52 Ancestors 2019 - Week 1 "First"

For the first week of this year’s 52 Ancestors Challenge, the prompt is first. I will begin with the first of my direct ancestors who came to the United States.

St Anthony Church Oberselters Germany
Parish Church of the Burbach family since 1732

Georg Burbach was born on 3 Aug 1825[i] to Hubertus Burbach and Catherine Schaf in the tiny village of Oberselters, Hessen-Nassau. He was the third child and first son. His baptism took place on 7 Aug 1825[ii] at the Church of St Anthony in Oberselters. Although his family had lived in Oberselters for over one hundred years[iii], Georg would be forced to leave his home to find employment, At that time in Hessen-Nassau, only the oldest son could inherit the land and while Georg was the oldest son, his father was not.

Georg traveled to the village of Villmar, 12 kilometers[iv] from Oberselters. Where he found work on the farms which raised cereal grains. Even today the region is known as “The Golden Triangle” due to its fertile soil and favorable weather for growing crops.[v]

Georg met and married Catherine Caspari in Villmar. They were married 29 April 1849 I the Villmar Catholic Church of Sts[vi] Peter and Paul.

Their first son Adam was born on 5 Sep 1849 and baptized on 8 Sept 1849 in Saints Peter and Paul Church. His Godparents were Adam and Dorthea Caspari of Villmar and Peter Kreppel of Oberselters.[vii] Adam would live only five years before his death on 6 Dec 1854. He is buried in the cemetery at Saints Peter and Paul.[viii]

Son Hermann was born 11 Mar 1852 followed by another son, Johan on 15 April 1854.[ix]

The worsening economic conditions in Germany combined with the death of their son probably contributed to Georg and Catherine’s decision to emigrate to America, Catherine’s Aunt and Uncle had immigrated to Milwaukee County, Wisconsin and wrote home with positive statements about their successful farming endeavor there.

Mary Ogden Cliipper Ship
google images

On 7 March 1856 the little family received permission from the government to leave for America.[x] And so began their journey to Wisconsin. After many months traveling by land and sea they reached New York on 28 Jul 1856 having left Le Havre, France on the Mary Ogden.[xi]

More travel by railroad and river boats was ahead of them before they would reach the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin but, eventually they would reach their destination.

According to the 1860 census Georg was a laborer living in  the 9^th Ward of the city with his wife and two sons.[xii] In 1863  Georg had become a “Drover” or cattle herder, and living on Walnut and 20^th. He was 38 years old and had already become a cattleman.[xiii] By 1879 he was a cattle broker. His sons Hermann and John had begun their own work lives as a lithographer and store clerk respectively.

As the years passed the family grew more prosperous and working hard Georg’s sons opened a Butcher Shop in the mid 1870s. From then until his death in 1897 he worked with his sons as a butcher.

Georg Burbach died 20 July 1897 and was buried In Calvary Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[xiv]

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[i]  Kirchenbuchduplikat 1818 - 1874, Dupilcate Church Book Baptisms 1820-1840: 7 Aug 1825 George son of Huburtus Burbach and Catheruine Schaaf, St Anthony Catholic Church, Oberselters, Hessen-Nassau, Germany

[ii] ibid

[iii] ibid

[iv] Google maps

[v] Wikipedia

[vi] Villmar Catholic Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Villmar). Kirchenbuch 1632 - 1884. Diocese of Limburg Archives, Limburg, Hessen-Nassau, Germany. FHL microfilm 1272247. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[vii]  Villmar Catholic Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Villmar). Kirchenbuch 1632 - 1884. Diocese of Limburg Archives, Limburg, Hessen-Nassau, Germany. FHL microfilm 1272247. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[viii] ibid

[ix] ibid

[x] Struck Wolf-Heino (Main Author), Die Auswanderung aus dem Herzogtum Nassau (1806-1866) : ein Kapitel der modernen politischen und sozialen Entwicklung: Emigration from the Duchy of Nassau, Germany 1806-1866. (Wiesbaden, Germany : Franz Steiner, c1966: Franz Steiner, 1966), ; FHL microfilm FHL microfiche # 6001623.

[xi] Year: 1856; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 164; Line: 21; List Number: 676Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

[xii] 1860 U S Federal Census, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, (9th Ward, City of Milwaukee); page 801, M653_1423; Page: 801; Image: 407;, LDS film 805423, M653_1423, online database ancestry.com, 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d..

[xiii] Milwaukee City Directory (Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin:n.p.n.d.), page 38, George Burbach and family; digital image, ancestry,com (https://www.fold3.com/image/255348646 : accessed 8 March 2016).

[xiv]  Wisconsin Death Records 1867-1907 Wisconsin State Historical Society, FamilySearch.org, database (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XLCC-XS8 : online 11 March 1897), p 465 place of burial.