Sack Family [RG5488.AM]

HISTORY NEBRASKA MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID

RG5488.AM:  Sack Family

Papers:  1852-1906, n.d.

Province of Saxony [Sachsen], Germany; Eagle, Cass County, Neb.:  

Size:  0.1 cu.ft.

BACKGROUND NOTE

Carl Gottlob Sack, schoolmaster, cantor (choirmaster), and, in later years, wine merchant, was born in the Province of Saxony, Germany, during the first decade of the nineteenth century; the precise date is not indicated. In 1833, he married Johanna Christiana (nee Wahn, born in 1810); the precise date of the marriage is unknown. Their first child, Pauline Amalie Therese, was born in January of 1834. At first the family lived in Oberthau, a small town north of Halle; in 1847 or 1848, the family moved to Roglitz (in Saxony), southeast of Halle. Johanna Christiana Sack died in 1855; Carl Gottlob Sack died in 1906.

After the death of his wife in 1855, Carl Gottlob Sack lived with his children in various locations in the region. Other towns mentioned in the correspondence include: Schkeuditz, Merseburg, Rodden, Kotzschau, Markranstadt, Seebenisch, and Kreina. (See the map of the Halle region included with the genealogy materials.)

Children of Carl Gottlob Sack and Christiana Sack (the names in bold are the names actually used in the correspondence):

(1) Pauline Amalie Therese   Born 6 January 1834; confirmed 20 April 1848.

(2) Ida Amalie (Emilie)   Born 16 November 1835; confirmed 28 March 1850.

(3) Carl Gustav   Born 14 January 1838; confirmed 4 March 1852.

(4) Marie Antonie   Born 15 May 1839; confirmed 20 March 1853; died 1896.

(5) Ernst Albert   Born 12 January 1841; baptized 21 January 1841; died 1903.

(6) Carl Franz Lebrecht (Charles)   Born 10 July 1842; baptized 17 July 1842.

(7) Franz Louis   Born 1 August 1843; baptized 14 August 1843; died 1878.

(8) Ottilie Franziska (Franzchen)   Born 6 August 1845; baptized 31 August 1845.

(9) Carl Herrmann   Born 5 March 1847; baptized 12 March 1847.

(10) Clara Emma   Born 5 February 1848; baptized 18 February 1848.

(11) Julius Bernhard   Born 3 December 1849; baptized 27 December 1849.

(12) Minna Liberta   Born 18 September 1851; baptized 10 October 1851; died 14 November 1851.

Four of the children of Carl Gottlob Sack emigrated to America: Franz Louis, Carl Franz Lebrecht [Charles], Julius Bernhard, and, much later, Marie Antonie.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The Sack family papers include: a confirmation certificate for Carl Gustav Sack, dated 4 April 1852; genealogical records (in German) provided by the Zentralstelle fur Genealogie [Central Office for Genealogy] in the German Democratic Republic, along with an English translation provided by Raymond Van Skiver; a chart illustrating the German handwriting used in the correspondence; and seven letters written from Germany, primarily by Carl Gottlob Sack (C. G. Sack), to his children and grandchildren living in Cass County, Nebraska. The letters deal with the weather and crops in Germany, local events, marriages, finances, and other family matters.

One of the chief subjects of the correspondence is a lawsuit brought by Carl Gottlob Sack against his son Ernst Albert. Carl Gottlob had sold the family property, some of which had originally belonged to his wife, to Ernst Albert on the condition that the legacy be shared with Albert’s siblings in Germany and in America. When Albert did not keep his part of the bargain in the way Carl Gottlob had intended, the father initiated a lawsuit against him and persuaded Emma to do the same. Carl Gottlob Sack’s letters to Julius explain the reasons for the suit; a subsequent letter from Albert to Julius presents Albert’s side of the story.

In addition to the Confirmation certificate, the original materials (in German) include, these letters:

1. 1. No date   Robert Barnhardt to Brother-in-Law [Charles or Julius?]

1. 1. 9 June 1874   C. G. Sack to Children

1. 1. 5 Aug. 1875   C. G. Sack to Children, Daughters-in-Law, Grandchildren

1. 1. 19 July 1880   C. G. Sack to Children, and especially Julius

1. 1. No date   Albert to Brother [Julius] and Sister-in-Law

1. 1. No date   Albert to Brother [Julius]

1. 1. 15 July 1893   Franziska Barnhardt to Brother

The recipient of this final letter (dated 15 July 1893) is identified in the Van Skiver transcripts (see below) as Charlie [Carl Franz Lebrecht]. Franziska congratulates her brother on his 50th birthday, with the notation of 1 August in the margin. Carl Franz’s birth date, however, was 10 July; the first of August would have been the 50th birthday of Franz Louis, but he had died several years earlier. It appears that Franziska simply confused the dates.

The Sack papers also include “transcripts” of letters sent from America back to Germany, beginning in September of 1867 when Franz Louis first arrived in New Orleans. The originals of these letters are not available; the texts, created by Raymond Van Skiver, grandson of Julius Bernhard Sack, are based on oral traditions within the Sack family.

Translations of the Confirmation certificate and the seven original letters are provided along with a genealogical chart of the Sack family and a map of the area of Saxony in which the family lived.

INVENTORY

Folder

1. 1. Original letters and documents (in German)

1. 1. Photocopies of the original German documents

1. 1. English translations of the original documents

1. 1. Transcripts of original letters and letters created by Raymond Van Skiver based on oral traditions within the Sack family

1. 1. Genealogy materials

Subject headings:

Germans in Nebraska

Sack, Carl Gottlob, 180?-1906

Sack, Ernst Albert, 1841-1903

Sack Family

RQ/tmm   09-24-2004

Revised TMM   11-02-2009