1) THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER (by Tom Steichen)
 This
month's random bits and pieces (Article 1) begins with a political retirement
announcement from Governor Doskozil and a notice that he will have another laryngeal surgery that will
keep him out of office for a few weeks. We follow that with twp bits about wine in Burgenland. The first
has to do with new bottle labeling requirements and the second about Uhudler wine, a Burgenland
specialty. The we get a mystery... which I tell as the story and then the rest of the story,
so a two-part bit! The last four bits are short, single-part pieces. The first concerns a new
digitization office in Burgenland, the second concerns FamilySearch changes that affect their
search tool. The third is about newly transcribed data on the BB website: Kyle Sattler has provided the
records for the Tadten Catholic parish from 1726 to 1789. The last (but not least) is about GenTeam.eu...
some things you need to know.
Our regular tidbits include the monthly BB Facebook report, book sales and some
Words For Thought.
The remaining articles are our standard sections: A Historical BB Newsletter article,
Ethnic Events and Emigrant Obituaries.
 Doskozil
Announces Retirement From Politics... But Not Until Age 60: Governor Hans Peter Doskozil was speaking at
an event on November 6th when he slipped in a surprise about retirement from politics, saying, "You wear
yourself out."
One must remember that he is only 53 and that he still sees a political future in Burgenland. Assuming the polls
are correct, he is the top candidate in the 2025 state election in Burgenland. But, if he is reelected, he will be
60 at the end of that term, and he says his political life would then be over. We'll see if that proves true, but
it is nice that he is upfront about his thinking... and it gives him time for a few more delegation visits to
North America. Hurry back, I say!
He Also Announced Another Voice Surgery: As you may know, Governor Doskozil suffers from vocal cord
problems and has been operated on several times since March 2020 at Leipzig University Hospital. During his recent
budget speech in the state parliament, he announced he will be absent for two to two-and-a-half weeks while having
and recovering from his the sixth operation on his larynx. Doskozil says the operation is not so much about voice
training but rather "the air is getting thinner and thinner." He suffers from a rare disease of the
cartilage structure of the laryngeal framework.
Burgenland Winegrowers Face New Label Regulations: Regulation (EU) 2021/2117 is causing irritation
for Burgenland's winegrowers: Similar to food in the supermarket, detailed information will have to be provided on
the wine bottle. For the most part, the wines produced this year are not affected (although there remains a
question about what "produced" actually means in the context of this regulation).
The regulation requires all wines not produced before December 8, 2023 to include disclosure of ingredients,
allergens, energy, and nutrition information, as well as identifying information.
Much of this information must be displayed on the wine label, including category of wine, potential
"intolerances and allergens," alcoholic strength by volume, energy information, indication of provenance, bottler,
lot number and net quantity. Additional items are required to be on the label for sparkling wine, imported wines
and low-alcohol wine products (<10%).
Other required information, such as ingredients, can optionally be disclosed via “electronic means” such as a
product-specific web page accessible by a QR code or URL. If ingredients are disclosed electronically, "energy
information" similar to the standardized declaration of calories in the US, must still be displayed on the label
by using the symbol “E” and the calorie number for a 100ml serving. If an “electronic label” is used, it cannot
contain any information intended for sales or marketing purposes and must not track user data. Even including a
link to the brand’s official website or including other wines on the same page may violate this provision.
Wine not in compliance must be removed from the market and may have penalties applied as well, with inspection and
enforcement to be handled by each EU member state.
This EU label regulation is currently causing headaches for the winegrowers as they educate themselves about and
develop the resources needed to meet the requirements. Some bottlers' labeling equipment cannot handle QR codes,
so it must be replaced or updated. Most labels do not have room for all the required information, so specialized
"private" web pages will need to be developed for the QR-linked nutrition information.
 Beyond
that, generating data for the "energy information" and other required data will require special testing and
recordkeeping and may require annual updating of the printed label information.
Johannes Strudler, a Podersdorf winemaker, laments the "aesthetic blemishes" a QR code and added data will put on
his artistically-designed labels, saying "the bottles now look more like the food industry." He does
acknowledge that, "For allergy sufferers, it's certainly not bad that there is a little more information about
the ingredients," and that the regulation will also provide an opportunity to highlight the quality of
Burgenland's domestic wines even more. However, he also notes that he will need larger labels in the future to
display the required information, and that means he will need to buy a new label printer, which he believes will
cost around 7,000 euros.
