I was looking over this post and realized that I had made a transcription error which led to a translation error. It is the occupation of Nikolaus Rödiger. And the difference between the occupation of Burgmann and that of Bergmann is quite significant. I have now determined unequivocally that Nikolaus was the latter. So, instead of being a guardian of a castle, he was actually a coal miner. My cousin, Jürgen, recently wrote in regard to why family from Tann would show up living over 200 km from their hometown, in Bochum, Westphalia. This is a rough translation from the German:
"At that time, around 1840 to 1870, many people moved from the Hersfeld region to Westphalia, they all worked in coal mining. Many died, the social conditions were catastrophic."
On April 25, 26, 27 I shall be in Kassel, going through church records at the Landeskirchliches Archiv. I have a long list of records to copy. I have found a place to stay within 4 blocks of the Archiv, so will not need to take the bus from another part of town. I will try to let you know how it is going, if the wi-fi at the apartment is decent.
This promises to be very exciting, and I can hardly wait!!
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