Giving my dear husband a hard time about the pronunciation of German surnames is one of my great joys in life. Gary always responds quickly, firmly, assuredly.

That is, until we came to his great-great-great grandfather, George Tuchscherer.

Give it a try – how would you pronounce it?

Gary says it’s do-SHARE.

What? How in the world do you get do-SHARE out of Tuchscherer?

Gary simply shrugged and repeated: do-SHARE.

The great-great-great grandson was tickled when a note from his family-historian uncle Arch‘s collection surfaced a few weeks later:

God bless Arch – he did things the old-fashioned way. To be fair, it was the only way until not all that long ago. Arch traveled, wrote letters, made phone calls, and photocopied the heck out of genealogy resources.

Now we have all sorts of online tutorials with tips such as: Expect to see surname spellings to be all over the place until the 1930s census.

As indeed they were. I’m sorry, but the fifth one down makes me snicker like a middle schooler.

Arch’s list tied right in with all the questions I brought to Gary about his ancestor. Is this him? Is this him? How do you pronounce that name again?

And then there was the 1860 Census:

Very nice handwriting. Correct spelling. Age 57. Location: Ferdinand, Indiana.

And what’s this? Occupation: wooden Shoemaker?!

When I asked Gary about this, he remembered hearing that his Grandma Emma Werne wore wooden shoes while milking the cows.

I immediately felt a painful twinge in my back: That poor woman!

When I expressed my concern, ever-practical Gary replied:

But if a cow steps on your foot, a wooden shoe will protect it.

Good point.

Still, poor Emma!

Here she is with Gary’s dad, Andrew, in 1943:

I nearly fainted when Gary said the shoes are still in existence – his Uncle Thomas has them.

Sure enough, cousin Melinda sent us this photo of her dad with the shoes:

See how the inside edge of each shoe is carved down?

Here’s another view:

Uncle Thomas remembers the wooden shoes hurt Emma’s ankles, so the sides were carved to keep them from rubbing.

We don’t know of any proof that George Tuchscherer crafted these shoes, but it’s certainly possible. Emma was married to George’s great-grandson, also named George.

What we do know:

The 1860 Census’s coup de grace was this: George is listed as being born in France!

Gary, mon cher, tu es français! C’est vrai! C’est formidable!

But that’s another story – and history lesson – for another day.

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