Beaujolais Nouveau and Uhudler: November is the time of year that the Beaujolais Nouveau
wines of France make their way into the US market. Touted as the "first wine of the harvest," it is a
minimally-aged dry red wine made from Gamay grapes grown in the Beaujolais region of France. As I
write this, I'm sipping some produced by the Georges Debśuf vineyard, and it made
me think of the Uhudler wines produced in southern Burgenland. Are they similar? ...other than being an
early-harvest wine?
The answer is no.
 Uhudler
is usually a dry rosé, but can also be a dry white or red. It has intense flavors of strawberry and black currants
and is made from grape varieties that are, or are hybrids with, these North American varietals: Concord (Ripatella),
Isabella, Elvira, Clinto and Noah.
Uhudler originates from the time of the phylloxera infestation in Europe that began around 1860 and
reached Austria around 1900. The infestation largely destroyed the European wine industry. Many attempts were made
to either exterminate the pest or use alternative, non-traditional viticultural practices that might prevail
against the infestation. Nothing worked.
Initially, disease-resistant North American vines (including some used in Uhudler wines) were imported and
used to produce wine... but these did not have the taste of traditional European wines. After discovery in the
early 1900s that grafting European vines onto native North American rootstocks prevented infestation, an effort
was made to rebuild the European wine industry. North American vines (like those used in Uhudler) were
forbidden under wine regulations all across the European continent. And, in an effort to damage the reputations of
wines produced from native North American varietals, it was also maintained (falsely) that these wines contained a
high content of methanol, and therefore were injurious to the health of the drinker.
Uhudler continued to be produced in Austria using hybrid vines until the 1930s when Hitler banned it,
calling it an American wine. But locals loved it, and private-consumption (and illegal) production
continued until 1992, when Uhudler rosé became legal again. However, under Austrian wine law, Uhudler
can be marketed in only 8 communities in southern Burgenland. So, if you want some, you need to visit
Burgenland (and at the right time of year).
Jesus said to the dead man, "Young man, I say to thee, arise!" And he
who was dead,
sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. -- Luke 7:
14-15.
A Burgenland Mystery: Richard Potetz recently shared a mystery discovered by his cousin,
Paula Bolland, asking me if I thought it was "an early version of identity theft."
Cousin Paula has, admittedly minor, fame for living near the town of Glasgow, MT, a town that the Washington
Post declared in 2018 was the answer to the question: "Where is the middle of nowhere?" More precisely,
it was the answer to the question, of all towns in the US with more than 1,000 residents, which is farthest, in
surface travel time, from any metropolitan area of more than 75,000 people? Glasgow, home to a little over
3000 people in the rolling prairie of northeastern Montana, was the winner by requiring at least four and a half
hours to travel to its nearest so-defined metro area. Paula lives in a town along the shortest route from
Glasgow to Billings, MT (its nearest metro area), so her town couldn't directly win the "honor," though she claims
her town is far more remote because of the dearth of amenities it provides (they must go to Glasgow for doctors,
for example).
Still, being remote hasn't stopped Paula from being a persistent and productive genealogical researcher. Over the
years, we have talked several times as she delved into knotty issues (and some of those have ended up in this
newsletter). When I inquired whether it would be okay to publish her current, mysterious efforts, she replied
yes, but also noted she was "enjoying 'almost winter'! [because] I can work on genealogy when I
don't have so darned much to do outside!" Sounds like a true genealogist to me!
The current mystery has to do with an in-law line of Paula's, the Maschler family of Piringsdorf (Répcebónya,
Bónya, Bánya) and Unterrabnitz (Alsórámoc).
In her quest to resolve the mystery, Paula assembled a spreadsheet of all Maschler's in Bónya. She noted that most
Maschler's were from Unterrabnitz (she started there in 1714) but she thinks the family line in question moved to
Bónya about 1778 when Mathias Maschler and Veronika Leidl married. From this couple, Paula has documented 112
Maschler's in Bónya during the 1778 to 1920 period (so, if this is your family line too, you may wish to contact
Paula!). But, on to the actual mystery...
The mystery person is János Maschler, born to János Maschler and his wife Terézia Fruhstuck on 30 October
1895 in Bónya. János married Anna Koller (born in Dorfl) on 11 July 1920 in Bónya (marriage
record here) and they had daughter Terézia on 23 Nov 1920 in Bónya (child
birth record here). All the dates, places and parental names accurately tie these records together.
The mystery arises, though, when you look too closely at János' birth record
(image here). In
the upper corner, there appears a registrar's note, which transcribes and translates as:
 Transcription:
Halálesete az 1902 évi halotti anyakönyv 5. száma alatt. Strassburger Frigyes anyakönyvvezető.
