door was never locked,
And we judged our neighbor's truth by what he said.
This was written April 22, 1905, by Samuel Beight, then
First Assistant Postmaster General of the United States.
The third is from a former neighbor of my own. After
saying of the book " It touches more phases of life among
the Pennsylvania Germans than any collection that I have
seen," he goes on to say: " Geshter Owet bin ich aw mohl
draw kumme dei buch zu lese un hob gelocht bis mer der
bauch wae gedoo hut. Du conshts gawiss net ferlaigla
dos du uff der bowerei uff gabrocht bisht worra. Anich
ebber dare shriva konn fum barfoosich boo dos shpote
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2o8 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
yohrs de gile holt won olles wise is mit rife un joompt
g'schwint hee woo der gowl gelaega hut fer si fees tsu
waerma, dare wore shunt dabei." It is by Marcus B.
Lambert, teacher of German in the Boys' High School of
Brooklyn, N. Y.
By admitting at the outset, what he says some avow of
him, "Ich ware net recht g*scheit" Harter gains for
himself the privileges of the old-time Court fool, of
speaking the truth with impunity. In this way he does
not bring down upon himself the wrath of good coimtry
women as Washington Irving is said to have done in the
case of the good Dutch Dames of New York, by his de-
scription of their manner of housekeeping.
By attributing the sins of the party to which the author
and his newspaper did not belong to his own party, he
avoided arousing political animosities.
Christian Science — Der Christian Science Duckter;
Woman Suffrage — De Weibsleit in Politics; Prohibition;
Social Science; Die Schuld Os Leit awrum sin; Fashions;
Die Unverstennicha Fashions; these are among the sub-
jects of his reflections, all phases of human life come under
his consideration — from an article De Menscha un de
Monkeys, through all the experiences of boyhood and
girlhood, until the question comes up "Wie kann ich*s
besht Laewa maucha" then presently he goes "Kares-
seera " and then arise the questions " Ware suU ich Hira,"
" Ware suU de Priscilla Hire " and so on through marriage
(Onera Huchtzich) to death (Onera Leicht) and the
grave (Uf em Karrichhofe).
Sometimes he tells an old tale — " Rip van Winkle" —
or gives us a new version of an old one — "Der Busch
Hoond un der City Hoond " or " Der Asel in der Giles
Howd." One, the " De College Boova " (referred to in
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 209
the article on E. Grumbine), was written at the request
of the late President Atherton of The Pennsylvania State
College, and the finished article so pleased Mr. Atherton
that he requested to have it translated into English for the
benefit of young graduates. With his pen, Harter has
drawn years ago the same lines, illustrating and exaggerat-
ing some phases of college life, which have of late years
become a favorite of the colored poster artist.
Harter has also made his contribution to the question
of spelling the dialect in which he follows Rauch in the
main. " When I attempt to read some of the pyrotechnic
spelling adopted by some of our writers I am impressed
with the belief that their effort is not so much meant to
make themselves understood as it is to create the im-
pression that besides being able to write English and speak
Pennsylvania Dutch, they are also High German scholars."
14
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21. Milton C. Henninger.
Bibliography and Other Sources of Information.
Matthews and HuDgerford. History of Carbon and Lehigh Counties.
Smull's Legislative Handbook of Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania German, Vol. II. Daniel Miller, Reading, Pa.
Personal interviews and correspondence.
In the spring of 1874 the senior class of Muhlenberg
College elected Milton C. Henninger to recite a Pennsyl-
vania-German poem at its class-day exercises : he elected to
compose one himself, and this production, happily adapted
as it is to the tune of Michael Schneider's Party, soon
became, as it has continued to be, the most popular song
ever written in the dialect
From the windows of his room at college were visible
for a stretch of about a mile the tracks of two railroads
on either side of the Lehigh River and the two stations at
AUentown ; the time schedule on each road brought a pas-
senger train in at the precise moment, 4:30 in the after-
noon, when the students were returning from their last
hour's recitation, and they presently perceived or thought
they were witnessing a race taking place before their eyes
each day; and so it came that they often watched which
train should win that day by getting into the station first.
In this fashion Henninger came by his subject — Des Fahrc
in der Train, or the delights of travelling by steam, and
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 211
Into the picture he wove some reminiscences of his child-
hood days when a railroad was built past his ^ome, an
event notable enough for a farmer boy, and Henninger
himself sprang from the glebe, having been bom on a farm
near Emaus, Pa., April 22, 185 1.
Subsequently the author of our song had worked in a
blacksmith's shop, attended the public schools, the Free-
land Seminary and the State Normal School at Kutztown,
and had taught school even before his college days. The
year after the composition of the song in question he was
instructor in Muhlenberg College, Allentown, and read
law. In 1876 he was admitted to the bar; two years after
this he was elected district attorney, and in 1882 State
Senator, an office for which he was returned for a period of
twelve years, three full terms.
The opening stanzas of this poem run as follows :
Sis oUes hendich eigericht
In unsera gute zeit,
Mer brauch sich gor net bloga meh
Unless mer is net gscheit
Der schteam dut oUes fer die leit
Sel is juscht wos ich maen
Un won mer aergets he gae will
Don fawrt mer in der train.
Swar net so gut in olter zeit
Sel waes ich foma nous,
Des mocht f rleicht die olta baes
Doch sag ich's frei heraus.
Sie sin galuffa ol de weg
Fun finf bis fufzig mile
'N pawr die eppes reichcr warn
Sin ganga uf de geil.
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212 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
So war der schteil in oltr zeit,
'S lawfa war ken schond,
Wos is mer ols do he gadopped,
Sel is eich gut bakond.
'S is nimma so in unsera zeit
'S fahrt jcder won er kon
Und waer gor nimme lawfa dut
Der is der gendemon.
And so on through nine more stanzas in which he de-
scribes the iron horse, tells of the numerous classes of
people one sees in the train, describes the disadvantages of
travel in this fashion, especially the danger of accidents»
but finally again decides in favor of the steam :
So gaet dcs fawra in der train,
Ich haes cs orrig schae,
Mer grickt ken kopweh fun de hitz
Un aw ken schteifa bac, etc.
There is no schoolhouse in German Pennsylvania, in
which this poem has not been sung at an entertainment or
at a meeting of " speaking school," the boys of a dozen
colleges in eastern Pennsylvania have sung it in glee; many
years after its composition the author, when state senator,
travelled in northwestern Pennsylvania and heard It sung
by logging trains in the lumber regions of the state; it has
even been intimated that the composition has been ren-
dered by church choirs, and the name of at least one
church was whispered where it was so sung, but be the
truth of the matter what it may, one would rather think
this an " ortsneckerei," aimed at some out-of-the-way
settlement.
More than ordinary attention is due to this song for a
double reason : not only did the theme kindle the imagina-
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Pennsylvania'German Dialect Writings, 213
tion of a Pennsylvania-German writer who communicated
his enthusiasm to Pennsylvania Germans in general, but
also the subject itself has in like manner appealed to dia-
lect writers and their readers at all times; the following
instances which date back a generation earlier than ours
maybe noted:
Unterredung eines oberschwabischen Bauem mit seinem Pferd,
welches Hans heisst, betre£Eend die Eisenbahnangelehenheit. Von
Wilhcbn Wickel. Selbstverlag, 1843- 8. 8S.
Der Vespertrunk im schwarzen Adler zu Klatschausen oder-
Hans Jorg Peter und Frieder im Gesprach uber die Wurtem-
bergischen Eisenbahnangelegenheiten. Schwabische Dorfszene von
Jakob Daiss und Karl Siegbert, genannt Barbarossa. Boblingen,
J. G. F. Landbcck 1843- 8 10 S.
Motto: Bald braucht mer koine Rossle mai,
Koin Waga und koin Schlittal
Jatzt spannt mer Dampf in d' Kessel ei,
Und so werds furscha g'ritta!
Very like our song.
Die Eisenbahnfrage im Knittelversen, besprochen zwischen
einem SchuUehrer, einem Barbier und zwei Bauem, die im Rossle
am runden Tische saszen. Teudingen, J. J. Beck 1843 8 15 S.
Der Bauer auf der Eisenbahn. Ein heiteres Gedicht in
schwabischer Mundart von einem Filderbauem. (Pscudonymc,
Verfasser: Blasius Stumiwind) Stuttgart, zu haben bei C.
Hetschel. 8 8 S.
Die Ankunft des ersten Neckardampsschiffbootes in Heilbronn
in Dezember 1841. Von Wilhebn Wickel. Stuttgart. (Selbst-
verlag) 8 16 S.
From Frederich Richter a similar strain may be cited:
Moi, uf der Eisebah
Do goht es schnell vura,
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214 Tf^ Pennsylvania-Gertnan Society.
Und ma sitzt piichtig drauf,
Do hot es jo sein lauf.
Koine Ross spannt ma na
Uf dener Eisebah;
'S Fuier isch, was cs treibt,
Das ma net sitza bleibt.
Das isch a wissenschaft
Hot iich der Dampf a Kraft
Ruf uf dia Eisabah.
Do geht es schnell fura.
Some passages from the famous German song "Der
Goisbock an der Eisebah" might likewise be compared.
While our writer, as shown above, is not afraid to remind
the old folks that some things are better now than in the
olden times, yet he does not wholly approve of the pleas-
ures of these days, notably not those which are now sought
in the city; this is shown in a subsequent song ^^ Die Sing-
schul im Lond."
Die jimga leit in unsra zeit
Hen arrig feel plessier
Die Meed die danza dag un nacht
Die Buwa drinke bier.
Es karta schpida macht viel Gschpass
Uns fiirta mit de Meed
Dcs is de Fun v\m City leit
Die heesa sie first rate.
For mei Deel ich geh net mit nei.
Geb mir die Land Singschul.
Dart geht mer hie fer scheena Gschpass
Un folligt aw der rule,
continuing, he describes the old institution, and thereupon
concludes with
Die Singschula im Lond sag ich
Die sin mei greeschta Freed
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 215
So long OS die noch ghalte warn
Is 's mir got net verleed.
Un won ich schterb, verlost eich druf ,
Dann wcrds der welt bekond,
Das ich mei Geld un olles geb
Fer Singschula im Lond.
Henninger has written a number of other poems (see
Index) and more are to be expected. In a recent private
communication he announces that if the muse has not
entirely deserted him we may soon have a new poem from
him, entitled "'S Macht Nix Ous."
At the celebration of the looth Anniversary of Amer-
ican Independence at Kutztown, Pa., Henninger read a
poem "En Hunnert Yohr Zuruck," which is full of his
characteristic notes, love of the past, qualified dissatisfac-
tion with the present, and a hopeful confidence in the
future. The last two stanzas prophesy concerning the
most modern of modern things — ^navigation of the air.
Mer hen so viel Fortschritt gemacht,
Im letschte hunnert Yohr,
Un dass mer so fortmache duhn,
Sell hot gewiss ken G'fohr;
Ball fahra mer in die klore Luft
Bis in die Wolke nei;
Un wann sel wenig kommon werd,
Dann bleibt es net dabei.
Mer welle als noch mehner duh,
Ich waes net alles was ;
Ich sag euch nau, ihr liewa Leit,
Es is mer shuhr ken Spass;
En hunnert Yohr ins Zubmft nei
Wcisst un'sre Republic
So viel dass wie mer g'sehne hen
Seit hunnert Yohr Zuruck.
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22. Eli Keller.
BiBLIOOItAPHT AMD OTHEK SOURCES OF IMFOKMATION.
DeutidieT Kirchenfreund, ift^iSi^cx
Friedensbote, Allentown, Pa.
Hantfreund.
Pennsylvania Dutchman, Lancaster, Pa.
Pennsylvania German.
Pennsylvania German, Vol. VII, 4, 17S.
Personal interview.
Proceedings of The PENKSTLVAinA-GERMAK Socurr, Vol. VII, 458^
UnKr Pennsylvanisch Dentscher Kalenner, 1S195.
Rev. Dr. EH Keller, of AUentown, was a merry farmer
boy who became a preacher, and has remained the latter,
with certain characteristics of the former, to this day; bom
in Northampton County, near Nazareth, in 1825, before
Pennsylvania had a free school system, his chances for an
education were small; by the time the system came, how-
ever, he had made sufficient progress in his studies to teach
a country school for several years; after this he attended
Marshall College, at Mercersburg, Pa., moved with the
College to Lancaster when it was united with Franklin
College, and afterwards returned to the Seminary at Mer-
cersburg to complete his theological studies. At Lan-
caster he made the acquaintance and formed a lifelong
friendship with Henry Harbaugh, who had, however, at
that time not yet developed into a dialect writer.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 217
H18 ministerial work began in Ohio, in 1856. At first
he preached in English and German, but in Ohio the Ger-
man sermon fell into partial disuse sooner than in Pennsyl-
vania; during the last part of kis eighteen years' stay in
Ohio he was required to preach in English only and with
this he began to long for the old home surroundings ; in
1874 the way was opened to him to come back and from
that time until his retirement in 1901 (twenty-seven years)
he ministered to two, three and finally four congregations,
himself superadding the work involved in the two addi-
tional congregations. Thus he frequently had to drive
twenty-five miles on a single Sunday to meet three congre-
gations. But these labors, his outdoor life and his asso-
ciation with the people he loved have kept him young in
spirit even as the years advanced.
Many of his poems are, therefore, sermonettes, pictures
from nature with the lesson the preacher draws from it.
Such an one is the example already known to Professor
Learned when he was studying the phonology of the
dialect; it is entitled "Der Keschtabaam " ; in 13 four-
verse stanzas of acatalectic iambic lines of seven beats he
expresses his delight in the beauties of the tree, not so
early to bloom as the willow or maple, not so speedy to
bring forth its fruits as the cherry, the umbrageous chest-
nut tree, which, even after the nut is fully ripe, must wait
for the " Keschta Schtarm " to put it within our reach.
Der Keschtabaam vun alle Beem halt ich mer fer der schenscht,
Wann du net ah so denka kannscht, glaab ich net dass du'n
kennscht.
Mit seina Blatter, Bliet, un Frucht is er net in der Eil
Was ebbcs rcchtes werra will, nemmt immer'n gute Weil.
When the tree at last is covered with its fragrant golden
tassels about which bees in swarms gather.
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2i8 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
'S is en Genuss, gewiss ich leb, for Aage, Nas un Ohr,
Nix kennt mer schcnner, besser sei im gansa liewa yohr.
He who with patience has waited for the "Keschta
Schtarm" will have no trouble in getting the ruddy fruit:
Geduld is doch en grosse Sach, sie schpart uns Not un Mih
Wer ohne sie sei Glick versucht, der finn't 's doch werklidi nie."
The lessons are endless :
Guck mol so'n Boll genauer ah, wie wunnerbarlich schee!
Inwennig zart wie Kisse schtofft auswennig Schtachle, zah,
Was is des doch en unnerschied, beinanner ah so dicht,
'S gebt viel zu lema iwwerall, vum beschta unnerricht
Nor does he forget the carefree time when he played in
its shade, weaving belt and wreath of the leaves and
flowers :
Ich schteck mer Blatter an die Bruscht, un Blimmcher uf der
Hut
Un denk dabei in siesser Luscht, Was haw ich's doch so gut"
In another poem he describes his sallying out, a boy in
the springtime, to find the slender shoot of the chestnut
tree just when the sap begins to rise to make "Keschta
Peiffe."
Was peifft doch nau des ding so schee 1
Ken Orgel kennt yo schenner geh;
Tut, ta-ta, te tc, ti ti, ti
Des biet die Vegel un die — ^Kiih
Ya Keschta PeifiFe fer ihr Geld
Bieten alle peifiFe in der Welt.
"Mer woUa Fischa Geh," "Es Glatt Eis Fahre" are
others in which he revels in the pastimes of youth. Only
one who has had the experience of a boy for the first time
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 219
initiated into the mysteries of the uses of the German
scythe can make his verses bob up and down in onomato-
poetic glee as Keller does in " *S Mehe mit der Deitsche
Sens."
In so're schone zeit
Wcrd ehm *s Herz rccht weit
Die araie stadtle Leut
Die wisse nix viin Freud
Now schwenkt cucr Sense,
Un loss sie glanze,
To whit, to what
To whit, to what, to whate
Ihr macht's first rate ,
To whit, to what
Gut gewetzt is halb gemeht
His abounding joy in life he frequently gave utterance
to on festival occasions, to his people, as in
Der Chrishdag is der herrlichscht daag
Im liewa longa Johr;
Mei Glaawa is ken leeri Saag
Juscht fcr en kinnisch Ohr.
Der Chrischdag macht mich immer jung,
Un fiillt mich ganz mit Freed
Er nemmt mers Klaga vun der Zung
Un heclt mei Herze-lecd.
Dann bin ich widder jung un klee
Wie ich vor lang gcwest
Mei Herz wcrd weiss wie Chrischdag's schnec,
Mei Leeb die allerbescht.
He no doubt had many an opportunity to practise in his
broad field of labor — as he also had in his own family —
before he put into rhjmie —
*N Buwli is's, gans aus're annere Wdt
Wer hets gedenkt das so was war bestellt!
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220 The PennsylvaniO'German Society.
Ken Stnimpche ah, ken Hemmshe, un ken Keppche net,
Ja streck dich mol! Wunscfat gel das dich der Guguck het?
Ei was'n G'sicht, un was'n grosse schtimin!
Du denkscht, ich reib zu hart, un mach's zu schlimm
So muss's set, ich hab so Erwet gut gelemt
Mit so bissche Gschpass werd mer net grad verzemt.
Guck, Mutter, guckl do bring ich deer en Mann
So klee, un schee as mer juscht denke kanni
For a Pennsylvania-German Kalenner which he edited
in 1885 he wrote a longer poem in ten parts entitled " Vum
Flachsbaue." This is a veritable epic on the raising of
flax in ten short cantos. This poem ought properly be
illustrated with drawings of tools and implements found
nowada3r8 only on grandfather's garrett or in the museums
for, with flax-raising entirely out of vogue in German
Pennsylvania, or, where it is still raised, by means of
modern appliances, such terms as Flachs Britsch, Hechle,
Brech, etc., are, to the Pennsylvania Germans of today,
words of a time that is past.
A number of Dr. Keller's poems are included in the
collection published by Daniel Miller, Reading, Pa.
Some others, as well as several prose tales, are to be found
in the Allentown Friedenshote. In his younger days he
wrote for the Deutsche Pionier; but much of what I have
presented and other material noted in the Bibliography
and not further described has come direct from his own
manuscript notebook and has never been published. In
addition to this staple of his production, he has written
occasional poems in English, as well as in High German,
including hymns, epilogues, and prologues for Christmas
and Easter festivals, birthdays and anniversaries, and one
curious composition in which alternate couplets of Eng-
lish and Pennsylvania German rhyme with each other.
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23. James C. Lins.
Bibliography and Other Sources of Iniormation.
Rural Press, Kemptoo, Pa.
Rural Press, Reading, Pa.
Common Sense Dictionary of Pennsylvania German, Reading, Pa., 1M7,
1895.
Personal correspondence and interviews.
A man who will have to be considered when a complete
statement is made of those who wrote Pennsylvania-Ger-
man newspaper letters is James C. Lins of Reading, Pa.
To the Kempton Rural Press, later called the Reading
Press, when he moved his printing office to Reading, he
contributed letters, over the signature " Sam Kisselmoyer
fun Wohlhaver Schtedel." Very many of these letters
are distinctly political and do not take the trouble to in-
troduce fictitious names; the only reason why they did not
appear on the editorial page (he was himself owner and
editor) is because of the greater license allowed to this
letter column.
August ReiflF says in his " Schwabische Gedichte " :
So Nochb'r wie meine, geits gwiss koine maih
Wie die anand schimpfet; und dodi tuets koim waihl
Anander seggiere, dees tent se am gemschte,
Und doch hent se nie no' en Streit ghet, en emschte;
Am Spottle und Stichle do hent se a Freud,
Wenn oiner em andre sei Moining reacht sait.
221
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222 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
When the introduction of the free delivery of rural mail
gradually forced the weekly newspapers out of the field
he ceased to foe an editor and continued to be a printer; but
meantime he had been active in another related field of
work. In 1887 he issued a Word List, containing " nearly
all the Pennsylvania-German words in common use," under
the title " Common-Sense Pennsylvania German," this be-
ing a list of German and English words in the form in
which they are used by those speaking the dialect, with
their English equivalents. At first sight, this publication
is disappointing; nearly half of the preface is taken word
for word from Home's Manual, published twelve years
before; furthermore, the contents of Home's Dictionary
are jumbled and the words are made to conform to a dif-
ferent spelling. But despite these shortcomings, Lins's
publication is not lacking in original work, for his list
comprises 9,613 words as compared with Home's 5,522,
increased by several hundred additional in the second
edition. This great difference in bulk is partly due to a
peculiar limitation in the language horizon of many Penn-
sylvania Germans; such might be perfectly familiar with
words like bodderashun, demagrawd, raishta — ^whereas
they did not, when they were in search of the English
equivalent syllable or word, know that it was spelled both-,
<rat, roast, in English. Lins has accordingly included
many such words in his List. The result amounts to pre-
cisely what he says in the Preface, that desiring to help the
Pennsylvania German who is studying English, he has in-
troduced a great many English words in the dialect form,
whereas Home, according to M. D. Leamed's counting,
gives only 176 English words.
That there was in those days a real search for English
words is shown by the fact that children in one of their
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 223
games at school wrote on their slates a list of words they
used at fiome, and the contest turned upon who could in a
given time think of the greatest number of English equiva-
lents; one of the favorite questions thrown into the school
question box was in the form of a list of hard German
words, the requirement being made that the scholar to
whom it was referred was to furnish the English equiva-
lents.
The younger generation would not have been willing to
expose an ignorance such as did an old farmer in a story
told in "Skizzen aus dem Lecha Thai" — "J. S. Hess,
Esq., erzahlt in einer geschichtlichen Skizze von Nieder
Saucon Township, dass einmal ein deutscher Bauer mit
Latwerge nach Easton gekommen sei. Als ihn die Stad-
leute nach dem Preise von Applebutter fragten schiittelte
er den Kopf indem er nich wusste, was sie woUten, bis ihm
ein Bekannter erklarte dass sie Latwerg meinten. * Was '
sagt er * Latwerg- Applebutter, Applebutter-Latwerg, was
en Sproch ! Wann sie Latwerg gewoUt hen, for was hen
sie net Latwerg g'sat! " A younger man under such cir-
cumstances would have been apt to take refuge in a Dic-
tionary.
Even to the present day the oldest inhabitants delight in
requiring, especially of those who have been away to
school, the English equivalent of some common utensil or
tool.
It is not by the introduction of English words alone that
the disparity in numbers between Home and Lins is to
be explained. The latter has swelled the sum total by the
introduction of compound words, and of what are not
properly words but phrases; " moul-nei-henka," for in-
stance, is not a word but an idiom; it must be said, how-
ever, that the book is not less valuable for these additions.
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224
The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Finally Mr. Lins records many words that had not ap-
peared in any previous compilation — on a small page of
62 words, I find four such new words — ^moshy, mosserich,
mowlgrisht, mowlish. I have called the whole production
a Word List rather than a Dictionary; there is no attempt
to give the pronunciation of words — ^he says in his intro-
duction that he follows the English method of spelling be-
cause that is used in the schools, he does not Indicate parts
of speech, etc. He avows of his book that ^^Its aim is
not money, and jits object is not praise " and that it was
not superfluous is shown by the fact that in 1895 a second
edition was called for and this also is now sold out.
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24. Henry Meyer.
BOUOGRAPHT AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
CorrespondeDce.
Genealogy of the Mejrer Family.
Smull't Legislative Handbook.
Henry Meyer, of Rebersburg, Pennsylvania, was bom
December 8, 1840, in Center County, Pa. He learned
the miller's trade, went to the war and, having lost a hand
there, was obliged to find a different way of making a
living. For several years he taught and studied, completing
a course at the Keystone State Normal School at Kutz-
town in 1869. Next he taught in the Center County Nor-
mal School, and in 1875 ^^^ again in 1878 he was elected
superintendent of the schools of the county, and in 1882
a member of the State Legislature.
He is the author of a genealogy of the Meyer family,
and for a family reunion he wrote a poem "Die Alt
Heemet " ; the first stanza suggests Harbaugh :
Heit kumme mer noch emol z'rick
Ans alt Blockhaus nachst an der Krick
Der Platz wu unser Heemet war
Schun langer z'rick wie sechzig Yohr.
In reminiscential mood he leads his hearers up to a high
mountain overlooking the Brush Valley, and points out
all the scenes of their youthful pleasures, the old school-
house, the sugar camp (he seems to be the only Pennsyl-
15 225
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226 The Pennsylvania^German Society.
vania-German writer who has included this among his
descriptions) y the swimming hole, the crossroads store,
the neighbor whose apple orchard the boys used to visit;
at the close he turns their glance to the cemetery below,
where many of their friends already lie and where soon
they too will find eternal rest.
In " Der Alt Schamschtee ** he describes an old-fash-
ioned log house —
Der alte Schamstee war im Haus
Vum Keller nuf bis owa naus
Grad Mitta drin, wie'n schtarka fort
Im Wind un Schtaim en gut Support
Am Winter Owct was en Freed
Do hen die Buwa un die Meed
Die Eltra un vielleicht der Schquier
Im weita Ring dart g'hodct am Feier.
Then he goes on to describe the winter evening pas-
times, the coming of the chinmey sweep, and borrowing
fire of the neighbors when the rains came down the chim-
ney too heavily :
Gebreicha vun da alta Johre
Sin viel nau leeder ganz verlonu
Die Freind wu als urns Feier dart
Rum g'hockt hen sin ah bal all fart
Die Schee alt 2^it is ewig hi
Doch ihr gedachtniss bleibt mir grie.
He strikes a note that is entirely unknown elsewhere in
Pennsylvania-German writing, when he takes his Maud
a-walking in the meadow where the violets blow, or they
seek the shady places by the streams, and look into each
other*s eyes and see things they are too timid to tell, or
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 227
when, to shun the bumblebee, she buries her face on his
shoulder and then :
Ach ihre Leftse sin so wohr
Gedufte wilde Rose gleich
Un nergets — ^woo sin sic in G'fohr
So oft as wie in sellem Deich.
Die Maud hut Backe roht wie Blut
Un hut en schtimm wie'n Nachtigall
Un ihre Kisses wees ich gut
Sin Honig sees im HeckedahL
Such subjects are not on the tong:ue of Pennsylvania
Germans, and Meyer stands alone in haying even referred
to them, not to speak of having given them explicit treat-
ment. Even when he taught **Mei Schtettel Schul" he
had a sweetheart 'mongst the pupils:
Es kumme uft in mei Gemeet
Juscht wie en alt bekanntes Lied
Dehl G'schichte wu mol g'schene sin
In meine Schul am Schtettel drin.
Ich winsch ich kennt in scheene Dichte
Vcrzehle scllc altc g'schichtc
Un kennt ah kalle noch emol
Die Roll vun selle Schuler all.
But Katie would no longer answer to the roll, her seat
would be empty, Katie to whom his eye would ever wander
(and it seems she reciprocated his feelings) :
Un wann ich als en Blick hab g'schtohle
Sie war jo schuhr en z'rick zu hole.
Katie often broke his rules :
Un awer *n Blick vun ihra Ahge
Halt mich vun bccse Worte sage.
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228 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
En Fashion newig mich zu sitze
Hen g'hatt d!e grosse Meed, die Knitze
Un bettle dass ich helfe debt
Ihr Sums zu rechla uf de Schleht.
When Katie came it took him twice as long to show her
how. But :
Es roht und golde Meepel Laub
Bedeckt schun oft ibr greenes Graab
Un wann icb dort so traurig scbteb
Scbeint's mir icb wer net ganz alle.
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25- KLvRVEY Miller (Solly Hulsbuck).
BmUOGRAPHT AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
Center County Democrat, Bellefonte, Pa^ June 2^ 2908.
Der Boyertown Bauer, April 27^ 1907.
Harritburg Star Independent, August 26^ 1907.
Old Penn, Philadelphia, Pa^ October 5, 1907.
Personal Correspondence.
Reading Times, January 14, 2907.
Reformed Church Record, Reading, Pa., January 17, 2907.
Pennsylvania German, Vol. VII, 6, 32^; Vol. VIII, 4, 192.
Works:
Pennsylvania-German Poems Elizabethville, Pa., 1906.
Pennsylvania-German Stories, Elizabethville, Pa., 2907.
Pennsylvania-German Poems, II.
Poems of Childhood, Elizabethville, Pa., 2908.
Harmonies of the Heart, Elizabethville, Pa. No date.
Solly Hulsbuck — the pseudonym under which Harvey
M. Miller of Elizabethville, Dauphin County, Pennsyl-
vania, sends out his literary productions — ^bids fair to be-
come the most voluminous writer in the dialect, Harter
having ceased producing and Grumbine, and Rauch's con-
tributions never having been collected. During the ten
years since Miller began writing, he has issued in book
form Pennsylvania-German Poems in two editions ( 1906),
each of which required a second printing within six months
after first publication; Pennsylvania-German Stories in
prose and verse ( 1907) , a second volume was issued later.
The last mentioned constitutes a book of nearly two
229
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230 The Pennsylvama-German Society.
hundred pages. Each of these books has exceeded in size
the one preceding it, and as Mr. Miller is still a compara-
tively young man — ^he was bom at Elizabethville, Pa., in
1 87 1 — and as there seems to be no decrease in the demand
for his work, a large production may still be expected
from him.
In ancestry he is of Wurtemberg stock on his father's
side, while on the mother's side he traces his descent from
German and English stock, the latter in direct line from
the family of Mary Ball, the wife of Augustine Washing-
ton and the mother of George Washington.
The dialect was the only spoken language he knew when
he entered school at ten years of age, for though he read
English as taught at home, he did not understand English
when addressed by the teacher. It was the dialect poems
also, especially those of Harbaugh, that were his favorite
recitations at school on Friday afternoons. The fre-
quency with which he recited these and the consequent
fluency he acquired obtained for him invitations to recite
also before the pupils of the high school. This was his
nearest approach to the high school. The tones of Har-
baugh struck a responsive chord in his own heart, and
presently thoughts akin to those began trooping through
his own brain and urged him to give them tuneful form.
He has told me how, at dead of night, he often wakes up
with the substance of a poem ringing through his brain, and
how he cannot sleep until he gets up and has committed it
to paper.
His first productions were nevertheless in English, and
the very first ones he published are contained in an artistic
little volume entitled "Harmonies of the Heart" which
is literally the work of his own and his wife's hands, even
to setting the type, printing, sewing, binding and embel-
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Pennsylvanio'German Dialect Writings. 231
lishing — for above all other things, poet in English and
the dialect, writer of prose in the dialect, writer on sub-
jects connected with local history (he has contributed sev-
eral series to the home paper The Elizabethville Echo and
to several papers in Harrisburg) , business man and secre-
tary of the local board of trade — above all this, he is an
artistic printer and a maker of artistic books. This first
book brought him unsolicited letters of praise, among
others from Dn Marden, of Success Magazine, and Dr.
Theodore L. Cuyler.
His first work in the dialect he announced as a volume
of Pennsylvania-Dutch Poems on a wide range of subjects
bearing on the daily experiences and philosophies of " our
folk/' In the second impression he changed Pennsylvania
Dutch to Pennsylvania German, whereupon the PennsyU
vania-German Magazine, and all those who are sensitive
on this point applauded. The book is professedly humor-
ous and the reviewer in the Pennsylvania^German Maga-
zine assured his readers it was ^'just the thing to drive
away the blues," as in a private letter the editor speaks of
having read it to his wife, ^^who laughed until the tears
came." There are some of course who have ^Maughed
at it " and to all intents and purposes said of it what Hans
Breitman puts down as the criticism of his first book by
"a Boston Shap"—
Dough he maket de beoples laughen
Boot dot vas only alL
Hans Breitman's reply, put into the mouth of a Dutch-
man, is equally appropriate here :
Twas like the saying dat Heine
Haf no witz in good or bad
Boot he only kept saying witty dings
To make beoples pelief e he had.
