CHAPTER XXIII.
THE OLD "TAUFSCHIEN."
BIRTH AND CHRISTENING CERTIFICATE
OLD TAUFSCHIEN
Aunt Sarah had long promised to show Mary her Grandmother's "Taufschien," and she reverently handled the large old family Bible, which contained between its sacred pages the yellowed paper, being the birth and christening certificate of her grandmother, whom we read was born in 1785, in Nockamixon Township, was confirmed in 1802, and was married in 1805 to the man who was later Aunt Sarah's grandfather. The old certificate was signed by a German Reformed minister named Wack, who history tells us was the first young man of that denomination to be ordained to the ministry in America. Folded with this "Taufschien" is another which has never been filled out. This is printed in German. Pictures of women, perhaps they are intended to represent angels, with golden wings, clothed in loose-flowing crimson drapery and holding harps in their hands; birds with gayly-colored plumage of bluish green, crimson and yellow, perched on branches of what presumably represent cherry trees, also decorate the page. Religious hymns printed on the "Taufschiens," encircled with gay stripes of light blue and yellow, dotted with green, further embellish them. On one we read:
"Infinite joy or endless woe,
Attend on every breath;
And yet, how unconcerned we go
Upon the brink of death."
"Mary, this old 'Taufschien' of my grandmother's is one of my most cherished possessions. Would you like to see your Uncle's old deed, which he came into possession of when he inherited the farm from his father?"