The Story of George CARL On the bluffs of the Missouri River at Etlah, Missouri is a small marble slab which marks the burial place of George Carl, born 1812, died 1880. The marble stone makes no record of how he lived, it says only that he was born and that he died. It does not tell us that George probably seldom knew the freedom and laughter of a young child. When he was but a few years old his mother became an invalid, and George as elder brother had to face the responsibility of caring for his mother, and acting as a father to his younger brothers. While they went to school his chores were to care for the sick, prepare the meals, oversee the clothing and disciplinary needs of his younger brothers. He never had time to go to school since each day was filled with its cares and labors. When he was still in his youth his mother died, and he tasted the bitter days of sorrow and loneliness. When the decision was made for him and his two brothers to come to America, he had no money and was forced to do the only possible thing -- sign a contract for him and his two brothers to be "bound out" to an American for three years at hard labor for passage payment. These years he served, and probably more, in which work was so hard that he neither had time or energy for moments of ease and pleasure. When at the age of 37 years he married a beautiful young girl `6 years younger than he it might have seemed that at last he had found the key to happiness. This joy however, was not to linger long. Day after day of hard work pressed upon him to clear the land for productivity. Times were hard. Money was hard to come by, and the ever growing and rapidly increasing family brought each day heavier responsibilities just to keep food in the house or a bit of clothing to wear. On the emotional lever there were often great barriers between George and his young bride, which often interfered in a pleasant companionship between them. George did, however, love his wife and love his family. They in turn loved him and brought to him many moments of pride and joy. The heavy responsibility, the lifetime load of anxiety, concern, sadness, hard work, and dire poverty never left, nor did they ever release him to become the great and joyous soul which he might have been if life had been otherwise. Very seldom was he free from burdensome cares. Only occasionally did freedom and pleasure become his companion. All his life he was burdened with his care and concern for others. Even unto the last hour his words were not of himself but instead, were of his love and concern for others. Meaning of the family name. How people received their names. Within my knowledge there is no written or spoken information as to how we received the surname Carl. We do know, however, during our grandparents' childhood few people had surnames, and were known mostly by their Christian names. Instead of a surname, most people were recognized by their Christian name plus the location in which they lived, which often was the city, province, or Dukedom. Or they could be designated by the work which they did, such as Smith, Carpenter, etc. Furthermore, in other case they could be named after a famous or prominent father such as Donaldson, McMillian, Frederickson, etc. At other times the members of a particular church congregation could all carry as a surname the name of the church. In such fashion were the various and sundry names born. Also in a similar fashion these various early names were often changed by time and travel so as to make them almost unrecognizable from their original beginning. Note: he Karl family most likely got their name from an ancestor, Grand-Duke Karl who had much trouble with quarrelsome members of his parliament and sought a restful place to live. He found a quiet spot in the midst of a forest near his old castle, and built a new castle which he named Karls Ruhe. This later became the capital city of the Baden Area, the present city of Karlsruhe. Europe at the Time of the Grandparents of the Karl Family For three centuries preceding the birth of our ancestors, Europe was a land of change fear and fury. Beginning with the Protestant movement in the year 1517 which movement divided the people and brought Europe a religious civil war for the next century or so. People of this time held strong religious convictions, and accepted others as friend or foe. If you did not believe as they believed, then you were of the devil, and deserved to be severely punished. Thus, the years following the Protestant movement were years of persecution, death by burning, mass murders of innocent peoples, Protestant and Catholic alike persecuted and killed, "in the name of the Lord". The Karls never were influenced by these new religious movements of Protestantism but instead remained loyal to the Catholic Church, and as far as we know, like all Catholics of the time, held a deep- seated conviction against the Protestant. Far more real to them, and far more timely, was their hatred for the German people. Previous to the Congress of Nations in Vienna in the year 1815, Alsace was a Duchy, and a part of France. The Alsatians made no objections to being