Bremen and Hamburg: The Ports, Shipping Companies, and Agents

Transcription

Quarterly of the Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International
March 2008
Volume 20 Number 1
Bremen and Hamburg: The Ports,
Shipping Companies, and Agents
By Maralyn A. Wellauer-Lenius, M.A.
Background
The majority of emigrants from
central and eastern Europe passed
through the German ports of Bremen and Hamburg on their way to
North America. A basic understanding of the history of these ports, the
shipping companies, and agents who
helped emigrants reach their destinations is an essential part of Czech
and Slovak genealogical research.
Emigration from Germany to
North America began in 1683. In
1685, citizens of Bremen were part
of an emigration with Pastorius
to Pennsylvania. A group led by
Johann Amelung, which included
some Bohemian families, sailed to
Baltimore from Bremen in 1784.
Ultimately, they went to work in the
glass works there. Over the next 220
years, approximately seven million
Germans emigrated. Many emigrants from Bohemia and Moravia
who spoke German are included in
this total.
Continued on page 3
Theme of This Issue:
German Ports/ Shipping
Companies
1 –Bremen and Hamburg: The Ports,
This promotional postcard shows a steamship and small sailing vessel of the North
Deutsch Lloyd (NDL) Steamship Company from the 1890s. Photo courtesy of
Maralyn Wellauer.
Shipping Companies, and Agents
2 –President’s Message
19 –Library Donations / Sponsors
20 –Using the Hamburg Passenger
List Database at Ancestry.com
26 –Family Certificates Awarded
28 –Locating Immigrant Ship Pictures
29 –Proposed amendment to CGSI
bylaws
30 –Chronological History of the
Hamburg Amerika Line and its
Ships, 1847-1906
34 –German Terms Found on Passenger
Ship Manifests
36 –The 1715 Tax List in Slovak Family
History Research
40 –The Librarian’s Shelf
44 –Franz Josef, Emperor of Austria
and Apostolic King of Hungary
49 –CGSI’s 20th Anniversary Event
50 – Sales Order Form
51 – Calendar of Events
Naše rodina
Newsletter for the Czechoslovak Genealogical
Society International (CGSI) members
CGSI Board of Directors (at large)
Frank Soural
(Ottawa, CAN)
Rosie Bodien
(Washington)
Robert Petrik
(Florida)
Helene Cincebeaux
(New York)
Chris Miksanek
(Minnesota)
Mike Prohaska
(Iowa)
Margie Sobotka
(Nebraska)
Gene Aksamit
(Minnesota)
Lisa Alzo
(New York)
CGSI Officers
President
1st Vice President
2nd Vice President
Treasurer
Recording Secretary
Corresponding Secretary
Ginger Simek
Dottie Speidel
Al Kranz
Beth Baumeister
Barb Vermeer
Kathy Jorgenson
CGSI Committee Chairs
Education
Hospitality
Library and Archives
Membership
Newsletter
Product Sales
Publicity
Volunteer Coordinator
Internet (Webmaster)
Ruth Chovancek
Janelle Pavlovec
Suzette Steppe
Joyce Fagerness
Paul Makousky
Jerry Parupsky
Chuck Romportl
Mark Bigaouette
Bob Bina
Naše rodina promotes genealogy of the ethnic
groups that comprise Czechoslovakia as it was
formed in 1918. We accept articles of historical
and cultural information, but they must have
genealogical significance and all are subject to
editing. The deadlines for submitting articles to
Naše rodina are:
January 1
March issue
April 1
June issue
July 1
September issue
October 1
December issue
Naše rodina (Our Family) (ISSN 1045-8190) is
published quarterly by the Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International, P.O. Box 16225, St.
Paul, MN 55116-0225, a non-profit organization.
Copyright 2007 by Czechoslovak Genealogical
Society International. The publication is not
responsible for the return of lost or unsolicited
manuscripts, photographs or any other material
not submitted with a self-addressed, stamped
envelope. Advertisements, manuscripts, articles,
and photographs for the Naše rodina may be
submitted to Czechoslovak Genealogical Society
International, Attn: Paul Makousky, P.O. Box
16225, St. Paul, MN 55116-0225.
Permission to copy, without fee, all or part of the
material is granted, provided that the copies are
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copying is with permission by CGSI. Abstracting
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The Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International does not endorse the products that we sell
nor the items or services, including translators
that are advertised in this publication. Neither
does CGSI guarantee the quality or results of any
services provided by advertisers.
Page 2
President’s Message
by Ginger Simek
CGSI
is celebrating its 20th year in 2008. An initial meeting
on March 26th, 1988 at the Sokol Hall in St. Paul MN is
what started it all. Those twenty years have seen some changes and many
accomplishments. One thing has not changed: the reason why the society
is successful is due to its volunteers and their commitment. The conferences, symposiums, programs, meetings, publications, our library collectioneverything the society does happens because of volunteers. We have one
part-time paid person do our accounting. With that one small exception we
are an all volunteer society. It is truly amazing what can be accomplishedwe are very proud of all of our exceptional volunteers! April 26th is the
date for our 20th anniversary program and celebration which will be held at
the Sokol Hall in St. Paul. Details appear on page 49 of this issue and the
June Naše rodina will be our official anniversary issue.
We are settled into our new library location which we share with the
Minnesota Genealogical Society and other ethnic groups among them the
Irish, Yankee, Polish, German, Pommern, Canadian, Swedish, and Danish. This is a plus for the family researcher since for most of us our family
background crosses many borders. In addition to the various ethnic holdings the library/research center contains general US immigration information, city directories, family histories, maps, atlases, as well as books and
materials on specific states. Wireless computer access is available and
Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest are installed on the library computers to
be used free of charge. For location and library hours please see p. 43.
Seattle is the site of our upcoming CGSI Symposium April 11th and
th
12 . Both genealogy and cultural topics make up the program. Some of
the highlights are: Shon Edwards from the LDS Church will present an
update on the digitization and filming of records, Cyndi Howells, founder
of Cyndi’s List on the Internet will be giving a talk after the Friday evening dinner, and the Traveling Library will be there for research opportunities.
All of you should soon receive a Special Edition of the Naše rodina
containing the material presented at the October 2007 conference by Dr.
Lenka Matušíková from the Czech National Archives in Prague. It was
decided this was such unique and valuable resource information we wanted and needed to make it available to all members at no additional cost.
A timetable has not been set but efforts are underway to develop similar
information regarding the Slovak Archives and then to also make that
available to our members.
I am looking forward to seeing and visiting with many of you in Seattle in April!
Naše rodina
March 2008 Vol. 20 No. 1
Before the American Revolution, only
ships sailing under the
British flag were allowed into American
colonial ports. After
the Revolution ended
until 1815, emigration
to North America was
at a standstill. In the
meantime, thousands
from central Europe
relocated to the east
in places like Russia,
Hungary, and Poland. After the Treaty
of Vienna (1815),
emigration from the
German states was
allowed. There was
political and religious
unrest due to changes
mandated by the
Treaty. Crop failures
and poor harvests
affected Europe from
the beginning of the
nineteenth century.
The resulting famine
in 1816 and a bitterly
cold winter of 1817,
affected Europe for
years after. The Napoleonic Wars had ended and people became
restless. The transportation of emigrants in
Bremen to North and
South America began in 1827. The old
harbor was opened in
1830.
The first emigration act was proclaimed in March
1832 by the Austrian emperor and the
Ad from the F. Missler Company for passage out of Bremen. Published in the 1900 issue of Pečírkuv Czech King, Franz
I. It allowed citizens
Národní Kalendář. Image courtesy of Greg Kopchak of iarelative.com
of the empire to go
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Page 3
Ad for passage on the Hamburská Linie from Hamburg to New York or New York to Hamburg. This
flyer was from Mr. Josef Pastor, sales director for the Czech lands. Courtesy of Paul Makousky.
Page 4
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abroad. Those who left legally applied for permission
usually with their landlord’s permission. They were
required to be debt free and have enough money to pay
for their transportation. Up to the mid-1850s, the number leaving Bohemia was only a few hundred per year,
but was gaining momentum.
The motivation for the migration of people from
central and eastern Europe can be explained by the
push-pull theory. That is, migrations are a result of push
(negative) forces at point of origin. The reasons include
deteriorating economic and social conditions, such as
lack of jobs, population increases, wars, epidemics,
and poverty. Some simply did not wish to serve in the
military for extended periods (as much as eight years
until 1868 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.) Pull factors are positive perceptions of the destination, real, or
perceived. They include advantages like better wages,
fewer taxes, more food, peace, and stability. These and
other reasons are why thousands of Bohemians, Moravians, and Slovaks left their villages.
Until 1870, emigrants traveling via Bremen and
Hamburg were mainly from western and central Europe
and Scandinavia. The greatest number left during the
19th century, peaking in the 1880s. Until this time, the
American Midwest was the favorite destination. Craftsmen went to cities. Chain emigration was encouraged
by previous emigrants. By 1890, 15 million European
immigrants found their way to America, where they
filled the cities. People from all age groups and all classes were inclined to emigrate.
The earliest emigrants (before 1830) from Europe
left the continent from the ports at Amsterdam, Antwerp, LeHavre, and Rotterdam. Early in the nineteenth
century, these cities were getting fed up with the masses
of poor, sick, and hungry people who were congregating on their streets, many of whom were too destitute to
stay in proper lodging until their ships sailed. The emigrants were becoming a burden on the welfare systems
and a general nuisance. Holland, in particular, wanted
to protect itself against emigrants without means, who
filled the poorhouses of the city and subsequently forbade emigration. While these doors were closed, others
were opened.
So, what caused the emigrant trade to shift from
Belgium, France, and Holland to the German port cities of Bremen and Hamburg and how did the business
develop there?
Bremen/Bremerhaven
German ports were already important ports of comMarch 2008 Vol. 20 No. 1
merce. At the beginning of the 1830s, a variety of factors contributed to Bremen’s development as the first
German port of embarkation for emigrants to the New
World.
The Hamburg City Council issued a decree in 1817
forbidding group emigration, due largely to a number
of poor families from Württemberg who arrived in
Hamburg requesting help. This decree was renewed
in 1824 and 1832. A cholera epidemic broke out at the
Atlantic ports and political instability in Belgium (the
independence movement) as well as the July Revolution in France made passage to Le Havre and Antwerp
problematic.
Bremen established trade lines with North America
before Hamburg did. The Robert M. Sloman Company
did not establish its first liner service between Hamburg
and New York until the mid-1830s. Bremen’s merchants
and ship owners were the first to see that they could turn
a profit when emigrants were encouraged to fill Bremen’s vacant ships that had unloaded their cargoes of
cotton, tobacco, and rice from the United States. This
provided Bremen merchants with a lucrative and profitable “product” on the westward route back to Germany.
Earlier ships made this leg of the journey without ballast, making it more expensive to run.
In the following years, Bremen did everything possible to attract passenger traffic. The city adapted quickly and successfully to the emigrant trade, and sound
business decisions were made.
On October 1, 1832, the Bremen senate enacted
the first binding national law for the protection of emigrants, an ordinance concerning emigration on domestic
or foreign ships. It became obligatory for shipowners to
certify the seaworthiness of their vessels and to stock 90
days provisions on board ships. It established the size
of sleeping areas. The law enhanced Bremen’s reputation among emigrants. It required agents and shipping
companies to be based in Bremen and most notably,
made it compulsory for ship owners to maintain lists of
passengers.
For these reasons, many emigrants made their way
to Bremen. In 1830, 3,500 emigrants left from Bremen. Already between 1832 and 1835, 38,000 people
emigrated through Bremen. This number increased to
10,344 in two years. In the following years, Bremen
did everything possible to cultivate this trade, which by
1836, represented the port’s second source of income
(behind the tobacco trade.)
The emigration trade became an important part of
the economy. A senatorial decree of 1840 determined
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that those engaged in the emigrant business had to reside in Bremen. Despite this restriction, Bremerhaven
also profited. New transatlantic harbors had to adapt all
to the technical changes of the ships. At the same time,
new shipyards were built. City councillors made the
rules, and private entrepreneurs financed the trade.
As never before, Bremen was developing as a merchant port and place of commerce. In the 18th century,
Bremen had difficulties, since large cargo boats (for the
new wholesale with the United States) arrived in Bremen. Because the Weser River filled with silt, transit
by ship from Bremen to the North Sea was considered
unsafe. What they needed was a new harbor down river
and so work began establishing harbors at Lehe, Wulsdorf, Weddewarden, and Geestendorf. They needed a
place to build and repair ocean-going vessels and were
already looking at Bremerhaven in 1827 for this purpose. The new harbor area was 87 hectares and had only
19 inhabitants.
Bremerhaven is located on the right bank of the Weser River, at the confluence of the Geeste, 38 miles north
of Bremen by rail. It was built on land ceded to the city/
state of Bremen by Hannover in 1826. Bremerhaven
was connected with Geestemunde by a drawbridge. It
had an excellent, navigable harbor, ice free most of the
year, and good docks, including the Kaiserhafen.
The city of Bremen tried to manipulate the situation so that emigrants were staying in Bremen for as
long as possible, which resulted in a desirable economic
upswing. Emigrants were only sent to Bremerhaven at
the last moment. This resulted in a rather strained relationship between Bremen and Bremerhaven, because
Bremen enjoyed the main advantage to local businesses.
But Bremerhaven was also improving its economic situation. Ocean-going vessels had to dock at Bremerhaven.
They could not proceed to Bremen because of the heavy
silting of the harbor (the Weser River.)
Many craftsmen and workers were needed to develop the port and build houses and roads. Produce grown
around Bremerhaven, supplied not only the inhabitants
of Bremerhaven, but also the emigrants, who often remained for weeks before they left the country on ships.
Craftsmen, dockworkers, and other laborers could live
in or outside Bremerhaven.
In the 1830s, emigrants traveled to ports in wagons
(coaches) or by waterways such as the Weser River. The
journey to Bremen became more comfortable, quicker,
and less costly after the introduction of steam navigation
on the upper Weser River in 1842 and better railway
connections with the Hannover network in 1847. Ship-
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ping companies offered “package deals” by combining
railroad and steamship passages. These advantages
allowed Bremen to become seriously competitive for
emigrants from southern Germany and eastern Europe,
overtaking the previously favored ports of Le Havre
and Antwerp. The number one destination from Bremen
after 1847 was the U.S., which was seen as a land of
unlimited opportunities.
Bremerhaven was transformed from being merely a
place down river from Bremen where emigrants would
board their ships to a more welcoming place. Since
many emigrants arrived days before the departure of
the vessel, there grew a need for economical accommodations for the masses. The problem was solved by
the emigrant house “Karlsburg” which provided shortterm (often overnight) lodging for transients. Built in
1849 at the considerable sum of 70,000 Talern and
opened in 1850, it could inexpensively accommodate
2,000 to 3,500 people. In addition to sleeping and eating areas, there was a chapel and a military hospital. In
1859, when the Geeste railway connected Bremen and
Bremerhaven, passengers could be transported directly
to the waiting ships. The emigrants’ house was already
closed in 1862 because the railway line connecting Bremen and Geestemuende was able to deliver passengers
on special trains from Bremen directly to the ships, thus
avoiding long wait times to board. The emigrants were
only brought to their departure place (thus Bremerhaven) if the ships were already available. Nevertheless,
the emigrants regularly had to accept long waiting periods and delays before departing from Bremerhaven.
Other ports emulated Bremen’s successful model,
and by the 1850s, LeHavre, Antwerp, and Rotterdam
were back competing for the emigrant trade.
The Senate in Bremen was committed to providing
assistance and protection to emigrants passing through
their city as it brought in a great deal of money to the
city. In 1851, they established the Reporting (Information) Office for Emigrants (Nachweisungsbureau fuer
Auswanderer.) Ships’ captains had to deposit their passenger lists at this facility. The office concerned itself
with advising emigrants about the best routes, modes of
transportation, and inexpensive accommodations. They
kept a watch on the exorbitant prices charged for goods
or services, exchange rates, and dispensed trustworthy
information free of charge. However helpful, the office
closed one year later. The report office entered into an
agreement with restaurant operators and barkeepers, to
standarize prices and facilities.
Work on a new harbor began in 1847 and was fin-
Naše rodina
This is the Freihafen I (tollfree harbor) in Bremen. Because the Weser River was not deep, it was
used by smaller ships, which combined freight and passengers. Photo courtesy Paul Makousky.
ished in 1852. Bremerhaven became the most important
port of embarkation for German emigrants in 1855. By
1865, fast new steam ships were replacing the old sailing boats. In 1876, Kaiserhafen was opened.
With the end of a long continuing recession in Germany and a rising demand for workers the proportion
of the all-German emigrants sank considerably. During
the American Civil War, numbers of emigrants dropped
considerably. After 1880, the number of those emigrating from east and southeastern Europe increased.
Bremen brokers enlisted potential emigrants in their
homelands. Their passages accounted for the main
earnings for the Bremen shipowners and for German
railroads. In 1888, Bremen joined the German Customs
Union (Zollverein) and received money to improve the
port at Bremerhaven. When the German border was
closed to Russian immigration in 1892, shipowners and
railways lost millions.
According to Ira A. Glazier and P. William Filby,
editors of the series, Germans to America, 38% of the
emigrant ships that entered the Atlantic and Gulf Coast
of the U.S. originated from Bremerhaven. Only 17% of
the ships came from Hamburg, nearly as many as from
Liverpool (16%) and only 6% from Le Havre.
A total of 7.2 million people emigrated from
Bremerhaven between 1830-1974. During the last decades of the nineteenth century, emigration and the busiMarch 2008 Vol. 20 No. 1
nesses it generated dominated the city’s economy.
The Staatsarchiv in Bremen was established to collect and safeguard records relating to the city’s role as a
trading and shipping center. Similarly, the Staatsarchiv
in Hamburg was set up to serve the same purpose.
The Bremen Passenger Lists
In 1832, the town council in Bremen decreed that emigrant agencies were required to submit a list of all passengers to the board of emigration of the city. These
contained the name, age, occupation, and place of birth
of the emigrants. Unfortunately, all lists from 18321908 were intentionally destroyed due to lack of space.
In 1909, the archive moved to another location, so there
was no longer the need to systematically destroy lists.
Later, passenger lists up to 1919 were transferred to
another building in 1931, where they were subsequently
bombed and destroyed by fire in 1944. Lists that had
also been collected by the Nachweisungsbureau fuer
Auswanderer (since 1905) and by the police authority
(since 1898) were also destroyed during the Second
World War.
A partial index and abstracts of lists of emigrants
passing through Bremen for 1907 and 1913-1914 (with
gaps) are available on microfilm at the Family History
Library under the heading, “Bremer Schiffslisten.” Incomplete entries for Bohemian and Moravian emigrants
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Page 7
are included on one microfilm (LDS film #1568647)
covering 1907-1908 and 1913-1914. This was originally
a card file created at the Deutsches Ausland-Institut in
Stuttgart. Due to the onset of the Second World War, it
was never completed.
