The River Running
"Immigrants: we get the job done" -- Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Elisabetha Webel and Johannes Hohl
Elisabetha Webel and Johannes Hohl married in Freinsheim 16 Jun 1852. Elisabetha was christened 02 Aug 1829 in Freinsheim, the daughter of Anna Maria Pirmann and Georg Franz Webel. Johannes was the son of Catharina Felicitas Walz and Reichard Hohl born 05 Aug 1828 and christened in Freinsheim 07 Aug 1828.
Johannes had a paternal aunt, Anna Christina Hohl, who married Johann Adolph Pirmann. Johann Adolph did indeed have an older sister named Anna Maria, but she wasn't the same Anna Maria Pirmann as Johannes' mother-in-law. Elisabetha Webel's parents had married 07 Apr 1825. Less than seven weeks later, on 23 May 1825, Johann Adolph's sister married Martin Kullmann or Culmann. The familial connection between the two Anna Maria Pirmanns has been swallowed by the records gap.
Elisabetha and Johannes had three children, all of whom were christened in Freinsheim:
Johannes may or may not be the Johann Hohl listed in the Directory of the Members of the Agricultural Societies for the Pfalz in the Year 1868 which was included in the Landswirtschaftl. Blätter: Amtsblatt der Kreinbauernkammer Pfalz. He was one of eight members from Freinsheim. Five, including Johann Hohl, were described as "Gutsbesitzer," landowner. The other three were described as "Oekonom," which seems to be synonymous with "Landwirt" and to describe a higher class of farmer than "Ackersmann." In a dictionary published in 1791 by G.G. Strelin, Strelin defined "Oekonom or Landwirt as a person who has either learned agriculture in its widest sense, or pursues it in practice or teaches others the same." (The translated quote is courtesy of Keith Tribe's The Economy of the Word: Language, History and Economics.)
Listed immediately above Johann Hohl in the membership directory is Eduard Hilgard of Freinsheim. On 16 Dec 1874, both men were chosen as municipal officials in Freinsheim, Eduard Hilgard as Bürgermeister and Johannes Hohl as Adjunct.
Getting Schooled
The directory of students at the Latin school in Dürkheim an der Haardt (presumably Bad Dürkheim near the Haardt Mountains) includes a Jacob Hohl from Freinsheim whose father's occupation is stated as Ackersmann. The directory is included in the Jahresbericht über die K&oiml;nigl. Bayer. Lateinische Schule for Dürkheim an der Haardt for the 1867/1868 school year.
Jacob's father may or may not be Johann the Gutsbesitzer. Jacob the scholar's age is given as 13 years, 9 months, but Jacob born in October 1885 wouldn't have been that old until July 1869. Nor does it appear that Jacob's age was finagled to get him into school. He's in the "first class" with 45 other boys ages 9 years, 11 months, to 15 years, 2 months. Only two of them come from Freinsheim, Jacob Hohl and Arthur Reker. Three boys didn't start school until after Easter, so they're not graded or ranked.
Jacob was an average student, ranked 25 out of 42. His best subjects were German and French. His weakest ones were religion and arithmetic. He had plenty of company. Of the 42 graded students, 8 were graded "very good," 13 were "good," 11 were "average" and 10 were "low." Note the careful division: exactly half the students are above the line between "good" and "average," exactly half are below. There was no grade inflation.
The curriculum at the Latin school was fairly broad-based. The first class studied religion, Latin, German, French, arithmetic, geography and natural history (zoology). They also had three hours of drawing and two hours each of singing and gymnastics each week.
The "second class" consisted of 20 students ranging in age from 11 years, 9 months, to 15 years, 2 months, none from Freinsheim. They continued to study the same subjects as the first class but also received two hours weekly instruction in "Schönschreiben" - literally, "nice writing." I think that this refers to penmanship.
The "third class" consisted of 13 students ranging in age from 12 years, 2 months, to 17 years, 4 months. There was one student from Freinsheim, Eduard Hilgard's son Gustav. They studied Greek as well as Latin, German, and French and history as well as geography. In natural history, they moved on from zoology to botany. They continued to study religion and arithmetic, with doses of drawing, singing and gymnastics.
The "fourth class" consisted of 12 students ranging in age from 13 years, 1 month, to 17 years, 8 months, none from Freinsheim. They continued to study religion, Latin, Greek, German, French, history and geography. Instead of arithmetic, they studied mathematics - algebra and geometry. They also studied physics in addition to natural history, which focused on minerals. They also received doses of drawing, singing and gymnastics.
Of course, none of these students were girls. All of them were only in school because they had someone to pay their way and because their families didn't need their labour at home.
The Jahresbericht über die K&oiml;nigl. Bayer. Lateinische Schule lays out the curricula in greater detail than I've given here. I was interested to note that for religion, it provides three different curricula: Protestant, Catholic and "Israelite." The religious instruction at the Latin school in Dürkheim an der Haardt appears to have been Protestant only. (No distinction is made between Reformed and Lutheran.) Did the type of religious instruction available at any one school depend on the dominant religion among the students in that school? How many Latin schools in Bavaria actually provided Israelite religious instruction?
Emigration
The Tabellarische Übersicht ber Auswanderungen nach überseeischen Ländern aus der Gemeinde Freinsheim (Tabular Summary of Emigration to Overseas Lands from the Freinsheim Community) includes records from 1853 to 1884. (Many, many thanks to Claire Gebben for making this document available.)
I found two entries for people with the last name Hohl, both for unmarried men. Reichard Hohl emigrated in 1873 and Jakob Hohl, ten years later in 1883. These men may or may not have been Reichardt born 1853 and/or Jakob born 1855.