Johann Christoph Nauck – 8^th great-grandfather

Finsterwalde in the Lower Lausitz (Niederlausitz) was set ablaze by the empirical troops in 1631. It had barely risen from the ashes when it was burned down again under the Swedish flag 1637, leaving only the castle, the church, the school and a single street undamaged. The town became the victim of the flames a third time in 1675. Christoph Nauck lived in this beleaguered town as City Judge until the end of the 17^thcentury. His son, Johann Georg Nauck, citizen and cloth maker and royal Polish and Saxonian Electoral custom assistant. He was married to Maria Lopps, daughter of the mayor of Finsterwalde on November 25, 1716. From this marriage came Johann Abraham Nauck, who was christened in the local church on January 13, 1720. Johann Georg Nauck was a prosperous man and participated in the fair in Leipzig (Leipziger Messe). Returning from the fair he found his homestead burned down. He and his family were left in poverty and it was necessary in this terrible time to have his son become a simple dragoon for Saxony. Johann Abraham Nauck was 25 years old when he participated in the battle of Kesseldorf in the company of Captain Petersohn of the Dargooner Regiment of Prince von Sondershausen and was shot, leaving him a cripple by a Prussian bullet crushing his left arm. This misfortune, which happened on December 15, 1745, would seem to destroy the happiness of the crippled dragoon. The diligence he had demonstrated earlier in school was the reason that the now crippled young man was not discharged from the military service. The simple common dragoon was entrusted with the supervisor of the horses of the Saxonian Electoral Cavalry, which at that time were sent on pasture at the communal areas. He was stationed in the town of Starussfurton the unstrut in Thuringia.

There it happened that the corporal, who walked behind his cavalry horses heading for the pasture, met a young pretty farmer girl carrying an empty basket on her way to a garden to pick up vegetables for the family dinner. The girl was very unhappy and cried bitterly. This aroused the compassion in the corporal, but he did not receive an answer to his question about the reason for her sadness. The girl said: “I cannot tell you.” Then they parted, the corporal with his horses and the girl to the garden. They met again coming back to the town. The girl had now quieted down after having cried in the garden. This affected the crippled young man more than her crying and he repeated his question about the reason for her sorrow in a voice expressing his sincere sympathy from one heart to another. Now the girl revealed to him: ” My guardian hit me.” She was obviously an orphan. The corporal expressed: “Then you must have done something to serve being hit. No man hits a young girl and least of all his ward.” “Dear God, that is what happened”, she repeated, “my deceased father made a will and the members of the Court in Münchhausen decided that my father’s brother Hans Casper Saal should be my guardian. If it should according to God’s will that that I should die, then the property goes to his sister’s and his deceased brother Johann Christian Saal’s children, but with the difference that his brother’s son Johann Christian Saal, received the farm and implements in advance. The rest of the estate will be divided in equal parts between other nieces and nephews. Now my guardian wants me to marry the deceases brother’s son, Johann Christian Saal and I will not suffer that.” “And that is the reason he hit you. Well, if that is all I will protect you from the consequences.” Now the corporal went home and put on his broadsword and went on his way to the house of the guardian of Sophia Elisabeth Ernestine Saal. The conversation touched the affairs of the heart of the young girl after the normal polite welcome. The guardian, in the his perception of being a good guardian who considers that the money and goods should not end up in foreign hands, asked to be spared the unjustified talk of the corporal. In this the man was perfectly correct. But the farmer from Thuringia forgot himself when the discussion touched on the punishment by the guardian suffered by the girl, and he cursed the corporal, who drew from the leather gesticulated causing the farmer to retreat to behind the oven in his own house. He took his leave with the words: “That is enough for today. I will be back if you hit the girl again because she will not marry her cousin.” Thus ended the incident. The beleaguered orphan had found her knight in the crippled corporal, who made certain every Sunday. Abraham Nauck was a religious man, who followed the call of the bells to nourish his pious heart in God’s house. This was also a strong need for Ernestine Saal so that her tormented heart could seek peace and comfort. When the congregation left the church after the service through the gates, the corporal would stand at the gate Ernestine used going home, and a silent greeting from her assured him that the previous week had transpired with her being beaten. No lengthy conversation could take place, but they had the opportunity to meet without witnesses and talk, when Ernestine walked to the garden and the corporal diligently on a daily basis went to the pasture. Her fifteenth year was not quite behind her and thankfulness to Abraham Nauck was uppermost in her heart. His gallant action had earned him her deep respect, which was only natural, and the corporal was still not very old. A man at 27 (in 1747) can still awake love in a 15 year old girl, and so it happened that he declared his passion and that it was returned by her. Now it depended on obtaining the consent from the guardian, the man who would only remember the corporal with hurt feelings from his first meeting with the corporal for a marriage between the daughter of his deceased brother and a poor cloth maker apprentice, who now was a crippled corporal living on Electoral charity so to speak, and at the same time convince him to resign the farm. This could not be done. Hans Caspar Saal vehemently avowed and swore not now or ever to be willing to let his ward marry a homeless cripple. Thus began a time of test for Ernestine, and for her beloved, for her to remain true to the chivalrous cripple.

