My great grandfather, Joseph Snyder, AKA Josef Schneider, was born in (this is family lore but I can find no documentation)." Zerkow or Posen." These places are currently a part of Poland. He was German speaker. Although he died before I was born, my mother and other relatives said that he never fully mastered English. I am aware of the three Partitions of Poland and have studied maps of Poland. There are many Joseph Snyders.
What I know. He was born in what is now Poland (presumably) the mid 1850's. My mother always told me he left to escape military conscription.
I found him for sure on a manifest for the ship Frederich A.? Grosse, which shows his re-entry into the US (NY from Bremen) after a visit to his mother and sister in 1904. He is listed as a citizen of the US, unlike most of his shipmates whose "races" are listed as either Polish or Hebrew. I know it is him because his destination is listed as Burwell, Nebraska, my maternal family's hometown in America. There is a tiny note which says 1884, which could be his original immigration date.
What I cannot locate-and I've looked in person and on line for many years-
*any documentation of his birth or parentage
*his first European marriage to Antje Poppen/Pappen of Aurich, Lower Saxony (Antje was born in the village of Riepe and was first married to Berend Benjamins Bruns)
*his second marriage to Trientje Bruns in Plattsmouth, Nebraska (yes, she is his step daughter)
* the birth or immigration of his biological son by Antje (Uncle Harm, who grew up in Burwell and died in Colorado)
*the identity of the child listed as Antjen in Nebraska church records, DOB 2-19-1884, the child of Antje and Joseph
*a Nebraska State census
*any other record of him until the 1900 Census when he's living in Burwell, Nebraska where he lived the rest of his life.
I have always been very curious about this man, who was reputedly extremely cantankerous. My mother said there were "lots of secrets" and the only one she knew was that he was supposedly Jewish but no one was to speak of it. My DNA tests do not show Ashkenazi results, however. He had a brother in California and a sister in Philadelphia, according to his obituary. 23 and Me turned up Polish Catholic relatives who called his wife "aunt"... names associated with these people are Bandyk/Bondik, Adamski, Nowak.
I have run into NO ONE else trying to research this man. Is there one of you out there? Any and all suggestions are most welcome. Thank you.
