born on the fourth

  It's July the fourth 1870. It's the year the United States government officially made the day a national holiday. That's right, many of us tend to believe that the holiday always existed, we tend to think of 1776. But the truth is it wasn't until January the 14th, 1784 that the United States became the United States with the ratifying of the treaty of Paris. Technically we have only been a sovereign nation for 239 years. But that is all history and the telling of history is always done by the victors. But in 1870 it was decided to celebrate the birth of the nation on July the 4th. That was because it was on July 4th, 1776, we declared ourselves independent. We were far from that, but that's a simple technicality. The revolutionary war lasted seven years and the treaty officially ending that war didn't happen for another year. 

 July 4th, 1870 is also the day my great grandfather Christian Reichart was born in Greenport, Long Island, New York. He was the first Reichart of this line born on American soil. I was born just 13 miles northwest of his final resting place in 1953. Just eighty three years between those two events. I was to grow up never knowing his name although he lived until 1940. His wife my great grandmother Katherine had passed in 1914. He never remarried and for reason known only to the past, became estranged from his family. My father never knew him, had no knowledge of him at all. I only came to know all of this when I embarked on the search using Ancestry.com.  It was the internet that led me back in time. Sadly, my own father was gone before I learned about any of this, he having passed in 1990. I'm certain he would have been fascinated by all that I have learned of our German ancestry. My dad, serving in WW2 on B-24 bombers spoke little about the war. He was aware that our ancestors were German, the name gave that away, and said that it was mentioned occasionally by others. He never said he faced any great discrimination or bigotry because of that. Still, that did exist during that time in America, it wasn't a good thing to be a hun! 

 Now great grandfather Christians' father had come to America in 1850. He served in the civil war, fighting for the union. He had gained citizenship prior to the outbreak of that conflict. He was a torpedo maker! Now at that time a torpedo was just a floating mine, very rudimentary and prone to explode prematurely. It was quite a dangerous position to be in. He must have had knowledge of explosives, although his occupation in Germany was listed as farmer. After the war he was a shopkeeper in Greenport. I know little about any of that. But his son, Christian married Katherine Gaffga, another fine German family that was quite prosperous in America. They had a marine business, repairing ships, building marine engines and involved heavily in civic affairs. Katherine would pass in 1914 after having given birth to two children. Elwood, my grandfather and Mildred, his sister, my great aunt. Elwood would marry Clara in 1921, my grandmother, have two sons with her, remarry have two more sons and pass away in 1932. My father was eight years old at the time. 

 Great grandfather Christian would have been 153 years old today. The first born Reichart of the line born on American soil. For me anyway he died in anonymity. I have done the research and discovered he passed away from stomach cancer in the Yapank Long Island infirmary. Also known as the poor house in those days, it is where people went when there was nowhere else to go. They stayed there under strict living conditions, expected to work if at all possible. to do their fair share. They received rudimentary health care in return. The whereabouts of his brothers and sisters are known to me but why they didn't interact with him I just don't know. They weren't wealthy people but comfortable, I think. They had trades such as tailor, mechanics and businesspeople. But great grandfather Christian appears to have become a bit of a loner. Well, whatever the real story is, Happy Birthday Great Grandfather Christian, born on the fourth of July!