A bejegyzés hiteléűl. Sopron, 1902. junius 10. Mészáros, levéltárnok
Translation: Death event in the death register for year 1902 under number 5. Frigyes Strassburger,
registrar.
As certification of the entry. Sopron, 10 June 1902. Mészáros, archivist.
If you go to that entry in the 1902 death records, you will indeed find the death of János Maschler, age 6, son
of the parents listed above, who died 27 Jan 1902 in Bónya of measles.
The death record can be found
here.
Richard Potetz had commented in his message to me: "That note is stamped with the seal of the registrar. I
think that seal must make János Maschler officially dead. But that did not prevent him from getting married in
1920."
My answer was that "My read is the same as yours: the records say this is the same person! The note on
the birth record even identifies the correct record (#5) in the 1902 death records."
I noodled around about all the different ways this might have occurred, and I shared all those ideas with Richard
and Paula. Paula replied that she had been down all those trails (and many more), as she "needed to see how
this person could be resurrected!" Given that, I concluded my comments to Richard with: "What I can’t
imagine is any value in identity theft then, or that the bride and/or witnesses would not know the correct name of
the groom given they likely grew up together in a relatively small town (always under 1000 residents)."
So we ended our conversation as it were ...until I decided to ask Paula if I could write this up for the
newsletter. And, as iconic radio broadcaster Paul Harvey used to say, that leads us to ...the rest of the story.
Paul Harvey hosted a radio program titled The Rest of the Story that began as a segment in his
newscasts during the Second World War. It ran as its own radio series from 1976 to 2009 and consisted of stories
presenting little-known or forgotten facts on a variety of subjects with some key element of the story held
back until the end. These broadcasts always concluded with a variation on the tag line, "And now you know...the
rest of the story."
 In
this case, the key element I've held back (actually, I saw it early in my investigation but ignored
its significance ...so I had held it back from myself too), is a small, almost unnoticeable note in
the upper corner of the death record that consists of the following in its entirety: Ub1/913.
Ub stands for utólagos bejegyzés (= subsequent entry) and 1/913 says it was the first such
entry for the 1913 death records (death implied since the note was in the death records). These Ub’s
are sometimes included at the end of each year or at the end of the book… but more often they are not
included in the FamilySearch images. In this case they were included and the entry can be found
here.
If you go there, you will see that entry 1 concerns death record 1902/5, which is the record for János, and his
name appears in the next column. The entry follows, and the body of it translates to:
The deceased's given name is not János, but Terézia, age is not 6 (six) but 8 (eight) years old.
This resolves two questions for Paula, two because she had been unable to find the death of the first
Terézia (there was a later sibling named that, implying the first had already died) and, of course, the non-death
of János!
After I presented my discovery to Richard and Paula, Richard conjectured, "So János Maschler was only
officially dead from 1902 to 1913. At age 17 he may have sought a work permit or some permission that uncovered
the errors." I agree with this assessment, as correction of the record by the officials would have required
some stimulus by János... and it must have been interesting as he tried to convince them that he wasn't dead!
This "mystery" points out, yet again, the necessity of paying attention to everything on these records. Ask
for help if you must, but don't ignore those notations!
As for János, Young man, I say to thee, arise!
And now you know...the rest of the story.
Government Digitization Office Established: The Burgenland
 government
established this past month a new office to coordinate activities in the digitalization arena. Councillor Leonhard
Schneemann (who we met during the recent delegation visit) announced the new office, saying "I am convinced
that with this strategy we will make Burgenland a bit more competitive, more livable, because all people here in
Burgenland will benefit."
The office will establish a digitalization strategy, develop training courses and expand necessary infrastructure.
One goal is to improve the digital competence of the people in Burgenland, via workshops and via education in the
schools, starting in kindergarten. In terms of infrastructure, an expansion of the fiber-optic network is
envisioned as part of a "Broadband Master Plan," as critics say southern Burgenland is at a competitive
disadvantage due to an insufficient fiber optic network. Additionally, a digital innovation hub is to be set up
for the economy, a traffic information system is being considered, and government digital services are to be
bundled centrally on one platform.
 What's
New with the FamilySearch Catalog: FamilySearch announced on November 10th that the FamilySearch
Catalog has been updated to use the newest FamilySearch place name standards.
They warn that the new place name standards may impact search results for some locations, as some places
will have slightly different display names than in the past. Other places could be grouped within a larger place.
In these cases, you may have to perform an extra click or two to find the search results you desire. They also
note that there are some places from the old Catalog that aren’t in the new place name standards
yet, though many of these excluded places are in the process of being added. They believe that, with the new
Catalog system, searches can be more precise and the results will be sorted better.
