What's the Most Unusual Name on Your Family Tree?

The only Hedwig my American ears have ever heard of was Harry Potter's owl. I thought the owl was a male. Imagine my surprise when I discovered my 4th great grandmother's name was Hedwig!

Snowy Owl photo by Michael Gäbler, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://
commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22773653

I did research the name online and discovered it is a feminine name. And, Harry Potter's owl was a female, though she was played by a male in the show. Evidently, Snowy Owl males are smaller and whiter and they decided they liked the look better.

My American ears have trouble with Hedwig's surname, too: Borgward. And, when I put her name together—Hedwig Borgward—it has to be the most unusual name on my tree. Although, again, I'm sure it is because my American upbringing!

On November 14th, 1814 in Behren u Lübchin, Mecklenburg in present day Germany, Hedwig Borgward, who was 29 years old, married Jacob Eckhard Peters, who was 28. They had at least three children including Joachim Carl Otto Peters, my 3rd great grandfather, who was born on June 27th, 1815.

(Tip: Look at the front pages of FHL microfilms!) Finding My 3x Great Grandfather's German Baptismal Record

Evidence suggested that my great, great, great grandfather, Gunther Werther, was born in 1819 in Berka in present-day Germany. However, locating his baptism on an FHL film proved quite difficult. The film covered dozens of villages and included baptisms, marriages, and death records.

Yesterday, I returned to search the film for the second time. This time, I decided to start at the beginning. I saw a typed listing of what appeared to be villages. And, on the next few pages, I saw handwritten, numbered lists of what also appeared to be village names. Did one of these lists show the order the church registers appeared on the film?

The librarian suggested the handwritten list probably indicated the order the villages were shown on the film. We were fairly certain that the 11th entry on the second grouping appeared to be Berka. As I scrolled through the pages, each village church's records had a title page, but I was rarely able to read the name of the village. In fact, the first one I recognized was #7 on this list. And then, two churches later, I recognized #9. It looked like this list did, in fact, show the order of the churches on the film!

Kirchenbuchduplikat [church book duplicate], 1813-1846, Berka, page 1, item 2, Geboren und Getauft [born and baptized], record for August Gunther Werther; FamilySearch microfilm #1194309. [left side]

When I got to Berka, the first section was the baptisms. And, there on the first page, listed as the second baptism, was my ancestor: August Günther Werther! 

From past research, I was pretty sure the next column was the father's name, but the only word I could read was the second word of the second line: Werther. [If you haven't done German research before, you can probably see how difficult it is to read this old German script!]

A very exciting discovery was the next column which says something about the 8th of February, 1815. Could this possibly be his parent's wedding date? If so, could I find their marriage record!

Kirchenbuchduplikat [church book duplicate], 1813-1846, Berka, page 1, item 2, Geboren und Getauft m Jahre 1819 [born and baptized in the year 1819], record for August Gunther Werther; FamilySearch microfilm #1194309. [right side]

When I got home from the library, I posted the two images to the Genealogy Translations Facebook group. They are incredible! When I woke up this morning, I was thrilled to see two women had transcribed and translated this record. And, not only was the 1815 date his parent's wedding date, but the record also said he was their 3rd child. So, I also will be able to look for at least two siblings for Günther.

Here's the translation with a special thanks to Facebook volunteers Brigitte Eggerstedt and Monica Wuestefeld: 

• Day and hour of birth: 17th May 1819 at 5 a.m.
• Day and place of baptism: May 20, at home
• Name of the baptized: August Gunther Werther
• The father, whose status and residence: Johann Friedrich August Werther, resident here, [probably] farmer of a full-sized farm or horse groom of an estate
• Marriage and number of children: 8th February 1815, 3rd child, first marriage
• Mother, her origin and number of her children: Johanna Wilhelmine Friedericka born Hahn, 3rd child, first marriage
• Witnesses of baptism: "Anspanner" August Gunther Bohnhardt

Are we related? Do you have any questions, comments, or corrections? I'd love to talk. Please leave a comment or email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net

We Wrote a Book (And It's Now Online!)

Last year, right before Thanksgiving, I held a copy of "our book" in my hands for the first time. Although other authors/cousins had been working on the book since the previous year, I became a contributing author of The Holthoefer Family History in June of 2016.

Between June and October, we spent countless hours researching, writing, rewriting, proofreading, and fact checking the pages of our book. Since we are spread across the country, we emailed sections of the book back and forth while we worked on them.

