Milton Goldsmith’s Family Album, Part V: A Love Letter

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This is Part V of an ongoing series of posts based on the family album of Milton Goldsmith, so generously shared with me by his granddaughter Sue. See Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV at the links.

As promised, today I am sharing a letter that Samuel Adler wrote to his beloved fiancée, Sarah Kargau, shortly before their marriage in 1837.

Once again, I am indebted to Matthias Steinke for his generous help in transcribing this letter:

Würzburg, den 6ten November 1837

Meine Geliebte!
Voll unbeschreiblicher Sehnsucht zähle ich mit dir jede Stunde. Ja, mit heisser Sehnsucht sehe auch ich dem heiligen Momente unserer Einsegnung, unserer ewigen Verbindung entgegen. Nur noch wenige Tage und wir haben das Ziel unserer Wünsche erreicht. O, wie freue ich mich darauf! Schneller durchströmt bei diesem Gedanken das Blut meine Adern, heftiger schlägt bei diesen Gefühlen mein Herz. Ja, dieses Blättchen würde nicht hinreichen, die alle meine dieshaltigen(?) Gefühle zu schildern, und ich will daher davon abbrechen. Ich habe nun noch eine Bitte: Wir werden nämlich an unserem Hochzeitstage nur eine Vase (Chaise?) mit nach Fürth bringen,

The letter must have continued on the back of the page, as Sue could see there was writing on the reverse side. But she did not want to risk damaging this 182-year-old letter by trying to remove it from the album, so we don’t know how Samuel closed out the letter.

Using Google Translate and my rudimentary knowledge of German, I was able to translate the letter as follows:

Würzburg, November 6, 1837

My beloved! Full indescribable longing I count with you every hour. Yes, with a hot longing I too see the holy moments of our consecration, our eternal connection. Only a few days left and we have reached the goal of our wishes. Oh, how happy I am! The blood rushes through my veins faster at this thought, my heart beats harder with these feelings. Yes, this leaflet would not suffice to describe all of my heartfelt (?) Feelings, and I therefore want to stop it. I have one more request: we will bring only one vase (chaise?) to Fürth on our wedding day,

What a passionate letter! This was no marriage of convenience arranged by parents or a matchmaker. This was a true affair of the heart. I admit to being surprised by the ardor expressed so openly in this letter—the desire is palpable. Samuel was certainly a man in love (or at least in lust). But what was the vase or chaise reference all about? I guess some things are best left to the imagination.

Samuel Adler

 

 

42 thoughts on “Milton Goldsmith’s Family Album, Part V: A Love Letter”

  3. What a treasure! When I read the German text the illegible word “vase” made me keep going back to the original to see if I could read the word. I think it looks more like Chaise than vase. Without the rest of the letter, we can only imagine what he was writing about. I thought it might be an item used during the Jewish wedding ceremony.

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    • Interesting—Debi Austen wondered if it might be case—like suitcase. I can’t decipher it at all. I can’t imagine how a chaise would be used DURING a Jewish ceremony (or a vase). Perhaps AFTER?? 🙂

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  4. Oh my, what a beautiful letter! As far as “vase” or “chaise” – when my grandparents’ wedding day was approaching, they wrote a lot about how many suitcases they were going to take on their honeymoon and this letter reminds me of that. Could the word be “case” or something else that might reference a suitcase or trunk?

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    • That’s an interesting question. Since the letter was in the possession of their grandson Milton, I assume they did not consider it so private that it shouldn’t be shared with others. I’d like to think they would be delighted that so many were touched by their deep love.

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