Alfred Lair's mechanism
Alfred: Etymology
From Old English Ælfrǣd, formed from the Germanic words ælf (“elf”) and rǣd (“counsel”).
Story of the Lairs.
It is the story of a peace-loving people living centuries ago on the banks of the Rhine, tending their vineyards and their flocks until a great religious war shattered that peace. It is the story of their crossing the Atlantic in a sailing vessel; of their landing in Pennsylvania and their home life there; of their moving on into the fertile valley of Virginia and then moving on again over Indian infested trails to the Blue Grass region of Kentucky. From the landing of the first Matthias Lair two hundred and twenty years ago to the present day, this family of ours has spread to the forty-eight states, crossing plains and mountains in covered wagons to Oregon, California, Colorado and Texas, and has played a great part in the building of this country.
The story begins with Matthias Lehrer (Enseignant, professeur), or Lair (repaire), a sturdy young German-born in the Rhineland in 1714, who sailed on "The Nancy," William Wallace Master, landing in Philadelphia in 1738. Matthias Lehrer (Nov 1714 ~ 25 Jun 1787)
Lehrer mapEarly LifeMatthias Lehrer (Lair) was born in the small village of Ötisheim, known in local dialect as Aize, a municipality in the Enz district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, the same village where his parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were born. He was born in November, 1714 to Mattheus II Lehrer (b. Sep 1687 - d. Mar 21 1735) and Anna Elizabetha Scheur (b. Nov 1687 - d. Mar 12 1744).Matthias Lehrer, like many Germans, probably immigrated to America, at least in part, as a result of those forces unleased during the Thirty Years' War, forces which extended well into the beginning of the eighteenth century. Difficult economic conditions, brought about by continuous warfare and heightened by several years of unusually severe weather in the early 1700's, surely played a role in his decision, as did the ever-present threat of conscription for military service. Inheritance, or the lack of one, also may have been a factor. Matthias was the sixth, and the last, child born to his father and mother. One older sister and two older brothers apparently reached adulthood. His mother died when Matthias was but ten months old, and his father remarried seven months after her death. Eight more children were born into the family, four of whom lived to adulthood. Matthias' father died in 1735. Given the laws of the day and the size of the family, any inheritance would have been meager, at best, and certainly would not have provided for Matthias. It is also possible that Matthias was recruited by a "Neulander" or "soul stealer", an immigrant broker who often worked for a shipping company, and who was paid a commission based on the number of immigrants he was able to recruit. Many of the Neulanders worked the same villages year after year, organizing meetings in inns and public houses to extol the riches of the new land and signing contracts with potential immigrants to transport them to the Colonies. The possibility that Matthias may have been recruited by such a broker is reinforced by the fact that the ship on which he sailed to America drew its passengers almost exclusively from Otisheim and surrounding villages for nearly twenty years.For whatever reason, or combination of reasons, Matthias left Otisheim sometime in the early part of 1738, three years after the death of his father. The first leg of his journey would have brought him to the bankis of the Rhine River, where he would have boarded the boat that would take him, along with other immigrants, to Rotterdam. The subsequent journey down the Rhine would have been long and tedious, requiring six to ten weeks to complete, as the boat slowly traversed some twenty-two principalities along the river, each with its own customs and toll house to be cleared. Upon reaching Rotterdam, Matthias would have been assigned, for a fee, a small space in a local house near the wharves, there to await the ship that would take him to America. Sometime in June or July of 1738, he boarded the "Nancy", captained by Master William Wallace, and began the last phase of his journey--first sailing to Dover, England, and continuing from there to America.Lehrer Surname
Potentially recorded in various spellings including: Lehr, Lehrer, Lerer and Lair. The Lehrer surname can be either Germanic or Hebrew, and it also has several possible origins. The two most probable origins are connected to occupation or location.There is apparently a Lehrer family crest which has also been recorded as the Lehr family crest. There would likely have been recordings of who this was issued to and where they were from. This is likely to be found somewhere in Württemberg, Germany as during the late 1500's and the early part of the 1600's, almost all recorded Lehrer, birth, death and marriages appear to be located in or very close to what was then the kingdom of Wurttemberg, which is now a part of Germany.
Moving into the late 1600s and early 1700s the recorded births, deaths and marriages spread out through the Rhineland and include Alsace which was partially independent and is now a part of France, Austria and other parts of Germany.
By the late 1700's and early 1800's, a significant number of Lehrer's moved elsewhere around the world, specifically to the America's.The most probable option for the origin of the Lehrer surname is from the word 'lehrer' meaning teacher in the German language or Rabbi for the Jewish. This may be religious or it may describe a teacher in a traditional elementary school. It would depend on the particular circumstances at the time that the surname was given out or adopted.
▼ Locational
The origin may be topographical and derive from the ancient pre 7th century word 'lehr' akin to the English 'leah'², and as such describing an enclosure suitable for agriculture or a water meadow, one which was flooded in winter but dried out for summer grazing. There are several places in Southern Germany and Austria called 'Lehr'. These place names must have derived from old water meadows.
