A Clue! A Clue?: The Quest for Michael Stumpf Continues

In a previous blog post I located multiple pieces of potential evidence for my great-great-grandfather Michael Stumpf, who left Austria-Hungary to go to the U.S. in 1907 and whose fate is unknown.  It turns out there are a lot of Michael Stumpfs running around the early 1900s in northeast U.S! I eliminated evidence as belonging to different Michael Stumpfs, leaving only one potential clue: the 1910 North Tonawanda, Niagara County, New York census. 

I have been unsuccessful finding anything for him until...

A European Incoming Passenger List

While attending a genealogy meeting [1] with Kate Townsend presenting "Follow the Records and See Where They Go!" I became aware of a dataset called "UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960" in Ancestry.  Not expecting anything, I checked for Michael Stumpf and was rewarded with an entry!

Fig. 1. Screen grab of Ancestry's entry for Mihaele Stumpf in "U.K. and Ireland Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1920"

Here's the info:

• Ship Victorian of the Canadian Pacific Ocean Services Ltd. Steamship Line 
• Departed from St. John, New Brunswick, Canada
• Arrived in Liverpool, England on 3 Jan 1921
• Mihaele Stumpf in transit to Hungary
• Labourer / age 58 (est birth 1863) / citizen of Hungary / last permanent residence in U.S.A.
• There's a number 2 on the list after the "In Transit to Budapest, Hungary" tick marks. Does this mean anything or just a stray keystroke?

This could be my Michael.  There isn't any other data to distinguish him from other Hungarian Michael Stumpfs and since he is traveling alone, family members weren't there to be clues.  

Also on ship continuing on to Budapest is Gyorgy Surnyak, from Battonya who went to US in 1905.  Researching him did not yield any clues to Michael.

I checked the U.S. to Canada Border Crossing dataset in Ancestry, and did not find Michael there.  There's no departing passenger data on the Canadian side. There are no records for train travel in Europe or from the U.K.  I checked for newspapers in Liverpool and in St. John, New Brunswick, but didn't find any clues.

If Michael returned to Hungary in 1921, that means he:

• Spent 1907 to 1920 in the U.S., possibly including April 1910 in North Tonawanda, NY when he was unemployed.
• Spent WWI 1914 to 1919 in the U.S.
• Probably stuck because of the war
• That's 13 years.  Where was he?!!

Frustration Continues

Not quite ready to call this a success.  I'm not sure what evidence I would need to confirm it, but if I find him back in Hungary after 1921, that's a good sign it is him.

P.S. Death Notice for Michael Stumpf's Wife, Theresia Ritter! 

Someone on one of the Banat/Donauschwaben mailing lists shared about a digital archive Bibliothek des Digitalen Forums Mittel- und Osteuropa.  They have digitized and made searchable newspapers among other things. There I found the death notice for Therese Ritter in the Temesvarer Zeitung on 01 Aug 1923! [2]  It is in German:

In der Vorstadt Josefstadt ist in einer Waggonwohnung am Bahnhofe die Witwe Michael Stumpf geb. Therese Ritter im Alter von 65 Jahren gestorben.

[In the Josefstadt district, in a wagon apartment at the train station, the widow of Michael Stumpf, née Therese Ritter, 65 years of age, has died.]

A summary of the details: 

• Therese Ritter, widow of Michael Stumpf
• died on 1 Aug 1923, or maybe 31 or 30 Jul 1923?, in the Josefstadt neighborhood of Timisoara
• She lived/died in a train car apartment at the train station
• She was Roman Catholic

I didn't even know she had lived in Timisoara. Waggonwohnung am Bahnhofe is an old train carriage used as apartments.  And, a clue about Michael; he had died before Aug 1923.  ...Or, he never returned to Theresia and was assumed deceased.

Footnotes

[1] I encourage the attendance of genealogy meetings. Join your local society and attend the meetings.  You never know when you'll learn about a key resource, a new tool or technique, or just get some inspiration. Attending or watching online meetings or lectures is good too.

[2] "Todesfälle." Temesvarer Zeitung. 1 August 1923. Das Digitale Forum Mittel- und Osteuropa (DiFMOE). difmoe.eu : 2023.

Update to the Brick Wall of Johann Stumpf

I busted a brick wall!!

Background

In my third blog post, "This Side of the Brick Wall of Johann Stumpf," I lay out my journey to the brick wall of who are Johann Stumpf's parents.  I list my sources of information and what they tell me and lament the missing records that could solve my mystery.  I conclude with my best guess as to who are the parents of Johann Stumpf.

New Access to Archival Records

Snippet of map used to navigate to villages and their archive holdings in the Presentation of Church Register of the Archives of Vojvodina. Displayed in Cyrillic Serbian, lower left is Zrenjanin (Großbetschkerek); Klek is to the northeast, then Ravni Topolovac (Kathreinfeld) and Žitište (St. Georgen am Bega).

The Archives of Vojvodina has digitized the church books of the Vojvodina region, including Serbian Banat, and made them available online in their Presentation of Church Registers web portal.  You need to register to use the site and search the images, but it’s free to do so.  Also, currently, it is necessary to use their Cyrillic Serbian version, but Google Translate will put the page into English.  Oh, and I needed to turn off my touch screen capabilities in order to zoom in on the images.  The gap years still exist, but I am able to view all the pages myself and can gather all the Stumpf entries for my Database of Stumpfs in Kathreinfeld and Klek in the Banat.

