Emigration - Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America (OGSA)

Transcription

OSTFRIESEN GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
AMERICAN-OSTFRIESEN ZEITUNG
Eala Freya Fresena! Lever Dod Als Slav!
Jan.-mar 2012 Volume 15 Issue 1
Emigration
OSTFRIESEN-AMERICAN ZEITUNG
OGSA Contact Information
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America
Mail Address: OGSA, 1670 So. Robert St., #333
W. St. Paul, MN 55118
Eala Freya Fresena! Lever Dod Als Slav!
Volume 15 Issue 1
OGSA Book Collection Located at:
MN Genealogical Society
1185 Concord St. N., South St. Paul, MN
The newsletter of the Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America is
published four times a year. Please write: Lin Strong, Editor, OGSA
Newsletter, 168 North Lake Street, Forest Lake, MN 55025 or email [email protected] with comments or suggestions.
Tuesdays: 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Wednesdays: 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Thursdays: 10:00 am to 4:00 pm & 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Saturdays: 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
We are happy to consider any contributions of genealogical information. Whether we can use your material is based on such factors as
general interest to our members, our need to cover certain subjects,
balance through the year and available space. The editor reserves the
right to edit all submitted materials for presentation and grammar. The
editor will correct errors and may need to determine length of copy.
The OGSA office is open by appointment and OGSA members
are available to help. Coming from a distance—please call to
verify hours. Call Gene Janssen 952-939-0617 for information.
OGSA Phone No.: (651) 451-6472 (leave message)
Email: [email protected]
Contributors are responsible for accuracy, omissions and factual errors. Cite documentation for facts or statistical information and give
complete source for all abstracted or transcribed records.
OSTFRIESEN GENEALOGICAL
SOCIETY OF AMERICA
Other than the exceptions given, all or part of this publication may be
copied without fee provided that: copies are not made or distributed
for direct title commercial advantage; the OGSA copyright notice, the
name of the publication and its date appear; and notice is given that
copying is by permission of the Ostfriesen Genealogical Society. You
must contact the editor for permission to publish in any form.
Materials not otherwise attributed, were prepared by the editor.
OGSA OFFICERS:
President— Gene Janssen: [email protected]
(952) 939-0617
Vice President—Lin Strong: [email protected] or
[email protected]; cell phone—651-269-3580
Treasurer—Roger Peters: [email protected]
Recording Secretary— Ryan Prins: [email protected]
BOARD MEMBERS:
Mardelle DeCamp: [email protected]
Ray Kleinow: [email protected]
Lübbert Kruizenga: [email protected]
Jill Morelli: [email protected]
Donna Mennen: [email protected]
Copyright @ January 2012
Front Cover Photographs: Google historical immigrant images
OGSA MEMBERSHIP
MEMBER PRIVILEGES include four issues of the American
-Ostfriesen Zeitung (January, April, July, October), four program meetings each year and one special event, special member order discounts, and access to the OGSA library.
AMERICAN-OSTFRIESEN ZEITUNG STAFF:
Lin Strong, News Editor / Cell 651-269-3580 / [email protected]
Please put “Newsletter” in the subject line
Contributing Authors: Jill Morelli, Rudy Wiemann, Gene Janssen
Columnists: Jeanee Thompson, Ray Kleinow, Rudy Wiemann, Lin Strong
NEWSLETTER MAIL ADDRESS:
OGSA Editor, 168 N Lake St., Forest Lake, MN 55025
Please send all newsletter correspondence to this address.
OGSA 2011 MEMBERSHIP—Send your check for $18
(download from our website or sent by pdf file) or $28 for
paper copies payable to OGSA, 1670 South Robert Street,
#333, West St. Paul, MN 55118
Foreign membership is $18 if downloaded or sent by pdf
file—$30 if paper copies. You can deposit your membership
at Sparkasse Emden if you prefer.
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OGSA MISSION STATEMENT
OGSA is headquartered in Minnesota and our official name is Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America. Anyone with ancestors from
Ostfriesland or who has an interest in Ostfriesland is welcome to join.
The purpose of the group is exclusively educational, and specifically
to:
 Foster and increase interest in Ostfriesen genealogy.
 Provide an association for those interested in Ostfriesen
genealogy.
 Provide an opportunity for the exchange of knowledge of Ostfriesland.
 Encourage the establishment of Ostfriesen genealogical resources.
 Hold meetings for the instruction and interest of its members.
 Collect and, when practical, publish genealogical, biographical and
historical material relating to people of Ostfriesen descent.
 Work with other similar societies to preserve and protect
Ostfriesen genealogy and heritage.
The membership year is from November 1 through
October 31. Please renew early so you do not miss an
issue! This helps us keep costs down!
If you join midway during the year, you will receive the
code to download all back issues for that year or paper
copies if you join at the $28 level.
Online membership for 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 newsletters—$12 per year (pdf or online); 2009 newsletters +
2009 History Issue $18. Back issues of print copies of
newsletter $4 each as available.
Please include your name, address, email address, phone
number and up to eight names you are researching in Ostfriesland along with their village names.
If you have any question about your membership, please
do not hesitate to contact the membership coordinator!
Our organization is a 501C3 non-profit organization.
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MOIN, ALLE!
Happy 15th Birthday OGSA! Fifteen years have passed so fast—and I
You Can, Too—Volunteer!
don‘t know about you, but I have learned a lot of Ostfriesen history in that
time. We‘ve met so many of you who have common interests and we‘ve
found many cousins, too. Thanks for your support of our organization—it is
appreciated.
TRANSLATORS—German into
English. We need volunteers to translate the 30 prefaces of the OSB/OFB
into English.
OGSA is also working on a fundraising campaign and you will receive a letter about this
in the near future. There are several major projects—including digitizing records—that
we would like to pursue, but they all require funding. Several of you have requested information on making donations and memorials—Thank You!
We have many people who work diligently to translate German into English and it is appreciated. Special thanks to Rudy Wiemann and Gene Janssen for their valuable contributions to our knowledge of Ostfriesian history.
Many of you may remember Robert Appledorn who worked on the German Valley area
OSB for many years. Before he died, he gave the publication rights to OGSA and we plan
to have it printed before the August 2012 conference. There is a lot of data on the many
families who came through the German Valley area who later moved to the north and
west in search of more land. Keep posted! It will be finished this summer.
2012 Conference
VOLUNTEERS
A lot of help is needed before, during
and after a conference.
If you have time to help for any of the
following, please contact JKMorelli
@gmail.com.
Gene and I spoke at the emigration conference in Emden in October and will present our
programs at the 2012 OGSA Conference in Rockford in August. We also received permission from another presenter to show her program as it relates to Diricus Dirksen, a
silversmith who left Emden to settle in German Valley, Illinois. We made great contacts
both in Germany and the Netherlands and wish to thank OGSA for helping us with some
expenses. Karen and David Williams, OGSA members from Wisconsin, joined us
there—so OGSA was well represented.
Let her know what you are interested in
and how much time you have to volunteer.
 Pre-Conference—copying, assembling packets, etc.
 Packing library for move to Illinois
 Event set up
 Greeters
 Registration Table
 Sales Assistant
 Silent Auction
 Tour Assistant
 Electronics
 Repacking
This is a great way to get acquainted
with other members—even if you only
volunteer a few hours!
Oh, did I mention that we have fun?
Watch your mail in January for the 2012 OGSA Conference Brochure! Check page 24
for additional conference information.
www.ogsa.us
These issues about emigration make the most popular newsletter each year! Each story
differs in the amount of detail. I didn‘t have enough stories to fill this issue, but I think
you will enjoy the stories told here. Do you have some family stories that we can use? A
story shared is a story preserved for future generations!
If you haven‘t shared your story, please send it to me. If you have sent it and it hasn‘t
been included, please resubmit it. I‘ve gone through the entire supply of emigration stories that I have in stock. If you want your family‘s story in here—send it in or this is the
last issue on emigration.
Many of you filled out the surveys, and it is always appreciated. We can‘t know what is
right or wrong with this organization unless you help us out!
OGSA’s 2012 Conference
3
The Gontjes & Buse Family Comes to America
19
New York City Processing Centers
4
Lest We Forget Those Who Perished…
5-9
News from Ostfriesland
Ray’s Tech Talk
20-21
22,23
Hayo or Herman Eberhardt Thaden
10
Life in the Country Today, Moin M’Nanner
24
The First Immigrants from Campen
11-13
Amt Stickhausen, Part II
25-28
Restoring Jemgum’s Cemetery
13
Quiz Answers, Tea Party Challenge
29
Hinderk Frey’s Voyage to America
14-16
Maria Janssen Jacobs, Coming to America
29
Leer’s 503rd Gallimarkt
16
New Members, Member News, Donations
30
How Others See Us!
17
Lillian’s Tea Shop Moves
30
Andrea Korbunka’s ―Tote Punke‖
18
New Books, Upcoming Articles, Misc.
31
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2012 OGSA Conference
2012 Conference Quiz
Here is a short quiz about the area where we will
be gathering 11-14 August 2012 for the Ostfriesen
Family Reunion—The OGSA 2012 Genealogy
Conference:
1. What classic childhood toy is associated with
Rockford IL?
We are so excited about the Ostfriesen Family Reunion: OGSA 2012 Geneal- 2. Name the first American woman to win the
ogy Conference to be held in Rockford, Illinois, at the University of Northern Nobel Peace Prize. Hint: She was born just 5.8
miles north of Freeport IL and known for her Hull
Illinois-Rockford facility from 11 -14 August 2012. The registration for the
event including the program, tour descriptions, hotel and transportation in- House in Chicago.
formation will be sent to you in January. The planning team has been work- 3. Who were the Rockford Peaches? Extra
credit given for the name of the movie, starring
ing hard to bring you a great program with knowledgeable speakers.
Geena Davis, which featured the Rockford
For those of you who come for the camaraderie or just because your spouse
Peaches.
―makes you‖, we have a wonderful series of tours in the area as well. These
4. The Journal of Japanese Gardening has
tours are all docent led with a box lunch. This year we also are managing the
named this garden no. 1 in all of North Amertours a little differently. Please notice that you sign up for the tours (there is a ica. What is its name and where is it located?
small cost for the bus and your admission ticket) in advance. Only if there is
5. What favorite snack food is associated with
room on the tour, will you be allowed to sign up at the conference.
Freeport IL?
6. In 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen
See also in this issue the article on the Silent Auction and the quiz. You will
want to study that quiz because we will be having some giveaways at the con- Douglas engaged in a series of debates, one of
which was held in Freeport, IL. What was the
ference based on knowing the answers to this Northern Illinois trivia! These
political office there were competing for and who
all add to the fun at the conference!
won the election?
In addition to this great conference…it‘s our BIRTHDAY!! OGSA is celebrat- 7. We will celebrate a birthday at this confering 15 years of existence. This is a milestone for any group such as ours. So, ence. Which one and for which organization?
you have another reason for coming.
Answers can be found on page 29!
How did you do?
Don‘t forget to mail in your registration early. Members, of course, have first
opportunity to sign up. We also recommend that you make your hotel reservation as soon as you can. We have reserved a block of rooms at a reduced rate.
OSGA Members & Friends…
Just say you are with ―OGSA‖ to obtain the reduced rate. We will open the
registration up to non-members in March.
We are seeking donations for the silent auction at
Please consider volunteering for this event! You can help in a variety of ways: the OSGA conference in Rockford, Illinois in Au Do you like to meet people? We need door greeters each day!
gust, 2012. This is a great fundraiser for OGSA and
 Library helpers who know ancestry and family search web sites and Ost- a great way for all of our supporters to get involved.
friesen reference materials.
Things which sell well are those related to Ost Assistants to help with programs, speaker support and all sorts of other
friesland, including framed photos, tea related
activities.
items, scarves, books, dishes and more. Quilts
along with quilted table mats, wall hangings or
 Tech savy? Could you help others with their computer genealogy ques―mug rugs‖ are items you might see on the tables
tions/problems.
1. Could you distribute posters at your local genealogy association or library. for bidding. Maybe you are a wood carver, woodworker or you knit or crochet? You can donate
Just ask us for the poster and we will send it to you.
3. Donate something to the Silent Auction. Grace has already gathered some anything you think others would like—an antique
dish, vase or ? Do you have questions on the feasiwonderful objects and gifts. This is going to be a great event this year.
4. Volunteer to teach a class. Just drop me a line about what you would like bility of an item? Please call or email!
to facilitate/teach. We have beginner to advanced classes that need teachers.
Items should be brought to the conference on the
We have ―consultants‖ who can assist in your preparation. You would be sur- first morning or if you are not attending the conferprised how fun it is to help a group of eager ―students‖ learn about something ence, send it with a friend or acquaintance or mailed
of which you are familiar.
it to me or OGSA. If you have any questions,
please contact me at email: [email protected]
But most important, come and enjoy the experience and your Ostfriesen fam- or phone: 507-387-2728. Thanks for your contribuily. We are all cousins; we just may not know yet how we are related!
tions!
Jill Morelli
2012 OGSA Conference Chair
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Grace Keir
Silent Auction Chairperson
Ellis Island, Castle Gardens, Barge Office
CASTLE CLINTON
New York City Immigrant Processing Centers
Many people think their ancestors came to the
United States through Ellis Island, yet Ellis was
only active after 1892, after the large wave of immigrants from Ostfriesland in the 1870‘s and 1880‘s.
If they landed in New York, they were processed at
one of three locations, Castle Gardens, Barge Office
or Ellis Island, depending on when they arrived.
Before the Castle Garden center opened in 1855 the
passengers simply got off the ship onto whatever
wharf they had landed on in New York Harbor.
There was no central processing center. Passenger
arrival lists begin in 1820.
The chronology of the intake centers is as follows:
Aug 1, 1855 - April 18, 1890...Castle Gardens
April 19, 1890 - Dec 31, 1891...Barge Office
Jan 1, 1892 - June 14, 1897...Ellis Island
On Jan. 1, 1892 an Irish girl named Annie Moore
became the first person to be processed at Ellis Island. The day also happened to be her fifteenth
birthday. She had arrived in New York on the
steamship Nevada with her two younger brothers.
She was presented with a ten dollar gold piece.
class passengers were allowed to leave the ship soon after docking. All passengers, however, were listed on the ship manifest (or passenger list).
On the night of June 14-15, 1897 the building on
Ellis Island was destroyed in a fire so the Barge
Office was again used for immigrants until the rebuilding was completed. Contrary to popular belief,
the passenger records were kept elsewhere and were
NOT lost in the fire.
Approximately 12 million people entered the United States through Ellis
Island over the next 32 years. Beginning in July, 1924 prospective immigrants were pre-inspected at U.S. embassies overseas. They were inspected
again at the port of arrival before leaving the ship.
Today, Castle Garden is known as Castle Clinton National Monument and is
located on the south west tip of Manhattan in Battery Park (see picture
above).
Barge Office, circa 1900 (formerly located on the southeast tip of Manhattan, since demolished) this picture is from: The Library of Congress, Prints
and Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection
June 15, 1897 - Dec 16, 1900....Barge Office
A new building on Ellis Island opened on Dec 17,
1900.
Dec 17, 1900 - late 1924....Ellis Island
Continued—Immigration website information on page 31.
The ships never actually landed at Ellis Island - they
landed at the docks of Manhattan and the passengers were ferried over to the island for processing.
Generally only steerage passengers went to Ellis
Island for inspection - MOST of the first & second
5
Ellis Island was named for Samuel Ellis,
who owned the island in the 1770s.
My thanks to Joe Beine for permission to reprint his article and use the pictures on NY Immigration Processing Centers. To see this article and links to
other German websites of interest to genealogists see his web site: http://
5
germanroots.home.att.net/ellisisland/
Submitted by Jill Morelli
Cast of ―The Sinking of the Johanne”
Lest We Forget Those Who Perished On Their Crossing
The year was 1854, a time when thousands of ocean crossings
by tall ships took untold numbers of Europeans to the New
World. The first large German emigration wave was at its
height, as 215,000 citizens left their homeland for a more
promising future in a land of equal opportunity. But the state
of navigation and problems with making landfall in hurricane
winds under reefed sails being what they were, nearly 50 boats
sunk annually off the East Friesian islands alone, something
which seemed inherent in seafaring.
And, indeed, neither were the seas safer elsewhere, as demonstrated by the fate of the United States schooner Powhatan,
best remembered for one of the worst New Jersey shipwrecks
in terms of loss of life, the number of victims varying, according to sources, between 200 and 365. She had taken on more
than 200 German immigrants in Le Havre, France, for New
York and on April 15 encountered a fierce northeast storm
which drove her toward the Brigantine Shoals, where she went
aground near Surf City, about two miles off the beach. These
shoals were feared by every ships captain who sailed the Atlantic coast in the days of canvas - not surprising, as over 300 vessels of all types sailed toward their doom here since the early
1700s.