The announcement also said that updated and new collections will appear in the coming months, and that they are
working to "unify the search experience for digital, image, and physical collections."
Although it was not part of this announcement, it also appears that the "stay logged in for 2 weeks"
feature is gone.
Transcription of Tadten Catholic Books, 1726 to 1789, Now Online: BB Member Kyle Sattler has
transcribed the records for the Tadten (Mosontétény) Catholic parish from 1726 to 1789. The data collection
includes 2,198 birth records, 488 marriage records, and 1,780 death records. Tadten was the only village in this
parish. However, during part of this time, the Catholic Church was the official recorder for all
denominations, so some non-Catholic records are included. The transcriptions can be found on the BB website here:
the-burgenland-bunch.org/ChurchRecords/Tadten/TadtenRecords.htm.
Our thanks to Kyle for sharing his work with the BB.
 GenTeam.eu
Technical Update: In their latest communication, GenTeam announced that they have updated their
platform, as more than 22 million records and 100,000 users was challenging their old system. They claim that the
new system "is now much faster, and further features will be added," even though the user interface will be
mostly unchanged. The main reason for telling you this, though, is that it was not possible to transfer the
existing registration data. Therefore, it is necessary for you to register again.
One new feature they have already added is a mapping of all parishes in the Czech Republic. While this may not be
a significant feature for most of us, I have tried to help a few BB members whose Burgenländers had roots in the
Czech Republic... having done so, I know how helpful this information would have been!
In particular, this data is directly linked to the the GenTeam Gazetteer, which includes all places in
today's Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia, and shows current and old village names, their respective
parishes and former parishes, the starting years of the church registers, as well as the link to available online
registers. For further information, see https://pfarren-cz.oefr.at.
 The
Facebook Bunch (from Vanessa Sandhu):
Greetings, Burgenland Bunch!
I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! This year has really zoomed by. The holiday season is upon us!
We are going to have a fantastic December, sharing the traditions and recipes of our Burgenland families. Our
group has gained 14 new members since our last update, bringing our membership count up to 2107. If you haven’t
joined us, please consider yourself invited! We’d love to have you!
facebook.com/groups/TheBurgenlandBunchOFFICIAL
Let’s start off with two great videos of some fantastic music shared by member Steve Huber
and his band, The Happy Austrians. Check out the Burgenland Echo Polka here:
youtu.be/j7nUigcoAGo. Steve also shared a 50-minute video entitled “Oktoberfest
at the Edelweiss,” showcasing the celebration held way back in 1994 in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania:
youtu.be/TEuvrflM2k0.
Member Fred Knarr shared some great photos of the ceremonies held in Jabing for All
Saints Day.
Member Kyle Sattler shared the index he created for Tadten’s Roman Catholic Church Books from
1726-1789. All entries for this time period, including births, marriages, and deaths have been indexed. Thank you,
Kyle for all of your hard work. I’m sure that it will be helpful to lots of members!
Member Lisa Severin shared some great photos and videos of the Karakterre wine
event held on November 4th in Rockefeller Center, New York City. The event featured Austrian wines and included
wines from Vinarija Mulatsák and Andreas Gsellmann from Burgenland.
Member Franz Stangl shared some photos and videos of the Güssing Faschingsgilde event
crowning this year’s princely couple. Congratulations to Princess Lisa and Prince Lorenz!
Member Siegfried Wolf shared an article about the 430th Anniversary of the Evangelical Church
in Neuhaus am Klausenbach. Member Martin Wolf is mentioned in the article, as he plans to host more
lectures on the topic in the future:
meinbezirk.at/.../anfaenge-der-reformation.
That’s all for now! Until next month, stay safe and healthy!
Vanessa
 Update
for book "The Burgenländer Emigration to America": Here is this month's update on purchases of the English
issue of the 3rd edition of Dr. Walter Dujmovits' book "Die Amerika-Wanderung Der Burgenländer."
Current total sales are 1753 copies, as interested people purchased 9 books during this past month.
As always, the book is available for online purchase at a list price of $8.89
(which is the current production charge for the book, as we purposely choose not to make any profit so
you can obtain the book at as low a cost as possible!), plus tax & shipping. See the BB
homepage for a link to the information / ordering page and for information about
current discounts (there is at least one discount on price or shipping available most of the time... if not, wait
a few days and there will be one!).
The book is an excellent read for the Burgenländers in your family... and an excellent
Christmas gift... get theirs now!
Burgenland Recipes: (none this month... do you have one to share?)
