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Note: Catherine (Wiszniewski) Ewald is remembered by grandson Al Ewald as a short, chubby woman who was somewhat strict, but a kind person. She kept chickens and geese. Catherine appears in the 1900 census as a 63 year old living with her husband in the home of her widower son, Joseph, and his children at 233 Willis, Detroit. She gave her immigration date as 1890, the same year as her husband. She and August had been married 39 years.
New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (from Ancestry.com) Name: Catha Ewald Arrival Date: 1 May 1890 Estimated birth year: abt 1835 Age: 55 Gender: Female Port of Departure: Bremen, Germany Destination: United States of America Place of Origin: Germany Ship Name: Hermann Port of Arrival: New York Line: 9, Microfilm Serial: M237, Microfilm Roll: M237_547, List Number: 571 Port Arrival State: New York Port Arrival Country: United States
The actual ship list shows her traveling with "Aud Ewald," also age 55. His name/age and hers correspond with her date of immigration stated at the 1900 census, 1890. Her occupation is not legible; it appears to read "agfe. " Also traveling on the same ship was Al__ Wisnewsky, 26, shoemaker - related?
She appears again in the 1910 census, then 74 years old, living in the same house as son Joseph (cigar maker), his daughter Bronislawa, a "nephew" Julius (a laborer in an auto factory, he was probably Julius Weber, son of daughter Anna) and a boarder, 21 year old Anna Glombin (cigar maker). 1890 again is listed as Katherine's immigration date, consistent with the prior census. Katherine had given birth to 10 children, only 5 of whom were still alive in 1910.
In June, 1920 she and her husband were 84 years old, living at 429 Willis, Detroit. Living with them were grandsons Julius Weber and Alphonse Ewald, along with son Jacob Ewald.
Her death is recorded as "Catherine Ewalt" on page 42 of St. Josephat Church death records on 19 Jan. 1922 and burial 22 Jan. 1922 at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Detroit, MI. Her father is listed in the church record as Michael Wisniewski, mother Maria. She is buried with her husband who'd died about 15 months earlier and with several children in section 15, lot 199. Her father's name, Michael Wiszniewski, is also shown on her death certificate. That death certificate indicates her death on 15 Jan. 1922 and burial on 19 Jan. 1922, somewhat different than the church records. She died of hemiplegia, a stroke, and was resident of 1457 East Willis, Detroit at her death. Her birthplace is shown there as [sic] "Goroncin," Germany. Death certificate information was provided by Josephine Ewald, likely the wife of her son, Julius, with whom she was living at the time of her death. The undertaker was A. Chrzanowski, the same as that for her husband.
St. Albertus Church records, Detroit, list the death/burial of a Joseph Wisniewski on 6 Mar. 1900 of enteritis; could this have been a brother of Catherine's? Perhaps not; this may have been the Joseph b.@1817 in Prussia at the 1900 Detroit census, too old to have been her brother. ___________________________________________ IMMIGRATION/BIRTHPLACE RESEARCH
My working theory is that August Ewald and family were from the area of Danzig/Gdansk based on the 1918 draft registration of Otto Ewald son of Franz Ewald, grandson and son of August and Katherine respectively. Catherine's birthplace is shown on her death certificate as "Goroncin," Germany, based on information provided by Josephine Ewald, likely the wife of her son Julius, with whom she was living at the time of her death. Therefore, it's likely that the town name was incorrectly spelled, although perhaps sounded similar. The birthdate shown on the death certificate was 17 Nov. 1835.
I searched the Ludwig Ravenstein "Atlas of the German Empire" (see below for actual citation) @1883 and found a town "Gorrenczin" located at E3, map 3a, not far west of Danzig. This atlas is a digitized version of an item in the collections of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. Below is information about the hardcopy original: Author: Ravenstein, Ludwig. Title: Atlas des Deutschen Reichs / bearb. von Ludwig Ravenstein. Publisher: Leipzig : Bibliographisches Institut, 1883. Description: Book xxxv p., [14] p. of maps : col. maps ; 42 cm. Internet Links: http://www.library.wisc.edu/etext/ravenstein/ Summary: Zehn Blätter im Massstab 1:850,000, mit vollständigem Register aller auf der Karte enthaltenen Namen, nebst drei statistischen Karten der Bevölkerungsdichtigkeit, Konfessionen und Gewerbthätigkeit in Deutschland, und 16 Produktionskärtchen über Bodenkultur, Tierzucht, Nutzpflanzen und nutzbare Mineralien; mit ausführlichen statistischen Übersichtstabellen. Notes: Caption title of first map: Special-karte von Deutschland und den benachbarten Ländern, auf Grund der officiellen topographischen Karten bearb. von Ludwig Ravenstein. Scale of maps 1:850,000. For further information about this atlas see: C. E. LeGear, A list of geographical atlases in the Library of Congress, no. 8686; W. Heinsius, Allgemeines Bücher-Lexikon, v. 17, pt. 2, 1887, p. 992. Also available in digitized format under the title: Ravenstein Atlas des Deutschen Reichs. Other: Bibliographisches Institut Leipzig. OCLC: (OCoLC)05651805 Subjects: Germany--Maps. Germany--Statistics.
Location: Memorial Library Reference Desk Room 262 Call Number: GZ47 R19" _________________________________________
I subsequently found an alternative spelling of the West Prussian village name, "Gorrenschin," now Goreczyno, located in Kreis Kartuzy (then Kreis Karthaus), Gdansk, Poland. Going to the FHL online catalog, I found film numbers for Catholic Church and civil records of Gorrenschin which I ordered.
I reviewed film 0071843 and, not finding any entries for the names Ewald, Ewalt, Ejwald, etc., I searched for Wis(z)niewski birth information. On page 43, year 1833, entry #73, I found the birth of a daughter to Michael Wiszniewski and Marianna/Maryanna Cyperska born 24 Oct. 1833, baptized at/around the same time frame. The child's name was "Catharina" with "Marika" or "Monika" written above it. The original page is both faded and water-stained, making the reading extremely difficult. The godparents were Jakob Wiszniewski and Magdalena Jakasehik (sp?). I was unable to decipher any other details. I also located the baptism of four other children of this couple. It was from these entries that I was able to confirm some names and approximate spellings.
I have located the birth of several children of August Ewald & Catherina "Wischnowska" at Gdansk Matarnia where August himself was born. I have been unable to locate a marriage for Catharina in Gorrenschin church records 1855-1864.
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