Summary of the contract of freedom
from November, 2nd 1804
Johann Adam Averbecke and his wife Catharina Elisabeth, nee Voß, widowed Waldmann were the couple who were the
owners of the full heir Waldmann in Grambergen, parish of Schledehausen since 1799. They asked for freedom from bondage
for themselves and their children. Their landlord had been the Count of Münster in Langelage and was the Meyer zu
Schledehausen in 1804. Their application had been accepted and therefore this treaty was concluded on November, 2nd 1804
between Victor August Meyer zu Schledehausen and the Waldmanns. The Meyer zu Meckelesch and the owner of the full heir
Averbeck in Grambergen were the witnesses.
These were the conditions:
1.
Victor August Meyer dismissed the Waldmanns from bondage and they got the Waldmann farm as hereditary lease.
2.
The rent had to be paid as before: two Malter (old German measure) of rye, three Malter of barley, one
Malter and six Scheffel of oat, one Scheffel of wheat, nine Scheffel of green or yellow peas,
a fattened pig of one hundred (German) pounds and four hens.
Victor August Meyer zu Schledehausen waived for his rights to get the Auffahrt (money that the landlord got when a new
owner came to the farm), the Sterbfall (heritage of the landlord when the the farmer or his wife died)
, the money that he got when a child left the farm, the forced labour and every other money that he normally got like the
Bettemund (money that the landlord got if one of the woman belonging to him got a child without beeing married). The
money that the Waldmanns didn't pay since the beginning of the legal proceedings in 1799 had to be paid.
3.
The Waldmanns had to pay 1,800 Reichstaler to become free of bondage.
4.
The Meyer zu Schledehausen still had the right of the Weinkauf (money he got, when a new wife or husband came to the farm).
He got 50 Reichstaler each time.
5.
The Waldmanns were free to use the forest belonging to the farm as they want but if they didn't use it according to the
forestry rules then the Meyer zu Schledehausen had the right to forbit every use without his aggreement.
6.
The dowry of the children who left the farm fix together with the Meyer zu Schledehausen.
7.
The heir of the Waldmann farm was the youngest son of the first marriage of the owner. If he has no son then the youngest daughter
was the heir. If there happend to be no children from first marriage, then the youngest son/daughter of the second marriage was
the heir and so on.
8.
The husband or the wife who came to the farm as stranger got all right of the farm by paying the Weinkauf (see above)
and giving his/her dowry to the farm. Therefore
a. the husband/wife stayed owner of the farm until his/her death if the marriage was blessed with children. If he
or she married a second time he/she had the right to stay on the farm as long as the heir wasn't of age and then had the right to
get the Leibzucht (a room or a seperate house belonging to the farm) and
b. if the marriage wasn't blessed with children, the husband/wife became the owner of the farm even if
he or she married a second time and
c. if this second marriage isn't blessed with children as well, then the second husband/wife became the owner of the farm and so on.
(That means that the sisters and brothers of the original owner did not have any rights to get the farm if their sibling died without having a heir.)
9.
If their happend to be no heir at all then the owner had the right to choose a heir by writing down his last will. If he or she didn't
decide who should get the farm then the farm go back to the old bloodline.
10.
If this case mentioned before happend then the heir had to pay 500 Reichstaler to the Meyer zu Schledehausen.
11.
The landlord (Meyer zu Schledehausen) has no right to determine the heir even in case of legal proceedings about this subject.
12.
The farm could not be sold without the aggreement of the Meyer zu Schledehausen.
13.
If the new owner of the farm is in bondage to someone else, he has to ransom himself.
14.
Both parts vowed to accept all parts of this contract.
This contract was made in duplicate and signed by both parts
Schledehausen, November, the 2nd 180Four
Victor August Meyer
Johann Adam Averbecke now Col. Waldmann
Catharina Elisabeth Voß now Colona Waldmann could not write
made + + +
Colonus/Colona means owner of a farm
That the Meyer zu Schledehausen and the Waldmanns signed this before the witnesses is attested by the notary
Schledehausen, November, 2nd 1804
Carolus Josephus Kruse Notarius
caesareus publicus juratus, in curia Episcopali Osnabrugensi immatriculatus, ad hoc debite requisitus m pprae
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