Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The yellowing pages of a 107-year-old journal fall open in the hands of Lilo Bishop.
She begins to read the German words, inked out in an antique Old German handwriting, Sutterlin.
February, 29, 1902.
Lilo Bishop reads aloud to Colfax teacher Kathryn Vogler.
“The most beautiful things in life are given from God and this is your health,” she reads in accented English.
Across the table, Colfax teacher Kathryn Vogler types the words in English.
This was the scene the afternoon of Sept. 17, during one of Vogler’s weekly visits to Bishop.
The two have meticulously worked since June to hash out the English translation of this 1902 journal written by Wilhelm Aumann, maternal grandfather of Vogler’s husband, Mark Vogler.
Vogler has transcribed the translations and typed them out on over 50 pages at this point, as the two have learned through their readings about the 26-year-old German student’s life at Kriskona Seminary in Switzerland.
Aumann immigrated to Whitman County in the early 1900s and became pastor at St. John’s Congregational Church in Dusty in 1930.
Coincidentally, Mark Vogler’s paternal grandfather, Heinrich Vogler, also attended the same seminary in Switzerland and was the founding minister of the church in Dusty in 1905.
The two never met, Vogler said.
Today, that same church still stands in Dusty as the Country Bible Church.
“It’s like a treasure hunt. Because we never know what you’re going to read. Like that murder, or the girl who died when her hair caught on fire,” Vogler said to Bishop.
Aumann’s journal follows his study through seminary, often marked with his daily musings on biblical scripture.
“Jesus, I hope I will be yours-that I never forget your words,” read Bishop.
It was difficult to find someone to translate the journal, because although it is written in German, the actual handwriting is a historic and rare style of German handwriting called Sutterlin, much like English cursive. Sutterlin is not a dialect of German, rather, it is form of handwriting which goes back centuries.
Vogler needed someone who could read this style of handwriting and ended up finding Bishop in a roundabout manner. She had mentioned to a friend at church that she wanted to get the journal translated.
The friend, who had several German-Russian contacts, came back with a list of names, one of whom was Bishop in Pullman. Bishop grew up in Germany and has lived in America since the 1960s. Vogler contacted her and the project was launched.
Bishop said she has thoroughly enjoyed working with Vogler, saying it seems like she can read her mind when Bishop is searching for a word in English.
“See how well we work together?” she said.
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