The Bremen Chamber of Commerce has the remaining 3,017 lists covering 1920-1939 for ships bound
for the United States, Canada, South America, Australia,
Africa, and Asia. The documents had been stowed away
in a salt mine at Bernburg an der Saale in 1942, together
with other archives for protection. At the end of WWII,
they were transferred to an archive in Moscow, and in
1987 and 1990, the lists were returned to the Bremen
Chamber of Commerce. They are now kept on file at
the Gesellschaft fuer Familienforschung Bremen, called
“Die Maus.” See <<www.genealogy.net/verein/maus/
index.php?lang=en >> and <<www.passengerlists.de>>
Their database contains pictures and technical data
on nearly all ships. A search is possible by passenger’s
name, ship name, arrival harbor, and native town of the
passenger. Laws protect the release of information on
passengers until 90 years after birth, so many children
appearing in the lists of this period can not be accessed
at this time.
Complete lists of passengers from Bremen/Bremerhaven are extant for the years 1946 to 1974. The release
of the most recent information may be subject to data
protection laws (Datenschutz.)
Although the earlier passenger lists for peak years
of emigration from Bremen are unavailable, there is
much information in the files at the State Archive (Staatsarchiv Bremen) on emigration. One can uncover more
information on shipping companies and agents, conditions aboard ship, the regulations pertaining to them,
and data on individual vessels, including images, crew
lists, departure times, and births and deaths that occurred onboard ship. Files detailing complaints made by
emigrants have also been preserved.
Many young men worked onboard ships to North
America. Ancestry.com and Ancestry.de (German version) have a searchable database of approximately
186,000 names of men serving mainly on cargo ships
between 1821 and 1873, titled “Bremen, Germany Ships
Crew Lists” (Bremer Musterungslisten der Schiffe.)
Also available is the “Bremen, Germany Sailors Registry” (Bremer Seeleuteregister) 1837-1873 that contains
the service records of almost 39,000 mariners, together
with their names, birthdate, birthplace, residence, and
date mustered in.
Page 8
Newspapers
Der Deutsche Auswander-Zeitung, published in Bremen
(1852-1875) was a weekly paper for prospective emigrants. It characterized those who left Europe as people
who were too restricted and faced with a dismal life on
an aging continent, still mired in the Middle Ages and
feudal system, in some eastern areas. The newspaper
published letters from America and reports of life in the
New World. They also published information on vessels
and in extraordinary cases, such as accidents at sea, the
names of passengers were listed.
Genealogist Friedrich R. Wollmershaeuser
([email protected]) created a database of about
30,000 names of emigrants abstracted from the Allgemeine Auswanderungszeitung (1848 to 1861.) Most
entries cover the period from 1848 to 1853, with a
few more extending beyond that. Entries are arranged
alphabetically by surname and usually give the name
and place of origin of passengers on lists published in
the Allgemeine Auswanderungszeitung. Published in
Rudolstadt from 1846 to 1871, this German newspaper
contained information on emigration and on countries of
destination.
Hamburg/Cuxhaven
Hamburg, located on the bank of the Elbe River, was an
important trade connection in the Hanse League, like
Bremen, since medieval times. At the beginning of the
nineteenth century, it was already a commercial port,
but the city did not compete with Bremen in the emigrant trade immediately. After earlier edicts forbiding
emigration, Hamburg’s Senate followed with regulations to encourage it in 1836. Almost 15,000 left from
Hamburg between 1836 and 1844. The city continued to
adapt itself to the emigrant trade quickly when the swell
accelerated in the 1840s. Local boarding houses provided temporary lodging. The increased business led to
a prosperous shipbuilding industry in Hamburg.
Cuxhaven, located about 68 miles down river from
Hamburg at the North Sea, was its outlet on the Atlantic
as Bremerhaven was for Bremen. There were lodgings
in Cuxhaven where immigrants traveling to America
from Hamburg on the HAPAG line could stay before
boarding their ships. Cuxhaven was part of Hamburg
until 1937.
Bremen led in emigration numbers between 1845
and 1891. Between 1841 and 1846, approximately
115,000 European emigrants left through Bremen, but
only 11,000 traveled through Hamburg.
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A photo of the Hamburg warehouses with wagons and a horse in the foreground. This was published in a unknown magazine.
Photo courtesy of Maralyn Wellauer.
Incoming emigrants who arrived at the ports by rail
were frequently accosted by men who tried to entice
them to the boarding house they were hired to promote.
In German they were called “Litzers.” They also were
hired by ship agents, money changers, and provisioners,
who all wanted to make money off them. The Hamburg
Society for the Protection of Emigrants was founded in
1850 to put an end to this type of activity and to protect
emigrants against fraudulent practices. They issued
regular reports in which they complained about injustices or improprieties as they became known to them. This
actually resulted in the city police being more watchful
over the new arrivals, as much and as often as possible.
The city took over the function of the Society, establish-
ing an office in 1855.
By 1856, only five per cent of the emigrants landing in New York came by steamship. By 1870, that
number had increased to 88 per cent and by 1879, the
last sailing vessel left Hamburg. About thirty percent of
all European emigrants left via Hamburg between 1859
and 1891. In 1872, only 10.7% of the emigrants leaving
from Hamburg were from the Austro-Hungarian and
Russian empires. Ten years later, this figure increased to
20%; by 1892 it was 65%; and in 1902 was over 74%.
From 1881 to 1890, on average, they numbered 90,000
a year (of whom 60,000 proceeded to the United States.)
In this period, the number of Germans and those from
other countries was almost equal. Records indicate that
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Page 9
in 1891, more emigrants departed Germany from Hamburg than from Bremen for the first time, with some
144,239 people embarking on their journey across the
Atlantic from the port on the Elbe River.
However, at this time, Hamburg’s boarding houses
and inns were overcrowded and too expensive for many
of the poorer travelers passing through the city. To alleviate the accommodation shortage, the HAPAG provided a temporary shelter in a decommissioned ship.
Reacting to pressure from the press and religious
groups who advocated better conditions for emigrants,
the “Emigrants’ Barracks” (Auswanderuerbaracken)
located across from the so-called “Amerika Quai” were
opened in July 1892. The Amerika-Quai (also AmerikaKai) was the pier or loading dock where most emigrants
left Hamburg for the last time. The new barracks, which
offered very basic accommodations, insured better
hygienic conditions than previously were available to
almost 2000 travelers. Those holding tickets for the
“tween decks” (Zwischendeck) were required to report
directly to the barracks.
In August 1892, there was a serious cholera outbreak in Hamburg and approximately 10,000 people
died in three months. The emigration business ground to
an abrupt halt. Russian peasants, who made up the largest segment of the emigration, were blamed. They were
refused entry into Germany. People living in Bremen
and Hamburg feared that the disease would infiltrate the
cities, so short-term housing and quarantine barracks
were erected.
Checkpoints were erected on Germany’s eastern
borders by HAPAG and Norddeutsche Lloyd. At these
stops, emigrants were subjected to medical examinations and disinfections before being allowed to proceed
to the port. This was all part of the larger effort to prevent the spread of contagious diseases in the port cities
and abroad. The companies paid all expenses.
HAPAG, the Norddeutsche Lloyd, and other shipping companies were bound by treaty obligations
to return emigrants who were refused entry into the
United States for health reasons at its own expense.
They offered accommodations for indigent emigrants in
Hamburg. This provided another means of examining
emigrants prior to their departure and placing them in
quarantine if they showed any signs of illness.
Emigrants were also required to show a rail ticket
to Hamburg or Bremen as well as a pre-paid ticket or
voucher for their passage to the New World, preferably
on one of the company’s lines. This effectively gave the
two companies total control of the emigrant business, as
Page 10
only travelers who were in possession of a ticket from
one of the two shipping lines were allowed to continue
on their journey.
By threatening to move his operation to Bremen,
HAPAG director Albert Ballin, pressured the Hamburg
Senate to make land available for housing construction.
Eventually, structures were built to house emigrants
with improvements such as a music hall, recreation center and places of worship for both Catholics and Protestants. Steam heating was introduced.
In 1900, the number of emigrants was 87,153
and 64,137 of them were bound for the United States.
Thereafter, Russia and Austria-Hungary were most
largely represented. For the accommodation of these
passengers, large and convenient emigrant shelters were
erected close to the wharf of embarkation. An entire
town was built at Veddel, a district near the harbor.
Free-of-cost accommodations for emigrants subsidised
by Hamburg government were utilized by about 50,000
people per annum. In addition to the sleeping areas and
recreation halls, there were separate kitchens and eating
areas for Christians and Jews.
The information office organized the distribution
of emigrants from the trains to licensed lodging houses.
By the early 1890s, these accommodations, which held
around 2000 per night, were proving inadequate and the
HAPAG built halls at the “Amerika Kai.” This seemed
to be a solution for the authorities to provide for the
welfare of the emigrants, but also protected Hamburg
citizens against the infectious diseases they brought
with them. The cost to the emigrant for an overnight
stay was about half of what it was in the cheapest accommodation in the lodging houses.
German emigration dwindled during the last quarter
of the 19th century, but the number of persons leaving
for America from Hamburg and Bremen increased dramatically. Thousands of people from eastern Europe and
Russia were making their way to the ports.
A good description of the process of going through
quarantine can be read in Anton Topinka’s account of
his 1922 journey from Prague to Hamburg in CGSI’s
Ročenka, Volume 4, 2000, pp. 63-71. Ultimately, he was
released to board a ship in Cuxhaven, after being detained almost two weeks.
Hamburg profited from increased revenues in all
sectors: the ship owners (Reederen,) renters (Zimmervermieter,) provisioners (Unternehmen,) and agents.
Between 1836 and 1900, some four million people left
Europe from Hamburg. Overall, Bremen saw some 41%
of the European migrants leaving Europe through its
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waters while Hamburg had only about 31%.
As in Bremen, the Staatsarchiv in Hamburg was
established to collect and safeguard records relating to
the city’s role as a trading and shipping center.
The Hamburg Passenger Lists and
Related Records
Before 1845, Hamburg advised shipping companies
against recruiting emigrants from foreign countries.
Regulations passed by the city councilors provided
guidelines to manage the inflow of emigrants. They
mandated the keeping of passenger lists beginning in
1848. This provided that most emigrants would be documented as they traveled through Hamburg to embark
on their journeys.
The Hamburg lists include the names of approximately five million people who left between 1850 and
1934; 40% of whom originated in Germany and 60%
from other countries including Austria-Hungary. It has
been estimated that between 1880 and 1914 over one
million of those were from eastern Europe.
Ancestry.com has images for the earliest extant Hamburg lists from 1850 until 1934, but to
date, has an online index only for 1890-1913. They have
also posted the original handwritten indexes for 18551934. The complete lists and indexes are also available
on microfilm in the Family History Library at Salt Lake
City. Gaps from 1915 to 1919 are due to restricted shipping during the First World War.
There are two types of passenger lists. The first type
are the direct lists for ships leaving Hamburg and going
directly, without an intermediary stop, to their destination. The second type are the indirect lists created when
passengers were transferred to another ship or stopped
to take on more passengers at English, French, Belgian,
or Dutch ports before arriving at their destination. About
20 percent of the emigrants followed the latter route.
Both list types are indexed. Each contains a good deal
of information about passengers, including their name,
age, birth date, birthplace, occupation, residence, nationality, date of departure, date of arrival, ship’s name,
captain’s name, and other information (which varies
with each entry.)
The passenger lists were discovered in a port administration shed in Hamburg in 1940 that most likely
saved them from destruction in the Second World War.
Microfilms (almost 500 reels) of the originals are avail-
This authentic travelers envelope from the F. Missler Company was used by the emigrant to store his important
travel documents and papers. Envelope courtesy of Maralyn Wellauer.
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able at the Staatsarchiv in Hamburg, the Family History
Library, and the National Archives. The passenger lists
contain the names of approximately one-third of those
who emigrated from central and eastern Europe.
Additional records generated by the flow of emigrants through Hamburg include passport registers,
required by law in 1845. Applications for anyone requesting a passport in Hamburg (Reisepass Protokolle)
cover the years 1851 to 1929. Each volume is indexed.
They include inhabitants of Hamburg or one of the
many emigrants who arrived without a passport.
The police authority in Hamburg kept track of
people who came to work in the city. Some hoped to
work in Hamburg long enough to make money to pay
for a ship’s ticket. They were recorded in the Resident
Registration Office (Einwohnermeldeamt.) Registers of
non-citizen laborers, servants, craftsman, and factory
workers cover the years 1834-1890. The records contain
the applicant’s place and date of birth. Sometimes the
information given is even more complete than what was
supplied on the passenger lists.
Emigrants can also be found on lists of marriages
performed by consular officials, abstracts from ship’s
logs reporting births or deaths on Hamburg ships, or
registers of seamen who were mustered aboard ships in
Hamburg.
Shipping Companies
Sloman is the oldest Hamburg shipping company. It
ran sailing ships even into the 20th century. William
Sloman, an English captain, who became a Hamburg
citizen in 1791, established himself in 1798 as a ships
broker. After he died in 1800, his youngest son Robert
Miles Sloman, inherited the business and a few sailing ships. Eventually his oldest son Robert Miles Jr.,
received the ships brokering business from his father as
a gift.
In 1841, another broker, August Bolten, succeeded
William Miller, a Scot, in the shipping business in Hamburg. The company began to expand with the advent of
steam powered vessels. Bolten co-founded the Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt Aktien-Gesellschaft
(HAPAG) in 1847, with ship owner Ferdinand Laiesz
and banker Adolph Halle. He continued to represent this
and other German shipping lines during a time when
business in immigration was robust. Josef Pastor was
one of the Czech agents who worked for August Bolten
and was active in the 1870s. See the immigration flyer
for the Hamburska Linie published by Josef Pastor.
The Packet Company sailed from Hamburg to New
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York via Southampton (England.) The first sailing ship
they put into service was the “Deutschland” in 1848.
HAPAG put its first 2400-ton steamships, the “Borussia” and “Hammonia,” into service between Hamburg
and New York in 1856. The first director, Adolf Godeffroy, was a good businessman and a visionary. Under
his leadership the company flourished. Albert Ballin
joined the Lloyd line as managing director in 1888 and
continued with more innovations. In 1890, the HAPAG
ship, “Fuerst Bismarck” went from Hamburg to New
York in a record 6 days, 11 hours, and 44 minutes, becoming the fastest ship on the route.
HAPAG changed its name to Hamburg America
Line (Hamburg-Amerika Linie) in 1893 in order to appeal to more emigrants. By 1896, Hamburg-America
Line owned a fleet of 102 sailing vessels and was the
only shipping company at the time that maintained regular service between Europe and America. HAPAG dominated the market in Hamburg. They were the leader of
the pack, in part because they began using steamships.
They devoted their efforts to offering more comfortable
accommodations (especially for first and second class
passengers) and cutting down on travel time.
Shipping companies conveyed both people and cargo. They offered cheap passages to emigrants and low
freight charges on the return journey. By the beginning
of the 1890s, the Hamburg-America Steamship Company was making over 10 million Marks in profit per year
from the emigrant traffic. By the turn of the century, it
became the biggest shipping company worldwide.
Other Hamburg-based companies were the Baltimore Mail Steamship Company, Fisser & Dorrnum,
Hamburg-Amerika Linie, H.C. Horn, and Theodor &
F. Eimbcke. The agency, Karesch & Stotzky (Schiffexpedienten) was situated near the railroad station on
Bahnhofstrasse.
The North German Lloyd (Nord-deutscher Lloyd or
NDL) was founded in 1857 by Mr. Heinrich H. Meier, a
banker prominent in community affairs, who revamped
emigration from Bremen. Within one year, the NDL had
four screw steam ships in regular service to New York.
The company scored a major success when it obtained
a contract to transport mail to England and New York.
Baltimore was added to NDL’s scheduled run in 1866
and there were regular sailings to New Orleans in 1869.
By the end of the 1860s, they had a monopoly on the
Bremen passenger trade.
The company built the first Nord Deutsches Lloydhaus, a waiting place for 3rd class passengers, in 1869
and opened a new dry dock in 1872. According to news-
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paper reports in 1880, the NDL had steamers departing
from Bremen to New York twice a week. By 1882, on
its twenty-fifth anniversary, the NDL became the fourth
largest steamship company in the world. The NDL actively recruited willing emigrants from all over Europe
and organized their transport. It continued operating
with great success, due primarily to its reputation for
dependability, well-timed departures, and treatment of
emigrants with a sense of fairness. It became the largest
employer in Bremerhaven.
Most emigrants were transported in the betweendecks (the so-called Zwischendeck) area, which was the
space between the upper deck and the cargo hold. It was
often called steerage. It was that part of the ship allotted
to passengers at the cheapest rate. It was cramped and
dark with a ceiling height of 6 feet or less. Conditions
on board the early sailing vessels were primitive and
unsanitary, but this improved somewhat in the 1870’s.
Often the poor conditions were due to the fact that owners wanted to keep their costs low and cut corners wherever possible.
Sloman’s line was notorious for chronic neglect.
On some of their ships, large numbers of people died of
typhoid before reaching their destinations. Poor ventilation, lighting, bilge water, and sewerage seepage contamination were common complaints.
Regulations in Bremerhaven by 1866 required that
there should be two toilets for every 100 passengers;
four toilets for 100-200 passengers; and thereafter, one
toilet for each additional 100 passengers was added.
These allotments, as one can imagine, were less than adequate for people suffering from seasickness, diarrhea,
and dysentery. But on at least one ship, it was reported
that there were 542 passengers and only 6 toilets. In
1887, buckets in common use earlier, were replaced by
toilets. Many emigrants had never seen or used toilets
before their voyage.
Many ship owners, like Sloman, built an extra passenger deck between the Zwischendeck and the cargo
hold, called the orlop deck. The conditions there were
horrible and inhumane, resulting in deadly consequences. One vessel outfitted with an orlop deck, arrived in
New York in 1868 after a voyage lasting 70 days with
nearly one fifth of its passengers dead. Fortunately, orlop decks were outlawed in both Bremen and Hamburg
shortly after these incidents occurred.
The fatality rate on ships in Hamburg was 1.8%
between 1854 and 1858 and .4% on ships from Bremerhaven. Occasionally ships carried “medical kits” but it
was not mandatory for shipping companies to put a doc-
tor on board until 1887, when they also had to provide
space for one or two “sick rooms.” Some companies did
have a doctor available by the mid-1870s.
On some ships, men and women had separate accommodations. More often, emigrants were promised
this arrangement but it was never realized. Later in the
19th and early 20th centuries, companies offered passage on “luxury” ships, which provided amenities to the
first and second class passengers and the basic neccessaries to emigrants. Wooden “bunkbeds” were replaced
by iron beds in steerage. Mattresses and meals were
provided by the shipping companies, who were obliged
to stock provisions for 13 weeks, in case of emergency.
Meals were generally eaten in the sleeping areas. Dining
halls and separate kitchen facilities for third class passengers came later. Sanitary conditions on board were
periodically examined, but conditions between decks
often left much to be desired. Accommodations were
disinfected, but only between passages. Companies generally complied with the minimum standard of hygiene,
to keep costs low.
Competition among the U.S. railway companies
caused them to use many enticements to lure steamship
companies to dock in Baltimore, Philadelphia, or New
York. They often negotiated special rates with agents
and steamship companies to transport emigrants to their
inland destinations. The shipping companies required
that emigrants purchase railway tickets with their ocean
passage so they would not be stranded at Ellis Island
without means to proceed farther. It meant if they were
stranded, they could be sent back to Europe – at the
company’s expenses.
Legislation unfavorable to American shipping companies in the U.S., allowed German-owned companies
to thrive and eventually prevail in the transatlantic
transportation of emigrants.