 Note:
Our recipes sortable list has links directly to the recipes or food-related articles
published in our past newsletters. You can access the list by clicking our recipe box (to the right). Thanks to
the contributions of our members over the years, we have quite a collection of Burgenland recipes, some with
several variations.
However, whenever we use up our unpublished recipes, this recipe section will become dormant. So, if you have a
favorite family recipe, please consider sharing it with us. We will be happy to publish it. Our older relatives,
sadly, aren't with us forever, so don't allow your favorite ethnic dish to be lost to future generations.
You can send your recipe to BB Recipes Editor,
Alan Varga.
Thanks!
Words for Thought:
"...the problem with doing nothing is knowing when you're finished."
"...people often ask me, 'Are you crazy?' I was glad there still was some doubt."
- Nelson
DeMille, in the novel The Maze, 2022
|
3) HISTORICAL BB NEWSLETTER ARTICLES
Editor: This is part of our series designed to recycle interesting articles from the BB Newsletter of 10
years ago. This one concerns data for US-bound immigrants who arrived at Canadian ports. The St. Albans' Lists are
the main source of such information.
THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS No. 237
November 30, 2013
ST. ALBANS' LISTS
New BB member Claudia Freiler, of Hornstein, Burgenland, writes that she is trying to discover
relatives of Franziska Egger/Eger, the older sister of her great-grandfather, Michael Egger, both originally from
Pamhagen in Burgenland. Franziska emigrated at age 18 in 1909, when Michael was 6, but no one now knows where she
went or what happened to her.
Claudia's interest in Franziska was sparked when she learned that her grandmother (Michael's daughter) was visited
a few years ago by some Americans searching for descendants of Michael. However, no one else in Claudia's line was
able to meet these Americans and Claudia would like the opportunity to correct that and get to know her relatives.
With a little online digging at FamilySearch.org, we were able to find out that Franziska was baptized 12
Nov 1890 in Pamhagen, child of Mathias and Elisabeth (Kotzenmacher / Thüringer) Egger/Eger. Siblings Antonius
(born 1888) and Antal (born 1894) were also in the online indexed Pamhagen church records (and Michael is in the
scanned civil records). Claudia also found a passenger list that showed that Franziska was on a ship to Quebec in
1909 and later crossed the border from Canada into the US. However, she was unable to get more details.
This leads to her request: If you recognize this story or know anything about Franziska and her
descendants, please write to me so I can connect you to Claudia.
2023 Addition: With the continued growth of available records it is easy to extend the story... a
little bit... Franziska went to St. Paul, MN... but she quickly disappeared again.
The first record I found was a rather strange "Instructions to Pursers" sheet, where she appears to be
traveling with Paulina Obitz, age 16, and going to St. Paul, MN. Both are listed as from Hungary, single, able
to read and write, and occupation Domestic. The ship is the Montreal and it departed Antwerp on 5 May 1909,
heading to Quebec City.
The next record was a "List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the United States Immigration Officer at Port
of Arrival" for the same ship, showing it arrived at Quebec City on May 17th (see below about documents of this
nature). Franziska and Paulina are listed on consecutive lines, but Paulina is now 17. Both are "servants" and
traveling from and born at Pomogy (the Hungarian name for Pamhagen). Matthias Egger and Johann Obitz are listed
as their fathers in Pomogy. Franziska is joining her uncle, Michael Egger, at 1139 Marion St in St. Paul (Paulina,
a brother-in-law at an address a half mile away). Franziska has $7, is blind in her left eye, 5' 1", fair, with
brown hair and blue eyes.
 Then
I found the "Soundex Index Card" (also see below) for Franziska, and it included all of the above information
plus it noted that she was of the German race, traveled Third Class, had paid the Head Tax, had no
Distinguishing Marks and was intending Permanent Residency in the US. It noted her blind eye and that she was
otherwise healthy.
From there, I found a 1910 Census record (dated Jan 20th) for uncle Michael Egger, indeed at the address in the
above manifest with a wife and 7 children... but no Franziska.
A little more digging found her in the 1910 Census at address 309 Geranium Ave, just 3 blocks from Michael and
working as a servant for the James Page family.
But that is the last record I could find for Franziska. I suspect Franziska either married or died before 1920
(so her surname disappeared from the records). St. Paul marriage and death records are inconsistently available
online, so this commonly hinders tracing of emigrant there.
As for Pauline, I could not find her in the 1910 Census, but it appears she married John Fleishhacker (of
Illmitz, near Pamhagen) in August 1910, had at least 6 children, and lived out her life in St. Paul.
