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Note: Bertha Bussmann was born in Germany and came to the United States at the age of six with her brother Frederick, age eight, and her mother, Sophia. They travelled on the Bremen brig GAZELLE, sailing from Bremen on 20 April 1851 and arriving at New York on 3 June 1851. The GAZELLE was a 2-masted, square-rigged sailing bark, launched on 21 December 1839. It was about 23 meters long, had a breadth of 7 meters, and a hold depth of about 3 meters.
After six weeks on a sailing bark, the family had to travel to Pittsburgh. They would most likely have traveled between New York and Philadelphia by train, then made connections to Pittsburgh.
The Pennsylvania Main Line of Public Works, a state-sponsored transportation system of railroads, canals, and inclined plaines connecting Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, was constructed between 1828 and 1850. In this period, a traveler to Pittsburgh would have taken a variety of conveyances at different stages of the journey, including train, canal and river boat, and stagecoach. A through journey would have been possible before the Main Line itself was entirely finished by traveling on local private carriers connecting to the completed portions of the Main Line.
A common route for immigrants from NY City where the Bussmanns entered the U.S. to points west during the 1840's was: north up the Hudson River to Albany, west across the Erie Canal to Buffalo and Lake Erie. If going to Pittsburgh, the traveler would sail to Erie, PA then take another branch of the Erie Canal to French Creek, down French Creek to the Allegheny River and down to Pittsburgh. Or, they just took the train from Erie to Pittsburgh.
Perhaps the bonds forged between the sister and brother during such a difficult journey help to explain why the family ties were so close that Frederick lived with Bertha Bussmann Bauer and her husband, Frank, from the early 1880's until the late 1890's.
At the time of the 1900 census, Bertha was listed as head of a household which included her mother, Sophia, then age 92, and daughters Stella, Clementine, and Bertha, and son Aloysius. Sophia died in 1901 but the family remained together and were living in Bellevue when the 1920 census was taken. Stella was a music teacher, Aloysius (AKA Frank A.) was a stock broker, and Clementine was a clerk in an oil office. Daughter Bertha Theresa probably stayed home and took care of her mother who, by then, was age 75. By the time of the death of Bertha Bussmann Bauer, she was living at 93 Sprague Avenue, Bellevue, Pa. with her surviving daughters.
The longevity of some members of this family was remarkable. Mother Sophia and daughter Bertha F. each endured the rigors of travel from Germany to Pittsburgh and they lived to ages 92 and 94 respectively. Bertha F.'s daughter Bertha Theresa lived to age 90.
Census records show that Bertha F. gave birth to six children and that five were living as of 1900.
Bertha's grandson Francis Gregory Bauer in the 1990's told the story that the Bussmann family came to Philadelphia, Pa. from Germany and that Bertha travelled with her mother, three brothers and one sister in a sailboat which took five weeks. It was further told that one sister died on the way over and was buried at sea. Port of New York ship passenger lists show only Sophia, Frederick and Bertha as passengers on the GAZELLE. The passenger list does not show if anyone died during passage (which was quite common during the time).
Bertha was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery, MT. Troy Rd., Pgh., Pa. on Jan. 28, 1939.
Notes: The 1900 census shows born Aug 1844; grave marker shows 1845-1939; death certificate shows date of birth as Aug. 14, 1844.
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