Research Highlights
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[CLIENT] Klawun1607 NE1607415 6 September 2016 Research Highlights GOALS Determine the European town(s) of origin of Johanna Caroline Klawun and her parents (Carl Ludwig Klawun and Johanna Carolina Beyer). Identify the church the family attended in Europe. Family stories indicate that two of Carl and Johanna’s sons remained in Germany. Determine if this is true and search for additional information about them. PROGRESS Identified the date and place of departure from Europe as 22 April 1891 and Bremen, respectively. Discovered Carl and his family originally intended to immigrate to Wisconsin. Proved that two of Carl and Johanna’s children did not immigrate with them in 1891. Determined that in spite of the family’s Lutheran background, two of Johanna Klawun’s children were baptized Catholic. Identified Bertha and Albert Pinske’s last residence and possible hometown in Germany as Fernheide, Schlochau County, Marienwerder District, West Prussia. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Other Klawun families were located in Wisconsin, Carl and Johanna’s original destination. Further research may yield a connection to them and clues to their hometown in Europe. 2. Catholic records in Ontario and Michigan might yield more information about Johanna Klawun. 3. Researching Bertha’s residence in Fernheide, West Prussia may produce information on the family’s connection to that city. Research Report The objectives of this research were to determine the hometown(s) of Carl Klawun, his wife Johanna Caroline Beyer, and their daughter Johanna Caroline Klawun, to determine the church they attended in Europe, and to document whether the family tradition of two sons being left behind in Europe was accurate. Carl Klawun, Johanna Carolina Beyer, and Johanna Klawun The client provided information that Carl Ludwig Klawun was born 17 February 1842 in Germany, and died 28 January 1918 in Bay City, Bay, Michigan. He married Johanna Carolina Beyer in Germany, who was born there 16 September 1841 and died 22 February 1914 in Bay City, Bay, Michigan. Their daughter Johanna Caroline Klawun was born in Germany in 1880 and died in Chelsea, Washtenaw, Michigan, on 15 April 1938. The family came to Michigan in 1892, though family stories indicated two sons stayed behind in Europe. Johanna Klawun married David Lixey/Soudriette and moved to Ontario, Canada, where their three children Dorothy (13 July 1910), Eleanor (1913), and Harvey (19 December 1914) were born. Research began from this point. 2 Carl and Johanna Klawun Carl’s death certificate confirmed his birth and death dates and places.1 The 1900 and 1910 censuses confirm Carl and Johanna were born in Germany, and state their immigration to the United States occurred in 1891 or 1892.2 Using this information, Carl, “Caroline,” and four children were found in a passenger list of immigrants from Bremen, Germany, to Baltimore, Maryland. They arrived on the German S.S. Weimar on 22 April 1891.4 The S.S. Weimar was built in 1891. It held up to 1988 passengers—50 first class, 38 second class, and 1900 third class. After being sold and renamed several times, it was torpedoed by the Germans during WWI. 5 Courtesy of The Statue of Liberty—Ellis Island Foundation. 1 Michigan, Death Records, 1867–1950 (image), death certificate for Carl Klawun, 28 January 1918, certificate no. 65, Bay City, http://ancestry.com, subscription database, accessed July 2016. DOCUMENT 1. 2 1900 U.S. Census (population schedule) Bay City, Bay, Michigan, ED 44, p. 18B, Carl Klawun household, http://ancestry.com, subscription based database, accessed July 2016. DOCUMENT 2; and, 1910 U.S. Census (population schedule) Bay City, Bay, Michigan, ED 40, p. 17B, Carl Klawun household, http://ancestry.com, subscription based database, accessed July 2016. DOCUMENT 3. 4 Baltimore, Passenger Lists, 1820–1964 (image), Carl Klawnede and family, S.S. Weimar, April 1891, http://ancestry.com, subscription based database, accessed July 2016. DOCUMENT 4a-c. 5 The Statue of Liberty—Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., “S.S. Weimar,” http://www.libertyellisfoundation.org, accessed July 2016. 3 The passenger list states Carl and his family were all from Germany and were bound for Wisconsin.7 No other documents discovered in this session mention any connection with Wisconsin. Future sessions should include research in Wisconsin for possible relatives of Carl and Johanna. Several families with the surname Klawun were found there. Having confirmed the Klawuns’ immigration date, the database of naturalizations at Ancestry.com and naturalization records from Michigan’s Circuit Court on microfilm at the Family History Library were searched for Carl Klawun’s naturalization papers. No relevant records were found. The 1900 census lists Johanna as being the mother of eight children, with six of those children still living.8 The 1910 census shows her again as the mother of eight children, with five of those children still living.9 They immigrated with four children, and one of those immigrant children, Alena, had died in 1905, which indicates that two of Carl and Johanna’s children did not immigrate with them in 1891 and may have remained in Europe.10 This corroborates family stories that two sons stayed in Europe. Searches in databases of wills and probates and Evangelical Lutheran Church of America records returned no documents. Similarly, newspaper searches also showed no matches for this family. No further information on those two other children could be located at this time. 7 See DOCUMENT 4a-c. 8 See DOCUMENT 2. 