Grandpa Lange's Trip from Essen to Winnipeg

My mother always said her father, Gustav Lange (1888-1963) immigrated to Canada from Essen, Germany in 1911; and I have his immigration inspection card. However, for years could not find his listing on a passenger manifest.

Immigration inspection card for Gustav Lange; personal collection

But good things happen to stubborn persistent people and I finally found it on 2 July 2017 after beginning my search in late 2012. Grandpa worked in Essen, Germany, before immigrating to Canada. He likely purchased his steerage-class ticket from a White Star Line agent and took a steamer from Amsterdam, Bremen, Hamburg, or Rotterdam across the North Sea to Hull, England. From there he took a train to Liverpool, as did 9 million other emigrants from 1830 to 1930. Passengers were not allowed to board their ship until the day before or the day of sailing. So most spent between one to ten days in a hostel near the docks.

Grandpa boarded the RMS Teutonic on 12 August 1911 and arrived in Quebec on 20 August. After reviewing hundreds of other records of German immigrants whose final destination was Winnipeg, I believe he took the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) in Quebec. The trip to Winnipeg is nearly 50 hours by train today. How long it was in Grandpa's day, I have no idea. As new and different as a sea voyage must have been for a young man born and raised in landlocked western Russia, the train ride would prove equally fascinating, I'm sure.

From Quebec the GTR went to Montreal and then Toronto before crossing the U.S. border at Port Huron, Michigan. At Grand Haven across the state on Lake Michigan, the train cars were loaded onto a car ferry for the 4+-hour trip across the lake to Milwaukee. What a sight that must have been for young Gustav!

Lake Michigan rail car ferry; courtesy of Deep Sea Detectives

From Milwaukee the GTR went to Minneapolis, then Fargo and Grand Forks before making its last stop in the U.S. at Noyes, Minnesota. Another stop across the border at Emerson, Canada, for immigration paperwork and on to Winnipeg.

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Grandpa Lange's Life in Essen 

Grandpa Lange's Life in Essen

Gustav Lange (1888-1963), better known to at least his younger grandchildren as "Grandpa Lange," left Porozove in 1906, the year after his father died. I always heard he went to Germany to work, sending money home to his mother as well as saving to immigrate to Canada. I really don't know if he planned to immigrate when he left home. His uncle, Gustav Ludwig, who was his age and had been raised by his sister, Caroline (Ludwig) Lange, my great grandmother, after their mother died in late 1888, immigrated to Winnipeg in 1910. So Grandpa Lange may have decided to join his uncle in Winnipeg after receiving a letter from him describing life in Canada.

Lately I have been re-examining all the records and personal papers I have for Grandpa and realized I never transcribed or translated his German work permit.

Gustav likely made his way from Porozove[1] fifteen kilometers northeast to Rivne, where there was a rail station. We don't know through which cities he had to pass or where he changed trains but eventually he made his way to Essen, in the Ruhr Valley. Essen had been at the center of the industrialization of the German Empire and was home to the Krupp family's vast weapons dynasty. It was also home to steel factories and coal mines.

While in Essen, Grandpa had his photograph taken at Beckmann's photography studio.

Gustav Lange circa 1906-1911; personal collection

His clothing was very typical for a man in the first decade of the 20th century -- a "middle-class men's suit" instead of frock coats of the previous century, a vest and tie or bow tie. The shirts were often pastel in color and the collars were detachable because they required more frequent cleaning. Collars could also be replaced if ruined.

In Essen Grandpa obtained a work permit, which included his place of birth and employer. It appeared a new work permit was required each year. Below is his permit for 1911, the last year he was in Essen.

Grandpa Lange's German work permit; personal collection

Gültig für das Jahr 1911
Valid for the year 1911
No. 686273

Abfiertigungsstelle Essen a. d. R.
Check-out point Essen [initials not translated]
der Deutschen Feldarbeiter-Zentralstelle zu Berlin
The German Field Workers' Center in Berlin

Arbeiter-Legitimationkarte
Workers Identity Card
ausgestellt auf Grund des Ministerialrlasses
Issued by the Ministerial
vom 21. Dezember 1907 -- IIb 5675
of 21 December 1907 [remainder not translated]

Vor- und Zuname Gustav Lange
First and Last Name Gustav Lange
aus Samosck
from Samosck
Kries Lutzk Heimatland Russland
District Lutzke Homeland Russia
Arbeitgeber Rh. Westf. Elektrizitatwerk
Employer Rheinish-Westfalisches Electric Plant
Place of Work Essen
Kreis, Provinz
Bundesstaat Essen Ruhr Rheinland
District, County
[not translated] Essen, Ruhr, Rhineland

Diese Legitimationkarte ist bei polizeilichen An- und Abmeldungen und bei jedem Weschsel der Arbeitsstelle vorzulegen.
This card is to be presented in the case of police log-in / log-out (?) and every change of the working place.

Die Polizeiverwaltung
The Police

The Rheinish-Westfälisches Elektrizitätwerk was founded in 1898 in Essen. The company's first power station began operating in 1900. The local municipalities owned the majority of the company's stock shares.

The RWE power station in Essen, circa 1905; courtesy of RWE

I don't know where Grandpa lived while in Essen or how he spent his leisure time, but at the turn of the century, Germany's economy was the most dynamic in Europe. The years from 1895 to 1907 witnessed a doubling of the number of workers engaged in machine building, from slightly more than a half a million to well over a million. People continued to migrate from eastern provinces to the growing and multiplying factories in Berlin and the Ruhr Valley. Health insurance was provided to German workers in 1883 and the Workers Protection Act of 1891 banned work on Sundays and limited the work day to 11 hours. So Grandpa Lange had some leisure time to spend. Was he a member of band, playing his trumpet?

