Does anyone know how to find where past family members living in USA in 1892-3 area?

Question

I am trying to find where to email that could find WHERE my relatives were living SPECIFICALLY in 1892-1893 IN the USA after immigrating in about 1891 to the port of New York. They showed up in Wisconsin in 1894 but were living ELSEWHERE in the USA before that in those years.THIS must be where my dads grandpa died and is buried!!!! need help bad. My Dad is 85, cant recall anything being told about his grandpa and would love to know anything about him and we could find where they lived and this is where he must of died. His name was Hirsch Segall or Siegel... born about 1860 in Lithuania. Wife: Anna or Channe, kids: Michael or Meyer, Lieb, Liebe or Louis, Itzig or John, Samuel and sister Nellie.

Answer 1

In February, 1892 the State of New York performed its own state census (separate from the federal decennial census). It's on film and available through many libraries via interlibrary loan, the official state library in most states, the LDS, and via index at many large libraries. It would be a great place to start.

The next thing I notice is that Hirsch didn't arrive with the rest of the family. Also noteworthy is that when Channe arrived, there were only 4 kids...and one isn't mentioned in your list (Zibe). I'm also curious why you list "Lieb, Liebe or Louis". Liebe was a female. Was there a separate Louis? Anyway, with some of the kids not listed, my real question is when were they born and was it in the US? If so, I'm wondering if that's our clue. BTW, Zipe was also female, so I'm wondering if that's someone who died young and we might be able to track.

Part of serious problem in tracking them so fresh from the docks is that a) they were Russian Poles/Lithuanians, so they were dirt poor; b) they were Jewish and most of the normal genealogy methods don't apply to that group; c) they had EXTREMELY common names...and appear to have mixed and matched them; and d) we don't even know how literate they were.

Dirt poor and fresh off the boat tells me they didn't buy property for those few years. We're in all honesty probably looking at the tenements of NYC in the early months (at the very least). They weren't going to have the money to take a train out of NYC unless they already had family here sponsoring them financially. Since Hirsch didn't come over with Channe, it's possible that he was already here and working. So he could have made some money to keep them out of NYC, but it's all conjecture. When DID he arrive?

Took some snooping, but did Hirsch change his name to "Jacob" along the way? I ask because the only family in Wisconsin remotely close was this one...and it's really close...except for the "Jacobs"

Jacob Siegel Anna Superior Ward 4, Douglas, Wisconsin abt 1860 Russia White Head
Anna Siegel Jacob Superior Ward 4, Douglas, Wisconsin abt 1862 Russia White Wife
Jacob Siegel Jacob,
Anna Superior Ward 4, Douglas, Wisconsin abt 1880 Russia White Son
Mich Siegel Jacob,
Anna Superior Ward 4, Douglas, Wisconsin abt 1882 Russia White Son
Nellie Siegel Jacob,
Anna Superior Ward 4, Douglas, Wisconsin abt 1883 Russia White Daughter
John Siegel Jacob,
Anna Superior Ward 4, Douglas, Wisconsin abt 1884 Russia White Son
Louis Siegel Jacob,
Anna Superior Ward 4, Douglas, Wisconsin abt 1887 Russia White Son
Joseph Siegel Jacob,
Ward 4, Douglas, Wisconsin abt 1892 Russia White Son
Sam Siegel Superior Ward 4, Douglas, Wisconsin abt 1862 Russia White Brother

It's curious that he had a brother same Sam living with the family. When did he arrive? Did he come with Hirsch? Before? After? Just as curious is that this family was just a district or 2 away in the same city:

Aaron Siegel Etta Superior Ward 6, Douglas, Wisconsin abt 1870 Poland;Russia White Head
Etta Siegel Aaron Superior Ward 6, Douglas, Wisconsin abt 1880 New York White Wife
Sophia Siegel Aaron,
Etta Superior Ward 6, Douglas, Wisconsin abt 1899 Wisconsin White Daughter
Clias Siegel Superior Ward 6, Douglas, Wisconsin abt 1872 Poland;Russia White Brother

Also a brother living with them...

BTW, I think I answered one of my own questions from earlier. I think "Liebe" became Nellie.

It's interesting that Aaron is listed in the 1900 census as "merchant" and that Sam is "peddler". Jacob is shown as working in a furniture store. If you're anywhere near Superior or the State Library in Wisconsin, I'd pull the city directories for every year from 1892-1900 and see what these people were up to...when did they arrive, etc. One discrepancy is that every one of the Jacob/Anna family is listed as arriving in 1892 on the census, but we have records for at least half of them from the previous year. BTW, they were renting a house at 1513 5th St in Superior.

