When I learned recently that Peter Heinrich von Behren, my 5th great grandfather, was a German shepherd, I must confess I was a bit perplexed. The first thoughts that ran naively through my head were something along the lines of: Good Lord, how on Earth did he provide for his family wandering aimlessly about the countryside keeping sheep? and Oh, how they must have struggled to survive. Ewe wool fleece have to fur give me, I am baahed with occupations involving farm animals. So I rammed some keywords into the computer, hit the “Enter” mutton and by shear luck learned a few a-grazing things about shepherds.

Shepherds were actually wage earners and played an important role in most economies according to an entry I found on Wikipedia. (Thus, it must be true.) Since farmers had to farm and it was the sheep – not the shepherds – that needed to wander aimlessly looking for food, someone had to look after them. And seeing as the farmer couldn’t be in two places at once – voila! – we’ll hire a shepherd!

Okay, so now I am feeling a lot better about Großvater Peter and his ability to support his flock. Whew!

Kenfolk: Utlauts
Relation: 5th great grandfather
Common ancestors: Peter’s parents, Johann and Catrine Elisabeth (Rahtert) von Behren, are my 6th great grandparents