Method for my Madness

In order to add Stumpf individuals to my RootsMagic database from St. Georgen, I went through all the Catholic church books available for the village, first the marriages, then the baptisms, then the deaths.  The years available for this village were roughly 1862 to 1895, with 1868-1869 and 1874-1880 missing.  I kept notes in Microsoft’s OneNote note taking program for each year I searched and the result.  I was able to construct a few families, add missing children, and connect children I had with their parents in my database.  I was also able to find the parents for Michael Rager who made an appearance in Benjamin Moore's book The Names of John Gergen (see post "A Book Review, Mike Rager & St. Louis Stumpfs").  I was pleased with myself and better understood how to navigate the website and the church books.

Getting Results

Then I moved on to Klek.  But instead of starting at 1850 and going through the books like I did for St. Georgen, I jumped to 1862 to see what was there.  I am looking for my Michael Stumpf, the son of Johann Stumpf and Katharina Hoffman, who was born around 1862 or 1863 as well as his parent’s marriage.  Katharina was from Klek, and Michael was born in Klek, but Johann is from Kathreinfeld as are Michael’s siblings, so the family settled there.  I have had researchers in Serbia look at the books a few years ago and they didn’t find him.  The solution was that Johann and Katharina must have been married and Michael born in Klek in the 1858-1861 gap years in which the church books are missing.

Well, I found no marriage in Klek for the couple in 1862 or 1863.  Jumping over to the baptisms - lo and behold, I find Michael, illegitimate son of Catharina Hoffman, born in 1863!  There he is right there!

Katharina and Johann weren’t married yet when Michael was born!!  Well, that explains why he wasn't found as the son of Johann Stumpf.

Now I’m excited and no way am I waiting.  I jump over to the Kathreinfeld church books, go to the marriage book for 1863, and bam! There they are.  And their parents are listed!!  Oh happy day!

So who are the parents of Johann Stumpf and Katarina Hoffman?  I made guesses, I looked at the families available and the known Johanns and Katarinas in the villages to puzzle out which ones were mine. 

But no, Johann’s parents listed in the marriage entry didn't make sense.  There was another Johann who married a Katharina Jenisch (another Katharina), who goes with these parents.  Could they have been two Johanns from that family? One after the other, or twins?  No, that doesn’t make sense.  I go to the marriage of the other Johann in the church book in the following year and find out he has been assigned to the wrong family in the Kathreinfeld family book!  Johann Stumpf who married Katharina Jenisch is the son of Johann Stumpf and Anna Maria Putz.

So there we have it.  My Johann is the son of Michael Stumpf and Margaretha Kollinger!  So now I can  track our exact lineage back to Melchior Stumpf who came to the Banat with his brother Jakob in 1764, and who came from Dörlesberg in Baden!

Katharina Hoffman is the daughter of Johann Hoffman and Marianna Salmon.  I thought this might be the right family for her out of the 3 eligible Katharina Hoffmans in Klek who were about the right age.  She's listed in the Lazarfeld & Klek family book [1] in her parents' family with some siblings, but the parents' parents weren't listed.  Here is my final note as I was puzzling it out: 

This is also probably the right Katharina because no decent info is given on the parents.  She'd fit right in.  :/

What's next?

I worked with limited scraps of information to puzzle out Michael's parents for 12 years, and then 5 more years for Johann's parents!  Seventeen years!? To paraphrase Inigo Montoya [2], I've been in the research business so long, now that it's over, I don't know what to do with the rest of my life. 

Well, maybe that's an exaggeration.

My RootsMagic Stumpf database is updated, straightening out the Johanns.  I'm committed to getting the Stumpf families all sorted.  Next steps are to go through the archive's records for Klek and Kathreinfeld, scouring them for Stumpf entries.  I'll note the corrections on the CompGen wiki page for corrections to the Kathreinfeld family book as appropriate, especially the families of the two Johanns.  I'll update my Stumpfs of Kathreinfeld and Klek online database as well and perhaps some of my blog posts.

My remaining big mystery is: when and where did their son, Michael Stumpf, die? Oh, and where was he when he was in the U.S. from 1907 until either he died or returned to Europe?

Footnotes:

[1] Kühn, Josef. Familienbuch der katholischen Pfarrgemeinde Lazarfeld im Banat : und ihrer Filialen Klel (KkL.) und Jankahid (Jhd.): 1800-1834/1852. Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany: Josef Kühn und Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Veröffentlichung Banater Familienbücher, 2004.

[2] Inigo Montoya is a character in The Princess Bride. If you didn't know this, please watch the movie, it's a classic.

Franz, His Son Franz, and Another Franz: Untangling Some Franzes

Besides outright missing information, in the process of gathering all the Stumpfs I can find in the Zrenjanin area, I also come across conflicting information. People becoming tangled up with each other usually because of a shared name and lack of information.

Here’s a case study on untangling some information and errors across several family books. I am by no means being critical of the authors of the family books. The records available and the clues they have to work with must result in a frustrating and nearly impossible job. I treat the family books as a presentation of the best that could be determined at the time the information was being collated and organized. Sometimes, probably always, better information comes to light later after the book has been published. 

Meet the Franzes 

There is some confusion with several Franz Stumpfs. I will number them out and describe them so we can try to sort them out. Their names appear in the records as Franz, Franciscus, and Ferencz, but I will be referring to them as Franz. 

Figure 1. List of Franz Stumpfs in Trish's "Stumpf of Kathreinfeld and Klek in the Banat" database. Numbering will identify the Franzes for this discussion. Red dots are the ones that have overlapping/conflicting information about them. 

These Franzes have mixed up information in the family books: 

Franz #1 

• unknown birthdate and birth place;
• unknown parents; 
• married Eva Klein and had lots of kids together;
• second marriage to Magdalena Brax (see discussion below);
• unknown death date. 
• He was mentioned in "Brick Walls and Loose Branches: Stumpf Men with Unknown Parentage."

