Castle Garden

In my recent post on the Nicklas and Schmidt families, I mentioned the former, pre-Ellis Island immigration center in New York City, Castle Garden. Castle Garden, or what remains of it, is located at Battery Park, the southern tip of Manhattan. As it turns out, a last minute trip to New York this week allowed me to stop by for a visit!

Lady Liberty as seen from Battery Park.

Joe and I both have ancestors who entered the US by way of the Castle Garden Immigration Center. I'm actually surprised that Castle Garden isn't as popular or well known as Ellis Island. I had far more ancestors enter New York in the 19th century than I did in the 20th, which makes Castle Garden a more significant site for my family.

Present Day

Castle Garden Immigration Center

Now known as Castle Clinton, the building has undergone several renovations and has had many functions (originally a fort, and it once served as an aquarium!) over the years. Now it is basically the facade that remains, but it serves as the host to open air concerts in the summer. There is a small museum and a Park Rangers Office also located within the remains of the building. Unfortunately, I arrived too late in the day to visit the museum or hear the guided history tour. I did however enjoy walking around, seeing that first glance of New York as my ancestors would've, and taking in the great views at Battery Park (both of the skyline and the harbor with Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty).

The exterior of Castle Clinton.

The ticket office for Ellis island is located inside of Castle Clinton, which means most families probably race through it, pick up their tickets, and head to the docks without realizing where they are standing! It surely is not as impressive a sight as Ellis Island, and it doesn't take long to go through all the historical offerings, but Castle Clinton is a worthwhile tourist spot. My only recommendation? Go in the summer, when it'll be warm and you'll have a better chance of catching the concert series. Also, there is a seasonal restaurant there in Battery Park that offers great views of the Harbor. 

The first view of New York City, as seen through the doors of Castle Garden.

All in all, a great way to start my trip! I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

"We're all in the same boat": The Schmidt & Nicklas Families' US Arrival (Dawley Side)

For this discussion, it is useful to have a more detailed explanation of the family line.

Elaine Dawley's maternal grandparents were Frederick and Emma Nicklas. They were both the children of immigrants, and the first to be born in the United States (in Hadley, MI).

Frederick's parents were Johann (John) and Wilhelmina (Mina) Nicklas, and his paternal grandparents were Johann (Joachim) and Maria Nicklas.  Emma's parents were Frederick and Sophia Schmidt, and her paternal grandparents were Heinr and Sophia Schimidt. All of these people immigrated to the United States aboard the Elida. The two families both hailed from the Mecklinberg area, though the ship departed from Hamburg, Germany. It arrived at Castle Garden (the first immigration center in New York, prior to the opening of Ellis Island) on June 3, 1856. The ship record lists "labourer" under occupation for all of the men in the family.

Though it was not uncommon for immigrants who traveled together to also settle together in one area, I still found it exciting to see all of these family names on one document! Here's a picture of part of the Elida passenger list. Can you spot some family names?

Snapshot of the Elida passenger list.

The gang continued on to Hadley, where Emma and Frederick were born, raised, and married!

I love tracing family lines backwards, but I also love seeing them all come together in one little town. How many people nowadays have one starting point for genealogy research? From Germany, France, Northern Ireland, England, the Isle of Man, and colonial America, everyone found their way to Michigan, and eventually to the little town of Ortonville. This big world is a small one after all!

WHERE TO GO:
The Battery Conservancy (former location of Castle Garden), New York City
http://www.thebattery.org/
For more information on early immigration, visit castlegarden.org.

The Emigration Museum in Hamburg, Germany

The Emigration Museum in Hamburg.

FAMILY LINE @ A GLANCE: Dawley-->Nicklas/ Dawley-->Nicklas-->Smith/Schmidt

The Gerow/Giraud Line (Cross Side)

(Thanks to cousin Kris for sharing this family tree information!).

Doesn’t everyone long to be a little French, after all? If you’ve ever caught yourself scarfing down baguettes or admiring your own chicness (as my French host mother often would), it may not be your fault. It could be your genes.

As a former French teacher, this bit of family history particularly excites me. I knew I had some ties to France on both sides of my family, but with all immediate family surnames pointing so squarely at the UK, I never had much inspiration to dig deeper. However, since beginning my family history research over a year ago, I’ve found we are all a little more French than I’d thought!

Alice Cross Noble’s maternal grandmother was Minnie Gerow. Her surname, like many, became distanced from its original form in the United States (immigration has a way of doing that, it seems). The French surname Giraud (“au” makes an “o” sound in French and the final consonant is typically silent, hence Gerow) was associated with great political and economic influence in medieval France, with the family seat located in Languedoc.  

Our Gerow ancestors have been in North America since the 1600s, settling first in New York and later in Eastern Canada (New Brunswick and Prince Edward Co.- not to be confused with the island). Our immigrant ancestor was Daniel Giraud, born 1664 in Poitiers, France. Poitiers is known for two famous battles: one leaving Charles Martel victorious in 732, and another a key victory for the English during the Hundred Years’ War. During the 17th century, many left Poitiers for the French settlements in the New World. As a result many Acadians and Cajuns (I could go on about this- it was one of my final paper topics in grad school!) trace their ancestry back to Poitiers or other areas in Northwestern France.

It is worth noting that the Gerow family were Huguenots- French Protestants. This explains why our group went first to New York, as there was a large Huguenot population living there at the time. Apparently our Huguenot ancestors traveled with friends, and Daniel was one of the first settlers of New Platz, NY. You can find records of our Gerow ancestors at the Huguenot Historical Society, located (conveniently on Historic Huguenot Street) in New Paltz, approximately an hour and a half north of the city.

Still, the line does jump to Canada before finally descending into Michigan!  Our first Michigan settler, Freeman, was born in Prince Edward County (what was then Sophiasburg Township) and settled in Linden Township, MI. Interestingly, Freeman’s father died when he was very young, and he was raised by his mother and her family, the Christy family, who were Quakers!

WHERE TO GO:

Historic Huguenot Street in New Platz, NY. Click here for a link to their website and a blurb about the Gerow family.

Historic Sophiasburg Township in Prince Edward County, Ontario. Click here for the Prince Edward County Historical Society blog.

FAMILY LINE @ A GLANCE: Cross-->Warden-->Gerow