However, this article does not end here because [before the above addition] the
information we do know about Franziska's arrival and border crossing appears in the St. Albans' Lists, and
these Lists deserve some elucidation.
The St. Albans' Lists are the equivalent of the immigration records the US kept on immigrants
arriving at US ports, except these are for people who arrived at Canadian ports and then crossed the border
into the US. However, the Lists do not start until 1894. Prior to that, no US immigration officer met these
immigrants or recorded information about their arrival in the United States.
In the mid-1800s, there were immigrants to Canada, but few crossed into the US. However, when the United States
began to impose more stringent immigration rules at its ports of entry in the 1880s, more immigrants chose to
travel to the US via Canada in order to avoid US immigration inspections or its quota restrictions. By the 1890s,
steamship companies were openly advertising passage through Canada as a more desirable route for immigrants who
wished to avoid entry problems into the US. This forced the United States to create a system to document and
control the many thousands entering via its northern border.
In 1894, the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) (then called the Bureau of
Immigration) entered into an agreement with the Canadian government, and also with the railroads and steamship
lines serving Canadian ports of entry, to bring US-destined immigration into compliance with US law. The steamship
lines agreed to treat all passengers passing through to the United States as if they were landing at a US
port of entry. This meant completing a US ship passenger manifest form and selling tickets only to those who
appeared admissible under US law. Canadian railroads agreed to carry to US destinations only those immigrants who
were legally pre-admitted to the United States.
The US INS stationed officers at Canadian ports of entry, who then collected the manifests and inspected
US-bound immigrants, mainly at Quebec and Montreal (summer ports) and St. John and Halifax (winter ports) from the
Atlantic Ocean, and Vancouver from the Pacific Ocean. Between 1895 and 1906, the US also added inspectors at its
northern land-border ports of entry.
Immigrants destined to the United States were subject to the following procedure: after they passed
through Canadian quarantine, US inspectors examined immigrants bound for the United States.
 If
admitable to the US, the inspector issued the passenger a "Certificate of Admission" (aka: Alien
Certificate) showing he or she had been inspected and admitted. The railroads required all passengers
who landed in Canada within the last thirty days to present their Certificates of Admission before boarding
a US-bound train. When the train stopped at the border, a US inspector boarded the train and collected the
Certificates of Admission. In this way, their arrival at a Canadian seaport and their subsequent physical
entrance into the United States were connected.
A different manifest list (Form 1-Canada) was used at land-border ports to account for those without a
valid Certificate of Admission. The full title of the form was "List or Manifest of Alien Passengers
Applying for Admission to the United States from Foreign Contiguous Territory" and was similar to a ship
passenger manifest. This manifest was used for immigrants who had been in Canada for months or years and later
applied at a land-border port for admission to the United States. Before October 1906, only those immigrants born
outside Canada were recorded. Starting then, Canadian-born immigrants were recorded also.
Form 1-Canada contained all the information required under US immigration law and, to account for
immigrants who lived in Canada before moving to the United States, had additional columns for recording their
original arrival in Canada. These columns included the port, date, and steamship that transported the immigrant to
Canada.
At the end of each month, the US officers at Canadian seaports and US land-border ports of entry sent their lists
to the US Canadian Border District Office in Montreal. There, the lists were filed by year and month, and
further, alphabetically by port. (Sometimes, the ocean ports were filed first, followed by the land ports, but
mostly these were filed alphabetically by port name, regardless of type.)
Eventually, the Border District Office moved to St. Albans, VT, bringing along the filed records and adding
to them in subsequent years. Since St. Albans was the District name when the records were indexed and later
microfilmed, they carry the St. Albans name, regardless of which Canadian port or northern US port of entry they
were originally collected at.
The manifest lists are found today in two National Archives' publications, divided somewhat by
geography:
► NARA microfilm publication M1464: Manifests of Passengers Arriving in the St. Albans, Vermont
District through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1895-1954 (608 reels)
► NARA microfilm publication M1465: Manifests of Passengers Arriving in the St. Albans, Vermont,
District through Canadian Pacific Ports, 1929-1949 (25 reels)
Most immigrants from Europe would be found in M1464.
In addition, there are two Soundex indexes (created through WPA projects in the 1930s) that are
useful when you do not know the date and/or port of arrival. These are split at 1924:
► NARA microfilm publication M1461: Soundex Index to Canadian Border Entries through the St. Albans,
Vermont, District, 1895-1924 (400 reels)
► NARA microfilm publication M1463: Soundex Index to Entries into the St. Albans, Vermont, District
through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1924-1952 (98 reels)
While these are called Soundex Indexes, in actuality they are transcriptions of nearly all available
information on the manifest lists to manifest cards, which were then filed by Soundexed surname.