Franz #2 

• born 12 Oct 1843 in Kathreinfeld; 
• the son of Franz #1 and Eva Klein. 
• His adult life is unknown, 
• although he was likely a witness to his father's second marriage 
• (see discussion below). 

Franz #3 

• born 12 Nov 1843 in Kathreinfeld; 
• son of Michael Stumpf and Margaretha Kollinger; 
• married Elisabeth Scheidnast;
• died in 1917 according to Grossbetschkerek family book (see discussion below).

These are some other Franzes: 

Franz #4 

• born in 1822 in Kathreinfeld;
• the son of Peter Stumpf and Anna Maria Neurohr;
• he married Margaretha Geser in 1842 
• had a bunch of kids at the same time as Franz #1. 
• unknown death date;
• was also in Kathreinfeld;
• definitely a different person than Franz #1.
• He doesn’t have any mysteries and everything seems in order. 

Franz #5 

• his birth is guess-timated at 1848; 
• has unknown parents; 
• married Anna Rein; 
• had kids in Kathreinfeld; 
• he died in Kathreinfeld in 1923. 
• He was also mentioned in "Brick Walls and Loose Branches: Stumpf Men with Unknown Parentage." 

I won’t discuss the other unnumbered Franzes in the list (Figure 1), because they are all connected to their families and everything seems in order. 

Which Franz was this? 

These are two facts that are attributed to more than one Franz: 

• One Franz married Magdalena Brax/Prax
• One Franz died in 1917 in Kathreinfeld

From the Mixed-up Family Groups of the Family Books 

The Kathreinfeld Family Book (Queiser)

Franz #1 definitely married Eva Klein and had at least nine children together, but probably more. Franz #1 and Eva Klein’s birth, parents, and marriage details are unknown. Their first child is named Franz (Franz #2 in this discussion) who was born in 1843, and according to this listing, died in 1917 in Kathreinfeld. Eva Klein and their ninth child, Jakob, died in October 1868 in Kathreinfeld after his birth. 

Figure 2. Queiser’s Kathreinfeld family book. 

What’s kind of interesting about this entry is that for this book, only births up to 1841 were available, but here we have births from 1843 to 1859. Usually only children who died were known about for this time period, which is probably how Jakob is known. Also, marriages were available, yet no marriage was entered, so perhaps the couple married elsewhere. There is a gap between Anton, born 1859, and Jakob, born 1868. There are likely a few more kids in these intervening nine years.

Bonus: A Question about Eva Klein

One thing that bugged me about this entry, though, is that Eva Klein's estimated birth is 1832, yet her first son was born in 1843. Surely, she was not 11 years old. This made me question whether Eva was really the wife of Franz #1.

The estimated birth year is from her death record, which claims she was 36 years old when she died in 1868. Most certainly, her age was misrepresented at the time of her death. Her birth year would be better guess-timated as 1823, if she is indeed Franz #2's mother, which I am not questioning.

Figure 3. Eva Klein's death entry. (Római Katólikus Egyház [Roman Catholic Church] (Katalinfalva), FHL Film 1190308, digital image no. 607)

The Deutsch Elemer Family Book (Leitl & Müller)

Figure 4. Deutsch Elemer family book by Leitl & Müller

The Deutsch Elemer family book, shows Franz #1 and Eva Klein's daughter Barbara died in 1875 at the age of 10. Although this daughter Barbara is not listed in the Kathreinfeld family book, there is a gap in that family group from 1859 to 1868. She likely fits in this gap with a birth around 1865.

This entry also lists Franz #1 re-married in 1870 to the widow Magdalena Brax. Given Magdalena Brax’s birthdate, everything looks in order. Franz #1’s estimated birth year should be earlier than the 1842 guess in this entry. I would guess closer to 1822.

Also note, a witness to the marriage is Franciscus Stumpf, most likely his son, Franz #2. 

So far, so good, right? 

Some Confusion from the Grossbeschkerek Family Book with Ms. Brax 

Figure 5. Franz #3 in the Grossbetschkerek family book (Leitl & Müller), page 1964.

This listing for Franciscus Stumpf in the Grossbetschkerek family book is for Franz #3 and his family. His parents and birthdate are listed correctly and he has a death date of 1917, very similar to Franz #2's death date in the Katreinfeld family book (Figure 2). 

Here he is listed with a first wife of Magdalena Prax. This most definitely the Magdalena Brax who married Franz #1 in Deutch Elemer in 1870. Ms. Brax shouldn’t be listed here with Franz #3. 

Franz #3 married Elisabeth Schettneisz/Scheidnast in 1876 in Grossbetschkerek and they had some kids in Kathreinfeld. 

Which Franz died in 1917 in Kathreinfeld?

Figure 6. Franz #3 in the Kathreinfeld family book (Egert)

The Kathreinfeld family book entry (Figure 2) shows Franz #2 with a death date of 17 Feb 1917 in Kathreinfeld. The Grossbetschkerek family book (Figure 5) and the Kathreinfeld family book (Figure 6) shows Franz #3 with a death date of 17 Dec 1917 in Kathreinfeld.

Let’s see if we can determine which one this actually is! 

Checking the church records for Kathreinfeld for 1917:

• it was actually Franz #3 who died in 17 Dec 1917, correctly stated in the Grossbetschkerek and Egert's family books
• there is no death entry for 17 February 1917, 
• so that was probably a typo along with attributing it to the wrong Franz. 
• To further add to the ease of confusion, both Franz #2 and Franz #3 were both born a few months apart in 1843, so the same age.
• Queiser wouldn't have had access to Franz #3's marriage record in Grossbetschkerek, so he wouldn't know which Franz had married Elisabeth.