Network of Brokers and Agents
The shipping companies built a network of emigration
agents in Germany and throughout Europe. They eventually branched out into the United States and Canada,
when the business became more lucrative and competitive.
Not long after 1832, the ships brokers (Schiffsmakler) and dispatchers (Expedienten) firmly established
themselves. Both served as intermediaries between
prospective emigrants and shipowners, who were planning a trip overseas and had space available. They sold
tickets on behalf of the shipowner. The brokers, who
did business on commission or contract, had the advantage in the process because the dispatchers could only
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place the travelers on board ships they were affiliated
with directly. Usually the business went as follows: the
shipowner informed brokers of the number of available
places. The brokers sent their agents out to procure the
approximated number. If they fell short, the task then
fell to a sub-agent to obtain the remainder. The brokers then got together with the shipowner to construct
a passenger list. The authorities insisted on an agency
system, shipping firms, unlike railroad companies, for
example, were prohibited from selling tickets directly to
customers.
The number of dispatchers in Germany grew
quickly. By 1856, there were already 12, and by 1870,
there were 25. In large measure, the growth of Bremen
was due to their tireless efforts. There were times when
this was helped along a bit by local government support.
The Bavarians prohibited Hamburg emigration agents
from working in their territory for a time around 1847
and issued recommendations for emigrants to travel via
Bremen.
Emigration agents were concentrated in “expedient
companies.” In addition to selling tickets for transatlantic passage, they arranged for transportation of emigrants from their villages to the port of departure. They
personally went out into various towns and villages to
recruit emigrants to pass through Bremen or Hamburg,
to distribute favorable reports of the New World from
earlier emigrants, to post notice and broadsides for the
steamship companies, and so on.
Fair handed agents would provide helpful information, such as what to bring and what not to bring (luggage specifications were ca. 150 U.S. pounds in 1888,)
sailing times, etc. They organized transportation to the
port, and insured that there was space available on the
vessel, among other services. Agents worked under contract with various shipping companies in Bremen and
Hamburg. They generally were paid a salary, but they
also received a percentage of the price of passage paid
by each passenger. It was a very profitable undertaking
and a strong competition between agents evolved.
The top emigration agencies in Hamburg were Louis Scharlach & Co. (established in 1847,) Falck (Falk) &
Co., and Morawetz. Other agencies included Albert Ballin, August Bolten, John Meyer & Co., C. Seligmann,
and W. Wolff. These agencies were required to procure
a business license from the government to operate, but
the agents they sent to the small villages and towns in
the European hinterlands were not subject to the same
regulations. A number of successful and busy agents in
central and eastern Europe included Georg Stoeckel,
Richard & Roas, and J. Pastor.
Page 14
Agents hired “sub-agents” at the grass roots level.
These were usually local people who already had the
confidence of the population and were in the best position to find out who was interested in emigrating. They
were sometimes local residents - clergy, bankers, innkeepers, tavern owners, and teachers, for instance. They
were often the first contact the emigrant had with the
emigration process – the first link in the chain. We hear
that innkeepers decorated their walls with colorful and
attractive posters issued by the shipping companies and
agents and they read letters received by previous immigrants aloud to patrons. Sub-agents could book passage
on a train to Bremen or Hamburg and sell pre-paid ship
tickets. They would forward the emigrant’s name to the
agent who would, in turn, register the passengers with
the shipping company. The sub-agent would receive a
voucher, imprinted with the words, “ship’s ticket” which
he gave to the payer. It contained instructions on how
to reach the port, shipping timetables, and amount paid
(number of spaces reserved.)
Both the agent and sub-agent received commissions
from the shipping company for their efforts. It was a
profitable venture for everyone involved. Some, wanting to make the experience even more lucrative, would
obtain more money from emigrants for “extras” like
procuring visas, travel permits, or bribes. Most agents
were reputable, but some were scoundrels and were to
blame for some of the misfortunes that followed.
Although emigration agents were discouraged and
often prohibited by law from actively soliciting emigrants, they often placed attractive advertisements in
local newspapers, distributed posters, and brochures.
Covertly, they may have read letters (real or imaginary)
from previous emigrants who found wealth and happiness in the New World. Some of the little “extras”
provided by agents, were frowned on by authorities or
were just plain unethical. They included those agents
who would advise young men on the best routes to take
in order to avoid military service. There were agents
who arranged for emigrants to meet with a moneylender
who would lend them money to pay for their passage. F.
Missler-J.Brugk distributed a pamphlet in Bohemia that
was titled, “How to Get to the Port of Bremen Without a
Passport.” Once there were laws in place, unscrupulous
agents were sometimes run out of the country (regions)
or were prosecuted. But first and foremost, the agents
saw to it that the emigrants opted for the shipping company that was paying their commissions.
Endorsements were helpful in recruiting future
emigrants. The Missler agency profited when one im-
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migrant sent advice to friends contemplating the journey
saying, “In Bremen, don’t forget to go to Missler, he
is an honest man and will not cheat you.” People who
had been dispatched by an agency signed acknowledgements of the good service they received that were in
turn published in local newspapers. If passengers were
not satisfied with the agent, they could complain to the
government and occasionally these letters were published. Laws were passed by local governments to prevent abuses and to remedy them.
Agencies had carriages available at railway stations
where emigrants could go to their nearby offices with
their luggage and any questions. Friedrich Missler and
Karesh and Stotzki agencies rose above the others in
Bremen. Missler, enlisted emigrants for the North German Lloyd between 1885 and 1923 and handled 1.8 million passengers. It is said that they generated income for
the North German Lloyd valued at 325 million Marks.
Agents and sub-agents represented larger entities
such as Missler, who in turn had a close working relationship with North German Lloyd steamship company.
Missler handled the bookings and arranged for the purchase and pre-payment of tickets on the ocean-going
vessels. Personal information such as names, ages, and
place of origin were collected by the agency and forwarded to the shipping company that ultimately created
the passenger lists. This accounts for at least some of
the information on the departure lists that were eventually deposited at the ports of Hamburg or Bremen. The
captain of the ship or one of his crew gathered additional data.
There may have been over 150 emigration agencies working in Germany by 1850. The exact number of
agents they employed will probably never be known.
The Austrian government started taking interest
in the trend of emigration and began keeping track of
those who crossed over the border by rail in 1851. The
government prosecuted agents who incited residents
to emigrate. They considered it a loss to the state, i.e.,
decreased tax revenues, loss of young men eligible for
military service, and a drain of skilled workers.
In 1862, Austrian citizens were granted the right to
emigrate (or migrate) but already thousands had left.
According to Josef Polišenský in his narrative, “The
Way From Home to Sea” (posted on P.A.T.H. Finder’s
website <<www.pathfinders.cz>>) the Hamburg based,
Morris & Company (Sons) was the first to show an interest in the Czech “emigrant market” and sent leaflets
to Bohemia as early as 1852. However, the agency’s
activities were not legally sanctioned until around 1870.
He also mentions a rivalry between two Bremen agents,
J. Pastor and Kares & Stocky {sic.}
By the 1880s, agents in the U.S. were selling thousands of pre-paid tickets to immigrants for passage to
send back to relatives in Europe. They made arrangements with the shipping company to send the ticket
along with instructions to the recipient. The recipients
would then deal with a local agent to arrange their journey to the port of embarkation. Sadly, for a time, the
Austro-Hungarian government intercepted letters that
contained pre-paid tickets in an effort to discourage
more people from leaving the country.
Emigration became big business for railroads and
inland navigation in Europe and North America. Governments, land speculators, and industrialists also benefited. By the last decade of the nineteenth century, there
were thousands of steamship company agents in New
York City. In addition to selling pre-paid tickets, they
also were enjoying a brisk trade in tickets for return
emigrants (Ruckwanderer in German) who wanted to
return to their homelands because they were unsuccessful or disenchanted with the New World.
A network of agents based in port cities and subagents developed in North America. They worked hand
in hand with land speculators and railway companies.
One example was Georg Stoeckel, who was a general
agent for Hamburg America Line and also a land agent
in Missouri, Kansas, and Texas. Emigration agents
in Europe needed a license to work in most places to
prevent fraud and to prevent them from exploiting emigrants or misleading them. Agents in America were not
subject to controls or licensing.
As the emigration of Germans declined due to an
improved economy in the 1880’s and 1890s, Missler
moved to recruit emigrants in eastern Europe. Astute in
business, they facilitated emigrants’ passages from the
east to Bremen effectively and economically and helped
make North German Lloyd into the largest shipping
company in Germany.
Arrival
The responsibilities of the shipping company extended
until the vessel arrived into its destination port.
After 1882, before ships were taken in charge by a
customs official at the port, no one except the captain,
a health officer, a customs officer, agents of the vessel,
and consuls were allowed to board or to leave ship. Normally, a public health inspector was the first to board an
incoming steamer. After 1893, no vessel from a foreign
port could enter a U.S. port without presenting a “Bill of
Health,” that certified the port from which they had just
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Page 15
sailed was free from contagious diseases. Quarantine officers would run an inspection to their own satisfaction.
Steerage passengers who were most under suspicion for
carrying contagions were searched most thoroughly. If
a ship did not pass inspection, a yellow flag was flown
from the foremast to indicate a problem.
The captain was required to present three different documents to customs house authorities: a list of
all passengers, a list of stores (e.g., provisions left on
board at the end of the voyage,) and a manifest, which
was a declaration of the entire cargo. From the shipping
companies’ point of view, the passenger list was useful
in keeping track of the migration of people. Moreover, it
facilitated accountability, particularly in cases of criminal, diseased, or other undesirable persons, who were all
now deemed to be their responsibility, ultimately.
Immigrants to the United States after 1900 were required to answer 29 questions upon arrival. Many were
denied entry to the country based on their replies. Approximately 10% of them used an established appeals
process. The Secretary of Commerce and Labor was
the final arbiter. Roughly, two percent were eventually
detained and deported. The shipping companies were
responsible for paying their return passages.
The master of the ship was also required to keep a
log book, in which he noted daily observations of the
weather, running times, and unusual circumstances such
as iceberg sightings, and collision reports. In addition,
he noted any births, marriages, or deaths that occurred
on board. These were eventually sent back to the shipping companies for review.
Redress upon arrival in New York
The practices of emigration agents affected immigrants
after they landed at their destinations. An honest deal
meant emigrants could disembark from the ship and
board transportation that would speed them to their
destinations. A botched plan could leave them stranded,
bewildered, alone, and without means.
By the end of the 19th century, immigrants had
limited opportunities to obtain redress for their grievances. Complaints were lodged mainly by people whose
suffering was caused by methods used by unscrupulous
agents. The vast majority probably did not go on record
due to the lack of sufficient language skills, money, and
representation. Many had been made false promises and
relieved of large sums of money.
In New York, the Commission of Emigration (established in 1880) investigated complaints made by
immigrants against shipping companies or agents. These
included complaints against the management of the
Page 16
vessel, promises made (misrepresentations,) provisions
lacking, illnesses, lack of hygienic conditions, among
other issues. But it was usually a David and Goliath
scenario, in which the larger Bremen and Hamburg
companies, who also had offices in New York, remained
unscathed. For example, when it was reported that an
inordinate number of people died during the voyage,
companies retorted that they were ill when they came on
board. They generally prevailed in the end.
Another example of this appeared in The New York
Times on June 21, 1882 under the title, “Swindling Immigrants: Sharp Practice of Hamburg Ticket Agents
– A Poor Bohemian Fleeced.” It is illustrative of the
process. It was reported that Franz Janca, an immigrant
from Bohemia, was sold a worthless order (voucher) for
a railway ticket to the west, for which he paid $51. He
told an official at Castle Garden that he stopped at the
office of Louis Scharlach in Hamburg and purchased
passage to New York for he, his wife, and infant child.
He said after he left the office, a man ran after him telling him he’d better purchase a railway ticket there, as it
would cost much more if he waited until after his arrival
in New York to buy it. The passage to New York, via
London on the steamship, Erin, seemingly went according to plan, but when he presented the voucher in exchange for a ticket to Minnesota, he was informed that it
was worthless. He further discovered that he could purchase a ticket to the same destination for $22.75 in New
York, but by this time, his money was all gone. He had
to apply to the Commissioners of Emigration (Castle
Garden) in the city for aid. A few years later, complaints
were directed to the Ellis Island Immigrant Bureau.
Inquires by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service were made between 1898 and 1936 which
further revealed schemes by immigration agents or
steamship companies to evade American immigration
laws, among other concerns. Their reports are preserved
in Series A: Subject Correspondence Files titled “European Investigations” kept at the National Archives in
Washington, D.C.
Conclusion
Heinz Fassmann reported in his study “Auswanderung
aus der oesterreichisch-ungarischen Monarchie 18691910” published in 1996 that, according to port records
of Hamburg and Bremen in 1876, only 7,626 inhabitants
of Austria-Hungary went overseas, while the number
increased to 62,605 in 1900. Fassman also found that
of the almost 15 million people who went to North
America between 1890 and 1914, over 20% were from
the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
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When serious efforts were made in the early 1900s
to entice central and east European emigrants to leave
from Trieste and other non-German ports, a fierce competition ensued and fares were slashed. Consequently,
the numbers traveling through Bremen and Hamburg
declined somewhat as a result. Economic problems later
in the decade also diminished emigration, just when
NDL and HAPAG were gearing up for increased traffic
after a number of banner years. Still in 1907 and 1913,
over 200,000 emigrants left from Bremen/Bremerhaven.
The shipping companies and the North Sea ports
suffered a much greater blow to transatlantic travel
during the First World War – a major setback that took
them years to recover. Both NDL and HAPAG had their
entire fleets confiscated or damaged. Although after the
war, when emigration from Germany rose again around
1921, still about two thirds of the passengers were from
eastern Europe. This continued until the United States
passed restrictions on immigration (the National Origins
Quota Acts of 1921 and 1924) that were overtly designed to primarily limit (or completely prohibit) immigration from eastern and southern Europe.
However, after two world wars and other difficulties, many of the companies who made their fortunes in
the emigrant trade are still in business and thriving in
the same ports they started in over 100 years ago. Two
noteable examples are Hapag-Lloyd AG, which was
created on September 1, 1970 as a result of the merger
of the shipping lines, Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (Hamburg-America Line or
HAPAG) and Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) (North German Lloyd,) and Sloman’s company, which still exists
today but is no longer in the shipping business.
Both Hamburg and Bremen continue to honor their
past involvements with the mass migration of millions
to North America by building fine museums devoted to
telling the story of the shipping companies, the agents,
and the emigrants. The author and her husband, Brian J.
Lenius, visited the Deutsches Auswanderer Haus at Bremen in May 2006, and were favorably impressed. The
site of the museum today is located at the old harbor,
which was opened in 1830.
A skillful recreation of scenes on the “Kaje” wharf
in 1888 helps visitors imagine what it must have been
like waiting for and boarding ships at the Abschied (Departure.) Mannequins in period costumes let us imagine
our ancestors eagerly waiting on the docks. Displays
explain the baggage they took with them, what they
looked like, and what provisions (food) they packed.
They raise and answer questions like What were they
thinking? Who were they? Why did they leave? Where
did they come from? and What were the causes leading
to emigration?
Ballinstadt (Ballin City) Emigration Museum in
Hamburg opened on July 4, 2007. The facility is dedicated to the five million people who passed through
the port between 1850 and 1939. It is located on the
grounds of the former emigrant halls, which operated
between 1901 and 1907. One of the original buildings
is still standing; others have been reconstructed. The
museum attracts people who wish to view artifacts
emigrants took aboard ships, read letters that were exchanged between friends and family, and to do genealogical research.
The author would like to acknowledge Mrs. Ursula
Woest, historian and curator of BallinStadt Hamburg,
Dr. Adolf Hofmeister, Staatsarchiv Bremen, and Mr.
Karl Wesling, member of die Maus in Bremen, for their
assistance in preparation for this article.
Recommended Reading
Armgort, Arno. Bremen-Bremerhaven- New York
1683-1960. A History of Emigration Through the Ports
of Bremen. Bremen, 1991. In German.
Engelsing, Rolf. Bremen als Auswandererhafen
1683-1880. Bremen, 1961.
Fassmann, H. “Auswanderung aus der ÖsterreichUngarischen Monarchie (1869-1910)” in Auswanderungen aus Österreich. Neyer, G., Horvath, T. eds. Wien,
1996, pp. 33-56.
Just, M. “Hamburg als Transithafen fuer osteuropaische Auswanderer” in Nach Amerika. (Museum fuer
Hamburgische Geschichte.) Hamburg, 1976.
Korntheuer, Monika. Der lange Weg nach Ellis
Island: Emigration aus dem oesterreichischen Teil der
Habsburgermonarchie ueber deutsche Hafen nach den
USA um 1900. 2006.
Maidl, Peter. “Hier isst man anstadt Kardofln und
Schwarzbrodt Pasteten…” in Die deutsche Ueberseewanderung des 19. Jahrhunderts in Zeitzeugnissen.
Augsburg, 2000.
Marschalck, Peter, Die deutsche Ueberseewanderung im 19. Jahrhundert. Stuttgart, 1973.
Marschalck, Peter. Inventar der Quellen zur Geschichte der Wanderungen, besonders der Auswanderung, in Bremer Archiven. Bremen, 1986.
Moltmann, Guenther, ed. Deutsche Amerikaauswanderung im 19. Jahrhundert. Stuttgart, 1976.
Moenckmeier, Wilhelm. Die deutsche Uebersee-
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Page 17
ische Auswanderung. Jena, 1912.
Sielemann, Juergen, et al, eds. “Overseas Emigration and Family Research.” 2000.
Walker, Mack. Germany and the Emigration 18161885. Cambridge, 1964.
Wiborg, Dr. Klaus and Susanne. 1847 – 1997: Unser Feld ist die Welt – 150 Jahre Hapag-Lloyd. Hamburg, 1997.
About the Author
Maralyn A. Wellauer-Lenius is a retired teacher, professional genealogist, and writer born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She now resides in Selkirk (near
Winnipeg,) Manitoba, Canada. Some of her interests
are Germanic (primarily Swiss) and Czech (Bohemian)
genealogy, and emigration and immigration history.
In 1960, at age 11, Maralyn drew a “family tree”
picture showing her Bohemian paternal great-grandparents, Josef and Josefina (Brabec) Duras, on the tree
trunk. Her grandmother, Mary Ella (Duras) Wellauer,
still spoke perfect Czech, which she had learned from
her father. While she was growing up, Maralyn faithfully recorded her grandmother’s stories and recollections. She began her genealogical search in earnest in
1968, when she wrote her first letter to Czechoslovakia
during the Prague Spring. The response contained no
helpful information. Later, a few family documents
were received through the Czechoslovakian Embassy’s
genealogical service. The story of the Duras family in
Bohemia wasn’t complete until the 1990s, when the
author received help from Czech researcher, Jan Pařez.
The Durases and their young son left Bremen on
the maiden voyage of the Hohenstauffen in September
1874. They arrived in New York City on September 17.
Josef was born in Rakovník (Rakonitz) and Josefina in
Petrovice (Petrowitz).
Maralyn has authored many genealogy books and
articles. One of her early works, Tracing Your Czech
and Slovak Roots (1980) has helped many family historians to find the European origins of their ancestors
in U.S. records. Another book, German Immigration
to America in the 19th Century (1985) described the
departure and arrival ports, the emigration experience,
and the paper trail created in the process of leaving the
homeland.