a part of France, for throughout the centuries, as a race of people, they felt themselves to be close kin to the French and also the Latin people. They found themselves also in sympathy with the French Revolution, and later, Napoleon's rule. However, at the defeat of Napoleon, Alsace was ceded to Germany as a gift for her part in the defeat of Napoleon. Germany immediately moved in her troops, then preceded to do everything in her power to make Germans of the Alsatians. All schools were to be in German, all courts of law were to use the German language. All favored places were to be used only by the Germans. All music and poetry was to be German. Everything French or Latin was to be severely looked down upon. To the Germans, Alsace was to be no longer Latin, French or Alsatian, but strictly and forever German. Naturally, the Alsatians were most unhappy, but also helpless to free themselves. They could only "drag their feet" which they did at all times, and became as non cooperative as possible, and ever developed a deeper hatred for the German. A question: Why did the Karl brothers leave for America? One reason rested in the fact that only very small bits of land were available, from which only a hard and meager living could be made. Today this is still true. Wheat or hay fields are luscious in their yield, but sown in small patches and harvested not so much by machinery, but by women and men by hard labor and back and hand. In contrast, America had land, wide reaches of it, to be had for a pittance, or for the asking. Note: George Carl kept the French spelling of his surname because he resented the harsh treatment the Alsatians endured after the Germans proceeded to Germanize them. George Carl marries Anna Philipp Most likely George Carl was "bound out" to Mr. Bates for three years in order to pay for his passage to America. It is again most likely that he continued to work for Mr. Bates just long enough to earn money for horses, a plow, etc., also for a cow, chickens, a hog, or whatever was necessary for anyone to begin farming. In that day any honorable man, seriously intent on marriage would not enter into marriage until he could promise the new bride a cabin and the necessary means, and equipment to begin farming and earn a living for himself and family. Therefore, just exactly how many years George worked for Mr. Bates we do not know. It may easily have been a total of five or six years. We do know, however, that on March 9, 1849, George Carl did marry Anna Philipp, and built a log cabin, and began farming in Warren County, Missouri. He and his family remained there for some 17 or 18 years before they decided to buy land in the river bottom near Berger, MO., in the year 1866. Anna Philipp Carl Anna Philipp, whom George Carl married on March 9, 1849, was born in Switzerland, in the canton of Graubunden, in or near the small town of Untervaz, which town is situated on the upper Rhine river some tin or fifteen miles below the larger town of Chur. Here her father owned a grist and flour mill which was powered by the clear, swift waters of the Upper Rhine River. The mill did a thriving business and the Philipp family were known as a people of comfortable financial means. An interesting, oft told story is that our Grandmother Anna, once fell into the Rhine and would have drowned had she not been saved by her two older brothers. The Canton of Graubunden The canton of Graubunden is almost completely surrounded by high mountains, with the various tributaries of the Upper Rhine draining its melting snow from high peaks, and its often green valleys. All of these many tributaries joined to form the Upper Rhine near the large city of Chur, then down to the small town of Untervaz where the Philipp family lived and operated their grist mill. The canton of Graubunden, protected almost completely by its high mountains was for centuries a free democracy, and also since they were completely surrounded by mountains the inhabitants became an isolated people with their own customs, and what was most significant, their own language. Since they were protected by the mountains, and since their early ancestors had come from neighboring Italy, they developed a language all their own which had a Romanish derivation. Unlike the other Swiss cantons, they were little influenced by the German language, and the Germans, unable to understand them, called them "Welsch", a term which they applied to anything connected to Latin civilization. The Canton received its name Graubunden (gray Canton) mainly because of a type of gray plaster material they all used to stucco the outside and inside of their houses. It was because of this that from the French they received the name of the Grisons as "gray people". Anna Philipp's Religious and Cultural Influences in Switzerland Approximately three hundred years before the birth of Anna Philipp in Untervaz, Switzerland had become a free federation of Cantons. Also, in the same period, 1517, the great Protestant Reformation began under Luther in Germany, and under Zwingli in Switzerland. By the time of Anna's birth, 1828, Switzerland was strongly Protestant and in church