Today October 6th is German-American Day! From Wikipedia:
German-American Day is a holiday in the United States, observed annually on October 6. The holiday, which celebrates German American heritage, commemorates the date in 1683 when 13 German families from Krefeld near the Rhine landed in Philadelphia. These families subsequently founded Germantown, Pennsylvania, the first German settlement in the original thirteen American colonies.[1] Originally celebrated in the nineteenth century, German-American Day died out in World War I as a result of the anti-German sentiment that prevailed at the time. The holiday was revived in 1983.
Both sides of my father’s family were from Germany. His paternal grandfather Henry Karn appears to have come to America in 1882. The only ship’s passenger listed that I found a Henry (Heinrich) Karn on, is the ship Nekar arriving in New York City in June of 1882.The ship’s passenger list indicates that he is from Hesse. A quick side note Henry Karn married Pauline Heckler and settled in Delran, NJ. There first three children Harry, Emma and Anna were all baptized in Philadelphia. Harry was born in Philadelphia, so I always thought that Henry and Pauline met in Philadelphia. This afternoon in went to Ancestry.com and searched New York City records for Henry for the time period of 1885-1888 when Harry was born and I found Henry and Pauline’s marriage in 1887 in Kings (Brooklyn) NY!! I can’t wait to see the record!!
But back to my father’s genealogy and his maternal family line his mother Charlotte Meyer and her sister Irmgard were born in Dresden, Germany, Her father Herman, mother Helene, and sister Irmgard came to the US in 1912. Actually, Herman came a year earlier. Eventually, two of Helene’s sisters Frieda and Elsie came to the US, as did her parents Moritz and Christina Wendel, nee Ehnert. Charlotte’s father Herman was born in Konigswalde. While I don’t know where Helene was born, I do know her sister Frieda was born in Dresden. Her mother, Christina Ehnert Wendel was born in Olbernhau.
Konigswalde and Olbernhau are very both very close to the border with the Czech Republic, which is interesting because my DNA results show that I share DNA with several people whose parents and grandparents were born in the Czech Republic.
Both my grandmother Charlotte and her father Herman became naturalized citizens in the 1940s. While my grandmother was young enough when she arrived in America that she never had an accent, her sister Irma never lost hers!! Of all the people in my family the one who was proudest of her German ancestry was Irma’s daughter Eleanor. Eleanor always belonged to German-American clubs, while to others in the family the German ancestry was no big thing, about the only German I heard around the house was “Ach du lieber Gott” (Oh, My God!) and of course Gesundheit!
Anyway, I am proud of my German ancestry and would love some day to go to Dresden and Olbernhau and the surrounding area!! Hesse,too!! So I wish everyone a Happy German-American Day!!
