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concordia-memories.org Recalling Concordia's Past
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roger.pape Site Admin
Joined: 17 Mar 2009 Posts: 414 Location: Liverpool, NY
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Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 9:05 pm Post subject: Frerkings Immigrating on the Ship Gen. Washington |
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The passengers on the ship Gen. Washington that arrived in New Orleans on Nov. 24, 1845 included fourteen Frerkings from Esperke, Hanover, Germany. Among them were the last of the family of Johann and Dorothee Sprengel Frerking that came to America. Johann had died in Germany during 1838, a year after three or four of his sons emigrated with their uncle Friedrich Dierking. [Note. It has never been established whether one son, Jurgen Heinrich, was the “Henry Durking” in the passenger list of the 1837 Burmah voyage.] The following table shows the given names and ages of the group on the Gen. Washington, along with their identification.
Name ___ Age _ Identification
Georg H __ 29 _ Georg Heinrich, 4th child of Johann and Dorothee
Louise ___ 26 _ Charlotte “Louise” Worthman Frerking, wife of Georg
Doroth ___ 54 _ Mother Dorothee
Aug _____. 18 _ Dieterich “August”, 11th child of Johann and Dorothee
Died _____ 16 _ Dieterich Eduard, 12th child of Johann and Dorothee
Maria ____ 19 _ Maria “Christine”, 10th child of Johann and Dorothee
Friedke __. 12 _ Doris “Friedericke”, 13th child of Johann and Dorothee
Marie ____ 55 _ Relative?
Soph ____. 32 _ Relative?
Friedr ____ 27 _ Relative?
Charl ____. 24 _ Possibly Otto Georg (“Scharze”), 7th child. see comment below
Caroline __ 17 _ Relative?
Sophie ___. 8 ._ Relative?
Fried _____ 6 ._ Relative?
Names in a passenger lists were typically grouped by immediate family and age order within the family. Clearly, the first half of the list is Dorothee’s family. George, the oldest son on the ship, was probably the leader of the group. The second half of the group appears to have been relatives of the Johann and Dorothee family. The exception might be the 24 year old “Charl”. [Note. This abbreviation could have been used for either Charles or Charlotte. Unfortunately the gender is not included in this passenger listing.]
The seventh child of Johann and Dorothee, who was christened Otto Georg, was 24 years old when the ship came to America. His descendants were told that he arrived in the U.S. in 1845 onboard the Gen. Washington. “Charl” is the only 24 year old in the group and there is no other Otto or Georg. Interestingly, in the 1860 census for Freedom Township, Lafayette Co., MO, his name is listed as “Chas”. So, at times, he must have used the nickname Charles. In most legal documents and later census records, his name is listed as Georg Otto (using a practice common among Germans of that era to switch their first and middle name). To his friends and relatives, he was commonly known as “Scharze”.
This leaves three other children in the family to be accounted for, i.e. the oldest child Johann “Friedrich”, the fifth child Catherine Maria Friederika, and the eighth child Sophie “Charlotte”.
Friedrich appears to have been planning with his uncle Friedrich “Troester” Dierking to come to America when he left the German army in the spring of 1837. (Frizzell, Independent Immigrants) However, the ship Burmah on which the Dierkings and some of his brothers emigrated set sail within days of when Friedrich’s wife Caroline gave birth to their first son Fritz. So he apparently decided to delay his trip. Son Fritz later claimed that he came to the U.S. with his parents as young child. In both the 1900 and 1910 censuses, he stated that he immigrated in 1839. Among all the passenger lists of German immigrant ships that have been transcribed, I have yet been unable to find these three listed. Since Friedrich purchased land in the Concordia area on June 4, 1840, it is very likely that he did bring his family to the U. S. by 1839.
Catherine married a Schale in 1840 back in Hanover, so it is assumed that she remained in Germany.
Finally, the arrival of Sophie “Charlotte” is a bit of a puzzle. She would have been 22 years old at the time of the Gen. Washington voyage. Several Sophie’s are included in the passenger list. In the Frerking Family History, Loberta Runge assumed that Sophie Charlotte was on this ship; however, the ages of neither match. Furthermore, neither are in the age order grouping of Dorothee’s family (although neither is Georg Otto a.k.a. Charl?). In another posting (see the last paragraph of the Scheele Family posting in the 'Other Families' forum), I noted that one can find a 21 year old Charlotte Frerking in the passenger list of the 1844 voyage of the ship Astracan. The listing only gives the origin as Hanover so it is not known if this Charlotte was from Esperke. The age matches and, by that time, she probably was using the name Charlotte by which she was known the rest of her life. She may have decided to join her brothers in America before the rest of the family immigrated. It should be noted that a number of other families on board the Astracan wound up in the Concordia area. The other possibility is that she was the “Charl” in the Gen. Washington passenger list but that the listed age was off by several years. In that case, one must also accept that Georg Otto was omitted from the list.
Last edited by roger.pape on Fri Apr 16, 2010 10:03 am; edited 2 times in total |
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roger.pape Site Admin
Joined: 17 Mar 2009 Posts: 414 Location: Liverpool, NY
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Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 10:55 pm Post subject: Charlotte Frerking’s Trip to America |
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As noted in the posting above, it does not appear that Sophie “Charlotte” Frerking was on the 1845 Gen Washington voyage with the rest of her family as had been assumed previously. Checking the records of the Lower Saxony State Archives posted at http://aidaonline.niedersachsen.de, I was able to locate an entry in the emigration records indicating that she probably came earlier. Hann. 74 Neustadt/Rbg. Nr. 367 lists a 21 year old Charlotte Frerking from Esperke emigrating in 1844. That agrees with the 1844 Astracan voyage to New Orleans which has a 21 year old Charlotte Frerking in the passenger list.
