Bringing their Swabian German heritage and Lutheran traditions from the Black Forests (Schwartzenwald) of Württemberg, this 1910 family photograph identifies Gottlieb, mother Gottliebina, infant Fredricka, Ottilia, Reinhold, Rudolph, and father Johannes-Georg with Matthias, Maria, and Jacob Kempf.
Photo is courtesy of Loretta Gebhardt Swiontek, great granddaughter and historian for the Kempf Family.

The new church meeting hall of Jewell was situated immediately forty-feet west from the bride’s parental house, built of “batsen”/adobe block walls. The unknown photographer of this wedding portrait was probably second cousin Fred W. “Abby” Kempf of Kulm, North Dakota, who immigrated in 1885 from Beresina, Bessarabia.

Their lavish wedding party had five bridesmaids and five groomsmen. The young bride, Ottilia, was escorted from her family parlor to the nearby church meeting hall by the groom’s uncle Ferdinand Pahl, who was famous for his deep resonant singing voice.

Twelve-year old bridesmaid, Magdalena Schrum, baked and frosted an impressive four-layered “Lady Baltimore” cake, flavored with four oranges and grated orange citrus zest: indeed, a rare commodity.

Ethnic German weddings and similar community events were celebrated during early winter after harvest’s ingathering, to respect heavy labor demands during fair summer weather.

This “arranged” marriage for first-born son, Jacob (Jake) Pahl and Ottilia (Odelia) Kempf was one of eight marriage ceremonies, before celebrating with a frugally- planned joint reception and wedding dance in the same meeting hall. “Arranged” marriages were traditionally expected, especially to secure the eldest son’s family inheritance.

The Anglo-American notion of 19th century Victorian Romance had limited impact as a courtship concept. Jacob and Ottilia were not personally acquainted until a brief five minutes during “d’ Brautschau” (showing off the prospective bride) at six months prior to their wedding ceremony. Two hired “match-makers” (Kueppelsmann) judicated negotiations between parents for dowry agreement. The “d’ Brautschau” was the only opportunity for a prospective bride to voice her scruples and choose to reject her groom candidate.

When groom’s mother, Dorthea Maier Pahl, realized that her eldest son was yet unmarried at nineteen years old, she quickly became a self-appointed matchmaker before formalities of choosing “Kueppelsmann.”

Bessarabian-German textile traditions for wedding apparel had 19th century distinctives: 1) a Battenberg bobbin lace “Brustsmuck” (breast-bib); 2) a filament tape-lace often-decorated frontal panels for a Victorian apron design; 3) a “Liebsband” or waist sash of white grosgrain silk ribbon, with full bow worn on left, and flowing streamers cascading from waist bow to hem-line of full-length skirt. This same white silk ribbon was tied into a full bow on her up-swept hair-“pug” knot or full braided “pique-tail.”

The white “Liebsband” was valued as the most important symbol for bridal attire of full “honor” in purity. The bride’s hair was adorned with a “Kranz”/crown wreath and “Feil”/veil. This bridal headdress/ “Kranz” (Grenz) was a traditional wreath-crescent of cascading white floral blossoms of silk or white wax, which framed the young bride’s face.

Ottilia’s pastel blue silk dress has chevron arm pleats, very popular during 1890’s in Beresina village. Filament lace of mocha-brown decorated her Victorian apron panel, which super-imposed on a full-length skirt. Preferred bridal garment colors in the 19th century were blue, green, and bronze. Later colors of fashion were black during the Victorian 1890’s, while white bridal colors were introduced 1905 through 1920.

As traditional Bessarabian groom, Jacob wears a tailored dark blue woolen men’s suit. The groom sports (usually on his right chest) an elaborate “boutonnière”/ floral corsage of white silk floral blossoms, tied in a full bow of wide white grosgrain silk ribbon (matching the bridal liebsband) with two long-flowing streamers to his knees. These long streamers were uniquely traditional among most Bessarabian-German grooms, as a festive ploy to encourage more “pin money” during reception meal and wedding dance.
Photo is courtesy of Jay Gage, grandson of Jacob and Ottilia Pahl.

August Pahl (whose West-Prussian grandparents, Gotthilf Pahl and Christina Laechelt, immigrated in 1928-1831 to Leipzig, Bessarabia from an ethnic German mother-colony of Annetta-Josephina, Volhynia) continued his traditionally Volhynian “Schumacherei” skills and successful shoe-cobbler/repair into his senior years at Forbes, until 1942.
Photo is courtesy of Jay Gage, a great-grandson of August Pahl.

