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mtDNA Haplogroup H1af
Family #170 in the 1897 Grimm census.
Eva Kraft Schott was born 18 September 1886 in Grimm, Russia, to Johann Friedrich Schott Jr. and Eva Katharina Kraft. She is descended from Johann Jakob Schott and Anna Margaretha Becker, and Nicholas Kraft and Eva Katharina Loeffler, all four of whom were some of the original settlers of Grimm. The Schotts and Beckers were originally from Holzgerlingen, Neckarkreis, Wuerttemberg, while the Krafts were from Mittelbrunn, Pflaz, Bayern, Germany.
Eva and her family should have all appeared in the 1897 Grimm census, but they were inadvertently omitted by the census taker. The only name that appears from her immediate family is her father's, Johann Friedrich Schott, age 34. It specifically says that he was married, but then omits his wife's name and the names of all his children. Grimm Village Coordinator John Groh from the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia contacted the translator about the omission. He asked if the names of the family members were in the documentation the translator used to translate the census from Russian to English. The translator confirmed that no family members were listed after Johann Friedrich Schott's name.
I am including a copy of the census entry so Eva's connection to her grandparents and cousins can be established. I've also added an addendum to the census record which shows the names of the known siblings and their approximate ages.
1897 Grimm Census
[1]
The census entry ends after Child #3 Johann Friedrich Schott. Here is what was omitted:
Eva married her husband Karl Fritzler around 1905 in Grimm, and one year later in December her first child was born, Amalia "Mollie" Fritzler, named after Karl's sister Mollie Fritzler Schneider. She remained home with her children when her husband was conscripted and forced to be a part of the Tsar's army. By the time he was released from service, the couple decided they were ready to immigrate to the United States.
Eva and Karl, Karl's sister Mollie Fritzler Schneider and her husband Philipp, and their families immigrated together from Russia to the United States. First they traveled by train from Saratov to Libau, Latvia, which at the time was territory of the Russian Empire. From there a small ship took them on the first part of their ocean voyage from the European mainland to England. About 30 days later, they traveled from Liverpool, England, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the S.S. Canada. The passenger manifest for their ship, the S.S. Canada, confirms the families travel along with other relatives and friends.
Years later, Eva's sister-in-law's husband Phillip Schneider recalled their journey to America for his granddaughter Janelle Zimmermann, who documented the conversation. Notes from the conversation read, "He came to America leaving Grimm, Russia on November 27, 1912 and reached America January 13, 1913. They left by railroad to Libau, Finland."
To my knowledge, Libau is a Latvian city. I double checked to make sure there wasn't another Libau in Finland; there was not. If they traveled to Libau, they traveled to Western Latvia, which was at that time a territory of the Russian Empire. I thought it was curious that he mentioned Finland at all, since it is in an entirely different direction from Latvia.
From Libau, the families took a small ship to Hull, Yorkshire, England. This was the first time I had heard of the town of Hull, so I decided to find out what ships sailed there from European ports. There were two:
The Wilson Line mainly transported passengers between Norway and England. F.A.A. transported passengers from Helsinki and Libau to Hull. Because Phillip Schneider clearly mentioned Finland in his story about his journey to America, I believe that he meant they boarded a Finnish ship, not that they actually traveled to Finland before heading south and west.
Wikipedia shows the Finnish Steamship Company, Finska Ångfartygs Aktiebolag, was also known as F.A.A. Their ship, the S.S. Titania, was primarily used to transport emigres from Finland to Hull, England. It made stops along the way in Libau and Copenhagen, picking up and transporting Russians and Jewish Latvians to Hull, too.
I tried to search for a copy of the F.A.A. passenger lists from 1912. Copies of the passenger lists up to 1910 and after 1918 exist; the lists for passengers traveling between those years are either not available, were destroyed, or never existed. [2]
According to the Genealogical Society of Finland, while some ships traveled from Helsinki to Hull, some ships carried Russians directly from Libau to Hull. "Apart from Finns, the volumes record thousands of Russians, a number of Estonians, Latvians and Livonians. Many of the Russians have Jewish names, but even German names are common...It is unclear whether all Russian emigrants travelled by way of Hanko, since F.Å.A. boats carried Russian emigrants from Libau to Hull without calling at a Finnish port." [3] (emphasis added)
The journey on the S.S. Titania from Libau to Hull took four days, which means Eva, Karl, Mollie, Phillip and their families arrived in England on December 1, 1912. The ship docked at the Riverside Quay, a dock built specifically to handle quick turnaround ocean vessel traffic at the port. A rail station adjoined the quay to allow European travelers to conveniently board a train that took them to Liverpool where they would board larger ocean liners that headed to America.