doctrine what to us in America is similar to the Presbyterian or Baptist persuasion. It was known as the Church of Switzerland. Since Protestantism stressed the authority of the Bible, instead of the authority of the Church, it became immediately necessary for them to establish schools in order that all might read the Bible, especially Luther's German translation of it. When schools were once established, they rapidly became more than Bible Schools, and such subjects as reading, writing, arithmetic, with additional sessions in such skills as music, the various arts, history, etc., were taught. Thus Anna Philipp became a very knowledgeable person, and was apt in many skills. She was a good mathematician, and a great lover of music. Often during her lifetime, she would play the organ as her children gathered around her to sing the hymns of the church, and the folk songs of her homeland. Anna Philipp's Church Relationship During Anna Philipp's childhood, she and her parents and family belonged most naturally to the Church of Switzerland, which church was quite definitely Protestant, and of the Zwingli and Calvin persuasions, since Zwingli and Calvin were the great Protestant leaders in Switzerland just as Martin Luther was in Germany. The Baptist movement also had its beginning under some of the followers of Zwingli and Calvin. This meant that the Philipp family, when they came to America, and were no longer able to find or attend a Church of Switzerland, would naturally seek out a Presbyterian or Baptist church, or should they be fortunate enough to find a German Evangelical and Reformed church, this would be their first preference. However, sometime soon after the arrival of the Philipp family, and Krättli, Schindler, Gruber, and other Swiss families, a Baptist minister came to stay with them in their homes. He was able to convert many of them to the Baptist faith and immersed in baptism many of his recent followers in what is now Second Creek, some few miles north of Sterling, Missouri. Our Grandmother Anna and her younger sister Mary, likely were not living in this little Swiss community at the time, but instead were employed in Hermann, Missouri by a Mrs. Keane. They may or may not have been influenced by the Baptist faith of their friends and kin. It could be quite possible that our Grandmother Anna Philipp still held very strong convictions about her own Church of Switzerland at the time of her marriage. George Carl was a very devoted roman Catholic at the time of his marriage to Anna, but he promised to join her church after their marriage. Perhaps he could not at the time see too much difference in the churches for them to stand in the way of their marriage. Unfortunately for their marriage, no Church of Switzerland was available for their attendance, nor for George Carl to join. This became a great misfortune for the marriage, the details of which will be discussed later. Why the Philipp Family Came to America Most Europeans who came to America had real reasons for coming to America. There was the ever present warfare, instigate by the quarreling, and selfish royalty. The average man was simply a pawn to be used, or fair game for cannon-fodder. The only solution was to flee from the land to a new continent. Others came because they saw no future save serfdom and poverty in a land where the royalty owned all, demanded much and gave little save more taxes and poverty. In Switzerland there was neither war nor poverty, nor royalty. The Swiss were a happy free people living under a democracy of self-rule. Living was good, and food and shelter never a problem. The Canton of Graubunden from which our ancestors came was virtually a "Shangri-La". The great high mountains surrounded a side rich valley through which the upper Rhine River flowed, winding its way with its swift cool, free clear, water. The land was rich, the climate was almost perfection itself. The winters were mild. The air was always clear and invigorating creating an almost day by day dreamland. No one was really poor. The Philipp family owned, and operated a grist mill powered by the waters of the Rhine River. The Philipp s made money and they had money. What real reason should there be that they should all at once give up all this and make the great sacrifice to come to a strange, unknown, new land. Only one reason makes any sense at all. Their "Shangri-La" was a tight little area bounded by the great mountains. Everyday they read stories of the great big world outside their small restricted area. The great land of America with its freedom with its freedom - with its great reaches of land - with its adventure - with its abundance to be had - with its hills for mining gold. Most of the Philipp s and the people who came with them were still young people, and finally, the all powering lure of America was too much for their youthful adventuring spirit and the great decision was made to break ties with the old and the venture into the new. The Great Adventure Begins Sometime near the first of April, in the year 1844 the Philipp family sold their grist-mill on the Rhine, their comfortable home, and all their belongings. They