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232 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Indeed our author's wit Is generally as spontaneous and
free as It was when as a boy he had been compelled to
listen to a long and tedious sermon by a new parson and
at the end, when the preacher closed the book, he Inquired
" Hut aer now sell gros buch darch g'lasa ? " Mr. Miller
has at times anticipated the latest witticisms in our metro-
politan humorous journals. The present writer was ex-
amining the files of papers published some ten years ago,
containing some articles by Mr. Miller. The same even-
ing he purchased a copy of the latest number of Life
and was amused to find in it cartoons for which the Penn-
sylvania German he had been reading might have fur-
nished the text. The identity extended even to the figures
of speech and the same sort of things were held up to ridi-
cule.
"Literature," says George E. Woodberry, "Is an art
of expression, the material it employs is experience . . .
it endeavors to represent experience through the medium of
language and bring it home to the understanding of the
reader. It is obvious that literature makes its appeal to
the individual and is intelligible only so far as the indi-
vidual is able to comprehend its language and interpret
the experience imbedded there." It is because our author
has in satiric, humorous vein portrayed that which ap-
peals to all who know Pennsylvania Germandom that he
Is popular. For instance, in every district where his book
was read people recognized their own Billy Bloseroar,
who goes down to the crossroads store, day in and day
out, crosses one leg over the other and with a long face
declares he has never had a show at all.
" Yah " sagt cr " grawd fcr zwanzich yohr
Bin ich do alle dawg am schtore,
Un ward geduldich far en chance,
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Pennsylvanio'Gcrman Dialect Writings. 233
Joe Hustler iss now sel net wohr — ?
"Jah" sagt dcr Joe
" Du huscht ken show
Du warscht success aw net b^ondt
Wan's maul juscht schofscht un net die hondt''
'' Di hussa sitz is blendy proof,
Dass du ken chance huscht in der Weldt,
Du bischt farflommt gaduldich, yah,
Gaduld iss ken exchange far Geld."
So sagt der Joe
" Du huscht ken show,
Except am loafa dawg im nacht ''
No hen die loafers all gelacht.
Wherever thU selection has been read, people have
named the character described; this spells universality, at
least In so far as this word may be used at all when a com*
paratwely small number of people make up the world he
describes. This is why Mr. Miller's selections in prose
and verse have been copied by the papers in every dialect-
speaking county In the state — over fifty of them. Under
date of June 27, 1908, the Center Democrat, of Bellefonte,
Pa., wrote : " We find that our people greatly appreciate
reading these selections and as our supply is about ex-
hausted we should like to hear If you have anjrthing more
to offer.*' April 17, 1907, Hon. Chas. B. Spatz, editor
of the Berks County Democrat and Der Boyertown Bauer,
said: "Have been a great admirer of your work and have
used selections frequently In our columns. We are more
than anxious to read all you write." In book form they
have found their way as far south as Texas, west as far
as Nevada, north to Canada, and east to New Hampshire ;
in fact, wherever Pennsylvania Germans have gone.
His verses " Augawanet ",
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234 ^^ PennsylvaniO'German Society.
Es war amohl en certain kolb
Dos rum gsucht hut far ufenholt.
Un dorrich bush und hecka rum
Hut's kolb en pawd gemocht gons grum,
have a wider application than Pennsylvania German; as he
goes on and tells how that crooked path became in turn a
dog's trail and a cow's path, a foot path for pedestrians
who swore about it but did not make a straight one, then
a lane, a village built around it, there arise before our eyes
pictures of large cities which are no sooner visited by great
fires or earthquakes than they begin to plan to simplify a
system of narrow crooked streets. His own application,
to be sure, is more general :
In dcre wcldt dun' blendy leit,
Im olda waig fort doppa heit
Grawd we far oldars, shrift un ^roch
Un a kolb macht ma onner nocfa.
It should be added that this poem is an adaptation
from the English,
The Star Independent, Harrisburg, has already called
attention to the fact that his thoughts are not confined to
those who ordinarily express themselves in Pennsylvania
German, but have elements that are universal.
The amusement which the present writer has seen play
on the features of parson and flock on the occasion of the
reading of the poem beginning
Won dcr Porra coomt
Waerdt rum gejumpt
Dc euchre deck waerdt g'schwindt ferbrennt
Es hymnbuch im es Teshtament
Obg'schtawbt im uf dcr dish garennt,
Won dcr Porra coomt
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 235
has indicated all too plainly that the author had known
whereof he had written.
Another type he is fond of taking off is the man who is
always ailing during the busy season of the year, but
always recovers by the time the picnic season comes
around. He laughs at those who are the easy marks of
the "garrulous but shrewd and persistent *Bicher Agent'
who plays so successfully with the vanity of his would-be
customer." This poem in particular attracted the atten-
tion of Richard Helbig, of the Lenox Library, New York
City, and from him I have quoted almost all of the above
sentence.
Of the dissatisfied farmer he concludes a short poem
thus:
Wun's immcr dawler waetza ware
Un het ken toxa un egshpense
Don ware de geld kischt nemohls lare
Und Bowera hetta aw en chance.
In 1650 an unknown poet in Augsburg wrote in similar
strain :
Das Bauer werck ist nix mehr wert
Der Handel hat sich bald verkehrt,
Ist nix dabei als Muh und Gschwar,
Wolt, das der Teuffel ein Bauer war.
Other points of similarity might be pointed out; thus do
the satirists through all the ages find it necessary to ham-
mer on the same old failings of humanity.
On the other hand, our author is full of real joy in the
beauties of nature, whether she manifest herself in the
blooming of the flowers, the waving of the golden grain,
the singing of the birds, the patter of children's footsteps
or the prattle of their voices, but he has no patience with
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236 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
the thoughtless " back-to-the-country movement" of those
who think they may enjoy its bounties without paying the
proper price.
Wie sees is doch die summer tseit
Es Paradies fum yor!
En Himmel's bild fer ola leit
Wu awga hen dafor.
/
Wos pikters sait mer uf de bame
Mcr kcnt net won mer wut
Sel'r Rambo farba naksht so sha
Sel war de bond fun Got
O, mei hartz klupt dos es bnimd
Now, wun's free yohr wid'r kumt.
Ich sa es nuch, mei lewas tint
Un's dut mer laed im hartz
Bin shoor in Paradies er findt
Ken hung'r, pein un schmartz
Doch war's mer leeb un grosa lusht
Un O! Got wase we fro
Het ich mei bebeli uf da brusht
War juscht mei engli dob!
Oh, de tswa klana shu- supposin ich het
Sie nimma um ufa do
Un ken kleene fees im trundle bet
Wie bid'r war's lava demo!
He extemporizes in masterful variations on the general
theme of
Die weldt is nimme we se wore
En hunnert yohr zurick.
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PennsylvaniO'German Dialect Writings. 237
1 8 10.
Dcr Bower ncmt sci Bcev'l uf
Un las'd ols owets ous em Buch
De fraw hukt bei un singt en shdick
Un So' un Duchd'r singa mit
Recht omdlich.
1910.
Dcr Bower grikt FUdelfy " news "
Full marderei fun kup zu foos,
De Beev'l 's shtawwich uva druf
De fraw gookt fashion bicfaer uf
De duchd'r shbeeld de drumbl boks
Mit weisa bend we gips un woks
Der So we in de city blets
Shmoh'd lawda neg'l cigarets
Gons shondlich.
Yet he is not a laudator temporis acti to the extent of
wishing the good old days back; he is no pessimist, he
would merely sound a warning:
Ei, wos en himnert yor duch mocht
Farenaring we dawg un nacht
Bei Bower un bei ola leit.
Mer winsht's aw nimma we's mol wor
Duch man'd mer's is a bisl g'for —
Leit werra in a hunnert yohr
Tzu weldlich un zu Gotlos g'sheit.
One of Mr. Miller's very best poems was no doubt sug-
gested by Tennyson's " Ring Out Wild Bells " :
Ring'd, bella ring'd.
Far fraed uf's Nei Yohr he
Far bessra dawga foma drous
Un f reindlicher we de ;
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238 The Pennsylvania^German Society.
Far man'r leeb iind wennidi'r shond
Far weinch'r shdreid un mae faishtond
Un darch aweck en besser lond
Ringfd, bdla ringed.
Dol'd bella dol'd
Ous la'd far'n moncha seeza shtund
Wu forhar unser war
Ous 9017a fcr ferlawra zcit
Far nidra driks un klan'r shbeit
Un folshhad g'shwisha chentleleit
Dol'd, beUa dol'd.
Ring'd bella ring'd
Kaling a ling, ka long
Ringt's olt Yohr nous mit sorg und lad
Uns Nei Yohr rei mit g'sung.
Ring'd far en Shtondhoft menlichkad
Rind'd loud mit lushd und fraed
Far f reeda und garechtichkaed
Ring'd, bella ring'd.
Likewise in parody he has given many happy renderings.
I have not yet spoken of the philosophy he develops for
himself; how amid complaints of too much of this and
too much of that, in our complex life,
Nix in der welt dos guter farshtond
Kann alles darrich mocha.
He dilates on the pleasures to be drawn from a corncob
pipe — ^Mei alte Krutza Fife; on the beauty of accepting
things as they come, Mer Nemts we's kumt — and finally
locates Heaven itself:
Dale schwetza fum Himmel we en lond wide aweck
En blotz das ner nix waes derfun,
Wu die leit all gechanged sin fun juscht cumner dreck
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Pennsylvanio'German Dialect Writings. 239
Un sin Engel und fliega dart rum.
Sie sawga ^ arriyets iwer'm say
En mechtiger lunger weg fart,
Wu niemond sidi kenna kon bis mer schier denkt
Die Leit sin all foreigners dart
So mochts net feel aus ware schwetzt odder sucht
Far die awidi und sees harlichkeit
Der Himmel is net im Geography Budi
Ower naigscht bei em Hartz vun de Leit
Wun mer breederlich lebt wie die Schrift sagt mer set
Iss mer harlich und alles geht gude
Un won em de g'sundheit demo aw net fehlt
Iss der Himmel grawd unnich em Hut
In his prose selections he usually writes on some timely
subject — ^politics, flying machines, woman suffrage, the
comet; on abstract subjects — ^pride, church-going, but,
whatever the subject, he as a rule sends the truth straight
home, making an appeal direct to his own people, who
accept well-merited rebuke in good grace because admin-
istered by one of their own number and because the sar-
castic comment is mingled with such playful humor that
it is often difficult to tell whether the writer is in earnest
or only making game.
On certain questions that have become the subject of
great national agitation, the dialect writers are working
hand in hand with the great metropolitan papers. To
mention but one example — on a sane celebration of the
Fourth of July. To a number of poems on this subject
In my possession, our author has an essay in prose. An-
other of this writer*s subjects illustrates how the dialect
adapts itself to modem English slang — Die Nei Runzel im
Schpella. When he applies to the dictionary that they
propose making, he is in danger of getting such stuff
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240
The Pennsylvania-German Society.
palmed ofif on him as government reports tell him he Is
really getting at the store nowadays when he imagines he
is purchasing pure groceries — a wonderful mixture of un-
mentionable stuflF "Ower ich denk die nei Runzel im
Shpella wart gae wie fiel onnera so narheita."
The present writer asked him what had been the mov-
ing cause in leading him to do this sort of work, and he
modestly phrased it thus: "My purpose in writing has
been chiefly to meet a local demand for such literature,
which demand seems to have been created after it became
known that new matter of the kind could be manufactured
at home. The first selections were written out of a spirit of
humor, impulsively, and when the editor asked for more,
the mill was kept running." M. D. Learned has referred
to Miller's work as a valuable contribution to Pennsyl-
vania-German literature.
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26. Charles C. More.
BmUOGRAPHY.
Allentown Friedensbote.
Alkntown Weltbote.
Pennsylvania-Gcnnan Magazine.
Correspondence.
A literature may be produced or a literary work come
into existence which owes very little if anything to other
writings or writers of the same or preceding times but, as
Kipling says,
When 'Omcr smote his blooming l3rre
E'd heard men sing by land and sea,
and for that reason, no doubt, he is Homer and not one
of the forgotten ones who " sang by land and sea." As a
general rule, if the writer has the power of assimilation,
the wider, the broader and the deeper his acquaintance with
other writers and other literatures, the better it will be
for his own. And if he be a writer of dialect an ac-
quaintance with other dialects and dialect writers operates
in the same way. Now the writers of Pennsylvania Ger-
man, many of them, did have some such acquaintance;
Harbaugh was a student of the South German Hebel and
also of the Scotch Burns, Fischer had particularly studied
1 6 241
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242 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Schandein and translated a number of Nadler's poems,
Wuchter had lived abroad and knew German dialects as
well as a number of the dialects of the French language,
but in many instances the dialect literature of Pennsyl-
vania shows a lack of originality and an imitative quality
that are due to a shallow knowledge. A smattering of
the rules of English versification and a desire, with not
always a capacity, for rhyming are often the too thin
excuse for making a poem. In prose it is especially clear
that many newspaper writers, who, to be sure, never al-
lowed their real names to be coupled with the names under
which they wrote — ^were but poor imitators of Rauch.
Charles C. More had opportunities that were not vouch-
safed to any other writer of Pennsylvania German, and he
did not fail to take advantage of them. He was bom in
Allentown in 1851; his paternal ancestor had come from
Alsace Lorraine, on his mother's side they were from
Switzerland. Her father, Jacob Blumer, familiarly known
as Father Blumer, was the second Reformed preacher at
Allentown, and it was during his incumbency as pastor
there that the " Liberty Bell " was buried under the floor
of his church to save it from the hands of the British, who
occupied Philadelphia.
At Allentown More attended the public schools, and
later the Seminary, where he studied Latin under Hon.
Jeremiah S. Hess. At the age of seventeen he went to
Europe and studied in Berlin and taught German and
French in Geneva, Switzerland, and in England, remaining
in Europe nine years. In 1876 he returned to America,
but the same year went back to Europe again and was ap-
pointed clerk of the American legation at Berlin, then
under Bayard Taylor, and remained ten years. On his
second return to America he entered upon the editorial
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 243
staff of the Welthote and Friedensbote at Allentown and
remained fourteen years, after which he entered the service
of the Victor Talking Machine Company in the capacity
of translator, and is still employed there.
While in Europe he had become familiar with different
German and French dialects; these he was wont to com-
pare with his own Pennsylvania-German dialect and as
he did so he became convinced that it had as good a right
to be as the best of them; he felt it ought to have its Fritz
Reuters, its Klaus Groths, its Berthold Auerbachs or Her-
mann Nadlers. With Berthold Auerbach he was per-
sonally acquainted and he believed that Pennsylvania
might have such dialect writers if as honest and as patriotic
an effort were made to foster the dialect as dialect writers
were fostered abroad. It was with thoughts like these in
mind that he began in a desultory way to write dialect
stories for the Friedensbote. Among a large number of
contributions to that paper may be mentioned " Vergewe,"
"Unser Kongressman," "Weil sie Nachbare warn," and
"Wie Krieg gemacht werd." From the start his news-
paper stories were different from the common lot of such
writings. Of the latter he said : " Our dialect is deserving
of a better fate than to be bandied about in buffoonish
attempts at humor with an aimless motive and a doubtful
tendency," and he cites H. A. Schuler (elsewhere treated
in this volume) who was at that time employed in the
offices of the Weltbote as agreeing with him on this point.
After the latter took editorial charge of the Pennsylvania-
German Magazine More began to give more serious at-
tention to his dialect stories, even deferring to the editor
in the matter of spelling, though he often differed with
him. More's stories are not newspaper letters but genu-
ine "Short Stories" in the technical sense; in this sense
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244 ^^^ Pennsylvania^German Society.
More IS the first and only story writer the Pennsylvania-
German dialect has, but his productions have a quality
that at once puts their author among the best of those
who have tried their hand at dialect.
" Der Wiescht Mann vun der Flett "— The Ugly Man
of the Lowlands — ^was published in the Pennsylvania^Ger-
man Magazine. "Die Flett" is the name given to a
level stretch of land in Lower Macungie, Lehigh County,
Pa., in which large quantities of iron ore were mined thirty
or forty years ago. It was a mere coincidence that the
man's name was Wiescht, but he was possibly as ugly in
appearance as it was possible for a man to be, but he had
the kindness of heart which nature often grants to such
creatures by way of compensation. In addition to all the
rest he had been attacked by ^nallpox and left with fear-
ful pockmarks. He worked in the ore mines and was
teased about his appearance as never man was. But all
that he would reply was : " Yes, fellows, my face may not
be goodlooking but it has cost me much, perhaps more
than life itself is worth," and with that would return to
his work, and he could work as no other, and as only a
man who had wicked or sad thoughts to drive away would
work. Charges were made that he was trying to " make
up " to the boss, but he lived this down, for he was as
uncommunicative to the latter as to his fellow workers.
At even when the rest of the miners sat about and chatted
he was busy about his hut or locked up in it and reading.
One day the boss brought a lad to the mines, a boy who
had come to the neighborhood with a band of gypsies, and
put him to work by Wiescht's side to drive a cart, and
quartered him in Wiescht's cabin — Fred Schmerger. But
Wiescht paid no attention until one day the boy came back
with his cart singing as a boy would, in a clear tone, an
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings, 245
old familiar song, whereupon Wiescht started up, his eyes
bulged from their sockets, his red face became redder, as
he looked at the lad, then he reeled and clutched at his
heart. His fellows ran to his assistance, but quickly re-
covering hi3 composure he went back to his shovel and
worked harder and faster than he had ever done before,
if such a thing were possible. As to the meaning of it all,
his companions were no wiser than before except to note
the change that came over Wiescht. From that day on
he was all attention to the boy; he taught him his letters
in the evening by lamplight, he bought him clothes, he
planned to give him an education, to send him away to
school.
Toward the miners he too became diflFerent, talked with
them, told them of his plans, even became friendly to an
Italian that worked in his gang, at times burst out
singing with a voice that was only more ugly than his ugly
face — ^then one day, the boy backed in his cart and in-
advertently backed it over the Italian's foot; flying into a
passion the Italian drew a knife and attacked the boy.
Wiescht threw himself between the boy and the knife and
in saving the boy's life, gave up his own. When the boy
was sufficiendy calmed to tell his tale it was learned that
the boy's mother and Wiescht had been engaged but when
she saw his face as the smallpox had left it, she took back
her plighted word. Wiescht became a wanderer and
finally landed at the mines. She married one Schmerger,
the lad's father. The boy ran away from home with a
band of gypsies and finally, tiring of that existence, came
to the mines, where the boss received him and quartered
him with Wiescht. The song of the lad was the voice of
Wiescht's sweetheart, and when he looked on him more
he saw the features of her face. For the sake of her who
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had not been true to him, Wiescht devoted himself to the
boy, making for him even the great sacrifice, giving his
life for him.
This is the slender thread of More's story, a plot with
which we may not quarrel, for it is a true story. In the
case of a true story we can only find fault with him who
tells it, if he selected one to tell which does not have in it
elements that make it interesting, and it, therefore, does
not diflFer from any sort of fact as a newspaper might
chronicle it, or again, if in the telling he did not embellish
it with such characteristics as would permit us to name the
product literature, and our author did so adorn it. It is
almost impossible to make illustrative selections of More's
writings. The simplicity and the purity of his dialect is
of a uniformly high order, there is only a minute percent-
age of English words, and yet in the hands of More it is
not merely a means for narrating events. There is nar-
rative, but there is also description, now of the rustic and
again of the purely poetic type; there is philosophizing,
there is pathos, there is humor. The whole story moves
with its changing colors in a way that satisfies the rules of
the "Short Story" writing game. And the author has
put his imagination into it, for the searcher after exact
facts of the life of Nathan Kebler, of Jackson Center,
Lehigh County, Pa., will find it slightly different from the
above sketch; yet our story is almost true to Goethe's
canon : " Alles Erlebtes aber nicht wie es erlebt wurde."
" Ich hab juscht gedenkt es debt sche so sounde," is the
author's excuse for the license he has taken.
Note this bit of rustic description, the homely figures
that belong to genuine dialect :
Er war en derrer, langer Mann mit arrig grossa Hand und
ferchtcrlicha Fiess. Sei magerer, knochiger Kop hot am a dinna,
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Pennsylvania^erman Dialect Writings. 247
langa Hals schier grad vun da Schultera naus g'schtanna, wie en
Knartza am a Fenzarigel. Sei Backaknocha hen sich rausg'schowa
wie die Hifta am a derra Gaul, un sei Backa ware ei'g'falla wie
an ra Geig. Sei Maul hot schier bis an sei flabbige Ohra gereecht ;
sei Haut was so brau wir en g'sdunokter Schunka, so runzlig wie
en gederrte Quitt un so voU Parplamohler as en Sib is mit Lecher.
Awer sei Nas erschtl Wie die Nadur ^^i^cagz, hot, sei Nas zu
macha, hot sie wul ah net gewisst wann ufzuherra. War des
awer'n Kolwa, un dazu war sie noch feierroti Sie hot em grad
gemahnt an en grosser Fingerhut, mit Lewer gedeckt;"
and then this philosophy:
Es is awer kee Mensch alliwer wiescht, juscht so wennig wie er
alUwer schee is. Die Nadur gebt uns Menscha immer ebbes mit
for sei Ding gleich zu macha. Ma wieschta Mensch gebt sie
gemeenerhand en gut Herz un ma scheena Mensch alsemol en
Herz as net juscht so gut is. Viel wieschta Leit hen oft ebbes an
sich, as sie viel schenner gucka macht wie's schenscht G'sicht sie
gucka macha kennt. Viel scheena Leit hen alsemol Wege an
sich, as sie wieschter gucka macha as der alt Harry. So war's
juscht beim Johann Wiescht. Er hot en paar Aage g'hot as so
trei, sanft un gutmietig in die Welt nei geguckt hut, do hot mer
seller Feierkolwa vun ra Naus ganz vergessa. Mer hot gemeent,
mer deet ma kleena Kind in die Aage gucka; 's Herz is em dabei
weech warre, un mer het en gleicha kenna wie sei eegner Brudef
odder beschter Freind — ^wann er em gelosst het! Sei Aage hen
awer immer so traurig un betriebt gaguckt as wann sie sich uf en
Art wie schamma deeta, zu so ma wieschta G'sicht zu g'heera.
Mark these words full of pathos :
Ja, Ja, Buwal Mei G'sicht is wul net schee, awer es hot mich
viel gekoscht, arrig vieL Es hot gewiss meh gekoscht as mei ganz
Lewe wert is, gewiss es hot, viel, viel meh. Dann is er widder
an die Erwet un hot g'scheppt un gegrubbt as wie wann er arrig
beesa un traurige Gedanka vertreiwa wot Mer hot's em a'g'sehna,
dass ebbes in seinra Bruscht schafft as wie en Bump, un damoh sin
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als paar Treena an seinra langa Nas runner geloffa uf die Grund-
shoUa. Awer dann hot er erscht recht g'schaffti
And this ascent to real poetry:
So is der Summer verganga. 'S Schpotjohr hot die Blatter
brau g'farbt; der kalt Wind hot sie v\m da Beem gerissa un
rumher g'schtreet.
But no other quality lends so much to giving the story
value, nothing gives so much credit to the author as the
sustained excellence of the dialect, which, whatever mood
it has as to color, is always no more and no less than the
Pennsylvania-German dialect, simple and pure.
In an entirely diflFerent vein he has written "En
wieschter Draam."
Geschter war ich noch g'sund un munter, heit lei ich do un bin
dootl Ich hab immer gemeent, wann mer mol doot war dann
deet mer nix meh vun sich wissa; awer do lei ich, bin doot un
wees es, un kann es doch net helfa. Alsemol meen ich, ich war
juscht schei' doot un deet bal widder zu mer kumma; noh is mer's
als widder as wann mei Geischt iwwer mer Schwcwe deet un deet
mich recht draurig a'gucka, weil mer so g'schwind vun nanner
missa. . . . Was ich awer gar net begreifa kann is das ich nau
alles viel bcsser sehn un versteh as wie ich noch gelebt hab. Ich
kann jo grad in die Menscha nei sehna un ihra Gedanka lesa. Do
is mei Frah . . . un dann der Coroner un die Tschury. . . . Nau
kummt der Undertaker. • . . Die Nochbera. . • •
The thoughts of all of these he turns over in half playful
fashion. On the edge of the grave the coffin turns turtle
and falls — "Bums I Was g'happent is? Ei du bischt
aus'm Bett g'falla," says his wife. "Noch dem soil sie
mer awer ken Lewer meh brota for Supper! "
"Es Wash Heller's ihra Grischdagszug " and "Der
Hexedoktor " are two others that run the whole gamut of
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 249
family joys and sorrows, in both of which happiness prop-
erly triumphs in the end.
The last one to be mentioned here, and probably his mas*
terpiece, "Die Kutztown Mail," is a sort of German
"Evangeline" with its last scenes staged in "Drexler
Schtattel" — "Es war im Johr 1858 as die Mag in en
gleenes Blockhaus gezoge is as von der Union Kerrich
iwwer die Schtross gestanne hot. Sellemols hot noch en
schoner Busch um sel Hausel gschtanne un der Weg noch
Kutztown is zwische der Kerch un sellem Busch vorbei
gange wie heut nodu"
The man who moved her and her belongings into the
house did not get much information out of her as to her
previous history, and curious neighbors who tried to draw
her out got a sharp answer and no satisfaction. " Die alt
deitsch Mag wie die Leit sie gheesa hen hot juscht ee
Freed uf der Welt ghat — der Union Kerrichhof."
Wann sie net im Busch ghockt hot un hot geleesa un gedromt,
dann war sie im Kerrichhof un hot an da Grewer mm gschafft —
un ah gedromt, odder iwer die Leit gscholta, as ihra Dodta vergessa
un vemachlesige. ''Sis arrig," hot sie als for sich hiegebrummt
wic's hcrgcht uf da Welt. Do hcila die Menscha un dowa, wann
ebber schterbt, un da meh as sie heila, da gschwinter weschen die
Dhrecna's Adenka aus cm Sinn — grad wien Schtann, da wieschter
as er dobt da gschwinter is er vorbei 1 Des do sin awer nau mei
Dodta, un ich vergess sie net, awer Bluma blanz ich ihna, un ich
mach den Kerrichhof so schee, as es en Freed is, zu schtcrwa im do
begrawa sei; un wann ich dann ah mei Ruh findt, dann geh ich
zu ihna schlofa, un dann bliehen die Blume ah for mich ; un ebbes
secht mer, dann falla ah von da Bletter uf sei Grab.
Then she would draw a little picture on a gold chain
from her bosom, and a few tears would roll down her
cheeks and she would sit and dream until distui4)ed by the
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approach of the Kutztown mail " Fer die Mag hut juscht
ee Druwel g'hat — die Kutztown Mail." The driver of
this coach was Ignatz Martin, a person "luschtig wie's
eener gewa hot, so lang as er um Leit rum war.. War er
awer allee so hot er oft da Kop henka lossa un hot Seif zer
ausgschtossa as en arrig schweres Herz verrota hen."
And he too would at times draw a picture from some-
where in the region of his heart and gaze at it long and
gloomily, then suddenly stick it away again and begin to
whistle or sing as though afraid to be sad.
Now the end of our story is clear or pretty nearly
clear; and so it soon is with most stories, we no longer
need to turn to the last chapter to find out what the end
will be, and so it has become the artist's task to keep us
interested not by the end itself but by the method of
reaching that end. Nor are we disappointed in our story
teller here.
It so happened that Mag felt a particular aversion to
the fish horn that Natz blew, and also that he soon learned
of this and blew it all the louder as he approached her
house. Now one day, late in summer, she had prepared
herself to teach the scoundrel manners; and when she
heard him approach she rushed to the street brandishing
a little club, and shaking her fists at the coach that was
coming nearer, when suddenly she became very tired and
sank down on a bank neath a rose bush, as though she
would choke; then a mist formed before her eyes and out of
the mist a hand seemed to show her pictures out of the past.
She saw herself a school lass, blue-eyed, rosy cheeked,
happy; then she saw another picture of a green field with
flowers growing all around and a young fellow with a stu-
dent's cap who has just adorned her hair with flowers and
demanded a kiss and a race through the fields, the capture
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 251
and the delivery of the not unwelcome kiss; then another
happy one and she saw a betrothed pair and she put out
her hand as though she would grasp it, then followed a
dark one in which there was disturbance in the land and
people talked much about Equality, Liberty and Frater-
nity. In the name of that Equality people persecuted
each other; they drove each other out of the country in the
name of that Liberty and in the name of that Fraternity
they shot each other and over it all they wrote Civiliza-
tion, but the world calls it the Revolution of 1 848, Then
followed another picture of darkness and she stood by the
side of a young man and dressed him in women's clothes
and said goodbye, for he had stood up for the people, but
the government had been stronger. In another dark
night she herself starts after him to America to find him,
and also to save herself, for she had aided a Revolutionist.
Now a long dark road stretched out before her, ever one
face is before her, leading her hither and thither until at
last she sees herself only a shadow, and, too tired to move
further, she sinks down, her eyes still fixed on that coun-
tenance, then her head droops on her breast and the white
hand out of the mist smooths out the wrinkles from her
brow and removes the melancholy look which grief and
unsatisfied longing had put into her eyes.
Da Wind hot paar Rosabletter runner gebrocht un hot sie uf
ihra Schulter gelegt, un die letschta Schtrahla von da Owedsunn
hen die Farb ufgfanga un hen sie uf ihra Backa gdhu un hen sie
so schee un herrlich un zufridda gucka macha, wie sellemols, wie er
sie gfrogt hot, cb sie sci wer un gcpischpcrt " Ewig dcil " Un wic
sie nanner ihra Picters gewa un ewiga Drei gschwora hen."
While the pictures were passing before her eyes the
coach had rapidly come up and Natz was ready to have
his fun with Mag, cracks the whip, gives a shout, blows
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252 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
the horn that the woods reecho the sound, for he sees her
sitting ahead prepared to give him a warm reception. But
as they go flying by, a doctor who is a passenger calls on
Natz to stop — " Do is ebbes letz." He makes an exam-
ination and pronounces her dead. They carry her into
the house and a picture falls from her neck. On a dresser
they find a bundle of papers and because they seem to be
written in German they are passed on to Natz. He opens
and the first that comes into his hand is a printed card
Ignatius Michael Martin
und
Margaretha Johanna Reitz
Verlobte
Freiburg in Baden, den I7ten September 1847.
and with a " Barmherziger Gott, finde ich meine Gretel
so" he reels, staggers to the porch, falls and is dead.
The papers, when finally read, told briefly her story, in-
cluding the long years of fruitless search for each other in
America as they had promised each other and how she had
finally purchased a lot in this cemetery in the hope that
there in a forgotten grave she might find the rest not
vouchsafed her In life. She had further expressed the
conviction that her Ignatz would find her there and then
they would be together in the grave. " Sie hen die Zwee
neewich nanner begrawa, un so. hot die Mag doch recht
ghat wie sie geprophezeit hot: * Dann falla fun da Blatter
ah uf set Grab.' "
To have written such a story and in the purest, truest
dialect is its own argument and ought effectually to satisfy
all who doubt the capacity of the dialect or the ability of
its writers. More has said that dialect stories can be
written which hold the mirror up to Nature, and we need
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 253
not stoop to vulgarisms to attract attention, for the dialect
combines that much vaunted Irish wit with the good old
homely German humor; we need only be imbued with an
honest pride in our ancestry and their language, and then
the dialect will live by its own momentimi. More has
done more than an ordinary man's share to make it live.