Robert J. Yagley, H. Holt, M. Aragon, P. Holthoefer, D. Leeds, Holthoefer
Family History: A Historic Guide to Discovering Your Past: From
Serkenrode, Westphalia, Germany to the Early Years in Detroit, Wayne
County, Michigan, 2016.

Led by Robert "Bob" Yagley, five cousins compiled this book about our Holthoefer ancestors. All five of us are descended from Johann Franz Holthoefer (1804-1870) and Maria Catharina Schulte (1807-1850 ) who lived in Serkenrode, Westphalia, Germany. Johann Franz and Maria Catharina had eight children, six of whom survived to adulthood and immigrated to America where they settled in Detroit.

Although the book also shares some details about their life in Serkenrode, it primarily follows the lives of the six children:

• Franz Joseph Holthoefer (1830-1888) who married Katharina Mullenbach (1835-1906)
• Maria Francisca "Frances" Holthoefer (1833-1907) who married Franz "Frank" Adam (1826-1902), my great, great grandparents
• Casper Joseph Holthoefer (1835-1918) who married Amelia Keusch (1843-1932) and Magdalena Luche (1863-1923)
• Marianna (Maria Anna) Holthoefer (1838-1911) who married Frank Xavier Petri (1827-1900)
• Maria Elisabeth Holthoefer (1842-1905) who married Peter Keine (1840-1925)
• Anna Maria Holthoefer (1846-1919) who married Anthony "Anton" Rolf (1838-1903)

Bob Yagley, with help from Ursula Buchholz, discovered our family came from Serkenrode. As a wonderful bonus, he also traced Frances Holthoefer's husband, my 2x great grandfather Frank Adam, back to nearby Olpe! 

Bob submitted our book to FamilySearch and it is now available online. Just click here to see our book, or go to FamilySearch "books" and search for Holthoefer.

Are you related to our family? I'd love to talk! Please leave a comment or email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net.

How I Discovered the Origins of 6 of My German Immigrant Families

With a lot of help, I now know the German villages of six of my ancestral families. I "discovered" their origins in a variety of ways.

Map showing the origins of six of my "German" families created by Jon R Stewart, Sr.

In Order of Discovery:

March 2014
Kaechle/Köchle family, maternal side, immigrated from Grißheim, Baden, July 1851

Germany, Select Marriages, 1558-1929 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Germany, Marriages, 1558-1929. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013. 

This breakthrough came with Ancestry's "Germany, Select Marriages" index which showed that Thaddae Koechle married Katharina Kern on August 22nd, 1836, in a catholic church in Grissheim, Freiburg, Baden. I ordered FHL film #873353, and discovered many other records for both sides of the family going back to a baptism in 1616. An online site, Ortsfamilienbuch-Datenbank Grissheim, which had transcribed the church records proved invaluable as these old German records were very difficult to read.

May 2014
Karbach/Körbach family, maternal side, immigrated from Ediger, Rhineland-Palatinate, circa 1853

Anton Koerbach and Mary Reuter Marriage Certificate, attached to Anton Koerbach (1818-1886) on Hiltz Web Site on MyHeritage Family Trees, Charles Willke site manager, www.myheritage.com (accessed 20 December 2016).

Finding a marriage record for "Antonius Kehrbach" and Maria Anna Reuter on a distant cousin's My Heritage tree led to discovering the family had once lived in Ediger. It appears the church records for Ediger have only been micofilmed through the late 1700's, so I need to contact this church in writing and ask if they have additional records.

Nov 2015
Franceska Holthoefer, maternal side, immigrated from Serkenrode, Westphalia, September 1856

Five Holthoefer Siblings, circa 1900, Detroit, Michigan
(back row left to right) Franceska (Holthoefer) Adam, Caspar J. Holthoefer, Marianna (Holthoefer) Petri 
(front row left to right) Elisabeth (Holthoefer) Keine, Anna (Holthoefer) Rolf
(Photo courtesy of Mildred Hunt Collection, by Robert Yagley)

In March of 2015, a distant cousin, Robert "Bob" Yagley, contacted me with a correction to my Ancestry tree. In July of that year, he asked me to join him and three other cousins who were writing a book about our Holthoefer family. The cousins were descendants of Franceska's siblings who had also immigrated to America. Bob had traced our Holthoefer's back to Germany and kept their origin a secret until the book was published last November. It was exciting to see not only the information about where the family had come from, but to also see this photo of Franceska and four of her five siblings who had immigrated to America.

Nov 2015
Frank Adam, maternal side, immigrated from Olpe, Westphalia, circa 1845

Michigan, County Marriages, 1822-1940 (Lehi: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016), online database, marriage record of Frank Adam and Francisca Holdhofer [Holthoefer], 4 November 1858, St. Mary's Church, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, page 636 (accessed 20 December 2016).

