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The Mystery of Conrad Stuenkel's Boat Trip to America

 
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roger.pape
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:23 pm    Post subject: The Mystery of Conrad Stuenkel's Boat Trip to America Reply with quote

I am having difficulty identifying the ship on which Conrad Stuenkel immigrated to America. Rev. Omar Stuenkel has some old notes written by Conrad (in German) describing his early years. Conrad indicates that he was born Dec. 18, 1811. He continues in these notes stating that on August 11, 1837 he went to Hamburg and embarked on a sailing ship to the United States. He said that the ship landed in New York City on September 29, 1837. This is the same day that Friedrich Dierking and his extended family, including a 12 year old nephew Adolph Frerking (my great-grandfather) arrived in New York on the ship Burmah. It turns out that there were two ships from Hamburg that arrived in New York on the same day, namely the Burmah and the Boreas. A third ship that landed in NY that day, the Brig Odessa, had departed from the Portuguese island of Madeira.

I have microfilm copies of the handwritten passenger lists of the ships for that arrival date. Of the 121 immigrants that left Hamburg on the Burmah, 120 arrived in New York. Interestingly, the column normally used to list any that died on the voyage was used instead to list the luggage. The largest number of passengers listed their destination as Missouri and another group headed for Illinois. There are 85 entries in the Boreas passenger list with a notation that one child was born on the voyage; however the totals are not included at the end as was normally required. Some of the entries in these lists are difficult to read. In addition, shipmasters frequently had difficulty with the German names so there are many misspellings.

After carefully reviewing both lists, I was unable to find an entry with a name and age close to matching Conrad Stuenkel. Why is his name missing? Some younger people were listed under other names. For example, Adolph Frerking was listed as "Durking" as he was travelling with his uncle whose name was listed as Durking. (Three older brothers of Adolph were also listed as Durking.) But Conrad was 26 years old at this time, not related to Friedrich Dierking, and apparently travelling by himself.

Besides trying to find a similar sounding name and age, the other possible clues are occupation and country/province of origin. The majority of passengers on the Burmah were from Hanover. Most of the passengers on the Boreas were from other areas of Germany and a group from Norway. Conrad said he was a blacksmith apprentice. Two of the Burmah passengers, Fred Henrich and Christian Meyer, declared their occupation as blacksmith. Only one passenger on the Boreas, J. H. Jacob, is listed as a blacksmith. (Note. The spelling of the previous names are the best that I could interpret from the handwriting.)

Getting back to the Burmah listing, there is a Hanover family of six with a last name that appears to be listed as "Stingle". Near the end of the listing is another entry with the name that appears to be "Con.. Stingle"

but the age is listed as 36. The occupation is listed as farmer. He carried with him a single trunk and bedding, typical of one travelling alone. Could that be Conrad Stuenkel? Was his age stated or recorded incorrectly? Note that the age for the previous entry was also in the mid thirties, so it could have been a slip-up. It is quite possible that Conrad may have declared as a farmer. His destination in the US is difficult to decipher but it does not appear to be New York, although he decided to stay in NY until the following March. Then he continued on to St. Louis according to his notes.

Based on the information provided by Conrad, it is most likely that he was on that Burmah voyage. That would mean that ancestors from two separate branches of my family, with no apparent relationship in Germany and who arrived in Concordia by different paths and times, were on the same ship.

If you are interested in looking at the entire passenger list for that voyage, including the entries for the Dierkings and Frerkings, click on the following link: 1837 Burmah passenger list. Try your hand at deciphering it. You'll find other names are not spelled correctly, like Nemire for Niemeyer.


Last edited by roger.pape on Thu Apr 09, 2009 7:21 pm; edited 3 times in total
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roger.pape
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Joined: 17 Mar 2009
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Location: Liverpool, NY

PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 5:07 pm    Post subject: Stingle vs. Stuenkel Reply with quote

After some additional research, I am fairly certain that the family name of Stuenkel was recorded as Stingle in the passenger list of the Burmah. The "Stingle" family on board that ship consisted of a father and mother, Fred and Maria, three sons Henry, Fred, and William, and an infant daughter Augusta. They listed their destination as Illinois. Further checking of some early census and church records provided some supporting information.

Zion Lutheran Church of Bensenville, Addison Township, DuPage Co., Illinois states in their 1938 centennial history that Mr. and Mrs. Friedrich Stuenkel were among their earliest members. The 1850 census for the Town of Addison lists Fredk "Stenkel" with wife Maria, son William, and daughter named Louisa (age 12, i.e. born one year after the Burmah voyage, birthplace listed as Ill.) Daughter Augusta is not listed in the household. Sons Henry and Fredr. were now married and living in separate households but in the same township. Checking the 1870 census shows that all three sons, Henry, Fred, and Wm., were still living in Addison Township at that time. (Henry and Fred are listed as Stuenkel while William is listed as Stunkel.) In the 1900 census, Fred Jr. stated that he immigrated to the U.S. from Hanover in 1836. That's one year earlier than the Burmah voyage, but Fred was in his 70's by then and his memory may have been slightly inaccurate. The ages listed for all individuals in each of these census records are consistent with those declared in the Burmah passenger list.

There is an interesting connection between Concordia, MO and Addison, IL. Rev. Adolf Franke moved from St. Paul's, Concordia in 1857 to become pastor of Zion at Bensenville/Addison. That means he would have been pastor of both the Conrad Stuenkel family and the Friedrich Stuenkel family. One would think that he knew of this connection. Perhaps there are some old historical notes to back this up. I should also note that Conrad Stuenkel personal memoirs say that he lived briefly in Illinois after arriving in St. Louis and before marrying and settling in Concordia, i.e. between 1838 and 1840. (Although, according to Rev. Stuenkel's notes, he worked in southern Illinois as a farmhand.) I am trying to establish a contact with someone in the Addison, IL area to see if there is any more Stuenkel family information available.
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