Family Object
The
object I have brought in is a copy of my family crest. It is from
Germany, and has the original spelling of my name, Kleinbohl. The
spelling was changed by my family in the late 1800’s to Clinebell. I
have heard from family members that it was changed because my
great-great aunt, who was a schoolteacher, wanted a more Americanized
name. My great-great-great grandfather, George Clinebell, moved here
with his first wife in the mid 1800’s. She died, and he moved back to
Germany. He came back with his second wife, Maria, who was an
accomplished singer educated in fine arts. From what I understand, they
emigrated here to start a farm. They bought their farm with her dowry.
Besides working the farm, George was employed as a cooper, which is a
maker and fixer of wooden barrels and tubs. He died when he was hit by
a train (he was hard of hearing, and was in a blizzard), while walking
the 20-mile stretch home from work (which he did every day, to and from)
when he was 59. Maria died about 40 years later. The crest means
something to me, because it represents the identity that my
great-great-great grandparents left behind in striving for a better
life.
At first, I had a hard time locating anything for this assignment. By pure luck, I found a distant relative through Ancestory.com who had a ton of information on my family. I think the reason information like this isn’t as readily available to someone whose family has been here as long as mine, is because information and extended family ties get diluted over time.