Maralyn can be contacted by email at genealogy@
swiss.ca.
Genealogical Research
Search in Archives
Creating Family Trees
Contacting Living Relatives
Rev. Jan Dus
nabrezi svobody 561, Policka
572 01, Czech Republic
[email protected]
US toll-free: (800) 807-1562
Personal Escort
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Guiding; Interpreting; Driving
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Anything You Need While Traveling
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Find Your Roots and Get Connected!
Genealogical Research
Contact Living Relatives
Personalized Ancestral Tours
Tom Hrncirik (A.G.) 832-934-2772
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28485 Tomball Parkway #381, Tomball, TX 77375
(14 years experience)
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Page 19
Once you click the link you will get an
explanation about the lists. The problem is
that these lists can be quite cumbersome to
use. One reason is that there are two sets of
indexes--one for direct (that is, those whose
ships went directly to their destination) and
another for indirect (those that stopped in
other ports before the final destination).
Then several years ago, the Hamburg State
Archive, began indexing these lists (using
the original lists in their collection), and put approximately 2,547,135 names from the years 1890-1913
online under the “Link to Your Roots” moniker, as part
of an ongoing project. The year 1890 was selected as a
starting point because of the emigration surge from that
Using the Hamburg
Passenger List Database at Ancestry.com
by Lisa A. Alzo, M.F.A.
Most genealogists are used to searching passenger lists
for the port of arrival of their immigrant ancestors. But
did you know that some searchable passenger lists from
port of embarkation are also available?
The Hamburg Passenger lists 1850-1934 are a
unique source for genealogical research as well as the
study of the history of emigration and immigration. The
lists include approximately 5 million records
of individuals, approximately 80% of whom
were destined for the United States.
Hamburg Emigration
Just as American immigration officials recorded our ancestors’ arrivals, officials at foreign
ports recorded their departures. Hamburg is
one of several ports where this was done, but
is one of the most important since, approximately one-third of people emigrating from
Germany, Central or Eastern Europe in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries did so
from the port at Hamburg, Germany.
Accessing the Hamburg Passenger
Lists
These lists are not new. More experienced
researchers may be aware that the index to
these records has long been available through
the Family History Library (FHL). To search
the FHL catalog for these lists, go to <www.
familysearch.org>, then click on the “Library”
tab, then the “Family History Library Catalog”
tab. Next, click on the “Place Search” tab,
and in the search boxes provided type “Hamburg, Germany. On the next screen you will
see several choices. Select “Germany, Hamburg, Hamburg” and then click on the link for
“Germany, Hamburg, Hamburg - Emigration
and immigration,” and on the next screen
scroll to ‘Auswandererlisten, 1850-1934.”
Page 20
Screen shot of Ancestry.com showing the Card Catalog listing for databases: Hamburg Passenger Lists, Handwritten Indexes, 1855-1934 and
Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934
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the top of the page for the
English version).
Good News for Online Sleuths
While the conventional microfilmed indexes are still
very useful, there’s now a
time-saving database available for a portion of these
records.
Ancestry.com <www.
ancestry.com>, in partnership with the Hamburg
State Archive, has added
the Hamburg Passenger
lists to its large collection
of paid-subscription databases (see the site for subscription pricing).
This database contains
passenger lists of ships that
departed from the port of
Hamburg, Germany from
1850-1934 (with a gap
from 1915-1919 due to
World War I). The database
includes images of the passenger lists digitized from
microfilm, and a partial
This image of the Ancestry database card catalog shows what comes up with the entry of
index, covering the years
Hamburg Passenger Lists in the title field.
1890-1913. Some 200,000
images have already been
added. Ancestry plans to continue to index the records
time until WWI. This effort was useful in that at least
until all of the original 5 million names are online.
it brought some of the lists online, but if you happened
As noted above, this collection is only accessible
to spot your ancestor hiding in the search results, you
via a paid subscription to Ancestry—either your own, or
were only given some of the information: names, state
through a library that offers access for free to patrons.
of origin, marital status, date of birth, destination, and
Once you have gained access to the collection, you can
whether there were any family members traveling with
them (just enough details provided to determine whether access it on Ancestry’s site via several methods:
1) By going to the “Search” tab on the home page,
any of the names matched your search). Then, you had
and
clicking “View All Ancestry Titles” in the “Browse
to pay a fee via credit card to see the rest of the details,
Records” box on the right-hand, and then scrolling
such as the name of ship and date of arrival, and these
details were only in text format, not the digitized image. through the list or clicking on the “Immigration” link
on the left-side under “Narrow Your Search, Record
Then with the July 4th, 2007 opening of the “AusType.”; 2) From the “Search” tab, by clicking on the
wandererwelt BallinStadt” and the “Emigration Research Service” was reorganized. See <www.ballinstadt. “Immigration” category in the “Browse Records” box;
3) Under “Search Resources,” by clicking on “Card
de/de/index.php> for more information. (Note: when
Catalog” and then type in “Hamburg Passenger Lists”
you get to the site, click on the small American flag at
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Page 21
Link to Your Roots; emigration research service located at Hamburg-Veddel, Germany.
in the “Database Title” search box and click “Search.”
Then click on the “Hamburg Passenger Lists, 18501934” to begin the search process for your ancestor.
Don’t Speak Deutsch?
Before you dive into this database, it is important to
note that the lists, created in Hamburg, Germany, are in
German. The forms use German script, which may present a challenge to the untrained eye. But, don’t let that
dissuade you. There are several translation tools available to help you with the headings, including:
Babelfish <www.babelfish.altavista.com>
FamilySearch Research Guide: German Genealogical Word List <www.familysearch.org>; (Click on
the Family History Library Catalog and then Research
Guidance and select G and then scroll down to Germany
and the German Genealogical Word List)
Omniglot <www.omniglot.com> This site contains
helpful examples of the script and the letters they represent .
By using a combination of these tools, you can apPage 22
proximate the meanings of some of the terms found on
the images. For example:
Zuname = surname
Vornamen = given name
Geschlecht = Gender
Mannlich = male
Weiblich = female
Alter (in Jahren) = age (in years)
Familienstand = family status
Verheiratet = married
Geschieden = divorced
Ledig = single
Verwitwet = widowed
Beruf = occupation
Stellung = position
Staatsangehorigkeit = citizenship, nationality
Bisheriger wohnort = past residence
Ziel der Auswanderung = destination
Ort und staat = place and state
Narrow the Search by Ethnicity/
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Nationality
If you want to narrow your search by your ancestor’s
nationality, you will also need to know the German
name for it. Below is a short list of some nationality
listings those researching Central or East European
ancestors may come across in the database. You should
also consult historical maps and gazetteers for the time
period in which your ancestor emigrated to make sure
you have the correct locality.
Belgien = Belgium
Bulgarien = Bulgaria
Deutschland = Germany
Osterreich = Austria
Polen = Poland
Russland = Russia
Schweiz = Switzerland
Kroatien = Croatia
Niederlande = Netherlands
Rumanien = Romania
Serbien = Serbia
Ungarn = Hungary
Narrow the Search by Residence
Another way to narrow down the results is to search
by town name. I decided to do a search for my paternal
grandmother’s surname, Fenscak. From previous research I already knew that most of my direct ancestors
in this line emigrated from a different port—Bremen,
but since it is always good to check for clues in the records for siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. and not
just your direct ancestors, I searched for this surname
anyway. Through this collateral line research, I found a
Mihaly Fenyscak listed (most likely a cousin), with his
town of origin as “Posa,” which is in what was formerly
Hungary, or Ungarn. (Slovakia on current maps.) The
text version of the original image (which could be seen
by clicking on the link) is shown below:
Name: Mihaly Fenycsak
Departure Date: 2 Mai 1912 (2 May 1912)
Estimated birth year: abt 1894
Age Year: 18
Gender: männlich (Male)
Marital Status:
ledig (Single)
Family: Household members
Residence: Posa
Ethnicity/Nationality: Ungarn (Hungarian)
Occupation: Landmann, Tagelöhner
Ship Name: Amerika
Shipping Line:
Hamburg-Amerika Linie (Hamburg-Amerikanische PacketfahrtMarch 2008 Vol. 20 No. 1
Mary Straka (right) is shown in this 1924 photograph on
her wedding day. Mary was matched in marriage to a
steelworker named Andrew Yuhasz (Juhász), a boarder
who lived in her mother’s house. Mary’s aunt, Verona
Straka--the author’s grandmother (left) served as the maid
of honor.
Ship Type: Accommodation: Ship Flag: Port of Departure:
Port of Arrival:
Volume: Page: Actien-Gesellschaft)
Dampfschiff
Zwischendeck
Deutschland (Germany)
Hamburg
Cuxhaven; (New York) Southampton; Cherbourg; New York
373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 245
907
I also found several spelling variations of this name
(e.g. “Fencsik,”Fenczak” and “Fencsak,” among others,
which I will want to explore further). You also have the
capability to search for exact names, by checking the
box “Exact Matches Only” but should only do this if
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Page 23
you are 100% certain of the spelling of your ancestor’s
name. This is difficult with exotic-sounding Eastern
European surnames that were spelled phonetically, so in
most cases, it is best not to use this feature and narrow
your search by other criteria.
Just remember, last residence does not necessarily
mean birthplace. It may simply be the last place they
lived, but it does provide a way you to follow their trail.
gration statistics, here are two sites you can consult:
Migration from Hungary to the U.S.–Figures of
European Ports
http://www.bogardi.com/gen/g025.htm
Narrow the Search by Ship
If you believe your ancestor traveled from a port other
than Hamburg, and haven’t already done so, try to
locate them on this side of the Atlantic. By adding a
couple of weeks to the departure date and looking for
the manifest of the same ship in New York passenger
arrival records, you may find his or her entry into the
United States.
You can use the Ellis Island Database for free (with
a registered user name and password) <www.ellisisland.
org> if your ancestor arrived at the port of New York
between 1892-1924; or Castle Garden’s free site <www.
castlegarden.org> for 1820-1913 (text results only, no
scanned images). For additional searches, try Ancestry.
com’s Immigration Collection (paid subscription) which
includes: The New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957
and lists for Baltimore (1820-1948), Boston (18201943), New Orleans (1820-1945), Philadelphia (18001945), and other U.S. ports. If you are having trouble
with direct searching, you can use the One-Step Web
Pages and Search tools created by Steve Morse for free
at: <www.stevemorse.org>.
In some cases you may be able find records for
them leaving Europe, and arriving in the United States.
When working with passenger lists, it’s always a good
idea to check out fellow passengers. Once you locate
your ancestor, do a search by ship name and arrival date
and browse through the passengers. You might recognize a familiar or misspelled name this way. To narrow
it down a little, include your ancestor’s nationality.
I tried this with Mihaly Fenycsak and after initially
getting thousands of hits, by adding “Ungarn” I got 166.
(Note: You won’t get any hits if you type the words
“Czech” or “Slovak” in the Ethnicity/Nationality boxes
because of the time period this database covers). But
don’t just look at the names. Look for others from the
same town or nearby towns.
Another tip: Once you’ve located your ancestor,
save your search by clicking Ancestry’s “Save record to
my shoebox” by clicking. The next time you log in simply go to the “My Ancestry” tab and to your shoebox to
retrieve your saved images. Ancestry also saves your 15
most recently viewed records. Note that you will only
be able to use the Shoebox feature with a personal subscription.
Name that Port
Still not finding your ancestor? Keep in mind that Hamburg was not the only European port. Bremen (Germany), Fiume, (Croatia), Antwerp (Belgium), and several
other ports were bustling emigration centers in the early
1900s.
Unfortunately, most of the records from Bremen
have not survived. However, thanks to an ongoing
reconstruction effort, some Bremen Passenger Lists
(1920-1930) can be viewed online at <www.schiffslisten.de/index_en.html>. Likewise, for Antwerp, only
one passenger register has fully survived (the one for
1855), and there are some incomplete passenger lists for
the period 1920-1940 (Rijksarchief Beveren), with no
indexes. See the Belgium Roots project <http://belgium.
rootsweb.com/migr/emig/antwerp/index.html>.
If you want to do some additional research for emi-
Page 24
Poland GenWeb
<www.rootsweb.com/~polwgw/Research.html>
Using Immigration Lists
Handwriting Tips
As with other handwritten records available for genealogical research, you’ll find some terrible handwriting
samples in this database. If you have found an ancestor in the index, but experience difficulty with locating
him or her by name on the page, look for his or her age
or some other more recognizable piece of information
found in the index. Even so, you will still want to scan
the page for other family members or traveling companions who may have been also been on board with your
ancestor, as immigrants often traveled with their relatives, friends, or neighbors.
If you’re having a tough time reading a letter or
word, use the zoom and then also click on the magnifying glass for a closer look. Compare letters to others on
the page that may be more readable. Sometimes if you
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focus on just one letter at a time, you can achieve success deciphering a seemingly unreadable word.
How Do I Find a Name that is not Indexed?
Ellis Island Database <www.ellisisland.org>
Family History Library (Auswandererlisten, 1850-1934)
<www.familysearch.org>
Link to Your Roots <www.linktoyourroots.com>
To access records for the years that have not yet been
indexed, you may want to begin by browsing the companion database, Hamburg Passenger Lists, Handwritten
Indexes, 1855-1934. Using the handwritten indexes, you
can look up the name of your ancestor alphabetically by
year and find the departure date or page number of the
passenger list. Then you can return to this database and
browse to the images by selecting the year of departure,
then selecting the particular volume (Band) that covers
the date range when your ancestor sailed, then browsing to the image that matches the departure date or page
number found in the handwritten index. I needed to use
this option to locate the record for my maternal grandmother, Verona (Straka) Figlar who arrived in the U.S.
in 1922 via Hamburg, Southampton and Cherbourg.
This was an indirect route and her emigration year has
not yet been indexed. It’s a bit of a tedious process and
you have to be patient until you locate your ancestor.
If you don’t yet have an estimated departure date, you
need to do some original research either in immigration records, naturalization petitions, or by asking living
relatives. You can also refer to the FHL conventional
microfilmed indexes if the year you need to search has
not yet been indexed into the database.
One in Five Million
Perhaps your ancestor was one in 5 million individuals
recorded on passenger lists from the port of Hamburg
between 1850 and 1934. Even if family lore indicates a
different immigration route, it is still worth checking in
this database. You never know where that elusive ancestor may be hiding!
References
Ancestry.com <www.ancestry.com>
Babel Fish <www.babelfish.altavista.com>
Omniglot <www.omniglot.com>
One-Step Web Pages (Steve Morse) <www.stevemorse.
org>
PolandGenWeb <www.rootsweb.com/~polwgw/Research.html>
Radix Genealogy – Research in Hungary (Migration
from Hungary to the USA) <www.bogardi.com/gen/
g025.htm>
About the Author:
Lisa A. Alzo has been a genealogist for over 17 years
and is the author of six books including: Three Slovak Women, Baba’s Kitchen: Slovak & Rusyn Family
Recipes and Traditions (Gateway Press), Finding Your
Slovak Ancestors (Heritage Productions), Pittsburgh’s
Immigrants and Slovak Pittsburgh and the recently
published Sports Memories of Western Pennsylvania
(Arcadia Publishing), as well as numerous articles for
genealogy magazines. Lisa serves on the Board of Directors for CGSI. She is an instructor of online genealogy classes for GenClass.com, and the National Institute
for Genealogical Studies, and is a frequent speaker at
national conferences, genealogical and historical societies.
Editor’s Note
I recently received a message from Lisa stating she has
been selected as the speaker for the “Letters Workshop”
at the National League of American Pen Women’s Biennial Convention April 24-27, 2008 in Alexandria, VA.
She will lead a workshop entitled: “Silent No More:
Giving a Voice to Her Story” on Saturday April 26th.
Her proposal was chosen by the judges over nine very
good submissions.
BELGIUM-ROOTS Project, Ports of departure, Emigration port Antwerp (Belgium): RootsWeb <http://belgium.rootsweb.com/migr/emig/antwerp/index.html>
Bremen Passenger Lists 1920 – 1939 <http://www.
schiffslisten.de/index_en.html>
Castle Garden <www.castlegarden.org>
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Page 25
Family Certificate
Awarded
by Mr. Clair Haberman
CGSI Family Certificate number 159 was
awarded to Marvin
Louis Zadnichek II in
recognition of the 1869
arrival in the United
States of his greatgreat-grandparents,
Frank and Fannie Zadnichek.
In his biographical information Mr Zadnichek
states: “The name
may have been spelled
Zedniček. According to my Czech-English Dictionary,
Zednik can be translated as brick layer or mason. The
‘ček’ is a diminutive originally signifying ‘little’ or ‘son
of.’ Thus, Zedniček would mean ‘son of a brick layer or
mason.’
“In 1854, Frank married Francis ‘Fannie’ Zatcheka
Kromple in Bohemia. She had been married to J.
Kromple and had at least two children with him. Fannie’s ancestral village may be Prosek near Prague because her obituary includes the name of a sister who
lived there.
“My ancestors traveled to the United States in
1869. Their port of embarkation, the name of the vessel
on which they traveled and their port of entry are unknown. Their destination was Quarry, Iowa, where large
stone quarries were located. They joined other families,
including several members of the Zatcheka family.  All
these immigrants were from the same area of Bohemia. Frank worked in the quarries for a year, and then
was employed by the Chicago & North Western Railway Company as a track laborer. His early railroad pay
records list his name as Frank Sitnek.
“In 1874, their three children, Joseph, Anna and
Louis, emigrated from Bohemia to join them. Louis
(1865 - 1931), my great grandfather, joined Frank as a
railroad employee. Eventually five of Frank’s grandchildren also worked for the railroad. Joseph became
a skilled stone carver. In 1887, Louis married Theresa
Posekany (born in 1869 in Cetoroz, Bohemia). Their
son, Louis Frank Zadnichek (1892-1954) and Bessie
Page 26
Emily Burgess Zadnichek were Marvin’s grandparents. Louis and Bessie’s son, Marvin Louis Zednichek
(1914-1981) and Elizabeth Lois Beiser Zadnichek were
Marvin’s parents.
“Fannie was struck and killed by a passenger train
at Quarry in 1904. Frank retired from the railroad  in
1909. He died in 1923.”
As evidence of the immigrant’s presence in the
United States Marvin submitted a copy of the certificate
granting Frank United States citizenship. In the certificate Frank renounced allegiance to the Emperor of
Austria, but did not include the name Franz Josef. The
date of the granting of citizenship was 1876. A copy of
a 1900 census record states that Frank and Fannie had
arrived in the United States in 1869.
Certificate 90 was awarded to Lee Allyn James
in recognition of the arrival in the United States of
his great grandparents, Tomáš and Marie (Kalot)
Kohout, in May 1873. Mr. James has not been able to
determine the port of entry of his ancestors.
The ancestral village of both Tomáš and Marie
was Hamr in the Tábor region of Bohemia. The ages of
Tomáš and Marie, at the time of immigration, were 36
and 26 respectively. The following information came
from the biography that Mr. James submitted. In the
1860s Bohemia was part of the Austrian Empire. Tomáš
served in the Austrian Army in a war against Prussia
and Italy. In 1866 he fought on the Italian Front under
Marshall Radecky. The Austrian Army defeated the
Italians at Custozza. The main Austrian Army, however,
was routed by the Prussians at Sadova (Königgrätz) on
July 3, 1866. Austria sued for peace.
