Heinrich Johann Landwehr
and
Friederiecke Charlotte Begemann
Wedding Invitation & Announcement
You are hereby most cordially invited
to the wedding of Miss
Friederiecke Begemann
with
Mr. Heinrich Landwehr,
on Thursday, the 3rd of February, 1887,
at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, at the home
of the undersigned.
Charlotte Wehrmann,1
Higginsville, Mo.
Notes (Click on a note number to return to that footnote, above.)
1. Friederiecke Charlotte Begemann, the bride, was about three years old when her mother died in Warren County, Missouri in 1868 from tuberculosis. Her father, Conrad Heinrich Begemann, remarried within the year and she was then raised in the home of her uncle and aunt, Conrad Heinrich Adolph and Friedericke Florentine Charlotte (Höfer) Wehrmann in Higginsville, Lafayette County, Missouri. The uncle's name does not appear on the wedding invitation because he had died on 29 March 1886.
Landwehr - Begemann.
Am Donnerstag voriger Woche wurden, wie die Higginsville Correspondenz erzählt, Heinrich Landwehr und Frl. Fried[e]rike2 Begemann durch Pastor Höfer zu ei[n]em glücklichen Ehepaar verbunden.
Die Hachleit3 war im Hause der Pflegemutter der Braut, Frau Charlotte Wehrmann, eine Meile nördlich von Higginsville, welche die zahlreichen Gäste des jungen Paares in einer Weise bewirthete , wie sie nicht übertroffen werden kann. Von Mittag bis spät in de Nacht feierten [d]ie Geladenen das schöne Fest bei reicher Tafel, die der Küche der liebenswürdigen Mutter alle Ehre macht. Der prächtigsten und best gewählten Festgeschenke waren so viel, daß wie ihrer einzeln nicht Erwähnung thun können.
Das Paar ist nun auf einer Hochzeitsreise nach Gasconade County, St. Louis und anderen Plätzen, um Verwandte und Freunde zu Zeugen ihres jungen Glücks zu machen. Nach einigen [W]ochen werden sich Herr und Frau [La]ndwehr auf der bekannten Warren's ____m,4 nahe Higginsville, niederlassen. [D]ie besten Wünsche des "Thalbote"5 __[g]leiten6 die trauten Ehegenossen auf __n Pfaden ihrer gemeinsamen Le=__[s]reise.7
Landwehr - Begemann.
On Thursday of this past week, the way the Higginsville correspondent tells it, Heinrich Landwehr and Miss Fried[e]rike Begemann were united as a happily married couple by Pastor Höfer.
The wedding took place in the house of the bride's foster mother, Mrs. Charlotte Wehrmann, a mile north of Higginsville, who entertained the numerous guests of the young couple in a manner that can not be surpassed. From mid-day until late in the night, the invited guests celebrated the beautiful fête at a richly laden table, much to the credit of the culinary skills of the charming mother. The splendid and carefully selected gifts were so numerous that it is not possible to itemize them.
The couple is now on a honeymoon trip to Gasconade County, St. Louis and other places, to celebrate their youthful good fortune with relatives and friends. After several weeks, Mr. and Mrs. [La]ndwehr will settle down [on, at] the well-known Warren's ___m. near Higginsville. The best wishes of [the] "Thalbote" [accompany] the beloved marriage partners on the paths of their mutual journey through life.
Notes (Click on a note number to return to that footnote, above.)
2. In the following transcription, letters in square braces (for example, ...Fried[e]rike...) indicate that I have made a guess about what is not clearly evident because of the condition of the original newspaper article and that I am very confident of being correct.
Where too much of the document is missing for me to be reasonably certain about a word, I have indicated missing text with an underline (for example, ___n). The length of the underline is relative to my estimation of the amount of missing text.
3. This word is not familiar to me. Perhaps it is a colloquial or idiomatic term, possibly from a Low German (or plattdeutsch) dialect. Judging by the context of the article and on the basis of the wedding invitation, I have translated this as "wedding" (in High German, die Hockzeit). I think this is correct.
4. On the basis of the way the genitive case is formed, this seems to be an English word. It also appears to be a place name. I am not familiar enough with landmarks in the Higginsville area to catch the reference. Judging by its place in the newspaper article, the second word, ending in "m," can not be more than 3 or 4 letters long.
5. Hans-Werner Begemann of Germany has kindly suggested that Thalbote may be the name of the newspaper which published this wedding announcement. Jaap Oppedijk of Leiden, The Netherlands, has emailed that the name Thalbote should be translated as Valley Messenger, or Valley Newspaper. He also concurs with my translation of the last line of the article.
There was indeed a German language newspaper by the name of Missouri Thalbote in Lafayette County, Missouri at this time. It was founded in Lexington, Missouri in 1871 and passed through a number of proprietors. At the time of the Landwehr-Begemann wedding it was published in Concordia, Missouri and owned by Henry C. Schwartz, who later became Postmaster at Higginsville, Missouri and was associated with the Higginsville Advance, another Lafayette County newspaper.
6. If my German were better I might be able to guess what this word might be, but too much of the text is missing. Dare one suggest begleiten, meaning to accompany?
7. I have assumed this word to be Lebensreise - life's journey.
Brief Genealogy
Heinrich Johann Landwehr's family
Details of the birth family of Heinrich Johann Landwehr (1854-1941) are not currently known.
Friederiecke Charlotte Begemann's family
Her father's 1st marriage
Her father's 2nd marriage
Her father's 3rd marriage
Landwehr - Begemann family
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