He has also written poetry; in a few poems he chron-
icles witty incidents out of child life, "Der Tschelly-
schlecker" and "Unschuldig G'schtroflFt." In probably
his best one, entitled: "Die Schatta uf der Krick," he
writes:
An der Lecha haw ich g'sotza
Un in die Wclla g'schaut
Um mich rum hen Vegd g'sunga
Un Neschter sich gebaut.
Ihra Schatta, wie die Wolka
Sin g'schwumma uf der Kirck, ^^^iJi(
Dann in weiter Fcm verschwuhna;
Doch ihr Lied, des blieb zurick.
Then after several stanzas of musing he questions:
Wie werd es dann mit mir mol geh,
Wann ich ah nimme bin
Wann ich muss heemwarts wandra
Ins Schattaland weithin?
Werd ah mci Bild so schwewa
Dann versinka aus'm Blick?
Der Dood, der dann mei Schmerz fartnemmt,
Losst er mei Lied zurick?
To which unanimously ought to be given the comforting
answer, yes, More, your songs will live, but your stories
have a stronger claim and deserve to live longer even than
your songs.
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27- Elwood L. Newhard.
BXBUOGRAPBT.
Home's Manual
Allentown Chronicle.
Reading Herald.
Philadelphia Inquirer.
Pittsburg Dispatch.
Lancaster New Era.
Lebanon News.
Allentown Call.
Correspondence and Interviews.
Libretto of Pennsylvania-German Pinafore.
On May 25, 1878, the Opera Comique in Lx)ndon saw
the premiere of the second one of the Gilbert and Sullivan
Light Operas that was destined to have a wide popular*
ity, " H. M. S. Pinafore." It had a straight run of 994
nights in London before the public ceased to be amused.
On the 25th of November, 1878, it was sung at the Bos-
ton Museum and in January, 1879, in New York. In
the autumn of 1879 it had its first authorized production
in New York, the authors themselves coming from London
to assist in the direction, and on December i it was sung
in the Fifth Avenue Theater. It took the popular fancy
in America as it had done in England and year after year
company after company went on the road to sing it, but
even this was not enough to satisfy lovers of light song.
254
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Musical directors with dramatic talent, or a musical direc-
tor accompanied by a person who was skilfull in develop-
ing latent histrionic talent, travelled about the country
organizing and training local companies for home pro-
ductions. The vogue was nation-wide and in San Fran-
cisco " H. M. S. Pinafore " was burlesqued as " His Mud
Scow Pinafore," and this too had its share of the glory as
produced by the San Francisco Minstrels. Moreover, the
favor the opera enjoyed was not of the fleeting kind. Re-
peatedly it has been revived and that too by such distin-
guished leaders as Maurice Grau and Henry Savage in
1908 and the Schuberts in 191 1.
It remained for Alfred Charles Moss and Elwood L.
Newhard, of Allentown, to translate almost all of it into
the Pennsylvania-German dialect as: "H. M. S. Pinafore,
oder Das Maedle und ihr Sailor Kerl" and to produce it
with such success that all of eastern Pennsylvania wanted
to hear it, that Elwood L. Newhard, who assumed the
role and created the character of Sir Joseph Porter,
K.C.B., the Dutch Admiral, entered the professional field
in other light operas under the management of Moss,
that later Messrs. Aschbach and Alexander, theater man-
agers of Allentown, put a professional company on the
road to sing Pennsylvania-Dutch "Pinafore" with El-
wood L. Newhard in the role that he had created. The
latter carried it into practically every theater city of the
state with unvarying success. Newhard has sung the part
of Sir Joe as an amateur and as a professional, with local
companies and with travelling companies both amateur
and professional, more than three hundred and fifty times,
and the several songs at public and private gatherings and
at local entertainments for charitable purposes numberless
times.
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256 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
The translation was a collaboration, but of a peculiar
kind; Moss was a musician, a composer and director, and
while he understood the dialect he did not speak it; on the
other hand Newhard was a Pennsylvania German whose
ancestors had come from Germany almost fifty years be-
fore the Revolution, was thoroughly familiar with the
dialect, was a singer and had had considerable experience
as a stage manager. Moss's chief interest was in getting
singable lines. Night after night did Moss and New-
hard sit together trying out this phrase and that, one
method and another, of rendering the songs of '* Pina-
fore," always seeking the expression that they could sing
best without being too scrupulous about how literal it was ;
they did not hesitate sometimes to say the exact opposite
of the original where an opportimity offered to make a
joke but they did not deviate from the main theme, and
their translation easily admitted of having the libretto
printed In parallel columns with the original English ver-
sion. In order to get the point of view of the translators
it is necessary to remember that they called their work
a burlesque translation, and to note that their object was
to give their audience the songs of the opera in Pennsyl-
vania German, and good fun in the dialogue. The dia-
logue was translated largely for, and probably mostly by,
Newhard himself.
A brief sketch of Elwood L. Newhard is necessary here
in order to understand better the manner of the transla-
tion.
Elwood L. Newhard, who was bom in Allentown in
1858, was a descendant of one of the three Newhard
brothers who came to this country from Rotterdam in the
ship St. Andrew in 1737; and on September 26 took the
oath of allegiance before John Logan, president of the
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 257
colony. They had come from Zweibriicken, where an
earlier ancestor, who had been armorer to the Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa, had received an estate from that
ruler.
The subject of this sketch was educated in the public
schools of Allentown, learned, and for a time followed,
the trade of cigarmaker, but his youthful ability as a con-
tortionist and trapeze performer, his ability as a joke-
smith and a funmaker soon led him toward the profession
that devotes itself to affording entertainment and amuse-
ment to others. As a mere boy he joined Stone and Mur-
ray's circus, at the age of seventeen Monroe and Willing's
Minstrels and later organized and travelled with Stevens'
Minstrels. Returning to Allentown in 1880, he became
the next year proprietor of the Snyder House, in 1883
produced "Pinafore," the next year entered upon his
career as an actor and light opera singer, became manager
of the Fountain Hill Opera House, South Bethlehem, and
with G. C. Aschbach, of Allentown, manager of the East-
em Pennsylvania Circuit; subsequently he became an ad-
vertising agent of the Jersey Central Railroad; entering
politics, he was elected Clerk of the Courts when Lehigh
County for the first time in its history elected a complete
Republican county ticket.
Since the close of his professional career there has not
been a single year that he has not appeared in minstrel,
vaudeville or other local entertainment for the benefit of
some lodge, or church, but most frequently for the relief
of the poor. It is said that in proportion to his means
he has given — having raised by entertainment — ^more
money than any other person in the city. On such occa-
sions he appears as endman in popular darkey songs or as
" our own Dutch Comedian " in Hans Breitmann Ballads,
17
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258 The Pennsylvania^German Society.
or better yet Pennsylvania-German " Pinafore " selections,
or in Pennsylvania-German parodies of his own composi-
tions in which he takes off local characters or local events.
In all of these events he is the contortionist over again;
when he rises and pulls his face awry or strikes an atti-
tude the house begins to titter, and when he opens his
mouth to say something it usually "brings down the
house."
It was in his younger days that the people began to ex-
pect him to say the funny thing in an odd way and to ac-
company it with the unusual posture or gesticulation. This
situation must have been in mind, at least subconsciously,
when he and Moss made their translation.
To illustrate from the very first song in Pinafore :
Mir fahren auf der meer;
Unser schiff is shay un shteady;
M'r drinken nix oss beer
Un m'r sinn aw immer ready,
is not an exact translation of
We sail the ocean blue,
And our saucy ship's a beauty,
We*rc sober men and true,
And attentive to our duty,
yet the first two lines are as nearly an accurate version as
necessary, the third line would be the utterly unexpected
to those familiar with the English, and those who were
not would look upon it as the traditional thing to be said
of a Dutchman and both would be surprised by the way in
which the clever translation of the fourth line seems to
refer to the preceding one. A still greater surprise was
in store for all when the same song recurred in a diflFerent
part of the opera and after the first lines with slight varia-
tion for rhyme:
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 259
Mir fahren auf der say,
Unser schifiF is shay un shteady
there follows with more and more emphasis to the end of
the line
M'r drinken nix oss tay
Un m'r sin aw immer ready.
The recitative after the oper'ng chorus is changed into
a dialogue which brings out tae same facts of the story ;
Little Buttercup's aria is a pretty close translation,
although for rhyrile's sake some of the objects she oflFers
for sale are differently arranged; Englis'. Toffy and Pol-
ony very properly become American Taffy and Bologna,
while one or two untranslatable names or possibly names
that would not fit into a line are very naturally replaced
by German Schnitz un Kaduffla.
In the dialogue that follows we discover more of the
method of translation. A long English speech sometimes
could be better expressed by a short one in the dialect, and
vice versa, an English joke or pseudo ponderous expres-
sion often could not be turned and was omitted; on the
other hand, a dialect witticism could sometimes be rung in
where there was none in English, while the last line of
the second dialogue where Buttercup says " Ha that name,
remorse, remorse " warns us that from this time forth our
translation will be macaronic, some of the spoken parts as
well as some of the songs not having been translated at all.
When the captain enters and says " My gallant crew —
Good Morning " the sailors respond with " Gude Morya."
When he sings " I am the Captain of the Pinafore " they
respond in an excellently turned line " Un 'n nummer ains
Cap bisht du" as rendering ''and a right good captain
too." Throughout the captain's opening song he sings
altogether In English while the responses of the sailors are
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sometimes in dialect and sometimes in English, thus the
captain's
You're exceedingly polite
And I think it only right
To return the compliment
becomes in the response
Mir sin iveraus polite
Un er mehnt es wer yusht right
Wen er uns aw compliment,
while the last chorus remains English:
Hardly ever swears a big big D
Then give three cheers and one cheer more
For the well-bred captain of the Pinafore.
The interlocution that follows the captain's statement
that he " never swears a big big D "
Sailors — ^What never?
Captain — No, never!
Sailors — What neverf
Captain — Hardly ever.
and which is repeated several times in the course of this
song becomes very happily
Sailors — ^Was Gar net?
Captain — Nay, Gar net.
Sailors — Was, Gar netf
Captain — Well, sheer gar net
The words with which the captain announces Sir Joseph
Porter, K.C.B., in the dialect are better calculated to put
emphasis on the coming of that exalted personage than
the words of the original; instead of "Now give three
cheers, I'll lead the way " he announces " Do kummt der
Jo, Now geb drei cheers." The first words the latter
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 261
sings as introducing himself affixed themselves perma-
nently to Elwood L. Newhard as identifying him with the
character to which he gave origin " Icb bin der Kaynich
fun der meer." In the second stanza we are introduced
to still another feature of the rendering of the translation
and that is the use of the Hans Breitmann style of '* Dutch
dialect" when he sings:
Ven at enker here I ride
My buzzum swells mit bride
Und I snep my fingers on der foeman's taunts.
Immediately after this comes the famous dialect song:
Wie ich als noch en krutzer war
Hov ich offis getend for en lawyers paar, etc,
which is reprinted in the later editions of Home's Manual
under the caption " wie der Woody Newhard es als singt,"
At the same place is an illustration showing the stage set-
ting for the reception of the "Ruler of the Queen's
Navee," " un sei schwester un sei cousins un sei aunts/'
From this time on, although by far the larger part of
the opera is in the Pennsylvania-German dialect, the
audience never knows when a speaker may reply in Eng-
lish, when the chorus may sing a response or a stanza in
English or when a solo or a single stanza of a solo may
be in English, or, if Sir Joe sings or speaks, whether it is
going to be in Pennsylvania German or in the Hans Breit-
mann style. Sir Joe is true to his character and never
lapses into pure English; his skilful use of the Hans Breit-
mann style, and the use of exaggeration for the purposes of
burlesque, might be illustrated by the way he renders
"Away with him; have you such a thing as a dungeon on
board" which becomes "Got oud; haf you got such a
ding as a benitentiary on board?" The ruk of transla-
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262 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
tions seems to have been to use Pennsylvania German in
all cases where it lent itself to translation and where it
did not to let the others retain English but make Sir Joe
use the Hans Breitmann type. The translators showed
good sense in tacitly confessing that not everything in the
English language can be translated into the Pennsylvania-
German dialect.
But the highest triumph of Pennsylvania-German " Pina-
fore " was not so much its translation as its presentation.
The best musical and dramatic talent of Allentown was
searched out, and early in 1883 it was produced and be-
came an amazing success. Among others, besides Moss
and Newhard, who contributed to its success, we find G. C.
Aschbach, all his life connected with the theater in Allen-
town, who was manager; A. N. Lindenmuth, now the
well-known photographer, who was stage artist and took
the part of leader of the marines; Samuel C. Schmucker,
now professor at the West Chester State Normal School
and widely known as a lecturer, in the character of Ralph
Rackstraw; Benjamin Sadtler, Jr., son of Professor Sadt-
ler, of Muhlenberg College, and himself later a distin-
guised educator, as Dick Deadeye; while among the rest as
well as among the sixty members of the chorus appear
such names as Schock, Eckert, Shankweiler, Hersh, Leh,
Pretz, Barber, Werley, and dozens of other names promi-
nent in the business and social life of the city.
But the success of the production was not confined to
Allentown; all eastern Pennsylvania wanted to hear it, and
town after town did hear it; when presented at South
Bethlehem a high official of the Bethlehem Steel Com-
pany gave a banquet to Newhard and his company " un sei
schwester un sei cousins un sei aunts " and entertained them
at his house. It now became the custom for the towns to
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 263
furnish the chorus and Newhard the company, thus in
Reading the Philharmonic Society of that city furnished
the chorus and the huge pretzel (Reading) filled with
peanuts (AUentown), which was presented to Newhard
after the performance, showed how completely he had
captured the affections of the rival city. At a testimonial
banquet tendered his company some time later, each mem-
ber was presented with a copy of the libretto bound in
Russia leather and inscribed as follows:
Reading, May 18, 1883.
In presenting this libretto, the Philharmonic Society, through
its managers, takes this method of showing its appreciation and
extending its hearty thanks and well wishes to the Ladies and
Gendemen who so kindly and ably assisted in the production of
this very popular and pleasing Opera of Pinafore in Pennsylvania
German.
May your ship be " immer shteady "
In your voyage through life's " say "
When your time comes " alfert ready "
By drinking " Nix oss Tay."
W. S. Miller
D. P, ScHLOTT F. S. Jacobs
D. C. Clous G. L. Kbstner, Jr.
I. Y. Spang A. Snavbly
When Newhard, under the management of Moss, went
on the professional stage with a play, " Professor Gold-
schmidt," written by Moss for Newhard, the venture was
capitalized on the success of " Pinafore " and Newhard
was everywhere advertised as he of the Dutch Admiral
fame, or as creator of the role of Sir Joseph Porter,
K.C.B., in Dutch "Pinafore."
When Moss entered upon another field of activity,
Messrs. Aschbach and Alexander, theater managers of
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264 The PennsylvaniorGerman Society.
Allentown, commissioned Newhard to organize a profes-
sional company to sing Dutch "Pinafore." Newhard
was now confronted with a diflferent task, that of finding
professional singers who could be trained to sing and
speak in the dialect. He realized his difficulty and tells
how, at least in several instances, he found it easier to
train English-speaking persons to a proper use of the Penn-
sylvania-German dialect than persons who knew High Ger-
man and not the dialect. It was probably with this com-
pany that a Lebanon critic found fault for not handling
the dialect correctly. The newspaper clipping from which
this information was culled was not dated, but it is hardly
possible that it referred to Newhard's local amateurs on
the occasion when they were assisted by a chorus of Leba-
nonites.
On this professional tour he travelled as far as Pitts-
burg; also sang at Altoona, Harrisburg, Wilkesbarre,
Scranton, Pittston, Shenandoah, and almost every theatre
city of Pennsylvania. "At last we are to see and hear
that most amusing of comic operas. Pinafore, rendered in
this city in the Pennsylvania-German vernacular!" ex-
claims the Lancaster New Era when the period of training
the local chorus was over and the date for its production
was announced, and its musical and dramatic critic, after
he had almost exhausted the dictionary for figures of
speech and invective for abuse of the dialect as a dialect,
admitted that the audience had been agreeably disap-
pointed in getting more in the way of good music and good
acting than it had expected.
Frequently in the course of its many revivals — ^it has
been sung for upwards of thirty years, the last time com-
plete in I9i<>— it roused local jealousies; thus in 1901,
when the Reading Htrald was considering ways and means
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 265
for keeping Reading to the front while Allentown was
pluming herself on her Dutch " Pinafore," the Philadel-
phia Inquirer sagely remarked : " In a certain sort of way
it may be all right for those Reading fellows who cannot
sing to allude with doubtful emphasis to the * beauty ' of the
recent performance of 'Pinafore' in Pennsylvania Ger-
man in Reading, but after all what does that count? The
silver thread in the cloud for the AUentonians is that
they have given the opera four times in their city and once
in Reading and upon every one of those occasions they
were cordially applauded. Meanwhile, what has Read-
ing done in the musical line that exceeds AUentown's ef-
fort? The Inquirer will be most happy to chronicle it,
whatever it was."
An additional element in the funmaking and one which
depends entirely on the actor was improvisation. New-
hard was an adept in bridging that narrow chasm that
separates the sublime from the ridiculous. Thus we are
told that in the scene where the admiral appears in all the
stateliness of his exalted rank, as he scans the line of
seamen drawn up on the stage to do him honor, when
everybody in his august presence is waiting with breathless
impatience for the first words to fall from his lips, he ad-
dressed the favored star, as he halted before him* and sa-
luted him, with the words " Du huscht Zwiwwla gessa "
and evoked shouts of laughter. Moreover he was always
well supplied with local hits and ''take offs" on well-
known characters in the town where he was playing, which
his quick wit enabled him to inject into the dialogue at
opportune places to the infinite delight and amusement of
his audience.
Nevertheless there was a serious side to it all and there
was always good music provided, the costumes were of
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266 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
the finest and many towns confessed that none of the
numerous companies that went the rounds with " Pinafore *'
in English had set the stage so splendidly as had New-
bard.
It remains to show the hold that Newhard and his Dutch
Admiral had, especially on the local operatic following,
by quoting an incident from the Allentown Chronicle:
** The announcement that when the Robinson Opera Com-
pany came to town Wood Newhard would sing Dutch
' Pinafore,' created something of a sensation. It is a long
time since our citizens had the pleasure of hearing Sir Jo
in Pennsylvania Dutch, it will be a charming novelty to
hear that worthy exclaim ^Ich bin der Kaynich fun der
Mcer.* Now if Miss Walker could only sing *Ich bin
des schae glae Buttercupja ' what a remarkable treat that
would be."
The next week the company went on to another city but
" Woody " went back to his duties as Clerk of the Courts.
A number of times during the period when " Pinafore "
was most popular, the Allentown theater nmnager put
Newhard on to sing dialect when an English company
was on the circuit; it was usually in response to regrets
expressed at such times that not more of it was in the
dialect, that Newhard was induced frequently to revive it
with local amateur assistance. Moreover, his ambition is
not yet satisfied; after singing it in so many cities, he fain
would take it to the metropolis of the state and there is no
reason why he should not. All who enjoy the Gilbert
and Sullivan Opera must with a good company also enjoy
this Pennsylvania-German version, while to the multitudes
in our cities who came from the farms and smaller towns
of eastern Pennsylvania it would be a rare treat to hear
the familiar dialect of their youth above the footlights.
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28. Thomas J. B. Rhoads.
BOUOGRAPHT AND OTHBR SOURCES OF INVORMATIOK.
Biographical Hiitory of Berks County. Mootgomery, Chicago^ 1909.
Ookel Je£Ps Reminisceocet of Youth and Other Poemi, Boyertown, 190&
Personal correspondence.
Proceediiigs of The Penkstlvania-Gbrmak SoaEir^ Vol. V, 165.
Dr. Thomas J. B. Rhoads, of Boyertown, graduated
from the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1861
and shortly after that entered the army as assistant sur-
geon. After the battle of Gettysburg his regiment was
mustered out and he returned to Boyertown, where he has
been engaged in multifarious undertakings, drugs, mines,
insurance, banks, real estate, theaters being his principal
lines; as local politician and as a member of local frater-
nities he has held almost all offices in the gift of his friends.
With all this he kept up for fifty years an extensive prac-
tise as physician.
It was while making the rounds of lus patients and es-
pecially when, as was not infrequently the case, he had to
take long drives of eight to ten miles at night that he
** meditated the thankless muse " with the result that two
volumes of verses of 400 pages each gradually formed
themselves. Those called ** Onkel Jeff's Reminiscences of
Youth " are for the most part in English, although a num-
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268 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
ber are in dialect, while sundry of his dialect poems have
appeared elsewhere since the publication of the books
(1905).
One of his earliest eflFusions, " Die Whiskey Buwe," de-
scribes all the excuses drinkers offer as they step up to the
bar and explain why they must have a drink. In " Das Alt
Achteckig Schulhaus" he compares the three months'
school in the year with the present systems of school all
the year round and day and night, compares the simple
curriculum with those in vogue at present, which include
everything from buchtabiere to skriweliere, philosophiere
and karassiere, with many other " iere's," and concludes
Wann mer denkt die lange Zeite
Wu sic in die Schule gehne
Vun sex Johr nuf bis zwanzig
SoUt mer doch gewiss ah mehne
Sie sotte bessere Laming hawe,
Sotte g'scheidt sci wie die Parre
Oft mols sin die hochst gelerate
Am End doch die grosste Narre*
In " Neue Mode " he seems to have a special incident
in mind, everjrthing is changed by fashion's decree, even
the Lord's Prayer has been supplanted:
Die Sachc wcrre ganz verdreht
Der schwarz Gaul ie en Schimmel
Fer Kinner nemt's en neu Gebet
Un bald en neuer Himmel.
Probably his best is the descriptive poem " Es Latwerg
Koche fer Alters " ; here he tells the story in greater detail
than is to be found in poems on the same subject by others,
and also in smoother meters than is his own wont.
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29- Adam Stump.
Sources of Information.
Correipoodeoce and interviews.
Peoosylvania College (students' publication).
Pennsylyania-German Magazine.
Adam Stump has been a preacher in his native county
of York, Pa., for the last twenty-one years, after having
been five years a missionary to Nebraska, before which he
preached four years in York and Adams counties. The
first member of the Stump family came to America in
1 7 id; several other lines of ancestry he traces to a period
nearly as early.
After leaving the farm in 187 1, at the age of seventeen,
he studied at York Academy; taught school for two years,
then entered the Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg and
upon graduation took the course in the Lutheran Seminary-
at the same place.
His poems are all based on personal experience or were
written for some occasion. Everything seems to him a
symbol, an emblem of the perishable in this world and a
reminder of the grave and the entrance into the next
world. So even the " Alt Cider Muehl " which his grand*
father built, and the processes of which he describes, be-
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270 The Pennsylvanio'Gerfnan Society.
comes a picture of the grind of life where in the end
nought is left but the " Dreeschtr."
Adieu, du alte, liebe Muehl,
Du gebst mir jetzt en wehes g'fuehl,
Die Lust der Kindheit wie des Laub,
Geht mit dir zu Aesch un Staub.
Ganz vermahle,
Bis an die Schale,
Zehrt uns die Welt,
In unser Zelt,
Un dreibt des Lebe in des Grab.
In " Es Haemelt em a' *' he goes back to the old home
and passes from one to the other of the scenes of child-
hood:
Dort steht's alt Haus am Weg,
Dort is des Kammerlie,
Dort is diesselbe Schwell;
Es stehne fremme Fuesse druf ;
Mer schleicht im Zweifcl na*.
Es is wie's war, un doch net, gel?
Doch haemelt's em a*
Es haemelt em a'.
Yet with all the old lamiliar faces at the old home gone
and with names of mother, wife and child to greet him as
he wanders to the nearby Gottesacker, it almost makes him
feel as though the latter place had the stronger attractions.
Der Todes Acker blueht;
Mer fuehlt net ganz so frem in dem.
Ja, Mutter, Kind un Fra,
Guck wie mer jetzt die Name sieht!
So haemelt's em a'
Es haemelt em a'.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 271
Die " MamI Schloft " is a most tender eflFort to persuade
the heart that she, whose day was long and labor sore, Is
now better oflF in the sweet rest of eternity; but the recol-
lection of all that she meant from earliest childhood on
brings pangs to the heart. Her " Feierowet " has come
and she lies peaceful on her bed but for him she will wake
no more.
Die Nacht is doh, die Drauer-Nacht:
Es hangt en Flohr uf meinra Dhier;
Die Mami schloft! Der Welt ihr Pracht.
Is ganz vergange, sag ich dirl
Ihr Aug hot mich es erscfat erschaut,
Erscfat haw' ich ihre Stimm erhoert;
Uf sic haw* ich die Welt gebaut,
Ihr Lewe war mir alles wert.
Ihr Dawg war lang, Ihr Arwct schwer,
Ihr Pilgcrrcis war hart un weit,
So mied war sie, un matt so sehr,
Die Ruh is siess in Ewigkeit.
Doch Feierowet is jo doh,
Die Mami leit in ihrem Bett,
Im Kaemmerli schloft sie recht fro,
Dann week sie net, oh week sie net!
M'r sagts net gera: m'r muss es duh;
Des Herz es hangt an seinem Gut —
M'r guckt noch cc Mohl — ^Jetzt mach zul
Die Draehne nemme mir den MuthI
Ihr Aug is zu, ihr Mund schweigt schtlU,
Un kalt is ihra Herzens^quell.
Dann, gutc Nacht! Mach's wic mer will —
Doh muss mer saga "Ferrawcll."
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272 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
"Es Hofdehrle" as it swings back and forth sings a
melancholy tale. By it entered the joyous bride, merry
children in their play passed in and out, many friends and
strangers, rich and poor, were glad to enter by it to the
home where all were made welcome, but presently, one
after another in sad procession all passed out, never again
to return.
Die Braut, die Kinner un der Mann,
Die Bluma, 's Grass, der Vogelsang,
Die Blatter, Summer — alles geht als anni
So sing des Dehrle dagelang.
Es schwingt, es singt im Summerwind ;
Es werd ah niemohls matt un mied.
Es weint un greint wie en verlomes Kind,
Un jetzt weescht du mei traurig Lied.
Es geht mol uns en Dehrle zu,
Un gar vielleicht im AageblicL
Noh gehna mer vun Heem, ja, ich un du,
Un kiunma nie, ja nie zurick.
" Die Muttersproch " is a heaping up of reasons why
he does, as he ought to, love the speech that first he heard
from his mother's lips :
Wie kenne mir die Liewc Sproch,
So leichtsinnig in. Stolz verlossel
Der alte Strom, so noch un noch.
Is noch net ganz un gar verflosse.
Mer henke fescht am alte Stam,
So wie die Braut am Brautigam.
Latin and Greek are a rusty old gun, his mother tongue
is as bread and salt, the blossom never forgets the dew that
fell upon and nurtured it, the grape does not hate the vine,
a dog does not bite his friend.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 273
O Muttersproch du bischt uns lieb!
In deinem Ton is seliger Trieb.
Ja in der Schockel, in der Lad,
Bleibt unsere liewe Sproch diesdwe;
he knows he will hear it even when he gets to the other
shore,
Oh sanfte deire Muttersproch!
Wie Hunnig fliesst sie darch mei Sinnel
Un wan ich mol imm Himmel hoch
Mei scheene Heemet du gewinne,
Dann heer ich dart zu meinem Wohl
En Muttcrwort — ^ja, ah ebmol.
^' Der Zuk " describes scenes well known and annually
repeated at the time of moving, which lead our good pas-
tor to his inevitable conclusion
Im Himmel gebts ken Zieges meh,
Des Scheide dort duht nimmc weh ;
Dort bleibt die Wohnungszclt,
Dort geht ken langer Zuk meh fort
So laest mer klorc in Gottes Wort;
Sel is en bessre Welt,
Only seldom and for special occasions does he allow
that feeling to get the upper hand, which proves to us that
the feeling of growing old is an illusion. I call attention
to the vividness and the playfulness with which, twenty
years after, he recalls the impressions of the time when
first he could say :
Do bin ich jetzt in Gettjrsberg
Ich war juscht vor der Facultec
Es hut mer g'fehlt an meine Gniel
Hab wunners g'maent was ich aw kann
Bis sie mich awgeguckt — ei dann —
18
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274 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
His struggles with his courses are reflected in the lines:
Ich waes net recht was sol es sei
'S haest mit " Conditions " darf ich nei ;
Doch wann ich mol recht inside bin
Dann, wie en Glett, bleib ich drin,
and it seems he did.
He has seen a girl in town, but hears there is a senior —
but remembers seniors will leave; he learns the reason
and tells '' Warum ich dummer Freshman haes/'
Doch Socrates hut ae mohl gsagt,
So hen sie mirs ins Hem gejagt
Des erscht der Schuler lema muss
Wie grad as wie en daube Nuss,
Er gar nix wisse daeht. Geb achtl
Ich hab en guter Schtart schun gmacht!
Ich reib mei Rick do an die Wand,
Un rcid en Pony aus Verstand,
Dann ess ich Fisch bis mirs verlaed,
Noh waer ich aw en Graduade!
In a poem for the Dallastown Reunion, he gets into
similar vein, but this is the exception.
He has written a number of books in English, and been
a frequent contributor to church periodicals, and has been
known to express the wish for the leisure to do for the
Pennsylvania-German life and history, and in the dialect,
some part of what Sir Walter Scott has accomplished. A
similar desire to have this done and the hope that some-
body would do it has been expressed by Judge Grosscup,
of Chicago, himself of German descent; similar utterances
by a young student of the University of Pennsylvania with
a bent toward writing suggest the thought that some day
a beginning of this kind may yet be made.
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30. Louisa Weitzel.
Sources of Information.
Correspondence.
Pennsylyania-German Magazine.
Louisa A. Weitzel, of Lititz, Pa., is one of those Penn-
sylvania Germans who took up writing in the dialect after
a medium had been created whereby they might reach an
audience. Even before she had finished her studies at
Sunnyside College, 1876, and Linden Hall Seminary in
1880, she had written stories and verse that had been pub-
lished in " The Moravian " and other church periodicals.
For these she has been writing ever since, as well as for the
Lititz, Lancaster and Philadelphia papers.
For a time she served as associate editor of the Lititz
Express, and while acting in that capacity, in 1899, began
writing articles in prose in the dialect. Shortly after the
founding of the Pennsylvania-German Magazine, she
turned her attention to verse; new contributions by her
have appeared year by year, and one of these it was my
privilege to receive in manuscript (before its publication
in December, 19 10) ; it is an enthusiastic Aufruf :
Wu sin die Deitsche Dichter
Sie sin verschwunne all,
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276 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Wu sin die grosse Lichtcr
In unsere Ruhmeshall.
Heraus, heraus Reimreiser,
Wu sin ihr all verstcckt
Ihr sin jo die Wegweiser
Die Schdheit uferweckt.
There is a cheerfulness and hopefulness in her lines that
are in beautiful contrast to a life that has been by no
means free from sorrow and gloom.
Ich wacs net was cs New Yohr bringt
Uns gebt ke Mensch das dut
Doch's Herz sich mit de Glocke schwingt
Un frohlich steigt der Mut.
Kumm her du frischcs junges Yohr
Geb mir dei treue Hand,
Dei Briider ware gut zuvor
Du bischt es ah im Schtand.
Her poems impress one, as though she had gone out
into the wood and laid her cares on the lap of mother
Nature, even as a child goes to her mother to have her cry
and then goes merrily back to her play :
Es is so scho im alte Busch,
Der Bodde grii mit Moss —
Weech sitzt mer uf der kiihlc Erd
As wie im Mutter Shoss,
Un fiihlt fun allem was em krankt
So glucklich, frei im los.
