In a message dated 6/11/2001 2:15:10 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
llcampbell65@home.com writes:
Dear List Members,
In the 1800's in Mecklenburg, what was the custom time to wait after a child
was born, to take it to the local parish to have the child christened?A few weeks?
A few months?
A year or more?When you know the date of christening, what is a standard time in Lutheran
Mecklenburg to subtract from that date to estimate the time of birth?Larry in Sacramento, llcampbell65@home.com
I have noted that the period of time between birth and baptism lengthen as
the mortality rate for babies increased. Up until the mid 1800's, the
baptism tended to occur anywhere from the same day to a week later. About
1860-70, the time stretched out to a week or two.
When you think about it, early beliefs held that an unbaptised baby would not
go to heaven......thus even the stillborn are listed in the churchbooks.
Since so many babies never lived beyond a few days or months, the sacrament
was held as soon as possible after birth. As health matters improved, and
the mortality rates increased, people 'relaxed' and apparently didn't panic
about waiting a little extra time.
Linda Schwiesow Nycum