Tomáš and Marie were married on November 12,
1867. Tomáš’ occupation as shown on the marriage
certificate was a ‘podruh’ (a tenant). The turmoil in Bohemia in years following the wars against Prussia and
Italy may have led to the Kohout’s decision, in May
1873, to emigrate to the United States. Accompanying
them were their sons, Josef and Václav. Mr. James is not
descended from either of these sons. His grandmother,
Katherine, was born in Cleveland in 1876.
Cleveland City Directories indicate that Tomáš was
a laborer and that the family lived at 150 Rhodes Ave,
in a Czech neighborhood, on the near West Side. Tomáš
and Marie Americanized their names to Thomas and
Mary. Thomas filed his intention to become a United
States citizen in 1874. In 1880 the family moved to
Woodbine, Harrison County, Iowa. Citizenship was
awarded to Thomas by the Circuit Court of Harrison
Naše rodina
County in 1885. Three children, Thomas, Marie and
Anna, were born in Iowa. The Iowa Department of
Public Health has no record of Thomas’ death. The inscription on his headstone in the Woodbine cemetery
gives 1891 as the year of his death. Mary died in 1912
at Woodbine, Iowa.
Mr. Allen submitted copies of two different declarations of intent to become a citizen as evidence of
Thomas’ residence in the United States. They were both
issued on the same date and signed by the same judge.
They have the same language that is typical of declarations. One is more ornate, with a picture of an eagle and
a seal. The other bears an x (with the word “his” above
and the word “mark” below) between his first and last
name. A copy of the 1900 Census documents Mary’s
presence in the United States.
Notice of Correction to Family Certificate
Awarded in the March 2007 issue of Naše rodina.
The article Family Certificate’s Awarded, published in
Naše rodina (March 2007, Volume 19, page 35, right
hand column) contained a misspelling of Mary Jane
Scherdin’s maiden name. The correct spelling is Mary
Jane Liskovec Scherdin. 
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only services. The rates for the following
approximate ad sizes are: full page (7” x
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must be camera-ready. Queries are free
to members.
Charitable Giving
Founded in 1988, the goal of the
Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International is to promote
genealogical research and interest in ancestry for those tracing
their family to the geographic
area encompassing the Czech
and Slovak Republics. Help
continue this legacy by including
CGSI in your will or estate plan.
Contact your legal advisor for
more information.
Ads must be approved by newsletter committee
Future Themes for Naše rodina:
June 2008...CGSI’s 20th Anniversary Issue
September 2008...U.S. Land Records used for Genealogy
December 2008...Bohemians and Moravians in Kansas
March 2009...Ethnic Churches Role in Genealogy
Your articles are welcome, although not all can be published
E-Mail articles or inquiries to Paul Makousky at [email protected]
or send by U.S. Mail: 8582 Timberwood Rd., Woodbury, MN 55125-7620
Naše rodina
Page 27
The sailing ship, Galveston.
Photo courtesy of Leo Baca.
Locating Immigrant Ship
Pictures
By Leo Baca
Not too long ago searching for pictures of ships that
brought your ancestors to America was a long and
complicated process. Today the internet has put many
resources at your finger tips that may simplify your
search. Sometimes it may be as simple as a Google
search. Another source that is easy to use is Ancestry.
com. However, a subscription is required for this ser-
Page 28
vice. If you don’t want to pay for
this service, you have a couple of
choices. One possibility is to contact the research librarian at your
local library to get information as
to how you can access Ancestry.
com from your home computer.
Many city libraries maintain
subscription to Ancestry.com.
Another possibility is to visit
your local LDS Family History
Center as most have subscribed to
Ancestry.com.
If these sources don’t work
for you, there are many websites
to access on the internet. If your
ancestors arrived in New York
between the 1890s and the 1920s,
you should try: http://www.ellisislandrecords.org.
Another source is: http://
www.theshipslist.com. You can
also try: http://www.stevemorse.
org/ellis/pictures.html. There is
also the Palmer List of Merchant
Vessels: http://www.geocities.
com/mppraetorius. When doing your research I would like
to caution you as to one aspect
of ship research that you need to
be aware of. Ship names are not
necessarily unique. The same
name can be used by shipping
companies in different countries
and a shipping company can reuse the same name when an old
ship is retired and a new ship is brought into service. So
you need to be aware of when the ship was in service. In
addition, there may be occasions when you may need to
know the shipping company that operated the ship you
are interested in.
If you are still having trouble, there are a number
of books that you can consult such as “Ships of Our
Ancestors” by Michael J. Anuta and “Passenger Ships
of the World, Past and Present” by Eugene W. Smith.
Should you find the ship picture you are looking for,
you will probably want a copy that is suitable for framing. You can write to sources identified or you can find
their websites. The sources are usually naval museums
or societies such as: Peabody Essex Museum, East India
Naše rodina
Square, Salem, Massachusetts 01970; Mystic Seaport,
P.O. Box 6000, Mystic, Connecticut 06355; Mariners’
Museum, 100 Museum Drive, Newport News, Virginia
23606; and Steamship Historical Society of America,
1029 Waterman Avenue, East Providence, Rhode Island
02914. Two German museums that I have found to
be helpful are: Deutsches Schiffahrts Museum, HansScharoun-Platz 1, D-27568 Bremerhaven, Germany and
Bremer Landesmuseum, Schwachhauser Heerstrasse
240, 28213 Bremen, Germany. Sometimes the search
for a ship picture can lead to some exotic sources. Years
ago Albert Blaha tracked down a picture of a ship that
he was looking for in the Port Adelaide Nautical Museum, Adelaide, Australia. The ship brought immigrants
to Texas in the early 1850s. In the following year it
brought immigrants to Australia and as fate would have
it, there is where a picture of the ship was preserved. So
there are times when your searching may lead you to
unexpected places.
If after all of this searching you are still unable to
find a picture, you should consider obtaining a physical description of the ship. A physical description will
include such data as net tonnage, length, width, depth,
where made, when built, built by whom, and the owner.
Some sources are the Lloyd Registers and Lloyd’s Universal Register. The Lloyd Registers were published
yearly. They included all the ships insured by Lloyd’s.
Lloyd’s Universal Register is different from a Lloyd
Register. The Universal Register was an attempt made
in the 1880s to catalog all the sailing and steam ships in
the world over 500 tons.
About the Author
Leo Baca is a fourth generation Czech Texan whose primary interests lie in documenting the arrival of Czech
immigrants to America. Leo’s other interests include
researching Valachian history and the application of genetics to traditional genealogical research. Leo has conducted Czech genealogical research for over twenty five
years. He has published the nine volume series- Czech
Immigration Passenger Lists, Volumes I-IX. Leo is currently engaged in a Czech genetic genealogy project
with over 200 participants. He has been a regular speaker at CGSI Conferences and has also contributed articles
to the society’s quarterly Naše rodina. In October of
2003 Leo received the CGSI’s Distinguished Achievement Award for his contributions to the field of Czech
genealogy. He just finished serving 2 terms on the CGSI
Board of Directors. Leo also serves as Vice-President of
the Texas Czech Genealogical Society.
Proposed Amendment to CGSI Bylaws
Effective After December 31, 2008
The following amendment to the CGSI Bylaws will be presented to the CGSI membership
for vote at the 20th Anniversary Meeting to be
held Saturday April 26, 2008 at the CSPS Hall
at 383 Michigan Street, St. Paul, Minnesota. The
vote will be taken during the program that runs
from 2:00 – 4:30 p.m.
The reason for the amendment is to balance
the number of Committee Chair positions that
come up for election every year. Under the current structure there are 4 committee chair positions expiring in 2008, only 2 expiring in 2009,
and 3 expiring in 2010. Upon approval of the
amendment we will have 3 positions expiring
every year.
RESOLVED, that Section 4.C of the CGSI
Bylaws shall be amended to read as follows:
“C. Term: The standing committee chairpersons
shall be elected at the annual membership or special election meeting for staggered terms of three
(3) years, as follows:
Education, Hospitality, Internet & Electronic
Media – commencing on January 1, 2006, and
on every third anniversary thereafter.
Library & Archives, Product Sales, Publications – commencing on January 1, 2007, and
on every third anniversary thereafter.
Membership, Publicity, Volunteer & Member
Recruitment – commencing on January 1,
2008, and on every third anniversary thereafter.
All appointed committee chairpersons shall
serve for a term of one (1) year.”
FURTHER RESOLVED, that consistent with
the foregoing amendment, the term of the currently serving Publications chairperson shall be
extended to December 31, 2009.
If you are unable to vote but would like to receive a proxy to vote on the amendment, please send
your request for proxy to: Kathy Jorgenson at [email protected] or write to CGSI, attn: Proxy
Ballot, PO Box 16225, St. Paul, MN 55116-0225.
Mailed ballots must be received by Monday April
21st to be counted at the April 26th meeting.
Naše rodina
Page 29
Chronological History of
the Hamburg Amerika
Line and its Ships, 18471906
Events extracted from the book, Die
Schiffe der Hamburg-Amerika Linie
1847-1906 by Arnold Kludas and Herbert
Bischoff. Published by Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford, 1979.
By Paul Makousky
Editor’s Note:
While investigating internet sources to locate a photo of
my ancestors’ sailing vessel, the Bark Nord Amerika
back in the fall of 2005 I came across a reference to the
above mentioned book. My Makovský ancestors emigrated from Bohemia, sailing from Hamburg in August
of 1855 to New York’s Castle Garden Station where
they arrived on October 23, 1855. While I was able to
print a copy of the ship from the internet I wanted to
own a copy of this book for my personal collection. I
found a couple of copies using the used book site, called
<addall.com>. I did purchase one copy for myself and
suggested to Wayne Sisel, Library Chair to purchase a CGSI
copy. So if your ancestors left
from Hamburg between 18471906, this book probably has a
photo of your sailing or steam
vessel.
I became interested also
in the history of the Hamburg
American Line, so I asked
CGSI member Frank Soural
of Nepean, Ontario, Canada to
translate the 1847-1906 historical chronology. What you will
read below is some of the more
important events that relate
to the company and its North
American business.
1847
27 May: Establishment of
Page 30
the Hamburg American Packet Ship Stock Company
(Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt Aktien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG)) on the initiative of August Bolten, who
was after Sloman the largest Ships Agent in Hamburg.
Its directorship was composed among others Ferdinant
Laeisz, H.J. Merck and Adolph Godeffroy, who was,
until he left in 1880, always elected as Chairman.
1848
15 October: The sailing ship Deutschland opens the
regular Line service between Hamburg and New York.
1854
10 January: Unanimous decision by the General
Assembly to enter the Steam Navigation business. Criteria were the occurrence of more steamers crossing the
North Atlantic, the preparation in the establishment of
the Norddeutschen Lloyd (North German Lloyd) in Bremen and Slomans concrete plans to establish a steamer
connection, Hamburg - New York.
1856
1 June: The steamer Borussia opens the regular
steamer service Hamburg - New York.
1857
2 April: First loss of a ship. The Fully Rigged Ship
Deutschland sinks in a storm on the North Atlantic.
1858
The Company receives its first dedicated wharf on
the “Jonas” which is located west of the current St Pauli
Picture postcard of the Port of Hamburg taken circa 1910.
Postcard courtesy of Paul Makousky.
Naše rodina
wharfs.
13 September. The until then largest international
steamer service catastrophe is the sinking of the burning
Hapag ship Austria in the North Atlantic during which
471 people lose their lives.
1863
To self - insure its seagoing vessels the Company
launches a “ Reserve - Insurance - Account ”
1865
Commencement of weekly departures for New York.
1867
1 October: the ship Bavaria opens the new service
from Hamburg – Havanna - to New Orleans.
1871
December: Hamburg places the first Icebreaker,
built with the support of Hapag into service, which
makes timely departures during the winter months possible.
1873
12 September: The Adler Line commences service
Hamburg - New York with its steamer Goethe. With it
starts a momentous trade rivalry.
Countering the allegation that Hapag was not capable of providing a satisfactorily service for the increasing demand of the North American traffic several
influential Hamburg and Berlin banks and Hamburg
commercial enterprises decided to band together to start
two shipping companies. Out of which came the “Adler
Line” in January 1872 - utilizing the stylized Prussian
eagle in its flag - under the name German Transatlantic
D.G with Robert M. Sloman as chairman. The Company
orders eight passenger ships, which are superior to the
steamers of Hapag. Hapag undertakes nothing to oppose
its creation, only voices its concerns.
1874
May: The service to Havana and New Orleans is
discontinued. Reasons: Insufficient water depth at the
Bar in the Mississippi before New Orleans and difficulties with the customs authority in Santander and
Havana.
The Adler Line continued competing with Hapag,
with 5 ships. In evidence of a slowing economy the
chances for the new Company to succeed were poor
from the beginning. Already in March attempts to merge
or being taken over by Hapag were made. In September
it almost became reality as the Company could have
been taken over within days. Hapag declined reasoning
they had no use for the ships.
1875
7 May: Takeover of the Adler Line. (Eagle)
1880
1 July: Adolph Godeffroy leaves his executive post
with the Company. His successor is Oscar Ruperti,
owner of Merk & Co. With the departure of the most
important man of the Hapags early period ends an era
of 33 years, in which Hapag, primarily through his efforts, became one of the most significant ocean shipping
companies.
Unfortunately, Hapag did not have a successor of
his caliber. Ruperti is, in spite of his personal integrity,
not the person to lead Hapag. It is even less the case
with his assistant and later successor O’swald. Both men
believe that it is possible to lead the Company on a part
time or second job basis. This marks the development of
the company in the following years with deadlock and
decline.
1881
7 June: The Carr - Line opens with the ship Australia a service for freight and steerage passengers from
Hamburg to New York. With this day starts the longest
and toughest competition battle that Hapag had to survive.
The owner of the Carr - Line is Edward Carr, a
nephew of Robert Sloman. Albert Ballin, Hamburgs
most capable emigration agent guarantees Carr full
steerage decks. As well, the cargo business for the Carr
fleet gains in such a manner that under Guido Wolf a
separate cargo office is created.
Hapag undertakes practically nothing to meet the
competition. Only after some time the company makes
Carr an offer to take over the ships, just to rid themselves of the troublesome competition. Discussions
collapse repeatedly because of Carr’s high asking prices
for his ships.
1882
16 October: With the vessel Rugia, Hapag puts the
first larger passenger ship built on a German shipyard
into service. The shipyard is Vulcan in Stettin.
1883
19 January. The vessel Cimbria is lost in a collision
with an English steamer. 457 people lose their lives.
15 February: The new docking facility in Hoboken,
New Jersey across from New York is placed into service.
1885
Naše rodina
Page 31
1 January: Hapag takes over the passage-business
that until now was realized by Bolten.
10 January: and 4 February. During an extraordinary General Assembly it was decided that business
decisions in future to be taken by the Board of Directors
and Management. During this meeting shareholders
were critical of the business policies of the Corporation.
The Corporate leaders were attacked. Main themes were
the competition by the Carr - Line, the question about
the fast steamers and the absence of a qualified expert.
Under Woldemar Nissen a new Board of Directors was formed to whom neither Ruperti nor O’Swald
belonged. With the acceptance of John Meyer as the
current head of the new board comes an individual
personality that primarily ensures that the existing problems will find a solution.
1 July; The so-called Cologne Conference comes
into effect, a loose conglomeration of the north European steerage traffic ship owners Hapag, NDL, Red Star
Line and Holland - Amerika Line. The purpose of the
association is to avoid underbidding of fares. John Meyers becomes its chairman.
1886
January/February: Once again hearings were held
with Carr pertaining to the purchase of their ships. They
fail again because Hapag refuses to pay the asking price.
In the meanwhile Sloman refurbishes his vessels with
steerage compartments and surprisingly joins with Carr
to form the “Union Line”. With this the competition
grows dangerously, because the new Company disposes
over twelve ships and is numerically even-handed with
Hapag on the New York service.
31 March : At the general assembly Woldemar Nissen tells of an agreement that Sloman is prepared for
discussions with Hapag.
12 April : Discussions on mutual consent led to
satisfying result.
22 May: a Pool agreement is signed. A joint service
to New York is agreed upon where Hapag would handle
3/5 of all departures and the Union Line 2/5. Important
point of agreement is the takeover of the passage organization for both lines by Hapag, whereby Albert Ballin
is installed specifically to function as independent head
of this new department.
2 June: The Polaria of the Carr Line opens the pool
service of the Hapag/Union Pool from Hamburg to New
York.
1 July: The Moravia opens the new monthly service from Stettin to New York.
An agreement with the New York firm Richard and
Page 32
Boas results in establishing it’s own travel agency.
19 July: August Bolton dies
1888
1 January: Hapag takes over the freight business to
New York under its control.
15 October: The company develops its own wharf
operation at the Amerika Quay.
26 October: Albert Ballin is appointed Director.
May: Purchase of eight vessels, running in the
framework of the Union Line, namely of the Carr and
Sloman Lines. The four Sloman vessels are purchased
with delivery by December with the right of return. In
the Fall the Company uses this right and completes with
Sloman a new agreement. The Union- Line continues
to exist. Since this carrier never owned it’s own ships,
but chartered the needed units, the Hapag line with the
purchase of the four Sloman ships aquires a 50% stake
in the Union Line, at the same time.
1889
1 January. Karl Schurz becomes Hapag’s General
Manager for North America.
15 February. The vessel Francia opens the new
Hapag service between Hamburg to Baltimore.
9 May: With the Augusta Victoria appear the new
fast steamers on the north Atlantic.
1890
12 March: The Rhenania opens a regular service to
Philadelphia in partnership with Sloman.
Hapag takes over the travel agency for HamburgSouth, the steamer shipping company “Hansa” and the
German East Africa Line.
1891
31 December. Together with the shipping company
“Hansa” the service to New Orleans is resumed with the
departure of the Wandrahm.
1892
24 February. Purchase of the shipping company
“Hansa.” Under the designation “Hansa Line” Hapag
now conducts services to New Orleans, Boston and
Montreal.
2 April: First departure Hamburg - Boston with the
Grasbrook.
16 April First departure Hamburg - Montreal with
the Cremon.
20 July: Launching of Emigration Halls (“Emigrants’ Barracks”) at the America quai.
14 August. Outbreak of Cholera in Hamburg. As a
Naše rodina
consequence complete cessation of Steerage traffic. The
dispatch of fast steamers is transferred to Southampton.
The US takes strong quarantine measures with ships arriving from Hamburg. Hapag suffers large losses.
December: For the first time fast steamers are dispatched from New York to Genoa and Naples. Jointly
with NDL (North German Lloyd) a regular service
under the name “German Mediterranean Line” is established, operating during the winter months.
1893
With the end of the cholera epidemic the Hamburg
Senate issues restricting guidelines on health inspections and quarantine for steerage passengers, so that
Hapag threatens with transferring passenger services to
Nordenham.
20 February: The dispatch of steerage passengers
can once again be commenced with several restrictions.
4 March: Under the designation “Scandia Line” a
passenger and freight service is started from Scandinavian ports to New York with support from the service
Stettin - New York and opened with the departure of the
Venetia.
September: With the re-appearance of sporadic
cholera cases the dispatch of the fast steamers is occasionally transferred to Wilhelmshaven.