It is a pleasing note of a young old age that we hear in
the following as in reply to the repinings so often indulged
in:
Mer schwatzc vun altc Zcite,
Un denke gar net dra'
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 277
Die wcrd net alter net junger,
Jusht mir werre alt un gro'.
Sie zahlt ihre Johre bei dausend
Die Welt un werd net alt
Mir zahle sie juscht bei zwanzig,
Un die vergehne bald.
Dal mehne die 2^it war besser,
In ihre Jugend. Ne
Sie ware junger, gesunder
Un do war alles scho.
Jetzt sin sie ausgewohre
Jetzt sin sie mud un satt,
Un die Welt sheint schlimmer wie friiher,
Un luderlich un matt.
Even the fall, and the departure of the robins recall to
her only the joyous season when they came and anticipate
its recurrence another year.
Persistent as she is in refusing to look on the dark side
herself, she is aware that there are some who do not see
much light. In "En charakter" she has given us a- pic-
ture of a species of individual not unknown here as else-
where, a picture which the detractors of the Pennsylvania
Germans would have us believe was fairly representative
of the whole body of the people.
Er shafft, un gratzt, im geitzt, un shpart,
Un blogt sich shpaet un frueh;
Er shpart sich nett, er shpart ke Leut,
Un shpart ah net sei Fieh.
Ass wie en Kaetzle uf e Maus
Guckt er uf jeder Cent,
Er wendt un dreht en siwemol
Bis dass er aner shpendt.
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278 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Sei Fraw gelt wenigcr ass die Geul,
Sei Kinner wie die Sail ;
Er rechend oft sie koshte meh
Un bringe wenniger eL
Er shickt die Kinner in die Shul
Wann sie sinn jung un glee,
Wann ihre Erwet ebbes mehnt
Dann darfe sie nimmie geh.
Some of our latter-day novelists have given admirable
pictures of such characters, but only the perennial recur-
rence of this figure in literature has revived the mistaken
notion that he represents, not a type, but the people itself.
Our writer's plan of life is summed up in her lines:
Hie un do a Liedle
Hie un do a Blum
Weil mer gehne uf un ab
Wege grad un gnun.
Ebmols is es dunkel triib
Regnet alle Dag
Bat es wann mer brumme dut?
Helft em sei gcklag?
In 1908 she published a collection of her English poems,
" A Quiver of Arrows," for which Longfellow's " I shot
an arrow into the air " suggested the title.
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31. A. C. WUCHTER.
BOUOGRAPHT AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
X. Herringshaw's Cyclopedia of American Biography.
2. Personal Correspondence.
To a remote past, to nobility, to relationship with the
Dukes of Orleans the family to which Wuchter belongs
traces its ancestry. From Suabia the first ancestor came
to America in 1749, although the father of this one had
fled to this country as a political refugee even earlier
under an assumed name and has never been definitely
traced. On the maternal side his ancestors came from
Hanover in 1730. Astor Clinton Wuchter was bom in
Jacksonville, Lehigh County, Pa., February 4, 1856;
worked on the farm and was a pupil in the common schools
until eighteen years of age; attended the Millersville Nor-
mal School, taught in the public schools 1 874-1 878; then
taught and studied for three years in Paris, France; gradu-
ated from the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadel-
phia, Pa., 1885, then served successively the congrega-
tions at Summit Hill, Pa., from 18 85-1 890; Weissport,
1890-1893; Gilbert, 1893-1909, as pastor, after which
he became professor of French at Wittenberg College,
Ohio. After one year in this position he went back to
the ministry and is now preaching at Toledo, Ohio.
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28o The Pennsylvania-German Society.
He began writing very early; his published works, con-
sisting for the most part of hymns and religious poems,
original and translated, appeared chiefly in The Lutheran.
The translations include renderings from Latin, German
and French. It was also at an early age that he began
producing selections in the dialect, but there are none of
these extant of a date earlier than 1894. Wuchter's
reasons for writing in the dialect deserve mention : " I saw
many limping efforts, as I thought, especially in verse, and
so I essayed what I could do as to rhythm and meter."
He finds the Pennsylvania German just as easy for him
as the High German; and as the charm grew upon him,
and Pegasus got restive, they ventured on bolder but still
measured flights.
It is, as a rule, only the masters of any subject that fully
realize its difficulties: Heine could say "Fiirwahr, die
Metrik ist rasend schwer; es giebt vielleicht sechs oder
sieben Manner in Deutschland, die ihr Wesen verstehen."
A considerable number of our dialect writers have either
never heard such a statement, or act as though it excused
them from giving the subject serious attention; they have
all too often gone merrily a-rhyming, without shaping
their course or avoiding rude jolts of cross country roads.
Here, as always, careful workmanship aims at and reaches
more than outward smoothness. Thus, in reading some
of Wuchter's lines we experience an undefinable pleasure
not elsewhere afforded by the dialect verse. His highest
success he has perhaps achieved in the playful onomato-
poetic lines in which he tells the familiar story of the hired
boy who was set to work picking stones from a field, while
his master Dinkey and the latter's spouse went off to the
village on business. Now, towards evening they are com-
ing home, but are not yet in sight of the place where the
boy is working:
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 281
Mer sin die Lane so langsam nuf ;
Der Schubkarch hot gegrahnt
No lacht die Betz: " Sag, bass mol uf !
Weescht wie mich sell gemahnt?
Der Dinkey kummt noch la ang net
Er kummt noch net, rah-ie — !
Der Dinkey kummt noch net, I bet,
Er kiunmt net, sweet Marie!"
Er hut uns iwerdem erblickt;
Noh hot die Betz gelacht;
" Guck, was der Joe net Eifer krigt !
Heerscht wie der Schubkarch macht?
Der Dinkey kummt, der Dinkey kummt
Ta-rie, Tarie! Tarie!
Der Dinkey kummt, 'r 'rumpt, 'r 'rumpt!
Hurrah for Tshin'rcl Lee!
His first productions appeared over the signature " Sil-
fanus'' in the Allentown Democrat, under the editorship
of C. Frank Haines who, although himself in the dark as
to the author, was convinced that no such writer had as yet
appeared in Pennsylvania German. Wuchter's range of
subjects is also rather broader than that of the average
writer in the dialect. But he too returns to the central
thought of these dialect poets and defends Die Mutter-
sproch in a poem which concludes :
Drum tzwischa Gott un tzwischa Mensch
Was hut die Schproch tz' duh?
Grickt ehner'n schenner Pletz'l dert,
Geht's in die ewich Ruh?
Kummt alles aw uf Shibboleth
Beim Jordan iwergeh?
Weg mit so Dummheit, ewich week —
Die Muttersprooch is scheh.
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which seems, in sentiment, to tally with the lines of Suabian
Michel Buck:
I schwatz, wia miar dcr Schnabel g'wachsa ischt
Und wia'n i's han von meiner Muatar Sproch ghairt
Und glaub, wear seiner Muatar Sproch it aihrt,
Dear sei schau' weagadeam koi' reachter Chrischt,
He reverts also, like his companion poets, to the old
times, and describes to us in inimitable verse "En alte
Lumpa Party"; he indulges in a satirical disapproval of
Sunday clambakes, and in his " Schpundaloch " he has
given a picture and embodied a story which have been
pronounced by his church to be better than many a tem-
perance lecture. His muse also has not scorned "occa-
sional poems," as the one on the 30th Anniversary of the
Ordination of one of his fellow ministers.
Under the guise of an old cobbler, Yohli, he philoso-
phizes; with Yohli he makes a trip (as many in real life
have done) " Die 'hio naus," to visit those of the family
who went west in the days when Ohio was West.
He is particularly fond of versifying stories with a
point to them. One of these, "Der Geitz," he has
brought with him from Brittany, another, "Der Fcr-
lohra Esel," is an Oriental tale, adapted from the High
German, " Hummingbirds " relates an incident in the War
of 1 812, and "Hans und Herrgott" an anecdote of Mar-
tin Luther.
At times he becomes reminiscent, as in " Kinner Yohr,"
" Die Erschta Hussa," even yielding at times to the feeling
induced by the gray dajrs of November — "Nofember-
klawg " ; but here as always, we witness the triumph of a
cheerful optimism, most noticeable in his poems of the
seasons. Such a one has a right to his joy in the approach-
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 283
ing springtime, as expressed in his lines of welcome to
"DerPihwie'*:
Ei, guck amohl derta
Der Pihwie is doh!
Er huckt uff 'm Poschta
Wos is 'r so f roh ;
Now guckt 'r mohl nunner
Now guckt 'r mohl nu£E
Now sing'd 'r a bissel
Now hacrt 'r schun uff.
Ei, Phiwie, wo warscht du
Seid Schpote-yohr gewest
Warscht fart mit em Simmier
Warscht siidlich farraest?
Ich denk derta drunna
Huscht's Heemweh recht ghot,
Huscht nix wie gedrauert
Warscht's Lchwa recht sot.
This is praised by Dr. G. W. Sandt, in The Lutheran,
" Genuine poetry, striking an equal, if not a higher note,
than Harbaugh."
And again his delight in the pleasures of winter is the
outward symbol of inward joys :
Hurrah for der Winter, hurrah for der Schnee
Nau raus mit'm Schlitta, un zahl mer ken zwee
Hurrah for der Winter, der Schlitta muss raus
Was huckt mer am OflEa? Was will mer im Haus?
Un druf mit de Bella, sunscht is es ken G'fahr,
Der Winter is karz, un die Schlittabah rohr.
Hurrah for der Winter! So eppes is Gschpass
Die Meed singa en Liedel, die Buwa der Bass
Un gehts in die Schneebank un schmeist's emol um
Gehts drunner un driwer, was gebt mer dann dnmi ?
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The Pennsylvania-German Society.
While Wuchter's verses prove him a thorough Penn-
sylvania German it is interesting to have the confirma-
tion of it in a letter of his own. After stating that there
are many prominent men in Ohio who still speak or at
least are able to speak the dialect, he says: ''I am not
one of those who would like to attend the funeral of Penn-
sylvania German tomorrow, if it were possible. It runs
in smoother measures than many of the dialects of the
Fatherland. They do not asphyxiate the dialects over
there. . . . There are those who presume to write about
the Pennsylvania Germans, who are either totally ignorant
of their subject, or, what is worse, renegade Simon Girtys,
German blood in their veins, but troubled with Yankee or
*Hinglesh' brainbunions. They would not recognize
their own grandmother speaking Pennsylvania German,
should they happen to meet her on the street.'*
Wuchter is still in his prime, and his successive bits of
writing are evincing constantly increasing force and charm.
The Index will show that his pen is not idle.
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32. Charles Calvin Ziegler.
BOLXOORAPHT AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
Atlantic Monthly.
Bethlehem Times, Bethlehem, Pa., September i, i8^i.
Boston Transcript.
Bryant's Thanatopsis.
Byars, William Vincent See New York World.
Critic, New York, November 21, 1891.
Drauss un Deheem. Reviewed, Pennsylvania German, Vol. IV, 239.
Drauss un Deheem. Ziegler, Leipzig.
Emerson. Poems.
Pick, H. H. Deutsch Amerikanische Dialekt Dichtung.
Fiske, John. Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America, Vol. II, 352.
German and Swiss Settlements of Pennsylvania. Kuhns, New York.
Goethe. Faust II.
Harbaugh's Harfe.
Hark, J. Max. Im Busch wann's Schnayd, Pro. P.-G. S., Vol. X.
Hark, J. Max. Wann der Wind mol iwwer die Schdubble Blohsed, PRa
P.-G. S., Vol. X.
Hart, Albert Bushnell. The Pennsylvania Germans.
Holmes. The September Gale.
Holmes. The Chambered Nautilus.
Klopstock, G. £. Die Todten.
Hubbard, Elbert
Lang, Andrew. Lost Love.
Longfellow. The Snowflakes.
Longfellow. The Reaper and the Flowers.
Nation, The, October is, x8^x.
New York World, February 11, 1895.
Personal correspondence.
285
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Philander von der Linde. Kein Sonett
Pkocbedings of The Pbnnstlvania-Gekman Socivnr, Vol. IIL
Quill — a publicadoD of the State University of Iowa.
Reformed Church Messenger. Dubbs, September lo^ 18*91.
Schiebeler, Daniel. Bin Sonett
Schlegel, August Wilhelm. Dat Sonett
Tennyson. In Memoriam.
The Democratic Watchman, Belkfonte, Pa.
" That Brush Valley should increase its celebrity by pro-
ducing a poet confers an honor upon that ancient settle-
ment which should not be lightly regarded" were the
words of the Reformed Church Messenger, September 10,
1 89 1, apropos of the appearance of a volume of Penn-
sylvania-German poems by Charles Calvin Ziegler.
Charles Calvin Ziegler is a Pennsylvania German of the
Pennsylvania Germans; he was born June 19, 1854, at
Rebersburg, Pa., and is descended from a family that came
to America in 1748. He attended the public schools and
also the Select Schools of R. M. Magee and Henry Meyer
(see Article) in his home town; it was while, as a barefoot
boy, he was attending these schools that one of the '* big
boys " on a Friday afternoon recited " Das Alt Schulhaus
an der Krick" to the great delight of all the school. This
was before Harbaugh's book had been published and such
selections were rare, and, when secured, greatly prized.
About this time Ziegler and his brother secured a prose
copy of a New Year's address in the dialect; this they hid
away as a treasure, though sometimes they recited it in
school. It was not until some time afterwards that the
boys were willing to give it to the public and then the
older brother copied it and sent it to the Democratic
Watchman, Bellefonte, Pa.
In 1870 Ziegler went to live with his brother in West
Union, Iowa. In 1873 he entered the State University
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 287
of Iowa, from which he graduated with the class of 1878
with the degree of Ph.B. Here it seems that his literary
work began : one of his teachers recalls with pleasure the
charming poetic translations from Greek and Latin which
he used to make. According to the Bethlehem Times,
Bethlehem, Pa. (September i, 1891), he also graduated
from the Lawrence Scientific School. For a few years
thereafter he was engaged in teaching near his old home in
Pennsylvania, and writing dialect poetry for the Demo-
cratic Watchman, Bellefonte, Pa., under the pseudonjrm
of Carl Schreiber.
1 881-1882 he spent with Professor Ulrich, of the Beth-
lehem Preparatory School, getting his Greek in shape for
entering the junior class at Harvard College in the Fall of
1882 and he graduated from the arts course here, magna
cum laude, 1884, with honors in natural history and hon-
orable mention in English composition.
His poetry written at this time received high praise from
his instructor, now Prof. Barrett Wendell, of Harvard;
he also published some witty material in the Lampoon, and
although at Harvard only two years, was elected by his
class to write the Class Day song. Among his verses of
this period might be mentioned one in High German for
Washington's Birthday, to be sung to the tune " Lauriger
Horatius " :
Bruder, sagt warum so froh?
Was soil es bedeutcn?
Warum toben alle so —
Jauchzen wie die Heiden?
'S 1st well unser Washington
Hcutc war geboren;
Darum stossen alle an —
Saufen wie die Thorcn.
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288 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Unsere Gesprach Club audi
Will dem Georg was bringen ;
Speis' und Trank sei unserm Bauch,
Ihm das Lob und Singen.
Dieses Lied dem grossen Mann,
Unserm Landesvaterl
Wcr, wic er, nicht liigen kann
1st ein guter Katerl
The next year he was at the Upper Iowa State Univcr-
sity, as instructor, but did not like the work; accordingly
he left, went to St. Louis and drifted into business, first
as clerk of the Pan Missouri Telephone Co., while later he
became connected with the American Brake Company, a
Westinghouse concern, of which he has now for many
years been secretary and treasurer. It was during that
first period in St. Louis when, separated from all his kin
and a stranger in a large city, there burst upon him for the
first time in terrible earnestness the fact that during the
two years at Harvard he had lost both father and mother.
From a heart full, even to overflowing, with a species of
homesickness he began to work upon a memorial he
planned to his mother, taking for his model Tennyson's
memorial to his friend Hallam, " In Memoriam." It
was in this way that there grew up the poem " Zum Denk-
mal " in nineteen songs. The first one carries him back
to his graduation day.
Helt graduir ich, im mit Ehr;
Mar maerche mm darch gross! Crowds;
Des is 'n Wese — Music, Shouts —
A's wann der Bresident do waer.
Ich nem mei Shere im grosse Show —
Grick mei Diploma — " magna cum " ;
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 289
Es scheint ich b!n doch net so dumm
Wie Dheel vun denne Yankees do,
Un doch— es is mir allwan heit
Mit all meim Glick; mei Luscht is klee,
Wie 'n Blummeschtrauss im grosse See,
Im See vun meinre Draurigkeit.
Was batt die Laming un die Ehr?
Wann ich nooch meinre Heemet geh
Fin ich ken guti Mammi meh,
Un des macht now mei Harz so schwer.
This last idea he has further expanded in a song, i (a)
" Laming un Weisheit/'
Was batt die Laming? Nix — ^un viel;
'S depend en wennig uf dar Kopp:
En mancher eifersichtger Dropp
Mit frischem Muth un hochem Ziel
Hot's Ham schier gaarii rausgschtudirt —
Un was hot's dann am End gebatt?
Ei, endUch hot ar, bleech un matt,
Sei Krafte ganz venuninirt;
Dar Zweifd hot sei Seel verzwamt;
Uf dunkli Barrige rum is er
Wahnsinnig gschtolpert hi* un her
Un hot dar recht Weg net gelarnt
Die Laming muss verwandelt sei
In's Lcwe — ^juscht wie Brod zu Blut,
Schunscht dhut's 'm Mensch ganz wennig gut,
Kann gaar noch Schade dhu debei,
Es gebt en Scheeheit vun de Seel,
En liebliche Gerechtigkeit,
'As sich verschennert mit de Zeit
Un is vum wahre Gott 'n Dheel.
19
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290 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Sell 18 die haupt Sach; in der Dhaat
Sell is es eenzigscht Ding 'as bschteht
Wann Welt un Himmel mol vegeht;
Un sel hot aa die Mammi g'hat
In ihrem kleene Finger waar
Meh Weisheit vun de rechte Sart
A's mancher Witzkop finne ward
In all de Bicher gross un rahn
In some of these songs he very closely imitates his model
and favorite poet, Tennyson. In none, however, has he
come quite so close to Tennyson as in the tenth, where
will be seen the thoughts and in part a translation of the
lines in Cantos 49 and 50 of " In Memoriam " :
Be near me when my light is low
When the blood creeps, and the nerves prick
And tingle; and the heart is sick,
And all the wheeb of being slow.
Be near me when the sensuous frame
Is racked with pangs that conquer trust;
Be near me when my faith is dry.
Be near me when I fade away,
To point the term of human strife,
And on the low dark verge of life.
The twilight of eternal day.
......
Be near us when we climb or fall,
......
Sei bei mar uf meim Lewespaad
Un hiit mich far de falsche Schritt;
Veloss mich net — ach, geh doch mitl
Noh hot's ken Gfohr — noh laaf ich graad.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 291
Sei bei mar wann mei Glaawe schwacht
Un Gottes Sache lappich sin ;
Wann ich uf letzi Wccgc bin
Saag mar wuhi' un schtell mich recht.
Sei bei mar in de letschte Noth ^
Wann sich die Seel vum Karper drennt ;
Sei bei mar, nooch 'm dunlde End,
Im ewige Daag sei Margeroth.
It is worth while, in the case of the man who has
mounted so high in Pennsylvania-German literature, to
note that in addition to a true poet we have in Ziegler a
careful and painstaking artist, one who knows that crude
material must be worked over and over again, slowly and
laboriously, before a splendid achievement can be the re-
sult. For this reason we find his compositions elaborated
with more care and finished with a finer touch than those
of any other author in the dialect. Moreover, Ziegler
seems to possess more of the spirit of poetry and to know
more about poetic structure both in theory and its illus-
tration than any one else who has essayed to write in the
dialect.
His former teacher of Latin at the State University of
Iowa, Mrs. Currier, was selected as his critic and adviser
before he sent the poems to the printers to be issued in
book form. In an article she later wrote to the Quill —
a publication of the University — she has revealed to us
the author's consciousness of his task. In this article she
quotes from a letter of Ziegler's as follows: "Since 1885
I have done a great deal in my own dialect, the Pennsyl-
vania German. At first it was uphill work, the nature of
the dialect not seeming to be adapted to poetical expres-
sion. It is the language of farmers — of a people whose
life is immersed in material things, and who have paid
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292 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
scarcely any attention to intellectual abstractions. Hence
the language is graphic enough but lacks flexibility and the
aesthetic quality. It is almost impossible to do any shad-
ing in it; e. g., there is only one word schee or scho (Ger.
schon) for pretty, beautiful, fine, nice, superb, gorgeous,
etc.; in erotic expressions, it is difficult to find anything
poetical enough, etc." In spite of her ignorance of the
dialect, it was not difficult for her to recognize the poetic
quality of these selections, as we see from her following
remark: "Out of consideration of my ignorance of the
dialect Mr. Ziegler kindly sent me with each poem its
English rendering very literally done, and in these, with-
out any effort at rhyme and but little in rhythm, is found
the true spirit of poetry." Mrs. Currier was particu-
larly pleased with the eighth song in " Zum Denkmal " —
" Ich sehn die scheckige dage geh." " The conception of
the different days, the fair-seeming ones that after all
bring us no good, the rough ones that look angry and are
our friends, do we not all know them? But only a poet
can thus set them forth."
Another illustration of Ziegler's method of work is
found in his poem " Es Schneckehaus," which he devotes
to his art. The figure recalls Holmes's "Chambered
Nautilus"; without sinking foundations, or laying off
corners, the ugly creature, the snail, out of mire and slime,
slowly and noiselessly, builds its wondrously beautiful
structure, in which human ingenuity can find no imper-
fection. Thus works the poet, but listen to the whole
poem:
'N Schneckehaus! Hoscht schun betracht
Wie wunnerschee es is gemacht?
Es hot ken Fundament, ken Eck,
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect fVritings. 293
Es is gebaut aus Schleim und Dreck,
Langsam un net mit Angscht un Jacht.
Die Schneck is wuscht un ward veracht,
Doch kann 'm Mensch sei Geischtesmacht
Ken Fehler finne un ken Fleck
Im Schneckehaus.
So dhut dar Dichter, langsam, sacht —
Wann ar aa viel ward ausgelacht —
Gedrei sich halte an sei'm Zweck,
Un aus Gedanke — Schleim, wie 'n Schneck,
Baut endlich sei Gedicht, voU Pracht,
Wie 'n Schneckehaus.
In 1 89 1 he had a small collection of his dialect pro-
ductions published by Hesse und Becker, Leipzig, under
the title " Drauss un Deheem." The book takes its name
from the first poem, in which the author reflects, after
years of experience with the world, that the words of his
mother were true when she used to remind her boys,
chafing under the restraints of home, saying to them
" Wart— <irauss is net deheem," In the bitter loneliness
of the little room in St. Louis where he spent his nights
after the labors of the day, and with the knowledge that
there no longer was a home and a mother to whom he
could turn if he wished to, he began to realize with ter-
rible earnestness that " Drauss is net Deheem."
The National Educator Company, of AUentown, Pa.,
with Dr. Home as its president, was the chief American
sales agent for this little book of poems, and advertised
it in unique fashion, by pointing out, in dialect, gems that
ought to make the book appeal to young men, young
ladies, parents, children :
Buwe, wan d'r en guti impression uf die Mad mache wet dann
schenk 'ne des Buch. Sei schtuck "Kitzel mich net I" macht sie
fihle as wann sie 'n " love powder " geschluckt hatte.
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294 ^*^ Pennsyhania-German Society.
Kinnerl Ehrt eier Eltere! Wann d'r die Mammi liefat dann
ward d'r selli schticker "Zum Denkmal" hocfa schatzc
Eltcrc! Wann dir guti Gedanke in cier Kinner blanze wet,
dann grick 'ne des Buch.
Schtudente! (Allentown is a college town) Wann dir 'm Dr.
Home sei Manual un 'm Ziegler sei Drauss un Deheem fleissig
leest, dann het dir ken dniwwel mit 'm Virgil un Homer."
Well, the book made its impression, and not only on
Pennsylvania Germans, but on the cosmopolitan critics as
well, as Rev. Joseph H. Dubbs, D.D., Professor of His-
tory in Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa., to
whom the poems were also submitted before publication
(1887) predicted it would. "I have read your verses
with great pleasure. They are in my opinion composi-
tions of a very superior order and their publication cannot
fail to be alike honorable to yourself and to the people
in whose language you have written them. They will
certainly be appreciated by all persons of culture who are
familiar with the Pennsylvania vernacular; and their poetic
merits will, I feel certain, he recognized by the German
press of America and Europe."
Whether the book was ever seen in Germany after the
edition which was printed for the author was sent to
America I am unable to say, but the American press had
nothing but words of appreciation, and with these we
must still agree, with the single exception of the Atlantic
Monthly; for by what mental processes — unless it was by
the law of opposites — the writer In that magazine " in-
evitably thought of Hans Breitmann " seems hard to de-
termine, for our author and Hans Breitmann have nothing
whatever in common. The incidental criticism of John
Fiske — he had evidently read the book, because he cites
from it in " Dutch and Quaker Colonies In America," Vol.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 295
II, p. 352, to illustrate the nature of the dialect and calls
It a *^ charming book*^ — goes far to make us forget that
the above from the Atlantic Monthly also came from
Boston.
The Nation, New York, October 15, 1891, found it "a
most curious and interesting little book, which might well
have been larger" and gave from it as a specimen to its
readers a few stanzas from the translation of Longfel-
low's "The Reaper and the Flowers." Better yet to a
Pennsylvania German seems his translation of Longfel-
low's " Snowflakes," which may be included here as illus-
trating Ziegler's work in the field of translation :
Aus de Luft ihrem grosse Schoos,
Runner g'schittclt aus de wolkigc Falte,
Iwwer die Felder leer un blooss,
Iwwer die Barrige, die grooe alte,
Langsam un sacht un schee
Flattert dar Schnee.
Juscht wie im 'me harrliche Gedicht
Die newwiiche Gedanke sich vereene,
Juscht wic sich im *mc blecche Gsicht
Dnibsal, Druwwcl un Schmarz bekenne,
So macht die Luft bekannt
Ihr Drauerschtand.
Des is de Luft ihr Drauer-Lied
Langsam in weisse Warte sachtig g'schriwwe ;
. Des is die Verzwciflung vum Gemuth
Lang in ihrc Bruscht ve'schtcckt gebliwwe —
In Pischpcrc now gemcldt
Zum Wtld un Fcld.
The New York Critic (November 21, 189 1) found that
" the language, in its soft vocallic utterance, bears to the
High German much the same relation that the Scottish
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dialect bears to the English, and, like that, is well adapted
to poetry of a plaintive and domestic cast or to rustic fun
and satire. To the latter forms Ziegler's muse seems
litde inclined. Most of his compositions are of a pensive
character." To this we must now add that since that time
Ziegler has given us several illustrations of his jovial
muse somewhat in the vein of "Kitzel Mich Net I" —
which is in his book — of which the best are, no doubt, an
English one which I should like to include here and an
inimitable translation of Oliver Wendell Holmes's " The
September Gale," and an original one " Die Harte Zeite."
EXBGI MONUMBNTUM.
Behold, I am deathless! The scytheman
Who deems that all flesh is but grass
Shall find me a tough and a lithe man,
Full of years as the sands in his glass.
But fare as it may with the Ego
And whether or no I am crowned,
My life shall not fare like Carthago-
Shall not be brought down to the ground.
I have fashioned a poem sublimer
Than any that Milton e'er penned,
Nor did the great German at Weimar
My latest endeavor transcend.
No more by the critical croaker
Shall my work as unworthy be classed ;
I am out of the hole mediocre,
I'm an author immortal at last!
Not in books like the lyrics of Horace,
But in forms of the flesh sweet and rare.
In my Lalages, Lilies and Lauras
Shall my spirit persist and grow fair.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 297
And to prove what I claim — for I know you
Are anxious for facts that convince —
G)me up to the house and Til show you
My poem immortal — ^the twins.
Thb Sbptbmber Galb.
Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Tm not a chicken ; I have seen
Full many a chill September,
And though I was a youngster then,
That gale I well remember;
The day before, my kite-string snapped,
And I, my kite pursuing,
The wind whisked off my palm-leaf hat;
For me two storms were brewing!
It came as quarrels sometimes do.
When married folks get clashing;
There was a heavy sigh or two.
Before the fire was flashing, —
A little stir among the clouds.
Before they rent asimder, —
A little rocking of the trees.
And then came on the thunder.
Lord! how the ponds and rivers boiled!
They seemed like bursting craters!
And oaks lay scattered on the ground
As if they were p'taters ;
And all above was in a howl,
And all below a clatter, —
The earth was like a frying-pan.
Or some such hissing matter.
It chanced to be our washing-day.
And all our things were drying;
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The storm came roaring through the lines,
And set them all a flying;
I saw the shirts and petticoats
Go riding off like witches;
I lost, ah! bitterly I wept, —
I lost my Sunday breeches!
I saw them straddling through the air,
Alas! too late to win them;
I saw them chase the clouds, as if
The devil had been in them;
They were my darlings and my pride.
My boyhood's only riches, —
"Farewell, farewell," I faintly cried, —
" My breeches! O my breeches! "
That night I saw them in my dreams,
How changed from what I knew them!
The dews had steeped their faded threads,
The winds had whistled through them!
I saw the wide and ghastly rents
Where demons claws had torn them ;
A hole was in their amplest part,
As if an imp had worn them.
I have had many happy years.
And tailors kind and clever.
But those young pantaloons have gone
Forever and forever!
And not till fate has cut the last
Of all my earthly stitches
Thb aching heart shall cease to mourn
My loved, my long-lost breeches!
Translation.
Ich bin ken Hinkel. Hab schun viel
Septembers sehne hausse;
Ee' Schtarm waar awwer sonderbaar —
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 299
Den haer ich heit noch brausse.
Der Daag devor hot mir dar Wind
Mei Kite mit fort genumme;
Mei Schtroh-hut hinne drei, — far mich
Waar'n zwetter Schtarm am kumme!
'S waar juscht wie wann'n Fraa browiert
Die Hosse aa 'zeziege:
Mar haert'n Seifzer oder zwec
Ep's Feier aafangt ze fliege: —
Die Wolke hen sich rumgedreht —
Noh hot mar Schwewwcl geroche;
Die Beem hen gschittelt un gegaunscht —
Noh is es losgebroche!
Gott! wie es doch gegleppert hot
In sellem wilde Wetter!
Die Beem sin gflogge wie im Gfecht
Vun alte deitsche Getter.
Drowwe un hunne hot's gedoobt —
Schwarz, rauschig, bollerig, blitzig;
Die Aerd waar wie en Brodtpann g'west —
Sie waar so arrig schpritzig.
'S waar unser Waschdaag; uf de Lines
Waar schier die Wasch gedrickelt;
Dar Wind hot Wasch un Lines mit fort —
Veschattert un vewickelt
Die Hemmer un die Unnerreck
Sin wie vehext rumgschosse;
Verlore haw ich — ^ach, Harr Je!
Oh weh ! — ^mci Sundaag's Hosse.
Ja, grattlig sin sie darch die Luft —
Zu wcit sie meh ze finne;
Die Wolke sin sie noochgejaagt
Als waar dar Dcifd in'ne.
"Wie reich un schtolz waar ich in eich!
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Now hat dar mich velosse;
Gootbye, gootbyc!" — so haw' ich g'heilt, —
"MciHossc, OmeiHossc!"
Im Draam haw* ich sie gsehne — ach!
Wie waare sie vcrenncrtl
Vun Wind vcrschlitzt, im Regge gsoakt —
Sic waare net vc'schennert!
Aa' g'sehne hen sie juscht a's wann
Die Deifel sie verisse;
*N Loch waar hinne drin— des hot
Far'n Deifelsschwanz sei misse!