The topographical / locational option, certainly seems likely for some of the other potential spellings which have been suggested and would be possible for the linage in southern Germany. This would also fit with what one Lehrer family researcher has noted about the Lehrer name in Dabo, France for the year 1772
“If this is an occupational name, then this would have been relatively rare as this was at the beginning of the time when surnames were given based on a man's occupation.”
▼ Jewish Lehrer's
There are a number of well documented Jewish families with the surname Lehrer. Currently on WeRelate there is one family that trace their lineage to a Jewish teacher in Poland.
While possible, it appears very unlikely that the southern German and the Jewish family lines are connected.
▼ Germanic Lehrer's
There are a number of Lehrer families originating in southern Germany, north, west France, Austria and Bavaria, although unlikely some of these different lineages may all originate from the one family. By following the birth places of the people furthest back in the known Lehrer family lines, as we move further back in time, there is a consistent movement into southern Germany.
The earliest known Lehrer marriage was Johannes Lehrer who married three times in Alsace, the first being on the 17th June 1583 in Mittelwihr, Haut-Rhin, Alsace which today is within France.
The earliest known record of births for Lehrer families is the family Georg Lehrer and Sibilla who lived in Bayern, Germany and they had three known children who according to Family Searchwere all baptised in Landau in Pfalz, Bavaria between 1577 - 1584.
Based on similar names baptised in the same place, the Germanic Lehrer's may have a greater connection to Jewish Lehrer's. Others at the same time are using the surname Lerer which happens to be Yiddish for teacher and is evident at a slightly earlier time (1565 -1578) in the same location with the family of Hanss Lerer and Anna.
▼ Potential connections between Jewish and Germanic Lehrer's
The possible link from the Germanic Lehrer's living in the Rhineland and the Jewish Lehrer's include at least one one recorded and the above suggested change of name from the Yiddish word for teacher, Lerer to the German word for teacher, Lehrer.
In a study of the Jewish language, the website www.jewishgen.org has an article on the Development of Yiddish over the Ages. Snippets from that article allude to further potential Lerer / Lehrer changes when considering the history of the Rhineland Jews.
"The initial growth of Yiddish began in Western and West-Central Europe. At the turn of the 9th century, Charlemagne (742-814) invited the Jews of southern France and Italy to the Rhineland to encourage economic growth. Jews had lived in the trading towns along the Rhine River long before, under the Roman Empire. Charlemagne's initiative caused trade and economic life to develop rapidly in the Rhineland."
"Then, in the Early Yiddish Period tenth and eleventh centuries, Jews from northern Italy and northern France, who spoke Jewish Romance languages (Old French or Tsorfatic (Western Laaz), and Old Italian or Italkic (Southern Laaz)) migrated to Rhineland towns along the middle and upper Rhine Valley in an area called Loter (Lotharingia); this area is close to present-day Lorraine. It is from these Rhineland Jews that Yiddish originated."
"In later centuries, pogroms accompanying the crusades (1095-1272), the black plague (1334-1350), and persecution drove the Rhineland Jews up the Rhine River into Baden/Wuerttemberg in South Germany, where they began creating Yiddish given names based on German names. The first acts of Crusaders on their way to the Holy Land were to slaughter Jews in the Rhine valley."
Many Jewish people moved from the Rhineland and Wurttemburg into Poland as that country was openly encouraging jews to go and live there.
Arriving at the time period where records of common folk are starting, there was still no systematic, official method of emigration, and few emigration lists are available, yet significant numbers of emigrants where known to leave southern Germany and Alsace, during the following periods:
- 1618 to 1648 and immediately after: The Thirty Years War created large movements in and around what is today southern Germany.
- 1650 to 1750: Large numbers depart central Europe for the new opportunities in America 1722: Alsatian colonies established in the Holy Roman Empire (Austria-Hungary).
- 1764 to 1786: Alsatians colonise Russia, Ukraine, and Banat.
- 1789 to 1791: About 500,000 refugees flee the French Revolution for neighbouring nations and the Americas. About half later returned.
- 1804 to 1832: Additional Alsatians emigrate to Ukraine, Bessarabia, and Banat.
Also the registres d'options de noms 1808 became a de facto census of the Jewish people of France. The numbers are interesting. According to a list in the Archives nationales there were 46,054 Jewish people in France who chose permanent names. The majority were in the departments of Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, and Moselle, areas that some Lehrer families lived in. In each, the head of a family, usually the husband and father, gives for each family member his or her name, date and place of birth, and the surname and forenames chosen.
* La peur du gendarme
- Crainte qui pousse à se conduire vertueusement pour ne pas enfreindre la loi.
- Gendarme et Peur: le jaune, le bleu et le blanc dont se compose son uniforme prennent des teintes effrayantes
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