Book Review: "The Last Ships from Hamburg"

Written by historian Steven Ujifusa, The Last Ships from Hamburg traces the rise and fall of Hamburg as a port of hope, profit, and humanity, a jumping-off place for Jewish people and other immigrants seeking to make a new life in America. 

The main focus: the lives and business decisions of wealthy Jewish men in Germany and America who shaped the steamship industry into a well-oiled machine of immigration through East Coast ports of the United States, and beyond. With big money involved, even titans of industry who disliked Jewish execs were willing to do business with them, up to a point.

The narrative is lively and moves along at a good clip, drawing readers in by revealing fascinating personal/professional details about the powerful families that paved the way for immigrants to get out of Russia. It also puts a human face on those fleeing the Russian empire, tracing their difficult journeys to Hamburg, agonizing waits to board ships, even more agonizing waits at Ellis Island. Ujifusa also discusses the reality of American life for many new arrivals, crowded into tenements in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, barely scratching out a living with pushcarts or hunched over sewing in sweat shops. 

Ballin, Schiff, Morgan

The Hamburg-American Line's managing director and visionary leader was Hamburg-born Albert Ballin, a Jewish man who cultivated ties with Kaiser Wilhelm and other bigwigs of Germany, England, and the United States. In building up the Hamburg-America Line, he created a transportation network that brought immigrants (including Russian and Eastern European Jews) to Hamburg, screened them for health problems that might cause them to be rejected at Ellis Island, even offered kosher meals on his steamships. In fact, ticket sales to immigrants were absolutely essential to the financial stability of the Hamburg-America Line. 

Jacob Schiff was the Frankfurt-born managing partner of Kuhn, Loeb & Co, an influential US investment bank that advised powerhouse transportation firms like the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Union Pacific. In addition to being a major Jewish philanthropist, Schiff fought against the anti-immigration movement that gripped America even as persecution and pogroms threatened the lives of Jews in Russia leading up to WWI.

J.P. Morgan helped bail out the US government when it was under pressure because of dwindling gold reserves in 1895. He was a master of combining companies into giant trusts that competed on a massive scale. Although his businesses had to coexist with Jewish-managed company competitors, he disliked Jews. Yet his International Mercantile Marine shipping trust, a major player in the shipping and transportation industry, ultimately forged a deal with Albert Ballin's Hamburg-America line, to the benefit of both firms.

Crossing to safety

The book also tells the nail-biting story of hundreds of thousands of Jewish families who sailed to America from 1881-1914. Often these folks couldn't legally leave Russia, so Hamburg-America facilitated border crossings. In effect, two steamship lines were allowed to privatize the Russia-Prussia border station. They allowed immigrants with tickets for America to pass through, then moving to inspection stations for screening and fumigation. These immigrants were ultimately able to cross the pond, cheering at the Statue of Liberty as they entered New York Harbor to start over. Among the prominent descendants of Jewish immigrants are Lauren Bacall, Fanny Brice, David Sarnoff, Sam Goldwyn, and many more, including the author's great-grandparents.  

My ancestors were among the many who left Eastern Europe and crossed the Atlantic to safety before World War I. The book cites 1907 as the peak year for European immigration to America, with more than a million newcomers passing through Ellis Island. However, as the final chapters chronicle, anti-immigration sentiment among powerful US legislators and the social elite increased the pressure to slam shut the door to new arrivals. By 1923, Congress had passed new laws that made it all but impossible for immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe to make it to America. 

Ups and Downs of the Hamburg-America Line

Because I have ancestors who boarded Hamburg-American ships in Hamburg or Cuxhaven, I was particularly interested in the mechanics of getting immigrants from one place to another. The author explains that Russia, in particular, didn't make it easy for anyone to leave...officially. But the Hamburg-America line had agents who could help immigrants with steamship tickets to cross borders, get to ports via railroad or other transportation, and find them decent shelter until their ships departed. 

My ancestor, Bela Roth (1860-1941), brother-in-law to my great-grandmother, left Hungary for New York City twice on ships of the Hamburg-American line. In 1907, he and his family sailed from Hamburg to New York aboard the fairly luxurious Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, a Hamburg-America ship originally launched in 1889 with great fanfare, as this book describes. 

Also in the book is the story of the Hamburg-America's SS Vaterland, which made its maiden voyage from Cuxhaven to America in May of 1914. My Bela Roth, a merchant, sailed with his family on the same Vaterland from Cuxhaven to New York in July of 1914. This time, he remained in New York, declaring his intention to apply for citizenship in 1917. 

The Vaterland was a sleek, speedy ship that, on August 1, 1914, happened to be docked at Hoboken, New Jersey when Germany and Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia in the aftermath of the murder of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg.

With the onset of war, thousands of immigrants were stranded in German ports, holding tickets for America. The author describes the desperation of the steamship lines, trying to stay financially solvent, and the scrambling of Jacob Schiff and others trying to get Jewish people out of the Russian Empire without the convenience of the usual German ports. It was the end of an era in so many ways.