Figure 7. Kathreinfeld church book entry for death of Franz Stumpf, husband of Elisabeth Scheidnast.
(Heiligen Antonius von Padua [St. Anthony of Padua] Catholic Church)

(I should say for some reason, I started out thinking the dates were the same and therefore one was attributed to the wrong Franz, but later realized the dates were for February and December. My confusion actually paid off though.)

Could Franz #2 be Franz #4? 

It is assumed that Franz #2 was the witness to his father Franz #1’s marriage in 1870. But what happened to him? We also have Franz #5, who is married to Anna Rein and had some kids in Kathreinfeld, but his parents are unknown. His birth is guess-timated at 1848 and he died in Kathreinfeld in 1923. Franz #2 with a birthdate of 1843 is not out of the question to be Franz #5. 

Figure 8. Kathreinfeld family book (Egert), p. 272.

Two of their children not listed here were found in the Sarscha church books. Lorenz, born 1876, married Anna Vidt. Katalin, born 1880, married Mathias Kichler. Franz #4 and Anna Rein very likely have other children born before that. 

Given that 1843 is at the beginning of the "gap-iness" of records, and Franz #4 and Anna's marriage and all their children's baptisms all happened in those locked up gap years, a search of the church records in the archives in Zrenjanin would be needed to find absolute proof of Franz #4's parentage. Without that, I don't feel confident that I can assert Franz #2 and Franz #4 are absolutely the same person. I also might be missing other potential candidates. But, there are no other working hypotheses at this time.

Closing 

I hope this was mildly interesting as a case study, even if you don't descend from any of these Franzes. I don't. They were just bugging me by messing up my database. 

And of course if you, dear reader, have information to add to the puzzle, please let me know.

Sources Used:

Egert, Roswitha, compiler. Familienbuch der katholischen pfarrgemeinde Kathreinfeld im Banat: 1893/1895/1915-1947 (Teil 2). Villingen-Schwennigen: Herausgegeben von der Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Veröffentlichung Banater Familienbücher (AVBF), 2006.

Heiligen Antonius von Padua [St. Anthony of Padua] Catholic Church (Kathreinfeld, Torontal, Austria-Hungary). "Church Books." Historic Archive Of Zrenjanin, Zrenjanin, Serbia.

Leitl, Marco and Rudolph Müller. Familienbuch der katholischen Pfarrgemeinde Deutsch-Elemer im Banat sowie ihrer Filialen: 1790-1944. N.p.: Norderstedt: Books on Demand, 2007.

Leitl, Marco and Rudolph Müller, compilers. Familienbuch der katholischen pfarrgemeinde der stadt Gross Betschkerek im Banat: 1753-1945. 2 volumes. Munich: M. Leitl, 2016.

Queiser, Josef, compiler. Familienbuch der katholischen Pfarrgemeinde Kathreinfeld-St. Georgen a/Bega (und ihrer Filialen): im jugoslawischen Banat 1795-1841/1873. Sindelfingen, Germany: Arbeitskreis Donauschwäbischer Familienforscher (AKdFF), 1997.

Római Katólikus Egyház [Roman Catholic Church] (Katalinfalva, Torontál, Hungary). Anyakönyvek [Church Books], 1795-1873. Digitized Microfilm. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, http:/familysearch.org : 2017.

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Brick Walls and Loose Branches: Stumpf Men with Unknown Parentage

This post and the last post are lists of Stumpf boys and men who have brick walls.

Mixing Metaphors

In the previous post, I listed several Stumpf boys who disappear from the records.  I don’t know what happened to them.  They are on the other side of the brick wall, meaning coming forward in time they disappear.

This blog addresses this side of the brick wall, going back in time and hitting a wall.  Mixing metaphors, I have a list of unconnected branches that I don't have enough information to graft them onto the main Stumpf family tree. 

Graphic on how to graft a branch onto a tree.  Looks easy enough.
From www.wikigreen.org via Eric Blazek

Note: In this list, I skipped all the women with unknown parents: the unmarried Stumpf mothers who had children that got the Stumpf name and families with Stumpf mothers with other surnames.

Here is a partial list of Stumpf men, sorted by village and estimated date of birth.  

When estimating date of birth with known birthdate of child, I assumed only the man was at least 18, so my estimations are the earliest he would be born.  He could easily be 5 years older than my estimate and maybe up to 20 years older.

Many are husbands and fathers, one joined the military, and two completed WWI draft registration cards in the U.S.  Do any of these match up with the boys from the other list?  Maybe one.

Kathreinfeld

Franz Stumpf married to Eva Klein

• Their first kid was born in 1843 in Kathreinfeld puts an estimate of him being born before 1825.
• Franz will be the topic of a future post.

Franz married to Anna Rein

• He was born about 1848 in Kathreinfeld; their first known kid was born in 1876 in Kathreinfeld.
• This Franz will also be mentioned in a future post.

My Johann married to Katharina Hoffmann

• He was born in Kathreinfeld, estimated in 1838 based on age at death; his wife was born in Klek; their children were born in Kathreinfeld and maybe the first one in Klek.
• I wonder if this is the son of Johann [Michael] and  Anna Maria Putz born in Kathreinfeld in 1841.
• The church books have been searched for their marriage and has not been found.  The prevailing theory currently is that the marriage happened in the years of missing records in Klek, the dreaded Gap Years.

Jakob

• He was born about 1843 in Kathreinfeld and joined the 29th Infantry Regiment in 1864.
• 1843 is just as the Gap Years are starting.

Johann married to Theresia Krieger

• Their two kids were born and died young in Kathreinfeld, the first in 1863.  This puts an estimate of him being born before 1845.

Jakob married to Anna Meckl

• He was born about 1852 in Kathreinfeld; their first kids were born in Kathreinfeld.