Rigging of Three-Masted Barque
of the Powhatan disaster.
Their fate also served as an impetus for the purchase of the
wreckage site for the Absecon Light House. Bremen‘s
Auswanderer-Zeitung (Emigrants Newspaper) reported on
May 15, ―For 10 miles along the coast lay boxes, trunks,
suitcases, and sundry passenger effects strewn about. Also
feather beds, cooking utensils, pieces of
wreckage, etc. German letters, Bibles,
prayer books, etc., could be seen glistening in the sun, and everywhere one noticed signs of this awful catastrophe.‖ A
lavish three-story hotel known as the
Mansion of Health stood near the scene
of the disaster. For years, the apparition
of a woman holding a child was often
seen in one of its windows. Others have
heard the lingering screams and cries of
the doomed passengers and crew of the
ship.
On this day, a small crowd gathered on shore and watched
helplessly throughout the afternoon as the Powhatan was buffeted by huge waves and fierce winds. Such was the fury of the
elements, that a lifeboat station six miles away unable to send
help. Around 5 p.m. she was slammed against the shoals and a
large hole was punched in her bow, whereupon she began to
break apart and passengers, some already dead, were washed
overboard.
These unfortunates drifted up on the beach as far south as Atlantic City and were buried in three cemeteries: 54 at Smithville Methodist Church, 45 in Absecon, and about 140, who
were washed ashore at Peahala on Long Beach Island, in paupers‘ graves on the Baptist cemetery in nearby Manahawkin,
where a monument to ―The Unknown from the Sea‖ was
erected by the State of New Jersey in 1904 to honor all victims
The memory of another horrifying Wreck
Valley shipwreck of that year, namely
that of the New Era, is preserved in the
records of The Pennsylvania German
Society and numerous other archives.
6
―Unknown Monument‖
The former begin as follows, ―The advent of the
clipper ship often lasted
from four to twenty-four
weeks. Caspar Wistar in
a published letter dated
December 4, 1732, mentions a case of the latter
kind where on account of
―New Era‖ Anchor, Allenhurst, N.J.
lack of food they caught
rats and mice on the
ship, and a mouse was
sold for as high as 30
farthings. To such trials
we must add the brutality
of the seamen, the rascality of the captains of
that day, together with
the deceptions practiced
upon the German emigrant by the so-called
newlanders or promoters
Fully Rigged Ship ―Bremen‖
of these emigrations. The
ravages of ship fever and escapes from pirates have been successively set
forth in our publications. Yet all of these stories lose their horror when
compared with the wreck of the "New Era" and the criminal heartlessness of the captain and his crew.‖
This three-masted German packet ship ran aground on the coast of New
Jersey during a storm on November 13 after forty-three of its passengers
had already died of cholera. Frustrated personnel from three life saving
stations gathered on the beach to help but could only get close enough to
the ship to hear the anguished cries for help, as the extremely rough seas
kept them from launching their boats. When they finally succeeded, they
saw in a scene of bloody devastation also miracles of survival, like the
young boy who had been lashed to her mast. Around him hung arms and
legs lashed fast from which the bodies had been torn away.
The following from the Nautical Magazine and Quarterly Review, Vol. 1,
1855. Transcribed by L. Bruzelius: ―We are pained to record one of the
most fearful disasters that has ever taken place on our coast, in the wreck
of the new ship ―New Era‖, freighted with 427 passengers from Bremen
to New-York. On the
morning of November
13th, after a passage
of 46 days, the ―New
Era‖ neared our
coast, where, in thick
weather, the soundings
alone furnish the only
tangible evidence of a
vessel's position. At the
call of the morning
watch, the Captain,
after attending to the
cast of the lead, retired
to his cabin, leaving
Three-Masted Schooner
the second mate in
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charge of the deck. Added to the discomforts of
a lengthy passage, the ship proved leaky, and
the working of the pumps had been apportioned
as a part of the duties of both passengers and
crew.
On the last night of the fatal voyage the wind
blew a stiff breeze from S.E., which caused considerable sea, and the ship being enveloped in
fog, which was scarcely illumined by the dawn
of day, when the fearful echo of breakers ran
through the crowded decks of the doomed vessel — and before six o'clock the ship struck on
Deal Beach, swung broad-side to, and as she
settled in the sand, the sea made a clear breach
over her; a few feeble and abortive efforts were
made to get a line to the shore, and failing in
this, by means of the boats, the Captain, officers and most of the crew escaped to the shore,
and six hours after stranding, the deserted ship
had no commander, or a single man on board
who understood what was being done on shore
for the assistance of the unfortunate passengers, none of whom could speak the English
language.
On the following morning, after every living
person had been rescued from the ship, only
143 (including the crew) of the 427 embarked
at Bremen, were found to have escaped; making a loss of 284 lives. A more frightful loss of
life on ship-board has scarcely ever been recorded in the annals of emigrant voyages, reckless as these are sometimes made. Such a
shameful neglect of the commonest precautions
on approaching the coast, and the subsequent
desertion of the helpless passengers, calls for a
searching inquiry into the loose conduct and
inhumanity of those in charge of the fated
ship.‖
The thought of approaching their destination is
certain to have lifted the spirits of many a passenger during the unavoidable exposure to the
unpredictable nature of the wind and the waves
- a comfort which many emigrants were not to
know. On April 23 of that year, the barque Favourite left Bremerhaven, bound for Baltimore
with 191 passengers, including 31 from the
small town of Fredelsloh (in the south of the
present-day state of Lower Saxony), mostly
young families with many children.
On April 29, at two o‘clock in the morning, she
was struck on her starboard side by the American packet ship Hesper, from Charleston for
Antwerp, and, ―being severely holed below the
waterline, settled within a few minutes‖. Only
Stranded Schooner
six crew, including the captain, were
able to scramble over to the Hesper
during the short time the ships were
together. Though many passengers
could be seen running around on the
Favourite in great confusion, the
Spiekeroog
roughness of the sea prevented any
Coat-of- Arms
assistance being rendered to them.
The Hesper ―lay-to until daybreak
but, when day broke, no vestige of the Favourite or any of
her passengers could be seen.‖
A week before the New Era shipwreck, Ostfriesland experienced the calamitous stranding of an emigrant ship on
its own shores. That happened on November 6, when the
three-mast barque Johanne came to grief on Spiekeroog.
A sturdy wooden ship, about 100 ft. long and 18 ft. wide,
built in Elsfleth on the Weser and placed in service on October 21, she was to take 218 emigrants on her maiden
voyage from Bremerhaven to Baltimore. These emigrants
were mostly poor folks from Hessia and other places further south in Germany who had reached the coast with
great determination and now found themselves crowded
and without bunks in the narrow steerage confines of the
Johanne, full of hope of a better future across the ―big
pond‖.
On November 2, 1855 she cast off in favorable weather,
but only a few hours of smooth sailing are granted her
―landlubbers‖. Already in the afternoon of the following
day she was tacking with reefed sails against a heavy
northwestern off Norderney. Luckily, the wind turned, and
on the 4th she was under full sail before an opportune
southeastern. But her reprieve was of short duration.
That night the wind turned northwest again and changed
into a fierce storm. A sailor went overboard while fastening the topgallant sail and could not be rescued. Despite
her desperate attempts to stay clear of the coast, the
Johanna was driven relentlessly south from her position
west of Helgoland. On the following night the storm took
Spiekeroog 1805
on hurricane strength. Lashed
by gusts of hail and snow, the
barque, nearly a wreck now,
drifted toward the shallows
off Spiekeroog, was caught in
three towering groundswells,
lost her foresails, and
beached three hours before
high tide where she was
tossed from side to side until
finally coming to rest with
her deck facing the sea. The
lifeboats were dashed and
could no longer be used. That
morning all of the 134 islanders who had congregated on
the beach could only stare at
the wreck to which people
were clinging for their dear
lives, some losing their hold to be washed away and drown in
the surging icy water.
No help was possible from land because of the rising tide. Not
before it had sufficiently retreated, could the survivors get
safely down to the beach. Among them were 13 passengers
who had huddled below deck and could not believe their luck.
But the toll was high: 77 people died on the Johanne: 34 men,
18 women, 18 children, and seven babies. The islanders, poor
themselves, took in the survivors until provisions and a doctor
arrived from the mainland, sent by the shipping company after
news of the tragedy had reached it.
The survivors departed for Bremen on the 14th where they arrived on the 18th. Most of them returned to their places of departure poorer in wealth and spirit. Only a few attempted another run. Some wrote the islanders to thank them for their noble treatment. The salvaged parts of the ship‘s rigging were
sold in the following year and the wreckage gradually sank into
the beach sand.
The following describes the calamity in the words of a witness
Spiekeroog Today
8
as published in the Weser-Zeitung: ―On the day before yesterday at 10 a.m.,
we saw from here a barque stranded on the neighboring island of Spiekeroog, and only too soon our fear was verified that it was an emigrant ship
which, overcome by the storm and sinking, had beached itself so as to save
the people entrusted to it. Unfortunately, this happened three hours before
high tide, and the ship had yet to endure six hours of the terrible onslaught
of the furious waves before debarking was possible, a situation which
brought death and destruction upon the unfortunate passengers.
Relentlessly tossed from side to side by the surging water, the ship labored
for a long time against the force of the enormous torrents of the mountainous waves which ceaselessly fell upon it, until it finally came to rest on its
side. The lurching of the ship together with the invading water hurled
moveable items forth and back with great force which led to the death of a
great many people.
Most of the unfortunates, however, are said to have lost their lives when the
masts where cut, for, as eye witnesses relate, at that moment the water
around them turned red with blood. This catastrophe, the frightfulness of
which takes on an immediacy by imagining complete corpses and fragments
of the same everywhere around the site, has cost 80 people their lives. Almost sadder than the sight of so many corpses is that of the living in such
misery, which makes the dead seem to be envied by comparison.
138 people have indeed saved their bare lives, but many suffered severe
wounds or contusions, lost their possessions, and mourn the death of their
relatives or other persons dear to them. Among them are two newlywed
couples with both brides perishing. A girl, rendered unrecognizable by her
injuries, searches in vein for her parents and siblings. A baby is rescued
alive and well, but ah, the mother is missing. A four year old boy waits for
his mother by whose side he wants to join his father who traveled ahead of
the family. A corpse of a woman lies on the beach with a crushed arm. Perhaps it is the mother. But I shall refrain from relating further details of this
horrible drama. May noble friends of mankind meet these unfortunates with
comfort and assistance as they reach solid ground, and by their example
challenge others to imitate them.‖
The island Pastor Doden buried 30 victims in a dune valley at the edge of
the village while yet more corpses were washing ashore. Since then, the
Drinkeldodenkarkhoff (Cemetery of the Drowned), where in the 10 years
that followed still many more unknown victims of the sea were buried, has
been surrounded by the growing village and now lies near its center.
were also offered on the Drinkeldodenkarkhoff,
followed by a service in the new island church.
The destruction of the Johanne on Spiekeroog‘s
shore and that of the Powhatan and New Era on
New Jersey‘s shore created a strong echo in the
press in both Germany and the United States.
The 28 life-saving stations in New Jersey received new self-righting boats, and in Emden
the privately funded ―Maritime Search and Rescue Service on the East Friesian Coast‖ was
founded, its first stations being installed on the
islands of Langeoog and Juist. Four years later
the above mentioned ―The German Maritime
Search and Rescue Service‖ was founded as a
national organization.
In 2009 a theater group presented the original
staging of the drama ―The Sinking of the Johanne‖ on the original stage - the shore of
Spiekeroog. Thereafter, the play was staged on
the shore of Bremerhaven and Cuxhaven. The
seven actors and actresses worked without
sound amplification, wind and surf determining
their vocal effort.
(Note: see also the October 2007 issue for the
Cimbria disaster of Jan. 9, 1883, where 437
lives were lost.)
From Internet Sources. Submitted by Rudy
Wiemann
Spiekeroog Cemetery Cross
In 1859 a wrought iron cross with the inscription, ―I am the resurrection
and the life (John 11:25)‖ was erected. In 1997 the Hessian community of
Kaufungen placed a memorial plaque here for its seven emigrants who lost
their lives. An information plaque was added in 2001.
The ships bell from the Johanne is kept at the island museum and is struck
at the annual Carolinensiel Schiffsandacht (Ships Memorial Service). In
2004, the year of the 150th anniversary of the shipwreck, a gathering at the
island restaurant ―Kogge‖ (cog ship) commemorated the tragedy. It was
musically framed by the Shanty Choir Carolinensiel and featured a lecture
each by the director of Bremen‘s German Schiffahrts (Nautical) Museum
and a delegate from the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service. It
was followed by a cruise on the rescue vessel Neuharlingersiel, with descendants of the shipwrecked of many years ago on board, around the island to the location of the calamity where prayers were said and wreaths
were placed in the sea. Prayers and wreaths with brass accompaniment
9
A Biographical Sketch
By Angela Thaden Hahn
Hayo or Herman Eberhardt Thaden
Hayo was born in the small village of Dornum, the third child of the
master baker, Gerd Jakobs Thaden, and his wife Anna Helena
Croon. In 1860 he was confirmed in St. Bartholomaus Lutheran
Church, and shortly thereafter he immigrated to the United States.
A search of the emigration records at the museum in Bremerhaven
shows a Hayo Thaden did indeed embark for America in 1863 and
worked as one of the crew on the sailing vessel Hansa. It is difficult at this point to know if the two Hayo‘s are the same young
man.
Many Ostfriesians landed at New Orleans and settled in the Midwest. So far, there is no evidence that Hayo ever spent time in the
Midwest, but by 1870 he was living in Atlanta, Georgia, where he
lived the rest of his life.
Hayo‘s older brother, Heinrich Bernhardt, also immigrated to the
United States. He most likely landed at New Orleans, for he
enlisted there as a German sailor and was hired by the U.S. to serve
in the Union Navy on an ironclad. After his service, he assumed he
had automatically attained U.S. citizenship, as was the process for
any alien veteran. But later in his life, his naturalization was
brought into question. Eventually, Bernard settled in Washington,
D.C. and raised his family there. He is buried in Arlington National
Cemetery.
Hayo married Anna Paulina Deckner, native of Wisconsin and the
daughter of Saxon immigrants. They adopted two children.
Changing his name from Hayo to Herman, he became a well-known
citizen in Atlanta. He worked as a florist from his greenhouses and
his shop in town, known as H. Thaden & Co., and became quite
wealthy. Similarly, his father-in-law and brother-in-law were
horticulturalists, and Herman was a prominent member of Atlanta‘s
Horticultural Society. Additionally, he served on the Fulton County
grand jury more than once. It was not unusual to find mention of
Herman on the society pages of the newspaper whenever he and his
wife hosted a party at their home in Capitol Heights.
Interestingly, Herman dabbled in inventions. In addition to farming implements, he worked on a vertical flying
machine and kept his model on display
at his brother‘s store in Washington,
D.C. He was known for making numerous test flights around Atlanta. His
progress was reported in the Atlanta
Constitution as well as the German
language newspaper serving that city.
Herman‘s interests and financial success suggest he was quite intelligent
and inquisitive. To illustrate his quest
for knowledge, Herman investigated
Eastern Mysticism, being unsatisfied
with his own religion of Lutheranism.
He looked forward to lectures deliv10
Above: Thaden Home in Dornum
Below: Greetings from Dornum (postcard)
From the collection of Christoph and Lenchen (Thaden) Gericke, Norden
ered by Eastern Gurus.
During the First World War, Herman found himself under
investigation for traitorous behavior. In addition to his antiwar position, neighbors reported late-night activity in the
shed behind his house. This is where he worked on his airship and other inventions. Additionally, Herman had hired a
fellow German to work in his box factory. Incidentally, it
was thought this factory was a front for making radio apparatuses. Nothing ever came of this investigation; however,
Herman felt it necessary to write a brother in Germany one
last letter saying he could not keep in touch anymore.
He most likely realized neither he nor his family in Germany
would be safe from accusations as long as his home country
and his adopted country were at war. Contact between the
German and American families did not resume until eighty
years later, when the succeeding generations of Thadens
found each other.
After a lifetime of adventure and pioneering, Herman died
peacefully at his home in 1923, sadly from complications
due to Senility.
Angela Thaden Hahn, Fountain, Colorado,
Campen Ortssippenbuch Preface
By Pastor Jürgen Hoogstraat
The First Emigrants from Campen 1851-1864
Paralleling the theme of founding a second Christian congregation in the community of the small village of Campen
is that of the 19th century emigration of many people from
the parish. The villages of the southern Krummhörn suffered enormous population declines in the last half of the
19th century. Though the population increased greatly during the first half of the century (1821: 324 residents; 1848:
432 residents) the large number of emigrants from Campen
caused the population count to fall
An Afsheidung is a revival back just as quickly to the old
movement of people discount (1885:341 residents) in the
satfied with the established last half of the century. These staReformed church. The
tistics are similar to those of other
separatists regarded the
Krummhörn villages, an estimated
established Reformed
25% of residents in a village emichurch was too liberal and grated to the United States.
not based on Biblical
teachings.
