1910 - Birthday Letter to Clara Hinderer Baur from her parents
From CowTales
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Letter Text
South Shore, Sept. 15, 1910
My dear daughter Clara<ref>Clara Hinderer Baur</ref>!
This day closes another year of life for you. In ordinary life, closing means to bring something to an end. Whatever it may be which we have concluded or ended, the next thing we do is to add up our debts and credits, what the results of the year have been. Tomorrow by God’s grace you will begin a new year of your life.
Let the (year now concluded) pass in review once more before your soul. Do not forget the grace and favor your Heavenly Father has shown to you, how He has protected you in many ways, how He bore you up on eagle’s wings, how he prospered your work, blessed it so that you not only had bread enough, but to spare; besides, how He so blessed your calling that you achieved a promotion<ref>Was working at International Harvestor Co in Watertown, SD</ref>. Nor dare you forget that in addition to your earthly bread, the spiritual (bread) has in richest measure been offered to you in His Word, in church and in a Christian home.
The wisest scholar <ref>“To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom."-Socrateses What was ultimately most important about Socrates' inquiries was, indeed, the unceasing practice and habit of being critical and thoughtful--of not being blind to one's own unfounded convictions and presuppositions. Thoughtfulness and critical self-awareness as a way of life is what Socrates stands for. That is why he adopted “Know thyself” as the main maxim for his life, and why his best known pronouncement is "the unexamined life is not worth living." Life, according to him, is not something that is just to be lived--lived by following blindly and headlong primal instincts, popular convictions, or time-honored customs. The good life is a life that questions and thinks about things; it is a life of contemplation, self-examination, and open-minded wondering. The good life is thus an inner life—the life of an inquiring and ever expanding mind. What was ultimately most important about Socrates' inquiries was, indeed, the unceasing practice and habit of being critical and thoughtful--of not being blind to one's own unfounded convictions and presuppositions. Thoughtfulness and critical self-awareness as a way of life is what Socrates stands for. That is why he adopted “Know thyself” as the main maxim for his life, and why his best known pronouncement is "the unexamined life is not worth living." Life, according to him, is not something that is just to be lived--lived by following blindly and headlong primal instincts, popular convictions, or time-honored customs. The good life is a life that questions and thinks about things; it is a life of contemplation, self-examination, and open-minded wondering. The good life is thus an inner life—the life of an inquiring and ever expanding mind. Socrates spent a month in jail before he was made to drink the fatal cup of hemlock. https://faculty.frostburg.edu/phil/forum/SocratesLife.htm </ref> in Greece considered his highest goal to be to “know thyself.” These words may well be the greatest wisdom. But, their meaning is much deeper than the first glance would indicate. No wonder that the lust-ridden, mind-boggling world handed him a cup of poison for saying this.
However, this is also what I urge you to do in your new year of life, “know thyself!” Work at this goal daily with all diligence, all energy, and in all sincerity, and you will then discover that you have something to work at not for a year, not for ten, but for a lifetime. For, this knowing yourself will reveal much to you. Above all it ought to show you, “Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults” [(Ps. 19:12)]. Then, with the same Psalmist you will learn to plead, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me” [(Ps. 51:10.11)].
When you have arrived at such knowledge of self, then you also will understand and agree with the poet Schiller <ref>The idea of freedom,” Goethe said, “assumed a different form as Schiller advanced in his own development and became a different man. In his youth it was physical freedom that preoccupied him and found its way into his works; in later life it was spiritual freedom.” Schiller’s early tragedies are attacks upon political oppression and the tyranny of social convention; his later plays are concerned with the inward freedom of the soul that enables a man to rise superior to the frailties of the flesh and to the pressure of material conditions; they show the hero torn between the claims of this world and the demands of an eternal moral order, striving to keep his integrity in the conflict. In his reflective poems and in his treatises, Schiller sets out to show how art can help man to attain this inner harmony and how, through the “aesthetic education” of the individual citizen, a happier, more humane social order may develop. His reflections on aesthetics thus link up with his political and historical thinking. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Friedrich-Schiller and https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Schiller
One of the most striking features of Schiller’s oeuvre is its modernity, its startling relevance to the life of the 20th century. Although for a time he fell out of favour with the German intelligentsia, the enduring value of his work is not likely to be obscured by fashions in criticism.</ref>who wrote, “The most important thing in life is not the goods you possess. On the other hand, the greatest evil is a debt. A debt, whether of money or goods, is burdensome; the debt of sin nearly crushes one to the ground; a guilty conscience scarcely less so.”
