I'm going to try to revive the blog finally, but this time for a different focus. For several years now I've been working on mine & Jef's family trees. I've had a great time on the journey so far and I can't wait to see who else I can meet on our branches. There is one part of my family that has me stuck. I've always known that most of my family have come from Germany. A lot of them have been in the United States long enough that I can find documents on birth, marriage, and several wars.
The person who has me the most stumped is my Great Grandfather Josef (Joseph) Geis. He was born 26 Feb 1878 in Sandberg, Germany. According to an Ellis Island record he immigrated to the United States 28 June 1893 on a ship called Havel and left from Bremen, Germany. He was 15 years old and bound for Cleveland, Ohio. Eventually he ended up in Evansville, Indiana.
The earliest record I have found of him is the 1900 Census for Johnson, Gibson County, Indiana. Josef was now spelled Joseph and he was 22 years old. He had a wife named Mary (or Maria) who was 32.
By 1910, he was remarried to Rosa Schwartz (my Great Grandmother). They has 3 children - Josephine (9 yrs), Emil (7 yrs) and Edward (2 years). Josephine & Emil's mother was Mary (Maria) and I believe she passed away in 1906. In 1904, Josef, Mary (Maria), Josephine & Emil had made a trip to Sandberg to visit family. They left the Port of Bremen and SS Cassel on 11/5/1904. They arrived in Baltimore on 11/21/1904.
Josef and Rosa were married until his death on 17 Mar 1933. They had a total of 5 children - Edward H, Herbert Elmer (my Grandfather), Marguerite Gladys, Joseph William and Matilda C.
So here are my questions...
1. Why would a 15 year old boy listed as a Farmer come to the United States by himself?
2. Why didn't his family come with him?
3. Was his family still alive?
4. Did he have brothers or sisters?
5. Did he know the Holzheimer family who was listed beneath him on the same record. I've been able to find records of that family and they are also from Sandberg, Germany.
6. What did he do from the time he arrived in 1893 until 1900 when he was in Evansville, IN?
7. How did he end up in Indiana and not Cleveland?
I'm throwing all of these questions out there to see if someone has answers.