The Lange family had converted from Lutheran to German Baptist by the time Grandpa left home. Where was his church and where did he live? Surprisingly, according to an article by John S. Conway and Kyle Jantzen, "German Baptists were among those small groups of free churches which had to struggle throughout the 19th century to gain a foothold in Germany against the intolerant pressures of the established Lutheran church. By the 20th century they were conditionally recognized but remained on the edges of society. They sought to encourage the ideal life of true believers, separated from the rest of sinful society and politics. Hence, abstention from all worldly associations was coupled with the demand for freedom from all state interference in church life." Those beliefs seem noble to me but somewhat impractical to live by for a working-class factory worker like Grandpa. As an alien worker in Germany, his life interacted with the state on a regular basis.

Did he pay attention to politics as do some of his grandchildren today? Mom remembered he closely monitored the diplomatic maneuvers by European countries prior to World War II. At the time Grandpa lived in Essen, the empire's authoritarian political system was marked by paralysis. Encyclopedia Britannica described the political situation as:

"With each election, the increasingly urban electorate returned Social Democrats in growing numbers. By 1890 the Social Democrats (who had adopted a Marxist program of revolution at their Erfurt congress in 1891) received more votes than any other party. By 1912 they had more voters supporting them than the next two largest parties combined...Many contemporary observers thought that a major crisis was looming between the recalcitrant elites and the increasing number of Germans who desired political emancipation..."

Some time in the summer of 1911, Gustav traveled to Liverpool, England, where he boarded the White Star Line's RMS Teutonic on 12 August, and immigrated to Canada.

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[1] Porozove is located in the Rivne raion of the Rivne oblast, Ukraine. At the time Gustav Lange lived there it was part of the Russian Empire. After the Polish-Soviet War in 1920-21, it became part of Poland. After World War II, part of Ukraine.

Another Ludwig Breakthrough: Finding Uncle Gustav

God Planned It: Escaping from East Germany

My maternal grandfather's youngest brother was named Friedrich Lange (1905-1988). Unlike his two older brothers, he remained in Poland, married in 1929 a few months after his mother died and had three children. He was drafted into the German Army in 1943; was taken prisoner by Czech partisans in 1944, who turned him over to the Soviet Army; and was held in a Soviet prison until 1949.

Meanwhile, his wife fled German-occupied Poland in early 1945 in advance of the Red Army and made her way, with the children, by wagon, to Zeitz, Germany, where she had family. After V-E day, Germany was divided into four occupation zones under the control of the U.S., Britain, France and the Soviet Union. According to the pact signed in Potsdam, the four occupying countries were to treat Germans in a uniform manner, but this goal was never achieved and each country pursued their own goals and aims. The Soviets required reparations and took factory equipment, even entire factories for their occupation zone. Britain, France and the U.S. focused on economic reconstruction. The Soviets extended Communism to their German zone and collectivized farms. In 1946 the U.S. announced its zone and the British Zone would be merged to form Bizonia -- the start of the German division. The Soviets reacted by announcing Ostmark and suspended all land and air traffic to Berlin. The famous Berlin Airlift, to provide food, coal, and other necessary supplies to the western zones of Berlin ensued.

The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) was established on 21 September 1949 and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), a month later.

Soviet occupation zone in red; U.S. and British troops withdrew from purple
area after fighting ceased; heavy black line was the border between what
became East and West Germany; courtesy of Wikipedia

Friedrich Lange and his family found themselves in East Germany. They lived on a small farm until Friedrich's health continued to deteriorate to an extent he could no longer help with the farm work. The government moved the family of five to a one-bedroom apartment in town where they remained until 1956 when they escaped. Their son believed it was a miracle planned by God. 

His mother had been looking for a sign from God letting them know when they should escape. The daughter of a friend, who worked at the bank, had been ordered to report any large withdrawals the family made. When Theofile, Friedrich's wife,  learned the government was monitoring their banking transactions, that was her sign from God it was time. 

When she told her family, it was time to go, they thought she was crazy. Friedrich told her the police would not let them leave together at the same time. Theofile refused to lie to the authorities but she was determined to escape. So she and their son went to the police station to get visas to visit relatives in West Germany. The policeman told them they could not go together unless other family members remained in East Germany. She told them her husband and two daughters were still in the country. So the police gave Theofile and her son visas. 

Theofile sent Friedrich and their daughter to the police station immediately. At the police station they were told they could not leave unless other family members remained in the country. Friedrich was able to say truthfully that his wife, daughter and son were in East Germany. Theofile and her youngest left East Germany on the 6:00 p.m. train and Friedrich and his middle daughter left the next morning. Their eldest daughter was married and wanted to stay in Leipzig where she and her husband lived. As their son said, “God planned it; we were just along for the ride.” 

In West Germany, they went to Wettmershagen where Heinrich and Olga’s families lived. The husband of Heinrich Lange’s daughter got Friedrich's son a job in the Volkswagon factory. Richard Lange’s wife came from Canada to visit. After hearing her talk about Canada, Friedrich and his family decided to settle there permanently. The application process took about six months and they left on 4 August 1957 aboard the Arosa Line’s SS Kulm, an old U.S. Army transport, from Bremerhaven and arrived in Quebec on 15 August 1957. They took a train to Winnipeg to reunite with Friedrich’s siblings, Richard and Heinrich. My grandfather traveled from Maryland to Winnipeg in 1958 or 1959 to see his youngest brother for the first time in 50 years and meet his family. 

I was so fortunate to be contacted by one of Friedrich Lange's grandchildren, who put me in touch with her father. He and his wife shared so much information with me and were so patient with my follow-up questions and constant digging. We shared many laughs together on the phone. I cannot thank them enough.