Almost every family in Campen
was affected by this phenomenon.
Often the family stories almost simultaneously record the
founding of the Altreformierte (Christian Reformed) congregation as well as the emigration to America. Research
into the motivation for emigration in individual families
provides a glimpse into the connections between church
history, social history and emigration conditions.
The first emigrant (according to available resources) from
Campen during the great emigration of the 19 th century is
Wilke Hinderks Flyr, the son of the master blacksmith,
Hinderk Berends Flyr and his spouse, Aaltje Alberts Prikker. Wilke Flyr‘s emigration was announced in 1851 in
the Amtsblatt für die Provinz Ostfriesland (Official Gazette for the Province of Ostfriesland).
However, he did not move to Stephenson County, Illinois,
like so many of the emigrants from the Krummhörn had
done (i.e, the first Loquard families—Boomgaarden and
Ohling had gone shortly before). Instead he chose Woodford County in central Illinois, the area where the emigrants from Hamswehrum were gathered around Thees
Smidt in the cities of Peoria and Pekin. Wilke Flyr and
his wife, Christina Weerts, were not a part of this group
either but joined up with a Brookmerland colony. This
was clearly due to the influence of his wife who came
from Marienhafe along with her children, Trientje and
Albert Flyr, who were both born in Marienhafe.
In the mid-19th century Woodford County was less desirable for settling because it was deemed too damp and not
favorable for farming. Those who know the background
claim the Ostfriesian knowledge about water drainage
eventually led to settlement
of the land. The arrival of
the first Ostfriesian settlers
in Woodford County cannot
be determined exactly.
Altreformierte Kirche 1869
A defining date for settlement is often cited as the
founding of an Ostfriesian,
Lutheran congregation of
Roanoke in August of 1858.
Since the Brookmerland
Lutherans were the majority
in the settlement there were,
of course, first one and then
later more Ostfriesian
Lutheran congregations
founded there.
The first church built, the
Campen Reformiert Kirche
Evangelical Lutheran St.
Petrus Congregation was
later relocated and only the cemetery remains where the original
church stood. A few weatherworn grave stones remain, among them
that of Wilke Flyr from Campen who died in Woodford County March
29, 1884. The 1880 census lists his residence as Linn Township in
Woodford County.
The second Campen family with its large number of emigrants may
serve as a model for the so-called chain migration. Kristjaan Janssen
Schäfer, son of the laborer Jan Conrads Schäfer and his wife, Hauke
Rigts Müller, was born in Campen in 1822 and emigrated to America
in 1852, settling down in Stephenson County, Illinois. Apparently he
came with a daughter, Geerdje. Traces of his first wife have been lost.
In 1860 in Stephenson County, he married a daughter of Hinderk
Klassen Aper Ravenstein, also an emigrant from Campen.
The third emigrant family from Campen at this time is that of Hagen
Arends and Anke Esders Meeuw. Not until 2005 was a small cemetery discovered in Grundy County, Iowa, with the gravestone of Hagen
Dirks Arends who died there August 8, 1864. The history of this
cemetery has been recorded by genealogist Rick Gersema.
The roots of the Arends family can be traced to the farmstead Campener Vorwerk which was owned at the start of the 19th century by
Arend Boyen and his wife Dewer Dirks. Their son, Hagen Arends,
was married to Anke Meeuw, the daughter of sailor Esdert Reelofs and
Greetje Freeriks. Anke died at age 39, June 16, 1837, in Campen
survived by her husband, Hagen Arends, a son and two daughters. She
had been preceded in death by her oldest daughter, Deewer Hagen Arends, and the youngest son, Dirk Hagen Arends. Shortly after her
11
death her son, Esdert, died in Campen also.
The first trace of the Arends emigrant family
leads to Stephenson County, Illinois, where
the oldest son of Hagen Arends, Arend
Boyen Arends, moved with his wife in 1854.
They arrived in the USA aboard the ship
―Beta.‖ In 1855 he married Elske Tjarks
Janssen from Loquard and later in the mid1860s moved with his family to Iowa. In
1864 Arend and Elske were among the founders of the first Ostfriesian Reformed congregation in central Iowa, the Ostfriesland Presbyterian Church of Ackley. The 1880 census
records their residence as at Edna, Hardin
County, Iowa.
In 1856 we find Hagen‘s sister, Deewer Arends, in Illinois. In Ogle County she married
the Loquarder, Jakob Janssen Fluth, who
came over on the ship ―Gertrude‖ sailing
from the Emden harbor. After her arrival,
Deewer lived first at Grand Detour, Ogle
County. Her sister, Geertje Arends, also is
one of the pioneers of Grundy County, Iowa.
She was married to Willem Janssen van der
Linde (later Lindeman) who was from Loquard.
From among the group of founders of the
Altreformierte (Christian Reformed) congregation in Campen there were more families
who left in 1856. True, it was not so large a
group that the congregational membership
suffered as drastically as described by the
Altreformierte church historian, Jan Gerrit
Beuker, about many of the congregations in
the earldom of Bentheim; but, likewise, there
were a number of large families who sought
religious freedom in the USA.
From the immediate circle of the congregation‘s founder, Heye Gossen Heikens, was
the family of his sister, Geertje Heyen Heikens, married to the Dorfschiffer (village shipper) Aarjen Hinderks Frühdag. They made
the trip with their nine-member family
aboard the ―Gertrude‖ which sailed from
Emden. Their daughters, Geerdje, (spouse
of Geerd Jakobs Geerds from Wybelsum);
Meinje
(married
to
Poet
Arends
Boomgaarden from Campen who emigrated
in 1857); Engel (spouse of Rigt Kristjaans
Janssen Schäfer of Campen) were already
married at the time. Geerd Geerds was one
of the signers of the Campen Altreformierteconstitution in 1854 and his daughter,
Grietje, (born in Grundy County, Iowa FebOstfriesen Genealogical Society of America
ruary 22, 1866) was the first from
among the circle of Krummhörner Afscheiding families to be baptized in
Iowa.
Also among the signers of the constitution of the Campen church was the labourer, Hinderk Klassen Aper, who
also went by the name of Ravenstein.
He was the son of Albert Upkes Ravenstein and Teetje Hinderks Aper and is
listed in the Campen records as a day
laborer.
Hinderk Ravenstein was
married to Meinste Hilderts Primus
from Campen.
Especially depressing, not only for the
restricted religious freedom that this
family suffered, is the fact that in the
list of home owners of the time, Hinderk Aper Ravenstein is included, but
there are seventeen people living in his
small house. The family emigrated in
1856 to Stephenson County, Illnois,
and many of them are found a few
years later as founders of the first Altreformiertechurch in Stephenson County.
Remarkably, the descendents of Hinderk and Meinste Ravenstein, the
families of the seven daughters, are to
be found in many states even as far
west as the Oregon and Washington
Territories.
The next significant emigrant family
from the inner circle of the Afscheidings congregation are various members
of the worker family Primus, whose
parents also were signers of the congregation‘s articles of constitution. Signers Klaas Hilderts Primus (a halfbrother of Meinste Hilderts Primus
married to Ravenstein—see above) and
Geertje Behrends, however, are older
at the time of their emigration in 1861.
Their children, who had emigrated earlier, maintained their allegiance to the
Afscheiding.
Emigration in this family began with
the son, Hildert Klassen Primus, and
his wife, Elisabeth Mühlena, who
emigrated in 1856 going first to
neighboring Wisconsin adjacent to Stephenson County, Illinois, soon attaching themselves to the Ostfriesian colony in Stephenson County.
12
In 1857, Hildert‘s sister Foekel Klassen
Primus married to Berend Ruiter from
Upleward followed, and the two belonged
to the first Ostfriesian Afscheidungs
(Christian Reformed) congregation at
Ridott in Stephenson County. Finally, in
1862 another sister, Geerdje Klaasen
Primus along with her husband from Loquard, Eite Lübberts Eiten, followed the
emigrant family members. The whole
family circle remained only briefly in
Illinois before moving on to Grundy
County, Iowa,
Among the founders of the first Ostfriesian Altreformierte congregation in Iowa
in Shiloh Township in 1867 we again find
Klass Hilderts Primus and his wife,
Greetje Behrends and all three of their
immigrant children as well as their nieces
and nephews Hilder and Elisabeth Primus, Foekel and Berend Ruiter and Eite
and Greetje Eiten.
Even further connections are found between the Primus family and other significant Krummhörn emigrant families from
the circle of the Afscheiding: the Okones
from Woquard who are found as signatories in the founding documents for the
congregation in Iowa in 1867. The connection here is through the son, Cornelius
Janssen Okones, married to Antje
Mühlena, the sister and sister-in-law of
the above-mentioned Elisabeth Mühlena
and Hildert Klassen Primus. Incidentally, Hildert Klassen Primus was the
first one of the Afscheiding group to be
buried within the congregation in Iowa.
He died already in 1868. His brother-inlaw, Cornelius Janssen Okones was
instrumental in founding the first Ostfriesian Altreformierte congregation in Nebraska. Connections to Woquard families
are also notable here.
Okke Boomgaarden and Elisabeth
Meester emigrated from Campen in
1856, starting the flow of emigration for
their families. Okke‘s brother Poet and
his wife Meinste Frühdag were clearly
associated with the Krummhörn Afscheiding; however, that is not so clear in the
case
of
Okke
and
Elisabeth
Boomgaarden during their time in Ostfriesland. In America the ties to the Old
Reformed church are clear because both
are buried in the Christian Reformed
val, the latter soon advanced to become one of the largest
landowners in German Township, Grundy County, claiming 400 acres as his own. Next on the list of large landowners was his relative, Jakob Kurzleben who had many
parcels of land throughout the county.
From the circle of Campen farmers who followed the
Heikens to Iowa was the farmer‘s son, Günther Janssen
Hugo, married to the daughter of another Campen Dorfschiffer.
1880 MAP
Cemetery in Shiloh Township, Grundy Co., Iowa. While Okke
Boomgaarden emigrated aboard the ―Gertrude‖ from Emden in
1856, his brother, Poet, and sister, Jantje Boomgaarden followed a
year later from Bremen aboard the ―Hansa.‖
Additionally, other families not clearly associated with the Afscheiding emigrated from Campen during this era and are to be found later
in Stephenson County, Illinois. Foremost of these is the Coordes family from among whom Jacob Coordes was the first to emigrate, travelling on the ship ―Gertrude‖ in 1856. Most likely the impetus for his
emigration came through the Afscheiding circle because he was married to Hilke Aper Ravnestein of the above mentioned family. He
was followed by his brother, Lambertus Coordes, with wife, Marje
Roelfs Tellinghusen from Manslagt, in 1858, and Albertus Coordes
in 1862 with his wife, Aafke Boyen Siebrands from Loquard. In
subsequent years his siblings followed. The next to come: Rigt
Janssen Schäfer 1857 followed by Arend Janssen Schäfer 1864. In
1867, his sister Janna Schäfer arrived, and in 1870 another sister,
Ettje Schäfer immigrated. No research has revealed any emigration
by the other siblings.
The peak of emigration from Campen occurred in 1864 when more
families than ever before left the community. This year also saw the
beginning of a new destination for the emigrants: people went directly to Iowa. The majority of emigrants in the previous years had
first gone to northern Illinois and then spread out from their to
neighboring counties or in 1854 also to Iowa. The main Ostfriesian
settlements of Grundy and Hardin Counties in Iowa became the preferred destination.
Some Campen people had already moved to Iowa from Illinois.
Among these were the family groups of Arends, Boomgarden, Primus and Rigt Schäfer. Three sons of the village leader and head of
the Altreformierte congregation, Heye Gossen Heikens: the twins,
Geerd Heyen Heikens and Isbrand Heyen Heikens and their
brother Hinderk Heyen Heikens went right to Iowa in 1864 followed
by their cousin, the Dorfschiffer Jeljes Heikens, who was later
followed by his sister, Antje Heikens (married to Bleeker from
Wybelsum) and his brother, Geerd Harms Heikens. After his arri13
However, the worker families of the community also discovered the new state of Iowa. One after another the
Eerdmoed brothers, Alle, Jan, Harm and Hinderk were
drawn to Iowa. Alle and Katharina Eerdmoed had been
members of the Alteformierte congregation in Campen and
perhaps had connections to Iowa through the Ohlings from
Loquard. They were followed again by more siblings:
Hinderk, Alle and Freerk Eerdmoed, cousins of the previously named family branch which had gone to Iowa.
Their Loquard cousins followed also: Geesek Hinderks
van der Linde, since 1864 married to Harm Jürgens
Sweede from Groothusen. Many others followed them to
the United States.
Glossary
Altreformierte Kirche—Christian Reformed Church
Dorfschiffer—Village men who towed boats along a canal
with goods to and from a larger city, i.e. Emden. Roads
between the villages were impassable during most seasons
of the year. The canals offered a better mode of transportation.
Restoring Jemgum’s Cemetery
A comprehensive restoration of Jemgum‘s cemetery has
been going on for a month. The paths have been repaved
and landscaped and park benches and plantings have been
added. To help pay for this, the Reformed congregation
has received a grant of 50,000 euros from the State‘s Office for Geoinformation and Land Development. The balance of the total cost of 120,000 euros will be financed
with a loan and an increase in cemetery fees.
During much this work, members of the cultural organization Ostfriesische Landschaft, who have been expecting to
find clues about the exact location of the first church here,
have been present and examined uncovered material of
archaeological interest. They found many
―Klostersteine‖ (monastery bricks), but not in an arrangement which would yield the sought-after clues.
―Klostersteine‖ are a former standard brick size of
30x20x8 cm, as against the modern dimensions of 24 x
11.5 x 7.1 cm (vs. 8x4x2.25 in. in the US). They are believed to have been produced locally in peat fired field
kilns. Rheiderland Zeitung, 9/18/11
Die Geschichte of an Ostfriesen Family
Hinderk Frey’s Voyage to America
I was born in the village of Großwolde, Ostfriesland, Provence of Hanover, Germany,
January 30, 1871. My father‘s name was
Heyo Frey and mother‘s name was Gertjedina Schmidt. There were stirring times
when I started life‘s journey. France was
waging war with Prussia, which was supported by other German states, thus forming
the ―North German Bund‖ (Confederacy),
and at the time of my birth the German armies were besieging Paris.
The 300,000 soldiers with which Louis Napoleon, nephew of Napoleon I and Emperor
Großwolde Ortssippenbuch
557. Frey, Hayo Harms 553, /= OSB Steenfelde 722/, Arbeiter, * 9.12.1843
Großwolde,  Geertjedina Harms Schmidt
Children:
Harm * 9.11.1868 Großwolde
Hinderk * 30.1.1871 Großwolde
Steenfelde Ortssippenbuch
722.
Frey, Heye , Landgebräucher, * 9.12.1843 Großwolde,  Dina
Schmidt
Child: Jan * 15.11.1873 Steenfelderkloster
of France, had intended to invade the
Prussian realm were in Germany, not as
victorious invaders but as prisoners of
war. My father and one of his brothers,
Uncle Harm, were engaged at that time
in government work some ten miles
from home where a canal was dug. Of
these French prisoners, father and uncle
had three hundred under their supervision as those labored in the work of excavation. As we children grew up, our
parents would often make mention of
those exciting times and Dad would
speak French words that he had become
familiar with when as foreman he had by
stern command and threatening eye
prompted the Frenchmen ―to be up and
doing.‖
After a very brief stay at Großwolde, our
parents, then having only my older
brother and me, moved to Papenburg
(12.6 km south), a notable town about
five miles away. However, father wearied of the employment, as indicated
above, because he had to be away from
home so much. Therefore our parents
bought a small estate in the suburb of the
village of Steenfelde, Ostfriesland.
Steenfelderkloster (located six km north
of Papenburg—also called ―Kloster‖)
contained only nine dwelling places.
They say the name Kloster was given to
this hamlet of nine homes because in
former times a convent (cloister) was
located in this little community.
Rysum
Steenfelder Kloster
Großwolde
Papenburg
We lived in Kloster till I was eleven and
meanwhile the family had increased to
eight – parents and six children. The
three oldest were Harm, next myself, and
then Jan (John). The three youngest,
girls, were Metje (Maggie), Geske
(Grace) and Rieka. At the writing of this
14
in 1939, only four of these six children
are yet living. Harm died in Denver,
Colorodo in 1916 and lies buried in the
cemetery of Florence Station, Stephenson County, Illinois. Rieka died in 1897
and lies buried in a cemetery in Pleasant
Valley Township, Grundy County, Iowa
(Buck Grove Cemetery).