Michael married to Anna Budo

• He was born about 1856 in Kathreinfeld and died in 1937.  
• There is a big mausoleum in Kathreinfeld cemetery with their names on the entryway.  It is about the only thing you can see in the Kathreinfeld old cemetery because it was so overgrown.  When we visited in 2009, there was path to the entrance.  The coffins appeared to have been opened and vandalized - or junk was thrown in the mausoleum.

The Michael Stumpf & Anna Budo Mausoleum
in Kathreinfeld in 2009.  Note the horrible overgrowth!
Photo by Trish Stumpf Garcia.

Johann married to Margaretha

• His son Peter was born in 1883 and died in 1886 in Kathreinfeld.  This puts an estimate of Johann being born before 1865.

Klek

Nikolaus married to Anna Holz

• He was born about 1862 in Klek.

Johann married to Juliana Podvin

• He was born in Klek; his wife and kids were born in Großbetschkerek.  Juliana was born in 1872, so he is likely this age or older.

Caspar married to Eva Kolleth

• He was born in Klek and married in Belgrade in 1925; their kids were born in Großbetschkerek. His wife was born in 1903, so he is likely this age or older.
• To-do List: look for Belgrade 1925 marriages.  
• FamilySearch only has records for the Armenian Apostolic Church in this timeframe.
• MyHeritage doesn't have Serbian records.
• Ancestry doesn't have needed Serbian records.
• Ok, scratch that.  It looks like this would be an archives search.

St. Georgen

Nikolaus married to Katharina Klaszki

• His son Ladislaus was born about 1889 in St. Georgen puts an estimate of him being born before 1871.

Johann, Michael married to Katalin, and Julianna married to Bernad Bichler (siblings)

• Michael born about 1878 in St. Georgen and immigrated to the US in 1909. 
• The siblings, Johann and Julianna also seem to have also immigrated to the US.

Stefansfeld

Martin married to Maria Anna

• His son Nikolaus was born in Stefansfeld in 1853.  That would put Martin at being born before 1835.

Nikolaus married to Margaretha Merle

• Their first child born in 1879 in Stefansfeld puts an estimate of him being born before 1861.

Nikolaus married to Margaretha Schirmann

• They married in Stefansfeld; their kids were born in Stefansfeld starting in 1874.

John 

• He was born 15 Mar 1887 in Stefansfeld and immigrated to the US.  He completed a WWI draft registration card in Chicago.

Josef

• He was born 18 Feb 1894 in Stefansfeld and immigrated to the US.  He completed WWI draft registration card in Sebewaing, Michigan.

Peter married to Anna Rettinger

• Anna died in 1944 in Stefansfeld.  No clues as to age.

Karlsdorf

Johann married to Elisabeth Farkas

• His son was born in Karlsdorf in 1902.  Johann would have been born before 1884.
• Johann is probably from somewhere other than Karlsdorf.

Kühlenburg/Lazarfeld

Peter married to Margaretha Rumber

• His son Bernhard was born in “Kühlenburg” according to the Lazarfeld family book by Repp (2008).  No dates associated with the entry, so no idea when Peter was born.  Also, not sure why this information is in the Lazarfeld family book.

Some Thoughts on Who These Men Were

They are mostly many generations after the immigration of Jakob and Melchior in 1764 to Austria-Hungary.  Some of these might be young men moving to a different village to get married and raise their families, but not all.  Many of these are falling in the gap years of Kathreinfeld or St. Georgen, i.e. mid-1840s to 1870s.  I know I have families in the database with unaccounted for children in those years as well.   

Behind the Brick Wall: List of Stumpf Boys Who "Disappear"

This post and the next post are lists of Stumpf boys and men who have brick walls.

*NO DATA EXCEPT BIRTH*

In compiling the early generations of descendants of the brothers Jakob and Melchior Stumpf in the Banat, I came across several children who had a birth/baptism entry, but no other information.  In my database, I marked them with a death location of *NO DATA EXCEPT BIRTH* so I could find them easily with a search.  I then added the brick wall image with a question mark as their profile picture, so I could identify them at a glance in their families.  

I was hoping as I dug in deeper, I would be able to close out some of these brick walls.  These are the names from the first few generations that I so far cannot connect with their fates, although I do have a guess on one of them.  These are only from the first few generations.  There are lots of people in the later generations I also don't know their fates, however, I felt the earlier generations were foundational to building the tree of this Stumpf family.  I’m left wondering if these unaccounted for Stumpf boys died young or grew to adulthood and moved away to a village whose records I haven't accessed or joined the military.

Profile picture for boy whose fate is unknown. Image created by author from clipart.

List of Missing Boys

Here is a list of the boys that are brick walls coming forward in time, grouped by families.  (To see the family groups for Jakob and Melchior, see Jakob and Melchior: What's Known from the Banat Side.)

Son of Jakob and earlier wife, either Katharina or Anna.

Martin was born about 1767.  No baptism entry found and I suspect the name comes from the Settler’s list where he is listed with sister Margaretha and brother Johann Adam.  Margaretha was born in Dörlesberg before they immigrated. Johann Adam was baptized in 1764 in Kolut with a birth noted as Gakowa.

• Did Martin die in Gakowa and that was not recorded, or maybe on the move to Grabatz?
• Did he exists at all?

Sons of Jakob’s son Johann Michael and wife Magdalena Krämer 

Josef born 21 Jan 1806 in Grabatz

Jakob born 12 Mar 1824 in Stefansfeld

Son of Jakob’s son Jakob and wife Elisabeth Unterreiner

Jakob born 10 Dec 1803 in Stefansfeld

Sons of Melchior and Maria Anna

Lorenz born June 1766 in Gakowa and baptized in Kolut.