Left to right: Richard Lange; Theofile (Strohschein) Lange; her son; and a daughter of
Heinrich Lange, another brother of Richard and Friedrich Lange. The photograph was
taken on the front porch of Richard Lange's home in Winnipeg on the day Friedrich
Lange's family arrived in Canada; courtesy of Friedrich Lange's son

Has My Prussia Origins Theory Gone Up in Smoke?

My maternal grandparents, Gustav Lange and Wilhelmina Schalin, considered themselves German, wrote to their siblings in German, read a German Bible, and spoke German in their home until their eldest daughter came home from her first day of school in tears because she could not speak English. However, only Gustav Lange lived in Germany, briefly, for five years from 1906 through 1911 when he worked in Essen in order to send money home and save for his passage to Canada. At this time I do not know from where in Germany our Lange or Schalin ancestors originated

The Lange-Ludwig grandparents of my grandfather, Gustav Lange, were born near present day Lodz, Poland, in the 1840s and moved to the Volyn Oblast in Ukraine in the early 1880s. The paternal ancestors of my grandmother, Wilhelmina Schalin, lived in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, about halfway between Poznan and Lodz since at least the 1790s. They moved to the Volyn Oblast in Ukraine between 1861 and 1863. I know nothing of Wilhelmina Schalin's mother beyond her name.

Migrations of the Lange (red circles) and Schalin (green squares) families;
created using Google Maps

But from where did the Lange and Schalin families originate? I assumed Germany since Grandma and Grandpa Lange spoke German as their native language, but I wanted to know more. I spent a lot of time delving into the history of Poland and Ukraine. I learned the area of Poland where the Lange and Schalin families lived was known as South Prussia after 1793 and the Second Partition of Poland by Prussia and Russia. So perhaps they were from Prussia.

When Ancestry unveiled its genetic communities, I looked at them for all the Lange-Schalin DNA tests I administered.

Lange-Schalin relatives I have DNA tested (red outline); created
using Microsoft Powerpoint

On the day after genetic communities were launched, we all shared at least one genetic community and it was Northern Germans, which included Prussia. But as Ancestry has continued to refine the genetic communities, the picture has gotten muddier. As of 30 June 2017, the genetic communities are now:

Genetic communities of the Lange relatives' DNA tests; created using
Microsoft Excel

It appears as if some genetic communities were refined and some of my Lange relatives lost some or all of genetic communities and new ones were added.

Map of Northern Germans genetic community; courtesy of Ancestry.com

Northern Germans was the genetic community we all shared when Ancestry launched its genetic communities though it does not reflect the eastern migration of hundreds of thousands of Germans to current day Russia, Poland, and Ukraine.

Germans, Netherlanders, Belgians & Luxembourgians Ancestry genetic
community; courtesy of Ancestry.com

The Germans, Netherlanders, Belgians & and Luxembourgians was a new genetic community and likely a refinement. It has a great deal of overlap with Northern Germans but extends more westward, which does not support my Prussia origins theory.

Northern (yellow) and southern (red) origins of Germans in the Midwest
Ancestry genetic community; courtesy of Ancestry.com

Germans in the Midwest originated from both northern and southern Germany. So it could still support my Prussia theory.

And the problem...

German origins of the Germans from Baden-Wurttemberg in the Dakotas
Ancestry genetic community; courtesy of Ancestry.com

There is no way, Germans from Baden-Wurttemberg may be considered northern Germans from the area that was once Prussia. So at this point my thinking is the genetic communities are interesting but not helpful. Pretty much what I have found ethnicity estimates to be. Sometimes they make sense; sometimes they don't.

On the settings page of each DNA test is a privacy section. That section states the following about ethnicity:

"Show the participant's complete ethnicity profile to their DNA matches. This means the participant's DNA matches will see both the participant's full ethnicity estimate and all the Genetic Communities. (If left unselected, the participant's DNA matches will only see the portion of the participant's ethnicity estimate and the Genetic Communities they share in common.)"

I have not selected this for any of the tests I administer, but I changed this setting from my test and my mother's test to select it. Then went to Mom's match from the home page of my DNA test. I could see all of her ethnicity estimates but not her genetic communities. And I should have been able to see them. So there is still work for Ancestry to do in this area.

The Lange Family and the Forgotten War

On the eve World War I my great grandmother, Caroline (Ludwig) Lange, lived in what is now Porozove, Rivne, Rivne, Ukraine. At the time, the town was in Volhynia Gubernia[1] of the Russian Empire. As World War I progressed the Russia government became sensitive to the over 2 million Germans who lived within their borders and relocated many of them east to Siberia or other parts of the empire. Caroline Lange and her five youngest children were sent to the Omsk Oblast. They were allowed to return to Porozove in about 1920. World War I had ended but the area was not yet peaceful.

Modern day Ukraine in white with Volhynia in gold/yellow; map courtesy of
Wikipedia

The Polish-Soviet War occurred between 1919 and 1921 fought by the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic against Soviet Russia[2] and Soviet Ukraine over an area that is roughly equivalent to modern-day Ukraine and the western portion of Belarus. Poland wanted to push its borders eastward as far as was feasible. And Lenin saw Poland as the bridge the Red Army had to cross to assist other communist movements bring about revolution in Europe. Ukraine was trying to establish itself as a country, but had a weak hand as Polish troops occupied much of the western part of the country. Ukraine also had to contend with the Bolsheviks pushing westward until they had pushed Polish troops all the way back to Warsaw.

Poland won an unexpected but decisive battle at Warsaw and advanced eastward. Russia sued for peace and a cease fire was put in place in October 1920. The Peace of Riga was signed on 18 March 1921 and divided the disputed territories between Poland and Soviet Russia.

The territory that included Porozove was ceded to Poland by the Riga treaty. These borders remained in place until World War II.