The same archives also include an entry for the emigration of mother Dorothee and the rest of the children in 1845. That record indicates that she was traveling with two teenage sons and two teenage daughters. These four children would probably be Dieterich "August", "Dieterich" Eduard, Maria "Christine", and Doris "Friedericke". [Note. Not all the ages match exactly.] So that still does not resolve the problem as to whether Otto Georg ("Scharze") was on the Washington.
That entry also includes a note "folgt ihren dortigen 4 Söhnen, u. a. ihrem Juli 1837 ausgewanderten Sohn Frerking, Christian Wilhelm und ihrem im Frühjahr 1837 ausgewanderten Sohn Frerking, Friedrich" ([preceded] by 4 sons, including her son who emigrated in July 1837 Frerking, Christian Wilhelm and in the spring of 1837 her emigrant son Frerking, Friedrich). Another entry cited by Robert Frizzell as footnote 1 (Hann. 74 Neustadt/Rbg. Nr. 367) in the introduction to his book Independent Immigrants also suggests that Friedrich emigrated in 1837; however, there is some question as to whether this was the actual date that he came over to the US.
Son “Georg” Heinrich who leads the list of Frerking passengers on the Washington is not included in Dorothee’s emigration record because he was already married. However, there are two other Georges also listed in Hann. 74 Neustadt/Rbg. Nr. 367 records as having emigrated in 1845. I’m not sure if George Heinrich was the 28 year old shoemaker with a 28 year old wife or the 26 year old tailor with a 23 year old wife and ½ year old son. The first matches the age of the husband better while the second matches the age of the wife better. If it is the second, that would leave a ½ year old son unaccounted for.
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roger.pape Site Admin
Joined: 17 Mar 2009 Posts: 414 Location: Liverpool, NY
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Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 10:58 am Post subject: Possible Otto Georg (“Scharze”) Frerking Immigration |
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While browsing some immigration records, I discovered an interesting entry in the passenger list for the 1845 voyage of the Ship Edgar that arrived in New Orleans on Dec. 4, 1845 (NARA M259, Roll 24, List 253, Image 745). See image below.
Note that the 24 years of age matches Scharze’s birth year of 1821. Also the female in the group appears to be Dorothea. Scharze’s first wife was Dorothea Tschirping. In Loberta Runge’s Frerking Family History, Scharze and Dorothea are listed as having been married in St. Louis based on information in Trinity Lutheran Church records. However, it is possible that they were married before leaving Germany. They may not have traveled with the rest of the Frerking family on the earlier voyage of the Gen. Washington. The age of the child Henry in the passenger list would suggest that they postponed their departure because of his birth. While Ohio is listed as the apparent destination, this may not be correct since the same destination is listed for everyone on the ship (which is unlikely).
If this hypothesis is correct, it opens up the possibility that the 24 year old “Charl” in the Gen. Washington passenger lists was either Sophie "Charlotte" (with the age misstated by 2 years) or a member of another Frerking family. Other Frerkings in the list who did not eventually migrate to Concordia have not been traced and may have remained in the St. Louis area.
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Segment of passenger list for 1845 voyage of Ship Edgar |
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![OttoGFrerkingImmigration.jpg](files/ottogfrerkingimmigration_538.jpg)
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roger.pape Site Admin
Joined: 17 Mar 2009 Posts: 414 Location: Liverpool, NY
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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 6:57 pm Post subject: Checking the German Emigration Archives |
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The archives for Niedersachsen, Germany contain entries for the emigration records of people leaving that area. (See https://www.arcinsys.niedersachsen.de/arcinsys/start) There was some uncertainty as to when the various members of the Frerking family left Esperke for the U.S., so these records were checked to see if they confirmed some of the conclusions reached in the earlier postings.
A detailed listing of the records that were found is compiled in a separate file at FrerkingEmigrationRecords. Records found in this search supported some key points. First of all, Charlotte Frerking immigrated to the U.S. alone in 1844, one year before the remainder of the family. Secondly, Otto Georg (“Scharze”) was not on the 1845 voyage of the Gen Washington. He arrived at the end of 1845 with his bride and young son.
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roger.pape Site Admin
Joined: 17 Mar 2009 Posts: 414 Location: Liverpool, NY
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 12:29 pm Post subject: Rosine Frerking birthplace |
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Fred Eggers from the Lutheran Heritage Center has done extensive research about the Gruber family, including Joseph Gruber who was a teacher at St. Paul's Elementary School, Concordia from 1862-1865. He posted a blog about on the Lutheran Heritage website at https://lutheranmuseum.com/2020/11/19/in-search-of-the-lost-gruber/?fbclid=IwAR0cIs3Ib4QD6UE8QO-nR2ZfM7FkBcs9WvnyJaBmWDy4SMjJx3OdPMLtRqQ. This blog includes some information about Concordia. One of the interesting items is the birth record for Rosine Frerking, daughter of Georg and Louise Frerking and wife of Joseph Gruber. Warren Schmidt searched the Trinity, St. Louis church records and found the baptismal record for Rosina Frerking. It includes a comment indicating she was born at Cape Girardeau, MO. on the Frerking family trip up the Mississippi from New Orleans to St. Louis. So the Frerking family group that arrived in St. Louis in 1845 included one more member than when it departed New Orleans.
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