then bade good-bye to all their many longtime friends, and to the beautiful Rhine River, and to the green valley, and all the great mountains which surrounded it, then set forth on a long, arduous, and sometimes dangerous trip to this, to them dreamland of America! They chartered horse-drawn vehicles to convey them to LeHavre, France where they planned to take a sailboat to New Orleans. From here they would take a river boat to St. Louis, and from there to their destination of Hermann, Missouri. In the party which left Untervaz, Switzerland for America were the following persons: Mr. & Mrs. John Philipp - Approximate age, 44 years George Krättli & Dorothy Philipp Krättli - Age, 24 years. Michael Philipp, Jacob Philipp, Lena Philipp, Anna Philipp, and Mary Philipp At least three other families came with the Philipp family. They were the Krättli family, the Gruber family and the Schindler family. It took the sail ship 86 days to travel from LeHavre, France to New Orleans, and it took a number more days for the river boat to reach Hermann, Missouri. It was not until sometime in July, 1844 that they landed at Hermann. Shortly after their arrival at Hermann, Missouri the group purchased some government land in the hills not too far from Berger, Missouri. For this land they paid the magnificent sum of 12 ½¢ per acre. The land was mostly in timbered hills, and reminded them of a similarity to their homeland of Switzerland. The small group immediately set to work felling trees to build cabins, then to clear land for the gardening and farming. Men and women alike worked long and hard every day to prepare their chosen spot of land for shelter and the various needs of living. They were delighted with the productivity of the virgin soil. To them it was much better than the soil of Switzerland. "Heimweh" and Tragedy Very shortly after their arrival at their new home in America, Mrs. Philipp developed a very severe case of home sickness. The great dream of America which she had when the party left Switzerland swiftly vanished under the stifling feeling of being made prisoner of the dense forest of tall trees; and, for one such as she, accustomed to a clean, nice home of many rooms, the small log cabin with its cramped quarters, and its woeful lack of convenience was aggravating and depressing. Under these conditions, the beautiful mountains of Switzerland, the heavenly Rhine, the open brisk fresh air, the spacious home, and most of all, her many friends, became the heart yearning dreamland which she once had, nut now had lost forever. She was at the point of no return. Her extreme depression eventually brought on other physical weakness, and in the fall of the year, after only a few months in America, she died. Other members of the group, and especially the younger members quickly recovered from their homesickness, and with their daily hard work, began to create pleasant home surroundings and slowly to prosper in material needs. After several years of endeavor they were enjoying comfortable living conditions and the pleasant experiences of kindly neighbors and many friends. During the next few years, however, there were several happenings which brought no small amount of emotional concern on the part of this now very close little family group from Switzerland. In the year 1848, news arrived that much gold had been found in California. This report induced Michael Philipp to join a caravan enroute to the gold region, and never to return. Then again in the year 1861, during the Civil War, George Krättli enlisted in the Northern Army, feeling as he did that slavery was wrong. Most tragic, however was when the entire group was visited by severe sickness. From this little Anna Krättli, died, August 1861 at the age of 10 months. Later Elizabeth Krättli who first seemed to recover, but died suddenly by an attack of pneumonia March 25 1862. All other members of the family recovered, went back to work, choosing as their project the building of a new school-house. Anna Philipp Leaves Home One year after the death of mother Philipp, father Philipp married again. As so often, when a new mother is brought into the home at a time when the children's memory of their own mother still carries deep emotions with them, friction arises. The almost inevitable happened. Anna Philipp, then seventeen years old, and her younger sister Mary, came to Hermann, Missouri and found employment as a maid with a lady by the name of Mrs. Keane. It is said that Mrs. Keane was very happy with the ability of Anna in helping with the housework. She was very proud also because her maid was intelligent and most beautiful. Mrs. Keane could speak eloquently about Anna's abundance of beautiful black wavy hair. Anna worked for Mrs. Keane for three years, and at the age of twenty-one years met and married George Carl on March 9, 1849. George Carl was thirty-seven years old at the time of marriage. George and Anna Carl Begin Farming George and Anna Carl immediately began farming on land near McKittrick, Missouri which is immediately across the river from Hermann, Missouri. Here they lived for sixteen or seventeen years until the years of 1865 