9 See DOCUMENT 3. 10 Michigan, Death Records, 1867–1950, death certificate for Alena Krause, 2 November 1905, certificate no. 446, Bay City, http://ancestry.com, subscription based database, accessed July 2016. DOCUMENT 5. 4 Anna (Klawun) Lixey/Soudriette The passenger list that documents the Klawuns’ arrival in Baltimore does not list Johanna but instead lists a son named Johann, age seven.11 However, it seems that “Johann” was actually Johanna. If a seven-year-old son had immigrated with Carl and Johanna, he would have been about 16 at the time of the 1900 census, and likely would have still been living with his parents. Carl and Johanna had no children enumerated with them in that census. The 1900 census does list an Anna Clavum, born March 1880 in Germany, living in Bay City, Michigan, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1891. She appears 19 pages before Carl and Johanna, living as a servant to a John Weadock.12 A 1904 Bay City, Michigan city directory lists a Johanna Klawun, boarding at 206 N. Hampton, the same address as “Charles” Klawun on the previous page.13 There were no listings for Johann or John Klawun (or variant surnames) in Bay City directories or censuses for that time frame. She appears as Anna in documents after the 1904 city directory. Anna and her husband David Lixey/Soudriette had three children together in Ontario, Canada, having moved there shortly after their marriage.14 She is listed in the 1921 Canadian Census as a native German speaker, and her birthplace and that of her parents appear as U.S.A.15 This information was likely given in reference to the fact that she moved to Canada from the United States, and not with the intention of stating she was born in the United States. 11 See DOCUMENT 4a-c. 12 1900 U.S. Census (population schedule) Bay City, Bay, Michigan, ED 44, p. 9A, Anna Klawun, http://ancestry.com, subscription based database, accessed July 2016. DOCUMENT 6. 13 U.S. City Directories, 1822–1995, Johanna Klawun, Bay City, Michigan, 1904, http://ancestry.com, subscription based database, accessed July 2016. DOCUMENT 7. 14 1911 Canada Census (population schedule), Ontario, Algoma East, Town of Blind River, p. 10, David Lixy household, provided by client. 15 1921 Canada Census (population schedule), Ontario, Nipissing, Sudbury, p. 31, David Lixey household, provided by client. 5 Anna’s daughters Ethel Eleanor and Dorothy were baptized Catholic in Ontario.16 No baptism record could be found for her son Harvey, nor for Anna herself. She may not have converted to Catholicism, and could have agreed to let her daughters be raised Catholic because their father was Catholic. Further research into Canadian and American Catholic church records may uncover additional information on Anna’s daughters or even Anna herself. Even though Anna crossed the U.S.-Canadian border at least twice in her life, no trace of her or her family could be found in U.S. to Canada or Canada to U.S. border crossing record databases. She and David could not be located in the 1930 census, nor in any city directories for the years 1930-1939, so it is unclear when they returned to Michigan. Anna and her family seem to have arrived in Chelsea, Washtenaw, Michigan, around October 1937, as her death certificate dated 15 April 1938 states she had lived in Chelsea for “½ years.” Her son Harvey Lixey, also a resident of Chelsea, was the informant. Harvey stated the birthplaces of Anna, her father “Karl Klavoun,” and her mother “Anna —” as simply Germany.18 A Clue from Bertha An analysis of all available documents for Carl, Johanna, and Anna Klawun revealed that they consistently listed their place of origin as Germany, without any further details on a town or region (except Anna in the 1921 Canadian Census, which has already been discussed). The following table shows the birthplaces listed in each document. 16 Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1802–1967, baptism of Bella Dorothie Marguerite Soudriette, 17 July 1910, http://ancestry.com, subscription based database, accessed July 2016. DOCUMENT 8a; and, Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1802–1967, baptism of Ethel Eleanor Soudriette, http://ancestry.com, subscription based database, accessed July 2016.