"Welcome to America!"
Ship Manifest, New York, July 1925
Years ago, I did some research into my family history, but had no luck finding out any details. Looking into my family history runs into a roadblock on both sides of my family tree. My father’s side of the family immigrated from Germany before World War II, in the 1920's. My mother’s people were Polish Jews that came to America around the turn of the twentieth century. The war scattered or killed those that remained in Europe and family records were destroyed. Whatever I was going to learn about my family history was going to be on this side of the pond. Both sides of the family Americanized their names after they arrived, which further complicated background searches. As suggested by an article on how to get started doing genealogy research, I began by gathering names and dates that I could remember or glean from my relatives.[1]
Fortunately, I spent a great deal of time with my Oma (German for grandmother) as a child so I had some vague details to work with. I knew that she and my Opa (German for grandfather) had arrived separately and both were married to other people at the time. She never spoke much about her first husband, only that he had passed away. It was not uncommon for immigrants to form social organizations where they could comfortably speak their native language and maintain their cultural customs. My Oma met my Opa through such a German club that they both had belonged to. Beyond the occasional mention of a few relatives’ names, she never spoke much about her past to me. My father was able to provide a few more details about how those names were related, but often it was only first names, such as my grandfather’s older brother Paul who preceded them to America and had lived in Miami, Florida. So, armed with my grandfather’s full name and when he arrived in this country, I began to scour the internet for immigration information.
There are countless genealogy search sites on the web which promise amazing results – for a fee. But it made sense to me to start my search where so many immigrants entered the United States – Ellis Island. I discovered that many of the links off the Ellis site also connected to pay services, but there was a wealth of information available at no cost. I went down a few blind alleys before I came across the passenger manifest for the S.S. Republic that arrived in New York on July 29, 1925. She was a vessel with four-masts and that augmented her sails with steam. Listed as passenger number 901703396031 was Arthur Andrä.[2] As I had already discovered, Andrä was an uncommon name, so I began a closer examination of the details listed on the manifest to verify I had the right man.
S.S. Republic
The first clue I uncovered that indicated I had the right Arthur Andrä was the listing in the “Calling or occupation” column of “Musician.”[3] I knew my grandfather was a concert pianist who later had taught music at a private school in Miami. Some of the fondest memories I have of my grandfather was when I would sit under his baby grand piano while he played his favorite compositions, usually Chopin. When I knew him, he was blind and had memorized all of his favorite pieces of music long before he lost his eyesight. Had I really found my Opa? One of the other details I had about my grandfather was that he had come from Dortmund, Germany, which this Arthur Andrä had, too. It looked promising, but what sealed the deal for me was seeing that the closest relative was a brother named Paul that lived in Miami, Florida. I had found my Opa!
What I did not expect to find were the other relatives listed on the manifest arriving with my grandfather. Also listed was a house wife named Marta, 36 years old (3 years Arthur’s junior), a son named Arthur, 6 years old, a son Paul, five years old, Authur’s mother Wilhelmine, 65, listed as a widowed house wife and her stepdaughter, Marie, 46, a house maid.[4] In this case, I believe that house maid was a designation for an unmarried woman, not an occupation. I knew of my Opa’s first wife and sons but had no idea about his mother and stepsister. A branch on my family tree that had been bare now had some leaves on it! Although I finally had some answers, I also had some new questions. My Oma told me she married my Opa in 1926. What had taken their respective spouses so suddenly? Why such a short courtship? Was there an immigration issue? What happened to Opa’s mother and stepdaughter? Now, I have more research to do to discover the answers to the mysteries this new information presented. Unfortunately, my family has slowly dwindled down and just my dad and myself are left. All of my grandparents, aunts and uncles, my mom and two brothers, have passed away over the years. I may never be able to find all the answers of my family’s history, but I at least know how part of my family’s lives began in America.
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