Bob Yagley had also discovered the village of origin for Franceska Holthoefer's future husband, Frank Adam, my direct line. Located only about 30 km from Serkenrode, Frank's baptismal record was found in Olpe, Westphalia. [pg 343]

Oct 2016
Peters family, paternal side, immigrated from Bellin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, July 1859

Evangelisch Kirche [Evangelical Church] Bellin, Kirchenbuch [Church Book], 1650-1873, page 154, item 10, taufen [baptism] of Friedchen Elise Johanna Peters; FamilySearch mircofilm #68993. Cropped. [See original post for the other page of this baptismal record.]

I only recently realized the Peters' family's Hamburg passenger list indicated they came from Bellin. Using Meyers Gazetteer to locate Bellin, I then ordered an FHL microfilm and found the baptismal record of the family's youngest child. Although the family moved around quite a bit, it appears they immigrated to America from Bellin.

Nov 2016
Werther family, paternal side, immigrated from Berka, Thuringia (or Schwarzburg-Sondershausen), May 1869

Although the Hamburg passenger list appeared to say Bergau or Bergan, I couldn't find an appropriate location in Meyers Gazetteer. But, then I realized my great aunt had actually written the church in Berka in the 1990's and had baptismal records from Berka!

CONCLUSION

There are many ways to trace your immigrant ancestors back to their country of origin. I believe I have now traced all of my ancestors who came over in the mid-1800's - these six from Germany plus the Eastwood family from England. While writing this post, I realized there is still a lot I need to do on several of these lines. I am currently awaiting several FHL microfilms, and I need to write to two churches!

Do we share common ancestors? Do you have any additional information on any of these families? I'd love to talk! Please leave a comment or email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net.

Finding ANOTHER Family's German Roots

I decided to see if I could trace another branch of my family back to Germany: the Werthers. They arrived in July of 1869 on the Carolina. Through Ancestry.com, I have both their New York and Hamburg passenger lists. As I found out while researching my Peters immigrant family, the Hamburg passenger list gives information about the previous residence. In this case, it appears the family came from Bergan or Bergau in Sondershausen. [See middle columns.] Unfortunately, when I go to Meyers Gazeteer, there is not a place called Bergan or Bergau in Sondershausen.

"Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 December 2016), entry for Joh C Werther and family, line 60, aboard Caroline, Hamburg to New York, departed Hamburg 26 May 1869; citing microfilm K_1714.

I looked at the tree my great aunt gave me when I started genealogy, and she said the family was from Berka in Sondershausen. I do not know where she got that, but perhaps the information had been passed down in the family. I looked on Meyers Gazeteer for a Berka in Sondershausen, and it DOES exist. Berka is actually a village outside of Sondershausen.

Baptism transcription for Auguste Wilhelmine Friederike Werther born on 8 May 1861 in
Berka to Johann Günther Werther and Marie Dorothea Reinhardt. Paper in collection of
Beulah (Peters) Brewer now in possession of Jim Stewart of Kansas. 

Next, I decided to look through the documents and photos I had photographed at my uncle's house two years ago. Though I've looked through the documents many times, I haven't studied all of them. As I looked through them, I found 6 documents: a faded 3-page typed letter, a darker 2-page transcription of the letter with some words translated, and a document titled "Auszug aus dem Taufregister" which translates to "from the baptismal register." This last document was a transcription of the baptism of Auguste Wilhelmine Friederike Werther, the youngest daughter of our immigrant couple. And, the place of the baptism was the St. Viti Evangelical Lutheran Church in "Berka/Wipper!"

Image of St. Viti Evangelical Lutheran Church in Berka, Sondershausen, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:St._Viti_(Berka)

So, now I know my Werther family came from Berka, a village outside of Sondershausen, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen in the present day state of Thuringia! The letter also included transcriptions of the baptismal records for two of the other children who were born in 1848 and 1855. With 7 known children born between 1847 and 1861, it is unclear why the other baptismal records were not found.

Unfortunately, it appears that the records microfilmed for St. Viti of Berka only went through 1846, though none of the children in this family were born until 1847! However, the years the parents were born are included. My next steps are to order those two microfilms, and to write the church to see if I can get actual copies of the baptism records for the Werther children. Hopefully, they'll find the records for the four children that were not found when my great aunt evidently wrote for these records! It's exciting to know where another branch of my German family once lived!