In between the world wars Caroline Lange's family did what families do. Her children began getting married and having children. Caroline died in October 1929 and was interred in Porozove. Her youngest son married a few months after her death, intending to use the tickets his oldest brother, Gustav (my grandfather) sent, but his new wife didn't want to leave her family, so they stayed.

Germany and the Soviet Union signed a secret pact in August 1939 called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. It was a non-aggression pact between the two countries that delineated spheres of influence along Germany's easter border. On 1 September Germany invaded Poland from the west and a little more than two weeks later, on 17 September 1939 the Soviet Union invaded from the east.

Caroline Lange's five youngest children, Olga, Lydia, Richard, Heinrich, and Friedrich, found themselves in a war zone yet again.

NOTE: At this stage in my research I do not yet know why the Lange family lived in Porozove. Caroline Ludwig married Carl August Lange in 1886. Their marriage was registered in what is now Rozhysche, Volyn', Ukraine, which is south of Porozove. Carl Lange died in 1905 about three months after their youngest child was born. Caroline supported her family by working as a medicine woman and midwife.

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[1] The Volhynia Gubernia is now located in Belarus, Poland, and Ukraine.

[2] Soviet Russia was a sovereign state from 1917 until 1922 when the Soviet Union was formed.

Much of the information about the various dates and places the Lange family lived comes from the few documents I have been able to collect and conversations with Friedrich Lange's son, Willy.

4 Things I've Learned about Researching Eastern European Ancestors

I have finally seriously begun to study how to research eastern European ancestors so I can begin to work on Mom's and my husband's sides of my family tree. One morning over coffee I was bemoaning the difficulties I have experienced. Pete agreed it sounded tough and said I should write a blog post about it so others who are thinking of doing the same thing will know about which issues to watch or take into consideration. I'm certainly no expert but am making progress in my education.

According to AncestryDNA eastern Europe includes these countries: Albania (northern), Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece (northern), Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia (European), Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey (European), and Ukraine. It's as good a definition as any other I have found.

Map of Eastern European Ethnicity per AncestryDNA; image courtesy of
Ancestry.com

Regardless of the specific country in which you find your research taking you, most of these countries require knowing certain facts before you can truly begin to make progress. And they are:

1. What calendar was in use?

It sounds crazy, I know, but if you want to add a certain date to an ancestor's timeline that puts that information in context with your other known ancestors, then you will likely want to use the Gregorian Calendar, which is what we use today. The Gregorian calendar was named for Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in 1582.

The calendar is sometimes known as the Western or Christian calendar. Not surprisingly, Catholic European countries were first to convert to the new calendar. Protestant and Orthodox countries adopted the Gregorian calendar sometimes centuries later with Greece being the last country to adopt it in 1923.

I use this web page to determine what calendar the country in which I am researching was using at the time of the ancestor about whom I am working. Then I go to Stephen P. Morse's converter to determine what the Gregorian calendar date is for a record created using the Julian calendar. I enter the Gregorian date as the fact in my family tree and add a note in the description field that includes the original Julian calendar date with (Julian) in parenthesis. The recording of the facts about my paternal grandfather Gustav Lange's birth is a good example:

Gustav Lange birth fact in my family tree; image courtesy of Ancestry.com

You could use an alternate birth fact, but my personal preference is to keep all of the information together as it really was the same date. If I had a source that listed an entirely different date, then I would use the alternate birth fact to record that information.

2. What religion did your ancestors practice?

Religion was more important in the daily life of our ancestors than it is for many of us today. My maternal grandmother's family moved from what is now Maliniec, Poland, to what is now Ukraine, but was then Russia, primarily for economic reasons. However, Tsar Alexander II offered many inducements, including the freedom to practice a different religion from Russian Orthodoxy, which was the empire's official religion. When Tsar Alexander III came to power, he rescinded those inducements and jailed my grandmother's family's minister. They undertook a 5,000+ mile journey in 1893 to escape Russia in order to practice their German Baptist faith. Many from their community and church made the same journey at the same time and settled in the same area in Canada where they built a church together. Without knowing your ancestor's religion, you will not know in what churches to look for records if none exist at the civil authority.

Photograph of the congregation of the First Baptist Church of Fredericksheim
in Leduc, Canada, which my great grandfather helped build; photograph
courtesy of Lucille Marian (Fillenberg) Effa

3. In what country did your ancestors reside?

Country boundaries changed a lot over time in Europe, but especially in eastern Europe. Poland actually disppeared from the map in 1795 after the third partition of the country as Prussia, Russia, and Austria gobbled it up. Other countries lost wars and territory and there was a war somewhere in eastern Europe for much of history. It is important to know in what country the town or area in which your ancestor lived at the time your ancestor lived there. It's also important to know the contemporary name of the location in case you want to plot it on the map.

I typically enter the current place name in the location field and the historical name in the description field. I do this so that mapping function of my family tree software will work. If they lived in a very small village that is not recognized by my software, I enter the region and enter the village name in the description field. By knowing the country in which Zamosty was located at the time of Gustav's birth, I can use Wikipedia or the JewishGen town search to get the correct spelling or current place name. Because most of my eastern European ancestors lived in Poland and the Volhynia region, I joined the Society of German Genealogy in Eastern Europe. Members have created some of the best gazetteers I have found. If your ancestors are from other countries in eastern Europe, however, the society's resources will not be as helpful.

4. What was the national language and what language did your ancestors speak?

Once you know the country in which your ancestor resided, then you will likely have a good handle on the official language spoken there. However, be aware that some countries allowed administrative areas to speak different languages based on the majority nationality in the area as did Russia until the reign of Tsar Alexander III. If you are lucky enough to find records about your eastern European ancestors, then knowing the language in which the record was written will be extremely helpful as you will need to have the record translated. I find Facebook groups very helpful for translations, but I must know to which group to post the record.