1 December: Dispatch of Hapag ships in Hamburg
now from Petersen quay.
13 December: Adolph Godeffroy dies.
The designation “Hamburg America Line” is adopted.
1894
The docking facility at Hoboken is expanded.
In association with the NDL Hapag constructs a
disinfection station on the eastern frontier that all emigrants from the east have to pass through. At this time,
about half of the steerage passengers already come from
the east.
10 July - First Hapag northland voyage with the
Augusta Victoria.
1897
16 November: The Armenia opens the new service
from Hamburg to Portland (Maine).
1899
27 October: Albert Ballin becomes chairman of
Hapag.
1900
4 July: On her Maiden voyage to New York, the
Deutschland receives the “Blaue Band” award. (blue
band).
1901
4 January: With the Princess Victoria Luise Hapag
puts the first dedicated cruise ship into service.
1903
1 July: After Sloman sold his share of the Union Line to the newly formed steamer shipping line “Union”
Hapag takes on the four steamers servicing New York in
a 15 year charter with the commitment to continue the
line service to New York and Newport News (VA) under
the name “Union Line” for an annual flat fee.
1 December: Hapag takes possession the new docking spaces in the Kaiser Wilhelm and in the port of
Ellerholzhafen.
1904
5 January Hapag sues NDL for breach of contract.
Reason: NDL has broken the contract in an outrageous
fashion because it had sold tickets on the Kaiserin
Maria Theresia considerably below the agreed upon
prices.
Hapag participates together with NDL in the establishment of the United Austrian Navigation Company in
Trieste. This German engagement in Austria was caused
indirectly by the English Cunard Line. By the end of
1903 they had cancelled the pooling agreement with the
North Atlantic Steamship Lines association, and with it
caused a competitive battle to try to obtain a monopoly
over the Hungarian emigration. This would have lost
the north European shipping companies the entire Hungarian emigration business. Immediately Ballin tried
unsuccessfully to convince the Hungarians otherwise.
It comes to a battle for rates by the association with
Cunard - Line. Now the Austrian Government wants to
start a company for providing a service from Trieste to
New York. Ballin’s negotiation skills help him to avoid
the danger of monopolization of the Austrian emigration. The above mentioned company is formed out of
two in Trieste residing shipping companies, that provides departures every two weeks from Trieste to New
York, and to which a pooling arrangement is given. The
company becomes known as “Austro - Americana.” In
November the battle for rates comes to an end.
1905
1 October: The travel agency Stange purchased in
January is renamed and becomes officially the “Travel
agency of the Hamburg America Line” and is designat-
Naše rodina
Page 33
ed to be the general office of the new to be established
travel agencies. By the end of the year already twenty
agencies were established in Germany and in European
countries.
At the end of the year Hapag founds a Veterans
Endowment of the Hamburg America Line as a benefit
fund for retired workers without pension entitlements.
American Ports of
Debarkation
For information about the US ports of
Castle Garden, New Orleans, Galveston
and Baltimore we refer you to the June
2000 issue of Naše rodina, Vol 12 No 2.
Copies of this issue are available for sale.
See the CGSI website for further information. Click on the Research tab along
the top of the page and then Naše rodina
quarterly on the drop down menu.
Website is www.cgsi.org
1906
December: Hapag purchases the four in the Union
Service engaged vessels of the DR “Union” and commits to an annual indemnification until 1918 with 12
departures a year to New York under the name “Union
Line”
German Terms found on Passenger Ship Manifests
By Paul Makousky, Editor
I have compiled below a list of some German words
or terms that you may run across when researching the
Hamburg or Bremen passenger records, or any other
records found in the German language. Only a very
small number of the hundreds of German occupations
is included. Additional terms can be found on such sites
as http://worldroots.com/brigitte/occupat.htm and http://
www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/GermanOccs.htm among
other sites. Just type in the words “German occupations” in your web browser.
Marital Status
Geschieden
Ledig
Verheiratet
Verwitwet
=
=
=
=
Alleinstehend
= Traveling alone
Relationship
Adoptivtochter
Adoptivsohn
Tante
Knabe
Bruder
=
=
=
=
=
Page 34
Divorced
Single
Married
Widowed
Adopted Daughter
Adopted Son
Aunt
Boy
Brother
Schwager
Kind
Unehelich
Tochter
Schwiegertochter
Angehörige
Vater
Schwiegervater
Cousine
Pflegekind
Pflegetochter
Pflegesohn
Freund
Mädchen
Patenkind
Enkelin
Großvater
Großmutter
Enkel
Halbbruder
Ehepartner
Säugling
Cousin
Mann
Fräulein
Naše rodina
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
Brother-in-law
Child
Illegitimate
Daughter
Daughter-in-law
Family member
Father
Father-in-law
Female cousin
Foster child
Foster-daughter
Foster-son
Friend
Girl
Godchild
Granddaughter
Grandfather
Grandmother
Grandson
Half-brother
Husband
Infant
Male cousin
Man
Miss
Mutter
Schwiegermutter
Frau
Neffe
Nichte
Schüler
Verwandte/r
Schwester
Schwägerin
Sohn
Schwiegersohn
Stiefkind
Stieftochter
Stiefmutter
Stiefschwester
Stiefsohn
Zwilling
Onkel
Pflegekind
Witwe
Witwer
Ehefrau
Junge
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
Gender
Weiblich
Männlich
= Female
= Male
Ship Type
Dampfschiff
=
Das Segelschiff
=
Die Barke
=
Der Viermaster
=
Die Brigantine
=
Mother
Mother-in-law
Mrs.
Nephew
Niece
Pupil
Relative
Sister
Sister-in-law
Son
Son-in-law
Step child
Step daughter
Step mother
Step sister
Step son
Twin
Uncle
Ward
Widow
Widower
Wife
Young man
Auswanderer
=
Axmann
=
Baecker
=
Baedeker
=
Bauernknecht
=
Baumhauer
=
Becherer
=
Beinhauer
=
Bendsnider
=
Berghauer, Bergmann=
Beschlager
=
Bildschnitzer
=
Blicksleger
=
Blocker
=
Bubenmeister
=
Landmann
=
Tagelöhner
=
emigrant
carpenter, ax-smith
baker
cooper
farmhand
woodcutter
turner
butcher
wheelmaker
miner
blacksmith
woodcarver
tinworker, plumber
tailor
teacher
farm worker or man from the
country
day laborer
Steamship
Sailing Ship
Bark, a 3 masted vessel
4 masted Sailing Ship
Brig, vessel with 2 square
rigged masts
Accommodation (Class)
Cajüte
= Cabin Class
Zwischendeck
= Steerage Deck
Occupations
Ackerer
=
Afstoeter
=
Altbuesser
=
Ambachtsluede
=
Ansteker
=
Apotheker
=
Aschenbrenner
=
Auermacher
=
farmer; tiller of the soil
tanner
cobbler, shoe repairman
craftsman
shoemaker
pharmacist
maker of wood-ash for soap
making purposes
clockmaker
Naše rodina
Advertisement from agent of the North
German Lloyd company for passage rates
from Galveston to settlements inland.
Ad copy courtesy of Leo Baca.
Page 35
The 1715 Tax List in
Slovak Family History
Research
By Margo L. Smith
The Hungarian feudal tax records can be used effectively to elaborate Slovak family history research.
Beyond parish church records, there are limited sources
of readily available information concerning principally
serf families in the 17th-19th centuries for the territory
that is now Slovakia. Therefore, it can be advantageous
to consult the widest variety of resources. The 1715 tax
list is one of these resources.
From the earliest extant written records until 1918,
the territory that is now Slovakia was part of Hungary.
One key characteristic of the Hungarian feudal system
was that the serfs were the taxpayers. Regular records
were maintained concerning the payment of taxes.
Some of these tax records are available in published,
microfilm, and/or online formats. This article examines
how one such tax list, that of 1715, can be mined for
information on Slovak families.
The 1715 tax list is readily available online and on
microfilm via the Family History Library in Salt Lake
City (reels # 1506118-1506129 and 1529556). The
online access is via <http://www.arcanum.hu/mol>, a
challenging site to use for those of us who do not read
Hungarian and Latin.1 The first and most important
challenge is knowing the name of the county and village
or town you seek as it is written in Hungarian.2 In addition, the tax list is written in Latin, the official language
of the time. Nevertheless, surmounting those challenges
can yield valuable results, including:
(1) locating a person or family in a known
village or town,
(2) locating a family in a prior place of residence,
and
(3) situating a person and family in their social and
geographical context.
The 1715 tax list has less to contribute to those researching families from the nobility.3 Very few members
of noble families are included on this tax list because
the nobility were generally exempt from paying taxes),
and they are members of the lower ranking local gentry.
The named taxables on the list are almost entirely male
Page 36
heads of extended family, serf households or farmsteads. Serfs who lived under the same roof and ate their
meals together would have been considered part of the
same household or farmstead. The taxable farmsteads
could, and probably did, generally include more than
one nuclear family. They included both the land “owning” serfs (colonus or sedliar, who had been allocated
use of the farmstead land by the feudal landlord and
who owned houses) and the tenant farmers (inquilinus
or želiar, who did not have a land allocation and who
might or might not own a house). Actually, the colonus
did not “own” the land in the sense of being able to buy
or sell it, but long-term use of a parcel of land had been
allocated to him and his family by the feudal landlord.
The colonus population out-numbered the inquilinus
population at thus time.
At the <http://www.arcanum.hu/mol> home page,
there is a list of options in the column at the left side of
the screen. Click on “Az 1715.Evi országos összeírás”
for the 1715 tax list. In the column at the left side of
the screen, the list of counties will appear. Click on the
name of the county you seek. The counties which were
all or part of what is now Slovakia are: Pozsony, Nyitra, Trencsén, Turóc, Bars, Hont, Zolyom, Liptó, Árva,
Szepes, Gömör, Sáros, Abauj, Turna, Zemplén, Ung,
Nográd, Esztergom, and Komárom. The tax lists for
Árva County also include quite a few villages in what
is now Poland. For illustrative purposes in this article,
click on Turócz (now Turiec). Then the list of towns and
villages in that county appears in the column on the left
side of the screen. The towns and villages are listed in
roughly geographical order, starting at one place in the
county and then progressing around the county. One can
scroll up and down from one town or village to another
by clicking on the left or right arrows towards the upper
right side of the screen. Click on the name of the town
or village you seek. The typed transcription of taxpayers’ names appears on the main part of the screen. The
spelling of the surnames might not be exactly the same
as what you expect, but the surnames probably are phonetically similar. Finally, click on each of the numbers
appearing next to “oldalszám” which takes you to the
images of the pages of the handwritten tax lists. The
information provided on the handwritten tax list is not
necessarily the same for each county.
1) Locating a person or family in a known village or town is straightforward. The name of the person
sought can be listed in the column of taxables. The example used here is for the possession of Polerika (now
Polerieka). [Fig. 1.] Andr Korauss, the last name on the
Naše rodina
list, is a person sought. In addition, there are other familiar
surnames: Polericzky, Kuzma,
and Maÿr (i.e., Mager). Because the most distant known
ancestors with those three
surnames were born between
about 1675-1685 and their
baptisms were not included in
the early parish records, it is
not possible to establish with
certainty that the ancestors
belong to the five taxables
listed with those surnames.
Looking at the image
of the handwritten tax list
provides revealing information about the ancestor listed
there. The first column on the
left is the name of the taxable
head of household. The next
column indicates the person’s
“condition” or status, usually
colonus or inquilinus. In the
case of Polerieka, the first two
persons listed are members of
the Polericzky family and are
indicated as being noble. It is
atypical for noble families to
be listed as taxpayers. However, the nobility investigations later in the 18th century
do include the Polericzky
family as noble. The list for
the nearby village of Slovan
(now Slovany) includes two
farmsteads of the Poloni family, both listed as “libertinus”
or freed. This is also atypical.
The town of Nitra lists some
taxpayers who are identified
by occupation, such as smith,
tailor, or harnessmaker. Some
of the handwritten lists identify the first person named
as “judex,” or village mayor.
Almost no women are listed
as taxables. However, towns
in both Zemplén and Nyitra
counties include a few female
Figure 1. 1715 Tax List of Polerika, now Polerieka.
Naše rodina
Page 37
taxpayers listed as the relict widow of a named husband
on the handwritten tax list (but not so indicated on the
typescript).
The next column indicates the extent of the farmstead “owned” in units known as sessio: 1/8, ¼, ½, or 1.
A serf would have had a farmstead between 8, and 1
sessio. Because the size of a sessio varied from place to
place based on the fertility of the soil, converting this
measure to hectares for a specific farmstead is not readily possible. The inquilinus, by definition, did not “own”
a farmstead and cultivated less than 8, sessio for himself. The next column indicates the volume of grain harvested in cubulos. The taxes of the tenth (tithe) and the
ninth came from this harvest.4 Cubulos can be converted
to familiar measures: cubulos are equivalent to approximately 17 gallons or 62 liters. “[F] al.” is a reference
to falcastrum. The falcastrum was originally a lopping
tool used to clear brush and small trees from the land. It
came to refer to the area that one man could clear using
this tool in one day.5 It also is related to the meadows
available to the serf. The column on the right refers to
vineyards. There were no vineyards in the Turiec Valley,
but there were vineyards in other counties.
Thus, finding an ancestor on this list reveals the
approximate size of the village or town of residence, the
person’s social condition, the relative size of the farmstead, the volume of the harvest, and the accessibility to
meadows or vineyards. Among these, the person’s social
condition is key because it indicates the intersections
the person had with the economic, political, and social
systems. For example, the colonus was more prosperous than an inquilinus because he had an allocation of
land and a house, and produced a larger harvest for his
family. Serfs (neither colonus nor inquilinus) could not
relocate without permission of the feudal landlord, hold
political offices outside of the village, or be a priest.
The volume of the harvest also reveals information
about the ancestor. Returning to inquilinus Andrej Korauss, his harvest was 3.25 cubulos, or about 55.25 gallons. Visualizing a 55-gallon drum full of grain, would
this have been enough to support his household for a
year? In 1715, as reconstructed from the Catholic parish
records, Andrej, then about 57 years old, was recently
remarried after having been widowed the prior year.
His two adult daughters had married; one adult son was
recently married; one adult son was single. One of the
adult daughters had married a member of the Maÿr (i.e.,
Mager) family from the nearby village of Ondrašová,
so she was probably living in that taxable household.
The other adult daughter was absent from the records
Page 38
for the years around this time, so it is not known where
she was living. Available records do not indicate specifically who was actually living in the Andrej Korauss
household. It probably included at least Andrej and his
new wife, his two adult sons, and one daughter-in-law.
The volume of wheat produced, 3.25 cubulos, would
have been about 500 pounds. An extended family could
eat about 250 pounds of wheat in a year.6 The tax of the
tenth would have been 50 pounds, and the tax of the
ninth would have been another 50 pounds. And Andrej
probably kept another 50 pounds in reserve for sowing
the next year. Thus, about 100 pounds remained for him
to sell. The colonus residents of Polerieka all harvested
about three times or more than Andrej harvested, so
they had more wheat to sell.
2) Two centuries prior to this tax list, serfs had become prohibited from moving to the estate of another
feudal lord without permission. This limited serf migration. Some of the people living in the Turiec Valley parishes of Turčiansky Ďur and Turčiansky Michal in the
1670s had descendants still living there when feudalism
ended in 1849. However, serfs did move, apparently
mostly at the time of marriage when one spouse moved
to the village of the other. Occasionally, they also apparently moved at other times. Thus, as one is reconstructing the family structure, generation by generation, via
the parish records, one can reach a point where the family first appears in the parish.
The 1715 tax list can be studied for clues pointing
to the prior locations of a family when it first appears
in the parish or other records. Consider the example of
Andrej Maľy and Zuzana Kovacs, Lutherans who lived
in Príbolcz (now Príbovce). Andrej died there in 1790
at age 84. His son Matej was married there in 1793. His
daughter Katarina, and sons Jan and Andrej, were buried there in 1787, 1793 and 1796, respectively. Also in
1787, Andrej’s granddaughter was married in Príbovce.
However, Andrej was there at least as early as 17701772, when he was listed in the urbarial register. The
births and marriage of Andrej Maľy and Zuzana Kovacs, and the births of their children, all would have predated the extant Lutheran parish records for Príbovce.
Andrej would have been a child in 1715, so he would
not have been listed on the 1715 tax list. However, his
father or grandfather might have been listed.
There is no Maľy family listed on the 1715 tax list
for Príbovce. Listed are two Ján Kovacs families, one of
which might be the family of origin of Zuzana Kovacs.
Scrolling through the taxables, village by village, one
finds that there is one Maľy family in Turócz County in
Naše rodina
1715: Ján Maľy was a colonus in the village of Konszke
(now Konske). Unfortunately, the Lutheran parish records for that part of the county for that period of time
are not available. The connections, if any, between Andrej and Ján Maľy and between Zuzana and Ján Kovacs
can not be established with certainty at this point.
This strategy was more successful with the Bízik
family. Andrej Bízik and his wife Maria Mlinarik were
in Príbovce in 1819 when their oldest child was baptized. In spite of numerous Catholic and Lutheran Bízik
families in Príbovce and adjacent Benice at the end of
the 18th century, Andrej’s baptism was not found. Likewise, his wife Maria was not found. A list was made
of the villages and towns in which members of a Bizik
family appeared on tax lists in 1715, 1720, and 1770.
The parish records for all of those villages and towns
were examined. Andrej’s baptism was found in the
village of Zrikopa (now Priekopa) in 1795. Ancestral
relationships were extended four additional generations
beyond Andrej in Priekopa and nearby Záturčie.
3) The 1715 tax list also places individual taxpayers
in their social and economic context. Taxpayers living in a “possessio” were living in a village which was
part of a feudal estate. Taxpayers in an “oppidum” were
living in an unfree market town which was also part of
an estate. One can get a sense of whether the ancestors
lived in a small village, such as Polerieka with 9 taxable
farmsteads, or a larger village, such as Priekopa with 44
taxable farmsteads. One also gets a sense of whether the
village was occupied principally by colonus families,
such as Andrasfalva (now Ondrašová) or by inquilinus
families, such as Budiss (now Budiš).
One gets a sense of the ancestor’s prosperity in the
village relative to the other villagers. What is the extent
of the farmsteads? Typical farmsteads in the Turiec
Valley were ¼ or ½ sessio. A taxable farmstead that
was larger or smaller generally would indicate greater
or lesser prosperity. How large was the harvest? In
Polerieka, both Polericzky farmsteads were of ½ sessio
and produced a harvest of 24 cubulos, approximately
double the harvest of the colonus residents, and more
than seven times as much as the harvest of inquilinus
Andrej Korauss.
An individual’s more prominent social status was
also reflected by the label “scul” for “škultéty” next to
the name. In Ondrašová, the first two names on the tax
list, Andr. Andregezek and Georg. Škulteti, were both
so indicated. Likewise, in Dubova (now Dubové), the
first three names on the tax list were surnamed Soltis,
and labeled “scul”. Škultéty as a surname or label, and/
or the surname Soltis indicated that those individuals
almost certainly were descendants of the village founder
and original mayor.