Ich hab schun gute Schneider ghat
Un viele f rohe Johrc,
Mei junge Hosse awwer sin
Far ewig mir velore.
Un bis dar Dod mol pischpert, " Kumm,
Du muscht die Aerd velosse I "
Schwaer bleibt mei Harz un drauervoll
Far selli liewe Hosse!
"They (his poems) are in flowing, harmonious verse,"
the New York Critic goes on, "embodying gentle and
pleasing sentiments. As a first attempt (II) to make this
interesting German American dialect the vehicle of lit-
erary expression, the book may be pronounced a decided
success."
One of the facts hinted at in the above had been noted
in the Bethlehem Times, Bethlehem, Pa., several months
earlier (September i, 1891 ) , when it said " Some of them
are full of the tender, homely sentiment, the lack of which
in the verse of most American poets is one of the great
misfortunes which come as a penalty of straining after
effect." It is not surprising that a church paper — The
Reformed Church Messenger — should find as among the
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 301
very best, one entided " Die alte Lieder," in which are
enumerated some of the grand old chorals sung in the
German churches. Elbert Hubbard counted the book
as a " valuable addition to the Roycrof t Library of Choice
Things."
Ziegler's old friends at Harvard and his new ones of
the Washington University, St Louis, expressed equal
delight at the book. The paper of his native county, for
which he had in earlier days written under the pseudonym
of Carl Schreiber — The Democratic Watchman, of Belle-
fonte, Pa. — unhesitatingly put the work by the side of
Harbaugh's " Harfe," and noted that it excelled the latter
" in range of thought and power of expression."
His old teacher, Henry Meyer (himself the author of
verses in the dialect; see article H. Meyer), wrote him as
follows : " I turned over the leaves as a miser inspects and
counts his crock of gold coins. You know that I am no
literary critic, but when I see a good thing in Pennsyl-
vania German I think I know it. And when a poem has
the potency to stir an audible smile or move one to tears
it certainly possesses the right ring; and that is just what
happens if one sits down and peruses * Drauss un Deheem.'
The Pennsylvania Germans, and especially those of your
old home, owe you a debt of gratitude for having added
this gem to the few literary productions in their mother
tongue."
In another poem " Dar Rewwer un Ich," the poet looks
forward to the loss of identity in the Being of the great
God, even as the river mingles with and is lost in the sea ;
the author, however, assures me that he never entertained
any pantheistic beliefs except such as seem to be general
poetic stock; and in another poem he defends, after the
manner of an orthodox churchman, as he is (Lutheran),
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" Es Oltfashioned Buch " against the scomcrs, and ven-
tures the belief that it has enough of truth for many a
thousand years.
The first mentioned poem* — "Dar Rewwer un Ich" —
was translated into English and sent to the New York
World, February ii, 1895, by William Vincent Byars, a
New York critic, with the following note of explanation :
"The other day I took down from the shelves of my
bookcase a thin volume in pasteboard covers: * Poems in
Pennsylvania German,* by Charles Calvin Ziegler, pub-
lished some little while ago. It is not paying Mr. Ziegler
too high compliment to say that he is as true a poet as the
very best of the contemporaneous writers of verse for
American periodicals. He takes some pride in being the
first man who has ever written a sonnet in Pennsylvania
Dutch, and I think he is entitled to the satisfaction he feels
because of the exploit. I will not attempt a translation of
his sonnets, but here is a version of one of his songs, * The
River and I ' which may suggest its deeply spiritual mean-
ing to a wider circle than it could reach in the original."
For present purposes it will be more to the point to
give the original here than the translation and, if a trite
expression may be used, the translation is not equal to the
original.
Dar Rewwer fliesst munter un froh dehi',
Sorglos roUt dar Rewwer;
Ar geht sei Gang unne Kummer un Mih,
Ar frogt net Fe' was? Ar wunnert net Wie?
Sorglos roUt dar Rewwer.
Urt so wie dar Rewwer geht gehn ich,
(Sorglos roUt dar Rewwer)
At wees dar Weg — nie vcrliert ar sich —
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 303
Un mar trav'le zamme recht bruderlich ;
(Sorglos rollt dar Rewwer.)
Die WcUc lachc wie'n luschtig Kind, *
(Sorglos rollt dar Rewwer)
Bal vercent, bal getrcnnt — sie wechslc gschwind —
Die Schpielsache sin sie vum wilde Wind;
(Sorglos rollt dar Rewwer.)
Wann die Schtame funkle in de Nacht
Ruhig rollt dar Rewwer;
Ar schockelt mich ei', ar draagt mich sacht,
Unn ich geb mich ganz in Gottes Macht ;
Ruhig rollt dar Rewwer.
Hinaus un hinab zum ewige See
Sorglos rollt dar Rewwer;
Ar gebt sich hi' unne Ach un Weh
Un vergeht im Meer wie'n Flocke Schnee;
Sorglos schtarbt dar Rewwer.
In connection with the first sonnet, it was rather amus-
ing to find that claims to priority in any particular depart-
ment of literature such as we frequently meet in the case
of those who play the game of literature more seriously,
find their counterpart among the writers of this dialect.
In 1900 an honored member of this Society, J. Max Hark
(see volume X.), after an investigation in which he says
he satisfied himself that there is no inherent lack of capa-
bility for poetic expression in the Pennsylvania German,
set about composing several poems in various poetical
forms and speaks thus of his own essay with the sonnet.
" It (the sonnet) is a form of verse that perhaps more than
any other tests the capabilities of the dialect, requiring as
it does, great delicacy of touch and great flexibility of
language. So far as I know it had never before been at-
tempted in Pennsylvania German until I tried it in *Im
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Bush Vann's Shnyad ' and * Wann dcr Wind Mohl Iwwcr
dceShdubbleBlohsdt/"
Nine years before this, however, Ziegler's book had ap-
peared, and in it a number of sonnets, in one of which, in
its fourteen lines, he twice claims to have been the first to
write a sonnet in Pennsylvania German, and it seems, with
all due regard to the member of this Society above referred
to, that Ziegler's daun must be allowed because of this
margin of nine years of earlier publication, to say nothing
of the fact that they are dated as having been composed
even nine years before that time. Ziegler thoroughly un-
derstands the technique of this literary form, and in the
sonnet referred to treats his subject matter playfully,
" leimt zusammen " as Goethe said, until " Lo, he has the
first sonnet in the dialect ! " To a certain extent it sug-
gests the famous sonnet by August Wilhelm Schlegel on
the Nature of the Sonnet, because it touches on the same
theme though not in the same tone. In serious vein
Schlegel wrote:
Zwei Reime heiss' ich vieraial kehren wieder,
Un stelle sie, getheilt, in gleiche Reihen,
Dass hier und dort zwei, eingefasst von zweien
Im Doppel Chore schweben auf und nieder.
Dann schllngt des Gleichlauts Kette durch zwei Glieder
Sich freicr wechselnd, jegHches von dreien.
In solcher Ordnung, solcher zahl gedeihen
Dei zartesten und stoizesten der Lieder.
Den werd ich nie mit meinen ZeSen kranzen,
Dem citlc Spielerei mein Wesen dunket,
Und Eigensinn die kunstlichen Gesetze.
Doch, wen in mir geheimer Zaubcr winket
Dem leih' ich Hoheit Full' in engem Grenzen
Und reines Ebenmaas der Gegensatze.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 305
In humorous vein wrote Ziegler:
'ES SONNETT.
Vor mir hot niemand en Sonnett noch g'schriwwe
In Pennsylvanisch Deitsch. Ich wQl's mol waage
'M Dante un 'm Petrarch nooch ze jaage
Bis ich die Warte zamme hab gedriwwe.
Now, 'em Sonnett sei lines sin zwee mol siwwe,
Net mehner un net wenniger kann's vertraage;
Zwee Dhecl hot's ; 's aerscht — 'es Octave so ze saage —
Hut juscht zwee Rhymes, die darf mar net verschiewe.
Es zwet un klenner Dhed — Sestette ward's g'heese —
Kann zwee Rhymes hawwe odder drei, (net meh)
Un die darf mar arrange wie mar will.
Es fehle noch drei Lines; halt dich now schtill —
Ich hab sie schimd: — ^un du hoscht now, versteh,
Es aerscht Sonnett in daere Schprooch gelese.
(July, 1882.)
When, however, I found in the private collection of
Ziegler under " Sonnets that I like " the two that follow
by Daniel Schiebeler and Philander von der Linde, I could
no longer doubt the source of his inspiration. The one
by Schiebeler reads as follows:
Du forderst ein Sonett von mir;
Du weisst wie schwer ich dieses finde,
Darum, du lose Rosalinde,
Versprichst du einen Kuss dafur.
Was 1st, um einen Kuss von dir,
Dass slch Myrtill nicht understunde?
Ich glaube fast, ich uberwinde;
Sieh, zwei Quadrains stehn ja schon hier.
20
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3o6 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Au( einmal hort es auf zu fliessen.
Nun werd ich doch verzagen musseni
Doch nein, hier ist schoon ein Terzett.
Nun bcb' ich doch — ^Wic werd' ich schlicsscn?
Komm, Rosalinde, lass dich kussenl
Hier, Schonste, hast du dein Sonett
The one by Philander von der Linde thus :
Bei meiner Treu', cs wird mir Angst gemacht,
Ich soil geschwind ein rein Sonettgen sagen
Und meine Kunst in vierzehn Zeilen wagen,
Bevor ich mich auf rechter StofiF bedacht;
Was reimt sich nun auf agen imd auf achtf
Doch eh' ich kann mein Reimregister fragen,
Und in dem Sinn das A. B. C. durchjagen,
So wird bereits der halbe Theil belacht
Kann ich nun noch sechs Verse dazu tragen,
So darf ich mich mit keinen Grillen plagen;
Wohlan, da sind schon wieder drei voUbrachtf
Und weil noch viel in meinem vollen Kragen,
So darf ich nicht am letzten Reim verzagen ;
Bei meiner Treu ! das Werk ist schon gemacht
Besides this sonnet, Ziegler has written a nuniber of
others; one on his "Alte Peif," another in different vein
on the death of his father.
In a poem with the unpoetic title " Cremation," ad-
dressed to his wife, he expresses the wish not to be buried
in the earth when dead; not only his soul but also his body
is to fly on the wings of Heaven.
Mei Gcischt war noch inuner en freier
Un mei Leib soil aa so sei ;
Mit'm Wind soil ar rum schpatziere —
In de Luft — ^wie die Veggel freL
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 307
Ich will net sci bci de Warrcm,
Im Grund, wu die Sai nun drete,
• In dc Sunn will ich sei un de Wolke
Drum soUscht du mich cremate.
Noh brauchst net in der Karrichof
Wann du mich b'suchc wit ;
Noh flieg ich frei in de Luft rum
Un kann dir iwwerall mit.
Noh pischper ich scheene Sache
Wann ich zu d'r kumm im 'me Breeze
Noh boss ich dich oft uf die Backe
Un uf dei Maul so sus.
Un ia de Sunn wann sie ufgeht
Lachle ich dich freindlich aa,
Un segen dich Owets vum Himmel
Mei liewe guti Fraa.
These are not the only poems; there might be men-
tioned others in which he has translated Emerson, or
original ones in which he shows the influence of the en-
thusiastic Emerson studies of his youth. I close my ac-
count of his little book with a reference to his translation
of Bryant's "Thanatopsis," which indicates unusual skill
and patient labor and which is remarkably faithful in the
language, retaining as it does very strikingly the spirit of
the original.
To him who in the love of nature holds
Q)mmunion with her visible forms, she speaks
A various language; for his gayer hours
She has a voice of gladness, and a smile
And eloquence of beauty, and she glides
Into his darker musings, with a mild
And healing sympathy, that steals away
Their sharpness, ere he is aware.
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Zum Mensch 'as lieb hot far die schee Nadur
Un fihlt mit ihrcm Wesc sich vc'wandt
Schwctzt sie en Schprooch vc'schicde: is ar froh
Dann is sie f rehlich un vezaMt ihm viel
Un wunnerscheeni Sache, un sie schluppt
So sachtig im mit so 'me Mitgefihl
In sei Gedanke wann ar Druwwel hot
Dass ihm sei Drauer, ep ar's wees, vegeht.
The rest of Ziegler's poems, in part published in maga-
zines and in part unpublished as yet, may be passed more
rapidly in rei^ew, although his powers have by no means
diminished. After he had come back to his native Brush
Valley and taken to himself a Pennsylvania-German wife,
his pensive strain gives way in certain measure to other
tunes and presently we hear him singing the praises of
"Zwiwwle" and "Sauerkraut." About the time of the
arrival of the twins he writes :
Die Eltere fihlc schtolz un froh —
Sie hen en Bobli — *s is 'n Soh'.
Die News geht rum, un ziemlich glei'
Viel Freind un Nochbere kumme bei,
Un ganz nadirlich kumme aa'
Dar Onkel Henner un sie Fraa.
Dar Onkel, wie ar's Kind aaschaut,
Lachelt un saagt so zimlich laut,
" Ei, guck juscht wie des Kind doch hot — "
Noh sagt die Aimt gschwind, " Tut, tut, tut ! "
Wos hot dar Onkel saage welle?
Des wacr net schwaer sich vor ze schtelle ;
Doch wann's aa wohr waer, 's is net gut
Das mar alii Wohret saage dhut,
Ich glaab 's waar besser, in d'r Dhat,
Dar Onkel hot net alles gsaat,
Un dass sei Fraa ihn abgecut
Mit ihrem gschwinde "Tut, tut, tut!"
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 309
His own disappointment that " cs Bobli " was not " en
Soh" seems to have been made up for by the fact that
they were two girls (cf. the English poem mentioned
above, "Exegi Monumentum") — and soon, and appar-
ently for them he writes " Der Sandmann."
Waer is des 'as kummt — ze schleiche
Owets aus 'm Schatteland?
Scheint die Kinner gut ze gleiche —
Ihne is ar gut bekannt.
Mit 'me Sa-sack dhut ar kumme,
Un ar schtreut umher gaar sacht
Aage-sand — 'm Schloof sei Sume, —
Sel is was em schlafrig macht.
Wann die Kinner 's Maul ufschparre
Bis cs wie en Keller guckt;
Wann die Aage sandig warre,
Un en jedes Kepli nuckt, —
Kann mar leicht dar Sandmann schpure,
(Sehne, haere kann mar 'n net) ;
Jar, 's is ihn — ar kummt ze fihre
Jedes in sei Drunnelbett.
His lamentation:
Die Zeite sin so greislich hart
Dass e'm schier gaarli dottlich ward ;
Ken Geld, ken Arwet, schier ken Brod,
Es sieht bal aus wie Hungersnoth.
Exonomy, Economy,
Schpaare misse mar, saagt die Frta,
Economy, Economy,
Bis mar aus 'm Haisli kummt!
must not be taken too seriously, for a man that is crushed
does not write merry songs to the tune " Ich bin der Doktor
Eisenbart * Zwie-li-di-li-wick bamm bumm.' " To get his
viewpoint we quote further:
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Was IS die grindlich Uisach dann —
Weescht du's, gtdreier Handwerksmann?
Dass unser Land so vol! is heit
Vun Millionaires un Bettellcit?
Dheel meene des, dheel meene sel
Waer Schuld an daere dulle Shpell;
Mir is es deitlich wie die Sunn —
Dar TarifiF is die Schuld devun.
In recent years he has translated Longfellow's version
of Klopstock's " Die Todten," and Andrew Lang's " Lost
Love," he has sung in praise of " En Simpler Mann," and
has written a beautiful ode, '* Danksaagungsdaag."
Several years ago, when after an automobile trip through
Lancaster County, Pa., Prof. Albert Bushnell Hart of
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., wrote his im-
pressions for the Boston Transcript, Ziegler, an ardent de-
fender of the Pennsylvania Germans, took up the gauntlet
and came out with a vigorous reply to what seemed to be
the professor's snap judgment.
Likewise in verse, "Die Muttersproch," has he glori-
fied the tongue to which he turns when he wishes to talk
sense ; the language, not polite, reminding one of Goethe's
" Im Deutschen lugt man wenn man hoflich ist," Faust II
— ^which best can express his wrath; this is also the lan-
guage in which alone he seems able to approach the throne
of his Creator.
Will ich recht ve'schtannig schwetze —
Eppes auseirianner sctze —
A, B, C, un ecns, zwee, drei, —
So dass jeder commoner Mann
Klar un deitlich sehne kann
Wei 'as Gold is un wcl Blei,—
Nem ich gute deutsche Warte,
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 311
Weis un schwarzi^ wccch un harte,
Noh voUbringt die Sach sich glei'.
Bin ich an de Wohret suche
Un fin Ungerechtigkeit,
Luge, Heichlerei un Schtreit
Bis ich alles kennt ve'fluche, —
Schteigt mel Zarn wie rothe Flamme
Un will alles noh ve'damme, —
Use ich net *n Schprooch polite ;
Nee! ich nenun mei deitsche Warte —
Beissig scharf wie Hickory Garte —
Hack derwedder dass cs batt;
Schlack druf los un fluch mich satti
Wann ich war die Sinde ledig,
Schwacr bedrickt vim meinre Schuld,
Arnschtlich noh un ehrlich bet' ich
Um Vergebung, Gnad un Huld;
Kann dar Vater Unser, meen ich,
In de Mutterschprooch allee
Mich recht haere un ve'schteh;
Far in deitche Warte leenig
Hot die Mammi mich gelamt
Wei ze bete; mich bereit
Ze mache far die Ewigkeit;
Hot dar Daadi mich gewannt
Un gerothe braav un graad,
Zu wandle uf 'm Lewes-paad
Grosser Gott! O, schteh mar bei!
Helf mar doch en Grischt ze sei!
Dr. Hermann H. Fick, of Cincinnati, in a little pamphlet
on "Deutsch Amerikanische Dialekt Dichtung" has said:
" Der wahre Dichter folgt dem Gebote der Empfindungen
und Gefuhle, welche machtig um Wiedergabe werben und
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nach Gestaltung ringen. Er gehorcht der gebietenden
Stunde und singt well es ihn dazu treibt. Das was ihn
freudig oder in Trauer bewegt, sein eigenstes Wesen,
aussert er in seinen Versen." To no writer in the Penn-
sylvania-German dialect do these lines seem to be so com-
pletely applicable as to Charles Calvin Ziegler, late of
Brush Valley, Pa., and now of St. Louis, Mo.
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CONCLUSIONS.
By means of travel, correspondence and the assistance
of a large number of Pennsylvanians interested in the sub-
ject, the present writer believes that he has succeeded in
collecting the great bulk of material in Pennsylvania-Ger-
man dialect in verse that is at present accessible. The ap-
pended bibliographical index has been made with some
care, and the sources and locality are enumerated where
printed productions of those in manuscript are to be found.
In almost all cases copies of both are now in his possession.
Of prose, a similar collection has been made and a simi-
lar index of selections that have appeared either in book
form or were published in magazines, and an extended list
has been made of newspapers which are now publishing,
or at one time did publish, prose dialect articles.
Of this literature the most important has been described
by means of a method in the main biographical. '' litera-
ture can do no more than give us the opinions and senti-
ments of particular persons at particular times. To esti-
mate, even to understand, these opinions and sentiments,
we must know something of the times and circumstances
in which they were expressed. It will be requisite, there-
fore, now and then, to invade the domain of history and
biography and thus diversify our purely literary studies."
313
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Thus did R. Y. Tyrrell introduce a series of lectures on
the literature of a people (the Romans) whose history and
intellectual life are, and in the nature of the case always
will be, on a plane vastly higher than that which we have
here treated can ever hope to be; but the principle is the
same and seems to be particularly applicable in the case of
a people relatively unknown, if we are to understand them.
What Armstrong Wanchope said in the North Amer-
ican Review (May, 1894, Vol. 158, p. 640) of story
writers in general seems to apply with peculiar aptness to
the authors that here have been considered. " Story writ-
ing," he said, " is an attempt to preserve the life of a cer-
tain time and locality with all the concomitants of local
coloring. The personal experience of the writer becomes
thus all important as it should. He can testify only of
what he knows." The large element of biography here in-
troduced is, therefore, neither unprecedented nor, in the
nature of the case, unreasonable.
The principle reasons for the existence of the dialect
literature have been pointed out in a chapter at the be-
ginning of this essay; special reasons individual writers
have had for writing in the dialect have been noted under
the respective authors.
"Der wahre Dichter folgt dem Gebote der Empfin-
dungen und Gefiihle welche machtig um Wiedergabe
werben und nach Gestaltung ringen. Er 'gehorcht der
gebeitenden Stunde' und singt weil es ihn dazu treibt.
Das, was ihn f reudig oder in Trauer bewegt, sein eigcnstes
Wesen assuert er in seinen Versen. Der Dialect zeigt
das Volk wie es ist, bei seinen Festen und in seinem Leide,
an der Arbeit und bei seiner Erholung, in seinem Hoffen
und seinem Harren, wie nicht minder im Vcrkchr mit
Hohergestellten sowohl als mit Seinesgleichen oder Un-
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 315
tergebenen." So wrote Dr. Hermann H. Flick in a small
pamphlet on " Deutsch-Amerikanische Dialekt Dichtung."
The Pennsylvania-German dialect poets have done exactly
what this writer requires and this it is which renders their
productions from the viewpoint of the Kultur Historiker
of the utmost value. Criticism and fault-finding, of which
the literature has been made to bear the brunt, should
more properly be levelled at the people ; if the writers had
done otherwise than as they did, their picture had been
less true. If the poetry occasionally falls to a flat and
dreary level it should be remembered that in a measure
the people are themselves prose (not to say prosy) idylls,
and the wonder is not that they sang no better, but that,
what with the horrors of war in the Rhine valley before
their migration, what with a long struggle in America,
afterwards, in which they were
Busy With hewing and building, with gardenplot and with
merested
Busy with breaking the glebe, and mowing grass in the meadow,
when not fighting savage Indians, they plucked up courage
enough to sing at all. Their language in the new sur-
roundings could grow only by the engrafting of foreign
forms and even then was useless except in their own small
territory, an oasis as it were, surrounded by the vast body
of English settlements. What other people have so com-
pletely expatriated themselves and yet retained so truly an
individuality of their own, even to the extent of creating
a literature? "This poetical literature of the Pennsyl-
vania Germans," says Professor Faust, " is one of the few
original notes in American lyrical poetry."
Although the great German Hebel was held up as a
pattern to our first characteristic singer, Harbaugh, yet the
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3i6 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
latter must be allowed to rank as an original poet, in spite
of scattered traces of possible influence, for Harbaugh was
a poet, before he became a dialect poet. All others, be-
fore or since were, perhaps unfortunately, but nevertheless
avowedly, either translators, or else truly original as far
as foreign influence is concerned in the manner of expres-
sion, and were dependent only, if at all, on Harbaugh in
poetry and Ranch in prose.
Comparison with Poets of the Fatherland. — ^This is a
wide field; I have endeavored wherever the material was
accessible to compare the feeling, thoughts and ideas of
the Pennsylvania-German poets with those of dialect poets
of the Fatherland, and have frequently noted how easily
they may be paralleled; the impulse that makes so many
break forth in song in defense of the dialect does not
spring from fashion ; it has its roots in real feeling. Their
hopes and aspirations, their joys and sorrows. are, as a
rule, from the same sources, in their rustic philosophy
they not seldom agree.
Metre and Rhythm. — In this our poets often leave
much to be desired; they are too frequently satisfied with
a rhjone, nor can we say that even here they are uniformly
good. The rhythm in many cases can be easily assisted
after the manner described by Fischer in one of his met-
rical corrections of misprints:
Im neechster Zeil, graad unnedra
As ficrte Wort leest " schwarz "
Dort mach en e noch hinnedra
Sunscht fallt die 2^il zu karz.
A comparison of sundry of the poems with the authors'
manuscript leads me to the conclusion that we are justified
in helping out many a line of this character, which halts
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 317
by reason of poor proofreading and bad printing. I have
the testimony of more than one editor that he gave up pub-
lishing dialect selections in his paper, even where his
readers would welcome them, because his typesetters and
proofreaders were so lacking in all feeling for the dialect
that it became too difficult to get out reasonably correct
copy. It is probably for this reason that there has come
into existence a Press Syndicate Dialect Letter in eastern
Pennsylvania, which is sold in type and published, to my
own knowledge, in at least five different newspapers.
Character of the Newspaper Letters. — On this point
the language of the Rev. J. Max Hark must stand as a
fairly just characterization: "Nearly all that has been
done " (this is exaggerated) " has been broadly humorous,
with no attempt at anything else, no higher ambition, or
aim than to make the reader or hearer laugh. From this
the world has formed it judgment of us and our speech.
But the Pennsylvania German is not to be too severely
censured for having confined himself thus almost exclu-
sively to humor in his writings. Let us remember that he
was from the beginning a hard worker. The early settlers
and makers of this commonwealth were kept exceedingly
busy in their struggle for bare existence. Their daily lives
were full of hardships, disappointments, suffering, full of
tragedy and pathos all the time. When they did have
leisure to write, or even in their social converse, what
they needed was not the recital of these experiences and
feelings which they were constantly having, but rather to
emphasize the other side, that which would take their
minds off the too great seriousness of their life. They
naturally, necessarily turned to humor to lighten their lot."
In this connection a passage in Beyer's Deutsche Poetik,
Vol. Ill, p. 178, may be cited: "Besonders aber eignet
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3i8 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
sich fur den Dialekt alles was den treffenden Ausdnick der
auf gesundem Menschen Verstand beruhenden praktlschen
Moral verlangt: Die Spruchdichtung, ferner tiefe und
innlge, dabei aber ganz naturliche Empfindungen, vor-
zuglich aber alle Arten der sowohl derben, als schalkhaf-
ten Komlk und Humoristik.'*
The satirico-didactic element that has gradually crept
into this kind of literature has been elsewhere emphasized.
Language. — ^The language used by the writers varies
from the one extreme, where stand those who stopped at
nothing short of incorporating any word in the Unabridged
English Dictionary if necessary, after the manner of the
political orator who told his audience that a certain policy
must be pursued " damit die prerogatives vun der Consti-
tution net geviolate warn " — all the way to the other ex-
treme of those who substituted a High German equivalent
in place of English words in the Germanized form where
no true dialect form existed, and even to the still more
advanced position of the writer who mixes English, High
German and dialect, in a sentence like this ''Ich un der
Darwin agreea in dem. Er sagt uns das im anfang wie
cosmos gleichartig is worra, hat enwickelung augf anga aus
welchem molecule gewachsen sin. Molecule han proto-
plasm g'macht und bald werd alles licht," etc.
E. D. Leisenring criticized, on the one hand, WoUen-
weber for his German, and on the other, " Der Alt Kun-
radt," of Ohio, for his English, in language that is not
free from either.
August Sauer, in the Introduction to **Die Deutschen
Sacular Dichtungen an der Wende des i8 u. 19 Jahr-
hunderts" says: "Wenn das Leben des Menschen sich
dem Ende nahert so treten die Ereignisse seiner fnihesten
Jugend am starksten in seinem Gedachtnisse hervor." In
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect }Vritings. 319
" Gcron dcr Adelige " Wicland had already expressed the
same idea thus :
Das Alter ist geschwatzig, wie ihr wisst,
Es liebt zu reden von den guten 2>iten,
Die nicht mehr sind, in denen es, als wie
In einem Traum allein noch lebt.
These two quotations describe accurately the situation
with respect to Pennsylvania-German Dialect Literature.
It is the product of the old age of the dialect-speaking
period; Schaff in urging Harbaugh to write felt sure that
the dialect would pass away and every historian since
then has noted its passing. The unity of the literature
it has given us in its last days is not that of an organism
cf growth, it is rather the unity of a patchwork quilt, as
it has been described by one of the dialect writers,
'S is juscht en commomer Deppich — schi
En quilt, alt fashion — awer schee.
Wie scheckig gucktsi Die Patches fei!
Die scheina Schpotjohrs Bletter zu sei.
Fit epitaph ; common in the dialect sense of simple, plain
** awer schee " 1 Dialect-speaking grandmother made it for
grandchildren, who at best understand but can no longer
speak her speech. The quilt grew according to her leisure,
now many patches in quick succession, then a long pause
and then another " Stem " (as she called the blocks) until
at last it is finished. But grandmother does not stop,
there will be another and perhaps yet another "Stern"
but there will never again be another " Deppich." Grand-
mother's work is done.
What the dialect writers have left, they have left to
the generation that can hardly understand it; and while
there will still be poems written and prose too, the period
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320 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
of Pennsylvania-German dialect literature IS over; "Schpot-
johrs Blctter, ja Schpotjohrs Bletterl"
But it would not be proper to take leave of this work
thus. The ten years or more that it has been my privi-
lege to devote to the collecting and studying of the dialect
writings and their writers have been years of great satis-
faction and pleasure; each day of search brought new and
agreeable surprises, and we of their race would not be
properly grateful in our day if we failed to express our
appreciation of what they have wrought for us, their effort
to put into living and lasting literary expression the heart
throbs and impulses, and the inner life of our kindred and
people. And though we are not going to have any more
grandmother's "Deppichs" there are some other things
along that line that we shall have no more. The Penn-
sylvania-German dialect has seen its golden era; its
prophets and apostles have come and gone; its Elizabethan
Age has had a historic completion, but the loftiness of
their inspiration, the subtility of their conception, the bold-
ness of their execution has given a lasting and distinctive
place in dialect literature; its singers, with a few excep-
tions, have left us a rich legacy; we enshrine them in our
memory and glory in their illustrious work. To create
a dialect literature in a country where the kindred lan-
guage is used, is something; to have created a Pennsyl-
vania-German dialect literature when the language of their
schools, increasingly of their churches, and altogether of
their national life, is English, was an achievement.
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T T T T T
1 1 I 1 I
Books, Magazines and Newspapers CixEb.
Citations from newspapers have frequently been made
from clippings in the private collections of different per-
sons, and in such cases it has often been impossible to get
the exact date of the paper cited.
An individual bibliography accompanies each author
separately treated.
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des Elsasses und Oberrheins. Herausgegeben von Dr. Anton
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1910.
Allentown Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Allentown Daily City Item. Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Allentown Democrat. Allentown, Pennsylvania.
AlHbone's Dictionary of Authors. New York, 1891.
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delphia. Annually.
Almanac, Pilger. The Pilger Book Store, Reading. Annually.
American Philological Association, Transactions of the. 1871 ff.
American Philosophical Society, Proceedings of the. Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, 1843 ff.
20
321
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322 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
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. The Pennsylvania Germans. Myerstown, Pa., 1875.
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1869.
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mans: embracing an account of their origin, their history and
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Biographie, Allgemeine Deutsche. Leipzig, 1875 fiE.
BiTTENGER, LucY F. Pennsylvania Germans. In the New
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Book News Monthly, The. Philadelphia, Pa., 1910.
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Staaten, imter besonderer Beriicksichtigung seines politischen,
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 323
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Center County, Biographical Annals of.
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burg, Pa., 1848-1850.
Deutsche Pionier, Der. Erinnerungen aus dem Pionier Leben
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social and educational influence. Boston and New York,
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ischen Litteratur. Cincinnati, Ohio. No date.
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vanisch Deutsche Folks-Lieder, York, Pa. 1882. 2d edi-
tion, 1896.
. Olden Times: or, Pennsylvania Rural Life some fifty
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Zeite: En Centennial Poem in Pennsylvanisch Deutsch.
York, Pa., 1879.
. Short Historical Sketch of the Pennsylvania Germans.
Chicago, 111.
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Scranton Truths Scranton, Pa,
SmuU's Legislative Handbook. Harrisburg, Pa. Annually.
Spirit of Berks. Reading, Pa.
Stahr, J. S. The Pennsylvania Germans. In the Mercersburg
Review, October, 1870.
