The book, " Ortsgeschicte Trupbach ", by D. Troeps and U. Bohn, should be must-read for anyone with ancestors from Trupbach. True, the book is written in German but there is enough in the book to make it worthwhile for English readers, especially if they use a German to English dictionary on occasion. I bought my copy in Trupbach in the year 2000, but I understand that the book is still available.
In Beyond Germanna (page 712, vol. 12, n.6), I reported on a study of the Trupbach occupations. This is an excellent example of what life was like in the village. I did this for the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (1700's and 1800's), so it applies to the time of emigration to America. The following occupations are mentioned:
Miner Carpenter Wheelwright Wood Turner Forge Worker Smith Clockmaker Linen Weaver Tailor Shoemaker Mason Thatcher Innkeeper
In the 1600's, a miner is mentioned once, and, in the 1700's, two miners are mentioned, one in 1780 and one in 1785. In other words, Trupbach in 1713 was not a mining town. In the 1800's, it became a mining town because the new technologies permitted deep mining. At this time there was a significant expansion of the town and twenty miners are mentioned in the records.
The most popular trade was carpentry. A trade often ran in a family and a house would harbor several generations of people in the same trade. Consider the house "Kursch" where Jost Schneider was a carpenter from 1612 to 1637. His son, Jost, was also a carpenter. Then his son-in-law, Johannes Otterbach was a carpenter in 1704. Johannes’ son-in-law, Johann Henrich Cursch, was a carpenter in 1736, followed by his son-in-law, Johann Jacob Heide, and Heide’s son-in-law, Johann Ludwig Jung in 1806.
There was a similar but shorter story for the house "Feys", for the house "Koelsch", and for the house "Knipps". The latter house is of special interest to Fischbach descendants. Philipp Fischbach was a carpenter in 1683. His sons, Herman and Johann, were also carpenters. The records add that the sons were married in 1714 and emigrated to USA in 1714. These latter statements are the result of additions made to the records long after the actual event. No one could have said in 1714 there was a USA. In another place it reads 1712 for 1714 and both of these are incorrect. Though the sons have a notation that they emigrated, there is no such remark for the father. The original records ought to be checked again.
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We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.