At the bottom of the tax list for each village, a narrative of less than one page in length described the agricultural situation in the village, access to water, and the
condition of fields, meadows, and forest. The tax lists
for some counties, such as Trencsén, did not include
narratives. The references to the 3-field subdivision refer to the practice of cultivating a field for two years and
then letting it lie fallow for the third year to recoup its
fertility. In some instances, there are references to specific taxpayers. The narrative for the village of Dubové
illustrates these points.
Dubové.
This possession consists of fields of the same size that
have been divided in the 3 field system. The fields have
been regularly planted. Regarding the yield, it is an
average possession. The harvest of 1 year yields 2.5
cubulos [i.e., nearly 41 gallons] of winter wheat or,
exceptionally 3.5 cubulos [i.e., more than 57 gallons]
of spring wheat. This territory is suitable for growing
wheat and even better for growing millet. There are
two kinds of meadows: (1) produces good hay, and (2)
just grass mixed with thistle. One worker-harvester can
harvest an average volume of hay per day.7 Rivers are
plentiful and suitable for irrigation. Residents have as
many pastures as they need. This possession does not
have the right to trade. Residents have enough for their
households and livelihood. They use rivers to float trees.
They use wood to make shingles, but they rarely make
them for their own use. Instead they produce them for
exchange. The possession is, at places, marshy, and in
other places hilly or sandy. Juraj Kovacs, a craftsman
who owns his workshop, pays 3 guldens [i.e., coins] per
year, as well as Juraj Kráľ, a furrier. Both of them state
that they have been living better than ever before.
In conclusion, the 1715 tax list permits enhanced
understanding of the lives of principally Slovak serf
ancestors, including their “condition,” special social
status, the extent of their farms, the size of their harvest,
how they compare in those respects with other residents
of their village or town, and the agricultural setting of
their village. It also has the potential to permit location
of the serf ancestors in a prior village of residence.
About the Author
Margo L. Smith is Professor Emerita ofContinued
Anthropology
at
on page 40
Naše rodina
Page 39
Northeastern Illinois University. She began family history research when she was a teenager. She received her
Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Indiana University.
She came to Slovak research via her husband who is of
Slovak ancestry. Since 2002, she has devoted herself
full-time to family history research. Her first of three
trips to Slovakia was in 2003, where she specializes in
the Turiec Valley. She is the author of In Search of a
Family: Turiec, Slovak Republic, where she discusses
in historical and cultural context more than 90 families
from the 17th-20th centuries who are ancestors of three
early 20th century immigrant families to Chicago. She
can be reached by email at <[email protected]>.
Endnotes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The web site <http://www.iabsi.com/gen/public/Census_
Arcanum.htm>, by Bill Tarkulich, provides instructions for
using the Arcanum web site.
For example, the Turiec Valley, as it is now known in Slovak, appears as Turócz in Hungarian. Some of the village
names are readily apparent: Slovan is now Slovany, Kelemenfalva is now Kal’amenová, and so on. Other village
and town names are not obvious: Váralla is now Kláštor
pod Znievom, Tot Prona is now Slovenské Pravno, and
Kisfalu is now Vieska, the northern edge of Turčianske
Teplice.
However, the 1720, 1770-1772, and 1828 tax lists, available on microfilm from the Family History Center (not
online), provide the name of the feudal landlord to which
a village or town, and its residents, were obligated. Thus,
one can determine the villages and families which were
part of a particular noble family’s estate and the extent
of that estate. A feudal landlord with more villages and
taxable residents is likely to have been wealthier than a
landlord with fewer villages and taxable residents.
The tenth was the first 10% of the harvest, and was for the
Church. The ninth, or second 10% of the harvest, was for
the feudal landlord.
Conversion of cubulos and translation of “falcastrum”
courtesy of Rev. Jan Dus of Polička, Czech Republic.
Al Durtschi, personal communication, January 6, 2007.
Translation courtesy of Rev. Jan Dus. The yields given
here were inconsistent (smaller than) with the yields reported for each colonus and inquilinus in the tax list.
The Librarian’s
Shelf
By Suzette Steppe
Theme of This Issue: Emigration from
German Ports
m Frgn Ger 006 Sch The Wuerttemberg Emigra-
tion Index Vol 1, 2, 3 and 6 by Trudy Schenk and Ruth
Froelke. Published by Ancestry Inc., Salt Lake City,
UT, 1986-1993. The volumes contain indexing of the
microfilm records from the emigration collection at
Ludwigsburg. The complete set contains the names of
approx. 60,000 persons who made application to leave
Germany from the late 19th century to 1900. Each volume provides: names, date and place of birth, residence
at time of application and application date, destination
and microfilm number.
m Frgn Ger 034 Zim German Immigrants, Lists of
Passenger’s Bound from Bremen to New York Vols 1-3
by Gary Zimmerman and Marion Wolfer. Published by
Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc., 1985-1988. This set
lists passengers by name, age, residence, year and date
of arrival. Vol. 1 covers 1847-1854, Vol. 2 covers 18551862, and Vol. 3 covers 1863-1867.
m US Gen 117 Mor Morton Allan Directory of European Passenger Steamship Arrivals Reprinted by
Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore MD, 1987.
This book contains the arrivals of passenger steamships
carefully compiled by calendar year and indexed alphabetically by Steamship Line and by arrival date of each
steamer. The port of arrival and port of departure are
shown. Indexing for the years 1890 to 1930 at the Port
of NY and 1904 to 1926 at the Ports of NY, Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore
m US Imm 090 Klu Die Schiffe der Hamburg-Amerika Line Kowhlers Verlaggesellscaft, (Hamburg Amerika Line and its Ships) by Arnold Kludas and Herbert
Bischoff. 1979. This book chronicles various ship lines
from 1847-1906. It discusses the various generations of
steamships, ship purchases, and classes of steamships.
m Frgn Cze 419 Bac Czech Immigration Passenger
Page 40
Naše rodina
Lists Vols 1-9 by Leo Baca.
Vol. 1 Galveston 1848-1861, 1865-1871, New Orleans
1848-1879
Vol. 2 Galveston 1896-1906, New Orleans 1879-1899
Vol. 3 Galveston 1907-1914
Vol. 4 New York 1847-1869
Vol. 6 New York 1881-1886, Galveston 1880-1886
Vol. 8 Baltimore 1834-1879
Vol. 9 Baltimore 1880-1899
Other books covering emigration
m US Gen 132 Cun Ellis Island, Immigration’s Shin-
ing Center by John T. Cunningham. Published by Arcadia Publishing, Great Britain, 2003. Two chapters in this
book deal with leaving the homeland and the trip across
the Atlantic to Ellis Island: Goodbye to the Homeland
and Down to the Very Bottom.
m US Imm 007 Anu Ships of our Ancestors by Mi-
chael J Anuta. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing
Co, Inc., Baltimore, MD, 1999. A compilation of photographs of steamships that were employed in transporting
immigrants to this country. The photos of nearly 900
ships are arranged in alphabetical order, identified by
date, shipping line and source.
m US Imm 006 Sve Castle Garden as an Immigrant
Depot 1855-1890 by Dr. George J Svejda. Published by
the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, US
Department of the Interior, 1968. This report discusses
primarily the history of Castle Garden but includes a
chapter on Steerage Passengers of Immigrant Vessels.
m US Imm 065 Blu Coming to America Immigrants
from Eastern Europe by Shirley Blumenthal. Published
by Delacorte Press, NY 1981. This book discusses the
reasons for the immigration of Eastern Europeans to the
United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries and it describes the hardships, persecutions,
and intolerable living and working conditions that many
had to endure until they gained some measure of acceptance in their new homeland.
m US Imm 010 Col Going to America by Terry Cole-
man. Published by Genealogical Publishing, Second
Printing 1998. This book details the hardships of immigrants during mid-nineteenth century as they made their
way across the Atlantic and the many issues they faced
once they stepped on to U.S. soil.
m US Imm 085 Szu Ellis Island Tracing your Family
History through America’s Gateway by Loretto Dennis
Szucs. Published by Ancestry Publishing 2000. History
of Ellis Island and records and resources on Ellis Island.
Includes a chapter on Why Immigrants Came, Merits
and Risks of chain emigration and the Atlantic Crossing.
m Frgn Cze 1064 CHM Matej’s Journey to America
the Driving Forces of Our Immigrant Ancestors by
Donald F. Chmelka. Bloomington, IN 2002. This book
explores the various forces, religious freedom, economic opportunity and weariness of war that drove our
immigrant ancestors to new lands over the course of
history.
m Frgn Cze 602 Bal Our Slavic Fellow Citizens (The
American Immigration Collection) by Emily Greene
Balch. Published by Arno Publishing, 1969. Part 1 of
this book discusses Slavic emigration at Its Source and
includes chapters on the Bohemian Emigration and Slovak Emigration.
New Additions
m Frgn Cze 1267 History of Slovaks in America by
Konštantín Čulen, translated by Daniel Necas, edited
by Dr. Michael J. Kopanic, Jr and Steven Potach. Published by Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International, 2007. Konštantín Čulen paints a vivid portrait
of early Slovak life in the U.S. He records in detail the
experiences of Slovak-Americans, their struggles and
triumphs, their strengths and failings, their passions and
prejudices, and their fight to achieve unity and justice
for the Slovak nation, both in America and in their oppressed homeland. Through his rich and extensive use
of early newspaper accounts, letters, eyewitness narratives and other original source materials, Čulen enables
us to hear the voice of the Slovak immigrant generation.
The result is an absorbing and often dramatic chronicle
of the Slovak-American experience. This book provides
an indispensable resource for understanding the foundations of Slovak life in America. All surnames and place
names are fully-indexed.
m Frgn Cze 1270 Nos Independent Bohemia: An
Account of the Czecho-Slovak Struggle for Liberty by
Vladimír Nosek. Published by BiblioBazaar, 2007. This
book looks at the movement for Czecho-Slovak independence during the breakup of Austria-Hungary during
Naše rodina
Page 41
World War I.
m Frgn Cze 1271 Mil The Czecho-Slovaks in Ameri-
ca by Kenneth D. Miller. Published by George H. Doran
Co., 1922. This book briefly examines the social, economic and religious conditions of the Czecho-Slovaks
and their emigration to America and reviews the same
conditions after they arrived in America. Chapters include Migration with the U.S., the Return Movement to
Europe, Occupations, Family Life, Relations to the Old
Country, Social Organizations, Political Relations and
Religious Conditions.
m Frgn Cze 1272 Ale Ethnic Pride, American Pa-
triotism: Slovaks and Other New Immigrants in the
Interwar Era by June Granatir Alexander. Published
by Temple University Press, 2004. This book presents
a history of inter-war America from the perspective of
new Slovak and Eastern European immigrant communities. Slovak immigrants saw no contradiction between
being patriotic Americans and maintaining pride in their
ancestry and constructing an identity for itself all while
adjusting to American life.
m Frgn Cze 1273 Kin Budweisers into Czechs and
Germans: A Local History of Bohemian Politics,
1848-1948 by Jeremy King. Published by Princeton
University Press, 2002. This book looks at the history
of nationalism in České Budĕjovice between 1848 and
1948 and how its Czech and German-speaking inhabitants gradually became Czechs or Germans. The author
looks at who became Czech or German and what did it
mean to be one or the other.
m Frgn Cze 1274 Win Flag Wars & Stone Saints:
How the Bohemian Lands Became Czech by Nancy
M. Wingfield. Published by Harvard University Press,
2007. This book looks at the construction of the Czech
and German nations and their relationship in the formation of a national identity in the Czech lands. Includes
maps and photographs.
m Frgn Cze 1275 Alz Images of America: Slovak
Pittsburgh by Lisa A. Alzo. Published by Arcadia
Publishing, 2006. Pittsburgh is home to an estimated
100,000 Slovak immigrants who came to the area in the
1890s looking for work and the chance for a better life.
The hills and valleys of this new land reminded newcomers of the farms, forests, and mountains they left behind. They lived in neighborhoods close to their work,
forming numerous cluster communities in such places
as Braddock, Duquesne, Homestead, Munhall, the North
Page 42
Side, Rankin, and Swissvale. Once settled, Slovak immigrants founded their own churches, schools, fraternal
benefit societies, and social clubs. Many of these organizations still enjoy an active presence in Pittsburgh
today, serving to pass on the customs and traditions of
the Slovak people. Through nearly 200 photographs,
Slovak Pittsburgh celebrates the lives of those Slovaks
who settled in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania, and
the rich heritage that is their legacy.
Cadastral Map Donation
Helmuth Schneider
Are You a Weekend Genealogist?
Are you only able to work on your family history on
the weekends? Are you frustrated that you are unable
to visit the CGSI Library nights on the 2nd Thursday?
Good news, CGSI has added a Saturday afternoon library shift for those who are unable to visit the library
during the week. Now on the 1st Saturday afternoon of
each month, 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., there will be members of CGSI available at the MGS (Minnesota Genealogical Society) Library to assist you. This gives you
the opportunity to check out all of the resources of the
Library, ask questions, and get help with your research.
Remember the 1st Saturday afternoon of each month –
we hope to see you at the library!
CGSI Lending Library
A list of the available books along with a printable
Patron Request / Agreement Form is available on the
CGSI website (www.cgsi.org), and in the March 2007
issue of Naše rodina. The list and form will be mailed,
upon request to members, who may not have internet
access. Patrons may borrow a maximum of 4 books at
one time for a period of 3 weeks and will pay all postage, handling and return charges. The lending library is
staffed by volunteer, Linda Berney of Grand Island, NE.
Lending instructions, policies and other information is
posted on the website, or will be mailed to members
upon request.
Library Volunteers Needed
There are many opportunities to volunteer and no experience is required, library training will be provided. This
is a great opportunity to become familiar with all of
the resources available in the library and to assist other
Naše rodina
members with their research. There are many great
programs that the CGSI and MGS volunteers are responsible for putting together for their members and the
Genealogical Library is the largest of these programs.
As such it requires a number of people who can donate
their time to keep the library maintained and open to its
members. You can volunteer as often as you like, once a
week or once a month, day or evening shifts. For further
information please contact MNGSVolunteers@comcast.
net or [email protected]
Periodicals
We have issues of various periodicals that have been donated but are not on the shelves due to space limitations.
These are stored in the CGSI office and if you have an
interest in examining them, please contact Wayne Sisel.
The periodicals include Hospodář, Ženské Listy, Jednota, Hlás Národa, Česká Žena and Přítel.
Library Collection Research Policy
CGSI will do research on selected books and reference
material in our library collection. Mostly, these are
books with name indexes or are indexes themselves,
such as Leo Baca’s Czech Passenger Arrival Lists, the
ZČBJ (Fraternal Herald) Death Index, the Nebraska/
Kansas Czech Settlers book, and the telephone directories of the Czech and Slovak Republics. A complete
list of our library holdings as of April 15, 2000 is now
available to members at the cost of $7.00 which includes copying and postage charges. The books that we
can research for you are identified by a special notation
in the listing. The library holdings are also listed on our
Home Page for those with access to the internet.
We cannot accept open-ended research requests
such as “tell me what you have on the Jan Dvořák family of Minnetonka, Minnesota”. When making a research request you must specify which book you want
researched and what family, castle, town, etc, for which
you want information.
The fees for various research are as follows: Telephone Directories of Czech and Slovak Republics $5.00 for each surname provided (per directory), plus
25 cents for each address we find and extract from the
book.
Other Sources/Books - $5.00 per half hour of research for members or $10.00 per half hour of research
for non-members. Expenses for photocopies and additional postage will be billed. The minimum charge of
$5.00/member or $10.00/non-member must accompany
the request for information.
Research is conducted by CGSI volunteers. They
will not be able to interpret any information for you that
is found in a foreign language.
CGSI Library
The CGSI Library holdings are housed within the Minnesota Genealogical Society (MGS) Library which is located at 1185 Concord St N, Suite 218 in South St. Paul,
MN* (Across the Street from the Marathon Gas Station). Parking is available in lots on the north or south
end of the building and on the east side of Concord St.
MGS Library telephone number:
(651) 455-9057
MGS Library hours:
Wed, Thurs, Sat 10:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Tue, Thurs 6:30 P.M. – 9:30 P.M.
The second Thursday night of each month is Czech and
Slovak night. The first Saturday of the month has been
recently added as Czech and Slovak day. During these
hours, the library is staffed by CGSI volunteers who are
there to assist you in locating the resources you need in
your research.
*Please do not send mail to this address, instead continue to send it to the P.O. Box.
Naše rodina
Remember to visit us the 1st Saturday
of each month at our new location!
Page 43
Franz Josef, Emperor of
Austria and Apostolic
King of Hungary
By Clair Haberman
One of the requirements for obtaining a CGSI Family
Certificate is the inclusion in the application of a copy
of a document that proves that the applicant’s ancestor
was present on the North American continent more than
100 years before the date of the application. To satisfy
that requirement many applicants submit a copy of a
Declaration of Intent to become a United States citizen.
Although the appearance and wording of the Declaration of Intent varies they all include a statement that the
person requesting citizenship renounces allegiance to
the ruler of their ancestral country.
Declarations of Intent to Become a Citizen of the
United States completed after 1867 contain “Franz
Josef, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary” as
the ruler to whom allegiance is renounced. This article
begins with a brief description of the political and economic climate in Austria when Franz Josef became Emperor. Since English references usually refer to Francis
Joseph, that spelling of his name will be used in the
remainder of this article.
Page 44
In 1848 revolutions were occurring throughout central Europe. One event that contributed to them was the
publication, in 1847, of the Communist Manifesto, by
the German socialists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
It strongly advocated a revision of economic practices
with workers being more influential than property owners. A second event was the industrial revolution which
began in England with the use of steam power. Small
family owned workshops were replaced by factories.
Since factory employment required less skill than former craftspeople possessed, their income decreased.
Both of these influences created unrest. In Bohemia,
Moravia and Silesia there was insistence that these
regions be independent, that each have its own administration and a constitution that would provide for the
needs of all nationalities in all areas of public life. The
representatives to a constitutional convention from these
regions insisted that they were Austrian and would not
be aligned with the developing German Confederation.
Slovakia at that time was a part of Hungary. In October,
1848, Serfdom was abolished in the Czech lands. Freedom brought disadvantages.
One example was the requirement that peasants
were required to pay for firewood that they previously
had obtained on their landlord’s property. Weather related crop failures forced the surrender of land that had
been cultivated by many generations of families. Peasants became wanderers, working when they could, or
moved to cities seeking employment in new industries
where they had to accept low wages.
Previous to 1800 the Magyars and Slovaks were
residents of separate and independent regions within
Hungary. At the beginning of the 19th century the Magyars became increasingly dominant over the minority
groups.
Maria Theresa (aka Maria Theresa of the Two
Scilies), one of Francis Joseph’s great grandmothers,
was a Hapsburg. After her marriage to Francis I, (aka
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor) of the French house
of Lorraine, the name of the dynasty became HapsburgLorraine. The rest of this article will use Hapsburg, the
practice followed in references written in the English
language.
Francis Joseph was born in 1830 to Archduke Franz
Karl and Princess Sophie of Bavaria. About 1840 Francis Joseph’s mother became aware that reigning Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I was unfit to continue governing
and would eventually abdicate. Furthermore the emperor’s heir, his brother Archduke Franz Karl, did not want
to inherit the crown and the responsibility. She began
Naše rodina
preparing Francis Joseph to succeed his uncle, including
arranging for him being given the rank of colonel in the
Austrian army at the age of 13. He served as an officer
in the Austrian army during the 1848 campaign in Italy,
participating in his first battle on May 5th. He accomplished his assignment calmly and honorably. The commanding officer was Field Marshal Radetzky, the person
Johann Strauss Jr. honored by composing The Radetzky
March.