. Introduction to Daniel Miller's Pennsylvania German.
Reading, Pa., 1904.
Stbdman, Edmund Clarence. Private Letter.
Steiner, Lewis H. The Pennsylvania Germans. In the Inde-
pendent, New York, June 24, 1880.
Stetzel, Henry. A Brief Biography of Moses Dissinger,
Preacher of the Evangelical Association, Allentown, Pa.,
1892.
Stoudt, John Baer. Pennsylvania German Riddles and
Rhymes. In the Journal of American Folklore, Vol. XIX,
p. 113. Pennsylvania German Society Proceedings, Vol.
XXIII.
Thompson, Robert Ellis. Henry Harbaugh. In the Penn
Monthly, Vol. I, p. 80. Philadelphia, Pa.
T(m)n and Country. Pennsburg, Pa.
Trexler, B. F. Skizzen aus dem Lecha Thale. Eine Samm-
lung von Nachrichten uber die ersten Ansiedlimgen der
Weissen in dieser Gegend. Von Ben. Allentown, Pa.,
1880-1886.
Truebne/s American and Oriental Journal, London and Strass-
burg, Jan. 24, 1870.
Tyrrell, R. B. Lectures on Latin Poetry. Boston and New
York, 1895.
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33^ The Ptnnsylvania-GermaH Society.
Wanhopb. Value of Dialect North American Review, VoL
158, p. 640.
Warner, Joseph H. (Johann Klotz). Amerikanische His-
torie. Annville, Pennsylvania, 1905.
. Private Scn^) Books.
Wbiser, C Z. The Life of (John) Conrad Weiser, The Ger-
mann Pioneer, Patriot, and Patron of two races. First edi-
tion, 1876; Second Edition, 1899.
WUkesbarre Record. Wilkesbarre, Pa.
WoLLBNWEBER, LuDWio A. Gemalde aus dem Pennsylvanischen
Volksleben: Schilderungen und Aufsatze in poetischer und
prosaischer Form, in Mimdart und Ausdrucksweise der
Deutsch Pennsylvanier, verfasst und zusammengetrag^.
Philadelphia und Leipzig, 1869.
WooDBERRY, Georgb E. ^predation of Literature, New York,
1907.
York County Historical Society, Publications of. York, Pa.
Zeiischrift fur Deutsche Mundarten. In Auftrage des Vorstandes
des Allgemeinen Deutschen Sprachvereins. Herausgegeben
von Otto Heilig und Philip Lenz. Jahrgang 1906. Berlin.
Verlag des Allgemeinen Sprachvereins. Viertdjahrlich.
ZiEOLER, Charles C. Draus un Daheem. Gedichte in Penn-
sylvanisch Deitsch. Leipzig, 1891.
Zimmerman, Gustav Adolph. Deutsch in Amerika^ Bei-
trage zur Geschichte der Deutsch Amerikanischen Literatur,
Chicago, 1894.
Zimmerman, Thomas C. Schiller's "Song of the Bell" and
Other Poems Printed for Private Circulation, Reading, Pa.,
1896.
. Private Scrap Book.
. Olla Podrida. Consisting of Addresses, Translations
Hjmuis, Poems and sketches of out door life. Reading, Pa.,
1903. 2 volumes.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 333
Sources of Information for Wrttbrs not Specially
Treated.
Baer, S. a. Biographical Annals of Berks G>unt7, Montgomery,
Chicago, 1904.
Proceedings of the Pennsylvania German Society, Vol. V, 151.
Bahn, Rachel. Pennsylvania Dutch. Mrs. Gibbons, Philada.,
1874.
Pennsylvania Dutch. Haldemann, London, 1872.
Pennsylvania Dutch Handbook. Rauch, Mauch Chunk, 1879.
Pennsylvania German Dialect. Learned, Baltimore, 1889.
Personal Correspondence with Dr. Betz, York, Pa.
Poems. Rachel Bahn, York, 1869. Introduction by Rev.
Ziegler.
Rachel Bahn, the York County Poetess. Dr. Betz, Pennsyl-
vania German, VII, 3, 99.
Truebner's American and Oriental Journal, London and
Strassburg, Jan. 24, 1870.
Brendle, a. S. History of SchaefEerstown, York, 1901.
Brunner, Frank. Biographical History of Berks County.
Montgomery. Chicago, 111.
Interviews with friends.
Proceedings of the Pennsylvania German Society, Vol. XVII.
Craig, Wiluam. Pennsylvania German Magazine, Vol. X, 6,
294-
DuBBS, J. S. His Private Correspondence.
Publications of the Lancaster County Historical Society, Vols.
XV, I, 31 and XIV, IV.
Reformed Church Messenger, Philadelphia, Vol. LXXIX, No.
14, p. 4, and Vol. LXXIX, No. 18.
Reformed Church Review, Fourth Series, Vol. XIV, No. 4.
Eisenbrown, p. F. Correspondence and Interviews with mem-
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Obituary Memoir.
Gbrhardt, William. Stories of Old Stiunpstown. Grumbine,
Lebanon, 19 10.
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334 ^*^ Pennsylvania^German Society.
Grabff, I. E. Reformed Church Messenger, Philadelphia, Vol.
LXXVIII, No. i6, 19.
Reformed Church Record, Reading, Pa.
Hark, J. Max. Personal correspondence and interview.
Proceedings of the Pennsylvania German Society, Vol. Ill, 159.
Proceedings of the Pennsylvania German Society, Vol. X,
App. I.
Tributes of esteem by Lancaster friends.
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Lebanon County Historical Society Publications, Vol. I, 2.
Personal Interview and Correspondence.
Proceedings of the Pennsylvania German Society, Vol. VI, Vol.
III, 159.
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Pennsylvania German, Vol. XI, 10, 626.
Reformed Church Messenger, Philadelphia, Pa.
Reformed Church Record, Reading, Pa.
KoPUN, A. B. Correspondence with J. S. Dubbs.
Heidelberg Argus, Ohio.
Interviews and Correspondence.
Lbisbnring, E. D. Der Deutsche Pionier, Cincinnati, O., Vol.
XIV., 68
Freidensbote, Allentown, Pa.
Reinbckb, E. W. Franklin and Marshall College Obituary
Record, Vol. I, p. 48.
Pennsylvania German, Vol. X, 7, 316.
ScHANTZ, F. J. F. Muhlenberg Monthly, Allentown, Pa., Vol.
IV, 2.
Proceedings of the Pennsylvania German Society, Vol. IV, 179;
Vol. XVI, 37.
Shbblbigh, M. N. Proceedings of the Pennsylvania German
Society, Vol. Ill, p. 181, and Vol. X, p. 36.
VoGT, John. Reformed Church Almanac, 1903, p. 54.
Reformed Church Messenger.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 335
WiTMER, Tobias. Muhlenberg Monthly, Allcntown, Pa., Vol.
IV, 2.
Pennsylvania Dutch. Haldemann, London, 1872.
Pennsylvania Dutch Handbook. Rauch, Mauch Chunk, 1879.
Pennsylvania German Dialect. Learned, Baltimore, 1889.
The Pennsylvania Dutchman, Lancaster, Pa.
Transactions of the American Philological Association, Vol. I,
80. ^
Wbiser, C. Z. Proceedings of the Pennsylvania German Society,
Vol. Ill, 186; Vol. VIII, 15.
Reformed Church Messenger.
Reformed Church Record.
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AN INDEX OF PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN
DIALECT LITERATURE.
Abbreviations Used.
Al Allcmania.
All. Dem Ailentown Democrat
Am. Volk Amerikanische Volkskunde.
B. G). Express Bucks G)unty Express.
Qarla Muhlenberg G)llege Junior Annual.
Dia. N Dialect Notes.
D. Kir Deutscher Kirchenfreund.
D. M Pennsylvania German, ist Vol.,
Daniel Miller.
D. M. 2 Pennsylvania German, 2d Vol.,
Daniel Miller.
D. P Der Deutsche Pionier.
Father Ab Father Abraham.
Pick. Dia FicklOialekt Dichtung.
Fir Firmanach Germaniens Volkeistim-
men.
Fried Friedensbote.
Flugblatt Privately published poems.
G. B Gottlieb Boonestiel.
Ger. Q>r. & Dem German G)rrespondent and Demo-
crat.
Guard The Guardian.
336
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Pennsylvania-German Manual.
Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 337
HaL P. D Pennsylvania Dutch, Haldeman.
Heil. G)l Heilman G>llection.
H. Harfe Harbaugh's Harfe.
Hist. Berks. History of Berks Q>unty, Pennsyl-
vania.
Hist Sk. of P. G Historical Sketch of the Pennsylvania
Germans.
Home, 1st Edition ....
Home, 3d Edition
Home, 2d Edition
Home, 4th Edition ....
Hul. P. C Pennsylvania German by Solly Huls-
buck.
Hul. P. G. P Pennsylvania-German Poems, Hul»-
buck.
Hul. P. G. Stor. Pennsylvania-German Stories, Huls-
buck.
T ' A ^ T ' ' - Ijoumal of American Folklore.
Jour. A. F. L J "^
Leb. Adv Lebanon Advertiser.
Leb. News Lebanon News.
Leb. Report Lebanon Report
Leb. Volks 2^it Lebanon Volks 2^itimg.
Life Har. Life of Harbaugh.
M. H Mundartlich Heiteres.
MS From the private records of various
authors.
Naz. Hall Nazareth Hall and its Reunions.
P. D The Pennsylvania Dutchman (a
magazine).
P. D. H Pennsylvania Dutch Handbook.
P. G. Pennsylvania-German Magazine.
P. Leb. Hist Soc Publications of the Lebanon County
Historical Society.
Pro. Am. Philosoph. S Proceedings of the American Philo-
sophical Society.
31
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338 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Pro. P. G. S Proceedings of the Pennsylvania-
German Society.
Pro. P. G. S. Ap Proceedings of the Pennsylvania-
German Society, Appendix.
Read. Times and Dispatch. Reading Times and Dispatch.
Rcf . Ch. Al Reformed Church Almanac
T^ / -n ' IReformed Church Record.
Ref. Rec -J
Sk. Lecha Thai Skizzen aus dem Lecha Thai.
Sk. P. G Short Sketch of the Pennsylvania
Germans.
Stumps. Stories Stumptown Stories.
Trans. Am. Phil. Soc .... Transactions of the American Philo-
logical Society.
Unser P. D. Kalenner . . ^Unser Pennsylvanisch Deitscher
Unser P. D. KaL J Kalenner.
W. B. Kal Welt Bote Kalenner.
WoU. Gemalde Gemalde aus dem Pennsylvanisch
Volksleben Wollenweber.
I. Poetry.
Anonymous:
Bauraspruch P. G., Vol. VIII, p. 6i6.
Unser P. D. Kalenner, 1895.
Unser P. D. Kalenner, 1905.
Befehl am Feuerheerd JP. G., Vol. X, 4, 181.
De Deutsche Baura P. D., Vol. i, No. 3.
Der " Bio Berg " Sk. Lecha Thai, p. 98.
Der Process P. D., Vol. i. No. 2.
Der Verwerrte Deutsche D. P., Vol. V, 1873.
Der Wipperwill P. G., Vol. VIII, 5, 234.
Des County Funf zu Ehm fur
Andy Quay Leb. Volks. Zeit, Feb. 8,
1899.
Die Bettler's Klage D. M., 2.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 339
Die Kcrchc BeU . . . .
Doktor Eisenbart . . .
En Klagelied
En 1 rcmp
Fertzig Johr Zuruck
Hurrah ihr Demokraten
Mei Nochbor Dschon
Sauerkraut
Sie Hucka Rum ,
. . . D. M., p. 125.
, ..D. M., 2, p. 142.
. ..D. M., 2, p. 131.
...P. G., Vol. V, 3, 115.
. .D. M., 2, p. 121.
, . . P. Lcb. Hist. Soc, Vol. V, 5.
. . . D. M., 2, p. 127.
. ..D. M., 2, p. 115.
...P. G., Vol. n, 5, 305.
'Sis Nergcds besser wic deheem. . .D. M., 2, p. 70.
To the Disfranchised Voters of
Lebanon Q>unty Fluegblatt.
Unser Register Ciarla, 1904.
Wan kumt die gute Zeit . .
Zu viel wiske, Jake
Yukle wUl net Bera Shitla
(See also index under Wollen-
weber.)
.D. M., 2, p. 112.
• D. M., 2, p. 120.
.p. D. Vol. I, 3.
Home, I, p. 49.
Home, 2.
Home, 3.
Home, 4.
Welt Bote, Sep. 8, 1875.
Bahn, Rachel:
Poems — Rachel Bahn, published at York, Pa., 1869.
Adams & Q>. (Out of print)
Der Alt Schockle Stuhl Poems, p. 191.
Der Alt Weide Bahm For'm Hous . p. 1 87.
Der Herbst p. 183.
Der Summer p. 180.
D. M., 2, p. 95.
Der Winter p. 185.
Haeb am Felse Dich p. 186.
*S Fruehyohr p. 179.
P. D. H., p. 217.
H. C.
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340
The Pennsylvania-German Society.
'S Glatt Ice p. i86.
'S Himmlisch Haemweh p. 195.
Vocal Music p. I98»
Brbndlb a. S. :
Du und Ich
. Lcb. News, Dec. 16, 1898.
Brunner, Frank R.:
Christ Dag
Dcr Alt Garret
Der Juni un der Juli
Des Mensche Lewe .
Die Schulhaus Bell . .
Drei Sache
Es Fet und Inschlicht
Lewe und Himmd . .
Neujohr's Wunsch...
Oschtre
Schpotjohr
Wie es Als War . . .
Wie mer Glee Ware
Licht
. . .D. M., p. 82.
Home, 4th ed., p. 186.
...P. G., Vol. VIII, 10, 505.
D. M., 2 p. 74-
..P. G., Vol. IV, 3, 317.
. . D. M., p. 96.
..P.G.,Vol.V, 3, 118.
. . P. G., Vol. VI, 3, 308.
. . P. G., Vol. X, 11,576.
..P. G., Vol. VI, I, 207.
. . D. M., p. 102.
. . D. M., p. 74.
P. G., Vol. IV, 2, 261.
..P. G.,VoLV, 1,28.
..D. M.,p. 85.
P. G., Vol. XII, 2, 119.
. . D. M., p. 78.
P. G., Vol. IV, I, 212.
Brunner, David B. (Goethe von Berks) :
Bezahlt euer Pane D. M., p. 138.
Der Alt un der Jung Krebs D. M., p. 153.
Der Dan Webster un Sei Sens. . Reading Adler.
P. G., II, 3, 110.
Der Washington un Sei Bile Home, 3d ed., p. 159.
Die Grundsau D. M., p. 149.
En Gross Misverstandniss D. M., p. 144.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 341
Unzufriedenhcit unncr de Mcn-
schc D. M., 2, p. 105.
Wann ich just en Bauer War. . .D. M., p. 135.
Wic die Leut des Duhne P. G., Vol. IX, 3, 135.
Xenien P. G., Vol. VII, 5, 255.
Xenien < P. G., Vol. VII, 7, 376.
Xcnien P. G., Vol. VIII, 6, 274.
Xenien P. G., VoL VIII, 9, 449.
Craig William:
The Old Chain Bridge P. G., Vol. X, 6, 294.
Croll, S. E.:
Die Gold'ne Hochzig P. G., Vol. II, i, 38.
Daniel:
Ztit un Leut annere Sich P. G., VoL III, 2, 65.
DeLono, George Keller:
Herz Schmerza P. G., Ad Section.
Delong, S.:
Der Alt ShofiE Buck P. G., Vol. II, i, 13.
Die guta alta Zeita P. G., Vol. Ill, 2, 66.
DuBBS, J. B. :
Das Vater Unser in Reimen D. M., p. 134.
ElSENBROWN, P. F.:
Die Weibsleut D. M., p. 128.
Zeit un Leut Aennere Sich D. M., p. 130.
Der Bauer Hot's Plenty D. M., p. 132.
ESHELMAN, E. M.:
Der Verlora Gaul P. G., Vol. VIII, 6, 281.
D. M., 2, p. 118.
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342 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Ein Psalm des Lebcns (Trans.).. P. G., Vol. V, i, 24.
Juscht en Deppich P. G., Vol. VII, 5, 263.
My Aldty Gcik (rev. by Dr. E.
Grumbine) P. G., Vol. Ill, i, iii.
'S Alt Schwim Loch P. G., Vol. VI, 4, 361.
Schnitzpei P. G., Vol. VII, 6, 310.
D. M., 2, p. 117.
'S Neu Fogel Haus P. G., Vol V, 2, 77.
Flick, M. C:
'S Schulhaus am Weg P. G., Vol. II, 2, 70.
Fischer, Henry L. :
"'S Alt Marik Haus Mittes in D'r Schtadt un Die Alte
Zeite." In two parts. Published at York, Pa., 1879.
(Out of print.)
Part I.
Boneschtecke p. 60.
Der Alt Fritz Horn p. 63.
Der Washington p. 68.
Der Schquire Braxton p. 61.
Die Fashions p. 58.
D*r Fette Haas p. 59.
Hanover p. 75.
Marik Geh p. 43.
Paradies p. 47.
Philadelphia p. 48.
Ready Mocha for noch cm
Marik p. 65.
'S Marik Haus p. 25.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 343
Part 11.
Acppic p. 104.
Alt Zeit Drcschc p. 162.
Home, 3d cd., 141.
D. M., p. 102.
P. a, Vol. IX, 9, 469.
Butchere p. 118.
Buwli Schpielc p. 85.
Der Dadi 'N Jackson Mon. .p. 149.
Die Doktor Fraa p. 122.
Die Heemet p. 217.
Die Miihl p. 165.
Die Schul p. 191.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. I, 51.
Die Schwcizer Scheuer p. 143.
Die Zinn Schisscl p. 124.
Home, 3d ed., p. 134.
D'r Abe p. 155.
D*r Dschon v p. 174.
D'r Fiert July p. 141.
D'r Kremer p. 160.
D'r Schnec p. 159.
D*r Schneider und Schu-
macher p. 116.
Fier Gauls FuhrwcA p. 170.
Flax Schtickli p. 108.
Hame kumme p. 81.
Ich bin de alt Heemet sehne. p. 203-217.
P. G., Vol. n, I, 51.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. I, 52.
Ihr Pennsylvanisch Deitsche
Leut p. 199.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. I, p. 48.
Im Emtfeld p. 132.
P. G., Vol. IX, 7, 326.
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344 ^*^ Pennsylvania-German Society.
Latwerg Kodie p. loo.
Mei Alte Heemet p. i8i.
Pennsylvanisch Deitsch ....p. 198.
'S Alt Brennhaus p. 168.
Schulhaus un Elerich p. 184.
Pro. P. G. S., V6L I, 51.
Sdder p. 106.
Singen Schul p. 149. .
Sundag Morge p. 146.
Wie m'r ufg'wachse sin.... p. 178.
"KurzwcQ un Zeitvertrcib " — ^Fischer. Published at York,
Pa., 1882. Two editions. (Out of print)
Alt Lang Ssme (after Scotch) . p. 146.
Backmult Walli p. 102.
Bier Lied (after Felner) ... .p. 132.
Der Abschied nooch Amerika
(after the Suabian) p. 122.
Der Bauer Hans un der
Advokat p. 81.
Der Bettler (after Hebel)..p. 66.
Der Dschonni Schuss p. 114.
Der Ehrlich Fritz p. 51*
Der Ehrlich Schmidt p. 5.
P. G., VoL V, 2, 80.
Der Glucklig Bauer (after
Felner) p. 49.
Der Luschtig Bauer p. 32.
Der Mai (after Felner) .... p. 57.
Der Parre un die Hununler.p. 69.
Der Schnee p. 24.
Der Weeg Weiser (after
Hebel) p. ai.
Der Wei p. loi.
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Pennsylvanio'German Dialect Writings. 345
Dcr Winter (after Fclncr) . .p. 98.
P. G., Vol. II, 2, 114,
Die Wcrtschaft p. 44.
Drink Lied (after Felner) . . p. 95.
El so Geig (after Nadler) ... p. 47.
Em Bettelmon sei Owet
Lied (after Felner) p. 37.
Em Lump sei Leewes Reis8. .p. 63.
En Bier Liedle (after Fel-
ner) p. 92.
En Ferwickelte Ferwandt-
schaft p. 97.
Es Bachli (after Bryant)... p. 135.
Fruhjohr's Lied p. 9.
P. G., Vol. II, I, 50.
Gas Bock odder Parre (after
Nadler) p. 88.
Hesse Dhal P« I7*
P. G., Vol. I, I, 20.
Het ich nix as mei Lisli .... p. 62.
Hirten Lied an der Krippe
(after Felner) p. 120.
Ich kann nix dafoor! (after
Nadler) p. 58.
Ich un die Nancy p. 34.
Krcuzkrick Walli p. 139.
Hist. Sk. of P. G.'8.
Luschtig isch's Zigeuner
Lecwe p. 134.
Mei Buwli p. 29.
Mei Fraa un Kind p. 94«
Owet Lied p. 118.
Reichdum (after Felner) ... p. 27.
'S Badd Alles Nix (after the
Palatinate) p. 133.
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346 The Pennsylvama-German Society.
'S Fruhjohr's Biiwli (after
Wcisman) p. 39.
Tiddel un Abodhekersbuchs
(after Nadler) p. 116.
Wasser Lied (after Felner).p. 93.
Wiegelied (after Fdncr) ...p. 124.
Zu gross for sei Hosse p. 126.
Der Krabb (Poe's Raven, Trans) . P. G., Vol. IX, 8, 373-
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. II, 93-
Kuchler's Ruuscht Hist. Berks, p. 991.
Frbbman, J. E.:
Schlitz Beer P. G., Vol. V, 3, 118.
Gbhrhardt, William:
Dc Leab Schwatar P .G., VoL IX, 10, 470.
Die Alt FamQia Uhr P. G., Vol. VIII, 3, 13.
D. M., 2, p. 114.
Goethe von Berks:
See Brunner, David B.
Graeff, I. E.:
Im Bergeland D. M., p. 117.
En Ruf an die Bruder D. M., p. 119.
Grob, Samuel:
Die Blinde Man un' der Elefant. . P. G., Vol. X, 11, 693.
Wann d'r Froscht is uf de Kerbsc. P. G., Vol. X, 11, 694.
Gruber, M. a.:
Der Alt Fischcrmann P. G., Vol. IV, 2, 263.
Die Alta Bapplabaem P. G., Vol. VI, 2, 267.
Die Letscht Maud Muller P. G., VoL V, i, 26.
Die Womelsdorfcr 'Cademic P. G., VoL V, 2, 73.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 347
Du bistwic cine Blumc (Trans.). P. G., Vol. V, i, 26.
'Hacnd all 'rum (Trans.) P. G., Vol. VI, 4, 363.
'M " Leaven " Sei Sauertheg .... P. G., Vol. II, 2, 67.
'N Schoenie Aide He'math P. G., Vol. Ill, 4, 157.
Sell Schtettel im Nordldll Dahl. .P. G., Vol. VIII, 9, 450.
Ziim Andenken an L. L. Grum-
binc P. G., Vol. V, 4, 160.
Grumbinb, E.:
Der Alt Busch Doktor Stumps. Stories, p. 145.
Dcr Pralhans Pro. P. G. S., Vol. V, 348.
P. Leb. Hist. Soc., V, 148.
D. M., 2, p. 77.
Die Alt verlosse Muehl (Trans.). P. G., Vol. VI, i, 203.
Die Mary un Ihr Hundle Leb. Report, Nov. 2, '01.
P. G., Vol. VIII, 8, 394.
Die Welt uf Vendue (Trans.).. P .G., Vol. Ill, 4, 161.
En Gluckvoll Bieplin P. G., Vol. VIII, 6, 281.
Es Bodt Alles Nix (Trans.) P. G., Vol. IV, 2, 264-
Gedachtniss der Rothen Kolbe
(Trans.) P. G., VoL I, 4, 26.
Hoch der Teddy P. G., Vol. II, 12, 755-
After the Election P. G., Vol. II, 12, 755.
(See also Prose for Grumbinb, E.)
Grumbinb, Lbb Light:
"Der Dengelstock — published at Lebanon, Pa., 1903, 153
pages.
Der Alt Deng^tock P. Leb. His. Soc, Vol. I, 53.
P. G., Vol. I, I, 8.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII, 86.
p. 54.
Home 3d, p. 157.
D. M., 2, p. loi.
Der Reim vom alte See Mann
(Trans.) p. 92.
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348 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Der Schumacher p. 32*
P. G., Vol. V, 3, 116.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII, 64.
Der Vicrt July p. 37.
R a, Vol. VI, 3, 304.
P. G., Vol. IX, 7, 327.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII, 69.
Die Alt Bcwy Fritduc
' (Trans.) Pro. P. G. S., VoL VI, 88.
p. 58.
P. G., Vol. IV, 4, 347.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII, 90.
Die Uhr in der Kuch
(Trans.) p. 40.
Pro. P .G. S., VoL XII, 72.
Ein Psalm des Lebens
(Trans.) p. 60.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII, 92.
Elendig p. 35*
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII, 67.
Ich war Jurymann p. 45.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII, 77.
Mei arme Be' p. 42.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII, 74.
P. G., Vol. II, I, 14.
'S Latwerg Koche p. 49.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII, 81.
P. Leb. Hist Soc, Vol. I, 2.
P. G., Vol. I, 4, 22.
Sonntag Morgeds an der
Ziegel Kerch p. 25.
P. a, VoL IV, 3, 309-
Pro. P. G. S., VoL XII, 57.
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Pennsylvani/hGerman Dialect Writings. 349
Harbaugh, Hbnry:
"Harbaugh's Harfe," Phfladdphia, 1870, 121 pp., 2d ed.
Busch un Schtcdtd p. 51.
P. G., Ill, 2, 112.
D. M., 2.
Guard., Mar., 1862.
AI., Vol. II, 242.
Das Alt Schulhaus an der
Krick p. 13.
P. D. H., p. 210.
P.Leb.Hlst.Soc.,Vol.I,ii.
D. M., p. 15.
Home, 3d ed., p. 127.
Life of Har., p. 68.
P. G., Vol. V, 2, p. 78.
Guard., Aug., 1861.
Woll. Gcmalde, p. 86.
Das Krischkindel p. 39.
Al., Vol. II, 247-
D. P., Vol. XV, 377-
D. M., p. 21.
P. G., Vol. XI, 12, 754.
Guard.
Der Alte Feierhcerd p. 25.
Guard.
Der Bcknickel p. 23.
Guard.
Der Kerchcgang in Alter
Zcit p. 61.
P. G., Vol. Ill, 2, 61.
W. B. Kal., 1910, p. 121.
Guard.
Der Pihwie p. 59,
Guard, May, 1862.
Der Reiche Herr im Deich. .p. 37.
P. a. Vol. Ill, I, 24 .
Guard.
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350 The Pennsylvania^Gcrman Society.
Dcr Rejeboge P. 53-
AL, VoL II, 251.
Weltbote Calender for 1908.
Guard., Jan., 1861.
Die Alt Miehl p. 45.
Al., Vol. II, 248.
Guard., June, 1862.
Die Neie Sort Dschent'lleit..p. 21.
Al., Vol. II, 246.
Guardian.
Die Schlofschtub p. 31.
Guard., Apr., 1862.
Heemweh p. 77.
P. D. H., p. 215.
D. M,. p. 9.
Life of Har., p. 63.
Gospel Messenger, Elgin,
III., Aug. 6, '11.
Guard., Nov., 1861.
Woll. Gcmalde, p. 92.
Guardian, Feb., 1862.
Lah Bisniss p. 69.
Will widder Buweli Sci ... .p. 65.
Hal. P. D., p. 55.
Guard., Nov., 1862.
Father Ab., Feb., 1869.
En Stick Hewer's Aemfeld. .Ref. Ch. Al.
P. G., Vol. V, I, 27.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XI, 2, 30.
Das Union Arch Guard., Aug., 1862.
Die Staedtel Bump Leb. Adv.
Hark, J. Max:
An Der Fair Pro. P. G. S., Ap. X, 15.
P. G., Vol. IV, I, 208.
Home, 3d ed., p. 162.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 351
Dec Amshel Pro. P. G. S., Vol. X, Ap. 25.
P. a, Vol. II, 68.
Dcr Aide Karch Hof Ufm Barg.Pro. P. G. S., Vol. X, Ap. 23.
Der Koo Shdohr Pro. P. G. S., Vol. X, Ap. 30.
Dcr Shbohde Shool Boo Pro. P. G. S., Vol. X, Ap. 20.
En Leychd Pro. P. G. S., Vol.X, Ap.31.
En Hermhoodtcr Oshdcr Marge. Pro. P. G. S., V0I.X, Ap. 18.
Firel Pro. P. G. S., Vol.X, Ap. 21.
Im Bush Vann's Shnayd Pro. P. G. S., Vol. X, Ap. 22.
Unnich 'em Keschde Bawm Pro. P. G. S., Vol. X, Ap. 13.
Unser Henny Pro. P. G. S., Vol. X, Ap. 27.
Vann der Wind Blohsdt Pro. P. G. S., Vol. X, Ap. 26.
Heilman, S. p.. Collector.
Pennsylvania German Rimes P. Leb. Hist. Soc, Vol. 1, 11.
Mei Schoene Sally.
Des Buchlich Maennli.
Now Bill Ich will dich froge.
Ich hob g'tram't.
Mei Ulla, Ulla Ei.
Schpinn, Schpinn mei Lieve
Tochter.
Henninger, M. C:
Der Yokel un die Lunch Route. .P. G., Vol. IV, 3, 319.
Die Singschula im Land P. G., Vol. VIII, 8, 392.
D. M., 2, p. 134.
En Hunnert Johr Zurtick D. M., 2, p. 89.
'S Fawra in D'r Tran Home, 3d ed., p. 112.
G. B,. p. 251.
Hermany, Edward:
Die OUd Bluddshawl MS.
Die Yuggules Leicht MS.
D'r Boodsher Wiggle MS.
D'r Dorraday ear Huchdsich MS.
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35^ The Pennsylvania-German Society.
D't Olid Dcedrc MS.
D'r Old Knucha Fiidz MS.
D'r Olid Sously MS.
D'r Porra Tiddlc MS. '
D'r Shtodd Onglc im Boosh MS.
Eckcnrohd MS.
Foom Lodw'rk Kucha MS.
Foon d*r Hoyct ^ . MS.
Foon d'r Ahm MS.
Fumahahr (Preface) MS.
Gebt oons Ollda Shool Korregder.MS.
Hinnanoh MS.
K'rch oon Shoodlmetsch MS.
Lebens Mude MS.
Lobbes MS.
Meddlezoyer MS.
S' Barvelcha MS.
S' Olid Wyscrla MS.
S' Werd cwa so sy sulla MS.
Wie die Olda Noch d'r Hyo sin. . MS.
Hill, C. F.:
Die Kerch is Aus P. G., Vol. VII, 2, 83.
Horn, A. P.:
Die Alte Grabmacher P. G., Vol. XI, 10, 626.
HoRNB, A, R., Ed.:
Pennsylvania Gennan Manual, 4th Edition, Allentown, Pa.,
372 pages, 1 910.
Rimes Home, 4th ed., p. 108.
(See also D. B. Brunner, F. R. Bninner, Fischer, L. L.
Grumbine, Henry Harbaugh, J. Max Hark, M. C. Hen-
ninger, Student Kopenhaver, Elwood Newhard, E. H.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 353
Rauch, Rhoadcs, H. A. Schuler, J. B. Stoudt, C. Z.
Weiser, Tobias Witmer, A. C. Wuchtcr, C. C. Ziegler.)
(Sec also Prose.)
HuLSBUCK, Solly:
See MiLLBR, Harvey.