The Indexes are comprehensive for all arrivals between 1895 and 1917 and contain the majority of
arrivals from Canada into Eastern and Midwestern States to 1927.
More specifically, after June 1917, the Soundex index included only arrivals/admissions east of
the North Dakota/Montana state line (those arriving west of this line after 1917 were filed in Seattle and not
included in the St. Albans Soundex Index).
Further, starting July 1, 1927, the index generally includes only those arrivals/admissions east of
Buffalo, New York (on Lake Ontario or eastward).
After 1929, there is no geographically comprehensive index.
2023 Addition: The images in the above four collections (M1461, M1463, M1464, M1465) now are
available online at FamilySearch here:
Vermont, St. Albans Canadian Border Crossings, 1895-1954
There is also a text-only index at FamilySearch for these and related datasets:
United States Border Crossings from Canada to
United States, 1895-1956
Further, manifest images are now available for six Canadian ports. This collection also includes some US port
manifests where passengers indicated they were bound for Canada:
Canada Passenger Lists, 1881-1922
In most cases, an original manifest exists. However, some index cards are the only record of crossing, with no
original manifest.
Interestingly, although it was illegal for immigrants to cross into the US at places other than official ports of
entry, it still happened ...and frequently. However, when the US required registration before WW-I, or when an
immigrant attempted to become naturalized, it became apparent that the individual had entered illegally. One
solution the US allowed (an amnesty program by any other name) was for the illegal immigrant to voluntarily
cross into Canada and then legally re-enter the US (the other solution was outright deportation).
Therefore, the St. Albans' Lists also contain records for people who arrived before 1894 and/or who
originally entered illegally. Many of these entries appear in M1463 (the 1924-1952 section).
Finally, there are two specialized microfilm collections:
► NARA microfilm publication M1462: Alphabetical Index to Canadian Border Entries through Small Ports
in Vermont, 1895-1924 (6 reels)
► NARA microfilm publication M1478: Card Manifests (Alphabetical) of Individuals Entering through the
Port of Detroit, Michigan, 1906-1954 (117 reels)
If you wish to search these records, a good place to start is the available online indexes:
► The Family History Library has an online index titled Border Crossings from Canada to United States,
1895-1956.
► Ancestry.com also has indexes with image links to the index cards.
The Family History Library has all of these sets of indexes and lists on microfilm (see FamilySearch.org
to order microfilms [microfilms no longer available]).
More information can be found at these web pages:
►
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2000/fall/us-canada-immigration-records-1.html
►
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~holdenclan/albans.htm
►
http://www.americanancestors.org/st-albans-passenger-arrival-records/
►
http://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/US_Immigration_Canadian_Border_Crossings
|
5) BURGENLAND EMIGRANT OBITUARIES
Erwin Gottfried Huber
 Erwin Gottfried Huber, age
90, passed away peacefully in his home in Trinity, Florida, on August 7, 2023. A native of Unterschützen, Austria,
he was an Air Force veteran and a bricklayer by trade. Erwin worked on the construction of many buildings in
Baltimore's Inner Harbor area, and on the subway in Washington, DC. In the mid-1970s, he became a cabinet-making
teacher at Howard County Vocational-Technical High School. In 1980, he joined Oles Envelope Company, where he was
head of maintenance and renovation. He retired on June 30, 1995. In 2004, he and his first wife, Maria, moved to
Safety Harbor, Florida, to enjoy their retirement.
Erwin and Maria enjoyed taking cruises to the Caribbean, traveling to visit family in Germany and Austria, and
spending time with their children and grandchildren. Maria died in 2007 after a short illness, but Erwin continued
to travel, taking cruises and visiting Unterschützen several times to see his sister Gerti and her family. His
last visit was in 2022.
In 2022, Erwin had found companionship with Cathy Long, and they fell in love. The couple wed on Erwin’s 90th
birthday, June 18, 2023, in a quiet ceremony. A few weeks later, all of Erwin’s children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren came to Trinity, Florida, to celebrate “Opa-Fest” with Erwin and Cathy. Erwin was happiest
when he was with family. He was always generous with his time. He read the Austrian news online every morning, and
he spent weekends watching the German and Austrian soccer games. He always told us that he had a good life.
Erwin is survived by his new wife Cathy, his daughter Mary Ann and sons Walter, Michael and Robert. There are also
9 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren as well as many nieces, nephews and cousins. He will truly be missed.