Very briefly, the question of an alliance for life was impossible and the affianced persons would have to be patient until she reached majority, when the consent of the guardian would no longer be necessary.

With the purpose of removing any objection to his poverty Abraham Nauck applied for a notarized document to attest his conjugal origin. This was made on authorized letterhead and read:

His royal majesty of Poland and his highness Electorate of Saxony, also Count of Magdeburg and my most gracious master, the present prefect of Finsterwalde, I Christian Adolph Heinssdorf attest on the humble and seemly application to the royal administration; that Johann Abraham Nauck has been occupied as cloth maker and is born in Finsterwalde, but presently serving under the royal electoral Saxonian regiment Prince of Sondershausen and dragoon in the company of Captain Petersohn, was born of honest and Christian parents, namely Johann Georg Nauck, royal servant and land surveyor and excort supervisor, and his wife Marien, the oldest daughter of the deceased Abraham Lopps, a respected cloth merchant and former Mayor of Finsterwalde and Town Judge, of grandfather and of step grandfather the honorable Joseph Caspar Röttingen, earlier deserving and faithful Pastor of Rehsdorf and Drössip, and comes from a good and respected parents and also as a youth was well behaved, pious and Christian of behavior. I have accordingly written this testimonial and most graciously attached the official seal and signed it in my own hand. So done in Finsterwalde on the 9^thof January, 1747.

Christian Adolph Heinssdorf

This clearly proved his honest origin, but there was no mention of an income and there was no prospect of an improvement, and it only served to convince the guardian that a marriage between his niece and the cripple was simply something to be avoided. The native son of a farmer was also viewed more positively by the court in Münchhausen representing the testator than the crippled dragoon, who was without paternal support, and there would also be no doubt of an objection by the church of Straussfurt. It came to Abraham Nauck in this situation of the uttermost adversity for the two faithful lovers that he been promoted to corporal in the dragoon regiment of Prince von Sonderhausen. His Captain was favorably inclined and obtained the necessary permissions for the marriage. The chief of the regiment, Prince von Sonderhausen, confirmed this, and the electoral pastor to Schwarzburg-Sonderhausen, his reverend Wachsmuth zu Hassleben, administered the blessing of Johann Abraham Nauck and Sophie Elisabeth Ernestine Saal on 27^thJune 1751 and wrote and signed the confirming pronouncement in his own hand. Then the clerically wedded young couple returned to Straussfurt and it was now their problem to through industry and piety as honest people to protect themselves against hostility from the relatives and to raise their children in piety.

The marriage between those two pious people was blessed: they had four sons and two daughters together. The concern in the heart of the father was that the education they could obtain in the town school of Straussfurt was not sufficient. Therefore the oldest became a farmer, or rather a smallholder, and a younger son a farm hand. Abraham Nauck mounted his best horse and rode from Straussfurt to Haale on the Saale, where a large orphanage had been built in the years 1689 – 1699 by the pious August Hermann Franke, who died on 8^th June 1727 in his 65^th year. The big work had been founded and was continued by his son, Gottlieb August Franke, and his son in law, Joahnnes Freilinghausen. To this there is an address:

“Stranger, what you see was accomplished by faith and love,
in honor of the founding spirit, believing and loving as he.”

Abraham Nauck, who was now no more than a small holder from Straussfurt, with a heart full of belief and love now asked withe the director of the orphanage in Halle, August Franke, in the year 1767 to take in his older sons, Heinrich and Ernst Nauck, and to enroll them among the students in the orphanage.