HowER, Harry:
Der Saflor das Nimmjoneh Kumt.P. G., Vol. V, i, 25.
J.J. B.:
Der Valentine Dawg Heil. Col.
Die Elf etritscha Jagt Leb. Report.
P. G., Vol. VII, I, 37.
Die Metzel Soup Leb. Report, Feb. 5, 1900.
Keller, Eli:
Aageweh MS.
Alter Mutterklag un Trost MS.
Bericht an die Klassis D. M,. p. 50.
Christ Daag MS.
Der Alt Weide Baam D. M., p. 59.
Der Holzhacker D. M., p. 63.
Der Jockel D. M., p. 69.
P. G., Vol. VIII, II, 560.
Der Keschtabaam P. G., Vol. VIII, 10, 505.
Der Schnee Starm P. G., Vol. VI, 2, 269.
D. M., 2, p. 63.
Der Winter Kummt D. M., p. 61.
Der Stadtbu am Welshkomf eld . .D. M., 2, p. 65.
Die Deutsch Sproch P. G., Vol. I, 2, 20.
D. M., p. 67.
Die Wesch Fraa P. G., Vol. II, i, 12.
Dnicke un Heesz MS.
Es Schaudert Mich! D. M., 2, p. 68.
23
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354 ^A^ Pennsylvania^German Society.
Holz Bcschl^a D. M., p. 65.
Keschte Peife MS.
Mei Kerschebaam MS.
Mcr Wolla Fischc Gch P. G, Vol. IV, 2, 262.
D. M., p. 54.
Monet Spriich D. M., p. 71.
'N Buwli is's MS.
*S Glatt Eis Fahrc MS.
'S Mche mit der Deutsche Sens.. P. G., Vol. II, 3, 109.
D. M., p. 46.
'S Wetter Brccht MS.
Sag Nix D. M., p. 62.
Trub Wetter D. M., p. 68.
Vum Flachsbaue P. G., Vol. II, 4, 158.
Unser P. D. Kal., 1895.
'S Flachs Stueck.
Der Flachs Blueht.
Der Flachs is Zeitig.
Flachs Roppe.
Flachs Britsche.
Flachs Roetse.
Flachs Breche.
Flachs Schwinge.
Flachs Hechle.
Flachs Spinne,
Wann der Rege Widder Kummt.D. M., 2, p. 67.
Wilda Dauwa P. G., Vol. VIII, 4, 183.
KoHLER, W. F.:
Der Auto Waga P. G., Vol. VIII, 4, 183.
KOPBNHAVBR ShDUDENT:
'M Shded'l Mon Sei Wunsh Home, 3d ed., p. 117.
KopuN, A. B.:
Kerche Streit MS.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 355
Landis, J. B. (Hennbr Hoiwenner) :
Der Bower und der Marrick Beaver Springs Herald.
Leisenring, E. D.:
Spotjohr
(See also Prose.)
LiSBERGER, R.:
Der Miller un die Muhl . . ,
LONGNECKER, J. H. :
Die Alte Kersche Beem
Mays, George:
Das Alt Wertshans
Das Spinnrad ....
Der Alt Kerchhof .
Der Alt Mann . . .
Der Gigerigee ....
.P. Q, Vol. 111,4, 160.
Zeit
Der Honsworsht .
Die Brunne Trog
Die Clock
Die Kerche Clock
Die Shule in der Alte
Frie Yohr im Lond
Hoyet un Em
Psalm des Lebens (Trans.)
'Sis now shun meh als fufzig Johr.MS*
Will Ich bei der Woret Bleiwc. . MS
. .D. M., 2, p. 99.
..P. C, Vol. XI, 8, 501.
.MS.
.D. M., p. 36.
.D. M., p. 27.
.D. M., p. 31.
.P. C, Vol. 111,3, 1 10.
D. M., p. 43.
.Flugblatt.
.D. M., p. 40.
.P. C, Vol VII, 1,38.
.D. M., 2, p. 97.
.MS.
. Flugblatt
.MS.
.P. C, Vol. VI, 2, 270.
Mengel, J. L. :
*Sis nimme wie 's als War . ,
.D. M., 2, p. 125.
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3S6 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Meyer, Henry:
Dcr Alt Schamschtce P. G., Vol. VIII, 5, 232.
Die Alt Heemet Flugblatt.
P. G., Vol. IX, 6, 279.
Die Mary hut en Lamb (Trans.) Flugblatt.
Finkel, Finkel Klehne Schtem
(Trans.) Flugblatt.
Im Heckedahl Flugblat.
P. a, Vol. XI, 9, 563.
Mei Schtettd Schul Flugblatt.
To my old friend, Reuben Stover. MS.
Miller, Daniel, Ed.:
Pennsylvania German, Reading, Pa., 1904. Prose and Poetry.
See: Anonjonous, D. B. Bnmner, F. R. Bnmner, J. S.
Dubbs, P. F. Eisenbrown, H. L. Fischer, I. Graef, H. Har-
baugh, Eli Keller, George Majrs E. Reinecke, Thos. Rhoads,
John Vogt, C. Z. Weiser.
See also Prose.
Pennsylvania German, Vol. II. Issued 19 11. Reading, Pa.
(See also Prose.)
See Rachel Bahn, D. B. Bnmner, F. Bnmner, E. M. Eshel-
men, W. Gerhardt, E. Grumbine, L. L. Grumbine, H. Har- '
baugh, M. C. Henninger, Eli Keller, J. Lisberger, George
Mays, J. Mengel, C. C. More, E. Rondthaler, H. Schuler, D.
B. Shuey, I. S. Stahr, L. A. Wollenweber.
Miller, Harvey (Solly Hussbuck) :
"Pennsylvania German Poems," Elizabethville, Pa., 1906.
Two editions.
Awgawanet p. 28.
Hul. P. a, 192.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 357
BQly Bloseroar p. 23.
Hul. P. G. Ston, p. 9-
Dawler Waitza p. 48.
Dc Farbessering p. 77.
Dc Guta Tseita p. 76.
Dc Knitza Fife p. 78.
Hul. F. G. Stor., p. 79.
Dcr Bicher Agent p. 63.
Hul. F. G. Stor., 37.
Hul. F. G., 189.
Der Butcher p. 38.
Der Deitsch A. B. C p. 71.
Hul. F. G. Stor., 83.
Der Haws p. 58.
Hul. F. G. Stor., 57.
Der Magnet p. 75.
Der Sensa Wetzcr p. 53-
En Drawm p. 9.
En Volcntinc p. 34.
En Worhofter Fisher p. 15.
Epita£E p. 75.
Fendu p. 43.
Free Yohr p. 5.
Fun Kindheit zu Ewigkeit. . .p. 84.
Hul. F. G. Stor., 77.
Hend in de Seek p. 8,1.
Hul. F. G. Stor., 71.
Himmels Eck p. 76.
Ich bin so gaim Derhame . . .p. 31.
Im Winter p. 42 .
Kreiz Waig* p. 55.
Leeb und G'sundheit p. 87.
Hul. F. G. Stor., 61.
Lond's Mon we Gaids p. 35.
Mensha Fresser P- 67.
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3S8 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Mcr Ncmt's Wc's Coomt. . .p. 68.
HuL P. G. Stor., 45.
Hul. P. G., 158.
Nanqr Hanks p. 26.
Neija Resolushuns p. 17.
Nci Yohr p. 49.
Oh Elcnd p. 45.
Hul. P. G. Stor., 27.
Shpode Yohr p. 13.
P. a, VoL Vn, 6, 320.
Sinda Shuld p. 67.
Sis oUes Iwerdu p. 60.
Hul. P. G. Stor., 47.
Unser Bandt p. 19.
Unscr Tniic p. 7.
Will widdcr Buvdy Si p. 39.
Hul. P. G. Stor., p. 17.
Wos Noshun Dut p. 77.
Wun der Porra Coomt p. 11.
P. G., Vol. Vin, 10, 503.
Wun Ich Dote Ware p. 21.
"Pennsylvania German Stories," Elizabethville, Pa., 1907.
112 pp.
De Nacht vor Krischdag
(Trans.) p. 91.
Hul. P. G. P., p. 78.
De Krutza Pif e p. 79.
Hul. P. G. P., p. 78.
Der Bicher Agent p. 37.
Hul. P. G. P., p. 63.
Der Billy Bloseroar p. 9.
Hul. P. G. P., p. 23.
Der Deitsch A. B. C. p. 83.
Hull P. G. P., p. 71.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 359
Der Haws p. 57.
Hul. P. G. P., p. 58.
Fun Kindhcit tsu Ewigkeit..p. 77*
Hul. P. G. P., p. 84.
Hend in dc Seek p. 71.
Hul. P. a P., p. 81.
Lecb und G'sundheit p. 61.
HuL P. G. P., p. 87.
Mer Nemt's Wc's Coomt. . .p. 45.
Hul. P. G. P., p. 68.
O Elend! p. 27.
Hul. P. G. P., p. 45.
Romeo and Juliet (Balcony
Scene) p. 33.
Schlofe Bubbeli p. 107.
Shule Shticker p. 65.
Sis OUes Iwerdu p. 47.
Hul. P. G. P., p. 60.
Will widder Buvely Si p 17.
Hu. P. G. P., p. 39.
"Pennsylvania German" Elizabethville, Pa., 191 1. See also
Prose.
Awgavanet p. 192
Hul. P. G. P., p. 28.
Awtzacha und B'deitunga. . .p. 15.
BaM Dawg p. 63.
Base BoUa p. 107.
De Mommy era Kolenner ... p. 3.
Der Feert Jooly p. 25.
Der Olmechtich Dawler .... p. 35.
P. G., Vol. IX, 9, 424.
De Olda Shpol Dawga p. 45.
P. G., Vol. X, 8, 404.
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360 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
De Picnic p. 139-
Dnika Wed'r p. 141.
De Karcha Bell p. 143.
De Till era WoUentine p. 157.
De gute Olt Summer Tseit. .p. 179.
P. G., Vol. XI} 9, 563.
De Kwilting Pardy p. 184.
De Olt Seid'r Med p. 185.
De Olt Wek p. 182.
Der Bicher Agent p. 189.
Hul. P. G. Stor., p. 37.
Hul. P. G. P., p. 63.
Der Boss p. 188.
Em Shumoch'r Sei Leed ... .p. 154.
En Brief tsu'm Sanda Claus.p. 69.
En Haemweh Shdick p. 187.
Es Boyertown Feier p. 77.
P. G., Vol. IX, 2, 87.
Es Nei Blawd p. 121.
Es Olt Finf Dawler Bill . . .p. 120.
Es Olt Yor un's Nei p. 71.
Fisha p. 95.
Freeyor p. 159.
Far oldars \m now p. 166.
Hartz Hung'r p. 180.
Im Washington sei Tseit . . .p. 85.
Mer Nemt's We's Kmnt . . .p. 158.
Hul. P. G. P., p. 68.
Hul. P. G. Stor., p. 45.
Menlich p. 177,
Mi Bubbeli (Trans.) p. 53.
Ich und die Polly MS.
Der Arsht Omschel MS.
Vakashun Tseit MS.
Moi 30 p. 97.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 361
Neia Resolutions p. 191.
Och du Icwar p. 83.
Tswa Klana Shu p. 149.
P. a, Vol. XI, 3, 179.
Un's Schnitzler's Shdor p. 186.
Wun da Sanda Claus Kumt. .p. 190.
Wun dc Band Shbcdd p. iii.
MiLLBR, Lewis:
Nooch Baltimore geht unser Fuhr. Am. Volk., p. 77.
MiNNICH, A. K.2
Der Bettle Mon
Der Oldt Huls Blotz . .
MoHR, Ella:
Dc Lecba County Fair . •
Mors, Charles C:
Der Tschellyschlecker . .
Die Schatta un der EIrick
Leera Bumpa
Mei Drom
Unschuldig g'stroft ....
Unsere Jugendzeit . .
St P. G.
.P. G., Vol. II, I, IS.
.P. G., Vol. I, 3, 12.
.P. G., Vol. X, 9, 462.
..P. G., Vol. VIII, II, s6i.
• P. G., Vol. VIII, 8, 392.
.P. G., Vol. X, 5, 237.
. P .G., Vol. VIII, 8, 392.
.D. M., 2, p. 136.
..P. G., Vol. VIII, 6, 282
Newhard, Elwood:
Wic ich en Ch^ war (Trans.) . . Home, 2d ed., 115.
Libretto — ^Pennsylvania-Dutch " Pinafore."
Onkbl Jeff:
See Rhoads, Thomas B.
Paulles, H. S.:
Em Sam Sei Elinner P. G., Vol. IX, 5, 230.
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362 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Rauch, E. H.:
Die Pennsylvania Millitz P. D., VoL I, No. 2.
Shakespeare in Pennsylvania
Julius Caesar (Act III, Sc
2/ ••••••••••••••••••• • X • U» Jlx*} P« 210«
Hamlet (Act I, Sc. 5) P. D., VoL I, No. i
P. D. H., p. 220.
Home, 2d ed., p. 121.
King Richard HI.
(Act I, Sc i) P. D. H., p. 219-
(Act V, Sc. 4) P. D. H., p. 220.
(See also Prose).
Reinbckb, E. W.:
Die Alt Plainfield Kerch D. M., P. 122.
P. G., Vol. X, 7, 316.
Rhoades, Thomas (Onkbl Jeff) :
Der Bullfrog war Versoffe P. G., Vol. VHI, 10, 493*
D. M., 2, p. 1 10.
Des Alt Acht Eckig Schulhaus . . .D. M., 2, p. 80.
Die Alt Mahl Mud P. G., Vol. H, 3, 112.
Die Tadler MS.
Die Wiskey Buwe D. M., p. 1 14.
Home, 3d ed., p. 151.
Nei Yohr Schitz P. G., Vol. IH, i, 23.
Neue Besem Kehre Gut MS.
Neue Mode MS.
Schpuks Oder ken Schpuks MS.
'S Latwcrk Koche fer Alters P. G., Vol. II, 4, 156.
D. M., III.
Unner 'm Walnissbaam P. G., Vol. I, i, 18.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 363
RONDTHALBR, E.:
Abcndlicd D. Kin, Aug., 1849.
Naz. Hall. Ap., p. 24.
P. G, Vol I, 2, 18.
P. a, Vol. VII, 3, 121.
D. M., 2, p. 48.
SCHANTZ, F.J. F.:
Die Summer Schul Fried.
Sk. Lecba Thai, p. 61 •
Eppes fon sellem Spuck Fried.
Sk. Lecha Thai., p. 60.
In dcr Spiel Stunde Fried.
Sk. Lecha Thai., p. 61.
'S Schulhaus am Sandloch Fried.
Sk. Lecha Thai, p. 59.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. VI, 38.
P. G., Vol. VI, 3, 306.
Shbblbigh, M.:
The Pernisylvania Gennan (2 dia-
lect v.) Pro. P. G. S., Vol. Ill, 56.
Shuey, D. B.:
Schulhaus an der Kerch P. G., Vol. VIII, 7, 335.
D. M., 2, p. 74.
SCHULER, H. A.:
Das ist im Leben hesslich einge-
richtet P. G., Vol. X, 11, 693.
Dcr Beik P .G., Vol. Ill, 1,26.
Home, 3d ed., p. 145.
Die Mammi Ihre Schindd
(Trans.) P. G. Vol. IX, 7, 136.
En Gem Kalenner Unser P. D. Kalenner, 1905.
P. G., Vol. IX, I, 39.
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364 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Stahr, Isaac:
Der Winter D. M,. 2, p. 55.
Die Alt Uhr P. G., Vol. IX, 10, 628.
Die Kcrchc Bell D. M., 2, p. 61.
Die Oley Picnic P. G., VoL XI, 2, 113.
Es Jahresfcst am Wcischaus D. M., 2, p. 57.
Stein, Thomas S. :
Uf *M OVcrstc Spcichcr
. P. Leb. Hist. Soc., Vol. 1, 13.
Stoudt, J. Baer, Collector:
Pennsylvania German Rh3mies and
Riddles Jour. Am. F., 19, 113.
Home, 4th ed., p. 116.
Riddles.
Counting Out Rhymes.
Cradle Songs.
Evening Prayer.
Mock Sermon.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XXIII.
Stump, Adam:
Der Alt Kerchof
Der Bu am Steh Lehse .
Der Wald
Der Zuk
Die Alt Cider Muehl . . ,
Die Dallastown Reunion .
Die Mami Schloft
Die Muttersprooch
Es Haemelt Em a'
Es Hof Dehrle
(One of the above poems was
College psiptt in the nineties. A.
.P. G., Vol. I, 3, 28.
.P. a, Vol. V, I, 30.
.MS.
.P. G., Vol. II, 2, 70.
.P. G., Vol. Ill, 4, 156.
.P. G., Vol. VI, 3, 307.
.P. G., Vol. IX, 5, 229.
.P. G., Vol. VII, 3, 135.
.P. G., VoL IV, 3, 321.
.P. G., Vol. VIII, 6, 280.
published in the Pennsylvania
s.)
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 365
Thompson, A. C:
Ungcduld MS.
Dcr Alt Parra Easton Argus, 1886.
VoGT, John:
Dcr Alt Kcrchhof .
En Fnihjohr's Lied
Wbiser, C. Z.:
D'r Kramer
.D. M., p. 104.
.D. M., 109.
• Home, 1st ed., p. 57.
Home, 3d ed., p. 108.
Zum Andenke an Dr. Harbaugh. .H. Harfe, p. 9.
D. M., p. 24.
Weitzel, Louisa:
Der Alt Kcrchhof
Der Bush
Der Mensh . . .
Die Amschel . .
Die Besht Zeit
En Auf ruf ....
En Character . .
Hie un do en Liedel
Nei Yohr
...P. G., Vol. HI, 2, 63.
...P. G., Vol. n, 3, 112.
...P. G., Vol. X, II, 575.
...P. G., Vol. IV, 4, 351.
...P. G., Vol. HI, 4, 162.
...P. G., Vol. XI, II, 695.
...P. G., Vol. V, 4, 162.
. . MS.
..MS.
Sauerkraut P. G., Vol. IV, 2, 258.
Weller, H. a. :
Grossmutterchen am Feierheerd. . . P. G., Vol. X, i, 36.
WiTMER, Tobias:
DeFreschlin P. D., Vol. I, i.
Tran. Am. Phil. Soc
Der Himmd uf d'Erde P. D., Vol. I, 3.
Der Schnay P. D., Vol. I, 3.
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366 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Gebiirtsdag Hal. P. D., p. 42.
P. D., Vol. I, 2.
P. D. H., p. 216.
Father Ab., Feb. 8, 1870.
Seks Oor Home, ist ed.» p. 59.
Home, 3d ed., p. 109.
WOLLENWEBBR, L. A.:
" Gemalde aus dem Pennsylvanischen Volksleben/' Philadelphia
und Leipzig, 1869, 143 pp. (See also under WoUen-
weber.) U indicates that author is not named. W
and L.A.W. are used for WoUenweber.
Das Lied von der Union U. .p. 69.
Der Herbst U p. 27.
Der Herbst U p. 30.
Der Pit un die Betz U p. 97-
Der Winter U p. 31.
Die Berg Marie U p. 126.
Die Luterische Kerch bei
Trappe W p. 85.
Fruehling und Jugend L. A.
W. p. 18.
Fruehjohr U p. 10.
Haemweh (Harbaugh) ....p. 92.
Heirat's Anzeichung W,
Morgenstem, Express ....p. 36.
Ich bin ein Pennsylvanier ... .p. 5.
D. P.
Pick Dia.
Im Fruehjohr U p. 7.
Im Summer L. A W. p. 19.
Pick Dia.
Schulhaus an der Krick U
(!!) p. 86.
Verheiratet M p. 47.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 367
Wie der Ben sich verliebt. • . .p. 100.
Express.
Zwe Brief U . . . , p. 66.
WUCHTBR, A. C. :
''Many of the following poems appeared first anonymously in
the Allentown Democrat," A. C. W.
Der Verlora Ehsd P. G., Vol. IV, 4i 353-
Der Geitz P. G., Vol. IV, 3, 320.
Der Hendrik Voss P. G., Vol. VI, 4, 357-
Der Pihwie P. G., Vol. II, 2, 69.
Der Porra Koons MS.
Der Yolli Versteht's net All. Dem.
Der Yoli Wunscht All. Dem.
Die Aerschta Hussa P. G., Vol. X, 11, 575.
Die 'Hio Naus All. Dem., May, 1910, Jun.
28, 1910.
Die Muttersprooch P. G., Vol. IX, 4, 183.
Die Kalmustown G'meh . . . .All. Dem., Nov., 1910.
Die Kinneryohr P. G., Vol. X, 5, 238.
Fasnacht P. G., VoL III, 2, 61.
Home, 3d ed., p. 165.
Fiert July P. G., Vol. Ill, 3, 109.
Fische Geh MS.
Guckuloh All. Dem.
Hans un Herrgott ..All. Dem., 1907.
Humming Birds All. Dem., 1907.
Lai Show All. Dem.
Im Druvel MS.
Lumpaparty P. G., Vol. XI, 9, 592.
P. G., Vol. XII, I, 59.
P. G., Vol. XII, 2, 118.
'M Dinkey Sei Knecht P. G., Vol. IX, 2, 89.
Moi Lied All. Dem.
Mugtown Rieschter All. Dem.
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368 The Pennsylvania^German Society.
Nofcmbcrklatg P. G., Vol. Ill, 4, 159.
An's Honnese All. Dem.
Schlittafahre P. G., VoL III, i, 22.
P. G., Vol. IX, I, 38.
Schpundaloch P. G., VoL VI, i, 204.
Yuni Lied AIL Dcm.
Der Berks County Riegd-
wcg (On incident better than
any Ford joke) MS.
Katz Fersaefa (Instead of
death, cat got soaped) MS.
Der Dad (Wobbly legs and
flower beds) MS.
Englisch udder Deitsch (De-
generation) MS.
Em Yosey sei Autobomil (He
describes them) MS.
WiUa Macha (A trick at
many a deathbed) MS.
Es Koscht tzu fiel (Donkey
against knowledge) MS.
Ferdreht, ferkehrt MS.
Die Harrafegal (How they
got into trouble MS.
October MS.
ZiBGLBR, Charlbs Calvin:
" Drauss un Deheem," Leipzig, 1891. Out of print
An Mei Peif p. 19.
Bryant's Thanatopsis (Trans.) ... p. 41.
Cremation p. 15.
Dar Gut " Henner " p. 16.
Dar Nadurgeischt p. 22.
P. G., Vol. V, 4, 163.
Dar Rewwer un Ich p. 20.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 369
Der Schnitter un die Blume
(Trans.) p. 38.
P. G., Vol. IX, 9, 423.
Dedication p. 3.
Die Alte Lieder p. 10.
Home, 3d ed., p. 120.
P. G., Vol. VI, I, 204.
Draus un Deheem p. 9.
P. G,. Vol. IV, I, 214.
Du Wolk mit de weisse Fliggel. . . p. 21.
Emerson (Trans.) p. 40.
E^ Schneckehaus p. 11.
Es Sonnett p. 18.
Im Draam P* 14.
In Ruh p. 19.
Kitzel Mich Net p. 12.
Lied an die Nacht (Trans.) ... .p. 39.
*M Daag sei Dod p. 19.
*N Altfashioned Buch p. 17.
Samschdaag Owet p. 11.
Schnee Flocke (Trans.) p. 37.
Zum Denkmal
Heem kumm ich, iin schteh
widder do .p. 24.
Kumm, Schweschter, kumm
un heil net so p. 25*
Fart vum daheem un darch
die Welt p. 26.
In daere Schtille Summers-
nacht p. 26.
Wann epper saage dhat zu
mir p. 27.
Ich sehn die scheckige Dage
geh p. 28.
Die Welt geht rum, was
24
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370 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
dunkd is p. 28.
Des is mei HofiEnung dass d'r
Dod p. 29.
Dar Sud Wind bringt de
Mensche Muth p* 30*
Sci bci m'r uf mei'm Lcwcs-
paad p. 30.
Du scheeni kleeni Weissi
Blum p. 31.
Dar Noah hut sich b'sunna
dann p. 32.
Owet am aerschte Oschter-
daag p. 33.
Wami Laylocks blihe schee
un siis p. 34*
Wic Krischtus Ufeischtamie
is p. 34.
Is es vielleicht 'n Draam in
Schlof? p. 35.
Die Sunn geht unner in der
West p. 36.
Am Danksagung Dag P. G., VoL VII, 7, 374.
Die Laming P. G., VoL IV, 3, 314.
En Simpler Mon P. G., Vol. VIII, 10, 504.
Mie Mutterspiooch P. G., Vol. X, 5, 238.
Sauerkraut Pro. P. G. S., Vol. Ill, 136.
Zimmerman, Thomas:
Metrical Translations.
Bcwi Mein OUa Podrida.
Pro. P. G. S., VoL XII.
p. 129.
Der Alt Robin Grey Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII.
p. 113.
Olla Podrida.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 371
Der Gut Dschorg Campbell. . OUa Podrida.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII.
p. 109.
Der Wcg Noch Schhimmer-
land OUa Podrida.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII.
p. 13s.
Die Jung Witf raa Olla Podrida.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII.
p. III.
Die Nacht for dc Chrisch-
daag Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII.
p. 117.
Olla Podrida.
P. G., Vol. I, I, II.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. II, 93.
Dschon Dschankin's Predich.OUa Podrida.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII.
p. 131.
E'n Licb G'sang Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII.
p. 135.
Olla Podrida.
Legt Eich Hie Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII.
p. 127.
Olla Podrida.
Lieder Olla Podrida.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII.
p. 137.
Mei Mopsy is Klee Olla Podrida.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII.
p. I09-
*N Neues "Casabianca" ...Olla Podrida.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII.
p. 121.
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37^ The Pennsylvania-German Society.
'N Traucr Gcdicht ufn
Dotcr Hund OUa Podrida,
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII.
p. I2S.
'S Dotes Bcdt OUa Podrida.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII.
p. 139.
Sing Madcl Sing Olla Podrida.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII.
p. 115.
Wan an're Frcunde rfaum
dich sin Olla Podrida.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. XII.
p. 123.
2. Prose.
(This does not include newspaper articles that have not subse-
quently been reprinted either in books or
magazines. — H. H. R.)
Anonymous (See also Poetry) :
Der Esel P. D., Vol. I, i, 23.
Der Gapenschenda Merder P. G., Vol. IX, 8, 375.
Dialog on selecting a Vocation . . . Fir., Vol. Ill, 445.
En Neie Cure for die Rumaties
(Adapted) P. a, Vol. VIII, 6, 282.
For Oldars Home, 3d ed., 102.
Geburtsmonet Profizeiimga P. G., IX, i, 41.
Letter Commending the publica-
tion of the Pennsylvania Dutch-
man P. D., Vol. I, I.
Letter with poem "Die Deitsche
Baura" P. D., Vol. I, 3.
Letter to the Editor of the
"Pionier" D. P., VoL VIII, 88.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 373
Lovclettcr an Mci Anni P. D., Vol. I, 2.
'M Captain Jones sei Chrisch
Kindel P. G., Vol. VII, 8, 431.
'M Jimmy Dull Sei Schnapschtuhl. P. G., VIII, 2, 89.
Pennsylvania German Proverbs. . .P. G., Vol. VII, 5, 265.
Uwa Nous Gonga P. D., Vol. I, 2.
Was em Happena kann, wann mer
Oier finnt P. G., Vol. VIII, 5, 233.
Widder aa geschmiert Hal. P. D., p. 49.
B. Q). Express, Jul. 20, 69.
Wie kunnt es Hal. P. D., p. 52.
Ger. Cot. & Dem., Aug. 25,
69.
Mrs. H. D. a.:
Die Sallie Geht noch Chicago. . . . P. G,. Vol. XI, 10, 627.
H. S. A.:
Die Macht der Muttersprache. . . P. G., Vol. XI, 5, 305.
Ash, L. a,:
Parable of the Prodigal Son P. D. H., p. 222.
P. D., Vol. I.
H. C. B.:
Grumblere Ke£Fer Ref . Ch. Rea
P. G., Vol. X, 7, 350.
Blitzfonger, Johnny:
Letter P. D., Vol. I, 2.
BooNASTiEL, Gottlieb:
See Harter, T. C.
Brunner, F. R. (See also Poetry) :
Siwe Briefe vun der Sallie Be-
semstiel M. H., Jan. 20, 1886, p. 25.
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374 ^*^ Pennsylvania-German Society.
DuBBS, J. (Sec also Poetry) :
Deutsche Settlements vor der Revo-
lution D. M., p. i6i.
FucHS, Mbik:
Charlie Green's Experienz mit
Eme Skunk P. G., Vol. VIII, 4, 184.
Gehring, Conrad:
Pennsylfawnish Deitsha Guw'r-
nera Home, 3d ed, 169.
Home, 4th ed., 203.
Grumbine, Ezra (See also Poetry) :
Die Inshurance Business Dramolet.
Die Yunga Richter P. G., Vol. VII, i, 39.
Hahnewackel:
Was mer G'happent is Bei'm
Hausbutza P. G., Vol. VII, 3, 137-
Wie mer imser OflFa Uf gschtellt
hen P. a, Vol. VII, 6, 320.
Hanjerg, Old Schoolmaster:
Der Haming P. G., Vol. VIII, 2, 86.
Der Sam Gilderi uf der Freierei. . P. G., Vol. VII, 7, 375.
En Paar Neijohrs Gedanke P. G., Vol. VIII, i, 41.
Is 's Maulhalta en Scheene Sach?. . P. G., Vol. VII, 2, 84.
Harter, T. H. (Gootlieb Boonastiel) :
"Boonastiel, Pennsylvania Dutch" Belief onte. Pa., 1904.
Aer Gaed Hawsa Hoonda. . . p. 85.
Are Schwared Ob p. 23.
By Da Soldawda p. 173.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 375
Dei BecUe Shtitsd
Im Orma house p. 113.
So Coomed Widder
Hame p. 115.
Die Deitscha un die Englisha. p. 24.
De Feela Ligner p. i02.
De Gickser p. 35.
De House Butz Gichtera ... p. 47.
De Hous Butz Gichtera
Brecha widder ous p. 92.
De Hoonds Dawga p. 1 1 !•
De Hoyet p. 16.
De Leit Woo Olsfart G'hared
Si WeUa p. 9.
De Maid sin Wi Glaena Fish .p. 11.
De Menscha un Die Monke3rs . p. 1 48.
Die Nia Laws os mer
Breicha p. 159.
De Orma hen Mer Olsfart
by Uns p. 98.
Denksht Are Gebt en Editor, p. 31.
Der Boonastiel an der Court, p. 116.
Der Bowera Boo un der
Dude p. 103.
Der Bush Hoond un der City
Hoond p. 171.
Der Butcher Dawg p. 44.
P. G., Vol. X, 4, 181.
Der Census 'Numerator .... p. 105.
Der Donks Dawg p. 45.
Der Fiert July p. 108.
Der Goot Freind p. 174.
Der Nei Nuchber p. 97.
Der Oldt Mon Lawft far en
Office p. 30.
Der Schmart Boo p. 121.
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376 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Der Boo os si Marrick
Maucht p. 164.
Der U-bcnnich Boo p. 163.
Em Boonastiel Sei Butcheres. p. 72.
Em Brown-Sequad si "Life
Lixcr" p. 63.
Em Grovcr Hclfe Tzccga. . . p. 161.
Em Mike Scndapctzcr si City
Fraw p. 83.
En Bower's Boo p. 156.
En Drawm p. 81.
En Hicr-rawd Pardy p. 68.
P. G., X, 2, 89.
En Maidel Frogt um Rode. .p. 57.
En Neie Sart Rigcl-wake p. 33.
En Ride uff ma Si-bickel p. 59.
En Shaeda Brief p. 49-
En Shil-grut p. 7.