or 1866 when they purchased land immediately next to the Missouri River at Berger, Missouri. The new farmland was almost entirely a grove of willow trees which had to be cleared. Grandfather George Carl took with him his two oldest sons, George and Jacob, and his daughter, Margaret. The two boys were to help in clearing the land, and building a cabin, and the daughter was to do the cooking. After sometime, when living quarters were established, Grandfather sent for the rest of the family. This now was to be their permanent home. Perhaps there were several reasons for Grandfather's decision to move near Berger, Missouri, however, we are often told that the greatest reason was the availability of a school for Grandfather's growing family. Grandfather had been denied an education as a child, and he did not want his family to grow up without an education. George felt the need for education so important that he taught himself to read and write and to add and subtract by using the school books of his own children. The Great Insurmountable Barrier When George and Anna married on March 9, 1849, there were many great differences between them. Anyone of these differences could at anytime endanger the ties of love, and the binding bond of marriage in their promises of eternal faith each to the other. In the beginning, there were sixteen years of difference in their ages. George was thirty-seven, but Anna was only twenty-one. Also, Georg's entire past was a life of severity, responsibility, poverty, hard work and many cares. Anna, on the other hand, had a very happy childhood of play and freedom. On one of her happy days, while playing along the Rhine River, she fell in the waters of the swift stream, and would have drown had not her two older brothers rescued her. George had no schooling in reading, writing, arithmetic, nor did he ever have any guidance in cultural skills. Anna, in turn, had the best of schooling, training, and practice in cultural graces. She could play the organ, sing, dance, move about with ease and grace in cultural society. She was an able Bible student. She also knew the history and thought of her times. George had lived only in poverty, knowing only the simple shelter, the plain food, and the hard saving to secure a coat or shoes to wear. Anna came from a family of means. In Untervaz, Switzerland her father owned and operated a profitable grist mill, and resided in a nice spacious home. George, by his very nature was a quiet, thoughtful, solid, serious and hard working man. Anna, however, by her very nature, was a happy, cheerful, quick, energetic person. It was no trouble at all for her to see humor and enjoy the laughter of it. She could plan happy moments with her family around the piano, while she played and they sang. She could do her work, and tackle a job with a song or a smile. In so many ways, they were different, yet each in his own way, or his own personality, became a choice person. George was loved by all his children, and disciplined them, and guided them wisely into persons of ability, honesty and integrity. As George was loved as a father, Anna was loved as a mother, which love they treasured all the days of their lives. So George and Anna did make a home, and reared a wonderful family of eleven fine and able children. However, there was one great barrier which hung like a great black cloud between them. Again and again it darkened the skies of their life, and blacked out the sunshine of a beautiful marriage companionship. George was an ardent Roman Catholic, Anna was a zealous member of the Protestant Church of Switzerland. Before marriage each was aware of this great difference. They had talked about it and George promised Anna that he would join her church in order that there might be unity. In this promise he was sincere, and with this thought they were married. However, no church of Anna's faith was nearby, and when later, the Methodists started a mission church, Anna attended their revival, and was converted to Methodism and became ardent in her religious zeal. When George heard of her conversion, he also heard that the minister had given her a kiss of sisterly love upon her cheek. This new faith of Anna's was too much for him, a Roman Catholic to bear. He promptly took Anna to task, and firmly stated that he would not join her faith. This was the beginning of a long difference between them. Anna, however was adamant and determined. She was always ready to defend her faith. She reared her family in the Protestant faith, and never knowingly permitted the priest to set foot on their soil. George finally recognized the inevitable. Anna and the family followed the Protestant faith while George secretly and quietly if possible, defensively, if necessary followed his own faith of the Roman Catholic Church. When George was near 68 years he became seriously ill. He knew he did not have long to live. He waited until Anna was away from home, then sent for the priest. To him George confessed his faith, and the priest administered final rites. When the priest wanted George buried in a Catholic cemetery, George said "No", "That matter he would leave to his