This week’s
prompt is “youngest” and once again I will turn to the Burbach family as the
source of my family’s youngest immigrant.
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| Logo of current Burbach's Meat Market from their facebook page. |
My
great-uncle Johan Burbach was two years old when he migrated with his parents
and older brother Hermann to the United States. They left Villmar, a small
village in the Duchy of Nassau and province of Hesse in 1856[i]
and began their journey to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They didn’t choose Milwaukee arbitrarily
since Catharina Caspari Burbach (mother of Johan and Hermann) already had an
aunt and uncle who were farming in the area. Both of Johan’s parents had
already lost their parents, so they were ready to brave the voyage to provide a
better life for their children.
The little
family settled on Walnut Street in Milwaukee, where they became involved in the
local German community. Both the boys had been baptized in the Catholic faith
in Villmar at Saints Peter and Paul Church[ii]
and so they continued their faith education at St Joseph Church in Milwaukee.
They attended the German schools, which were very available in Milwaukee at the time,
while their father worked to provide food and housing. Since they came from an
area of Germany where farming and raising cattle were common occupations, Georg
pursued the cattle industry, becoming first a cattle drover before advancing to
cattle broker. His sons, Hermann and Johan watched and learned from their
father.
On 17 Sep
1875, John Burback married Steffonia Grumber in Brooklyn, New York.[iii]
By 1880, John and Stefanie were the parents of daughters Catherine and Eva living
with John’s parents on Walnut Street while John and his brother Hermann ran the
Burbach Brothers Butcher shop which they had opened about 1876.
According to
the 1900 census, John and Stefanie were living at 2327 Lisbon Street in
Milwaukee with their six surviving children. John’s brother Hermann had died, and John
was the sole proprietor of the butcher shop.
John died on
31 May 1929 at his home at 519 4th Ave in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. “John
Burbach was one of the oldest and best-known butchers of the city and one of
the founders of the Milwaukee Mens Market Association. Until a few years ago
when he retired, the deceased had a butcher shop at 2327 Lisbon Ave. for many
years and previously, for 17 years at the corner of 16th and Walnut.
On the whole he was in [iv]the
business for 46 years.”
John’s
funeral was on Monday 3 June 1929 from J H Becker and Sons funeral parlor to St
Michael’s Church, where he was a member.[v]
He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Milwaukee next to his beloved wife Stephanie who died in 1922.
[i] "Passenger
and Immigration Lists (PILI)," database on line, Gale Research Company,
ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com : online 2004), Immigration of Georg
Burbach and family; Edited by William Filby, with Mary K Meyer.
[ii] Villmar
Catholic Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Villmar),
Kirchenbuch 1632 - 1884, 16 Apr 1854, Birth and Baptism of Johan Burbach; FHL
microfilm 1272247.
[iii] Marriage, (17 September 1875), "New York,
New York City Marriage Records 1829-1940: FHL film 1543916; New York City
Municipal Archives, New York, New York.
[iv]
Milwaukee Herold, 01 June 1929, pg 2 col 7
[v]
ibid
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