My maternal grandfather's birth registration provides a great example of how you can get tripped up. Remember, Gustav Lange was born in 1888. His birth information was recorded in German on a form pre-printed in Russian! After 1894, his birth information would have been recorded in Russian due to a change in the law.

Gustav Lange's original birth certificate; personal collection

Knowing it was in German enabled me to obtain a translation from the German Genealogy Facebook group. I now understand there is another group specifically for German translations.

I have found it particularly helpful to read the Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org wikis before I begin researching in a foreign country. I also spend a lot time reading about the history of the country, especially its internal civil procedures and how local governments were organized for administrative purposes.

I hope you found these tips useful. Please let me know if you have others.

Discovering an 8 Times Great Grandfather: Arent Van Hoeck

A few weeks ago a new DNA match enabled me to push part of my tree back three more generations to an eight times great grandfather, who was born in the Duchy of Oldenburg and immigrated to New Amsterdam in 1655. His name was Arent Isaaczen Van Hoeck, which was later anglicized to Van Hook. A descendant wrote about book about Arent and his descendants in 1998, which I have ordered.

Arent Isaaczen Van Hoeck was born in 1623 in Hookseil, Duchy of Oldenburg (now in Lower Saxony, Germany). He was born during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), one of the most destructive wars in European history. Entire regions were decimated with famine and disease significantly reducing population. Arent moved to Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic as young man. Perhaps he did so for a chance at better opportunities.  The 17th century was considered the Dutch Golden Age because the tiny republic dominated world trade. Arent became a Dutch citizen in January 1652 and that same year married Sara Van Cliet on 30 March 1652 in Amsterdam. I suspect she died sometime before 1655 as Arent married Geertje (Sophronia) Everts in January 1655. Both his marriages took place in Dutch Reformed churches. Arent and Geertje immigrated to New Amsterdam in the spring of that same year.

View of New Amsterdam circa 1664; courtesy of Wikipedia

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Brief History of New Amsterdam
The colony of New Netherland had been established in 1624 and grew to encompass all of present-day New York City and parts of Long Island and New Jersey. The largest town was New Amsterdam, located on the tip of Manhattan Island. On 27 August 1664 several English frigates sailed into the harbor of New Amsterdam and demanded the surrender of the colony. The articles of capitulation were signed on 8 September and New Amsterdam was renamed New York, in honor of of the Duke of York, who later became King James II, in June 1665.

England and the Netherlands were quickly at war after the take over of New Amsterdam. The Treaty of Breda ended the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1667. The Netherlands did not press their claims for New Netherland and England administered the former Dutch colony. Peace did not last long, however. The Third Anglo-Dutch War broke out in 1673 and the Dutch military briefly occupied New York City and named it New Orange and installed their own governor. The 1674 Treaty of Westminster ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War and the former Dutch territory reverted back to English control and New Orange became New York City again.

---

After being a citizen for a year and six weeks and paying 20 guilders, Arent was awarded small burgher-rights and became a shoemaker. Only great and small burghers and employees of the West India Company could practice a profession or work at trade. Arent moved his family to Albany, New York, in 1659. The colony was called Beverwijck. Geerjte died in 1663 or 1664. Shortly after her death, Arent returned to New York City with his three children.

Blockhouse (for protection against Native Americans) also served as a church
in Beverwijck, c1650; image courtesy of Real Estate New York

After the English take over, the citizens of New Amsterdam/New York City swore an oath of allegiance and became citizens of England. Arent married Stynie (Christina) Laurens, widow of Jan Hendricks, the year of the official English takeover. The couple had five children and I descend from their son Laurens (Lawrence), who was born about 1670. Arent moved his family to Brooklyn in 1676. Sometime before Stynie's death in 1682, they had moved again to Kingston, New York.

Arent married for the fourth time in 1685 to Lizbeth Stevens, widow of Abraham Valdinck. Lizbeth died sometime in the early 1690s and Arent married yet again to Maria Jan Van Hobocken, widow of Otto Laurenzen, on 12 January 1696. Arent died before October 1697 when Maria appeared on a tax list as Widow Van Hoeck.

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I am much indebted to Ancestry member boconnell179, who wrote a wonderful 23-page narrative of Arent Van Hoeck's life, which was exhaustively researched, and shared via his family tree.

52 Ancestors #12: Historic WWII Assault Rhine River Crossing

Ancestor Name: Peter Charles Dagutis

My father-in-law, Peter Charles Dagutis, was drafted on 7 Apr 1941 and was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army on 18 Jun 1945. He truly earned his membership in the "Greatest Generation." According to his service record, he served with the 5th Infantry Division throughout World War II.  From 1942 to 1944 the division served in Iceland, England, and Northern Ireland. After D-Day the division was attached to Third Army, which was led by General George S. Patton, and served in France, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia. The division earned 5 campaign streamers:

• Normandy
• Northern France
• Rhineland
• Ardennes Alsace
• Central Europe

5th Infantry Division campaign streamer. Personal collection

During the night of  22-23 1945 the Fifth Infantry Division made a historic assault crossing of the Rhine River, using assault boats, and crossing without the usual artillery preparation to achieve total surprise. By dawn the 11th and 2nd Infantry regiments were across. Charles B. McDonald describes the German's reaction in the book U.S. Army in World War II, European Theater of Operations, The Last Offensive:

"Soon after dawn twelve German planes strafed and bombed the crossing sites, the first of a series of aerial raids, usually by only one or two planes, that were to persist throughout the day of 23 March. Damage was negligible. Two men in a battalion command post in Oppenheim were wounded and an ammunition truck was set ablaze"

Peter Dagutis was one of the two men wounded by those enemy airplanes. He received a Purple Heart and was back with Company H before too long.