• Did he die in Gakowa and it wasn’t recorded, or maybe on the move to Grabatz?

Johann Adam was born 25 May 1775 in Grabatz

(Another) Johann Adam was born 15 Feb 1780 in Grabatz

Son of Melchior’s son Jakob and Katharina Bartl

Michael born 26 Jul 1803 in Grabatz

Son of Melchior’s grandson Peter and Anna Maria Neurohr

Friedrich born 28 May 1829 in Kathreinfeld

• There are some Franz Stumpfs who are not connected to their birth families who I'll list in the next post, but this one seems to be not the right age, too young for one and too old for the other to be either of them.  Also, the nickname for Friedrich is probably Fritz and not Franz.

Son of Melchior’s great-grandson (and Peter’s son) Johann [Michael] and Anna Maria Putz

Johann born 15 Jul 1841 in Kathreinfeld.

• This actually might be my 3x-great-grandfather who married Katharina Hoffmann
• With a birth of 1841, Johann would definitely be affected by the gap in records of Kathreinfeld. 

The Quest for Michael Stumpf: Thorough and Exhaustive Search in Progress

 or,

I'm Stumped: The On-going, Thoroughly Exhausting Search for Michael Stumpf

An earlier version of this article was published in 3-parts in the Immigrant Genealogical Society's December 2021, January 2022, and February 2022 newsletters.  Presented here with a citation, minor adjustments, and minor updates.

As a curious novice genealogist twenty years or more ago, I was thrilled to have copies of the family papers my grandfather kept.  In those papers, on my great-grandfather's baptism record, are the names of his parents.  So, I have known the name Michael Stumpf as my great-great-grandfather for a long time.  I am still in the process of piecing together his life.  In this long blog post I will enthrall you, dear reader, with the fruitless efforts to track this Michael Stumpf down as an immigrant to the U.S.

Figure 1: Snip of father's information from a 1898 baptismal paper with: Stumpf Mikaly; Roman Catholic; living in Katalinfalva; born in Klekk; age 36 years old. Language is Hungarian and translated in this recounting.

Michael was born in the part of then-Austria-Hungarian Banat which is today Serbia.  I got a better picture of his life as I searched records (with the help of local researchers there) and family books.  As outlined in This Side of the Brick Wall of Johann Stumpf, I found a previous marriage before my great-great-grandmother as well as four children with his first wife.  I found Michael living with his family in different villages, leading a peripatetic existence, residing in Klek, Kathreinfeld, Lazarfeld, Rudolfsgnad, and probably Grossbetschkerek (the German names at the time, and not the current Serbian town names).  I was surprised when I found out he went to the U.S. in 1907.  At first I didn't believe it could be him.  I'm pretty sure it is though, and in looking for confirmation, I am not able to find him in the U.S. at all! Thus my quest for Michael Stumpf in the U.S. 

The Backstory:

Even in the "Old Country" he has been rather evasive, while at the same time I found quite a few things about him.  

Here are some things I know:

• He was married to Theresia Ritter and had a daughter in 1894, who died in 1896 and a son, my great-grandfather, in 1898 (also named Michael).
• Before Theresia, he married Klara Wolf in 1887 in Lazarfeld and they had four kids together in supposedly Lazarfeld and Rudolfsgnad.  His wife Klara died of TB along with their last baby in Rudolfsgnad in 1892.
• His parents are Johann Stumpf and Katharina Hoffman (known from the marriage entry with Klara Wolf) and I have been able to identify his five brothers and sisters, but not his grandparents.
• He was a day laborer/farm hand and doesn't seem to have had a trade.
• He went to the US in 1907 in his mid-40s, landing in New York City, stating his destination was Philadelphia.  His wife and kids did not go with him.

Things I don't know:

• I don't know his date and place of birth: He was probably born in Klek (most entries indicate this) sometime from 1860 to 1863, when there is a gap in the records. No baptism record has been found and no other record gives a birth date, only age.
• I don't know where his first two kids are born.  One sketchy source lists Lazarfeld, but their baptism entries were not there and have not been found.  One daughter indicated she was born in "Torontalvasarhely or Elisenhain."  So, his movements as a young man with his family may be more complicated than already determined.
• I don't know what happened to him after he got off the ship in New York City! Did he stay in the US? Did he move on to Canada? Did he return to Hungary?
• I don't know when and where he died. I found one of his sons with his first wife, Klara, in Budapest as a barber.  From this son's marriage record in March 1926, he indicates his father, Michael, was deceased.
• I also do not know what happened to his second wife, Theresia (my great-great grandmother).  I have no evidence that she immigrated to the U.S.  Her daughter and son moved to Bogarosch, so maybe she went with them there, but no death entry made it into the village family book.

Arriving in New York City

Michael Stumpf arrived in Oct 1907 in NYC on the Finland and claimed to be going to Philadelphia (Ellis Island passenger list). 

Figure 2: Michael Stumpf on passenger list.

• Age of 44 (I'm pretty sure that's a second 4, it doesn't look like the other 4's and it doesn't look like the other 7's; that would put his birth year as 1863), birthplace Grossbetschkerek, Hungary
• Male, Married
• Last place of residence is Grossbetschkerek, which is where his parents, brother, and other family were living
• Contact back home was his wife Therese Stumpf, living in Grossbetschkerek
• 5'5" tall, fair complexion with gray hair and blue eyes
• Intended destination is his cousin Mathias Brems at 6163 Glenmore Ave., Philadelphia

Figure 3: Destination listed on passenger list for Michael Stumpf

The Search Begins:

Michael is too old for the WWI draft registration, so he won't be listed there.  The alien registration records from before WWI have been destroyed for most every place except Minnesota.  He probably didn't remarry or have more kids, so not expecting him in marriage or birth records.  I'm going to have to try to find him in a census or death record or a newspaper article, possibly a naturalization record, but I think that is unlikely, or, something random.  The search features in Ancestry.com and FamilySearch will help.

