February 16, 1776

Newspapers advertisements offered an opportunity to track down people—from servants who had run away or enslaved laborers who had self-emancipated, to spouses who had abandoned their husband or wife, to family members who had moved. In the Pennsylvanischer Staatsbote, Henrich Kurtz placed an advertisement with the heading: “Nachfrage eines Bruders nach seinser Schwester,” or a brother inquires about his sister. Elisabeth Barbara Kurtz (or Kurtzin, with the German feminine suffix) had been born in the village of Katzenbach in Kaiserslautern, between Strasbourg and Frankfurt in what is now western Germany. The advertisement described her arrival in Philadelphia eight years earlier as an indentured servant. Henrich had heard that his sister had completed her indenture in Lancaster County and had married a man named Johannes Zeigler. 

Henrich Kurtz made a simple request that, if anyone knew anything about his sister and wanted to give him news of her “aus Liebe,” out of love, he would be sincerely grateful. Rather than giving out his own address—perhaps he was newly arrived in Philadelphia—Kurtz asked for letters with information about Elisabeth to be addressed to Friedrich Dietz, a tailor on Water Street. 

Pennsylvanischer Staatsbote
Printed by Henry Miller

Nachfrage eines Bruders nach seiner Schwester.

Sie heißt Elisabeth Barbara Kurtzin, ist gebürtig aus dem Ober-Amt Kayserslautern, aus dem Dorf Katzenbach; sie ist vor acht Jahren zu Philadelphia angekommen; hat, wie man hört, ihre Dienstzeit in Lancaster Caunty ausgestanden, und soll nunmehr verheirathet seyn an Johannes Zeigler: Solte jemand etwas von ihr wissen und wolte mir Henrich Kurz aus Liebe Nachricht von ihr geben, der mag die Aufschrift des Briefs machen, An Friederich Dietz, Schneider in Philadelphia, wohnhaft in der Wasser-strasse; es soll von uns mit schuldigem Dank erkannt werden.