Alfred Schlatter's
Apprenticeship Contract
As my family history research continues, I make an occasional exciting discovery -- this is one of those discoveries.
My mother was our family historian and she had several boxes, albums, envelopes, and folders of "stuff." After her death, I started organizing this stuff and am now (March 2010) examining some of the items that I had not looked at before.
Earlier, I learned that my paternal grandfather Adolph Schlatter had two brothers who came to the US -- Alfred Schlatter and Heinrich Reinhold Schlatter. Among the documents I inherited from my mother is this apprenticeship contract for my grandfather's brother, Alfred Schlatter.
Here are photos of the contract followed by my attempt at translating parts of it.
LEHR-VERTRAG
This document is an apprentice contract by which Alfred Schlatter, son of Joseph Schlatter, was apprenticed to Jakob ??? in the trade of ??? for the period 21 April 1889 to 21 April 1891.
The second paragraph of the contract starts with the words “Zwischen Herrn” – “These Men.” Other words in this paragraph are:
Lehrmeister: A master to whom an apprentice is
attached.
Vater: Father
Vormund: Guardian
Lehrling: Apprentice
A rough translation of this paragraph is:
These men Mister Jakob (illegible) being a Master in (illegible) and Mister Jos. Schlatter (illegible) of Ganterwseil being the father of Alfred Schlatter do stipulate the following words.
The third paragraph, preceded by the numeral 1, reads as follows:
Mr. Joseph Schlatter gives the son Alfred Schlatter to Mister Jakob (illegible) in (illegible) for the training (Lehre).
The next paragraph, preceded by the numeral 3, specifies the period of apprenticeship (Lehrzeit) to be two years (2 Jahre) from 21 April 1889 to 21 April 1891.
Alfred Schlatter apparently did not complete his apprenticeship as he arrived in the U.S. on 1 April 1890, one year before his apprenticeship ended.
However, paragraph numbered 4 states that a fee – Lehrgeldt, learning money – of 200 Francs was paid. The date 21 April 1890 appears in this paragraph. It could be that the apprenticeship cost 200 Francs per year and the 200 Francs listed here was for the first year – 21 April 1889 to 21 April 1890, and, Alfred decided not to continue the second years.
On the last page of the contract are signatures preceded by a sentence:
So vereinbart – Thus stipulates (illegible, handwritten), on 19 May 1889.
Der Lehrmeister (The Master)
J. (illegible)
Der Lehrling (The Apprentice) Der Vater (The Father)
Alfred Schlatter (signature) Jos. Schlatter (illegible)
This could mean that Alfred started his apprenticeship in April 1889 but the contract was not signed until May 1889.