If you have immigrant ancestors who sailed to America during the period of 1881-1914, especially if they were leaving from Russia or Eastern Europe and arriving on the East Coast, I heartily recommend picking up this book. See Publishers Weekly write-up here.

Family Tree Fourth of July

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

This vintage Independence Day greeting card was sent to my husband's uncle Wallis Walter Wood in Cleveland more than a century ago. The Fourth of July has significance for our family trees in two instances.

Larimer Elopement


George Ainsworth Larimer (1873-1922), hubby's 1st cousin 2x removed, married Cora Lutz (1875-1945) in a Gretna Green elopement on July 4, 1899. They didn't announce the marriage until November, as shown in this news snippet.

Over the years, St. Joseph was a Gretna Green for several of my husband's family members who eloped. On that particular July 4th in 1899, St. Joseph recorded 21 marriages, including that of George and Cora!

George retired early from a career in civil engineering and bridge construction, due to a heart condition. His death cert mentions the contributing factor of "dropsy" (related to his heart problem). He died in Memphis, TN, on Halloween of 1922 at the age of only 49.

Schwartz Birth

My great uncle Samuel Schwartz (1883-1954) was born on July 4, 1883, in Ungvar, Hungary. He was an older brother of my immigrant grandfather Theodore "Teddy" Schwartz.

Teddy came to America in 1902, followed by brother Sam two years later. According to the 1904 passenger manifest, his given name was Simon but somehow once he arrived in America, he became Samuel. Sam and Teddy teamed up to pool their hard-earned money and bring their younger sister Mary to America in 1906.

Like his brother Teddy, Sam married only days after he attained U.S. citizenship. Sam settled down and raised a family in New York City, where--like his brother Teddy--he ran a small dairy store. Sam died on a hot June afternoon, just weeks before his 71st birthday.

How Our Grandparents Made a Living (or Not)

For this week's #52Ancestors prompt, "Work," I'm taking a look at how my grandparents and hubby's grandparents made a living. Both of us had one grandfather who worked with wood. That's where the similarities end. And this is another case of "don't believe everything in the census."

His grandparents (one immigrant, three grandparents with families long established in America)

• Maternal grandpa Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970) was a master machinist. When he married maternal grandma Floyda Steiner in June of 1903, Brice was working for the "big four" railway shops in Wabash, Indiana (see newspaper clipping). His skills were in demand--especially during World War II, when he lied about his age to seem young enough to work in a Cleveland, Ohio machine shop vital to the war effort. 
• Maternal grandma Floyda Mabel Steiner (1878-1948) was a full-time mother, but also supplemented her husband's income during the Depression by working in a Cleveland-area store and stretching the family's income as far as possible. 
• Paternal grandpa James Edgar Wood (1871-1939) was a carpenter and builder in Toledo, Ohio and, after his marriage, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Alas, this grandpa was a good builder but not as good a businessman, according to his oldest son. In fact, most of the homes he constructed are still standing and solid after more than a century. James was the last of this line of the Wood family to be a carpenter. None of his four sons worked in carpentry or wood, nor his grandsons.
• Immigrant paternal grandma Mary Slatter (1869-1925) was, according to the London workhouse admission register, a servant at age 19 in 1888. My guess was it was more of a low-level maid's position. She lived in Whitechapel and came from extreme poverty. Her mother had been confined to an insane asylum for years at that point. How Mary supported herself after arriving in America in 1895 and before marrying grandpa Wood in 1898, is a mystery.

My grandparents (all four were immigrants from Eastern Europe)

• Maternal grandpa Tivador Schwartz (1887-1965) was a "clerk" in 1909-10, working as a runner for the steamship lines and working with immigrants like himself (according to census and his naturalization papers). By 1915, he listed his occupation on the NY census as "steamship agent," technically a correct interpretation of what I suspect was commission-based sales of tickets or insurance or both to immigrants. By 1917, he owned his own grocery store in the Bronx, work he continued until he finally retired in the late 1940s/early 1950s. His grandchildren have exhibited some of his entrepreneurial drive!
• Maternal grandma Hermina "Minnie" Farkas (1886-1964) used her sewing skills to help support her family after arriving as a teenage immigrant in late 1901. A Roth cousin "did her a favor" (according to my Mom) and found her paid work as a necktie finisher (census backs this up). She continued to work on "gents' neckwear" until she married grandpa in 1911. Once her husband owned his own grocery store, she worked alongside him--long hours on their feet, which hurt their health in later years. Minnie passed her love of needlework, as a hobby, to a daughter and granddaughters.
• Paternal grandpa Isaac Burk (1882-1943) left his hometown of Gargzdai, Lithuania with training as a cabinet maker. He and his older brother, Abraham, made their living through carpentry. The UK census of 1901 shows them both living with family in Manchester, England, occ: cabinetmakers, true because I've seen Isaac's work. The 1910 US census lists Isaac as a "storekeeper, candy" but I'm not sure how true or long-lasting that was--maybe a quick stopgap in between his carpentry work. Isaac's 1942 WWII "old man's draft" card says he was a manufacturer of dress forms, but again, I'm not sure this is strictly accurate. One of Isaac's brothers-in-law had a dress-forms business. Isaac might have worked there part-time, especially to qualify for what was then a fairly new Social Security program.
• Paternal grandma Henrietta Mahler (1881-1954) is shown as being employed as a "stenographer," according to the 1900 census. Mind you, she was in the country for 14 years. She was 19 at the time of that census and, I gather, a quick study, but I'm not sure she really took dictation. Probably she worked at some office-type clerical job (typing) to help support the family. Very likely she did some work in the garment trade, because her younger sisters worked in lace, millinery, and garment factories, cousins tell me. After she married grandpa, Henrietta took care of their growing family and transported the kids back and forth between New York City, where her widowed mother and siblings lived, and Montreal, where Isaac sometimes worked with his brother Abraham.