Mother died at Florence Station, Illinois
in 1890 at the age of forty-six years and
was buried in the village cemetery; while
father who had come to the neighborhood of Aplington, Iowa, in 1894 died in
Aplington in 1920 at the age of seventyseven years. His remains are resting in
the city‘s cemetery.
There being no school in the little hamlet
where we lived till I was eleven, we children attended school at Steenfelde until
we left for America which was in the
spring of 1882 when I was eleven years
old. What amongst many recollections
of school days causes with me a bit of
elation is the interest I took in the study
of geography and I remember in that
study I received high grades. I mention
this because when we left for America I
had mapped out for myself a mental picture of the course of our journey to the
distant (or as some called it ―the Promised‖) land.
The reason why our parents decided to
leave Germany and seek a new home
across the sea was not exactly because of
poverty. No. We had enough and some
to spare; besides father was well able to
take care of his family. It was given as
main reason that because of the warcloud constantly overhanging the Fatherland, we three boys would surely some
day be with the ―military.‖ Thus to es-
cape this, plans were made to emigrate. I may cite the following bit of experience how the war scare affected us youngsters.
One morning (I was then ten years old), it was in the month of
March 1881, when on our way to school we came up to several
of the larger boys being in an excited mood and one of them
asked us if we heard the news, and then continued to say that
Alexander II, Emperor of Russia, had been killed by the Nihilists and very likely we will have war now. Why, perhaps war,
was explained as follows: ―The murdered Emperor was
friendly toward Germany, but his son, who is to be ruler now,
is siding with France and thus the situation Germany was facing seemed awful.‖ It was stated moreover that Russia was
such a big country that it would take the Emperor a whole year
to call his soldiers together. I remember how scared I was and
longed to get out!
Another influence prompting us to go to America were the letters by relatives telling of rosy conditions and prospects winking in the Far Off Land to the West. I should remark that, to
the extent this had an effect on making the move, subsequent
disappointment could result and indeed this happened.
Finally the fateful choice was made and in the spring of 1882
we left for America. That spring thousands of Germans left for
the U.S.A.; also many other families from our community.
There had not been a year before that so many had left the Fatherland. The passenger liners were packed and some old boats
were even thrust into service, and it was our bad luck to be
ferried over the stormy Atlantic on an old rickety ship. Later
we heard from relatives in Germany that the old vessel had
been reported as sunk in mid-ocean with all aboard. Happily
this wasn‘t so, but we were afterwards told on good authority
that it was her last voyage.
on Pollux far behind. Surely, it was a stormy, long and cold –
yes, icy voyage. We got trapped by fogs and icebergs under the
banks of Newfoundland. I was again reminded of the immense
icebergs we saw when in 1912 the Titanic collided with one and
sank to the bottom. But our captain was very careful and Pollux
felt her way through and escaped destruction; however, nine tiny
children died from the severity of the trip and were buried in the
―Deep‖! The voyage was an experience never to be forgotten.
Arriving at New York we boarded an immigrant train of the New
York Central. We must have crossed into Ontario, Canada, and
into Detroit, Michigan, the train passed over a pontoon bridge
and then via the Michigan Central we came to Chicago. Among
many sights on the way that we saw, the Brooklyn Suspension
Bridge is especially remembered. The bridge was at that time
completed, but not yet open to traffic.
At Chicago, the different families as they had together left the
Old Country for the Midwestern states parted, being ushered to
their respective depots and trains for their final destination. Ours
was Freeport, Illinois, where we arrived via the Chicago Milwaukee R.R. in the afternoon late in April of 1882. We were conveyed to the home of Uncle Siemen Daniels & wife Maria Preuss
(she was the half sister of father) and with whom our grandmother on dad‘s side stayed. The next day some of us children
went by buggy with our Aunt Fenna Frey who was married to
Wilhelm Van Gerpen to Florence Station and we stayed with
them until a house was found for us to move in.
I had expected that Florence Station would be quite a town because it was a stopping place for trains, thus having a depot. In
Germany I considered such buildings impressive structures. Everything here – railroad bed, yards and buildings belonging to the
railroad – was so commonplace and unimpressive. It was horri-
It was in the latter part of March that we bade farewell to those
who had come to see us leave. I remember how the tears ran
down the cheeks of one of my school chums as we had to part.
I was so elated over what the venture was promising that sadness failed to materialize. However after we had settled down
in the new land sometimes the longing to be with my boyhood
friends once more would make me weep.
Heyo Frey
and
daughters
Geske &
Rieka
Instead of sailing on a German liner from either Bremen or
Hamburg, we were induced by Dutch agents to accept fare and
passport on a Dutch ship from Amsterdam, having been told
that across Holland to Amsterdam and from there to New York
was a cheaper and shorter route. If our parents would have
been better acquainted with travel conditions existing with this
company they would gladly have paid the extra cost via the
Bremen route. We were fully three weeks on the Atlantic from
Amsterdam to New York.
They conveyed us in the ―Pollux‖, a vessel with four masts,
relying fully as much on storms in shifting across the ocean
than on the propelling power of steam. Several times in midocean that we could see in the distance the faint outline of a
fast-moving steamer bound also westward, soon to go by, disappearing gradually in the distance, to our chagrin leaving us
15
―Und darno fiev Dag free Markt‖
ble to hear the awful puffing of the one-eyed locomotives as they pulled
the trains up the grade and often failed to make it.
Having lived near the railroad in Ostfriesland, Germany, where the trains
glided smoothly by and where every crossing was closed to traffic whenever a train went through, the train‘s coming having been announced by an
electric bell at the station houses of the watchers along the line, their
houses being spaced about a mile apart, how different and unimportant all
this was in America! However, I enjoyed the liberty of roaming about at
heart‘s content; no one especially caring if one would trespass on property
of others; no officials with their stern taboos patrolling the highways; we
were indeed in the land of liberty!
Well, after we rented a home about one-half mile from the village and
settled down, I had to go to school at Florence Station. Fortunately, the
teacher was of German nationality who spoke a good German. He was a
Jew whose name was Louis Stern, about thirty-five years old, not married,
and he took an interest in me. To him I owe, that in the beginning of my
schooling through the drilling in pronunciation, I got a good start in the
expression of the English language. Mr. Stern would also translate words
into German for me and I was able to keep up with those of my age in the
classes. This was in the year of 1882 from spring to autumn.
We children soon felt at home in our new surroundings. Not so our parents. For them conditions turned out so differently – far from what they
had expected here. Father, who worked on the section (railroad) and with
farmers, met with much hardship and our mother, who had always taken a
skeptical view of making the
move to America, could not at
all get reconciled to the climate,
food or the environment. It was
much harder for them to get
used to America.
The Frey’s, Deane Frey, 1978.
Hinrich Frey wrote the story
included in this article in 1939.
Hinderk Frey was the grandfather of OGSA members, Linda
Bayliss & Dee Schwitters Johnson. Laurie Frey is their third
cousin through this same line.
Thanks to Linda & Dee for article information & pictures.
Low German Competition
The occasion was Leer‘s 503rd Gallimarkt, which goes
back to Count Edzard the Great‘s order of 1508 (see
issue Oct. 2009) that such a market be observed on St.
Gallus Day, Oct. 16. At 10 p.m. on Friday a grand fireworks display over the harbor added to the excitement,
followed on Saturday by a floating lantern boat parade.
The market ended Sunday with the premier performance of the Plattdütsch stage play: ―Golden Hochtied
mit duster Wulken‖ (Golden Wedding with dark
Clouds). More than half a million visitors sought food
and fun on this, Ostfriesland‘s largest Volksfest. They
surely must be finding it, as it is not the first time that
this benchmark was exceeded. The vendors, too, will
fold their tents very satisfied with the result and will
look forward to Gallimarkt #504.
The concurrent cattle market is one more reason for
such a crowd to gather. Lots of folks enjoy seeing so
many farm animals up close, and especially the young
ones who can‘t get enough of watching guinea pigs,
turkeys, pigeons, quail, rabbits, and ducks - all tame
Left—Hinderk Frey & Gerdina and peaceable - in the adjoining hall. Nevertheless, the
Van Loh wedding.
times are past when 6,000 to 7,000 heads of cattle
were stabled here which made this market the most
important and largest in all of Germany.
Rheiderland Zeitung, 10/15/11
The Platt (Low German) reading competition among the schools in Ostfriesland has
a 27 year history. Victors go on to a state-wide meet. Rated best among Lower
Saxony‘s Platt readers of grades 11 to 13 was Fenja Frerichs from Ardorf (she has
since graduated and begun her university studies). Second place in their category
were taken by Gertje Bruhns, Ditzum (grades 7 and 8) and Antje Foget, Jemgum
(grades 9 and 10).
Anzeiger für Harlingerland, 9/28/11
On Wednesday, October 14th, the 503rd Gallimarkt
opened with the traditional mayor‘s address, the herald‘s Plattdütsch call, ―Und darno fiev Dag free
Markt!‖ (And thereafter three days free market) and
after the triple gun salute the expectant crowd moved
from city hall to the grand tent where once again beef
roulades with potatoes and red cabbage were served while the first visitors outside milled around the vendors‘ booths for fresh-baked Bismarck‘s and other delicacies. Owners of the midway rides, too, were soon
busy selling tickets and setting their amusement equipment in motion.
16
In Ostfreesland is’t am Besten!
How Others See Us!
By the late Dr. Gerhard Canzler, preface of his book Van`t Moormerland, na`t Nörderland
Dr. Gerhard Canzler was born 14.10.1929
in Leer and recently died in Norden.
Tiny Ostfriesland and her people have long been the object
of misunderstanding and mild ridicule by those who live
in other parts of Germany.
About seven or eight years ago, while on vacation at a
rural farm place in Allgäu, not far from the Lake of Constance, we met with a first-hand example of this studied
indifference. The farm itself was comfortably rustic, with
a few head of livestock on the grounds and in the distance,
as if in a picture book, was the grandeur of the Alpine
scenery. Our hosts left nothing undone to ensure our comfort. The other guests, who came from Berlin and other
large cities of south Germany, were people in comfortable
circumstances - pampered dilettanti who enjoyed the
amenities of life and spent much of their time in naive
chatter. You would scarce believe what indignities we
poor Ostfriesens were subjected to at nightly table conversations.
For example, we would be asked, "Do you know of the
beautiful--? and the question would hang, as if there was
there was nothing beautiful in Ostfriesland. Or, "Why does
the tide return to the dike every twelve hours?" Oh, to see
if the Friesian people are still there! At that a gale of
laughter would ensue. One would ask "Why do the birds in
Ostfriesland fly upside down?" and another guest would
answer, "So they do not have to see the poverty of the
land." And so it went. Teenage visitors from the large cities laughed and snickered at our discomfiture. An affluent
Berlin guest went one better with a cheap hit: ―Do you
know why Ostfriesens do not buy green painted cars? Because they eat everything that looks green!" Another old
gentleman who had been stationed for a time in Ostfriesland with a war time Flak Battery (Ack-Ack battery)
gave his own crude version of Goethe's noble poem to the
Friesiens:
Know you the land of the Ostfriesen?
While you may, go there in season.
Here every child is weaned on beer.
And every cow maid reeks of barnyard air.
In 2009, Dr. Canzler consulted with the
editor and Helmut Fischer of Norden about
printing his book Van`t Moormerland, na
`t Nörderland, a collection of stories and
poems (originally written in Low German)
in America. His friend, the late George P.
Heikes, had translated it into English many
years ago (pre-email), but they never got it
published. They also never met in person.
Sadly, Dr. Canzler died before this book
was ready for print. Dr. Canzler was very proud of this book, about
being Ostfriesian and speaking Low German. He was the author of
many well-researched books about Ostfrieland.
I know you will enjoy his story, but please realize it was
written more than 30 years ago.
everything of importance comes to us last. You know, certainly, the
history, do you not?" As he did not understand, I told him the old
yarn about a student at the University of Göttingen who was asked
this question:
"What would you do if the world were to be destroyed tomorrow?"
The student supposedly answered: "I would immediately go to Ostfriesland, where everything that happens elsewhere happens in that
dear land 50 years later."
Our vacationers found the story amusing, but continued to gaze at us
somewhat disdainfully. [Minnachtig] It appeared they were thinking
to themselves (in High German to be sure) Oh, for Heaven's sake,
the people who come from this wretched land surely deserve our
commiseration. I noted what they were thinking and could not let the
opportunity pass to continue my disquisition.
This last brought down the house. Oh, they must have
thought of us as stupid oxen and totally uncivilized!
"Observe, dear friends, it in to this Godforsaken land, from which
we come, where it is said hares and foxes say good night to each
other, where strong, but nevertheless fresh, winds unceasingly blow,
where as yet no modern super highway has been built and where
only few great manufacturing establishments exist - that the great
cities of our land and its polluted industrial regions each year pour
out thousands and thousands of visitors who come to our Ostfriesland in search of peace and tranquility.
My wife and I sat dumfounded through these long evenings, quite unable to understand how the others had arrived at such outlandish pre-conceived notions about Ostfriesland. It was if they had stored up all the foolishness on
God's green earth and expended it on us.
They choose to come to our land where men still believe in traditional values and where men can still enjoy a joke at their own expense and where laughter comes, not from the liver but from the
heart."
Through it all I held my tongue, until one of the Berliners
asked curiously of me: "And you, Sir, can` t you contribute
some Ostfriesien peculiarities for our merriment?" I answered: "We come, of course, from Ostfriesland, and so
When I was done, the Berliners and other city vacationers were
stilled, until finally the wife of one of the big shots turned to her
husband and said. "Robert, I think we should take our vacation in
Ostfriesland next year."
17
Do you have a brick wall that you can’t get through?
Check Out “Tote Punkte”
Andrea Korbanka has been compiling data for a publication she named "Tote Punkte Ostfriesland" (Brick Walls
Ostfriesland). She has taken data from a variety of
sources and added the data under village headings. She
has recently added the OFB published by the Oldenburg
Society—Jade, Varel, Berne, Wiefelstede, Waddens,
Barßel, Rastede and other privately published Ostfriesian
Ortsfamielienbücher. More than 3,000 pages of data!
OGSA has a 2010 print copy at the MGS Library in
South St. Paul. There are over 106,000 entries and she
split the information into two databases. Recently information on thousands of Oldenburg house marks was
added.
The databases along with a wide variety of other useful
data are located on the website of Familienforschung im
Harlingerland, FamFo-Gruppe Esens (Genealogical Society Harlingerland) http://www.genealogy.net/vereine/
famfo-esens/deutsch/de-gen_dat.html This is an organization which has been very helpful for many of OGSA
members. Andrea is only one of the researchers in Ostfriesland and Germany who have worked on these types
of genealogical projects.
Excel format Tote Punkte Ostfriesland Download in zwei
Excel-Datein, gepackt als .zip 5,7 MB
Kirchspiele A bis L in Excel (parishes A to L in excel),
Kirchspiele M bis Z in Excel (parishes M to Z in excel),
PDF format Tote Punkte Ostfriesland Download in
zwei .pdf-Dateien, gepackt als .zip 13,1 MB
Kirchspiele A bis L als pdf (parishes A to L in pdf),
Kirchspiele M bis Z als pdf (parishes M to Z in pdf).
1. What is "Tote Punkte"?
Andrea searches through OSB/OFB (community lineage books) and
other reference books and lists all the people in the parish who were not
originally from that parish. They were born somewhere else, but may
have married someone from the parish or maybe died in this parish.
Under ―Weitere Information (Additional Information)‖ are references to
this person found in any other source.
For example—if your ancestors are from Kirchborgum, but a few of
them left Kirchborgum to work or marry elsewhere. But where did they
go? Perhaps you can find them in "Tote Punkte". The is an important
genealogical source and searchable, too! You‘ve searched everywhere
else—search here, too! If you are searching for name, however, you
may need to search by variations of the name, i.e. Schmidt, Smidt,
Smid.
2. How to use the list:
The first couple pages list the references to the sources used in this database.
Qu = Quelle 6 = OSB Werdum, Band 6, Upstalsboom
Qu = Quelle 7 = OSB Westerbur, Band 25, Upstalsboom
Check the first two columns:
Qu = Quelle (source) This is the (book) number of the Reference or OSB (Ortssippenbuch); the numbers are listed on the first page
of the list.
Nr. = Nummer (number) This is the family number in the
OSB. If you find a source (say Strackholt) for someone you are searching, and there is a number in the next column—that should be the family
number of the person you are researching. The listing is a summary of
available data and is not intended to be complete.