But, through the Word of your Heavenly Father learn to avoid such sins, and when they are committed, recognize them for what they are, repent of them, hate them, forsake them. Thus, through His Word you will learn to know yourself again and again. (You will learn to know yourself as one who daily needs grace and a Savoir, both for living and for dying.)
What is equally important, you will recognize the robe of self indulgence, of self love, and other such disgusting qualities as neither beautiful, decorative, or becoming. Rather, clothe yourself with sincere mercy together with all the great Christian virtues. With these you will be able to also practice the right kind of love toward your neighbor, toward your brothers and sisters, toward your parents, and toward him to whom you will want to give yourself as his very own (in marriage), as the Word of God expresses it: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife (her husband)” [(Eph. 5:31)] (May you always increase in the genuine, true, God-pleasing love, and as you grow older, also in knowledge and wisdom and the grace of God. This is the heartfelt wish of your mother,)
My dear Clara!
In spirit I also celebrate your birthday today and from my heart wish you God’s rich blessing, also to the end that you always remain to us a dear, faithful, honorable, and obedient daughter. As a birthday gift we are sending you a copy of Bogatzky’s Little Treasury (published in English as “The Golden Treasury”), which will arrive in due season. Use it faithfully, for it contains golden kernels of the Truth. Butx<ref>http://bestnicknametees.com/nicknames/butch/
Butch = (Butch is a common nickname used to separate "Sr" from "Jr" mainly in cultures with German backgrounds. Typically the father (Sr) goes by his first name, while the son (Jr) will be referred to as "Butch" by family and friends.)</ref> and Freddie have already become homesick, so that on Saturday morning they boarded the train for Forestville.
With heartiest greeting, your father,
P. Hinderer
(translated by Pastor Herbert F. Muenkel)
source: Clara Hinderer Baur collection
<references/>Watertown, SD
Comments
Sept 16th, 1910 was Grandma Clara Hinderer Baur’s 22nd birthday. Her Mom, Klara, wrote her what seems to be a very nice birthday letter from a Mom to her daughter. It wasn’t until I dug into the letter that I could truly appreciate its message and the woman who wrote it.
I believe it is of value to know more about Grandma. She grew up wanting to be a Red Cross nurse. This dream died because of a lack of funds. Grandma writes in her journal “Then a peddler sold me a dress maker’s course in my parent's absence.” She got her diploma and was very good at her trade. However, Grandma also writes “I passed, but because I was so extremely bashful when it came to talking to people, I could not avail myself of a corner in a Millinery shop to pursue my trade.” If I were asked to describe Grandma, bashful is not a word I would have used. I always think of her as a very confident woman.
I am unable to determine why Grandma ended up living in Zumbrota, MN. It was in Zumbrota where she received encouragement to attend a Business School in Red Wing, MN. The summer course was to determine the direction of her life.
She was recommended for a job with the Great Western Railroad. She honed her new office assistant skills there for 6 months before moving to to a lucrative job with the International Harvester Co. in Watertown, SD. Her Dad, Paul Hinderer, was pastor at a nearby tri-parish in South Shore, SD. I’m not so sure 23 miles was considered nearby back then. Ironically, it was during this time President Taft’s office saw the 16th Amendment passed, which allowed the federal government to collect income taxes.
This was an exciting time for Grandma. She was independent. She was successfully employed at International Harvester. She had taken a year off to go on her “great adventure” teaching Apache School Children down in Globe, AZ. AZ became a state in 1910. The story of Globe is a chapter in itself.