2nd Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, at Nierstein, Germany,
boarding a landing craft to cross the Rhine River.
Photo courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration

The after action report describes the crossing in detail in the division's unit history. Within 48 hours four U.S. divisions had crossed the Rhine at Oppenheim and were ready to advance into Germany.

GIs keep low inside a landing craft during the assault crossing of the Rhine
on 22 Mar 1945. Photograph courtesy of the National Records and
Archives Administration.

Probably the most iconic image of this historic crossing was of General Patton urinating in the Rhine River two days after the successful crossing:

Photo courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration

By March 29, the 5th Infantry Division had captured Frankfort. Later they would liberate Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camps and the people of Czechoslovakia, who had lived under Nazi tyranny for 6 years, longer than any other foreign country. The 5th Infantry Division ended the war in Europe 20 miles beyond the Karlovy Vary-Plzen-Ceska Budejovice line where they had been ordered to halt by Eisenhower on 7 May.

Peter Dagutis earned a Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster for his service in Europe:

Staff Sergeant Peter C. Dagutis, 36109224, Infantry, 2nd Infantry Regiment, United States Army. For distinctive service in connection with military operations against the enemy during the period 20 Sep 1944 to 15 Apr 1945 in Europe. On innumerable occasions, Sergeant Dagutis, a squad leader, has voluntarily exposed himself to enemy fire for the safety and protection of his unit. In addition to directing the operation of his squad in Sanry-sur-Neid, he commandeered a weapon and from the speed with which he completed fire missions, was largely responsible for the disruption of a desperate enemy counterattack. His courage, leadership and devotion to duty reflect great credit upon himself and the armed forces. Entered military service from Michigan.

The Oak Leaf Cluster to the Bronze Star Medal is based on the award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

My father-in-law died on 26 May 1991. We still miss him.

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge.

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Peter Charles Dagutis was born on 10 Mar 1918 at West Hazleton, Luzerne, Pennsylvania, to Adam Peter and Cecilia (Klimasansluski) Dagutis. He was drafted into the U.S. Army on 7 April 1941 and served with Company H, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division. The division was attached to Patton's Third Army in early August 1944 after arriving in France on 9 July 1944 and participating in Operation Cobra, the breakout of the bocage terrain as part of Omar Bradley's First Army. On V-E day the division was in Czechoslovakia. Peter was honorably discharged on 18 June 1945. Later that summer he married Elizabeth Theresa Fishtahler. They had three children; their only son is my husband.

The Family's Fordson Tractor

I learned to drive on an old 1958 Ford tractor with a column shifter so this story from my Aunt Joan's brother Homer's, journal about the family's first tractor resonated with me...and made me laugh out loud:

Summer was a thrilling time of the year. The spring field work led right into all kinds of activity. Along about this period, father purchased a Fordson Tractor. It was simply beautiful, all new and un-scratched. The wheels were fitted with steel lugs so as to hold traction in the field work.

Fordson Tractor with plow. Photo courtesy of NCSU Libraries’ Digital Collections: Rare and Unique Materials

Occasionally we had friends visiting us from Detroit. A very pleasant older gentleman spent some days with us. He seemed thrilled with the farm life, enjoying the change of pace to that of the city. After watching the new machine a while, he wondered if he could drive it.

Father showed him how the machine was handled, how to put it in gear, and how to set the plow in the furrow. So the man set off down the row doing fine. It was at the far end when things began to go wrong. He forgot how to stop; yelled "whoa" several times; but the monster did not get the message. It took but a few turns of the wheel and the Fordson was clawing its way through the fence. The gentleman was completely rattled by this time. The plow caught the wire, causing the machine to stall, ending an interesting situation.

No one got hurt. So after it was all over we had a good laugh at my parents' friend's expense."

Since the family sold the farm in 1917, the Fordson had to have been purchased prior to that date.

A Surprise in My Inbox: Ternes Family Photograph

I've written about Edith Mary Madeline Ternes before (here, here and here). Edith communicated via voice tapes to a relative named Sofee, who is also interested in researching the Ternes family. They traded information about themselves and photos.

After reading the following section of the transcript last November, I scoured the Internet, looking for the photograph of the Anthony Ternes family Edith described in the transcript.  No luck.  Yesterday morning, I woke up and read a new email in my inbox from one of my Ternes family connections.(1)  Attached was the very photograph for which I had been looking for months. It made my day!

I have also included some photographs of other family members mentioned in Edith Mary Madeline Ternes' transcript that are not in the subject photograph.

Here's what Edith Mary Madeline Ternes had to say about the Anthony and Mary Ann (Horger) Ternes family, which were her adopted grandparents:

The Ternes family was German. Mother Ternes was part French. She lived in a French community, Newport, Michigan, and spoke French. During the first war this led to some rather lively discussions at the dinner table. I have often wondered what Mother would have said had she found out, as I have since I have been researching family trees, that her family could well have been more Spanish than French. Dr. Valade, mother's grandfather traveled from Spain to Canada to Newport, Michigan. That Dr. Valade was your great, great, great grandfather.

Mother's father was August Loranger and her mother was Mary Valade. Mary died and August Loranger married again. His second wife had children of her own and was not too happy to have little Madeline Laura at all. She reportedly treated her so badly that her Grandmother Valade took your Great grandmother to live with her. Thus she was raised with aunts and uncles. This was the reason Mother always felt so close to Clara Valade Beckham. They are aunt and niece but raised as sisters.

Now, if you take the large family picture I will tell you about the people in it. There are three men and a woman in the back row. They are George Ternes, William Ternes, Theresa Ternes and Albert Peter Ternes.

Anthony Ternes Family

In the middle row are Maggie, Anthony, the father of the group, Mary Horger Ternes, the mother of the group and Francis "Frank" Anthony Ternes, my foster father and your great grandfather. Seated on the floor are Della and Frederick.

