Four children born to Christoph Siewert and Anna Marianna Ewald immigrated to the United States in early 1850s and settled in Joliet, Will County, Illinois. They were born in Schneidemühl in Prüssia before heading to the U.S. My ancestor, Vincent, left Hamburg aboard the Johanna Elise on 15 May 1852.[1] He, his wife, and a young son, arrived in New York on 23 June 1852.[2]
Two years later on 22 May 1854, his sister, Eva, and her husband Christoph Wienke, and their three children, arrived in New York on the bark Alida from Hamburg.[3] Another brother, Johan Sievert, his wife and two children, and a sister, Henrietta, her husband, Joseph Freitag, and their daughter, were also on the ship. Further down on the passenger list page was Wilhelmine Radenz, the sister of Vincent’s wife, Susanna.[4]
By 1860, all four families, as well as Wilhelmine Raduntz Hartung, were living in Joliet.
What I want to know: what are their origins? A distant cousin hired someone to do research in the former town in Posen called Schenidemühl and he received the name of their parents, Christoph Siewert and Anna Marianna Ewald, as well the names of their seven children. Only baptism dates were given for the children and I don’t know what became of the other three. We also have dates Christoph and Anna married and died, but the cousin cannot find the letter he received. All I have are the dates and names he emailed me. I have no idea which parish these dates came from.
Germans were encouraged to come to this part of Prussia that is now in present-day Poland. So, if they were migrants to Scheidemühl, they must have come from some other part of a German state, province, principality, or kingdom. There was no formal country called Germany yet. If I want to discover anything else, I’ll probably have to hire someone to do this research again. I also need to study the history of this German town, as that might give me ideas of where the migrants came from. Very likely, I’ll have to read German text to get the details I need.
So, my most wanted ancestors are the parents of Christoph
Siewert (1766-1841) and Anna Marianna Ewald (1785-1845) who lived in
Schneidemühl, Prüssia and had four children who came to America in 1852 and
1854.
#52Ancestors-Week 41: Most
This is my seventh year working on this
year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe.
I write each week in one of my two blogs,
either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into
the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s
ancestors in new and exciting ways.
[1] “Hamburg Passenger Lists,
1850-1934,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/5702465:1068) > 1850-1859 > Direkt Band 003 (1
Mär 1852-1 Jul 1852) > image 191 of 246, line 9, W. Sievert; citing Auswandererlisten,
VIII A1 Band 3, Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Germany.
[2] "New
York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and
Ellis Island), 1820-1957,” digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7488/images/NYM237_115-0261)
> Date > 1852 > June > 23 > Johanna Elise > image 2 of 4, no.
52, Winzent Sivert; NARA Records of the U.S. Customs, RG 35, M237, roll 115.
[3] "New
York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and
Ellis Island), 1820-1957,” digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7488/images/NYM237_139-0704)
> Date > 1854 > May > 22 > Alida > image 6 of 7, line 34, Christoph
Wienne; NARA Records of the U.S. Customs, RG 35, M237, roll 139.
[4] "New
York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and
Ellis Island), 1820-1957,” digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/859827:7488)
> Date > 1854 > May > 22 > Alida > image 5 of 7, line 12,
Joh. D. Siwart, line 16, Joseph Freitag, line 31, Wilhelmine Radenz; NARA
Records of the U.S. Customs, RG 35, M237, roll 139.
It's good that you have a head start on researching your most-wanted ancestors. Impressed that the passenger list was pretty legible and intact! Best of luck.
ReplyDelete