The Woman Suffrage movement was picking up momentum. Women’s clothing styles were changing. Corsets were on there way out and the Flapper style was coming. Legs of women were seen for the first time on beaches.
Life in Watertown was good to Grandma. In 1910 International Harvester grossed about $100 million in annual sales. It had over 17,000 workers in the Chicago area, making it the leading employer of the region. Grandma was in far off SD, but I have to believe being part of large company worked to her advantage. Especially during the “The Panic of 1907” financial crisis. <ref> Panic of 1907</ref>
Another big change was soon to come into Grandma’s life. Jacob Baur’s half brother, who had come to America with Jacob, began his pastorate at St. Martin’s Lutheran Church in Watertown, SD. William Sauer came to the church in 1901 to preach German AND English services. The church was considered pro-German, and with the winds of WW1 coming the sacristy steps were painted yellow; a method used to show disdain for the “Huns” (Germans). Grandma was active as a Sunday School teacher. This is where she met her future husband.
I have to pause here and reflect on Grandma’s German background. She was in the middle of German conflicts. I remember her telling me many times as a kid I was 100% German. This was often followed with the admonishment that when the time came, I had to find and marry a “good German girl!”
Grandma didn’t meet Alfred until 1914. I find it difficult to believe Grandma didn’t have other suitors courting her attention. Great Grandma Klara’s letter addressed the concerns a loving mother has for her daughter. I believe her words of wisdom are as applicable in today’s world as they were in 1910. I believe it also gives insight as to why Great-grandpa Hindere fell to such depths of grief when she died<ref>Family letters written after Klara's death</ref>.
Great Grandma was a teacher in German<ref>Clara Hinderer Baur journal</ref>. Her professional training and spiritual training come out in this letter. The theme of the letter is to “Know thyself.” Klara quotes “The wisest scholar in Greece.” Reading Socrates is not something I think of a pioneer woman reading. I believe this demonstrates the depth of her education.
She doesn’t stop with Socrates and his death. Great-grandma quickly turns it into a spiritual application. One that causes me to pause and think even as I write this. Grandma applies Socrates to Psalm 19:12 as she encourages her daughter to know herself and recognize her sins and the forgiveness which was hers. It was through God’s Word where she would truly “Know thyself.”
Great-grandma's educational background comes apparent again when she quotes the Poet Schiller. Schiller grew up in Stuttgart, Germany and wrote many works of poetry and plays. In his youth it was physical freedom that preoccupied him and found its way into many of his works. Later in life his focus was spiritual freedom. His writings of the 19th century are as applicable to the 20th, and even the 21 century, as the day they were first penned. I admire how Great-grandma made the connection.
Once again Great-grandma’s letter returns to Biblical truth. She again admonishes against sinful living and encourages Christian living. Love and marriage are her closing thoughts. This loving mother knew her daughter had grown into womanhood.
Great-grandpa Hinderer added a short note to Grandma’s birthday letter. Even though she was 22, her father expressed the desire that she remain an obedient daughter.
The gift sent to Grandma by her parents was a book “Bogatzky’s Little Treasure.” Copies of it are available online. Here again Grandma’s parents worked to nurture her faith. It is a faith which Granma clung to until the day she died. A faith she passed onto her son, her grandchildren, and all with whom she came into contact.
Other notes:
- Halley Comet was visible from Earth in 1910. Grandma would not live to see it’s next appearance in 1986 when her newborn great-granddaughter became part of my family. I didn’t pay any attention to Halley’s visit. I wonder if Grandma did.
- The original filmed version of Frankenstein, considered to be the first horror movie, came to the silver screen in 1910. Did Grandma go on a date to view it? I have seen the same movie. Once again Grandma beat me to the punch and did it first.
- I have to wonder how the styles of the times affected Grandma in later years. When looking at women’s styles of the past I see Grandma. I remember her having the same posture and stride as the women pictured, bound in the tight corsets of the time. A very confident aura surrounded Grandma. At Terri often says, “Nobody at church messed with Grandma Baur.”
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