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Category: Hamburg Germany

Karl August Brumm and Wilhelmina Ida Fischer

This blog post celebrates the anniversary of the marriage of Bart’s 3rd great grandparents, Karl August BRUMM and Wilhelmina Ida FISCHER (who went by Mina, pronounced like Mena).  They were married on this date (20 January) in 1861.  I’ve written about this family here and here.
Before I get into their story I do want to say something about Wilhelmina’s last name.  I have found a number of different last names for her.  While I think FISCHER is her maiden name, I can’t be 100% sure.  I have seen the following last names for her: BRUMM, FISCHER, HOFFMAN, WAGNER, WAHLER/WOLLER, and WISCHMAN.  The BRUMM and WISCHMAN surnames are her first and second married names.  I’m not sure where the HOFFMAN, WAGNER, and WAHLER/WOLLER names come in but I think FISCHER is her maiden name.
Karl was born on 17 February 1834 in Saxony, Germany.  (I’ve offered links for you to learn more about Saxony in this blog post.)   Mina was also born in Saxony on 20 September 1838.  They married on 20 January 1861 in Netzschkau, Vogtlandkreis, Saxony, Germany.  (I would love to provide you with their marriage license or some kind of record but I don’t have one and haven’t been able to locate one.  The date I have is one that has been given to me by other researchers.)  Here’s a map of the area:
Zwickau-Mylau-Netzschkau Germany 2018 week 3 blog post Brumm-Fischer

(Microsoft Maps)

The map above shows the city of Zwickau which is the capital of the district of Zwickau  (#1), the town of Mylau where Karl was born (#2), and the town of Netzschkau where Mina was born and where Karl and Mina were married (#3).  Karl and Mina lived the first decade or so of their marriage in Germany.  While in Germany, they had their children including Pauline, Theresa (Bart’s maternal 2nd great grandmother whom I wrote about here), Charles, Clemens, Emma, Anna, Ida Bertha, Oliver, Clara, Albert, and George.  (Researchers and records differ on Albert and George.  Some say the boys were born in Germany and some say they were born in Michigan.)
I’m not familiar enough with this family yet to say for sure, but it appears that both Karl and Mina made multiple trips between Germany and the United States.  I think possibly I’ve found the 1892 naturalization record for Karl but again, I’m not familiar enough with the family to say for sure.  In any case, I did find an interesting story on Ancestry.com.  It was posted by Doris Shumaker in 2011.  The story goes like this.  Clara, the youngest daughter of Karl and Mina, arrived in the United States at age 2.  The family settled in Forestville, Sanilac County, Michigan.  Before the family arrived though, Karl came over first.  He began a bakery and then brought the rest of the family over.  That would explain why Karl was not with the family on this Immigrant Passenger List:
Brumm passenger list

1874 Hamburg-to-New York passenger list found on Ancestry.com.  The family resided in Crimmitschau, Zwickau, Saxony, Germany before coming to the United States.

There is one story that I learned about the family that I want to share before I end this blog post.  About 6 years after their arrival in the U.S., their grandson was shot and killed.  Their grandson was Fredrick A. BRUMM.  Fred was the son of Karl and Mina’s son, Charles.  Fred was a patrolman in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan.  He was on patrol when he surprised 3 people who were in the process of robbing a cigar store.  Fred was shot in the abdomen and died a week later.  He shot one of the robbers twice in the face during the encounter.  The three men got away but I believe they were later caught (although I’m not sure since I could only access one of the articles).  Here is a copy of the one article I could access on newspapers.com:
fred brumm death - grandson of karl and wilhelmina brumm

31 Mar 1928 The News-Palladium (Benton Harbor, MI)

I wanted to make sure that this police officer was remembered by all for his sacrifice.
I plan to write more of Karl and Mina’s stories throughout the year as I celebrate and honor their lives on their birth and death dates.  I hope you’ll join me for those stories.
Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Colony Saxonia and Heinrich Wolhelm WOLF

Heinrich WOLF is Bart’s maternal 3rd great grandfather. Heinrich went by Henry.

Portrait of Heinrich "Henry" Wolf.
Portrait of Heinrich “Henry” Wolf.

Henry immigrated from Prussia in April of 1874. He departed Hamburg, Germany, traveled through Liverpool, England, and on to New York, USA. He brought his son, Ernst, with him. They sailed together on the ship Minerva with Captain BLOHM. The shipping clerk was, once again, M. Otto W. MöLLER. Henry’s residence in Prussia was in Crimmitschau – a place I blogged about last week when talking about other Prussian immigrants in my husband’s family. On the passenger list, Henry gave his occupation as shoemaker (Schuhmacher, in German). Henry was 46 years old and Ernst was only 8.

Hamburg Passenger List showing entries for Heinrich and Ernst Wolf.
Hamburg Passenger List showing entries for Heinrich and Ernst Wolf.

I’m not completely certain but I think this is the ship Minerva:

Possibly the ship 'Minerva'.
Possibly the ship ‘Minerva’.

This ship was much more difficult to find information about online than the other ship was. If this really was the ship they came over on it seems awfully small to take out on the ocean.
I am certain that this next piece of information really is the ship Minerva that the WOLF’s sailed on:

Information about the ship 'Minerva'.
Information about the ship ‘Minerva’.

This information comes from The Ships List website.
Heinrich (who went by Henry) and Ernst (who went by Ernest) came to American in April of 1874. If you remember back to last week, Henry’s wife Christiana (who went by Sophia) and two of their children- Charles (who went by Carl) and Ferdinand (who went by Fred) made the journey later that same year in October.
It would be natural to assume that Henry came over first to get a place ready for the family although I’m not sure why he would bring the youngest son with him as opposed to the oldest who could help clear land and build a home. In any case, I believe Henry came over with a group called Colony Saxonia. I’m still trying to find out information about Colony Saxonia but here’s a snippet from the Joint Documents from the State of Michigan for the Year 1872, Vol. II:

1872 Joint Documents from the State of Michigan, Vol. II.
1872 Joint Documents from the State of Michigan, Vol. II. Government documents discussing the recruitment of Germans to Michigan.

This was a group approved by the government that recruited Germans to come to Michigan. Once here, the German families were given the opportunity to buy 40 acre pieces of land from the group. This land was in Forestville, Sanilac County, Michigan. Many Germans did move into Sanilac County, Michigan but many decided to stay in the Detroit area where they first disembarked in Michigan.
You can read a little more about Colony Saxonia here and here.
I still don’t know much about Henry and Christiana but just the little bit I’ve learned while searching today is more than I knew before. I hope you’ve enjoyed learning a little more about the immigration experience for these Michigan ancestors. I know I’ve enjoyed letting you in on a little more of their story. Uncle Bob sent me some photographs but I’m going to save those for the next few posts I write about Henry and Christiana later this year.


Until tomorrow,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

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