In spite of never holding a commission after becoming Emperor he almost always wore an army uniform.
On one occasion the leather collar of his uniform deflected a knife wielded by a would-be assassin. On one
of the rare occasions when he wore civilian clothes in
public he was not recognized.
When he assumed the throne he was handsome with
fair hair, blue eyes and no trace of the ugly Habsburg
lower jaw which disfigured the face of many of his ancestors and which he would possess when he matured.
He was slim, an elegant dancer and a good horseman.
He was broadly educated, but had little interest in the
arts. That was unfortunate because the Strauss family
was very prominent in Vienna at the time of his coronation, and the Czech composers Antonín Dvořák and
Bedřich Smetana lived during his reign.
In his preparation for the throne Francis Joseph
learned two lessons: first, since his dynasty had triumphed over the recent unrest there must be complete
loyalty to his government on the part of all subjects.
Second, because military force had made it possible for
him to become emperor and had protected him it would
be the source of his power to command that loyalty.
Diligence, responsibility and impartiality were the positive characteristics of his rule. His reliance on military
power caused an increasing inability to be flexible.
His marriage to a cousin, Princess Elizabeth of Bavaria in 1854, delighted Austrians. Three children, a son
Rudolf, and two daughters Gisela and Marie, were born
to that union.
In an 1849 response to the revolutions of 1848,
Francis Joseph agreed to a constitution which granted
political freedom and economic opportunities to his subjects. The constitution was supplemented by a criminal
code in 1850. By 1851, after having won the confidence
of his subjects and having established his authority, he
revoked the constitution. It is remarkable that Jindřich
Fügner and Dr. Miroslav Tyrš were permitted to found
the Sokol Organization in 1862. Outwardly, it was a society for gymnastic training, but was primarily intended
to maintain Czech nationality by preserving its culture.
During the Seven Weeks War (1866) Austria was
defeated by Prussia. Francis Joseph had sought the support of Hungary with the promise of equality with Austria. That promise was honored when the dual monarchy
was declared in 1867 when Francis Joseph became
Apostolic King of Hungary, while remaining Emperor
of Austria. The dual monarchy benefited the citizens of
Slovakia. Serfdom was abolished and compulsory education was established. However there were disadvantages. Magyarization (the term for replacing Slovakian
culture and language with Hungarian equivalents) was
enforced. Hungarian was the only language permitted in
Slovak schools and was required for official purposes.
Protests by Slovaks were squelched.
Relations between Hungary and Austria were not
cordial. For example, Hungarians refused to use Austrian postage stamps for their mail. The issuance of stamps
by the dual monarchy solved this problem. Some applicants for CGSI Family certificates mention communication with family members who lived in Europe. The
usual subject of letters was stating that conditions were
right for family members to immigrate to the United
States. The sending of money for passage was also mentioned. Efficient mail service was not readily available
to residents of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until late in
the 19th century. In 1901 Rural Free Delivery improved
both the sending and receiving of mail in the rural areas
of the United States, permitting improved communication between family members on opposite sides of the
Atlantic Ocean.
The reader may investigate the unfortunate results
of an 1847 requirement of Austrian doctors by the director of a Viennese hospital, the Hungarian Ignaz Semmelwiss. That is another example of the antagonism
that existed. At approximately the same time Florence
Nightingale was developing improved hospital practices
in the Crimea during a war which involved the AustroHungarian Empire. Also, in France, Louis Pasteur was
making discoveries that were related to the work of both
Nightingale and Semmelwiss. The French at that time
were involved in military expeditions which affected the
Austro-Hungarian Empire.
When World War I began (which was after the death
of Francis Joseph) Slovaks were required to serve in the
Austro-Hungarian army. Many conscripts deserted to
join guerilla units that harassed the Austro-Hungarian
army. This is one of the factors that eventually led
Slovakia to declare its independence from the AustroHungarian Empire and which led to the creation of
Czecho-Slovakia in 1918. That is another chapter in the
Naše rodina
Page 45
Europe After Congress of Vienna, 1815.
Page 46
Naše rodina
Europe Before World War I, 1914
Naše rodina
Page 47
history of these regions.
An example of Francis Joseph’s micro-management
of his empire was his insistence that he approve the
appointment of university faculty members. CGSI
members may be interested in Albert Einstein’s concern
when he came to Prague in 1911 to accept a university
faculty position that had been offered to him. In 1942,
Albert Einstein, then living in the United States, wrote a
letter to United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt
advocating the manufacture of atomic bombs. The letter recommended immediate action because uranium in
Czechoslovakia was available to the Nazi government
for their research. Those uranium mines had once been
the property of Francis Joseph’s Habsburg ancestors.
One solution to the poor economic conditions
mentioned earlier was emigration to the United States.
None of the references that were consulted mentioned
Francis Joseph’s attitude toward his subjects emigrating.
Since an estimated 85,500 Bohemians were living in the
United States in 1880 it is conjectured that he at least
did not disapprove. He might have encouraged emigration to relieve the unrest. Incidentally it was difficult to
determine the number of immigrants from the Czech
lands because ship manifests frequently listed Austria
or Austro-Hungary as the country of origin. Bohemia,
Moravia and Slovakia were not recognized as nations.
Francis Joseph’s reign lasted from 1848 until his
death in 1916. During that time he suffered three personal tragedies. The assassination of his nephew and
heir, Karl Ferdinand, was the final event in a sequence
that led to the outbreak of World War I. With that death
and the subsequent battles of WW I the Habsburg dynasty came to an end.
In summary, when Francis Joseph began his reign
he was confident that he could do great things and leave
an impressive heritage. He succeeded to a large extent.
However during the last decade of his life, when conflict was imminent, he was convinced that the only way
he could preserve what remained of his legacy was to
do nothing.
A brief article cannot be a comprehensive account
of an individual. CGSI members are encouraged to
perform their own research. They may disagree with
my summarizations and conclusions. Descriptions of
some incidents have been brief hoping that readers
will be motivated to conduct their own investigations.
References to Austrian history are the most plentiful
and complete. This author has not been able to locate a
book length reference to the history of Hungary which
is probably responsible for omissions in this article.
Page 48
References to Czech and Slovak history usually devote
only a short description (250 words) to the period from
1620 (The Battle of White Mountain) to 1919 (The creation of Czecho-Slovakia). The reader should search for
books devoted to the history of central or east Europe,
for example secondary school and college textbooks.
The internet is a source of information and unfortunately misinformation. Biographies of persons who played
important roles in the period, particularly Otto von Bismarck, Klemens von Metternich, Felix Schwartzenberg
and František Palacký, are very informative.
While reading articles in Naše rodina, CGSI members should be alert for implications about Francis
Joseph in the plentiful accounts of emigrants and of persons who remained in Slovakia, Bohemia and Moravia.
About the Author
Clair Haberman is a former CGSI Education Chair and
was founder of the CGSI’s Family Certificate Program.
He continues to receive and review all certificates that
are submitted by applicants for the Pioneer and Century
Certificates.
Naše rodina
Mark Bigaouette and Bob Petrik, Co-Chairs
of CGSI’s 1st Symposium held in Fort Lauderdale, FL, February 20-21, 1999.
CGSI’S 20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
When: SATURDAY APRIL 26, 2008
Where: HISTORIC CSPS HALL, 383 MICHIGAN ST, ST. PAUL, MN
Registration and Check-in: 1:30 – 2:00
General Member fee for Program only $5 members, $8 non-members, payable at the door
Reception and Ethnic Dinner $17.50 advance registration and payment required (see Form below)
Program: 2:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Introductory Comments – Mark Bigaouette, Founder of CGS
History of West 7th St Area Czechs – Jim Sazevich, St. Paul Historian
Introduction of Founding Members – Mike Prohaska, CGSI Board Chair
Remarks – Ginger Simek, CGSI President
Proposed By-law Change vote – Ginger Simek, CGSI President
20th Anniversary Historical Presentation – Paul Makousky, Founding Member
CGSI Member Testimonials – To be determined
Evening Activities for those with Reservations ($17.50 ticket) to follow
Reception4:30 – 5:30
Appetizers to include
Chlebicky sandwiches, cheese and crackers, mixed nuts
Keynote Address
5:30 – 6:00 Marek Skolil, Czech Consulate General for Chicago
Stuffed Pork Dinner
6:00 – 7:00
Salad Bar, creamy mashed potatoes, red cabbage, rye bread, Anniversary cake, water and coffee
20TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER RESERVATION FORM
Name: ___________________________________________ Member or Nonmember (circle)
Address: _____________________________________________________________
City, State, Zip: _______________________________________________________
Telephone:_____________________________ E-mail address:_ ____________________________
Tickets purchased ________ x $17.50 = Total Enclosed ____________________
Note: Reservation forms and a map are also available on the CGSI website: www.cgsi.org
Mailings must be postmarked by Friday April 18th.
Mail a copy of this form to CGSI 20th Anniversary, PO Box 251381, Woodbury, MN 55125
Naše rodina
Page 49
Sales Order Form
(All Items Include Shipping Costs)
22
To Reap a Bountiful Harvest (Czech Immigration Beyond the Mississippi, 1850
to 1900) by Stepanka Korytova-Magstadt
$ 16.00
23
Czechoslovakia: A Short Chronicle of 27,094 Days by Miroslav Koudelka, 20 pgs
$ 4.00
24
Brief History of the Czech Lands
in English
$ 15.00
25
Tales of the Czechs – History and Legends of Czech people
$ 9.50
26
Gateway to a New World – Czech/Slovak community in St. Paul, Minnesota’s
West End district
$ 11.50
$ 18.50
Map of Czech Grammar, 8 pages showing
nouns, verbs, cases, etc
$ 5.00
27
New Prague, Minnesota Cemetery inventory, over 200 pgs
$ 12.00
8
Children’s Illustrated Czech Dictionary, 94 pages
$ 17.00
28
Pioneer Stories of Minnesota Czech Residents (1906-1930)
$ 23.00
9
Beginners Slovak by Elena Letnanova, 207 pgs
$ 16.00
29
Czech Heritage Coloring Book
by NE Czechs of Wilber
$ 6.00
10
Slovak-English & English/Slovak Dictionary and
Phrasebook by S. & J. Lorinc, 155 pgs
$ 15.00
30
History of Slovakia – A Struggle for Survival by Kirschbaum
$ 20.00
11
Slovak/Eng & Eng/Slovak Dictionary by Nina Trnka, 359 pgs
$ 14.50
31
History of the Slovaks of Cleveland and Lakewood, OH, 301 pgs
$ 25.00
12
Česká Republika Auto map,
1:500000 scale
$ 5.50
32
Slovakia in Pictures, Lerner Publications, 64 pgs
$ 22.50
13
Czech Republic Hiking maps
(97 maps in series) 1:50000 scale
$ 5.50
33
Slovakia – The Heart of Europe, 55 pgs hardcover
$ 24.75
14
Czech Republic Tourist maps
(46 maps in series) 1:100000 scale
$ 5.50
34
Visiting Slovakia – Tatras by Jan Lacika, 136 pgs
$ 14.00
35
36 Slovak Student Essays Summaries of What They Wrote
$ 3.50
1
Czech Dictionary and Phrasebook by M. Burilkova, 223 pages
$ 15.00
2
Beginners Czech by Iva Cerna & Johann Machalek, 167 pgs
$ 12.00
3
Czech/Eng & Eng/Czech Dictionary
by Nina Trnka, 594 pgs
$ 14.50
4
Czech/English & English/Czech Dictionary
by FIN, Olomouc, CR 1102 pp, hardcover
$ 34.50
5
Czech Phrasze Book by Nina Trnka,
ideal for tourists, 149 pgs
$ 12.00
6
My Slovakia: An American’s View
by Lil Junas, hardcover, 56 pages
7
Czech Republic Auto Atlas, 1:100000 scale
$ 29.50
16
15
Czech and Slovak National Costumes
Beautiful hardcover edition, 152 pgs.
Album of Bohemian Songs
$ 6.50
36
Bohemian-American Cookbook by Marie Rosicky in 1906
$ 14.00
SOLD
OUT!
18
Slovak Republic Hiking maps
(58 in series) 1:50000 scale
$ 5.50
37
Cherished Czech Recipes by Pat Martin, 143 pgs
$ 7.25
19
Slovak Republic Tourist maps
(29 in series) 1:100000 scale
$ 5.50
20
Slovak Republic Auto Atlas, 1:100000 scale w/postal codes, 176 pp.
$ 29.50 21
History of Czechs in America
by Jan Habenicht, 595 pgs
$ 49.50
17
38
Czech and Slovak Touches by Pat Martin
$ 14.50
39
Czech National Cookbook, published in Czech Republic, 96 pgs
$ 15.00
40
Czechoslovak Surname Index Vol 1, May 1989 (946 surnames)
$ 6.00
41
Czechoslovak Surname Index Vol 2 Feb 1990 (1250 surnames)
$ 6.00
42
Czechoslovak Surname Index Vol 3 June 1992 (1719 surnames)
$ 6.00
43
Czechoslovak Surname Index Vol 4 Feb 1993 (1700 surnames)
$ 6.00
44
Czechoslovak Surname Index Vol 5 May 1994 (1509 surnames)
$ 6.00
45
Czechoslovak Surname Index Vol 6 March 1995 (1745 surnames)
$ 6.00
46
Czechoslovak Surname Index Vol 7 Jan 1999 (1520 surnames)
$ 6.00
47
Czechoslovak Surname Index Vol 8 $ 6.00
Sept 2002 (1423 surnames)
48
Czechoslovak Surname Index Vol 9
March 2006 (1451 surnames)
$ 6.00
Name_____________________________________________________________
49
Finding Your Slovak Ancestors
by Lisa Alzo, 385 pgs.
$ 22.50
Address___________________________________________________________
50
Slovak Language, CD w/Instructional
Manual, Jednota Press
$ 27.50
History of Slovaks in America
$ 49.50
Item
No.
Qty
Each Price
Totals
Total Amount Paid
3/08
City________________________ St _____________ Zip___________________
Make check payable to CGSI, and mail to Czechoslovak Genealogical Society Int’l.,
P.O. Box 16225, St. Paul, MN 55116-0225. Prices subject to change without notice. Items
may not always be available on demand. Refunds will be made for items which are
not available. Note: Depending on weight, postage outside of the U.S. will generally be
higher. We will bill for any difference in costs.
Page 50
51
by Konstantin Culen, 411 pgs.
To see photos of these items and
some additional information please
visit our website: <www.cgsi.org>
Naše rodina
Calendar of Events -Mark Yours
If you have a question write the webmaster at [email protected] or call our answering machine at (651) 450-2322 and
leave a message. Your call will be returned.
March 29, 2008 (Saturday) 8:30 am - 2:30 pm
Mini Conference: Emigration – Immigration
Czech and Slovak-American Genealogy Society of
Illinois (CSAGSI)
First Presbyterian Church of LaGrange, IL
150 South Ashland & W Elm Avenues  
Further info: Dolores Duy (630) 906-8175 or
e-mail: Dolores at [email protected]
April 11-12, 2008 (Friday, Saturday)
CGSI Symposium & Tours
Doubletree Guest Suites Seattle Airport
Friday Day Tour of Seattle
Friday dinner and talk by Cyndi Howells, “The Internet
Made Me an Expert on Everything”
10 Saturday breakout sessions by expert speakers.
Saturday cruise and salmon dinner at Tillicum Village
Further info: www.cgsi.org
April 26, 2008 (Saturday)
CGSI’s 20th Anniversary Celebration and Meeting
Historic CSPS Hall, 383 Michigan St, St. Paul, MN
Keynote speaker Marek Skolil, Consul General (Chicago)
History of St. Paul Czechs by Jim Sazevich
Historical slide presentation, 20 year accomplishments.
An ethnic dinner prepared by Minnesota Czech
and Slovak Sokol is available at a cost of $17.50.
Dinner reservation form found on page 49.
Further info will be posted on www.cgsi.org
June 13-15, 2008 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
26th Annual Česky Den (Czech Days) Festival
Hillsboro, Wisconsin’s Firemen’s Park
Further info: www.ceskyden.com or
Phone: (608) 489-2521 or (608) 444-0106
Tabor, South Dakota Czech Festival
60th Annual Czech Days Celebration
Info: Tabor, SD Chamber of Commerce
Telephone: (605) 463-2476
Special Event Saturday, CGSI Traveling Library
CGSI will have a Sales table here too!
Further info later: www.cgsi.org
Phillips, Wisconsin 25th Annual Czechoslovakian
Community Festival
Miss Czech/Slovak Wisconsin Queen Pageant
Phillips Senior High School, 990 Flambeau Ave
Further info: [email protected]
Czech Festival sponsored by Clarkson
Commercial Club, Clarkson, Nebraska
Special Event: CGSI Traveling Library (Saturday)
Awarding of Černín Palace Bronze Memorial
Medal to Margie Sobotka by Czech Ministry
July 3, 2008 (Thursday) 2-8 PM
CGSI Traveling Library
Ord, Nebraska Public Library
1718 M Street, Ord, NE
Further info: [email protected]
August 1-3, 2008 (Friday – Sunday)
“Pittsburgh PA: The East European Magnet”
Annual Conference of the Federation of East
European Family History Societies (FEEFHS)
Pittsburgh Airport Marriott Hotel
Arrangements by Lisa A. Alzo, Co-Chair
Further info and forms: www.feefhs.org
September 7, 2008 (Sunday)
CGSI Quarterly Membership Meeting
History and Function of Lodges and Lodge Halls
Speakers to include Daniel Necas, and others
Historic ZČBJ Hall, Cadott, Chippewa County, WI
October 18, 2008 (Saturday)
CGSI Annual Membership Meeting
New Prague Golf Club, New Prague, MN
Co-sponsored by New Prague Area Historical
Society (NPAHS)
CGSI Traveling Library to research in the a.m.
History on New Prague, MN and a Presentation
on Czech Settlements in Minnesota after lunch.
Further info later at: www.cgsi.org
Naše rodina
Page 51
Coming In The June 2008 Issue 


20 Years of CGSI Accomplishments
Recipients of Pioneer and Century Certificates
Back Issues of Naše rodina and Ročenka
 “Remembering Your Roots:  The Role of Ethnic Genealogical Societies in Family History Research”
 The Power of DNA: Discovering Lost and Hidden Relationships
 Discovery of My Family in Slovakia
Don’t Forget the 2008 Seattle Symposium!
Special 20th Anniversary logo. Idea
by Mark Bigaouette and drawing by
Doreen McKenney.
Milan Čoupek (left) from the Moravian Provincial
Archive in Brno visits the USA in September 1990
and speaks at a CGS quarterly. Marcie Bigaouette
and Mark Bigaouette, Founder of CGS are his
hosts. Photo courtesy of Mark Bigaouette.
CGSI website: www.cgsi.org
Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International
P.O. Box 16225
St. Paul, MN 55116-0225
Address Service Requested
ISSN 1045-8190
NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATION
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT NO. 7985
ST. PAUL, MN

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HG Hamburg - Manderley - 4 bedroom Villa in Jávea

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R.E.S. CHARTERING