The Life and Memory of Henry Finger, Sr.

This village is situated about two and a half English miles East of Frankenberg City [mostly south and a little east - ed.] in a hilly country and had in my time 63 residences and a little over 300 inhabitants, with a Church that was built in the year 1683 and a School House in the middle of the village. The people within this village were by religion Lutheran and reformed after the Zwinglian Reformers.
Note: The Swiss theologian Huldreich Zwingi wanted to setup theocratic States based on the Bible.

By profession they were farmers, while a few would follow also some Mechanical Trade besides small farming, and one of these farmers name was Henry Finger, or as they commonly called him "Fingerhenner", and his wife's maiden name was Elisabeth Imhof, who was born in the village of Ernsthausen, five miles South of Frankenberg City [mostly south and a little west - ed.], and they had six children;

Christopher (born 1824) John (born 1828)
Eva Elisabeth (born 1828) Anna Gertrude (born 1830)
Henry (born 1837) Anna Maria (born 1840)
Three others died in infancy.  

MY VERY FIRST MEMORY

Now this village is the place of my first memories and the very first what I do remember is that I was led to a cradle and two babies were shown to me, they laid one with the head one way, and the other with the head the other way. The woman that showed them to me was the Midwife of the village, and my mother was also present. Now how I behaved I do not recollect, but my mother and said Midwife laughed very much about me, that I remember very plain, and these two babies were my youngest sister Anna Maria and her twin brother Jacob who died when but three or four weeks old, and they were born as I been thought, on May the 14th 1840, while I was born, as they said on June the 6th 1837. Now this I simply put down as my first memory where I can get close to the date also. The next memory worth notice is, I was in Church one Sunday and after the Preacher was done with Sermon, he published a list of names that should come to school the next day, among which he mentioned my name.

Now my folks told me I must try and be there first as that would give me seat number one, and now my ambition was aroused for seat number one, so the next morning I went from bed in a hurry as soon as I was called, got in some of my garments and on the breakfast table, but I hardly was done and there rang the school bell, and now where are my stockings and boots? I began to cry! Well everybody helped me and finally I was done. In a storm I went to the schoolhouse but Lo! I had to take seat number two, as one was already occupied and Henry Eckel was the rascal that captured it.

Finally school commenced and our Teacher, a curly headed man with name John Krouse appeared and all the children got up and said in chorus; Good morning Mr. Teacher! Then the exercises commenced with the singing of a song, then praying, then the Teacher gave the sign to sit down. Now he took one class after another until he finally came on us ABC jobs, and it seemed to me that we did the best of all. He gave everyone a present, praised us a great deal, and dismissed us to go home.


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