So Far Away - Christmas Day 1887, Somewhere on the Atlantic - Week 5 of #52Ancestors
I can't imagine what Christmas Day was like for my great-grandfather Wilhelm Friedrich Georg Schickler in 1887.
What I do know is that he was 14 years old. His parents were dead. He was on the ship Rotterdam a day out of the port of New York. And that he was traveling alone to a new life.
Was he thinking of his family so far away in Stuttgart? Was he wondering how his younger brother Georg - his only living sibling - left behind in Stuttgart with their grandparents was doing? Was he remembering his father and five siblings who had died in recent years? Was he thinking about his mother who had died just a month ago on November 24?
Or did he see the Statue of Liberty as his ship arrived? Was he looking forward to a new life with his mother's sister and her husband?
Wilhelm was born on November 6, 1873 in Ludwigsburg, Wurttemberg, Germany, the son of Gottlieb Wilhelm Schickler (1848-1885) and Marie Frederike Haufler (1846-1887). He was baptized on November 23 1873. His parents had married on February 11, 1873.
Gottlieb and Marie soon had six more children, most of whom died young.
Karl Julius Theodor (23 Nov 1874 - 21 Jan 1878)
Georg Paul (27 Jun 1876 - 27 Feb 1963)
Alfred Gotthold (17 Dec 1877 - 26 Mar 1880)
Alfred Hermann (14 Mar 1881 - 4 Jul 1884)
Eugen Hugo (22 Jul 1884 - 28 Jul 1884)
Helene Julie (2 Aug 1885 - 25 Apr 1886)
Gottlieb Schickler died on June 12, 1885 in Stuttgart, Wurttemberg. At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife Marie Frederike, and 2 sons Wilhem age 11 and Georg age 8. His daughter Helene was born two months after his death.
Now skip ahead to late 1887. On November 6, Wilhelm celebrated his 14th birthday. On November 24, his mother died. Sometime before mid-December, he traveled to Rotterdam where he boarded the ship Rotterdam.
And arrived alone at age 14 in New York City on December 26, 1887. The ship's passenger list has his age as 23 - but he was only 14
By 1887, I know of two members of Wilhelm's mother's family had immigrated to the United States. I don't know of anyone from his father's family who immigrated.
His mother's sister Wilhelmine Sophie Haufler (1859-1895) married to George Beller (1855-1900), who lived in Brooklyn. Their oldest son was born in Brooklyn in 1886. I haven't found a marriage date for them so don't know if they were married in Germany or in New York. George may have arrived in 1883. I don't know when Wilhelmine arrived. She did not travel with George. George Beller was a baker and family tradition says Wilhelm Schickler lived with his uncle a baker when he first arrived in New York
His mother's brother Wilhelm Haufler (1863-1950) arrived in New York in 1884. He was a tinsmith.
So whichever Haufler family member Wilhelm Schickler was going to live with was someone he probably hadn't seen in a few years.
But as tragic as Wilhelm's younger years were, like many other immigrants he thrived in New York. He became a United State Citizen on March 24 1896, a few months before he married Catherine Frederica Geiser on October 3, 1896.
Wilhelm (or William Frederick George as he was known in the United States) and Catherine had seven children. He was a baker, even owning his own bakery in Brooklyn for a few years. He was an active member of the Boss Bakers Singing Society, traveling back to Germany in 1927 as part of a singing tour. William died on June 29, 1936 in Queens, New York and is buried in Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens, New York.
He would see his younger brother Georg again. Georg immigrated to New York in 1890, also traveling alone at age 14. Georg would join a Capuchin monastery in 1896. He visited family in New York when he had leave through the 1950s.
Everytime I see William Frederick George Schickler in my research, all I can think about is a teenage boy crossing the Atlantic along to a new world - leaving everyone and everything he knew so far away.
What I do know is that he was 14 years old. His parents were dead. He was on the ship Rotterdam a day out of the port of New York. And that he was traveling alone to a new life.