The Fritzlers and the Schneiders spent a month in England prior to boarding the S.S. Canada. Some of that time may have been spent traveling. It's unclear whether the families were able to take a train directly to Liverpool or if they traveled south to London and then northwest to the port city.
According to historical records, once the passengers arrived in Liverpool, they were not allowed to board outbound ships until the day before or the day of departure. If they arrived earlier than that, they were forced to stay in a lodging house. Historically, the lodging houses had a reputation for being crowded and unsanitary. By the turn of the 20th century, often the steamship companies looked after the emigrants during their stay. Although conditions in the early 1900s were better than those 30-50 years earlier, there were still complaints. It's difficult to imagine which was worse: lodging accommodations in the port city or steerage class on board a ship. Knowing this makes it clear how horrible the conditions in their homeland must have been, for them to be willing to uproot their family and endure the long, uncomfortable journey to America.
After the families spent more than a few days in a lodging house, they boarded their ship and departed for America on New Year's Day in 1913. The voyage across the Atlantic normally took 10-11 days. As with most Atlantic departures to America, they probably stopped in Ireland to pick up additional passengers before heading west. This would explain why the journey took 13 days, since the ship arrived in Nova Scotia on January 13, 1913.
Phillip Schneider remembered the the families paid $150 per adult, $75 per child, and $8 for an infant son under two years of age. Most likely they traveled 2nd class or steerage, and they brought plenty of black bread and sausage for the journey. Phillip recalled that the ship meals included bear meat and fish, among other things, and that, frankly, it wasn't very tasty. Even with dipping in to their personal food supply, the families still managed to make their bread and sausage last more than a month, until shortly before they arrived in Chicago.
Although the ship landed in Nova Scotia, Canada, passengers going to the United States were transported over the border where they were processed in Portland, Maine. From there the families took a train to Chicago where they stayed with two different families. Eva, Karl and their family stayed with the Albrandts, and Karl's sister Mollie, Phillip and their children stayed with Herman Schuette, a cousin of the Schneiders.
The ship landed in Nova Scotia, Canada. Passengers going to the United States were transported over the border where they were processed in Portland, Maine. From there the families took a train to Chicago where they stayed with two different families. Eva, Carl and their family stayed with the Albrandts, extended family members of the Fritzlers, while the Schneiders stayed with Herman Schuette, Phillip's cousin.
Germans from Russia typically chose to settle in agricultural areas similar to their homeland in the Volga region of Russia. They preferred to go to a place where they could immediately become successful farmers. This led to a large immigration to the plains states of the U.S. Eva and Carl Fritzler chose to go to Windsor, Colorado, not only because of the large Volga German settlement there, but also because of the free land available through the Homestead Act. By farming and improving these untamed lands, they could eventually sell the property at a profit.
The couple decided to move to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, another city with a large population of Germans from Russia, including her two sisters-in-law, Elisabeth Fritzler Trott and Eva Fritzler Felde and their families. Eva and Carl finally settled in a house at 180 Doty Street, just one block away from Rueping Leather Company, where Carl was employed while Eva stayed home and cared for their children.
According to family members, Eva was an excellent seamstress and often made clothes for her children and grandchildren. She made her granddaughter Ruth very happy when she sewed clothes for her dolls. She didn't speak much English, but her children and grandchildren were able to communicate easily with her with the limited German they knew. She and her husband were members of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Fond du Lac, along with the German Brotherhood, a tighly knit group of fellow Volga Germans who met regularly to worship as they had in their homeland. The group was comprised of Biblically learned laymen who took turns leading their small group in old-tyle worship. Services were held in German, not English.
Eva was a kind and honorable wife and mother, close to her five children and their families. They had occasional, large get-togethers both in the Fond du Lac area and at a lake cottage owned by her grandson. She and her husband often traveled around Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan, visiting other Grimm residents who had also immigrated to the United States. Many of those people were extended family members with whom they remained close for the rest of their lives.
In 1958, Eva Fritzler had a stroke, from which she never fully recovered. Her family turned their living room into a bedroom for her and cared for her themselves, rather than putting her into a convalescent home. Her children would come over to care for her every day, giving her the best personal and medical care possible. In early January of 1959 she passed away. She is buried in Estabrooks Cemetery in Fond du Lac, along with her husband Carl, who passed away four years later.
Canada Passenger List
[4]
Canadian Passenger Lists
[5]
U.S., Atlantic Ports Passenger Lists, 1820-1873 and 1893-1959
[6]
1920 United States Federal Census
[7]
1930 United Sttes Federal Census
[8]
1940 United States Federal Census
[9]
Naturalization Record
[10]
Wisconsin Death Indez
[11]
See also:
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Categories: Grimm | Windsor, Colorado | Fond du Lac, Wisconsin | Estabrooks Cemetery, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin | Migrants from Saratov Governorate to Wisconsin | German Roots