I had another great-great grandfather who left the Banat for Philadelphia and I was able to track him down in censuses, the WWI draft registration (he was young enough to have to register), and a death record, so I know I can do this.

It makes sense to check Philadelphia for my Michael Stumpf, since that is where he said he was going.

Philadelphia, two Michael Stumpf possibilities

After not finding him in the census for 1910, I paged through the census for the address to which he was going.  I used SteveMorse.org to find the enumeration district for that address (Ward 40, ED 1040).  He was not there, nor was Mathias Brems, for that matter.  I then went to records of the time in Philadelphia to see if I could find Michael.  The Philadelphia city directory for 1910 lists two Michael Stumpfs.

Figure 4: Stumpf entries in the 1910 Philadelphia City Directory (online at Ancestry.com)

This first Michael is a blacksmith and lives at 1228 Nectarine with his brother, Johann.  From the 1910 U.S. Census, this Michael immigrated in 1887.  From his death record, he died 26 Jan 1924, single, his parents are John Stumpf, Sr & Anna Rednagle, and he was born 15 May 1867 in Hungary.

This is not our Michael Stumpf.  The quest continues.

The second Michael Stumpf listed in the city directory is an ironworker living at 1316 Germantown Ave #3. There is a marriage record in the marriage index and in the newspaper for a Michael Stumpf marrying Ilona Gyumolcs in 1908.  Thanks to a kind soul on the Philadelphia PA Genealogy Facebook group, the marriage record was consulted in the Parish register at FindMyPast, and it was confirmed that Ilona's husband is the Michael that lived at 1316 Germantown Ave.  This Michael "Stump" is listed in the 1910 census (age 29, born about 1882, Fireman at a factory, arrived in US in 1906) with wife Helen (Americanized Ilona) at 1415 N. American St. in Philadelphia.  He is also there in the 1920 Census (age 38) with Helen and daughter and 1930 census and he is age 48 (born about 1882).  This Michael is too young to be our Michael.  Furthermore, he was born in Lodz or Szooz, Hungary (from his naturalization papers).

This is not our Michael Stumpf. The quest continues.

Continuing the quest in Philadelphia

Because Michael claims to be going to Philadelphia, it made sense to continue to look for him there.  After not finding him in the census nor in the city directory, I tracked down the cousin Mathias Brems.  Now, I didn't recognize the name of Brems from the family, but I don't know Michael's aunts and uncles, so I pursued this lead.  

Mathias Brems went to the same address, 6163 Glenmore Ave., when he arrived in Jul 1907 and was the address of Anton Prinz, who is Mathias' brother-in-law.

In more than a dozen sources, I found lots of info on Mathias Brems and his brother-in-law Anton Prinz and his sister Barbara Brems both in Philadelphia and in Grossbetschkerek and other Banat villages, including marriages, the death of Mathias' wife, a 2nd marriage to a widow with the same first name as his first wife, visits to home, and their deaths.  A spreadsheet timeline and a written analysis were created.

In this extensive research on Mathias Brems, no record for or link to Michael Stumpf was found.
No actual cousinship determined to Mathias Brems or his first wife, but a possible familial link was pieced together:  Godmother to Michael Stumpf's son Michael Stumpf (born 1898) is Margaretha Bartole-Jägl.  Margaretha Bartole is married to Peter Jegl. (Egert, p108, J023)  Peter Jegl's sister might be Margaretha Jegl who married Dominik Brems/Bremsz. (Egert, p. 41, B182)  Dominik is brother to Mathias Brems who was Michael's "cousin" in America in 1907!  If Peter Jegl and Margaretha Jegl are indeed siblings then:

• Mathias would be the brother-in-law of the godmother's sister-in-law, or another way to say,
• Michael's son's godmother's sister-in-law's brother-in-law is Mathias Brems.

There are two marriages to get from Margaretha Bartole, the godmother, to Mathias.   That seems to be pushing the definition of extended family! If they all got together for parties, maybe it works?

It is possible that Mathias Brems was a contact in the U.S. that Michael could put down on his paperwork with little or no intention of actually going to Philadelphia or seeing Mathias.  Mathias may not have even known Michael was coming.  Or, if Michael did go to Philadelphia, he didn't stay long and moved on to someplace else.  Short of falling off the face of the earth - hopefully he wasn't mugged and knocked on the head upon leaving the ship! - where else would he have gone?

I am no closer to finding Michael Stumpf.

New Jersey

There is another Michael Stumpf (most likely some degree of cousin to our Michael) from Kathreinfeld who went to Elizabeth, New Jersey with his brother Nikolaus.  These two Michaels caused some confusion for the compiling of the Kathreinfeld family book (Egert, p. 272-273) and some of his info was misattributed to our Michael.  This Michael was born in 1870, the son of Johann Stumpf and Katharina Jenisch, and husband to Eva Beierle.  According to a great-grandnephew, he stayed in Elizabeth, NJ, earning enough money to bring his wife, but when she came, she missed home and went back, which is too bad because she ended up getting caught up in the post-WWII starvation camps of Tito's partisans and died in 1945 in the Lager Kathreinfeld.  This Michael lived with his niece and died in 1931, they say of a broken heart.  I checked the Elizabeth, NJ records to see if there was a second Michael Stumpf there, and see no indication there was.

The quest continues.

Checking broader New Jersey for our Michael Stumpf, I located one in Perth Amboy, NJ.  However, this Michael is born about 1868 in Hungary, immigrated in 1892, and was a saloon keeper.  He was married to Elisabeth and involved in the Church of our Lady of Hungary and the Hungarian Society.

