[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Family names question - Daniel Becker

[Donne, Alexsana]

Jerry:
 
First where did you find all this additional information?  I found the Ellis Island record, but it just listed names, so I assumed everyone traveling together with the last name of Becker was related, but not necessarily mother and children. But as to the $1000 and going to Oregon and the rest, I hadn't found that. Clearly there is more to the Ellis Island records than I found.
 
I found Daniel in Kimball, NE in 1917 which is where he registered for the WW1 draft (it looks like Novin, Nikolaiv, Russia on the part where he signed where he was born), and saying he had a mother to support. Then I found him in the 1920 census in South Dakota, which made sense as he married a Rosella Schenkenberger (who had 10 -13 siblings!), who lived in Emmons, North Dakot, but were mostly born in Bon Homme South Dakota  (her parents came from Russia also, mother was born in Baliev (sp?).
 
Daniel and Rosella were in California sometime in the 1920's as my dad and oldest aunt were born there, and then in Eugene for the 1930's Census.  I have found Reinhard and Hermann in census and registration cards, but only after they came to the US. I don't have any information on Daniel's parents, but assumed Caroline was his mother as a starting place. My mother remembers mention of them being Lutherans, and I remember hearing that they came from a part of Russia that went back and forth between Poland, but they definitely spoke German. I never remembered hearing Daniel's parents names, and neither does my mother.  My father is dead, and I am tracking down his sisters to see what they remember.
 
I am a newbie and have just started researching.  I have a copy of Greg Rath's book Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas. I've been to ancestry.com, familysearch.org, all the German-Russian heritage sites I can find, and am overwhelmed with branches to search as I hadn't been able to even find Daniel's city of birth.  At this point I am emailing and mailing my few living aunts to see what they can remember.  
 
Any pointers to where to find additional information, such as what you've provided, would be greatly appreciated.
 
Lexi

________________________________

From: Jerry Frank [mailto:FranklySpeaking at shaw.ca]
Sent: Sat 8/26/2006 6:40 AM
To: Donne, Alexsana; ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org
Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Family names question



Hi Lexi.  Welcome to the list.

Lets review some of the clues before responding to the question.

Daniel's mother, Caroline, is travelling alone on this boat with 8
children !!!!  ranging in age from 3 to 15 - from oldest, Reinhard,
Daniel, Albertine, Gustav, Stephan, Johann, Hermann and Auguste.  If
they all survived to adulthood, bearing children, you have a very
extensive family from which to obtain info.  :-)

The 6 oldest children were born in Nowin, Russia.  The 2 youngest in
Konojad / Kossojad (?), Germany.  Caroline is 37 years old (= born
c.1872) in Draschbin (sp?), Podole, Russia.

The family has $1000 with them (seems rather wealthy compared to
others).  They are travelling to Eugene, Oregon to be with Wilhelm
Becker.  But how does he connect?  The oldest child, Reinhard reports
that this is his uncle.  All the other children show him as
father.  On the other hand, he is said to be a "friend" of
Caroline.   So is Caroline in fact the mother of these
children?  Caroline is noted as having a pockmarked face.


Before we make recommendations for the search, is there anything else
you can tell us about the family?

What religion were they - typically Lutheran, or Baptist?  I am
assuming they were not Jewish as typically they would have been noted
as such on the passenger list.

What do you know about Daniel's parents if anything?



Jerry Frank - Calgary, Alberta
FranklySpeaking at shaw.ca