These are actual entries— can you translate the following:
33 129 Amdorf
Aper, Geerd
* 1756, + 30.8.1826, OSB Nüttermoor 80, Amdorf 28, Holtgaste 50
33 1465 Amdorf
Aper, Noentje Gerds
* 21.9.1795,
OSB Bingum 803, Amdorf 327
20 1509 Ardorf
Oltmanns, Anna
* 25.9.1758 Ardorf ?, + 11.12.1849, OSB Ardorf 81, Middels 190
oo17.06.1783 1.Kind 1784
6
3037 Ostbense/Esens
Dübbel, Hilke Margaretha * 21.5.1830 Ostbense, oo Esens 1857
7
7315 Esens
Dübbel,Ihne (Janssen)
* 10.10.1816, + 3.5.1888, oo Esens 1858
Other headlines include:
Ort = village, city
Kirchspiel = parish, church
Nachname = surname
Vorname = first name
weitere Info. = additional information
oo od. procl.= marriage year or year of proclamation (banns)
1. Kind = first child (birth year of the first child mentioned in the OSB)
Other symbols: * = birth; + = death; oo = marriage
ADDITONAL INFORMATION:
If your ancestors come from the Harlingerland area, you may find many other sources! You will also find Esens births from 16291729, Esens residents 1584, Esens Residents 1900, Civil Registers of Bense & Esens, Emigrants from Blomberg, 1637 Esens Musterrolle and a lot more! http://www.genealogy.net/vereine/famfo-esens/deutsch/de-gen_dat.html
18
Submitted by Joan Lienemann
From Eilsum to Florence Station, Illinois
The Gontjes & Buse Family Comes to America
September 1, 1869
Gesche Janssen (Buse) Gontjes 36, Berend 8 (m),
Jan 7 (m), Imkeus 4 (m), Eiltje 10 mos. (f)
This story was written in 1925 by Jan Hinderks Gontjes who arrived in New York with his mother and siblings in 1869.
the bluffs on the Iowa side of the river, so the family moved to
Savannah, Carroll County, Illinois. Emma was born in Savannah on 7 April 1872. In the spring of 1873 we left Savannah
and moved to a farm about 11 miles east in Science Grove
Township about seven miles north of Mount Carroll in a log
house built by father located between two big hills too steep to
drive a team up and near Plum River and where the whip-poorwills sang you to sleep every night. Then two years later we
moved to Morseville and lived in town one year.
Father, Jan Hinderken Berends Gontjes, came to America in
1868, worked at Florence Station, IL, and sent for his family in
1869. He was born on 22.3.1830 in Eilsum and was a Kleidermacher (sewer of clothing). He married Geeske Jansen Buse
(born 2.10.1834 Eilsum) on 25.4.1857. They had five children in
the next nine years before they left for America. One daughter
Etje Mennen died in 1861 at the age of two.
[ED. NOTE: The family moved nine times in 20 years, finally
moving to Holman Township, Osceola Co., Iowa. They lived
for at time along the Mississippi River and set lines overnight
and caught huge catfish and where they learned to swim, sometimes unwillingly. John noted that he only attended school in
the middle of the winter.]
“July 14, 1869—received of Jan Gontjes of Florence, Stephenson Co.,
102 gold dollars or $139.74 Kreuzer for the journey in steerage on a
Danish ship from Bremen for Mrs. Geeske Janssen Gontjes and three
children under ten years old and one child under one year old, and
$34 for the railway journey of one adult and for two children under
ten years old, (currently) residing in Eilsum, Emden District, Hannover.” Rigt Meier’s Wechsel & Passage Book
When we came across the Atlantic we had to have our provisions
and cooking utensils for the voyage. When we got to New York
harbor, a lot of other passengers were bachelors who didn‘t want
to be burdened with those things so they gave them to my mother,
But they didn‘t get to leave the ship for a week or more, so they
all had to come back sheepishly and ask for them back. If I was
good at drawing, I could make a picture of us coming from the
old country. Mother carrying Eiltje and holding Imkeus‘ hand.
Bernd carrying luggage and me hanging on to my mother‘s skirts.
Can‘t you see that?
We saw a woman in new York on her porch in a rocking chair,
which we weren‘t familiar with, so we walked over to the other
side of the street because we thought she must be crazy rocking
back and forth like that.
Jan B. Gontjes became a naturalized citizen on 28 December
1882. He applied for a homestead in February 1888 for 80
acres, on the W1/2 of the NW 1/4 of Section 24 in Holman
Township, Osceola Co., Iowa, for $9 and was awarded the deed
on April 14, 1897.
EDITOR NOTES:
The family Americanized their names which was common for
immigrants. Jan became John and Geeske became Jessie. Their
children: Berend Peter (Leonard), Jan Hinderks Geerds (John
Henry), Imkeus Jansen Berends (James), Eiltje/Ettje Mennen
(Hattie), Maetje (Maud) born right after they settled in Illinois,
daughters Johanna, Emma and Christina were also born in USA
and kept their given names.
Note the naming patterns—Imkeus is named after grandmother
Imke Janssen Berends; Berend is named after grandfather Berend Peters Gontjes; Ettje is named after grandmother Ettje Mennen Reemts; Jan Hinderks is named after grandfather Jan Geerds
Buse; Maetje is most likely named after mother‘s sister Martje.
We landed at Freeport in October 1869 and were taken to Florence Station to the home of Ettje Berends (known as Hattie)
Gontjes Schoonhoven (my father‘s sister) and it was snowing
heavily. The next morning the snow was a foot deep and the potatoes were frozen in the barn. Father rented a house and we
lived in Florence Station until 1871. Maetje (later Maud) was
born there in 1870.
Jan Hinderks Gontjes sister, Ettje Berends Gontjes, married
Minne Reemts Schoonhoven on 22 March 1868. Church records
in Eilsum indicated that the bridal pair emigrated to America.
They arrived in New York on the ship ―Hermann‖ on 22 April
1868 and went to Florence Station, Illinois. It is possible that
Jan emigrated at the same time. I could not find the ship record
for Jan Gontjes, its possible his name was misspelled in records.
Father got work on the Milwaukee Railroad building roads along
19
Current News
NEWS FROM OSTFRIESLAND
General Anzeiger, 8/26/11
Eemshaven/Emden - The Netherlands‘ constitutional court has rescinded the permit for the
coal fired power plant at Eemshaven, under
construction since 2009, citing insufficient impact studies relating to the tidal flats and the
East Friesian Islands. It also ruled against the
deepening of the outer Ems, which will be necessary for delivery of coal by sea. However, a
speaker for the court said that the challenged
studies could be revisited and upgraded.
Ostfriesen-Zeitung, 8/26/11
Leer - The last weekend of August will see
Leer‘s 72nd Fall Regatta - an occasion for
which hundreds of water sports enthusiasts
from all over Germany flock to this City on the
Leda. Indeed, Leer‘s Ruder Verein (Rowing
Society) has received 1,155 applications from
hopeful participants despite a simultaneous
major rowing event scheduled in Hamburg. One
of the high points of the 2-day competition will
be a night race for which 9 eights have already
signed up. This contest, scheduled to start under
floodlights at 10 p.m., will be followed by a
dragon-boat race, a first in Leer‘s harbor. The
event‘s proximity to downtown‘s life and lights
gives this event a special atmosphere and makes
it such a popular occasion for participants and
spectators alike.
Emder Zeitung, 8/31/11
Eemshaven - Opponents of power from coal
may have celebrated too soon, as the (above
mentioned) decision by the Netherlands‘ constitutional court did not result in a construction
stop in Eemhaven. The provinces of Groningen
and Friesland, as competent authorities, decided
not to order the contractors to lay down the
trowel while the owner of the plant, RWE of
Essen, Germany, is preparing a revised submittal to cover items ruled objectionable in The
Hague. Once on line, this plant will be the
Netherlands‘ largest single contributor to its
power grid. It will cost 2.9 billion euros to
build.
Emden - A major excavating and paving contract is underway on the Rathaus (east) side of
the downtown Delft harbor. The goal is to render the area, which includes a major promenade, more easily negotiable for the handicapped and accessible from nearby parking
places. 12,000 sq. ft. of Wittmund paving bricks
have been ordered, also old-Emden type street
lights and benches, all to create a more attractive gathering place for urbanites and visitors.
Carolinensiel - Wittmund, whose municipal
wards reach up to the North Sea and include the
formerly independent harbor town of Carolinensiel, is facing a major expense arising from the
Harle River as it scours the town‘s harbor
shoreline badly enough to cause sheet piling to
sink and the alignment of a federal highway
bridge to become affected. It will cost several
hundred thousand euros to refill and protect the
large, flushed-out volume below the waterline,
an item for which Wittmund is hoping to receive financial assistance from state and federal
sources. To get a better idea of the damage done
so far, divers will do a thorough inspection. The
reasons for the erosion are not yet fully understood.
Ardorf - The Kreis Wittmund has approved
installation of a 15 acre solar park at the site of
a former munitions depot in Ardorf/Collrunge.
Jeversches Wochenblatt, 9/2/11
Wilhelmshaven/Oldenburg - Nine young marine scientists from China, France, Croatia,
Mexico, and Germany took part in the 2nd international summer school conducted by the
Terramare Institute for Ocean Chemistry and
Biology of the University of Oldenburg at Wilhelmshaven. The biogeochemistry of coastal
systems, with emphasis on the mud flats sheltered by the East Friesian Islands, where the
ecological processes need to be more thoroughly researched and better understood before
the background of environmental change, was
this summer‘s major topic of study. The taking
of samples, lab analyses, data evaluation, as
well as presentations and seminars allowed the
scientists to analyze the prevailing conditions
and broaden insight into nature‘s way across the
greater coastal region.
Spiekeroog - In the midst of the island‘s salt
marsh meadows a theater group from the
Bremerhaven area put on the stage play ―The
Cudgel War‖, a slice of local history which
takes the islanders back to the time when the
French held sway in Ostfriesland and on its
islands. The islanders‘ handy cudgels could not
be expected to prevail over Napoleon‘s weapons of war, but their innate cleverness allowed
them to thumb their noses at the occupiers and
profit from the Continental Blockade by engaging in wholesale smuggling. The marshy
meadow had been flooded until a few days ago,
and there was fear that the play would have to
be cancelled, but it dried out sufficiently in
time, and a wonderful sunset favored the audience with a fantastic backdrop, one more reason
20
for a lengthy applause.
Stickhausen/Potshausen - The highway speed
limit between Stickhausen and Potshausen
will not be notched down from 100 km/h per
a decision by Kreis Leer‘s traffic department.
It weighed a request by the mayor of the
Samtgemeinde Jümme which reflects the
concern of the community about the shared
use of this road by cars and bicycles. The
traffic office quotes data collected there during a recent lane restriction and speed reduction to 50 km/h which shows that about 80%
of the drivers exceeded the temporary speed
limit. Experience proves that a reduction to
70 km/h will receive equally scant acceptance by drivers and could lead to a deceptive
feeling of safety by bikers which would put
them at a heightened risk. The Kreis announced that it would put more emphasis on
enforcement of the speed limit as it now
stands.
Emden - The price for natural gas in Emden
will go up by 6.8% on November 1, which
means a monthly 6.75 euro coast increase for
the average household with an annual energy
consumption of 20,000 kWh. The last price
increase came in December of last year and
amounted to an average rise of five euros.
The just announced increase will remain
fixed through June of next year.
Leer - To own a fleet of ships to sail the
seven seas is not altogether what it is cracked
up to be. What with piracy, the high cost of
operating under the German flag, the financial crisis, problems with financing, and an
excessive world-wide tonnage supply, the
fleet owners on the Ems have their worries,
which in their estimation are not being sufficiently addressed by the Association of German Fleet Owners, headquartered in Hamburg. Twelve of them, therefore, have joined
together and founded the Fleet Owners Society Ems-Dollart with its seat in Leer as one
measure of adding weight to their expression
of concern in the field of commerce and politics. They hope to soon unite with the newly
formed Association of Haaren Shippers of
Haaren, Emsland, and together some day to
represent all shippers on the Ems. They have
already succeeded in moving the regularly
scheduled meetings of the German Association from Hamburg to closer-by Bremen.
Jever - With a marginal victory of 39,790 vs. 39,675 points for Jever‘s Skat
(pron. skaht) players over a team from Zerbst (near Magdeburg, former East
Germany) ended the 20th competitive meet which began when the two became
partner cities. Since then Jever has won 13 matches of this popular card game,
vs. Zerbst‘s 7.
Ostfriesische Nachrichten, 9/18/11
Aurich - Yesterday was the official opening of the Windpark Georgsfeld, near
Aurich, with many politicians and members of the administration of both Kreis
and Stadt Aurich present. Speakers outdid each other with hymns of praise about
the ―world‘s most beautiful wind wheels‖ and the ―new symbol of Aurich‖,
naming Enercon‘s E-126 wind turbines ―royal class installations‖. The ―regular‖
six MW output of this design has been increased through improved generator
cooling to a record 7.5 MW. On a windy day one of these generators, with a hub
height of about 450 feet and a rotor diameter of more then 400 feet, can supply
4,500 four-person households with electricity. Its total weight, including the
foundation, is 6,000 metric tons.
Etzel - The 40th anniversary of the local natural gas storage caverns was commemorated last Friday with addresses by staff members and local politicians
who stressed their importance for the economic strengthening of the Kreis Wittmund, explained the change from a government owned enterprise to one registered on the stock market, and pointed to the creation of secure jobs and income
for families in Friedeburg. Not forgotten were critiques coming from a local
citizens initiative by recognizing that people want safety from explosions and
settlement of their property. The necessity of holding additional talks to assuage
those fears was affirmed. It is already becoming clear that caverns will also be
used to store energy in other forms, like excess electricity from photovoltaic
installations, to a limited extent possible with batteries, and underground pump
storage installations, as already planned for idle mines.
Papenburg/Leer - For three days the coastal trading vessel ―Martha‖ was stuck
in Papenburg‘s harbor with an inoperative engine. The experienced captain
knew that mud churned up by the ships‘ propeller had gotten into the engine‘s
cooling water, plugged up the pump, and burned out the pump‘s motor, that this
had already happened to other ships, and that the responsibility should be placed
at the feet of Papenburg‘s civic leaders. A repairman confirmed the captain‘s
diagnosis, but the harbormaster denied for the record that this had ever happened
before in his harbor. Weighing in on this disagreement was the manager of corporate branch establishment in Leer, who claimed that this happened in Leer‘s
harbor about 50 times a year, that it caused unhappiness with the captains, and
that it took a lot of persuading to get ships to come into Leer‘s harbor at all. See
article, ―The Ems River in Trouble?‖ April 2009 issue)
Ostfriesische Nachrichten, 10/2/11
Aurich - Wind turbine manufacturer Enercon plans to set up a manufacturing
branch in Canada near Niagara Falls which will be geared to producing parts for
the wind and solar power industry, such as converters and elements of electronic
controls.
Rheiderland Zeitung, 10/11/11
Norddeich - Yesterday a controlled explosion in the harbor destroyed a WWII
mine which could not be defused. It was likely a British tethered mine taken
there in a fishing vessel‘s dragnet. Hours before the explosion citizens living
within a kilometer of the site were evacuated, but allowed to return home within
minutes thereafter. The afternoon ferry to Norderney was canceled.
21
Celebrations
Oldersum - The five acre meadow covered with more than 100
apple trees of 80 varieties, located behind Oldersum‘s museum
―Alte Seilerei‖ (Old Ropery), is an appropriate venue for
Moormerland‘s seventh Apple Fest to take place on Sunday,
Sept. 18. Organizers are the Tourism Society Moormerland,
the local chapter of the German Nature Conservation Society,
and the Historical Society Oldersum. Anything worth knowing
about raising and preparing this popular fruit, by print or spoken advice, can be learned here, and any product anybody
might wish to subject to a taste test will be available. Apple
cobbler, apple pie, apple dumplings, apple fritters, apple sauce,
baked apples, canned apples - you name it, they‘ll have it. A
beekeeper and his honey will, of course, be present as well,
and for entertainment games for young and old are scheduled.
To underscore the event‘s Volksfest character, the harmonies
of Oldersum‘s Shanty Choir and Male Choir will present a
musical background and surely entice many visitors to linger.