In lieu of flowers, donations to Erwin’s Charity of choice - Wounded Warriors is appreciated. The link to donate
is:
https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org
Alois Leodolter
Alois (Louie) Leodolter,
92, of Scarborough, Ontario, Canada passed away peacefully on June 13, 2023 at Providence Healthcare Centre. He is
survived by his loving wife of 63 years, Anna and his two sons Louis (Sheila) and Frank (Jennifer).
Born in Jabing, Austria, he and his wife Anna immigrated to North America from Austria in 1959 to make a better
life for themselves. First settling in New York City, where he took his skills as a trained carpenter and left his
imprint on various landmarks around the city, such as the George Washington Bridge and the 1964 New York World's
Fair. As a craftsman, he was always proud of his work. In 1969, they took another bold step by moving to Toronto
to continue the pursuit of a better life for their family and to be closer to relatives. Throughout his life, he
has always been a devout Catholic, and was a founding parishioner and longtime member of St. Bartholomew Catholic
Church. He can be called truly one of the faithful.
Special thanks to the medical staff of Providence Healthcare, especially to his nurses, Winsome, Kiki and Gladys,
for their kindness and caring. He was a role model to many and was a positive influence to everyone that knew him.
He will be missed. In lieu of flowers, financial contributions in memory of Alois Leodolter can be made to the St.
Michael's Foundation. To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Karl Schwenk
Karl "Doc" Schwenk, age 84,
of Canton, Ohio, passed away peacefully on November 22, 2023.
Born in Sopronbánfalva (Wandorf), Hungary on April 21, 1939, he was a son of the late Karl Schwenk and Susanna (Degendorfer)
Schwenk Gruber.
At the age of twelve and speaking only German, Karl immigrated with his mother to the United States in 1951. He
quickly adapted, playing both basketball and football at Ellwood City High School and graduated in 1958 as the
President of his senior class. He continued his education first at Geneva College and then at Ball State
University where he earned a Master's and PhD in Molecular Biology.
Karl loved the sciences (could repeat Avogadro's number in his sleep) and was deeply committed to sharing his
knowledge with others. He began a decades-long career of teaching in 1973 at Walsh College in Canton, Ohio. There
he oversaw the Nursing Program, ran the Anatomy & Physiology Labs, and ultimately served as Chair of the
Department of Sciences. One of his most rewarding accomplishments while at Walsh was assisting his students in the
reconstruction of "Bondo Betty". Karl was an instrumental member of the Mastodon Restoration Committee and Betty
the Mastodon is now proudly displayed at Discovery World in the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum. In 1978,
Karl decided to make a change and began teaching at Tuscarawas Valley High School. There, he was known for holding
students to a high standard and although his classes of chemistry and physics were among the hardest in the
school, he was widely respected by his students who endearingly refereed to him simply as "Doc". During his 22
years of teaching high school, Karl would go on to win multiple teaching awards, including the prestigious
Governor's Award five years in a row. Perhaps what he is most remembered for is his contribution to science fairs;
local, state, and international. Many of his students would go on to compete and win at the International Science
and Engineering Fair, which currently stands as the world's largest pre-college science competition.
In addition, Karl was an active member of the community, participating in the Caldwell Masonic Lodge and serving
as President & Treasurer of the Plain Township Lions Club. Karl had many hobbies but among his most favorite was a
fascination with tropical fish (at one time he had a combined number of fish tanks totaling 140-plus gallons),
photography, and of course, memories that reminded him of Germany; especially apple strudel and Franziskaner beer.
Nothing however, compared to his passion for his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers! Above all else, Karl was a
people-person and cherished spending time with family, especially his grandchildren, always encouraging them to
study hard and pimping them with questions about chemistry and physics. He will be dearly missed.
He was preceded in death by his father, Karl Schwenk; mother and stepfather, Susanna and John Gruber. He is
survived by his beloved wife of 58 years, Donna Schwenk; children, Karl (Julie) Schwenk, Karen (Charles) Johnson;
grandchildren, Karl Hunter Schwenk, Jacob Heid, Nathan Heid, Karalyn Schwenk, Olivia Schwenk, Matthew Johnson,
Leah Johnson; and cousins, Emily Majewski and Elizabeth Barkus.
The family would like to extend a special thank you to Aultman Hospice and Windsor
Medical Center for their care and support in the final weeks of his life. A private Celebration of Life will be
held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, Karl would be most honored with donations to support the students and
teachers of Tuscarawas Valley High School at trojanfoundation.org/donate. Please visit reedfuneralhome.com to sign
the online guestbook.
|
News