Amazed at such an application, that a father himself would ask his sons to be admitted to the life in the orphanage, the director told him that this could not be permitted and that it was simply impossible. if this was agreed to, then the children of the farmers the whole of Saxony would want to be admitted to the orphanage in Halle and there would not be enough accommodation. This is evident and logical; he prepared to ride home sadly although the conscience of many other fathers would have been quieted. But the whole attitude of the man, Abraham Nauck, had made a deep impression on director Franke and it hurt him that he could not help, and see: When the hardship is the greatest, God’s help is the closest. The orphanage owned other property an among them a manor house in Reideburg with 19 lots of land and the manager has just died. The question was now who to entrust with the remote management. The director had the idea that Mr. and Mrs. Nauck from Straussfurt, who had only worked in their own small scope of activities, might prove to be able to do the job of a larger economy and prove to be blessing to the orphanage. The director did not promise anything to Abraham Nauck but left him to talk it over with his wife. If she thought she was able to perform her part of the job she could come to Halle with him, although the orphanage reserved the right to make its own evaluation of whether he and his wife could be entrusted with the considerable stock and large economy of Reideburg. Abraham Nauck rode to Straussfurt with this message. His faithful Ernestine agreed readily to participate together with her chivalrous husband. The wife had no other education than she could get in the town school in Straussfurt. She was a small and pious woman having the same accuracy and punctuality as her husband, who ran a small business (his small holder farm) in Straussfurt. The event in Halle prove very advantageous to them. Abraham Nauck entrusted the operation of the small holder farm to sensible farm hands and moved to Reidburg as the financial manager for the orphanage in Halle. This happened on 20^th March 1767. From this date the children of the couple was included in the members of the orphanage in Halle where the boys enjoyed free education and free board and food. The father supplied clothing and shoes and the mother did their laundry. The books of the financial management were bound as it takes place to this day, but this was not enough for Abraham Nauck. The books in his hand were bound in carton with leather spine and corners. They are meticulously kept and beautifully written. The headings are every time:

By the blessing of God has been harvested: Wheat….
and also:
By the blessing of God has been harvested: Rye…

The books were audited for the first time by Dr. Knapp. The position as financial manager lasted until the year 1776, when the whole family was transferred from Reideburg to Halle to take over the financial management there, where the estate consisted of 17½lots of land, which was smaller than in Reidburg, but the responsibilities of Abraham Nauck was considerably increased since the oversight of the manor house with 11 lots of land was transferred to him.

223½ Scheffel (measurement for grain, 17.4 liters) was missing, which was remarked by him in the ledger. It also states that the former financial manager, F., was involved with a house maid having a bad reputation and that his wife had loose mouth. The transfer was made from 25^thto 27^thJune 1776. The control of the invoices of Abraham Nauck was made by director Freilinghausen. The business was continued with great care until 18^thJune 1781. Then this chivalrous man, this honorable family father, cripple from the battle of Kesseldorf, true with his life, died of consumption. According to the church book of St. Georgen-Kirchhofe he was buried in Glaucha, 61 years 6 months 9 days old. God blessed the honest alliance of the man with six children.

Born to Straussfurt:

Heinrich Nauck 1753

Ernst Nauck 26^thJune 1755

Anna Elisabeth Wilhelmine Nauck 17^thOctober 1758

Carl Nauck 28^thSeptember 1764

Born to Reideburg:

Wilhelm Nauck 12^thMay 1767

Sophia Nauck 10^th March 1770

The orphanage had enjoyed generous gifts from Holland since it was established. The trade of the Dutch blossomed on the coast of the Malabar and Dutch missionaries worked to convert the heathens. These efforts was then as now viewed at the Lüneburger Heide as being very serving and beneficial to God. Abraham Nauck had determined that his first born son, Heinrich, should study theology and the take up the work of converting heathens. This promising son died of scarlet fever as a student in Halle. Ernst, who originally wanted to become a soldier and hoped to fight with Washington for the freedom of North America, was next in line. That was not allowed by his pious father, who instead demanded that he look after his spiritual purpose. Abraham Nauck did not experience his departure for East India, but only than he was named minister of Garz and Küdow near Ruppin. The vocation was made on 31^stJuly 1780 by Friedrich Otto Gustav von Kleist as the guardian of Wolf Friedrich Ludwig von Quast and the church patron of Küdow. The honorable man (Abraham Nauck) experienced the wedding of this excellent son on 3^rdMarch 1781 to Christine Simmers, daughter of pastor Simmers in Reideburg. His beloved daughter Wilhelmine was already married to principal Johann Friedrich Jacob in Bless in Oberschelsien. The two oldest living children learned about the death of their father by mail and grieved from afar. Carl, Wilhelmine and Sophia escorted him to his grave. The grieving widow was the only consolation to these fatherless children until she followed her pious husband on 14^thSeptember 1786. Carl became an apprentice in the bookstore of the orphanage. Wilhelm moved to Thüringen and managed the paternal inheritance in Straussfurt. Sophia moved to her honorable brother, the pastor of Graz and Küdow. The blessing of God was on all the children and rested on all of the grandchildren of this pious couple, whose earthly remains rest in St Georgen field of Glaucha.

Quedlinburg, 28^th February 1854

Friedrich Nauck

The oldest living grandchild of Johann Abraham Nauck

Printed at the Nauck printing house in Berlin