My earliest
direct line ancestor to arrive in the United States was my
great-great-grandfather, Georg Burbach.
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| St Anthony Church, Oberselters, Hessen Nassau, Germany google images |
Georg was
the third child and first son born to Hubert Burbach and Catherine Schaaf on 3
August 1825 in the village of Oberselters, Hessen Nassau, Germany. He was
baptized in St Anthony Catholic Church on 7 August 1825.[1]
Shortly
after his father’s death in 1845[2],
George left Oberselters, a village his ancestors had lived in since the 1700s.
The village was a farming area and Georg had no land of his own. He traveled to
the neighboring village of Villmar which was about 13 km north of Oberselters.[3]
Villmar is larger than Oberselters and Georg hoped to find work there.
He did find
work in the cereal fields of Villmar where he met and married Catherine Caspari
on 29 April 1848 in Sts Peter and Paul Church.[4]
The young couple settled in the village and began to raise a family. Their first
child, Adam was born 5 Sep 1849,[5]
followed by Hermann born 11 Mar 1852[6]
and Johan born 15 Apr 1854.[7]
As the family grew the economy declined due to several years of crop failures.
Times looked bleak for the young family. And then Adam died 6 Dec 1854. After
his burial at Sts Peter and Paul Church[8],
Georg and Catherine decided to follow others from the area and travel to the
United States. Catherine’s parents were dead as were Georg’s parents, but
Catherine had an aunt and uncle who had traveled to the United States and
settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to farm the land.
In 1856
Georg Burbach left Villmar[9]
with Catherine and their two sons, Hermann and Johan. They were going to join
friends and family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
After
arriving in Wisconsin in July of 1856, according to naturalization records, the
family settled in the city of Milwaukee rather than looking for land to farm.
The 1860 census shows Georg to be working as a laborer, in 1863 Georg is listed
as a drover.[10]
This was at the beginning of
the Milwaukee meat processing era, during the time of Patrick Cudahy and
Phillip Armor. Perhaps Georg knew and worked for one or the other.
Although
there is reason to suspect that Georg and Catherine had other children, none
survived to be recorded in the 1860 or 1870 census returns. There are Burbach
babies buried in Calvary Cemetery but there is no indication of their parents
and there was an unrelated Burbach family living in Milwaukee at the time.
As time marched
on, Georg’s sons grew and learned the skills they would need to become
successful butchers. The Burbach Bros Butcher shop was open on Walnut Street by
the time of the 1880[11]
census and was employed there as a butcher until his death 20 July 1897.[12]
He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[13]
[1]:
Kirchenbuchduplikat 1818 - 1874, Dupilcate Church Book Baptisms 1820-1840: 7
Aug 1825 George son of Huburtus Burbach and Catheruine Schaaf, St Anthony
Catholic Church.
[2] Kirchenbuchduplikat
1818 - 1874, Dupilcate Church Book 1818-1874: 9 Aug 1845, St Anthony Catholic
Church.
[3] Google
maps
[5]St s
Peter and Paul Church Villmar, Hessen-Nassau, Prussia, Kirchenbuch 1632 - 1884,
1272247, Birth and death of Adam Burbach.
[6] Sts
Peter and Paul Church Villmar, Hessen-Nassau, Prussia, Kirchenbuch 1632 - 1884,
1632-1884, Baptism of Hermann Burbach.
[7] Sts
Peter and Paul Church Villmar, Hessen-Nassau, Prussia, Kirchenbuch 1632 - 1884,
Birth and Baptism of Johan Burbach.
[8] Sts Peter and Paul Church Villmar,
Hessen-Nassau, Prussia, Kirchenbuch 1632 - 1884, Birth and death of Adam
Burbach.
[9] :
"Die Auswanderung aus dem Herzogtum Nassau 1806-1866," immigration of
Georg Burbach and family page 141.
[10] Milwaukee
City Directory, 1863 p 38, occupation of George Burbach
[11] 1880
US census, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, population, Milwaukee, ED ED 130,
Page 69 B, , Hermann Burbach.
[12] Wisconsin
Death Records 1867-1907, FamilySearch.org, database p 465 death and occupation
of George Burbach.
[13]
ibid