Let's start with Anthony, the father of the family. He is the son of Christian Ternes and Anna M (Schiller) Ternes. (Note: The patriarch of the family, Christian Ternes, was brutally murdered in the streets of Detroit.) Anthony was born on Feb. 22, 1843 and died on Feb. 28, 1904. Mary Ann (Horger) Ternes was the daughter of John Horger and Margaret Meisel Horger. Mary Ann was born in 1847 and died Jan 21, 1904. The church records show that Anthony Ternes and Mary Ann Horger were married June 1868. Anthony's father Christian Ternes was born in 1807 and died in 1881. His mother Anna Marie Schiller was born in 1808 and died on Dec. 25 1884.

The first boy in the last row is George Ternes. George married May Connolly. They had four children, Edna who became a nun, George Junior was in the war and I believe was at Pearl Harbor. The experience left him sort of at loose ends but he finally married a beautiful young lady (I am still trying to find out her name) They were married just 30 days and she died with spinal meningitis. George was devastated by this tragedy and it was quite a while before he married again but he never could come to terms with the disasters in his life and he finally decided it wasn't worth trying to cope with it any longer so he chose his own time to die. Claire married James Martin and lives here in Dearborn. I do not have her children's names. And then there was Lloyd the youngest. I see him at church sometimes. He is a fine young man with a family and he runs the Ternes Paint Store right here in town.

Hannah May (Connelly) Ternes and her children, George Anthony, Claire and Edna

After May died Lucille Carlen kept home for George and his four children until George married again. He had four children and he married a widow, Marguerite Emback Schroeder, who also had four children. They evened things up but made for quite a household.

Marguerite (Embach) Schroeder/Ternes

The second young man in the family picture is William Peter Ternes who married Elsie Gerstner and they had six children as near as I can find out. (Note: You may remember from an earlier blog post, they eloped.) They were Evelyn who married a Monaghan boy, William who married Madeline Maillue whose father was a lawyer and her mother was an opera singer, Ruth, Joy Marion,(2) Jack and Donald.(3) Ruth was drowned out at the cottage on Hickory Island. She was about three years old. After William died Elsie married a Mr. Deacon and they had one more child called John P. Deacon.

Donald Joseph Ternes

The lady is the back row is my favorite Aunt, Theresa, whom we called Aunt Trace. She married Albert Bernard Carlen a musician and piano and organ tuner and repairer. They had four children, Lucille, Eugene, Dorothy and Bernard. Lucille married William McCleer, Eugene became a priest, Dorothy became a Monroe nun with the name of Sr. Claudia. Bernard married Frances Shulte, a nurse. They had four children, Marie Therese, Dorothy, Kathleen known as Kitty and James. Then they called the whole thing off and were divorced and Bernard married Rose somebody or other. I'm still working on that name too. Marie Therese married William D. Hopkinson and they had six children, Elizabeth Ann, Donald, Ann, Kathy, Amy and Patty. Dorothy married William Beers and moved to California. They have three children, William, Mark and Shawn. Kitty works for the social services in Detroit and has never married. James lives in California and his aunt doesn't know if he is married or not.

The other man in the last row is Albert. Albert was a handsome confident man who was a very successful business man. He and his three younger brothers, Frank, your great grandfather, William and George were in the coal and lumber business for a number of years. The company was called The Ternes Coal and Lumber Company which was quite normal. Albert married Maude Burke and had three sons. Arthur, Howard and Paul. Arthur married Laree but I do not know her last name yet. They were divorced and I believe he married again a girl by the name of Esper, another good old Dearborn name. I believe he had two children Dale and Donald but I do not know by which wife. Howard married a lovely girl with an odd first name. She was Steve Rooney. They had a daughter Burke. I think there were other children but I have not been able to track them down yet. Paul married Patricia O'Reille and they had three children, Paul, Patricia and Michael. About 1918 Aunt Maude died. I remember that very well because the boys stayed with us for a few days. Al later married Helen Reber and had one more daughter Alberta Ternes who married Bill Bent.

The young woman sitting in the middle row is Margaret or Maggie as she was called. Maggie married Peter Neckel and this seems to have been a mis-mating if ever there was one. Margaret and Peter had three children, only one of whom Alice lived to grow up. The other two, Madeline and Alfred, died as children. Alice married Joseph Hammel and had six children Joseph, Robert, Margaret Kohlmeier La Salle Renelda Bonefant and Mary Alice Best.

Neckel brothers, Peter is on the far right

Next in line is Grandpa Ternes, your great great grandfather Anthony who, I understand was especially posed with his knees covered by hands to cover a hole in his pants. When he went into the photographer's studio he tripped and fell, tearing both his pant legs. Next to him sits Grandma Ternes who, by the looks of her must have been the authority figure in the family. I never knew her but Mother spoke highly of her and grandpa too, so there must have been some good to her. Then there is Frank, your great grandfather. He was a handsome man, good, kind, and with a terrific sense of humor. We loved the stunts and tricks he used to pull on us.

I hope you've enjoyed how so many pieces of the Ternes family history are coming together. I am thoroughly enjoying getting to learn about this history and meeting Ternes family members.

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(1) My connection is the granddaughter of Christian Ternes, who moved to Panama and changed his name to Charles Ternes De Reuter. His very interesting story may be found here.

(2) William Peter Ternes' daughter, Marion, married Harold Muir, my first cousin, twice removed. They moved to California and had four children.

(3) I have also been in contact with Donald Ternes' daughter on Facebook.

Being German in Tsarist Russia -- Why They Left

This post is about the families of Wilhelmina Schalin and Gustav Lange (my maternal grandparents) and why they emigrated from Russia, to Canada and then later to the U.S. It's a chance to put my love of history to good use!