They originally emigrated during three Polish Partitions of 1820-1823 from Marien-Werder village of Langenwerder, West Prussia, to briefly east of Thorn at villages of Pildastie and Lantschin. They immigrated in 1823 to mother-colony village of Josephina across highway road from Annetta, west of Zwiahl/Novo-Volhynsk city. The conifer forested peat-marshes caused much tuberculosis and potato rot. In 1832, they again emigrated with Laechelt cousins as part of Second Influx to Leipzig, Bessarabia. The village of Leipzig/Skinos was situated on the Kogelnik River in “Budshak Steppe,” near Kulm/Paulsberg village.
Photo is courtesy of Jay Gage, great-grandson of Gottfried Pahl

Katherina Pahl selected a wedding dress of crepe “China grass”/China-silk/Ramie: lace gauze of acid-cut floral pattern, which was inter-woven with a back-layer of Ramie-gauze in blue-lavender.

This exceptional quality street-length dress was worn for her June 25, 1942 wedding ceremony to Edward Gage, her Old American-English groom at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Timber Lake, South Dakota.

A special dress accessory was a triangular cellulite-plastic brooch, designed with an art-deco cabbage rose. Single strands of natural pearls, or a golden heart-locket with delicate chain necklace, were additional accessories worn only for this dress by Katherina.
Photo is courtesy of Ruth Gage-Boom, daughter of Katherina Pahl Gage

These shoes were a fatherly gift for his first-born, one year son, Jacob Pahl in 1894-1895 at Leipzig, Bessarabia. These infant shoes, with additional two tassels of fringed leather per shoe, were replicas of adult men’s dress shoes.
Photo is courtesy of Jay Gage, grandson of Jacob Pahl

An experienced horse woman, this decorative leather pattern memorializes the bride’s 1942 wedding flower bouquet of fragrant wild roses (Rosa Arkansas Blanda) which were gathered from roadside ravines just prior to her wedding ceremony. Her preferred Chinese rose/peonies had just completed their seasonal bloom.

The honey birch sewing box, only of wood jointery (no nails) and three wooden dowels, was a special gift crafted for Katherina by her son in 1959. Katherina was avid with textiles.
Photo is courtesy of Jay Gage

GRHC_Textiles_Jewell_ND_Kempf_18:
Dancer portrait pose by great-granddaughter, Edna Jensen with 19th century textiles of Gottliebina Stolz Kempf: floral serigraphed “tschetschka”/Kopftuch/teuchle and colored-striped Blachte/kanapee shawl/ “Kanabett schall.”

Photographer: JOM photography, Fargo, North Dakota. Photo is courtesy of great-grandson, Jay Gage.

Carolina Schlabsz wore a pristine plaid-twill plachte in red and green woolen yarns. Carolina also wove an ingenious woolen “bunte karierte plachte” shawl of mustard yellows with elaborately colored torque-pattern crochet lace, presently displayed in the textile archives of McIntosh County Historical Museum in Ashley, North Dakota, in standard size of 44x 77 inches.

Carolina’s daughter, Frieda Sackmann Kessel, inherited this 1870’s woolen multi-twill plachte, achieving muted pastel plaids with purple, coral-orange, and mint/olive green. The chenille woolen yarns of the fillet-crochet lace fringe featured velveteen knap from “felting” when “fullered.” Variegated-colors of chenille yarns display traditional torque patterns. This antique blachte possibly was woven in Beresina.
Photo is courtesy of Leona Woeszner Neu, granddaughter of Carolina Schlabsz Sackmann.

Since brilliant aniline textile dyes were developed by German textile chemists in 1853, popularity of Tschetschka shawls soared during the Victorian era.
Photo is courtesy of Loretta Gebhardt Swiontek, great-granddaughter of Gottliebina Kempf.

This particular silk-fringed black woolen shawl was purchased by Karl Kusler in 1910 when re-visiting his birth place in the village of worms, Beresan District, Ukraine (South Russia), northeast of city of Odessa. Karl Kusler was from the lineage of George Kusler. Karl’s youngest daughter, Hilda Kusler Hodgins of Glueckstal heritage and formerly of Beulah, North Dakota, donated this family textile treasure in 1994.
Photo is courtesy of the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, North Dakota State University Libraries, Fargo, North Dakota

GRHC_Textiles_Jewell_ND_Kempf_35:
The Kempf Crest uses the "boss" design of original Kämpf coat of arms.

The white cross on red field evolved from the rinds of flour millstones used in Nagold district of Black Forest. Family vocations were flour miller, bread bakers and textile weavers. The Kämpf family is first mentioned in 1238 at Strausbourg, Alsace.