Landed! 2022 52 Ancestors in a Year

 Landed!  Who was really on the passenger manifest?

One of the fascinating aspects of genealogy is finding ancestors on passenger lists and immigration information.

The Gabel’s were elusive in searches because of spelling of the name.  It could be Gabel, Gable, Goebel, Gebel or various other spellings.  Because they were Germans from Russia, it was hard to find them without using wildcards in searches.  And because there were no visa’s or information available; what first name did they use when immigrating?  What papers did they have when leaving Russia?  (I will probably never find that answer!)

Leroy’s great grandfather, Phillip Gabel and family landed in New York at Ellis Island on 10 June 1907.  They left Libau, Lativa on 20 May 1907.  The ages are correct for each member of the family, calculating their age from census records in 1910.  While the first names differ from names used in later life, it was normal for Germans to have 2-3 first names.  Another clue on the passenger record was their destination in Lincoln, Nebraska to his brother Heinrich Gebel.

But there was one troubling entry on the manifest of a child Anna, that 11 months old.  It appears that a line was drawn through her name, indicating she either didn’t get on the ship or never got off.  In research at Ellis Island, the official answer was that Anna never boarded the ship.  What happened to Anna?

Passenger manifest for Henrich Phillip Gabel & family

Looking for additional Gabel relatives found an August Gabel boarding a ship at Libau, Latvia on 13 May1907, with a daughter Anna, 11 months old.   Anna again, had a line through her name.  Is it the same Anna as on the passenger ship of June 1907 with Philip Gabel?  Did they leave her behind for his brother to take her?  Whose daughter is she?  Why was she left behind?

August Gabel and family were also detained at Ellis Island upon arrival on 31 May 1907.  The passenger manifest indicates that a telegraph for money was sent to his brother Heinrich Gabel in Lincoln, Nebraska.  They were discharged on 4 June 1907.  The company owning the passenger ship was charged for 8 breakfasts, 10 dinners and 8 suppers.  

Did August and his wife wait for Philip and his family to arrive at Ellis Island? 

 Did they travel to Lincoln, Nebraska together?

Finding the Gabel ancestors arrival in the United States was interesting as well was educational.  But lots of unanswered questions remain.

2022 Maps 52 Ancestors in a Year

 Maps!  Who doesn’t love maps, trying to figure out the route you will take to your vacation.  Or how about trying to figure out a route west via the Oregon Trail that your ancestors took?  Or where the land was that your grandfather homesteaded?  Or the cemetery where ancestors are buried?  

One of map tools I use is Google Earth Pro.  Using Google Earth Pro I was able to plot the lands the Lloyd family settled on when arriving in Oregon in 1845 and filed on the Oregon Donation Land Claims.

If my memory is correct, Mom found the cemetery on a trip we took to the Oregon coast.  I wasn’t very old, but I remember a hill with trees and somehow Mom found the cemetery.  Now I wish I could remember more as well as taken an interest in it when we were there.  I bet the headstones might have been more legible!

2022 Branching Out 52 Ancestors in a Year

When creating and researching your ancestry and developing a family tree, it is helpful to “Branch Out”.   There are lots of different branches on a person’s family tree and how any branches does one need?  

I have discovered in researching genealogy that occasionally you call “halt” to those distant branches.  But then you discover an important piece of information on that last twig.  

As I first began working with family trees and learning genealogy; I began collecting death certificates, obituaries, marriage licenses and birth information.  This collection was valuable when connecting members of the Gabel family.  

Common with all immigrants when choosing a location to live, was near where other relatives lived.  But how people were related was not often shared with younger members of the family or they did not listen or care when told.  So when asking for information in family members, the answer was often “I don’t know” or Dad said “we were cousins”.  

Since there were several Gabel families in the 1920 census living in eastern Montana and listed as farmers as well as born in German or Russia; somehow they had to be related.  Many lived in sugar beet growing areas as well as close to other families from Russia, who were also farmers and born in Russia; somehow there had to be connection.

Unfortunately many of the older immigrants did not marry when coming to the United States.  Only a few had lost their wives and remarried.  But that marriage certificates often had their parents names on it.  The parents who were in Russia!  

Obituaries of the older immigrants,  which were written by their children seldom had the immigrants parents names listed as probably they had no idea.  

Marriage certificates of the children of the immigrants often listed a different name for their mother.  Many of the immigrants may have 2 first names such as Catherina, Margaretha or Anna,  and often were referred to by various names.  Leroy’s great grandmother was Katherine, Margaret or Margaretha Katherine.  At time I wondered if his great grandfather had 2 different wives!  

It was hard to establish his great grandmother’s maiden name as well.  The marriage certificate might sat Cellen, Gabel, Clam or various other names.  Finally discovering her obituary, which was written in Germany, I assumed the information provided by her husband listing her maiden name was Klamm was accurate.  

Using the last name Klamm in an ancestry search along with a first name common for Germans from Russia, I discovered a Conrad Klamm who was crossing the Canadian border and going to a Philip Gabel residence in Lincoln, Nebraska!  And then through DNA, Leroy’s DNA has a matches Klamm DNA!

All discovered by branching out!