Both the Schalin and Lange families consistently referred to their nationality as German on official documents.  When they immigrated to Canada, they still spoke German, attended German schools, and practiced their religion in German-speaking churches.  Both families also came from the Volhynian Governorate, which was created by the third partition of Poland in 1975. It was part of the Russian Empire.

Gustav Lange was born in Lutsk and Wilhelmina Schalin's family lived near Rovna, having moved there some time between 1861 and 1863 from Maliniec, which is now part of Poland. At the time the Schalins lived in Maliniec, it had been Prussian territory since 1720.

Maliniec is the red dot just under the word Poland

My assumption is the Schalin family is of Prussian descent and moved into Polish territory newly acquired by Prussia. It was the policy of Prussian leaders to "colonize" acquired lands. But I have not yet been able to track them any farther back in time and place than Maliniec.

Wilhelm Schalin, my great grandfather was born in Maliniec, moved near Rovna, and then to Alberta, Canada

So why did they leave their farms in the Volhynia and move nearly 5,000 miles to western Canada from the 1890s up until the eve of the First World War?

When German families moved to Volhynia, the Tsar of Russia was Alexander II. He was tsar from 1855 until he was assassinated on 13 Mar 1881. He was known as the "Liberator" because he emancipated the serfs in 1861. As a result boyars, the land-owning class, lost their free workforce and many put some of their land up for sale.

Alexander II in 1870

This part of Ukraine has been called the breadbasket of Europe for centuries. So I believe my ancestors settled there because good land was available for a price, and many developed prosperous farms.

Combination house and barn common in German settlements in Volhynia
Picture courtesy of Lucille Fillenberg Effa

Alexander III became tsar upon the assassination of his father.  Alexander was the second son and was never supposed to be the ruler of Russia.  His older brother, the Tsarevich Nicholas, died in 1865. Alexandar III bore little resemblance to his father in appearance or outlook. He was a reactionary conservative and undid many of the reforms his father implemented.

 Alexander III in Copenhagen in 1893 with his wife, Maria.  She was originally his older brother's fiancee.

He believed that the country was to be saved from revolutionary agitation by remaining true to "Russian Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality," the ideology introduced by his grandfather, Tsar Nicholas I. Alexander's political ideal was a nation composed of a single nationality, language, and religion, as well as one form of administration. He attempted to realize this by the institution of mandatory teaching of the Russian language throughout the empire, including his German, Polish, and other non-Russian subjects with the exception of the Finns; the patronization of Eastern Orthodoxy; and the destruction of the remnants of German, Polish, and Swedish institutions in the respective provinces, including the Volhynian Governorate.

Practicing any other religion was illegal and ministers of other religions were hunted down and imprisoned when they tried to meet with their flocks.  The German schools that educated their children were forced to teach in Russian. Land became more difficult to purchase if you were not Russian.  

So my Schalin ancestors decided to leave. They traveled with several other families to Leduc, Alberta, Canada.  I described their journey in this post.

Gustav Lange's father died he was young. He left Lutsk in about 1906 and went to Essen, Germany, to work and save up money for his move to Canada.  He boarded the White Star Line's S/S Teutonic In Liverpool, England, on 12 Aug 1911 and arrived in Quebec City on 20 Aug. He traveled west to Winnipeg where he settled. 

Gustav Lange as a young man

My First Rat Hole: Discovering a Historic Mill

For many years I researched my husband's family as Dad was taking care of the Jennings-Muir and Lange-Schalin families.  I found researching people who came from eastern and central Europe to be a great challenge 12 years ago and didn't get very far.  I'd put the project away and come back a few years later. Each time I did there were more records available online and I'd make a little more progress before hitting another brick wall. Last year I tried again and went down my first research rat hole.  At the end of a week of research I ended up at the Zirkle Mill in Forestville, Virginia, way back in the 1760s! Here's how I started in Austria and ended up 100 miles from where I live today. The trip went through Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and parts of Tennessee.

Photo courtesy of Karen Gallagher

My husband's maternal grandmother was Elise Marie Adametz. She was born in 1887 in Wartburg im Mortzal, Styria, Austria. In 1906 Elise immigrated to the U.S. She traveled alone and arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, aboard the North German Lloyd Line's S/S Chemitz on 3 May 1906.

North German Lloyd Line's S/S Chemitz in 1906

During her arrival processing, the Customs official wrote her first name down as Elsie instead of Elise and she was Elsie forever after. She traveled to Pittsburgh and in 1910 she was working as a servant in the home of Marcus and Rachel Rich on 5621 Northumberland Avenue. Mr. Rich was a manufacturer of men's clothing.  The family had three daughters and two servants.

5621 Northumberland Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Photo courtesy of Google Streetview

By 1911, Elsie had married Jacob Karl Fishtahler and was living in Detroit. Elsie wrote home often and in 1910 her sister Katherine Mary Adametz decided to join her in America. She arrived in Baltimore aboard the North German Lloyd Line's S/S Rhein on 13 May 1910. In 1922 she married James Pearn Easterly in Detroit.

James Easterly was from Greene County, Tennessee. My mother-in-law always said Aunt Kate married a "hick from Tennessee." It turns out that "hick" had an interesting family history.  His great grandfather, George Easterly, Jr. was born in 1781 in Forestville, Virginia.  George's grandfather, Conrad Easterly, was born in 1718 in Baden, Germany. So both the Easterly and Adametz families were Germanic! In Germany the last name was spelled "Oesterle."

Conrad Easterly married Catherine Zirkle in 1746 in Philadelphia. She was a sister of Andrew Zirke, who founded the mill.  This is the Zirkle mill today.  The Zirkle Mill Foundation has been established to raise money to restore it. 

Zirkle Mill, Forestville, Virginia. Photo courtesy Zirkle Mill Foundation

I'll tell you more about the history of the mill in a future post.