Surprise! I'm a RootsTech 2018 Winner

Just 10 days ago, I entered Caitlin Gow's contest to win a free #RootsTech 2018 pass. (I'd already registered for the conference a month earlier, as a #FirstTimer.)

And this morning, I woke up to the surprise news that my entry was the winner. Wow!

Caitlin's qualifying question was: If you could have been born in any other year, what would it be and why?

My answer was: If the genealogy genie could grant me this wish, I would choose to be born in 1886, the year that the Statue of Liberty was unveiled in New York harbor. She made her official debut on Oct 28, 1886, so my wish is to have that be my birthday, too. Imagine being born in the same year, as this icon of freedom and hope was presented to the country, with a million people watching.

I thought of Lady Liberty because so many of my immigrant ancestors passed her on their way into New York. It must have been a thrill and a relief to see her standing tall in the harbor and know that their ocean crossing was at an end--and a new life was about to start.

A big thank you to Caitlin, the RootsTech Ambassador who ran this contest. Check out her "Genealogically Speaking" blog here.

And a big thank you to the folks at RootsTech for providing this free pass, for which I'm truly grateful.

Salt Lake City, here I come in 2018. So many ancestors, so little time.

Matriarchal Monday: "Immigrant Women in the Land of Dollars"

For Women's History Month, and for insights into the lives of my immigrant grandmothers, I just finished reading Immigrant Women in the Land of Dollars by Elizabeth Ewen.

This nonfiction book gave me valuable background for understanding the lives of immigrant women like Minnie Farkas and Henrietta Mahler who came to New York City between 1890 to 1925. Although the book focuses on Jewish and Italian households, some of the observations apply to immigrant households in general.

One insight, from the "Our Daily Bread" chapter, explained why my great-grandma (Lena Kunstler Farkas) insisted that her children (including my grandma Minnie) hand over their pay packets in their entirety. Immigrant families simply couldn't be supported by the wages of the father alone--if he found steady work--and as soon as children were able, they went to work to help pay for food and rent and clothing.

The book observes that mothers had to exert control over the children's pay early (before the children learned to spend) or they wouldn't have enough money to keep the family going. Some immigrant families also needed money to pay for bringing other family members from the home country to America. So teenagers and even children in their 20s gave the pay packet to Mom, who then doled out car fare and maybe a bit for snacks or lunch and kept the rest for the household's expenses. This was the pattern in my Farkas family, for sure.

Another tidbit I learned is why my elderly Schwartz cousin made a point of mentioning that the clothes worn by my female ancestors in Hungary were good quality. Newcomers from Europe came to realize that in New York (and probably throughout America), "greenhorn" ladies needed to wear stylish clothing -- even if inexpensive -- if they wanted to be accepted into the mainstream, as the author points out in her chapter titled "First Encounters."

Quality was very important in the Old Country as a mark of financial achievement, and that's why my cousin emphasized that point. However, being seen in the latest styles was much more important for ladies in the New World. Luckily, my Farkas grandma and great aunts were super with a sewing machine and could whip up fashionable dresses for their daughters.

My immigrant grandfathers both boarded with immigrant families in NYC tenements before marrying. This book says (in the "House and Home" chapter) that boarding with immigrants who were originally from the same area was extremely common, especially among men who arrived alone and needed someone to cook for them, etc. The book also points out that a boarder often got the best bed and/or the only bedroom.

Grandpa Isaac Burk boarded with his future in-laws, the Mahler family, for a short time after arriving in NYC.  Unfortunately, I'll never know whether Grandpa Isaac knew Grandma Henrietta before he was a boarder in her family's apartment, or whether love blossomed once he was part of the household.

PS: Today is the 125th anniversary of the wedding of my great uncle Joseph Jacobs to Eva Michalovsky. They married in Manhattan on this date in 1890, a Sunday. 

Ellis Island Photos

The Library of Congress has images of Ellis Island and immigrant ships and more for people like me, who are climbing their family tree and had ancestors pass through Ellis Island.

About 10 years ago my sister and I went with several cousins to Ellis Island and looked for the names of our ancestors who had come to America through its gates. What a moving visit! And what a great opportunity to tell family stories. Afterward, Cousin Ron guided us to his favorite Chinatown restaurant. It was a day to remember, even as the research continues.