1860 Braunschweig Military Dispensation and Emigration Correspondence

The record

Georg Wilhelm Ehrenfried Wesemann, Müllergeselle, Linse / Thran, Amt Eschershausen

Source: 6-page scan, obtained 27 August 2026 by direct request to the Niedersächsisches Landesarchiv (correspondence with archivist Jürgen Diehl, [email address withheld]). Very likely the same file catalogued on Arcinsys as NLA WO, 12 Neu, Nr. II E 15, Bd. 8, Amt Eschershausen — the petition and approval dates here match the passport-grant date already on record, and Arcinsys itself holds no digitized image of that file, which is why it had to be requested directly from the archive.

Transcribed and translated from the manuscript images. This is dense mid-19th-century German chancery Kurrent script; several passages transcribed with confidence, others only tentatively. Uncertain readings are marked; genuinely illegible passages are marked [Unreadable text], per this project's standing transcription convention.

Page 3 — heading and opening (Kreis-Direction's petition, 24 Jan 1860)

German (confident):

№820. 868. pr. 27. Jan. 1860. 428. Herzoglich Braunschweig-Lüneburgisches Staats-Ministerium zu Braunschweig. betrifft Herzogliche Kreis-Direction Holzminden über ein Gesuch des Müllergesellen Georg Wilhelm Ehrenfried Wesemann und Frau bei Linse, um Dispensation von der Militair-pflicht behufs seiner Übersiedelung nach Amerika. Auf den ganz gehorsamst angeschlossenen Registratur vom heutigen Tage bittet der am 30. Juli 1838 zu Thran bei Linse geborene Müllergesell Georg Wilhelm [Ehrenfried] ...

English:

No. 820. [Register p.] 868. Received 27 January 1860. [Ministry file p.] 428. Ducal Brunswick-Lüneburg State Ministry at Braunschweig. Concerns: Ducal District Directorate Holzminden, regarding a petition of the miller's journeyman Georg Wilhelm Ehrenfried Wesemann and wife, of Linse, for dispensation from military obligation for the purpose of his relocation to America. Per the most obediently enclosed report of today's date, the miller's journeyman Georg Wilhelm [Ehrenfried] Wesemann, born 30 July 1838 at Thran near Linse, petitions...

Page 4 — continuation

German (moderate confidence — connecting cursive, some words tentative):

...Ehefrau Wesemann, welcher im vorigjährigen Aushebungstermin zur Erfüllung seiner Dienstpflicht aufgefordert, aber wegen [...] der Commission [...] wegen Neigung zur Auswanderung freigelassen wurde, um gnädigste Dispensation von der Militair-pflicht zum Zwecke der beabsichtigten Auswanderung nach Amerika, wo derselbe einen nahen mütterlichen Verwandten vorfinden wird, mit dessen Hülfe er drüben ein auskömmliches Unterkommen zu finden hoffen darf. Bezüglich hat p. Wesemann das Loos № 92 gezogen, welche Nummer nicht zur Einstellung gekommen ist, so dass p. Wesemann, wenn nicht eine anderweitige [außerordentliche] Rekrutenaushebung erfordert wird, vom Militairdienst frei bleibt. Allein auch [ohnedies], müsste p. Wesemann, weil er schon seit 3 Jahren wegen Brustbeschwerden ohne sonderlichen Erfolg ärztlich behandelt worden ist, selbst in solchem Falle nicht zum Dienste abgegeben werden können, weil sein Körperleiden zu tief eingewurzelt zu sein scheint.

English:

...and his wife, Wesemann — who was called up in last year's levy to fulfil his term of duty, but was released by the Commission on account of his intention to emigrate — for the most gracious dispensation from military obligation for the purpose of the intended emigration to America, where he will find a close relative on his mother's side, with whose help he may hope to find an adequate situation over there. In this connection, Wesemann drew lot number 92, a number that was not called up for enrollment, so that Wesemann, unless a further/extraordinary levy of recruits is required, remains free of military service. But even apart from that, Wesemann — having already been treated medically for three years for chest complaints without particular success — could not, even in such a case, be assigned to service, because his physical ailment appears too deeply rooted.

Page 5 — continuation

German (moderate confidence):

...Grunde dringend das Wort, zumal p. Wesemann, welcher ohne alles Vermögen ist und bei seiner Kränklichkeit auf Lohnarbeit nicht ferner rechnen kann, in Folge weiterer Verwendung des Übels und bei guter Pflege in dem Hause seines schon seit Jahren in Amerika ansässigen und bemittelten Onkels auf Wärtung seiner Körperkräfte zählen darf, und dann doch ohne Zweifel ein gutes Auskommen finden wird, während er hier ohne Vermögen einer wenig versprechenden Zukunft entgegensieht. Dieserhalb glaubt es für das Gesuch nur befürwortend [verwenden] zu dürfen, indem es ergebenst anheimgibt: dem Müllergesellen Georg Wilhelm Ehrenfried Wesemann und Ehefrau bei Linse, Loos № 92 de 1859, vor der Erfüllung der dreijährigen Dienstpflicht behufs der beabsichtigten Auswanderung nach Amerika, unter dem üblichen Vorbehalte gnädigst zu [dispensiren]...

English:

...[speaks] urgently in favor [of the petition], especially since Wesemann — who is without any property and, given his poor health, can no longer count on wage labor — may, with further treatment of the ailment and with good care in the house of his uncle, long settled and comfortably established in America, count on the restoration of his physical strength, and will then doubtless find a good living, whereas here, without means, he faces a future offering little promise. For this reason it believes it may only recommend the petition, submitting most respectfully: that the miller's journeyman Georg Wilhelm Ehrenfried Wesemann and wife, of Linse, lot No. 92 of 1859, be most graciously dispensed, ahead of completing the three-year term of duty, for the purpose of the intended emigration to America, under the usual reservation...

Page 6 — closing (Kreis-Direction's petition)

German:

...dispensiren zu wollen. Holzminden, den 24. Januar 1860. Herzogliche Braunschweig-Lüneburgische Kreis-Direction. [signature, not confidently legible]

English:

...be dispensed. Holzminden, 24 January 1860. Ducal Brunswick-Lüneburg District Directorate. [signature, not confidently legible]

Pages 1–2 — the Ministry's reply (28 Jan 1860) and an endorsement fragment

This portion is written in a faster, less formal hand than the Kreis-Direction's petition and resisted confident transcription in this pass.

Legible with confidence:

An die Kreis-Direction Holzminden. Die Auswanderung des militärpflichtigen Müllergesellen Wesemann und Frau nach Amerika betreffend. [Braunschweig,] den 28. Januar 1860.

(“To the District Directorate Holzminden. Regarding the emigration of the militarily-obligated miller's journeyman Wesemann and wife to America. [Braunschweig,] 28 January 1860.”)

Not confidently transcribed:

The body of the reply (referencing the 24th-of-the-month report and, on the reading attempted here, confirming the dispensation under the usual reservation) and the small signed note on page 2 (possibly a routing or receipt endorsement). [Unreadable text — recommend a second pass at higher resolution or by a paleographer if precise wording matters.]

German

[Remainder of the reply body, and the small signed note on page 2, not confidently transcribed — Unreadable text; recommend a second pass at higher resolution or by a paleographer if precise wording matters.]

[Remainder of the reply body, and the small signed note on page 2, not confidently transcribed — Unreadable text; recommend a second pass at higher resolution or by a paleographer if precise wording matters.]