En SiflEcr p. 42.
Es Rodda Nesht p. 12.
Friheit Convention
On der Convention. .. .p. 39.
Hame fun der Conven-
tion p. 41.
Gebt mere Duwock p. 54.
Grischkindlin Kawfa p. 50.
In Ma Hcxa Nesht p. 20.
Karraseera by Machinery ... p. 166.
Knecht ShoflEa p. 52.
My Leava's Lawf p. 5.*
On der Campmeeting p. no.
On der 'Noggeration Ball. . . p. 27.
On dere Weldt's Fare p. 169.
Onera Huchtzich p. 66.
Onera Leicht p. 61.
Rip Van Winkle
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 377
De Shtory p. 74,
Are Soocht En Oncry
Haemet p. 78.
Widdcr Uff Em Nesht.p. 79.
Saela Os Mer Net Essa Con. p. 119.
Shpeculata Mit Oner Leit
Eram Geld p. 37.
Shtride
Ons Hullerhecka p. 87.
Are Act Lawyer p. 89.
Shtride in der House-holdting
Es Sholk Yohr p. 123.
Druwel Mit Der Polly, p. 126.
En Tramp p. 128.
Unner Fremma Leit... p. 129.
In Der Jail p. 131.
Are Findt En Freind..p. 133.
Hame Wae p. 135.
Widder Im Dniwel ... p. 137.
Om Bowera p. 139.
Are un de Betsy Wetzel
Gaena Fisha p. 141.
In Fildelfy p. 143.
Widder Dahame p. 146 .
Shtyle Aw Do Won's Em
Net Bacoomed p. 91.
P. G., Vol. VIII, 3, 137.
Sols Rever.
Der Rever Druwa p. 130.
Wos Hut's Ga doo p. 152.
Im Sols Rever Shtore. . . p. 154.
Tsu Feel Leit p. 29.
Tswae Baniche Si p. 25.
Uff Der Kup G'shtelt p. 100.
Uff Em Karrich-hofe p. 18.
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378 The Pennsylvania^German Society.
Uff Ganiimma on Sime
Wardt p. 94.
Ware Sull de Prescilla Hint. p. 167.
Ware Sull Ich Hira p. 56.
We Con Ich's Bcsht Laeva
Maucha p. 95.
We Mer Gaid Fisha p. 65.
We's Gait Onera Infair p. io6,
Wos Gebts Mit Unsera
Boova p. 15.
Part 11.
Axioms and Epigrams
Shprichwordta p. 246.
Blesseer Coomed Oony G'-
frogt un Gait Ooney
G'haesa p. 221.
De College Boova p. 179.
P. G., Vol. IX, 9, 425.
Dcr Asel in Der Giles Howd . p. 242.
Der " Christian Science "
Duckter p. 195.
De Retcha un De Bletcha. . . p. 216.
Der Jecky Leebshtickle Tend
Court p. 223.
Der Mon Woo Reich-Awrem
is p, 201.
Der Oldt Billy Sultzer un De
Looder Grobba p. 182.
De Shuldt Os Leit Awrum
Sin p. 218.
Der Tswa Keppich Elefont. . p. 240.
De U-farshtenicha Fashions. . p. 185.
De Weipsleit in Politics .... p. 198.
En Jury-mon p. 187.
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Pennsylvania'German Dialect Writings. 379
Ich Wutt Os Ich en Bower
Ware p. 191.
In Fadclfy
Em Wannamaker Si
Karrich Hole p. 229.
Em Mike Sendq>etz€r Si
Stylishe Fraw p. 232.
Grishdom in Ga-koosh-
enda Sitz p. 235.
Widder Dahame p, 238.
Karrascera — ^Dcr Oldt un Der
Nei Wake p. 211.
On Der Teacher's Institute, .p. 214.
Onera Karicha Fare p. 203.
Politics un De Karricha .... p. 189.
Shtride in Der Hous-holdting
— was machts p. 209.
Unser Niar Porra p. 206.
Widder UflE Der Oldta
Bowerei p. 226.
Deitscha Leeder. See Pobtry, C. C. Ziegler and M. C.
Henninger.
Historical p. 255.
De Scientists un de Hexaductor. . P. G., Vol. IX, 10, 47.
De Suckers in Politics Home, 3d ed., 149.
Hoffman, W. J.:
Der Hok'Ibira Bang Jour. A. F. L., p. 194.
Der Marti Bechtel J6ur. A. F. L., p. 195.
Der Tshek Shtraus Jour. A. '»F. L., p. 193.
Di Granni Shidl Jour. A. F. L., p. 192.
Jake Strauss Jour. A. F. L., p. 194.
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380 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Proverbs Jour. A, F. L., p, 197!.
Gschicht fxin da alta Tsaita in
Fensilfani Pro. Am. Philosoph. S., Vol.
32.
HoRNB, A. R.:
"Pennsylvania German Manual/' ist ed., 1875; 2d ed., 1896;
3d ed., 1905; 4th ed., 1910.
Part I. English Pronuncia-
tion of P. G. words p. 5 f.
Part II. Pennsylvania-Ger-
man Literature with Eng-
lish Translations.
Sprich Werder p. 70 f.
Pro. P. G. S., Vol. II, p. 47.
Ratsla p. 78.
Reima p. 8i.
Schpichta p. 89.
De G'Breicha fun d'
Pennsy If an isch
Deitscha in 1 d t a
Zeita p. 93.
Fashtdauga p. 95.
De Oldta Games p. 100.
Gschichta p. 102.
See also Poetry — Wciser, Witmer, Henninger,
Newhard, Kopenhaver, Ziegler, Rauch, Harbaugh,
Fischer, Schuler, Rhoads, Grumbine, D. B. Brunner,
Hark, Wuchter.
See Prose-Gehring, Zimmerman, Schuler, Harter,
and Warner.
Part III. A Pennsylvania Ger-
man and English Dictionary. .. p. i84f.
(The page numbers are those of the 3d edition ; the 4th
edition contains 34 more pages.)
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 381
HuLSBUCK, Solly. Sec Millbr, Harvey.
John:
En Hexc G'scfaicht P. G., Vol. XI, 11, 605.
EIbllbr, Eli (See also Fobtry) :
En Ge^rach an der Mittel Fence. Fried., Jan. 20 & 27, '09;
Feb. 3 & ID, '09.
Pennsylvanier Sprich Worter. . . . Fried., Jul. 14, '09.
Wie der Stoffel Sei Geld Verlore
Hot D. M., p. 170.
H. W. K.:
Em Mark Twain Sei Kameel
(Trans.) P. G., Vol. VH, 4, 211.
Klotzkopp, Job, Esq.:
Mei Experienz im Circus P. G., Vol. VIII, 11, 561.
KuNRADT, Der Alt:
Letters to the Editor of the
Pionier D. P., Vol. IV, p. 7.
D. P., Vol. IV, p. so.
D. P., Vol. IV, p. 95.
D. P., Vol. IV, p. 132.
D. P., Vol. IV, p. 170.
D. P., Vol. IV, p. 203.
D. P., Vol. IV, p. 236.
D. P., Vol. IV, p. 258.
D. P., Vol. IV, p. 344.
D. P., Vol. IV, p. 298.
D. P., Vol. IV, p. 373-
D. P., Vol. IV, p. 402.
D. P., Vol. V, p. 2,
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382 The Pennsylvania-German Sbciety.
Lbisbnrino, E. D.:
Brief an " Der Deutsche Pionier ". D. P., May, 1882.
P. a, Vol IX, 7, 325.
Pennsylfawnisch Deitsch D. P., Vol. XIV, p. 70.
Miller, Daniel:
" Pennsylvania German," Vol. I, Reading, Pa., 1904.
Part I. ^ee Poetry, Harbaugh, Wbisbr, Mays, EIbllbr,
F. R. Brunnbr, Fisher, Vogt, Rhoads, Graeff,
Reineckb, Eisenbrown, Dubbs, and D. B.
Brunnbr.
Part II. Prose.
Bete Am Disch p. 169.
Buffel Ochse p. 227.
Busch Knuppel p. 243.
Das Alt Schulhaus p. 197.
Das Alt Schulhaus in Der
Stadt p. 204.
Das Battelje p. 231.
DeiweFs Loch p. 290.
Dem Conrad Weiser Sei
Drahm p. 271.
Dem Dr. Schaeffer sei Speech
an der SchaefiEer Reimion. . p. 166.
Dem Parre Sei Drahm p. 276.
Dem Pitt Sei Handwerk. ... p. 214.
Dem Parre Sei Worscht .... p. 275.
Dem Parre sei Gleichniss . . p. 245.
Dem Parre Stoey sei Pred-
dig p. 185.
Der Bauer un die Studente. . p. 292.
Der Dan Webster un Sei
Sens p. 236.
Der Elteste am Prcddige .... p. 182.
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Pennsylvania^German Dialect Writings. 383
Der Mose Dissinger p. 228.
Der Parte un die Schunke . . p. 272.
Dcs Leine Vorsage p. 280,
Die Gemee in Ochse-
schwamm p. 293.
Die Haase Preddig p. 289.
Die Kansel is Umgefalle .... p. 285.
Die Pennsylvanisch Deutsche, p. 156.
Die Regina Hartman p. 187.
Die Stadtel Bump p. 210.
Die Worzel viun Uewd .... p. 283.
Elbetritsche Fanga p. 263.
En Brief an Der Parre vun
der Jacobus Kirche p. 179.
En Gleichniss p. 287.
Englisch Denka un Deitsch
Schwatze p. 234.
En Laute Stimm p. 268.
En Parres Trick p. 284.
En Reich Paar p. 278.
Grosse Worte .p. 288.
Gauls Preddige p. 248.
Gross Gegrisch Awer Wennig
Woll p. 274.
Heiere uf Credit p. 286.
In der Kerch Schlofe p. 225.
Kerchegang vor Alters p. 192.
Korze Preddige p. 240.
Leckschonire p. 207.
Lunsch uf em Feld un in der
Kerch p. 261.
Pennsylvania Englisch p. 281. .
Sag Idi, Hab Ich Gesaht. ... p. 270.
Schlechte Parre p. 223.
Sonderbare Fenywell Pred-
dige p. 220.
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384 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Uewersetziinge-Translations. p. 266.
Was Gehappened is p. 257.
Wcr Hot die Welt Er-
schafiFe? p. 160.
Wetterhahne p. 238.
Wic en Loch zu Mache • . . . p. 265.
Wie cr Die Naas Verbrodie
Hot p. 178.
Wic er in der Semly War. . . p. 246.
Wic der Parre sich Rausge-
schalt Hot p. 219.
Wohlcbcrstadtel p. 217.
See also Prose, Keller, Dubbs, Zimmerman.
"Pennsylvania German," Vol. II, 1912.
Part I. Vocabulary of 1200 words.
Part II. Variations.
Part III. Literature.
See Poetry, Rondthaler, Harbaugh, Weiser, Stahr,
EIeller, F. R. Brunner, Shuby, E. Grumbine,
Rhoads, D. B. Brunner, Bahn, Lisberger^ L.
Grumbine, Gerhardt, Eshelman, Anonymous,
Henninger, Schuler, Mays^ More, Mengel,
wollenweber.
Prose.
Dem Kunradt Weiser sei
Shtore in Reading. Illus-
trated p. 169.
''Dem Kunradt Weiser sei
House. Illustrated p. I7i«
Der Bauer huts goot p. 236.
Der Parre Harbaugh. Por-
trait p. 183.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 385
Die Recht un die Letz Sort
Lcming p. 240.
P. G., XI, 7, 433.
En fcrhuttdt Wdt p. 249.
En Klane Kerch. Illustrated, p. 189.
En Pennsylvanier in der Stadt
Berlin p. 165.
Es Alt Korthaus in Reading. p. 173.
Ferennemnga und Improf-
ments p. 160.
Gebs de Judde p. 212.
Grumbiere Keffer p. 233.
In Fildelfi p. 222.
In New York P. G., Vol. X, 8, 406.
p. 228.
Ref . Rec.
Meiner Mammy ihr Spinnrad.
Illustrated p. 185.
Pennsylvanisch Deutsche Gc-
brauche p. 153.
Pennsylvanisch Deutsche
Sprichworte
Pennsylvanisch Deutsch Gou-
veniere. Illustrated p. 174.
Ref. Ch. Rec
Stadt un Landt p. 190.
Uf der Jury p. 253.
Wan Ich en Porre war p. 217.
Wan ich net Porre war ... .p. 219.
MiLLBR, Harvey (Solly Hulsbuck) :
" Pennsylvania German Stories," Elizabethville, Pa,, 1907. Sec
also Poetry.
Bank Bisness p. i.
y Basebolla G'shpielt p. 49.
as
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386 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Dc C. W. L, Society p. 53-
De Englisha p. 99*
Dc Fiert July Celebrashun. .p. 59,
De Irisha p. lOi.
De Mawd Gaid uf en
ShtrJBce p. I5,
De Nei Runzel im Shpella. .p. 67.
De Picnic p. 63,
De Polly Grickt en Sur-
prise. p. 19.
Der Ab Lincoln p. 3,
Der Bawfeesich Bu p. 11.
Der Fader Fu'm Lond p. 7.
Der Feert Jooly p. 43,
Der Inshing p. 103,
Der Nabukadnezzar und der
Napol3mn p. 109.
Der Reicha Era Drowel . • • p. 87.
Em Jeckie Si Komposishum.p. 29.
En Chury Mon p. 95.
En Thanksgiving Shtory ... p. 85.
P. G., Vol. IX.
En Trip Nodi Em Shtate
House p. 93.
Fendu p. 13.
Flying Macheena p. 51.
Geil Kawft und G'shwopp'd.p. iii.
Hochmood udder Hunger . . p. i.
Im Febiwerry p. S«
Labor un Capital p* 21.
Mi Pedigree p. 25.
Political Announcement .... p. 4*
Politicks p. 69.
Romeo and Juliet p. 3i«
Romeo and Juliet p. 35.
Setta de Weibsleit Vote? p. 81.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 387
Um Beara Hunda p. 75.
Un dcr Fair p. 73.
Was aw gaid im Dcich .... p. 23.
Wc's gaid won de Fraw em
in der Shtore Shickt p. 89.
Wos iss sugcess? p. 55.
Wos mcr Essa p. 39.
Wu dc Deitscha Harcooma.p. 97.
Wuts! Wuts! WutsI p. 105.
"Pennsylvania German," 191 1.
A 'ar is de onar wart p. 57.
Advertisa batsawld p. 168.
Badrochda noch da am .... p. 37.
Boona ob Medazen p. 9.
De Bevvy Singt en Anthem, p. 49,
De Huchtsich p. 170.
De Maria gaid iv'r der Barg. p. 176.
De Macht fun Klanichkada.p. 125.
De Mommy ols en Duckd'r.p. 23.
De Nanqr Hanks im Race.. p. 144.
De nei sort Bud'r p. 137.
De Rachel Powhana p. 65.
Der Comet p. 41.
Der DroUey p. 99.
Der Duckd'r Lawdanagler. .p. 79.
Der Feert Jooly p. 103.
Der Hochmood p. 130.
Der Jacky Graddiate p. 171.
Der Jecky lamd en lesson. . . p. 152.
Der Jecky un sei Brief .... p. 73.
Der Moses Cadwallader
Schmidt p. 165.
Der Nei Wek un der Olt. . . p. 126.
Der Nord Pole p. 140.
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388 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Der Osht'r Haws p. 93.
De Shlung im Hoot p. 174.
Dc Wcibsleit p. 128.
Donkbawr in ola Unglik ... p. 151.
Drawm Buch Bedeitunga ... p. 173.
D'r Sh-Shduddera Jcck p. i.
Em Jccky sci Waik far
Shduddia p. 61.
Em Pit'r sei gaba'd p. 148.
Em Pit'r sci Drik p. 153.
Em Pitt sci Handwcrk p. 147.
En Arlich'r Raskai p. xos.
En ascl Drik p. 117.
En Bizncss Notice p. 167.
En Drawm Buch p. 172.
En Frcigawich'r Dccb p. 142.
En Gros'r Dosh'd p. 135.
En Hinar-cnd Collision .... p. 19.
En Hink'l-shprec p. 134.
En Publick Eilawdung p. 169.
Eishtars un English-Solz p. 59.
En Fcndu Fever p. 169.
Es Heira p. 129.
Es Him'rt-yarich Fcsht p. 43.
Es Karch-Gae p. 33.
Far's Denka kon cm ncmond
henka p. 39.
Fawsnocht p. 124.
Filosofikai Gadonka p. 155.
Fireworks uf da Konsd .... p. 29.
Fisikal J'ografy p. 75.
Frce-yor p. 89.
Guld-Shtock kawft p. 31.
Ham-g'modit Mush p. 67.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 389
Hinkl Fflosofy p. 87.
Hunsdawga Blazeer P- 27.
Im Dreebsawl p. 163.
In da Lotsh p. 162.
Karaseera — We far oldars. . . p. 2i.
Kourt Bizness p. 133.
Kumel Soakiim p. 115.
Law Bizness p. 91.
Lawendich fargrawva p. 136.
Lond un Shtot p. 183.
Marbl Kucha p. 55.
MilchhawT p. 118.
Musich bei da tswilling .... p. I22.
Nuchberlicha Badrochda ... .p. 127.
Nuchbershoft Nochrichta . . p. 109.
Obrflakelv*r p. 164.
OflBs Hung'r p. 178.
Rawver im Hous p. 119.
Reich iv'r Nocht p. 123.
Rul'r Shkeeda p. 145.
Shprich Warta p. 131.
Siva Deiv'l p. 181.
Tschentleleit p. 81.
Tswa sorta Grip p. 156.
Uf B'sooch in da Shool p. 146.
Uf da Bowerei p. 132.
Um Circus p. 7.
Un da Jamestown Exposi-
tion p. 47.
Ung'farlicha Feiarworks ...p. 175,
Unich em Wed'r p. loi.
WederBower farlussaWart.p. 113.
Weesht galoga is nemond
batroga p. 51,
Wcl is de Mud'r p. 160.
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390 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
More, C. Q (Sec also Poetry) :
Dcr Hexcdoktor P. G., Vol. IX, 3, 136.
Dcr Hexcdoktor P. G., VoL IX, 4.
Dcr Wiescht Mann von der Flctt. P. G., VoL VIII, 9, 448.
Die Kutztown Mail P. G., Vol. XI, 4, 239.
En Wieschter Draam P. G., VoL VIII, 10, 505.
'S Wash Heller's Ihra Chrischt-
dagszug P. G., VoL VIII, 12, 613,
Rauch, E. H. (Sec also Poetry):
" Pennsylvania Dutch Handbook," Mauch Chunk, Pa., 1879.
Part I. Dictionary of circ 5,000 words to p. 148.
Part II. Special Words ...p. 151.
Abbreviations p. 158.
The Use of Words p. 160.
Counting p. 171.
Months and Days p. 172.
Weights and Measures p. 173.
Practical Exercises p. 174.
Business Talk p. 185.
Home 3, 123.
Progress of Pennsylvania
Dutch Lit. p. 208.
Quotations from Shakespeare
Speech of Brutus p. 218.
Richard III, Act I., Sc
I p. 219.
Act V, Sc IV p. 220.
Hamlet, Act I, Sc V...p. 221.
Extracts from Scripture .... p. 222.
Pit Schweffelbrenner p. 228.
Another Letter of Schweffel-
brenner p. 231.
Another Letter of Schweffel-
brenner p. 234.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 391
An Heller Shtam Ousgonga
(Trans.) P. D., Vol. I, i.
An Temperance Lecture ... P. D., Vol. I, 3.
De Olu un Neia Tzciu ... Pro. P. G. S., Vol. I, 33.
Familiar Sayings (Trans.).. P. D., Vol. I, i.
Familiar Sayings (Trans.) . . P. D., Vol. I, 2.
Familiar Sayings (Trans.) . . P. D., Vol. I, 3.
For Der Simple Weg P. D., Vol. I, 3.
Im Washingtoner Schtadtel. . M. H., Jan. 20, '86, p. 63.
Prospectus to P. D
Rip van Winkle
Uf unser Side
Unser Klehny Jokes . . .
Unser Klehner Omnibus
.P. D., Vol. I, I.
Dramolet.
P. D., VoL I, 2.
. P. D., VoL I, 2.
. P. D., Vol. I, 3.
Rupp, I. D.:
Eppes Ueber Pennsylvanisch
Deutsch D. P., 1870.
P. G, Vol. IX. 5, 230. ;
Open Letter to the Editor on
Dialects P. D., Vol. I, 3. f
ScHANTZ, F. J. F. (See also Poetry) :
Hombog Orgel Bissness Pro. P. G. S., Vol. Ill, 83.
Letter to Dr. Fritschel Pub. in Dienzer's account of
his visit to America. I
Part of a sermon on Job Pro. P. G. S., Vol. Ill, 126. *
Speech before Dr. Mohldenke's ■
Congregation in New York
City MS. in famfly.
Stories Pilger Almanac . I
I
Seip, J. W.:
Mei Erst Blugges P. G., Vol. IX, 10, 470.
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39^ The Pennsyhanio'German Society.
Shuler, H. a. (See also Pobtry) :
Stories • • U. P. D« Kal., 1905*
Zeechaglawa un Braucherei Home, 3d ed.» p. 146.
U. P. D. KaL, 1905.
Trsxlbr,Bbn:
Dcr " Bockwampan " und sein
Gethien Sk. Lecha Thai, p. 192.
Warnbr, Josbph ( Johann Klotz) :
" Americanish Historic," Annville, Pa., 1905.
Einleitung p. i.
Epoch 1.
Entdeckungen
Der Columbus Entdeckt
America p. j,
Andere Entdeckungen . . p. 12.
Epoch II.
Settlement
Virginia p. 19.
Massachusetts p. 25.
Rhode Island p. 31.
Connecticut p. 33.
New Hampshire p. 36.
New York p. 38.
Pennsylvania p. 42.
Home, 4th ed., p. 201.
New Jersey p. 45.
Delaware p. 47.
Maryland p. 48.
North und South Caro-
lina p. SI.
Georgia p. 52.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 393
Epoch III.
Francosishen Greek
Koenig William's Greek, p. 56.
Koenigin Anne's Greek, p. 57.
Koenig George's Greek, p. 57.
Francosish und Inshing
Greek p. 57.
Epoch IV.
Freiheits Greek
Ursache der Greek p. 61.
Der Greek und der
Auskum.
Epoch V.
Constitutional Government
George Washington .... p. 71.
John Adams p. 73.
Thomas Jefferson p. 75.
James Madison p. 75.
James Monroe p. 78.
John Quincy Adams ... p. 78.
Andrew Jackson p. 8o,
Martin Van Buren p. 8o,
William Henry Harri-
son p. 80.
John Tyler p. 81.
James K. Polk p. 81.
Zachary Taylor p, 81.
Millard Fillmore p. 83.
Franklin Pierce p. 83.
James Buchanan p. 83.
Abraham Lincoln P* 84.
Andrew Johnson p. 89.
Ulysses Grant p. 90.
Rutherford B. Hayes . . p. 90.
James A. Garfield p. 91.
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394 3^^^ Pennsylvania-German Society.
Chester A. Arthur .
...p.
91.
Grovcr Cleveland . .
...p.
91.
Benjamin Harrison .
...p.
91.
Grover Cleveland . .
...p.
93.
Waiiam McKinley .
...p.
95
Theodore Roosevelt
...p.
96.
I Beschluss
...p.
97-
WOLLENWEBBR, LuDWIO A.:
"Gemalde," Leipzig and Philadelphia, 1869. See Poetry.
Ab Refischneider un Susie
Leimbach p. 10.
M. H., May 19, 1886, p.
136.
A Lutarische Hochzig — ^U. . . p. 46.
Conrad Weiscr's Grab — U.. . p. 135.
Der Aldermann Mehlig — ^W. . p. 102.
Der Baron Stiegel — U p. 127.
Der Mister Lebtag — ^W p. 108.
Der Mitle Weg ischt der
Goldenc Weg — U p. 20.
Der Herbst— U p. 28.
Der Pitt fun der Trapp— U. . p. 109.
Der Winter — ^U p. 31.
Die Berg Maria — U p. 125.
Die Faschens — U p. 75.
Die Margareth und die Leah
— U p. 66.
Das wade Heer— U p. 52.
Die Sag von End vum
Spieler — ^U p. 60.
Die Sag von Zwee Saufer
— u p. 57.
Die Sara un die Betz — U. ... p. 68.
Dr. Dady— U p. 131.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 395
Ein Gesprach — Ucppcs-zum
Lacha p. 76.
Eppes Ziim Lache — ^U P- 73.
Farmleben — U p. 23.
Hcirath's Kalendcr — U p. 32.
Im Fruhjohr p. 8.
Korz awer gut U p. 65.
Lob und Bar odcr alter Lieb
rost nit p. 50.
Pennsylvanisch Ehrlichkeit —
U p. 121.
Pitt Kommnoch W p. 35.
Sie kumme doch noch zu-
samme p. 47.
Teite Hosen un Standups
mache dcr Mann net — U..p. 98.
Vom Obstbaumbutze p. 15.
Vum Obst p. 24.
Vorrede p. 3.
Vum Ueberhitzc un Sun-
nestich — U p. 25.
Wie die Nochbere de Charle
Dorst vom Branntwcin-
trinke Kure — ^W p. 71.
Wie mer Sei Fraa Probirt. . . p. 42.
P. G., Vol. XII, I, 54-
Womelsdorf p. 140.
Vendue, Grosse — ^U p. 71.
ZiMMBRMAN, Thomas (See also Pobtry):
Kaiser Wilhelm's Briefe Read. Times and Dispatch.
Home, 3d ed., p. 142.
D. M., p. 249.
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396 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
3. Dictionaries and Word Lists.
FiscHBR, Hbnry L. :
Kurzweil und Zeitvertreib — 1882. Special Glossary — 1,983
words.
'S Alt Marik Hoi»— 1879. Special Glossary— 2,181.
FooBL, E. M. See Learned.
Harbaugh, Henry:
"Harfe" — 1870. Special Glossary — 245 words.
Hays, H. M.:
German Dialect in the Valley of
Virginia Dia. N., Ill, Pt. 4, 1908.
Brief Vocabulary P. G., Vol. X, 10.
Brief Vocabulary — 194 words.
Hoffman, W. J.:
In the Proceedings of the Am. Phil. Society, Vol. 26, Dec^ 1888.
A Pennsylvania German-English Dictionary — 5,689 words.
"A quite exhaustive glossary of the Pennsylvania
German dialect (P. G.-English). This is little
more than a review of Home's Dictionary. The
author acknowledges no sources by name and hence
gives us no clue to his mode of procedure." M. D.
Learned.
HoRNE, A. R. :
Em Home Sei Buch, 1875, ist ed., P. G. — English Dictionary
— 5,522 words.
" This is by far the most complete and scientific lexicon
of the Pennsylvania German speech." M. D.
Learned, 1889.
1895 — 2d edition — several hundred additional words and an
English-Pennsylvania German Dictionary.
1905 — 3d edition — some additional words.
1910— 4th edition — some more additional words.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 397
Kino, Wilbur L. :
Pennsylvania German Plant Names in the P. G., Vol. XII, 2.
Pennsylvania German, English and Latin — ^265 words.
Lbarnbd, M. D. Assisted by E. M. Fogel:
Complete Pennsylvania German Dictionary — ^Announced.
LiNS, Jambs:
Common Sense Pennsylvania German Dictionary, Reading,
1887.
1895, 2d edition, P. G.-English — 9,613 words.
Mbll, C. D.:
Pennsylvania German Plant Names — P. G., Vol. XI, 9.
Pennsylvania German, English and Latin — 92 words.
Pennsylvania German Plant Names — ^P. G., Vol. XI, 12.
Pennsylvania German, English and Latin — 38 words.
MiLLBR, Danibl:
Pennsylvania German, Vol. II.
Pennsylvania German, English and German — 1,200 words.
Rauch, E. H.:
Pennsylvania Dutchman, Vol. I, No. i and following (incom-
plete).
Pennsylvania Dutch Handbook, 1879. Mauch Chunk, Pa.
Pennsylvania German-English and English-Pennsylvania
German— circ. 5,000 words.
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398 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
4. Newspapers.
4. A Partial List of Newspapers that are, or at
One Time have been, Publishing Pennsyl-
vania-German Dialect Selections.
Name. Place of PublicadoD. County.
Allcntown Call Allcntown Lehigh.
Allentown Democrat Allcntown Lehigh.
Annvillc Journal Annville Lebanon.
Berks and Schuylkill Journal. . Reading Berks.
Berks County Democrat Boyertown Berks.
Bethlehem Times Bethlehem Northampton.
Boyertown Bauer Boyertown Berks.
Bucks County Express Doylestown Bucks.
Canton (Ohio) Repository. . . Canton, Ohia
Carbon Coimty Democrat. . . . Mauch Chunk .... Carbon.
Center Democrat Bellefonte Center.
Coopersburg Sentinel Coopersburg Lehigh.
Der Waffenlose Wachter Gap Lancaster.
Der Deutsche Pionier Cincinnati, Ohio.
Doylestown Morgenstem .... Doylestown Bucks.
Easton Argus Easton Northampton.
Easton Democrat Easton Northampton.
Easton Express Easton Northampton.
Easton Free Press Easton Northampton.
Easton Sentinel Easton Northampton.
Easton Sunday Call Easton Northampton.
Elizabethvillc Echo . .• Elizabethville Dauphin.
Emaus Herald Emaus Lehigh.
Evening Leader Lehighton Lehigh.
Father Abraham Lancaster Lancaster.
Father Abraham Reading Berks.
Friedensbote Allentown Lehigh.
Geist der 2Jeit Kutztown Berks.
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Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings. 399
Name. Place of Publication. County.
Hummelstown Sun Hummelstown . . . Dauphin.
Jefferson Democrat Pottsville Schuylkill.
Keystone Gazette Bellefonte Center.
Kutztown Journal and Patriot. Kutztown Berks.
Lebanon News Lebanon Lebanon.
Lebanon G>urier and Report. . Lebanon Lebanon.
Lebanon Pcnnsylvanier Lebanon Lebanon.
Lehighton Press Lehighton Lehigh.
Lititz Express Lititz Lancaster.
Lititz Record Lititz Lancaster.
Macungie Progress Macungie Lehigh.
Manheim Sentinel Manheim Lancaster.
Manheim Sun Manheim Lancaster.
Mauch Chunk Democrat Mauch Chimk . . . Carbon.
Mauch Chunk Times Mauch Chunk .... Carbon.
Mauch Chunk Daily Times. • Mauch Chunk .... Carbon.
Middleburg Post Middleburg Snyder.
Myerstown Sentinel Myerstown Lebanon,
Myerstown Enterprise Myerstown Lebanon.
Northampton Correspondent. . Easton Northampton.
Northampton Democrat Easton Northampton.
Penn Press Bethlehem Northampton.
Pennsylvania Dutchman Lancaster Lancaster.
Pennsylvania German Lititz Lancaster.
Pennsylvanische StaatsZeitung. Harrisburg Dauphin.
Pine Grove Herald Pine Grove Schuylkill.
Reading Adler Reading Berks.
Reading Times and Dispatch . . Reading Berks.
Reformed Church Record .... Reading Berks.
Republikaner von Berks Reading Berks.
Rural Press Kempton Berks.
Rural Press Reading Berks.
The Advocate Lehighton Lehigh.
The American Volunteer Carlisle Adams.
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400
The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Name. Place of Publication. County.
South Bethlehem Star South Bethlehem . . Northampton.
Spirit of Berks Reading Berks.
The National Educator Allentown Lehigh.
Unabhangiger Republikaner . . Allentown Lehigh.
Uncle Samuel Lancaster Lancaster.
WeltBotc Allentown Lehigh.
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