Amanuensis Monday - Letters from Germany

Amanuensis Monday was started by John Newmark in his blog Translyvanian Dutch and encourages family historians to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes and other historical artifacts. An amanuensis is a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

My husband's family are very fortunate. They have a series of letters written from Germany to Jacob Frederick Scheef who lived at Rocky River, near Armidale and later at Tilbuster and Puddledock. These letters date from 1859 until 1894. It's a shame we can't read German! There is also a diary Jacob kept and the letters he wrote home when he returned for a holiday to Germany in 1885. At least these are in English! Currently these documents are housed at the University of New England and Regional Archives, in Armidale, New South Wales.

Letter sent from Stuttgart to the Rocky River diggings.

It went around the world!

Appears to have been written from Steinheim

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The following places are mentioned: Steinheim, Unterturkheim, Moreton Bay, Armidale, Rocky River Diggings and Wurttemberg.
The letter mentions Glock. Jacob had married Christina Glock the previous year.
The date 11th September 1858 is quite clear.
Towards the end of the letter two words are written in the centre with writing underneath. This is repeated 3 times.
It looks like Mou Christian, Mou Gottlieb and Mou Roble. It could possibly be information about these three. Under Christian there is something about a Barbara Smidt.

Does anyone know where I could get these letters translated? I have 113 pages.

Caroline Chisholm

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My WW1 soldiers (2) - Ernest Lee Dawson

Ernest Lee Dawson (500) (1885 - 1968) This is the second post in a series of posts over the next few years to remember all the men in my extended family who enlisted in World War 1. So far I have identified 26 soldiers who enlisted between 20 August 1914 and 2 November 1918 and I feel sure I have missed some. Of the twenty six, five were killed overseas or died here in Australia. My aim is to publish these posts on the 100th anniversary of their enlistment. Ernest Lee Dawson (my great uncle) was the eldest child of William Henry Dawson and his wife Bridget Mylan. He was born in the Cooma district of NSW in 1885. On 25th August 1914, less than three weeks after the outbreak of the First World War Ernie, a farmer who lived at Old Bonalbo enlisted in the 2nd Light Horse Regiment in Lismore. Ernie had previous military experience. In 1906, he answered an advertisement to join the Shanghai Municipal Council Police Force, as a recruit. He was appointed on 10th Ja

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