family." When the priest was gone George said to his daughter, Margaret, "Please do not tell your mother, it would only upset her." And so, even though their religious barrier was great, Georg's love to his wife and to his children was the greater of the two. Brothers Lost to Lure of Gold Both the Carl Family and the Philipp family lost a brother through the great attraction of gold and sudden riches. In the Carl family we are quite certain that three Carl brothers left Alsace, and made the arduous journey of the sea to New Orleans in America. Here, however, the certainty ends and no definite positive information can be gained. According to one quite reliable report the three brothers heard of the possibility of god in California while still in New Orleans. It was here then that the one brother decided to leave his other two brothers, and go with a group traveling through Texas to California. When this brother left the other two brothers he promised to return and make them all very rich. He never returned, nor did they ever hear from him again. Another possibility is that the other brother did not leave a New Orleans, but instead, came with them to Warren County, worked out his passage obligations with Mr. Bates, then remained a while longer to earn money for marriage and travel, and only then did he set out with his new bride to make his fortune in the gold of California. On first thought, it does seem most unlikely that this one brother would leave his other brothers at New Orleans. The bond between them was great, and now in a new and strange land it was very important that they remain together, especially so, since Jacob was only 13 years old. It is also unlikely that this other brother who was also "bound out" to Mr. Bates would break his contract and leave the other brothers to work longer for his passage. The other important factor is that gold was not discovered in California until 1848, four years or more after the Carl brothers arrived in New Orleans. Also at this time California belonged to Mexico, and it is unlikely that he would want to go to Mexico. In the Warren County Marriage records a certain Michael Carl and Elizabeth Roebridge were married on March 9, 1858. This marriage record is the only record available. Could it be then that this Michael Carl was indeed a brother to George and Jacob. By this time others had gone to the west and found riches. He, and his new bride, upon their leaving carried the enthusiasm of a rich venture. They, too, promised to return and make their brothers rich. There was a third brother Carl, is probably true, but as to how and when he disappeared we shall never know. This venture and disappearance of the third brother created years of sadness for George and Jacob, but it also gave them hope that someday he would return and "make them all rich". This feeling was so deep that my own mother Mary Carl often spoke of the fact that someday her "ship might come in." In the Philipp family records are quite clear, Michael Philipp, brother to Anna Philipp left with a caravan enroute to the gold region in the year 1848. He too promised to return and make them all rich. However, after two letters while enroute, all was silence and Michael was never heard from again. It might well be that the children of George and Anna Carl had two uncle Michael s who might someday bequeath to them great riches. After more than a century, however, there can be only one thought and that is that each brother met foul play. Official Records in Untervaz Switzerland In examining the official records at Untervaz Switzerland the following information is given. Yakob Philipp and his wife Katharine Sagutin were the parents of a son, Yoham Georg. Barth Kohl from the neighboring village of Chur and Yohau Plattner and Anna Krättli of Untervaz served as godparents to the infant son at the baptism. The young son was born September 3, 1797. Later...Yahau Georg Philipp married Margareta Krättli and the following children were born to them. Dorothea, Katharina, Margaritha, Yakob, Michel, Anna and Maria. A survey of these Swiss records brings many interesting factors such as: 1. The names and ages of Anna Philipp's parents and Grandparents. 2. The spelling of the name Philipp with only one letter "l". 3. The spelling of Jacob and George were different in Swiss. 4. The exact spelling of the name Krättli. Using the sound of the "a" with two dots above which we in America could not duplicate without using "ae". 5. The various spelling of the town of Untervaz or Unter Watz, or Unter Waz, or Unter Phatz. All of this leads us to realize that people then were not so concerned about rigid rules of spelling as we are today. Original Information given by: Rev. Robert Ahrens, great grandson of Georg Philipp Dorthea Elizabeth Rohlfing, great granddaughter of Georg Philipp Olivia Baries Schultz, great granddaughter of Georg Philipp Pauline Humburg Olsen, relationship to the Philipp family through Conrad Humburg to the person(s) that made the Carl Book. Copies of the Carl Book in the possession of Lorene Philipp Tieman and Sidonia Schmidt Philipp. Data collected and entered by Timothy Philipp, May 1994.