The following pictures of the German-language taufschein (certificate of baptism) of Lavina (Bauman) Geiger were provided by Somerset County Fraktur researcher Jean Woods. Jean translated the taufschein when it was part of a private collection, and reports that it is now owned by the Westmoreland Museum in Greensburg. The certificate indicates that Lavina was born on May 13, 1839 and baptized on July 21, 1839. The certificate gives her parents as John Bowman/Bauman and Elizabeth Marteeny, but Marteeny is spelled in an odd way. The name Wilhelm Conrad was crossed out and the name of Solomon Denius was then written in as the baptizing minister. Jean reports that both men were ministers at the Reformed Church in Berlin, but Reverend Denius was only there a few years, while Reverend Conrad had a long pastorate. Jean interprets this as meaning the certificate was made a long time after Lavina was born. Jean thinks that the 1850-dated frame was probably made by Jacob Knagy. An English language translation of the taufschein is provided on page 119 of the book "The Berlin Area 1777-1977".
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