How I Traced My Immigrant Family to Germany

In October, I started telling the story of one of my immigrant families: the Peters. My purpose was to find additional details about this family and their immigration, but I ended up tracing them back to Germany! I also broke through a "brick wall" and found their parents, too! This post is a summary of that discovery with links to the posts I shared as I traced this immigrant family.

Custom Map Created by My Dad

At some point, I heard a lecture or podcast about finding your ancestor's ship arrival in a New York newspaper. And, that is where this journey started. I found a short blurb in The New York Times announcing the arrival of my ancestors' ship. The account listed several places their ship had passed, so I learned more about their passage by locating those places. My dad created a custom map showing those locations, and I learned more about their passage on the Steamship Bavaria.

My great aunt, who got me started in genealogy in 1998, had found a copy of the New York passenger list for our Peters family. But, in the past few years, I found their Hamburg Passenger list on Ancestry.com. As I discussed and compared these two lists I had my breakthrough: I realized that one of the children had listed the village of Bellin as his last residence!

My great aunt had always said the Peters family had come from Güstrow. By using Meyers Gazetteer online, I realized that the small village of Bellin was located near Güstrow. Thinking this was likely the village my family had come from, I ordered an FHL microfilm of church records for Bellin and waited.

Evangelisch Kirche [Evangelical Church] Bellin, Kirchenbuch [Church Book], 1650-1873, page 154, item 10, taufen [baptism] of Friedchen Elise Johanna Peters; FamilySearch mircofilm #68993.
[Page 1 of 2. Lists item number, birth date, baptism date, father's name and occupation, and mother's name.]

Evangelisch Kirche [Evangelical Church] Bellin, Kirchenbuch [Church Book], 1650-1873, page 155, item 10, taufen [baptism] of Friedchen Elise Johanna Peters; FamilySearch mircofilm #68993.
[Page 2 of 2. Lists child's name, 3 baptismal sponsors, and unknown.]

When the microfilm came in, I eagerly scrolled through it for baptism records of the six children. Though the first five children were not listed, I found the sixth child! And, with that record, I had found my Peters family in Germany! Finding the confirmation of the two oldest children on that same film gave me the clue I needed to find the family before they had moved to Bellin.

Ancestry.com, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1519-1969 (Lehi: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016), online database,marriage record of Joachim Carl Otto Peters and Henriette Maria Magdalena Bünger, 21, July 1843, Dobbertin, Mecklenburg, page 12, item 49. [Columns include month and day; banns; groom's name, occupation, and town; bride's name and town; groom's father's name, occupation, and town; bride's name, occupation, and town; whether either previously married; and priest's name.]

Back at home, I discovered the German Lutheran church records were online at Ancestry.com! Using those records, I found the marriage record of my Peters immigrant couple, Joachim and Henriette Bünger Peters, which listed their hometowns and their father's names. The "brick wall" was falling down!

Using Joachim's father's occupation from the marriage record, I was able to find Joachim, two of his siblings, and his parents, Jacob and Hedwig, in the 1819 census. The record also listed Hedwig's maiden name: Borgward.

Ancestry.com, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1519-1969 (Lehi: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016), online database, baptism record of Hedwig Margaretha Johanna Borgward, 25 September 1785, Lübchin, Behren , page 90.

I didn't blog about it, but I was also able to find Hedwig's parents and siblings using baptism records contained in the German Lutheran records on Ancestry. Her parents were Eckhard Joachim Borgward and Anna Margaretha Ahrends.

Ancestry.com, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1519-1969 (Lehi: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016), online database, baptism record of Henriette Maria Magdalena Bürger, 09 July 1817, Dobbertin. [Columns list day of birth; day of baptism; father's name, occupation, and town; mother's name and town (of birth?); child's name; sponsors; and unknown.]

I had more trouble finding Henriette Bünger's parents. The key to my success? MyHeritage. Another member at MyHeritage had Henriette Bünger listed on their tree along with her parents and siblings. Using one of her siblings, I was able to find a baptismal record in the correct church and then scroll through the records until I found Henriette's baptism. I hadn't been able to find the family because the surname had been transcribed incorrectly.

What surprised me the most about this family was how much they moved around. When I found my Kaechle family's origins in Germany a few years ago, I discovered church records in the same church going back to the late 1500's! But, the Peters family moved every few years. Without the Lutheran church records available on Ancestry, I would not have been able to discover so much so quickly. It was an amazing experience!

There are still more records that need to be found. And, there are still some records I've found that need transcribed, translated, and/or analyzed. But, I am excited at what I was able to uncover about my family and their history. And, I hope my family members enjoyed these discoveries, too, and that others might have discovered something they can use in uncovering their own family history.