Aurich - This city‘s covered market will present itself during
the coming Christmas magic as the possibly worldwide largest
gingerbread house. Toward that end, its entire outside - front,
back, and sides - will be dressed up with likenesses of gingerbread and illuminated. Inside, 6,500 sq. ft. of surface will be
illustrated with pictures of striking buildings in Aurich and
scenes from fairy tales and fables. Retailers‘ assortments will
be displayed in amusing fashion and abundantly garnished
with a variety of tempting sweets. All of these preparations are
meant to see to it that ―Aurich‘s Weihnachtszauber‖ will remain Nummer Eins (#1) in the region. Aurichers are already
certain that their Gingerbread House will have no competition
nationwide. Ostfriesische Nachrichten, 9/9/11
Aurich - Ostfriesland‘s share of the state‘s budget for the promotion of regional cultural institutions presently amounts to
154,000 euros, of which about 140,000 euros are earmarked
for performances such as the ―Musical Summer‖, a 27 year
tradition of 50 mostly chamber music concerts performed in
historically significant churches, castles, or converted
―Gulfhof‖ farm buildings, as well as in parks throughout northwestern Germany and the northern Netherlands. The 27th Musical Summer ended on August 14 with a concert in Emden‘s
Johannes a Lasco Library. Emder Zeitung, 8/25/11
Emden - The state of Lower Saxony‘s 7th Class Brass Day
will take place in Emden on June 23, 2012. On that day about
3,000 student brass wind players from across Germany will
dominate not only the tonal picture but, with their expected
5,000 parents and grandparents, also the visual element of the
City on the Ems. This ―day of the brass wind player‖ is being
organized in cooperation with the state‘s Music Academy and
Culture Ministry. Students of Emden‘s Treckfahrtstief high
school will not only participate as musicians, but also as scouts
to guide the visiting students to their 10 stages distributed
throughout the city. The Stadtgarten will serve as the setting
for the combined opening and closing concerts. There, at the
event‘s conclusion, a ―sea of students‖ will play a special arrangement of the ―North Sea Lied‖. Traffic will have to be
rerouted for the event so as to avoid excessive commingling of
the honking of ill-tempered klaxons with the timbre coaxed
from well-tempered and polished brass.
Ray Kleinow
RAY’S TECH TALK
Interested in technology, but don‘t know where to start? I‘ll try to make it easier for you by explaining what is
out there and how to use it. Most of these tips will save you lots of time—and help you, too!
Online New York City Marriage Indexes
A good online vital record index on GermanGen at http://
germangenalogygroup.com may be very helpful by providing
the name, marriage date, borough of marriage and the marriage
certificate number. Always remember there can be errors in
indexes. In many cases you can click a link to locating the original record and/or to see the corresponding spouse. You may
find entries or references to birth, marriage, death, and naturalization records.
Scroogle – Add Privacy to Your Google Search
So what is ―Scroogle‖? The website calls Scroogle a scraper
(scrapper?). The pertinent search results are ―scraped‖ from
Google‘s response to the search query. Only that information,
no cookies or additional requests, get back to the client‘s web
browser. This means Scroogle does not: pass cookies on; keep
search-term records; or retain access logs for more than 48
hours. See http://www.scroogle.org/ for more details.
Entering Data on Tiny Smartphones
Our cell phones, smartphones, and other handheld computers
are getting smaller all the time. But how can we enter data with
those tiny keyboards? A possible solution is shown at http://
goo.gl/p141G
Getting Even More Out of Google?
More info about Google Reader and Alerts! See the video tutorial on the Google Reader home page and try out some of the
bundled websites. For genealogists, this may be another way to
navigate that sea of information and zero in on what you want.
See http://goo.gl/5DYgI.
Original Birth Certificates Available to Illinois Adoptees
Adopted or surrendered people born on or after Jan. 1, 1946
who are at least 21 can request a non-certified copy of their
original Illinois birth certificate. This certificate typically includes the birth parents‘ names, ages and places of birth. Check
the full article at; http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=15264
The 1940 Census to be Hosted on Archives.com
On April 2, 2012, Archives.com will make available the 1940
Census images. FamilySearch.org is a ―partner‖ to Archives.com so I believe the images will be available there as
well.
New 1940 Census Searching Tools
I have a high respect for Steve Morse and Joel Weintraub. They
have announced a new tool to help with searching the 1940
Census when it is released. The census will not be name indexed, so we will have to search by location. This searching
involves knowing the ED (enumeration district) in which the address is located. The only website that currently has location tools
for the 1940 census is the Steve Morse One Step site (http://
stevemorse.org). There are several such tools there so we need
help to figure out which tool to use when. A tutorial there will
help. See (http://stevemorse.org/census/intro.html) and also an
extensive FAQ at (http://stevemorse.org/census/faq.htm). They
announced another educational utility to help people learn about
the different 1940 location search tools on the One Step site, and
information about the 1940 census itself. It is in the form of a
quiz, and should help many genealogists quickly learn how to
search an un-indexed census by location. The new utility is at:
http://stevemorse.org/census/quiz.php and is called ―How to Access the 1940 Census in One Step. It is informative and entertaining.
Ancestry.com Library Edition at FHCs
Providing Ancestry.com Library Edition access in family history
centers is a test with users at times being locked out due to a limit
placed on the number of simultaneous users allowed. The FHC
portal is also giving FHCs free access to several premium websites: the 19th Century British Library Newspaper Digital Archive; Alexander Street Press – The American Civil War; Find
My Past; Footnote.com; The Genealogist; Godfrey Memorial
Library; Heritage Quest Online; Historical Map Works Library
Edition; Paper Trail (Oregon-California Trails Association); and
World Vital Records
Mozy Drops Unlimited Online Backup Plans
Customers of the MozyHome service has raised its monthly
charge for the base account to $5.99 from $4.99, and capped it at
50GB. Another plan costs $9.99 a month raises the limit to
125GB for up to three computers. See http://mozy.com. Remember, there are several online backup services available.
Don’t Waste Your Money!
A recent post on Megan Smolenyak‘s Roots world blog is worth
reading before you send money to the Social Security Administration. A recent change in policy on fulfilling requests for relatives' for Social Security applications, (the SS-5 forms), deletes
the info you want. See: http://goo.gl/iFlP4 .
Where's My PC!? (Windows)
Where is My PC!? is a simple utility designed to help locate lost
or stolen computers. It works by registering the computers IP
address in a database at user defined intervals. The user can then
access the database remotely via the portal. The user can then
trace that IP address using any number of free web services and
determine the computers approximate location. Local authorities
will be able to use that IP address to determine the EXACT loca22
tion of your PC, and hopefully recover it. This program automatically runs in the background when the computer starts up.
You can access the user interface or close the application by
clicking the icon in the system tray. The interval between IP
updates can be set using the in-program settings menu. http://
goo.gl/qfjbJ
New Records at FamilySearch.org
I keep listing this site each newsletter because it is so powerful!
Your chances of finding someone or an event here are very high
and more additions are added DAILY! Also, if you visit a FHC,
politely ask if an LDS member would assist in a search as they
can access more that isn‘t released to the public as yet.
Not on Ancestry.com?
Frequently I‘m told ―I can‘t find anything for their family‖ on
Ancestry.com. I know they do not have all the data in the world,
so I know that could be true. But, my first reaction is usually to
question how did they search? Many times you will not find
what you are looking for with a general ―Search‖. There are
over 30,000 databases, so likely your query entered in the search
engine did not find what you are looking for. Maybe you need
to search only those databases likely to have your info. Try using the Ancestry Card Catalog at http://goo.gl/exMny and selecting the collection that is relevant. Then search using keywords
like names and/or localities. Also, if you have done that before,
have you checked the recently added collections at http://www.
ancestry.com/cs/reccol. Don‘t forget to try different combinations and order of the keywords.
Genealogy for Geeks?
A very interesting article in Wired Magazine at; http://
goo.gl/6HxAW! It appears that Geeks are really getting into the
techy side of genealogy! Wonderful! The more we can bring
into our fantastic world, the better, I say! Some will come up
with good applications to help us all do better research.
Researching Lower Canada Land Petitions?
A new version of the Lower Canada Land Petitions (1626 –
1865) are now available online at:www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/
databases/lower-canada/index-e.html. More information is available via emails to [email protected]
Need to Clean Out Your Files?
A program that permanently deletes and removes any file from
your HDD, etc. Once a file has been shredded, no recovery software can retrieve or restore those files. You can shred a single
file or you can wipe the entire hard drive using shredders. There
are several such programs. See SuperShredder at http://
goo.gl/5hyLo ; FileShredder at http://fileshredder.org , and
DBAN at http://www.dban.org/download are well-known
shredders. Always remember to backup your files before using a
shredder in case of mistakes. Shredding can take time – about
one hour per GB.
Illinois Probate Records 1819-1970
Browsable Imaged Records. Images of will books, administrations, journals, inventories, guardian‘s records, and order books
from various counties in Illinois. The content and time period
will vary by county. Illinois created probate courts in 1819. This
is a collection of probate records, which includes will, indexes,
and other documents created to track the distribution of estates of
deceased individuals who lived in Illinois. Probates were generally recorded in the county of residence. This collection covers
probate records created by Illinois courts, 1819-1970, but the
content and time period of the records vary by county. A few
additional county court records are also present. 596,642 images
as of 20 October, 2011. See http://goo.gl/FiuKl
Iowa County Births 1880-1935
Index to the birth records created by the counties of Iowa. When
completed it will contain records for all of the 99 counties in the
state. This collection is 18% complete. Additional records will be
added as they are completed. 442,657 records as of 12 October
2011 – From the Iowa County Clerks. Digital images of originals
housed at various county courthouses in the State of Iowa. Birth
records. FHL microfilm, 338 reels. See http://goo.gl/FTD0S
More on Digital Preservation
Stanford University Libraries has some ideas I especially like and
think it may be the best overall way to go. It is called LOCKSS or
Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe. Read more about it at; http://
lockss.stanford.edu/lockss/
Free ebooks?
Possibly from a lending library near you! On any ebook device
you may own? Sounds too good to be true? How do you find a
participating library? Most lending libraries that offer ebooks use
a service from OverDrive. This is a digital distribution and publishing company partnering with thousands of libraries, schools,
etc. This service works with Kindle devices and systems that can
run Kindle apps. This would be Macintosh systems, Windows
computers and Phones, iOS devices, and Android devices. Check
a library near you for Overdrive program participation. Also
check http://search.overdrive.com/, click on Library Search, and
type in your ZIP or postal code.
Genealogy Start-up Youwho
Youwho is an Internet startup that is very quietly setting up. They
have raised $5 million in funding and have some knowledgeable
people helping. The new company's web site is at http://
www.youwho.com/ but provides very little information about
them. It does say: "Youwho is a new kind of family history resource…. to help you find, enjoy and share your family history.
FamilySearch Online Classes
There are 140 classes available. Check out the area for German
research at http://goo.gl/K2Svf
3,000 Victims of 9/11 Not on SSDI?
Many questions on what is and is not on the Social Security
Death Index are discussed in this article at http://goo.gl/Cbw1G.
Cost of USB Flash and Hard Disk Drives
USB flash drives prices keep dropping - $35 for 64GB? See
http://www.cheapflashdrivessales.com/. But due to floods in the
far east areas, HDDs are doubling and some are tripling in price.
And many stores are limiting sales! This will likely continue into
mid 2012 or later. Check around for the best prices.
23
Life in the Country—
Today!
Harlingerland - The summer of 2011 was marked by
nearly daily rainfall, which spoiled the vacation for
many tourists and caused great financial loss to area‘s
farmers. A third of the grain is still standing at a time
when harvesting is normally done, and whatever was
brought in produced a 10 to 20 percent below average
yield due to thriving weeds. Potato farmers, in particular, are badly hit, as the tubers are in danger of rotting in
the ground. A hay harvest has been nearly impossible,
and the third grass cutting dragged on for a month.
Many dairy farmers judged the hoof damage to their
soggy pastures as too severe and stabled their cattle
early. Pig farmers are no better off, with the price for
piglets and slaughter hogs in the basement. Pig farmers
also look worriedly toward Hanover where the state
government is contemplating a tightening of animal
welfare regulations. Anzeiger für Harlingerland,
9/2/11
Aurich - Withered and brown looking patches in the
corn fields are not the result of a lack of rain - a fungus
is spreading through Ostfriesland‘s increasingly popular
grain and could affect nearly 10% of the total yield.
Farmers are already picking those patches a week ahead
of the begin of the regular harvest in order to save what
may be saved. Experts are citing the monocultural aspects which this crop plant has assumed in many areas
as one reason for the spread of the disease, the cause of
which, a fungus, or possibly several fungi, is difficult to
eradicate. Ostfriesische Nachrichten, 9/29/11
Aurich/Plaggenburg - Work is proceeding to turn 220
acres of original bogland, drained around 1800 and
planted with conifers, back into its former state, in part
as compensation for a natural area lost to an industrial
zone under development in nearby Sandhorst. Most of
the conifers have already been cut and replaced with
50,000 oaks, alders, beeches, willows and other deciduous trees. Additional biological diversity will be promoted by a mosaic of forest mires, ponds, and sedge
swamps. Already the number of snipes has increased
and the area is alive with the buzz of dragonflies.
Bagband - East Friesians will soon find out if their cows
have an appreciation for aesthetics by observing their
attitude toward 24 very artfully carved rubbing posts to
be placed throughout Ostfriesland on pastures near hike
and bike paths and places along the highway where
people gather, such as bus stops. The first five posts
were placed at the end of August in Rhauderfehn, and
another just went up in Bagband. After all 24 posts have
been placed, a catalogue will be issued. Not to be forgotten, of course, is the uplifting effect this new pasture
art will have on those bipeds who, from a bovine perspective, are milling about an unfamiliar world beyond
their barbed wire security fence. Ostfriesen-Zeitung,
9/24/11 Submitted by Rudy Wiemann
Submitted by Rudy Wiemann
Moin M’nanner! Hello Everyone!
To be an Ostfriesian American is a
Unique and Curious Thing.
Except for a few thousand such people in this country, including our 518 OGSA members, plus those who live in
Ostfriesland, few people know where Ostfriesland is, much less how to pronounce it (rhymes with Coast-freeze-lond).
There is no longer a political entity called Ostfriesland. This area of presentday Germany can be found on the northwest corner of the German map. It is a
part of the German state of Lower Saxony. Find the North Sea and look for
the cities of Emden as well as Wilhelmshaven and you will find the ―country‖
of Ostfriesland between them, along the North Sea Coast.
It‘s a land of lots of villages, a few cities, and many churches, canals, boats,
farms and dairy land and wonderful, friendly people. There are major industries and businesses, too, such as Volkswagen, and the seaport of Emden and
the Enercon, the maker of modern windmills in Aurich. And, many OGSA
members have relatives living there.
Why is all this important to know? Because it‘s our heritage as Ostfriesian
Americans. It is a part of our make-up. The area was once a proto-democratic
territory which gathered once a year to elect its leaders and mete out justice.
Until the 16th century, Ostfriesland had no nobility. There were no lords with
serfs as in other parts of Germany and Europe. Even in the 1740s, Frederick
the Great‘s chancellor described the area to him as ―dominated by powerful
farmers.‖ The chieftains who dominated Ostfriesian history before the 16 th
century were landowners (farmers) who were granted governing powers by
their peers.
The Ostfriesians always jealously guarded their freedoms and their right to
choose their leaders. They were exempt from military service until the Prussian days, and there are numerous stories of battles about choosing/calling their
own pastors and teachers.
As an aside, a pastor once told me about his service in an Ostfriesian congregation. He said. ―. . . the best way to get anything done was to secure the approval of the older men (the fathers) in the congregation. No young man would
make a decision without first checking with dad! As long as dad lives, he
guided the decision–making.‖
And the women! Until the 19th century they retained their maiden name taking
their husband‘s name only after he died when they would be called widow soand-so. Uniquely, in Ostfriesland women could also own property. A daughter could inherit her family farm, and when she married, her husband often
took her family name as did their children.
So, it is a unique and curious thing to be Ostfriesian Americans and later this
year (August, 2012) we‘ll be able to celebrate that at the Ostfriesen Family
Reunion, the OGSA Conference in Rockford, Illinois.
We’ll see you there!
Gene Janssen, OGSA President
24
An Ostfriesian Amt
From Rev. J. F. Bertram, ―Geographic Description of the Principality Ostfriesland‖, revised
1785, Uplengen Blattjes and Internet Sources Excerpted and Translated by Rudy Wiemann
Amt Stickhausen, Part II
buckwheat which rose from the ashes of controlled wildfires.
The bog surface to be burned would be drained the year before
and crisscrossed with trenches. During the winter, sods were
broken up, and in the spring teams of oxen would pull harrows
across the field.
In May the burning began. For several days the dried bog
burned, and all of Ostfriesland was shrouded in billowing
smoke. When the burning was done, the buckwheat seed was
sown, and in 12 weeks the harvest could begin. For a time, the
yield could be satisfactory, and there were Buckweizenschubbers (buckwheat pancakes) and buckwheat meal to eat.
As livestock feed, the grain was popular as well. After no more
than a dozen years, however, the harvest would taper off. The
nutrients which the bog‘s ashes had yielded were used up, and
hard times set in. The small amount of natural fertilizer which
the settlers‘ few animals produced was used to somewhat to
enrich the sandy soil where the peat overburden had been removed and potatoes were planted. But is was the scarcity of
income which was particularly hard for the settlers to endure.
