Translation: Strandt Travel Documents

 Another prompt was "Translation." Having many ancestors who migrated from "the Old Country" I've found documents that needed translating. Google translate helps some. Having a wordlist also helps. The best thing I've found is to find someone who speaks and has knowledge of the language needing translating. Languages are living, breathing things. Just as English from 2023 is not like English from 1723, German and Swedish from today is not like German and Swedish from the 1800's and before.

One particular document that needed translating was this piece of paper that Fred Strand found in the old Bible kept by Carl and Mildred Strand. 

I recognized it immediately as having to do with Carl Friedrich Theodore Strand, grandfather to Carl Strand. Carl Friedrich is the first Strand, in our family, to come to America. The letter is written in old German handwriting and I had no way of translating it. I sent a copy of it to Heidi Strandt Andrews. Heidi is descended from Carl Friedrich Strandt, Carl FT's oldest son, and half brother to William Strandt. Heidi posted the letter on a genealogy Facebook group she belongs to and someone on there was able to translate it. It roughly translates to:

Carl Friedrich Theodore Strand

legitimate son of the former Hunter (southern German term for farmer-archaic) of Gros Schonfeld Christian Friedrich Strand and his wife Anna Dorothee born Winter, is of Gr. Schonfeld on March 27, 1834 - on March seven and twentieth of the year a thousand eight hundred and four and thirty-born and on was baptized April 6 of the same year. Baptismal witnesses were: Carl Schulz, Kathner zu Gr.Nice-field; Fritz Krempin, farmhand at Dianehof; Dorothee Strand, father's sister. The literal agreement of the previous standing information with the local baptismal register officially certified and certified bigt Rodlin May 14th, 1871.

This letter is important for 3 reasons.

Our guess is that this was some kind of certified birth certificate that Carl FT could use for travel papers. It was a document proving his identity. It's dated May 14, 1871 and the Strandt family left Hamburg on October 27, 1871. I believe this shows that Carl was preparing then to move to America. 

Another interesting note about this paper is the spelling of the name "Strandt". Strand is spelled without the letter "t" on the end. This is how Carl Strand (1901-1996) started spelling it sometime in his teenage years/ early 20's. On the passenger lists coming to America Carl FT's last name is spelled "Strandt" with the "t". The "t" always seems to be appearing and disappearing. Even in Germany. 

The final reason this letter is important is because it tells us the identity of Carl FT's father and mother. When Carl died, William filled out the death certificate. For father he listed "John Strandt" and for mother he listed "not known". He also listed Carl's birthday as March 25, 1834. He was off by 2 days. Not only does this letter give us the correct name of Carl's father, it also provides us with his mother's name and her maiden name. We also have a place of birth of Carl too. A place to start researching in Germany. 

If anyone has any extra insight or knowledge of this letter or what it might have been or means please let me know. Big Thank You to Heidi Strandt Andrews for getting this translated.

Here is the death certificate of Carl FT Strandt, for comparison's sake. Since William was born in America and was the youngest he must not have known much about his family's life in Germany.