Are we related? I'd love to talk! Please leave a comment or email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net

Tip: Use Occupations to Help Locate Census Records

In the U.S., most of my ancestors were farmers. But, my newly found German ancestors had a variety of occupations. As I tried to locate the birth family of my 3rd great grandfather, Joachim Peters, using his father's occupation as a "keyword" helped me find the correct family.

Mecklenburg-Schwerin, where the Peters family lived, did not take many censuses. In fact, the only ones I'm aware of are for the years 1704, 1751, 1819, 1867, 1890, and 1900. Since the family emigrated in 1859 and Joachim was born about 1815, the only useful census would be 1819. However, the 1867 census might be useful for finding other family members.

To search the 1819 census, I went to Ancestry.com and went to "search" and then "card catalog." For "title" I used the words "1819" and "census." There were only two results, and one of those records was the Mecklenburg-Schwerin 1819 census.

From the couple's 1843 marriage record, I know that Joachim's father was named Jacob or Jakob. Since Joachim was born about 1815, I approximated Jacob's birth year as 1790..

In the search fields, I typed "Jacob" and "Peters" marking the surname as "exact & similar." I added a birth year of 1790 and clicked search. This search resulted in 566 results.

At this point is when I remembered Jacob was a cheese dairy owner which is "holländer" in German. So, I edited my search and added "holländer" to the keyword field and marked it "exact." Now, I had only 4 results. Of those, one of them had a son, Joachim, who was born in 1815 and was living in the correct area. Perfect!

Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany, Census, 1819 (Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007), Groß Bützin Township, Ritteramt Güstrow District, page 34, line 86, Jacob Peters household, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 October 2016). 

Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany, Census, 1819 (Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007), Groß Bützin Township, Ritteramt Güstrow District, page 35, line 90, Carolina Peters of the Jacob Peters household, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 30 October 2016). 

I still need some of the words translated, but I was able to discover Joachim's mother's name, Hedwig Borgward, and two of his younger sister's names, Anna and Carolina, from this record. It also gives the year and place of birth for each member of the family. For the parents, it even gives the exact date of birth! 

Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1519-1969 (Lehi: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016), Evangelische Kirche Belitz, Belitz city, Belitz parish, baptismal record of Joachim Carl Otto Peters, born 27 Juni 1815, baptized 30 Juni 1815, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 31 October 2016).

After finding Joachim's mother's name, I was also able to locate Joachim's baptismal record! Unfortunately, it is quite smeared. I might order the microfilm and see if I can get a better copy. One item of interest is the list of sponsors! Two of them share the Borgward surname: Joachim Gustro Borgward and Jacob Otto Borgward. 

Do we share common ancestors? I'd love to talk! Please leave a comment or email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net

Brick Wall: Busted!

I started researching our family in 1998, and my dad's aunt, Beulah, had probably researched several decades before that time. But, discovering the full name of my third great grandparents earlier this week - Joachim Carl Otto Peters and Henriette Mary Magdalena Bünger - busted a hole in our brick wall. Now, it is falling down. [Read part 1 and part 2.]

Yesterday morning, I found the marriage record of Joachim and Henriette. It shows the Peters family was from Bergfeld, which is one of the pieces of information I'd learned on Monday. And, most excitingly, the marriage record includes the names of both Joachim's and Henriette's fathers: Jakob Peters and Johann David Bünger! Our family tree has now reached back another generation and extended into the 1700s in present-day Germany.

Ancestry.com, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1519-1969 (Lehi: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016), online database,marriage record of Joachim Carl Otto Peters and Henriette Maria Magdalena Bünger, 21, July 1843, Dobbertin, Mecklenburg, page 12, item 49. 

Several more records have been found on Ancestry's "Germany, Lutheran Baptism, Marriages, and Burials, 1519-1969" which includes over 45 million records! All of them need transcribed, translated, correlated, and analyzed. I feel like I'm in an avalanche of records right now, but it's a wonderful feeling!

Where Did They Come From? (An Immigrant Family's Story, Part 7)

My Grand Aunt Beulah, who did genealogy research for many years, has "Gustrow, Mecklenburg" as the place of birth of our Peters ancestors. However, the Hamburg passenger list, which I doubt she ever saw, says the family was from Bellin, Mecklenburg. To find church records, which are very important in German research, we need to know exactly where they lived.

Meyers Gazetteer is a wonderful tool for locating places in present day Germany. At their website, I typed "Bellin" in the search box and got 5 results for "Bellin." Filtering for the region of "Mecklenburg-Schwerin narrowed the results to only one.

http://www.meyersgaz.org/search.aspx?search=bellin

From the search results page, clicking on "Bellin" gives an informational page which is partially shown below.  

