For the third phase of my research project, I looked into the history and genealogy of my family, the Baurichters. Some of the research tools that I used were genealogical records, census records, immigration records, obituaries, newspapers, and even interviews with family members.
I thought the best place to start would be to use the information from my oral history interviews that I conducted with my aunt Stefani, uncle Ken, and cousin Brian. Stefani and Ken had given me a little bit of family history, but my cousin Brian provided me with a lot more useful information regarding our genealogy. In addition, he had created part of a family tree and done a little research himself. One of the places that he utilized when doing his research was Old St. Joe Cemetery here in Cincinnati. A lot of our ancestors are buried there and he was able to piece together part of our family tree. Brian told me that there were a lot of Frederick Baurichters in our ancestry and that our ancestors immigrated to the US from Germany sometime in the latter part of the 19th century. One of the other great things about asking my cousin Brian about our ancestors was that he had spoken to our grandfather before he died. My grandfather was able to tell Brian about his siblings, parents, and grandparents. Unfortunately, my grandfather died before I was born so I was unable to get a firsthand interviews with him.
After talking with Brian, I began to research online using the Cincinnati Public Library's access to HeritageQuest Online™. On the website there are US census records from the 1800s and early 1900s. Starting with the most recent census available, 1920, I searched for the Baurichters. In the 1920 census record I noticed my grandfather Frederick Paul was born in 1907 and lived in Cincinnati. The record showed him as a child of Ida Baurichter, who was the head of household (HeritageQuest Online™). I was confused why Ida was listed as the head of household and not my great grandfather, Frederick II. Consulting my dad, he said that my great grandfather died in 1917, when my grandfather, Frederick Paul, was only 10 years old. I thought that was very interesting and according to the death certificate he died of "consumption," which means tuberculosis.
Going back even further I looked at the 1910 census, which showed a Frederick of age 74 and born in 1836. He was too old to be my great grandfather, but was most likely my great great grandfather, Frederick I. At this point in my research I began to realize that with all the Fredericks that it would get pretty confusing quickly. The 1910 census showed his wife Elizabeth and son Joseph, who was born in 1881. Furthermore, the 1900 census was actually easier to piece together information because it showed more of my ancestors. The census again showed Frederick I (born 1836), his wife Elizabeth, as well as Frederick II, my great grandfather born in 1875. It made sense now why Frederick II was shown in the 1900 census, but was not shown in the 1910 census, because he was deceased at that time. Other family members that were included in the 1900 census included Frederick II's daughters Bernadine (born 1867), and Anna (born 1887) as well as son, Joseph (born in 1881) (HeritageQuest Online™). Unfortunately, HeritageQuest Online™ did not have any of my ancestors on any census records prior to 1900. However, I was able to use Ancestry.com to locate an 1870 census record with part of my family identified (see Figure 1). The 1870 record only showed Frederick I again (1836) and wife Elizabeth as well as daughters Elizabeth and Dena. More importantly though, it said that Frederick I was born in Hanover, Germany and had gained US citizenship in 1860 (Ancestry.com).
I should also mention that it was kind of confusing looking at the records because there were other Baurichters living in Indiana and Wisconsin that I do not know if are related to us or not. I had to be careful when looking through the records though to locate the correct direct ancestors. Furthermore, I mentioned earlier that my cousin Brian was able to find useful information at a local cemetery. One of the people he found buried there was Herman Baurichter, born in 1805 and died 1891. Brian believes that Herman was Frederick I's father and that Herman also came from Germany about the same time that Frederick I did. In all my research, I only found one small piece about Herman Baurichter. On HeritageQuest Online™., the books section had an 1878 Cincinnati newspaper record (see Figure 2). All that the record showed was that Herman and Frederick were living together in Cincinnati. It just listed their names next to an address (Williams' Cincinnati Directory 112). So there is a good chance that Herman was the father of Frederick I and that he also emigrated from Germany.
After discovering that Frederick I was born in Germany but probably emigrated to the US around 1860, I was curious as to why he came here. Unfortunately, there was not a whole lot of resources and information available regarding this question. I looked through immigration records and ship records on multiple websites like EllisIsland.org, Castlegarden.org, and Ancestry.com, but no information could be found regarding my ancestors arriving in America. I turned my efforts to focusing on the historical context associated with Hanover, Germany in 1850s and 1860s. At first, I thought I was going to come up short and not be able to locate anything but after some researching on Google books, I was able to find a New York Times article published on July 19, 1867 (see Figure 3). The article was originally from the Columbus (Ohio) Journal, July 15 titled "Increase of German Emigration to the West." The article states "C. H Campeln, emigrant agent in this city, informs us that this increase is caused by the fact that those Germans born under the rule of Austria refuse to serve in the Prussian landwehr, or militia, from which that army is recruited" ("Increase of German Emigration"). Many Germans would prefer to emigrate than to serve in the militia and this fact is supported by the majority of emigrants are younger men. In addition, the article mentions that "the majority of these emigrants are from Prussia and Hanover." What I think is interesting is that not only were the emigrants coming from Hanover but a handful of them "settled in Columbus and vicinity" ("Increase of German Emigration"). Comparing this information to the specific situation in my family history it is definitely possible that Frederick I came to Ohio in his early 20s as a means to avoid military service. In addition, I asked my cousin Brian where he thought they settled and he heard a rumor that they came directly to Cincinnati, which further coincides with the newspaper's story.
Another book, Daily Life in Immigrant America, 1820-1870 by James Bergquist also explains why there was a wave of immigrants to the US from Hanover, Germany. Mr. Bergquist states that there were "famines and crop failures in Germany, which exposed again the long-standing problems of too many people occupying too little land" (Bergquist 9). This reason is different than the one the NY Times article gave but Mr. Bergquist does mention political unrest was also a cause. "Added to such socioeconomic disruptions was the political unrest that culminated in the Revolutions of 1848" (Bergquist 9). The political turmoil that was occurring in Germany during that time probably had some effect on emigration patterns. While we will never know for sure the specific reason for my ancestors immigration to the US, we can suspect that it is most likely a combination of the above political and economic issues.
There were a couple of resources that I utilized to research my family history and genealogy. I looked on ProQuest Obituaries and also the Biography and Genealogy Master Index in the Cincinnati Library's database. However, both of those tools did not have any useful information pertaining to this project. Lastly, I looked at some of the additional search options on the genealogical websites like Ancestry.com and HeritageQuest Online™. They also did not prove very useful.
Bergquist, James M. Daily Life in Immigrant America, 1820-1870. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 2008. Print. "Brian Baurichter." Telephone interview. 10 Apr. 2010. Genealogy, Family Trees and Family History Records Online - Ancestry.com. Web. 06 May 2010. http://www.ancestry.com. HeritageQuest Online™. Web. 06 May 2010. http://www.heritagequestonline.com. "Increase of German Emigration to the West." New York Times 19 July 1867, Miscellaneous sec. Web. "Ken Baurichter." Telephone interview. 09 Apr. 2010. "Stefani Baurichter." Telephone interview. 08 Apr. 2010. Williams' Cincinnati Directory Embracing a Full Alphabetical Record of the Names of the Inhabitants of Cincinnati, a Business Directory, Municipal Record, United States Post Office Directory, Etc., Etc., Etc. [Cincinnati]: Printed at the Cincinnati Directory Office, Williams &, Proprietors, A.V. Williams, Superintendent, 1878. Print.