1744 the Duchy Ostfriesland became a Prussian province
which, following the Reclamation Edict of 1765, changed ownership of its sheer endless moors. What used to be no man‘s land,
henceforth belonged to the government, and property could only
be acquired through registered purchase of land that had been
platted. Already occupied, though unregistered tracts had to be
returned to the moor administration, and heretofore nonexistent
property taxes were levied. Predating the Reclamation Edict,
colonization was often done by locally capitalized ―Fehn Companies‖, which first built fehn canals, and then brought in the settlers who would cut and dry the peat which would be transported
via the new waterways to fuel-starved cities like Emden and Norden.
This is how Großefehn and Berumerfehn, respectively, got stated.
Around Uplengen, however, many bog settlements lacked a canal, were not true fehns, even though their name might sometimes
indicate such. Here platted tracts of bog land were let to settlers
in hereditary leasehold (a system which was eventually outlawed
in line with the peasant liberation movement spreading across
Europe). Survival in the wasteland depended on the harvest of
BURNING THE MOORS
The roads often were so bad that their cash crop, peat, could
not be transported. Unlike their cousins in the fehn colonies,
who would tend to become sailors on the inland waterways or
the open sea, these settlers would seek employment as day laborers on established Geest farms, mainly in the Ammerland
region of Oldenburg, or they would try their luck as beekeepers
or as makers of brooms from the brush growing on the heath.
Many just gave up and looked for a more promising future in
America. This hard life, marked by a lot of work for little reward, lasted until chemical fertilizers and machinery became
available, though in the end, the labor of generations of settlers
enduring such want, well remembered to this day, resulted in
80 neat and prosperous rural towns across Ostfriesland‘s former moorlands. Many of them are not found in older records,
such as Bertram‘s book.
Meinersfehn, a peat bog colony north of Großsander along the
Hollener Ehe Creek, started in 1773. Its population in 1821
stood at 42; in 1885 at 81; in 1946 at 219 of which 66 were
displaced persons. By 1970 it had grown to 500. In that year
the community boundaries were moved out to increase its territory from 1,000 acres to more than 5,000. A large amount of
peat was removed on an industrial basis between 1936 and
1964 to feed the power plant in Wiesmoor. This was halted
altogether in 1999 and the area returned to bog status, with
paths laid out to attract nature lovers. Farther north, in the extensive peat bog Stapeler Moor, reclamation for settling didn‘t
begin until after WWI. In 1919 the area was platted, a interceptor canal and drainage ditches were dug, the main roads were
made passable by bringing in sand. Temporary narrow-gauge
tracks were laid, and 160 prisoners were brought in to speed up
2525
the process.
Two steam locomotives trundled tilting
plows back and forth
to bust the moor and
heath sod, and in the
spring of 1935 the first
tracts of land could be
sold to settlers - and
thus the colony
STAPEL SCHOOL & BELL TOWER
Stapelermoor, located
in the Stapeler Moor, was born. Its population in 1970 was 310.
Since about 2000, no more peat has been removed. The protected
lake ―Lengener Meer‖, one of the few remaining raised moor lakes
in Germany, 55 acres in area and 2.5 ft. deep, is part of a nature
preserve which once again grows healthy sphagnum. Concerted
efforts are underway to restore the remaining moor over time to its
natural biosphere, which so far has resulted in the 3,500 acre FFHZone (Fauna, Flora, Habitat) Lengener Meer, Stapeler Moor,
Baasenmeer Moor (Oldenburg).
Stapel is found first mentioned in an Amt Stickhausen file of 1792,
now in the State‘s Archive in Aurich, where it is defined as the
―Colony Stapel between Bühren, Spols, and Großsander‖. In that
year the royal surveyor, Weninger, platted 900 acres of bog land of
which he retained 90 acres for himself. That land is still in the family. The following observation is entered in the school‘s chronicle
of 1888, ―It is commonly assumed that Stapel is the oldest Kolonie
in Uplengen.‖ A certain Focke Focken is said to have been its first
settler. For Focke, and others that followed him into the bog, years
of hardship followed. Nevertheless, they built the first school in
1840, for which the state helped out with 400 talers. During the last
40 years, 120 new houses have been built, and more building lots
are available. In 2003 Stapel‘s population stood at 513. This former
typical moor colony did by dint of hard work and perseverance
change into a farming town. That character, however, did not endure either. Today, one can count the operating farms on one hand.
The locals generally seek work in Remels and Ammerland and
build their houses in Stapel, which still has a grade school, recently
accentuated with a new bell tower. It also still has a village tavern,
though the store and bakery are closed.
Neufirrel (below) is a peat bog colony less than two miles east of
Firrel. About both, Friedrich Ahrends writes in his book, Description of the Duchy Ostfriesland and Harlingerland, published in
1823, ―The colony Firrel, which is one of the largest heath colonies,
founded in 1764, has 384 inhabitants. Much peat is cut there and
taken by wagon to Leer ... even three brandy distilleries are there.
Further to the west lies Bietzerfehn, 40 inhabitants, a colony
founded in the previous year.‖ Bietzerfehn is the name first given to
Neufirrel, after a nearby creek, so the year of the founding of
Neufirrel can be fixed at 1822. The area was government land
which had been rented by
Großoldendorf as common
pastureland. After platting,
it attracted, as usual, farm
hands and sons of farmers
not in line to inherit the
26
family farm. It had 23 inhabitants in 1823, and 236 in 1871.
It‘s present population is about 425. As in all colonies of this
kind, the beginning was poor and many settlers gave up and
emigrated to America. But already in 1830 a school was organized for its 50 children, and in 1866 a new school house
with bell tower was built. It was used until 1969 when the
children were enrolled in Remels and Stapel. In the 1880s
sand roads were built to connect it with Neudorf, Remels, and
Filsum, but it took until the 1950s for them to receive a bituminous surface. Neufirrel was politically affiliated with
Großoldendorf whose mayor had a deputy from Neufirrel.
Neudorf is a planned settlement along the Nordgeorgsfehnkanal, projecting in linear alignment into platted bogland.
Colonization began in 1823 when Ostfriesland was Hanoverian. Initially 30 tracts, from 7 to 10 acres in size, were let in
hereditary leasehold. The settlers were required to install and
maintain their own roads and build their houses along it in a
straight line. They also had to surround their land with a ditch,
or with a dam on which they had to plant trees, preferably,
alders. An additional lot was set aside for a satellite school. It
was a hard beginning for the settlers on the Riesbarg (Platt,
meaning Rice Mountain), as this sandy, birch studded rise in
the moor was called. Like all colonists, they lived in shacks
made of sod and clay and added to their arable land by cutting
away at the peat overburden. Year-round communication with
surrounding settlements hardly existed for many years.
Bog holes and impassable mud paths would not allow it, a
situation which made house calls by country doctors and milk
delivery to the dairy - often even getting out on one‘s own
land - all but impossible. This lasted until a paved road could
be built to Ockenhausen, with spade work provided by Neudorfer‘s tax payers who did not
NEUDORF MOOR
have the money
to pay the required third of
the cost of building it. In subsequent years, additional roads
and service lanes
were paved, and
at the nearby
highway crossing
a busy traffic hub
came into being. Its grade school was closed in 1971, and the
children were bussed to Stapel. When the dredging and pressing of peat for the Wiesmoor power plant was discontinued in
1965, the Neudorf Moor was not yet fully depleted. It became
a designated nature preserve in 1983. Neudorf‘s population in
1848 stood at 128 in 25 households. By 1867 it had grown to
188 in 42 households, when the average household owned,
viewed statistically, 1.5 heads of cattle and 1.2 sheep. The
population figure in 1970 stood at 279.
Oltmannsfehn, a moor colony begun in 1813, was named
after its first setter, Oltmann Leenderts. The area, including
Ockenhausen, used to be known as ―behind Spols and
Poghausen‖. Its settlers‘ address was Poghausen. From here a
lonely three-hour footpath led across the raised moor to Horsten (Amt Friedeburg, now Kreis Wittmund). The only human
habitation on it was the so-called Adamshütte (hütte = hut), a
little tavern for peat bog laborers and beekeepers. In 1832 a
colonist named Ocke Janssen settled in the wilderness about a
mile up the Poghauser Ehe creek from Poghausen in a place
which came to be called Ockenhausen, a colony of Oltmannsfehn, which in 1848 already had 17 homes.
More and more settlers moved in, perhaps attracted by the good
buckwheat crops achieved during the initial years. In 1875,
both places had a combined population of 277. However, the
quality of life soon deteriorated to such an extent that the Central Moor Commission in Berlin noted in a 1879 report, ―The
economic and ethical situation, though in a state of steady improvement, still is such as one would barely think possible in
today‘s Germany.‖ There were two households in Oltmannsfehn in 1823; in 1848 there were 19; and in 1867 there were 60.
ment activity at the excavated site appears to have ended in the
12th/13th century, presumably because the ground near the Hollener Ehe creek became saturated, and the settlers moved up the
sandy ridge to the present town site.
Hollen‘s location certainly was off the beaten track, as, with
moors on three sides, its only dirt road supporting wheeled traffic
led to Filsum and Leer, with a branch to Stickhausen, the Amt
seat. Remels could be reached by footpath across heath and bog.
The way to Apen (Oldenburg) followed a so-called smugglers‘
path across the Südgeorgsfehn Moor, and an old Heerweg (weg =
path) led to Detern. Hollen‘s relative isolation was lifted in the
1880s when a paved road was built to connect Remels and Detern, which passed through town. A highway to Südgeorgsfehn
was completed around 1900, which gave Hollen access to the
railroad at Augustfehn.
Hollen‘s first church stood on
the old cemetery. The time of
its construction is not known.
Its foundation consisted of
The population of Oltmannsfehn and Ockenhausen together in
boulders left behind by the last
2005 stood at 570. Stretches of corduroy roads, some dating
ice age, and the bricks for its
back to 2000 BC, have been uncovwalls were made in the nearby
ered in the area. It is assumed that
―Lehmdobbe‖ (lit. ‗loam dip‘),
they are sections of a route connectnow a pasture still called by
ing Lengerland with the Wiesmoor
that name. It is said that the
area across the vast moor belt. Long
old separate bell tower was
HOLLEN
overgrown and forgotten, they still
taken down in 1657 and rebuilt
may have been useful to Count
on a smaller scale, the way it
Edzard the Great (1494-1528) for
appears today. One of its bells
moving his troops.
was cast in Stikelkamperfehn
in 1839. When in 1782 the
The settlements Meinersfehn, Stapel,
church‘s roof and west gable
Neudorf, Ockenhausen and
needed repair, the cost of
Oltmannsfehn were founded without
which was estimated to exceed
CORDUROY ROAD
officially becoming part of the parish
the financial strength of the
Uplengen, though they were served by the pastor in Remels.
congregation, a collection ―in
The considerable distance to the church over bad roads
town and country‖ was initiated, which netted 184 guilders. The
amounted to a considerable disadvantage. Near the end of the
church had a seating capacity of 63, which was increased to 150
nineteenth century, many new congregations sprang up in Ostby closing the south side entrance and rearranging the pews.
friesland, which may have encouraged the settlers here to folNearly all the seats were owned by local families through purlow suit. In December 1897, the congregation Ockenhausen
chase or inheritance and consisted of a full, half, quarter, or sixth
was founded, a pastor was brought in, and a prayer hall was
pew. These pews were a source of ongoing disputes in the conbuilt. The latter was remodeled and enlarged in 1990 and is
gregation.
now known as the Friedenskirche (Church of Peace).
Throughout much of the 17th and 18th centuries, Hollen‘s popu7. Hollen. To this community belong the houses on the Hollation hardly varied, numbering ―barely 100 souls‖ in a town
lener Moor and the ―Fehn by the Bridge‖ (Brückenfehn) which
which consisted of 16 farms and a few small Warf dwellings.
was founded in 1772. It was called ―Hollen up Lenghen‖ in
This stagnation was due to the poor sandy soil of the Gaste,
1470, but is already mentioned in the ninth century property
which offered little possibility for productive agriculture in an
register of the Monastery Werden. This makes it, along with
age when chemical fertilizer was still unknown. The common
Selverde, the oldest Uplengen community mentioned in docupasture was mostly heath, and expanding it was not possible due
ments. Local archaeological excavations, guided by the Ostto the surrounding moor. It took the privatization of the common
friesische Landschaft, have discovered traces of human habitain 1763 to attract colonists, especially to Klein-Hollen and
tion going back to the beginning of the Christian era, with emBargerfehn, determined to make a living in these moors.
phasis on the time of Imperial Rome and the early Middle
Ages. Discovery of fragments of watercraft, looms, and RhenDespite the Prussian Reclamation Edict of 1765, wide swaths of
ish pottery point to early far-flung commercial contacts. Settlegovernment moor were left untouched until the first decades of
27
the 19th century when, after Napoleon‘s downfall, Ostfriesland‘s
new Hanoverian government initiated the founding of new Fehn
colonies here. On September 28, 1829, the first hereditary leaseholds
were signed, the birthday of both Georgsfehn settlements, named
after the reigning King George of Hanover and Great Britain. The
prospective settlers had to first dig a canal from the Jümme river at
Stickhausen to about Brückenfehn. A side channel, today‘s
Südgeorgsfehn Kanal, branched off to the east. Both new settlements
grew rapidly, were declared independent school districts in 1845,
and were assigned to the Kirchspiel Hollen in 1853. Whereas in
1773, fifty-six years before the founding of the Georgsfehns, 4 births
had been announced to the pastor of Hollen, 100 years later, or
twenty years after the founding of the two Georgsfehns, the number
rose to 44.
To accommodate the new communicants, the church was fitted with
a balcony, but additional seating arrangements were not possible.
While the old families held property rights to their seats, the colonists had to rent theirs. As the number of colonists rose, seats grew
scarcer and the rent went up. When in 1890 the seats were up for rent
renewal, and not all colonists could be accommodated, one of them
had this fact certified. He collected signatures for a petition and sent
it to the Royal Church Commission in Hanover, asking it to see to it
that more seats be made available.
What the old families feared would happen, happened: an addition to the old
church or construction of a new one needed to be discussed. The
majority of the church council, largely representing the town‘s ―old‖
families, voted against a new church, but plans for an enlargement
were denied in Hanover, which paved the way for the
Fehntjers‘ (Fehn dwellers‘) preference for a new building. They
withheld their votes, however, until a new council composition with
fairer representation was introduced. This, too, happened. North and
South Georgsfehn and Hollen each got three seats on the new council, whereupon approval for the new church could proceed. It was
dedicated in 1896.
Before the two Georgsfehns came into being, Hollen‘s Lutheran parish was made up of Hollen itself and the nearby moor settlements.
Three of them, stretching toward Jübberde, were Bargerfehn, Zinskenfehn, and Ochsenkopf, laid out in 1772. Bargerfehn‘s first settler was the colonist Eilert Mumme who took over a 12 acre lot ―in
den Bargen‖ (in the hills) from the government. The settlement was
also called ―Swarte Riede‖ (‗Swart‘ is Platt for black; ‗Riede‘ is
Platt for a narrow creek) after a dark colored bog creek. In 1823 it
had 8 households with 54 souls. Zinskenfehn had 2 households with
8 souls in that same year. West of the first bridge across the combined Hollener Ehe/Nordgeorgsfehn Kanal lay Brückenfehn,
founded as a colony from Ammersum. Together with Windbarg it is
part of the political community Filsum. North toward Klein Remels
stretched the settlement Klein-Hollen, also founded in 1772; on the
east side of the waterway lay Hollener Mühle, a settlement documented in writing since 1871; and to its south, at Hollen‘s original
location, Westerfeld, documented in writing since 1825. The two
Georgsfehns would substantially enlarge this parish.
Nordgeorgsfehn was but a wide moor landscape that stretched to the
horizon when in 1829 the first colonists got assigned their fehn
tracts. Perhaps no one believed that from these humble beginnings a
handsome town would eventually evolve. By order of the Royal
Cabinet Ministry in Hanover to the Royal Land-Drostei Aurich, the
new fehn would be named Georgsfehn. The northern branch, along a
28
NORDGEORGSFEHNKANAL
new canal, would be
Nordgeorgsfehn, and the
other, along a side canal
south of Hollen, would be
Südgeorgsfehn. Their development could not proceed
until the canal construction
was well under way. The
lower lock was built in 1837,
and the canal reached Remels
in 1882. It connected with the
Ems-Jade-Kanal in 1922. The
registered colonists had to cut
the peat on the required rightof-way, transport the dried
peat, dig the canal bed, and
clear a building site on their
assigned tract of land. The
Dwellings on both sides of canal.
first huts of sod and clay
would not serve as permanent homes, and construction of
more adequate housing soon put many colonists in financial
straights and slowed the settlement‘s expansion.