The "detail" section gives more information. One important note on Bellin's page is that it only has one church - an evangelisch Pfarrkirche - or Protestant parish church.

Clicking on the modern day map links you to an incredible historical map! Unfortunately, I cannot share it, but you can view it by clicking here. It shows both the small village of Bellin, and also the nearby city of Gustrow which is only 6 miles away!

Map of Mecklenburg (from Wikipedia). Gustrow is one of the major cities shown, which helps to explain why my ancestors might have said they were "from Gustrow" when they actually had lived in the small, nearby village of Bellin.

My theory is that the Peters family said they were "from Gustrow" in much the same way we say we are "from Houston" when we actually live in a suburb. People might know where Gustrow was located who wouldn't have a clue as to where Bellin was located.

 Church in Bellin, disctrict Güstrow, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellin_(Krakow_am_See)#Kirche

Church records are really useful in German research, so I have ordered Family Searches' micofilm number 68993 which contains the Evangelical Church records for Bellin. The register includes baptisms (1650-1732), marriages (1738-1873), burials (1738-1873), and confirmations (1835-1873)." I'm disappointed that the baptisms do not continue until 1873, but I hope to find records of my Peters family in the other three sections. Finding them would confirm that I have made that wonderful "leap" back to my ancestors' village!

Learning From the Hamburg Passenger List (An Immigrant Family's Story, Part 6)

I've discussed my Peters' family 1859 New York passenger list, but what additional information does their Hamburg passenger list tell us?

1859 New York Passenger List

"New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1897," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 October 2016), entry for Joach. Peters and family, line 16, aboard Bavaria, Hamburg to Southampton to New York City, leaving Southampton 18 June 1859; citing microfilm M237, roll 193.

1859 Hamburg Passenger List

"Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 October 2016), entry for Joach. Peters and family, line 50, aboard Bavaria, Hamburg to Southampton to New York City, arriving New York 2 July 1859; citing microfilm K_1707.

Hamburg Column Headings [Translated to English]

Using Family Search's "Hamburg Passenger List Terminology" and Google Translate, I was able to translate the column headings and most of the written words. The columns were as follows:

1. surname and given name
2. birthplace & place of residence
3. country
4. occupation
5. age
6. males
7. females
8. total 
9. adults & children over 8 years
10. children under 8 years old
11. children under 1 year old 

NAMES, AGES, & OCCUPATIONS

The Hamburg list gives us the following information about the Peters family:

• Joach Peters, master miller, age 44
• Henriette, [occupation unreadable], age 36 [Note: her age is 40 on the New York list]
• Louise, age 14
• Eckard, age 13
• Carl, age 10
• Wilhelm, age 7, occupation: kinder [hard to read, means "child"]
• Heinr, age 6
• Friedchen, age 4

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Joach's occupation is listed as Mühlenmeister, which means "master miller"
• Henriette's "occupation" was unreadable, though it might refer to the fact she is Joach's wife as it looks similar to the word beside other wives 
• Carl, my great, great grandfather, is the only family member with a "birthplace & place of residence" and "country" indicated

QUESTION

Although it appears Carl was born in Bellin, Mecklenburg, where did the rest of the family come from? 

LIKELY ANSWER

Though I have looked at this Hamburg list quite a few times before, I could not figure out why Carl was the only person with a "birthplace" indicated. But, while I studied the list to write this blog post, I discovered something new: two heavy, vertical lines. 

One of these lines is between columns 1 and 2, and the other is between columns 3 and 4. I first noticed the line on the right while working with the "kinder" notation next to Wilhelm. I noticed that each family only had one child listed as "kinder." And then I saw the lines. I realized these lines were like our brackets and indicated that all of the people marked by the line were children!

1859 Hamburg Passenger list with yellow highlights added.
Note: The line probably should have extended to include Joach. Hopefully, additional research will prove this.

Then, I noticed a similar vertical line from Henriette to the youngest child. And, I realized it was showing that all of these family members were born in and had been residing in Bellin, Mecklenburg! What an exciting discovery! 

Of course, I would love to trace my Peters family back to Germany. But, even once you've found a village or town name, actually locating the correct place can be difficult. However, I think I've determined where this Bellin is located. Stay tuned!

An Immigrant Family's Story: The Steamship "Bavaria" and "Between Decks" Passage (Part 5)

In Hamburg on June 14th, 1859, Joachim and Henrietta (Bingher) Peters, my third great grandparents, boarded the steamship Bavaria to start a new life in America. Traveling third class, or “between decks,” they brought with them their six children: Louise (14), Eckard (13), Carl (10), Wilhelm (7), Heinrick (6), and Friedhen or "Freda" (4).