Was he thinking of his family so far away in Stuttgart? Was he wondering how his younger brother Georg - his only living sibling - left behind in Stuttgart with their grandparents was doing? Was he remembering his father and five siblings who had died in recent years? Was he thinking about his mother who had died just a month ago on November 24?
Or did he see the Statue of Liberty as his ship arrived? Was he looking forward to a new life with his mother's sister and her husband?
Wilhelm was born on November 6, 1873 in Ludwigsburg, Wurttemberg, Germany, the son of Gottlieb Wilhelm Schickler (1848-1885) and Marie Frederike Haufler (1846-1887). He was baptized on November 23 1873. His parents had married on February 11, 1873.
Gottlieb and Marie soon had six more children, most of whom died young.
Karl Julius Theodor (23 Nov 1874 - 21 Jan 1878)
Georg Paul (27 Jun 1876 - 27 Feb 1963)
Alfred Gotthold (17 Dec 1877 - 26 Mar 1880)
Alfred Hermann (14 Mar 1881 - 4 Jul 1884)
Eugen Hugo (22 Jul 1884 - 28 Jul 1884)
Helene Julie (2 Aug 1885 - 25 Apr 1886)
Gottlieb Schickler died on June 12, 1885 in Stuttgart, Wurttemberg. At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife Marie Frederike, and 2 sons Wilhem age 11 and Georg age 8. His daughter Helene was born two months after his death.
Now skip ahead to late 1887. On November 6, Wilhelm celebrated his 14th birthday. On November 24, his mother died. Sometime before mid-December, he traveled to Rotterdam where he boarded the ship Rotterdam.
And arrived alone at age 14 in New York City on December 26, 1887. The ship's passenger list has his age as 23 - but he was only 14
By 1887, I know of two members of Wilhelm's mother's family had immigrated to the United States. I don't know of anyone from his father's family who immigrated.
His mother's sister Wilhelmine Sophie Haufler (1859-1895) married to George Beller (1855-1900), who lived in Brooklyn. Their oldest son was born in Brooklyn in 1886. I haven't found a marriage date for them so don't know if they were married in Germany or in New York. George may have arrived in 1883. I don't know when Wilhelmine arrived. She did not travel with George. George Beller was a baker and family tradition says Wilhelm Schickler lived with his uncle a baker when he first arrived in New York
His mother's brother Wilhelm Haufler (1863-1950) arrived in New York in 1884. He was a tinsmith.
So whichever Haufler family member Wilhelm Schickler was going to live with was someone he probably hadn't seen in a few years.
But as tragic as Wilhelm's younger years were, like many other immigrants he thrived in New York. He became a United State Citizen on March 24 1896, a few months before he married Catherine Frederica Geiser on October 3, 1896.
Wilhelm (or William Frederick George as he was known in the United States) and Catherine had seven children. He was a baker, even owning his own bakery in Brooklyn for a few years. He was an active member of the Boss Bakers Singing Society, traveling back to Germany in 1927 as part of a singing tour. William died on June 29, 1936 in Queens, New York and is buried in Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens, New York.
He would see his younger brother Georg again. Georg immigrated to New York in 1890, also traveling alone at age 14. Georg would join a Capuchin monastery in 1896. He visited family in New York when he had leave through the 1950s.
Everytime I see William Frederick George Schickler in my research, all I can think about is a teenage boy crossing the Atlantic along to a new world - leaving everyone and everything he knew so far away.
Great Post! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSo great William returned to Germany with his singing society, I wonder if he still had family there to visit. And now I am curious about the younger brother becoming a monk! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHe might have had cousins to visit but no clue if he did. The last record we have of connecting with Germany was when his grandfather's estate was settled in 1899. I found a second maternal Aunt in Brooklyn - but she died in 1889. So that leaves one Uncle on his Mom's side in New York who immigrated as an adult to maintain ties. I still haven't found any close relatives on his father's side who immigrated.
DeleteI've recently learned more about his brother who became a monk - it will be a story for another post. The Capuchin order he belonged to shared some wonderful information with me
Family lore has it that William sold pretzels on the NYC docks after he came to America.
ReplyDelete