I had been frustrated in my attempts to find when my great-grandfather, Charles Doster, emigrated from Großbettlingen, Württemburg, Germany, to the United States. I had searched, fruitlessly, on a variety of criteria, including variations in the last name "Doster", anyone named "Charles" who emigrated around 1880 (give or take a couple of years), his mother's name, Catherine Doster, and the names of his siblings. I did not search for his father, Gottlob Doster, because he died before they emigrated. I had no luck at all with any of these names.
Recently, I had the idea to search for his birthdate in Ancestry.Com's Wuerttemberg, Germany Emigration Index, and found this record:
THE WUERTTEMBERG EMIGRATION INDEX: Volume Two ABBREVIATIONS OF OBERAEMTER = DISTRICT TOWNS page 87 Name: Hoerz, Carl Birth Date: 9 Jan 1868 Birth Place: Grossbettlingen District: Nuer. Application Date: Jul 1880 Destination: North America Number: 838623
The birth date and place, and date of emigration, were all correct, so I hoped I was on the right track. It dawned on me that the German form of "Charles" is "Carl", and I can't believe I didn't think of that earlier. Also, his father died when he was young, and I recalled my grandmother told me that his mother, Catherine Doster (nee Müeller), remarried to a man named John Hertz (American spelling, originally "Hörz", or "Hoerz" when the umlaut marker is not available). so I was pretty sure this was the right person, or it'd have been a whole lot of coincidences otherwise.
Searching on the entry number (838623), I found emigration records for the rest of this family, and compared the names and birth dates to those in my database:
| The Wuerttemburg Emigration Index | My Family History Database | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Date of Birth | Name | Date of Birth |
| Hoerz, Johann Georg & F | 7 Aug 1843 | Hertz, John | UNKNOWN |
| Hoerz, Anna Katharina | 22 May 1838 | Mueller, Katherine | 25 May 1838 |
| Hoerz, Marie Margaretha | 18 Aug 1864 | Doster, Margaret | UNKNOWN |
| Hoerz, Johann Daniel | 26 Feb 1865 | Doster, David | UNKNOWN |
| Hoerz, Johann Gottlob | 16 Feb 1866 | Doster, Gottlieb | ?? Feb 1866 |
| Hoerz, Carl | 9 Jan 1868 | Doster, Charles | 9 Jan 1868 |
| Hoerz, Anna Katharina | 7 Aug 1869 | Doster, Catherine | 7 Aug 1869 |
| Hoerz, Anna Maria | 12 Mar 1871 | Doster, Maria | 12 Mar 1871 |
| Hoerz, Luisa Karolina | 11 Jun 1880 | Hertz, Louisa C | ABT 1880-81 |
The children were probably listed under the stepfather's last name for convenience, even though they officially retained the surname "Doster". I suspect that the German first names "Anna", "Maria", and "Johann" were so commonly used that they were often dropped in favor of the middle name (Although Gottlieb informally went by the name "John"). Aside from David Doster, everyone matches up to a highly-probable degree. Based on what my grandmother told me, it's likely that there was a mis-transcription of the IGI data, and that "Daniel" is actually "David".
And here's some additional, corroborating evidence: I found a birth record in the IGI for Louise Caroline Hoerz, born 11 June 1880 in Großbettlingen, Schwarzwaldkreis, Württemburg, whose parents were Johann Georg Hoerz and Anna Catharina Müeller, the latter having my great-great-grandmother's maiden name.
November 21, 2005, update: The passenger manifest for the Hamburg-American Line steamship SS Gellert, under the command of Captain Kuhlewein and which arrived in the Port of New York on August 25, 1880, shows these passengers:
| No. | Name | Age | Sex | Occupation | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 266 | Joh. C. Horz | 37 | m | Mason | Württemburg |
| 267 | Cth. " | 42 | f | ||
| 268 | Margaret " | 16 | " | Children | |
| 269 | David " | 15 | m | ||
| 270 | Gottl. " | 14 | " | ||
| 271 | Carl " | 12 | " | ||
| 272 | Cth. " | 9 | f | ||
| 273 | Maria " | 9 | " | ||
| 274 | Louise " | 9 mo. | " |
Note that the name "Horz" probably should have had an umlaut over the "o", making it "Hörz" (which is often spelled "Hoerz" when the umlaut marker is not available). Also note the presence of "David" and the absence of "Daniel", which leads me to believe that my assumption about the Wuerttemberg Emigration Index information being mis-transcribed is correct.
I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track with this. If anyone agrees, or disagrees, I'd appreciate feedback.
Return to My Main Genealogy Page