Karen, Thank you. The area on my great-grandfather's passport is "Resident to: Deutsch-Jaßnick Outskirts: Neutischin (now: Nový Jièín) Region Mähren (Moravia). Another kind person gave me the following information on the area and what it is called now: Deutsch Jasnick / Deutch Jasnik means Nemecky Jesenik which is Jesenik nad Odrou. I also found out that the region or area where these towns are located is Moravskoslezsky. Also, do you know when the serf era ended in that area. Do you know how expensive it would be to hire a researcher in that area? Thank you, Mary -------------- Original message -------------- > In a message dated 11/20/2005 12:15:43 PM Mountain Standard Time, > mpettyjohn@comcast.net writes: > Thank you for sending this site to the list. I was wondering if you know of > a site that has downloadable pictures of Moravia in the late 1800s and even > early than that. My great-grandfather immigrated from that area in abt 1880 and > I want to include pictures of the area and history of the area for the family > history book and am writing for my children and grandchildren. By the way, > according to my great-grandfather's passport, his occupation was a day laborer > and would like to find a site that would describe the socio-economic structure > of that era. > > Once again, thank you for your willingness to help the group in their > unending genealogical quest. > > Mary > > Moravia is a large area with six "regions" (Kraj) each of which were divided > into Okres (counties) back in the 1880s. > > If your ancestor was ethnic German your best bet for finding old photos of > Moravia would be in the Moravian Heimat books or maybe at the websites sponsored > by Moravian Heimat Societies. > > Otherwise you may find some nice photoarchives at the Brno central archive > but you may have to have a Czech researcher go over them for you. You may also > fined a Czech researcher who would be willing to travel to your ancestral > home area and take pictures of what it is like there today -- including the site > of ancestral homes or businesses if they still exist. A Czech friend who > lives in Brno did that for me - took 65 photos and sent me hard copy and the > negaives which I can easily have transferred to CD. > > A day-laborer was a person who had no trade or regular job but was available > to work "as needed." In general they would do field work, road work, > herding, unskilled construction, maintenance and repair, sweeping / cleaning, > loading and unloading wagons, etc. Just as unskilled day labor hired at our > U.S. > city and county "Job Serivice" offices are relatively low paid, so were > day-laborers back in Moravia. > > However, during serfdom they were not so poorly paid that fully-employed > serfs would turn up their noses at working for those wages. There are stories > of > how a noble lord would allow a farmer, craftsman or other more or less > well-off serf to buy out his "Robot" dues with a cash payment . The nobleman > used > that money to pay day-laborers to do the same work. However, in many cases > after a serf paid the nobleman whatever fee was required, he simply went to the > local "job service" where the nobleman's overseer hired day laborers. He > would then hire on by the hour and come home with more money in his pocket than > he had paid to get out of working "Robot" for nothing. > > Karen > > > ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== > Forgotten how to UNSUBSCRIBE? > Visit http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/mailinglist/mailinglist.html >