  

The Ship

According to The Ships List, the Bavaria was built in 1856 as the Petropolis and was a 2,405 gross ton ship. She was 282.1 ft long and had a 39.4 ft beam, which I understand means she was 39.4 feet across at her widest point. She was a "clipper steam" with "one funnel, three masts (rigged for sail), iron construction, single screw and a speed of 10 knots." According to Wikipedia, a clipper “was a very fast sailing ship of the middle third of the 19^th century,” while a steam clipper “had auxiliary steam engines which could be used in the absence of wind.” 

Silhouette of the Bavaria created by Jon R Stewart

When the Peters family boarded the Bavaria, she was part of the Hamburg-American Line. She was designed to hold many more passengers than she carried on that trip. Although she was designed to carry 310 third class, or "between decks" passengers, she was only carrying 257. The cabin passengers were even less filled with the second class carrying only 42 of a possible 136 passengers, and the first class carrying only 7 of a possible 50 passengers.

Between Decks (aka 'Tween Decks, Third Class Passage, or Steerage)

Image from Illustrated London News, May 10, 1851, seen on Smithsonian site with credits to the Mariners' Museum

Although nothing specific has been found about the conditions the Peters family faces on board the Bavaria, the Smithsonian's American History website has an “On the Water” page which describes travel during the 19^th century: "Most [immigrants] crossed in the steerage area, below decks. Conditions varied from ship to ship, but steerage was normally crowded, dark, and damp. Limited sanitation and stormy seas often combined to make it dirty and foul-smelling, too. Rats, insects, and disease were common problems." The site goes on to say, "Rich or poor, many travelers alternated between anxiety and boredom on long ocean crossings, depending on the weather."

Another section of the "On the Water" site describes the conditions in steerage in more detail: "Steerage passengers slept, ate, and socialized in the same spaces. They brought their own bedding. Although food was provided, passengers had to cook it themselves. On rough crossings, steerage passengers often had little time in the fresh air on the upper deck. If passengers didn’t fill steerage, the space often held cargo." From the previously discussed New York Times article, we know that the Bavaria was carrying merchandise. 

Burned at Sea

As told in the following two newspaper accounts, the Bavaria departed New Orleans for Liverpool in early 1877. Along with her crew and passengers, she was also carrying cotton, seed cotton, and barrels of resin valued at half a million dollars.

Sadly, on February 6th, 1877, amidst a heavy sea and a northeast gale, she caught fire "fore and aft." The passengers and crew boarded the ship's boats and were saved by the bark Dorothy Thompson. Nineteen hours later, the survivors were back on dry land at Beaufort, South Carolina. No lives were lost, but the Bavaria and her half a million dollars of cargo were burned at sea.

Perils of the Sea, The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana, 11 February 1877, page 4, column 5, 
digital image, newspapers.com (http://www.newspapers.com : accessed 10 October 2016).

Burned at Sea, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, Ohio, 11 February 1877, page 4, column 6, 
digital image, newspapers.com (http://www.newspapers.com : accessed 10 October 2016).

An Immigrant Family's Story: A Custom Map (Part 4)

As I continue to share the story of my Peters ancestors' 1859 immigration, today I'm sharing a map my dad made using Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006 Editor. In a post last week, I discussed the various places their steamship, the Bavaria, passed on their journey. The details of the journey were found in a New York Times newspaper. In this post, I am retelling their journey as more of a story. I will continue to add details as I discover them.

Map created by Jon R Stewart

On June 14th, 1859, Joachim and Henrietta Peters boarded the steamship Bavaria in Hamburg with their four sons and two daughters: Louise (14), Eckard (13), Carl (10), Wilhelm (7), Heinrick (6), and Friedchen or "Freda" (4). They first took the short trip to Southampton where they probably stayed a few nights while merchandise was packed on board. Then, four days after leaving Hamburg, the Bavaria set sail for America. Shortly after leaving port, however, they evidently saw the American ship, Sonora, and "signalized" her.

It only took nine days to cross the Atlantic Ocean with "strong westerly winds throughout the passage." At that time, they came in site of Cape Race, Newfoundland who telegraphed New York letting them know the Bavaria had been sighted. "No ice" was seen.

Five days later, at 6 a.m. on the morning of July 2nd, the Bavaria passed Sandy Hook and entered New York Bay. Almost two hours later, she arrived at "The Battery, the 25 acre waterfront park at the tip of Manhattan." [Source: castlegarden.org]

The Peters family had dreamed of America, and now they were here.