It wasn‘t long, though, before ships were built along the canal. In 1874 the ships carpenter Bahlse Ihler received permission to install a slipway in front of his Kolonat #38, and soon
fehn-built peat ships were sailing the moor canals. The bulk
of commercial shipping consisted of taking peat and coal to
the Wiesmoor power plant. 1094 ships passed through the
lower locks in 1908. One of the last vessels sailing the canal
was the good peat ship Ella. She was built in 1903 and could
carry 40 metric tons, propelled by a 24 horse-power engine.
She kept hauling peat, bricks, sand, etc., until 1974, long
after most commercial shipping on the canal had ended. Today she serves as a tourist attraction and takes groups of up
to 30 persons on coffee cruises up and down the canal which
is now mostly serving recreational purposes and known for
good fishing.
The town grew from 29 households in 1848 to 70 in 1867.
The first coated road was a slag road to Brückenfehn built in
1900. During WWII a POW camp, housing about 50 Frenchmen and Serbs, was located here. In 1946 the town numbered
784 inhabitants, 166 of which were refuges or displaced persons. In 1970 there were 636 townsfolk.
CONTINUED, April 2012 Issue
Answers to the 2012 Conference Quiz:
1. Sock Monkeys were developed by creative mothers who fashioned this
low cost toy out of socks with red heels manufactured by the Nelson Knitting
Co., of Rockford IL established in 1890. Even today the pattern for the monkey is included with the purchase of the socks.
2. Jane Addams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in providing services to the poor. She was considered a humanitarian and women suffragist.
3. The Rockford Peaches were the all female professional baseball team of
the All-American Girl Professional Baseball League that played from 1943 to
1954. The movie, A League of Her Own, starring Geena Davis and Tom
Hanks, was based on the fictional experiences of the women who played on the
team.
4. Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford IL is rated no. 1 by the Journal. It will be a tour option at the conference.
5. The Billerbeck Bakery, founded in 1869, flooded Freeport with pretzels
and to this day the town is known as Pretzel City.
6. Lincoln and Douglas were competing for the US Senate seat. Douglas
won. Our tour to Freeport will include lunch at the park commemorating this
event.
We will celebrate the 15th birthday of OGSA! Happy Birthday!
2012 OGSA Tea Party Challenge!
Do you love to set a nice table for tea, but don‘t always have an appreciative
audience? Bring your dishes and set a table for our visitors at the November
12, 2012 tea party at the German American Institute in St. Paul. You can host
the table guests, too! Bring your family along!
Table cloths are provided, but feel free to bring
your own if you prefer. You need dessert plates,
saucers and cups along with sugar and creamer
if you have them. You can bring centerpieces,
candles, fancy serving dishes—anything!
Teapots & silverware are provided unless you
don‘t need them.
We have six tables to set with dishes—eight
settings each. Any type of dishes, any patterns, use your imagination! There
is a prize for the best setting! Interested? Contact the editor!
New Books in the OGSA Library
Das weiße Blatt (The Blank Page) by Katja Beisser-Apetz.
The book, in German, is a biography of Antje Brons (1810-1902) a remarkable Ostfriesian Mennonite woman, based on her diary and letters from
throughout her life. She also wrote books and published them--at first under a
pseudonym because readers would not have read a book written by a woman,
but then under her own name. According to the biography she was one of the
first to write a history of the Mennonites. Her name is familiar to us because
the ship Antje Brons, which brought emigrants to America in 1845, was named
after her. Her husband, Ysaac Brons, along with his brother Bernhard Brons,
was co-owner of the shipping company.
Margrete Jelten donated her recently published bilingual book about Baptist
emigrants who traveled to the U.S.A. Hard cover, full color throughout the
book. Beautifully illustrated documenting many early families leaving the
village of Ihren and relocating in Illinois. Available from the author, cost
about 30 Euro plus postage. Contact the editor for contact information.
29
Coming to America
The following is a translation of a two page diary
of Maria Janssen Jacobs (passenger # 129), written on the journey aboard the Bark Jenny from
Bremen, Germany to New York, March 18, 1869
to April 16, 1869. (She was about three months
pregnant with her first child, Wilke Jacobs, at the
time).
 "We left the harbor at Bremen at 2:00 p.m.
on the 18th March (1869).
 The 19th of March we stopped for inspections along the coast.
 On the 20th March at 5:00 a.m. we sailed into
the sea.
 We came into the English Channel at 4:00
a.m. on March 22. There we could see land
from both sides of the ship; England to the
north and France to the south.
 In the morning of March 23rd we arrived in
the big ocean.
 We saw a shark in the water on March 28th.
We've never seen such a fish.
 On the 30th of March we had very strong.
south-southwesterly winds and when the
waves came against the ship the water came
onto the deck and down on me through holes.
 On the 31st March we again had a good sailing wind. The first of April a woman was
delivered of a child.
 On the 2nd of April in the morning it was so
calm that the great waters were as smooth as
those in our wayside ditches (in our homeland)."
Footnote: Marie (or Maria in America) and her
husband Wilke Jacobs settled near Sterling, Illinois. He was subsequently tusked by a boar and
died in 1871. Maria then moved (with a son and
daughter) to Carroll County, Iowa, probably because her brother Tobe Janssen lived there. Maria
then married Gerd Janssen Eilts, brother of
Heinrich Eilts, (great-grandfather of Gene
Janssen, OGSA president). Gerd and Maria's marriage in 1873 is one of the first marriages recorded in Carroll County. Maria died in 1929.
Another footnote: The above mentioned Wilke
Jacobs married and had triplet daughters who
were all married the same day; thus another first a triple marriage in Carroll, Iowa.
Do we have YOUR current contact
information! Do you have a NEW email
address, postal address, phone no?
PLEASE SEND THEM TO US!
Welcome to OGSA! MEMBER NEWS...
Do you know someone who might like a sample copy of
our newsletter-check out a sample on www.ogsa.us.
New Members
Doering, Cheryl, 4015-41st Ave. So., Minneapolis, MN 55406 Phone
(612) 721-5677 c: (612) 839-4008 Email: [email protected]
Researching: Mammen, Doering, Borchers, Lubben (Hohenkirchen,
Dornum)
Groen, Bonnie, 717 Tenth St., Sibley, IA 51249 Phone (712) 754-4387
Researching: Groen (Bunde) Gronewold, Schoenemann (Simonswolde)
Haan (Hamswehrum, Twixlum), Harms (Pilsum) Busse, Reiman
Janssen, Gordon, 206 N. 2nd St., PO Box 806, Leoti, KS 67861; Phone
(620) 375-4501; Email: [email protected]
Judge, Marla, 356 Elizabeth Street, Illiopolis, IL 62539; Phone (217) 454
-6719, Email: [email protected]; Researching: Gerjet(s), Harms,
Theilen, Specht, Cordes, Meinen, Tiarks, Janssen, Jürgens
Mammen, Cindy, 1886-1250th Ave., Lincoln, IL 62656 Phone (217) 7308434 Email: [email protected] Researching Ruben (Emden), Klockenga
(Loquard), Mammen (Groothusen), Harms (Westermarsch)
Nylen, Michele, 4922 NW-100th Terrace, Coral Springs, FL 33076 Phone
(954) 755-3677 Email: [email protected] Researching: Wessels, Peters
(Ardorf)
Schneiderman, Kenneth, 3065-25th Ave., Marion IA 52302 Phone (319)
447-9533 Email: [email protected] Researching: Kreine, Schneidermann
(Simonswolde)
Thornsbury, Shirley D., 2044 Gnahn, Burlington, IA 52601 Phone (319)
754-0469 Email: [email protected] Researching: Dirks,
Trumpel (Bunde), Koenen (Ockenhausen), Blankmann (Boen),
Moddermann (Landschaftspolder), Groen (Hatshausen), Hiller,
Kaltenbach (Loppersum)
Wray, Gale, 1001 West Golden Eagle, Sioux Falls, SD 57108 email:
customg @sio.midco.net
Address Corrections or Changes:
Abbas, Dennis & Eve, 1038-180th St., Hampton, IA 50441
Aukes, Alice, 15061 Ridge Road, Eden Prairie, MN 55347-2530
Blechschmit, Lil, 11588 Via Rancho, San Diego #D1050, El Cajon, CA
92019 Phone (619)713-6017 Email: [email protected]
Giegold, Paula Frieden, Email: [email protected]
Harris, Michael, 320 N. Chaucer Blvd., Monticello, IL 61856 Phone
(217) 762-7409 Email: [email protected] Researching: Alrichs (Süd
Dunum) Alerichs, DeBoer (Dunum) Bruns (Norden) Galts, Willms
(Burhafe)
Hasbargen, Arthur, 1300 Vale Park Rd., Valparaiso, IN 46383-2722
Hinrichs, Victor, 645 Neil Avenue, Apt. 819, Columbus, OH 432151651
Hinrikus, Wilhelmina, 103 Perkins, Good Samaritan Village, 926 East E
St., Hastings NE 68901
Keast, David, Phone (559) 299-5443
Koop, Debra, 17587 State Hwy. 210, Ironton, MN 56455
Lewis, Sue, 2323 Hancock St., Rockford, IL 61103. Phone (815) 9688820. Email:[email protected].
Lupkes, Francis, 34367 County 60, Cushing, MN 56443-5173
Manson, Donald, (843) 705-7797
Meester, Fran, 13321 L Ave., Parkersburg, IA 50665
Pauls, Otto, 11490 Chelsea Ct., Fredericksburg, VA 22407-9102
Ritter, Sandra, [email protected]
Straayer, Lee, [email protected]
Tidball, Diana, 5940 Muskie Tr., Morris, IL 60450 Phone (815) 94230
3327
On October 7 Ted Hutchcroft was inducted into the
National 4-H Hall of Fame at the National 4-H Center
in Washington, D.C. What an incredible honor!
Congratulations!
Fred Johnson, Cedar Rapids, IA fell off a ladder on
October 25 and has had some recurring health problems since then.
Josie Cornelius has had some health problems from a
fall and is temporarily living at Bethesda Pleasantview
in Willmar, MN
Wilhelmina Hinrikus has had some major health
problems and really loves mail! She was on the 2005
Homecoming Tour and has been at many conferences.
She is a lovely lady! Send her a card please!
Wilhelmina Hinrikus, Room 103 Perkins, Good
Samaritan Village, 926 East E. Street, Hastings,
NE 68901
For all of you who‘ve had some health or family problems, please know our thoughts are with you!
Donations. .Thank You!
Monetary Donations:
Bradley, Marilyn Ammermann Chickadel, Laverna Cordes, John
Doering, Cheryl
Fischer, Jerry G.
Gropel, Gregg
Haan, Janice
Klassmeyer, Ramona
Mammen, Cindy
Ocando, Marilynne
Peterson, Mickey
Spessard, Carol
Thornsbury, Shirley
Wiemann, Rudy
James L. Ahlrichs: Lineage of the Ahlrichs Family
Ackermann, Willee: Ships of Our Ancestors by Michael J. Anuta
Lillian’s Tea Shop is
Moving!
Due to family health problems, Lillian Marks has sold
her Ostfriesen Tea & Porzellan Shop to Daniel Lippitt
who plans to operate the business as of January 2012.
―It‘s been a wonderful experience operating the shop
and meeting so many great people who desire the Ostfriesen products both at the shop and at conferences
for the past 16 years,‖ Lillian wrote. She will still be
the editor of the Ostfriesen NeuesBlatt, but no longer
involved in the day-to-day operation of the shop.
Many of you have visited Ed and Lillian over the
years and enjoyed a cup of tea with them.
New Ostfriesen Tea & Porzellan Shop
contact information:
Daniel Lippitt,
1516 Lynchburg Trail, Madison, WI 53718
Phone (608) 226-0427 / Cell (608) 239-5781
Email: [email protected]
30
OGSA’s Emigration Database
UPCOMING ISSUES WILL
INCLUDE:
 Scanning & Preserving Records
 Die Groeneveld’s
 Internet Updates
 Amt Stickhausen, Part III
 Bützen
 Social Status
 Crafts & Craftsmen
 Life After WW II
 Windmills
 Aurich
Now ONLINE @ www.ogsa.us
Data updated quarterly!
Over 24,000 names of emigrants
from Ostfriesland.

Left hand column of home page
 Click on the Emigration DB &
 enter the codes supplied after payment.
 $25 One time fee, payable by PayPal online or
send us check or your credit card numbers
NOTE
If you’ve purchased an OGSA Emigration CD
previously, contact us, we’ll check our lists
& supply the codes to you. This is a great deal!
Skûtsje Sailing Regatta in
Netherlands‘ Friesland
―A skûtsje (pron. ‗skootshuh‘) is a Frisian sailing boat of the tjalk type. Originally a cargo
boat, it is today a highly prized ship and one of the icons of Frisia. Skûtsjes were built from
the 18th century until about 1930. They are 40 to 60 feet long and on average 11.5 feet wide
with a maximum of 13 feet, based on the standard dimensions of Frisian bridges and sluice
gates. In the 1920s and 1930s skûtsjes were often fitted with engines, and after WWII the sails
were usually removed. Nonetheless, larger powered boats took over water transportation, and
many skûtsjes were remodeled into houseboats or luxurious sailing yachts.
There is an annual sailing event in Friesland, called Skûtsje silen. Competitive skûtsje sailing
already started early in the 20th century where villages in Friesland, or more often local bar
and hotel owners, offered prizes for the winner. Before the race, the owner‘s family and the
cabin‘s interior would be placed ashore to make the craft as light as possible. Since 1945 these
races are regulated through a committee, SKS, and each skûtsje represents a city or village. In
1981 another organization, IFKS, also
started organizing races. See also http://
www.skutsjesilen.nl
The Skûtsje Museum in Eernewoude
(Frisian: Earnewâld, southeast of Leeuwarden) started building a new skûtsje out of
wood in the old way in 2008.
Research Books!
Newly Published Books!
1) Greetsiel—published by the Upstalsboom-Gesellschaft. Compiler—Hillrich
Hildebrands / Published in December 2011
2) Marienhafe—published by the Upstalsboom-Gesellschaft. Compiler—Theodore
Voss / Tentative April 2012
3) Jennelt—private printing, ck. w/editor
Many out-of-print OSB have been reprinted.
Contact us if you need an OSB.
Are you interested in books on Ostfriesen
history? OGSA has a good collection of
them—and they have been translated into
English.
Check out www.ogsa.us—the query
section is always interesting! You
might find information on your family!
Tour to Ostfriesland
An annual Skûtsje Sailing Cup is named
Grutte Pier after the nickname of the Frisian
folk hero Pier Gerlofs Donia.‖ (See issue
July 2011.) From Wikipedia / Submitted by Rudy

Wiemann
CHECK OUT THESE IMMIGRATION RECORDS
The records of immigrants through Castle Gardens: http://www.castlegarden.org/
about.html.
The records of immigrants through Ellis Island: http://www.ellisisland.org/
You might find these search engines easier to use or more flexible:
 http://stevemorse.org/
 Immigrant Ship Transcribers Guild: transcriptions of passenger manifests
http://www.immigrantships.net/
 Michael Palmer‘s Merchant Ships: descriptions and (sometimes) pictures of
ships.http://www.geocities.com/mppraetorius/
31
June 6-16, 2012
Ostfriesland Tours—
Bremen, Bremerhaven, nine days in
Ostfriesland includes
one day of research
(optional) in Aurich,
tours of Emden, Leer
& lots more! This may
be the trip of your lifetime! Contact Lin
Strong for more information 651-269-3580
or email [email protected] / Tour size
is limited!
This tour is not sponsored by the Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America.
OSTFRIESEN GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
NON PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT #4190
TWIN CITIES, MN
1670 South Robert Street, #333
West St. Paul, MN 55118
Address Service Requested
OGSA 2012 Programs
January 28, 2012
6
Program 10 a.m.
“Finishing Your Family
History Book”
13
9
5
Formats, Publication Techniques & More!
Potluck Lunch at Noon
Bring a dish to share! (Drinks, plates, German
sausages & utensils provided)
12 14
10 8
4
3
15
7
2
1
CELEBRATE!
2012 is the 15th Anniversary of the
Ostfriesen Genealogical Society!
Sat., Mar. 31, 2012
It’s Movie Time!
1 p.m.—Annual Meeting
Library open 10 a.m.—4 p.m.
MGS LIBRARY
11
Come for all or part of the day!
Minnesota Genealogical
Society Library
Second Floor
1185 Concord St. North,
South St. Paul, MN
32
Join us for movies about Ostfriesian
History, Culture & Customs!
Tea & Kluntje served
Potluck Lunch at Noon—Bring a
dish to share! 10 a.m.—3 p.m.
Minnesota Genealogical
Society Library
5 p.m. Dinner @ a local German Restaurant
(RSVP if you plan to attend dinner)
Come for the day or whenever you can!

Emigration - Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America (OGSA)

Transcription

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