I am researching a German ancestor, Michael Keitzer (or Keutzer) who emigrated to America from Frischborn, Hesse in the 1830s. He settled in a German Catholic community in Seneca County, Ohio. While I was reviewing the church records from the 1830s to the 1870s, I noticed that the godparents or baptismal sponsors were usually not related to each other, or in many cases not even to the parents of the child. This differs from today's custom in the USA, where parents usually ask a married couple to represent their child at the baptism. 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

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]