[A huge "thank you" to my dad for creating this map! It took many hours of work, and I think it turned out wonderfully!]

The source of the newspaper article: Arrived, The New York Times, New York, New York, 4 July 1859, page 8, column 5, digital image, newspapers.com (http://www.newspapers.com : accessed 28 September 2016).

My Line of Descent:

• Joachim Peters (~1814-~1894) m. Henrietta Bingher (1817-1874)
• Carl "Charles" Peters (1847-1910) m. Fredericka Werther (1847-1888)
• Emil Peters (1877-1955) m. Myrtle Mae Coppenbarger (1880-1970)
• Hazel Peters (1910-1975) m. Edward Stewart (1910-1972), my grandparents

Do we have ancestors in common? I'd love to talk! Please leave a comment or email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net

An Immigrant Family's Story: The New York Passenger List (Part 3)

As I continue to share the immigration story of my family, I watched Devon Lee Noel's video tutorial: How To Make Blog Titles. Then, using Photoshop Elements, I created a graphic for this series about immigration. I've tried Photoshop Elements before, and got quite frustrated. But, I'm sure it'll get easier with tutorials and practice!

In my first post, I talked about how to find a newspaper article documenting your ancestor's ship's arrival. And, in my second post, I talked about the various places which were mentioned in my ancestor's article and how they tied in with their trip. In this post, let's go back to the beginning of my research.

When I started genealogy in 1998, my Grand Aunt Beulah shared her files with me. One of the documents she had was the 1859 New York passenger list for our Peters immigrants. That document is now easily accessed on Ancestry.com.

"New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1897," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 October 2016), entry for Joach. Peters and family, line 16, aboard Bavaria, Hamburg to Southampton to New York City, leaving Southampton 18 June 1859; citing microfilm M237, roll 193.

As you can see, the family is listed with their names, ages, sex, and "occupation." The next column indicates they "severely belong" to Germany. And, the final columns says they "intend to become inhabitants" of the United States. The information for the family members is as follows:

• Joach. Peters, age 45, male, farmer
• Henriette Peters, age 40, female, his wife
• Louise Peters, age 14, female, child
• Eckard Peters, age 13, male, child
• Carl Peters, age 10, male, child [my great, great grandfather]
• Wilh. Peters, age 7, male, child
• Hein. Peters, age 6, male, child
• Friedchen [sp? she went by "Freda" in the U.S.] Peters, age 4, female, child

There are two more columns on the page. One column is to list those who died on the voyage, though there appear to be no deaths on this crossing. The last column indicates the "part of the vessel occupied by each passenger during the voyage." For my family, this section is labeled "betweendecks." I will share more about "between decks" on another post.

Going back to the first page of this passenger list, the heading gives us more information. In fact, this is where I first learned the name of the ship the Peters family crossed the Atlantic on: the Bavaria.

"New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1897," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 October 2016), entry for Joach. Peters and family, line 16, aboard Bavaria, Hamburg to Southampton to New York City, leaving Southampton 18 June 1859; citing microfilm M237, roll 193.

District of New York - Port of New York
I, H[?] Taube, Master of the Str Bavaria do solemnly, sincerely and truly swear that the following List or Manifest, subscribed by me, and now delivered by me to the Collector of the Customs of the Collection District of New York, is a full and perfect list of all the passengers taken on board of the said Steamer at Hamburg &Southampton from which port said Steamer has now arrived; and that on said list is truly designated the age, the sex, and the occupation of each of said passengers, the part of the vessel occupied by each during the passage, and also the country of which it is intended by each to become and inhabit; and that said List or Manifest truly sets forth the number of said passengers who have died on said voyage, and the names and ages of those who died.     
H[?] Taube So help me God.
Sworn to this 2 July 1859
Before me [unreadable signature]
List or Manifest of all the Passengers taken on board the Steamer Bavaria whereof H[?] Taube is Master, from Hamburg &Southampton burthen 2300- tons.

The manifest is 7 pages long. The first 5 pages list those in the "betweendecks" area of the steamer. Though the majority of the passengers are from Germany, there are a few from Ireland, Sweden, Holland, France, and a few who are returning to the United States.

There are 208 passengers in the "between decks," 42 in the "second" class cabins, and 7 in "first" class cabins. Many of the "between decks" passengers were farmers. Both the first and second "cabins" were primarily occupied by merchants, some of whom had their families with them. The total number of passengers is 257, which matches perfectly with the newspaper account.