By 1910, the picture changes dramatically. If the family is living in Wisconsin, they're starting to split up and move apart:

The other good news is that none of them appears to show up on the Wisconsin Death Index from 1820-1907.

Probably the most valuable records for your purpose are the Wisconsin state censuses. They were carried out every year ending in 5 until 1905. So both 1895 and 1905 would be a huge help in figuring out where your family went and when. The nice part about most state census records is that they also ask nice questions like "how long have you lived in this state". Tells you when they actually arrived.

I'm not convinced from the records found that your "Hirsch" died before getting to Wisconsin. I think he's the Jacob, born January 1860, who shows up in the 1900 decennial census in Superior. The names are ALL too correct except for his (and you have Sam as a child, but the census has him as a brother), and the census says that "Jacob" and Anna were married for 22 years.

BTW, I'm not Jewish but I do know that the Bar Mitzvah is a huge event for Jewish males. If Louis turned 13 in 1900 and was living in Superior, would the local synagogue keep a record of that? If so, what kind of information would be in there that you might be able to use? Would the synagogue have any other records that you might find useful? Would they have death records, as well? Or maybe marriage records on Nellie?

Did your family end up staying in Superior? If not, when did they move on? I ask because immigration law was in the midst of reform when they were in Wisconsin. The laws were kind of lax before 1905, except for the one that said you needed to be in the US for 5 years before applying for Naturalization and had to live in the same town for 18 months before you could become a citizen. In 1900, Jacob, Anna and all of the kids were listed as Permanent Aliens. They weren't citizens yet. I haven't found them in 1910. But there was a huge push in 1905 for procrastinators to get their citizenship before the laws (and the records required) changed. If any of them hadn't lived in the same place for 18 months when 1905 hit, they may not have been able to apply for naturalization under the old short forms. They may have been forced to fill out the wonderful long forms that came in with the 1906 revisions. For researchers like us, those forms are manna from heaven. They list every address at which the person has lived since the date of arrival, every relative in the US, date/ship of arrival, hometown in Europe, the whole schlemiel. If you can find those records at the state archives on even one of these kids, you'll fill in many, many answers to the questions that you have.

Answer 2

I searched for their immigration records in the hopes that they might have told where they intended to go after their arrival, but it is in German and I can't read it!

Here is Channe's record. Also in this record are Meyer (9), Zipe (8), Itzig (5), and Liebe (3).

Name: Channe Segall
Departure Date: 23 Sep 1891
Estimated birth year: abt 1858
Age Year: 33
Gender: weiblich (Female)
Relationship: Frau (Wife)
Residence: Wilkomir, Russland (Russia)

Ship Name: Taormina
Captain: Koch
Shipping Line: Rob. M. Sloman & Co.
Ship Type: Dampfschiff
Accommodation: Zwischendeck
Port of Departure: Hamburg
Port of Arrival: New York

Volume: 373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 075 B

Answer 3

Both Ellis Island and Castle Garden have databases, to look for exact dates of immigration. I'd give that a try.
If you have them pinned down in 1900 census, are any of the younger children born in that time frame? If so, you might zoom in on their records to determine if they show an explicit place of birth. How about records of naturalization? Those could contain references.. maybe the name of relatives or friends that they lived with, after arrival.
This time frame is difficult for 2 reasons. Vital records (death certs) were not required in all locations. It might be good to review both NY and Wisc, for when those were enacted..and whichever states are between. The other reason is that immigrants in this era were often living in poverty to begin with, and any burial could be in a pauper's grave. This sounds horrible, but I learned that in some cemeteries, after a number of years, the plots were re sold, and used for other persons.
Finally... if you have not done so already, I strongly reccomend that you do as much as possible to identify and contact other living family members, maybe even a reunion. I am a pretty in depth researcher, but when we got one family together, family mementoes and information came out of the woodwork. That included a typed copy of a letter written during the Civil War.

Answer 4

Do you have any letters, or documents listing their names ? Anything: marriage document, bar/bat mitzvah certificate, school records; bills....Often the customs officials spelled the names of immigrants in varying ways. You might have to search each variation in spelling... have you tried the National Archives ? If they obtained American citizenship, there'd be a record of it...
keep trying ! I recently found an old friend I hadn't seen in 23 years, and another friend found her sister after not seing her for 8 years. Miracles happen! ...also, some help can be found at www.freetranslation.com .

Answer 5

Does your dad have a birth certificate? This would tell you where your dad was born, that may be a good starting point as to where your ancestors were living. You may be able to find other vital records that you can use to trace their movements.

Answer 6

Brother is my nearest kinfolk member and he lives approx. 5560 Miles away : o i'm close to Aberdeen in Scotland he's close to Chaing Mai in Thailand , , yet kinfolk clever there is in basic terms us and his spouse and a pair of toddlers left.