I've found (here in Pittsburgh in Lutheran (German) church records), grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends. Have not really found a distinct pattern. Donna ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dorene L. Kaiser" <countryemu@c-magic.com> To: <HESSE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2003 9:42 AM Subject: Re: [HESSE] Choosing Baptismal Sponsors > In my MO Synod Lutheran German family, it seems that they usually took > one grandparent and one or two aunts/uncles. The child then was given > their names as middle names. They never used couples and they were > always members of the congregation or at least the same faith. By the > time my siblings had children they only used aunts or uncles . By the > time my nieces and nephews had children they started using friends who > were not members of the church. Defeats the purpose in my book but not > my choice. Anyway, that is how it went in my family. > Dorene in MO > > REW111@aol.com wrote: > > >I am trying to discover if the choosing of unrelated sponsors is a German > >custom, or perhaps just a 19th century custom that has since changed over time. > >And what was the rationale used to choose sponsors back then? Any thoughts > >would be appreciated. > > > >Thanks, > > > >Bob Wallace > >Columbus, Ohio USA > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >==== HESSE Mailing List ==== > >Postal Codes, How to Pay for Research, German Language > >Letters, Archive Addresses, German Telephone directory, > >http://members.cox.net/hessen/table.htm > > > >--- > >[This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus] > > > > > > > > > > > > --- > [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus] > > > ==== HESSE Mailing List ==== > Many towns in Germany have the same name! Add the 5-digit > zip code in front of the name! Zip codes explained, > http://members.cox.net/hessen/table.htm >