This is not our Michael Stumpf.  The quest continues.

Pennsylvania

Picking up with Philadelphia as a place he indicated he was going, I went back to Pennsylvania records.  I found a Michael Stumpf's death certificate.  He died May 1910 by drowning and his body was  found 9 May 1910 in Raubsville / Williams Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.  Apparently he fell into the canal in Easton, Northampton  Co., Pennsylvania.  The death certificate says he was born in Germany, age 71 and birth year of 1859 (which doesn't compute). Ancestry.com lists age as 51. He was either 51 or 71 in 1910. I am open to the possibility of an ethnic German from Hungary being assumed to be from Germany.  Americans aren't always clear on these things and immigrants might go with what works for them.

Figure 5. The Morning Call, Allentown, PA · Wed, May 11, 1910 · Page 5

Newspaper reports say this Michael wandered away from the home of Herman Woeppel of Easton, where he was living.  He was believed to be deranged, brooding the death of his wife killed two years earlier on the Central Railroad. They believed his death to be suicide.  My attempts to find documentation of a wife killed on the Railroad in the newspapers were fruitless.

Figure 6. Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Daily Independent · Wed, May 11, 1910 · Page 10

This doesn't seem like the right guy. The 1910 U.S. census, which happily was taken in April for the first time instead of June, lists Michael at the home of Mr. Woeppel in Easton.  His age is 71, country of birth is Germany, and he immigrated in 1881.

This is not our Michael Stumpf.  The quest continues.

New York - Engineer & Train Derailment

Also found in the newspapers is a Michael F. Stumpf who was a train engineer from Watertown, NY who was killed 6 Aug 1912 in Camden, NY in a train derailment that was sabotage.  His death record is indexed as "Stumff."  He was born in 1862 and is the son of George and Mary, husband of Sarah.

This is not our Michael Stumpf.  The quest continues.

There is a different Michael F. Stumpf born about 1860 in Ontario, Canada, son of Joseph Stumpf and Catherina, married to Rose Foster, who died 31 Aug 1913 in Bruce, Ontario.  He is listed in the 1911 Canadian census with his wife and kids.

This is also not our Michael Stumpf.

Back to the Passenger List

In an attempt to figure out where else Michael might have gone, I revisited the passenger list.  Actually, I cheated a bit and started with an index.  Dave Dreyer and others have extracted the German Hungarians from the Banat from ship passenger lists and indexed them.  From this extraction, one is able to search by name, date, ship, etc.  I was able to get a list of Banaters that were also on the Finland with Michael in Oct 1907.  There are two from Klek that are going to St. Louis, one from Kathreinfeld going to Wyandotte, MI.  Checking the 1910 census for both St. Louis and Wyandotte yielded no potential leads. 

North Tonawanda, New York

While revisiting the 1910 U.S. Census for some hit for Michael, I suddenly got something!  Indexed as "Mike Strumpf" in the 1910 Census for North Tonawanda, Niagara County, New York.  He is age 46 (born about 1864), married 2x, immigrated in 1907, alien, he and parents born in Hungary, native tongue German.  All a match so far.  Occupation is listed as "none."

Figure 7: 1910 U.S. Census entries for the “Helakovsky,” Bebel, and “Nemnes” entries with Mike Stumpf in North Tonawanda, New York.

He is a boarder living with Rudolph and Catherina "Helakovsky", and another boarder Therese "Hemnes" (as indexed in Family Search).  Therese "Hemnes" is actually Theresia Nemesz.  She is listed on the Ship Data of Banat Germans with her 1909 arrival: "Born in St Georgen [next to Kathreinfeld].  [Second] Husband, Johann Nemesz, lives in Betschkerek. Going to join son-in-law, Franz Cseliteowski."  Rudolph, with whom she and Michael Stumpf are living, is the brother of her son-in-law, who lives next door with her daughter and son. 

I think this is our Michael!!

Many people on the census page, including Rudolph and Frank, work at the Organ Works.  It so happens that the famous Wurlitzer Organs, including the Mighty Wurlitzer, pianos and other musical instruments, were manufactured in North Tonawanda!  Wurlitzer bought out the North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory and DeKleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Co. in 1908, so in 1910 it was a Wurlitzer operation.

In the 1915 New York state census, Theresia Nemesz was there with her son Nicholas.   Researching the sources of the Banat, her maiden name is Thom and her first husband is Biebel/Bebel.  She is in the death index for New York. She died in 1928 in North Tonawanda.  The Nemes family members are also listed in the city directories there. 

It seems very possible this is the right Michael since he is living as a boarder with people from his last home town.  So, I'll pencil in North Tonawanda in April 1910, but would like more evidence to confirm and also to find out what happened to him.

The index of deaths for New York state are available on the Internet Archive, thanks to Reclaim the Records.  There is no Michael Stumpf there, except the one eliminated earlier.  There was a Stumpf family who lived across the Tonawanda Creek in the city of Tonawanda that included a John who died in 1910 and a Mary who died in 1920, but they aren't related to Michael.  Michael was not in any of the state or other federal censuses with Theresia Nemesz' kids, nor in the city directories of North Tonawanda.  

I even searched North Tonawanda's The Evening News on the Fulton History website, a one-man newspaper digitization project.  I did find Teres Nemes advertising for a position to do housework or washing "by German woman" in March 1910.  That was all I found.

Another dead end.  Where would this Michael have gone, even if he is not my Michael?

I reached out to the deputy historian in Niagara County to check their resources and nothing was found.

Niagara County is across the border from Ontario, Canada.  Searches in Canadian records have not yielded potential hits (not already eliminated).  He may have even gone back home after earning some money.  This was not uncommon then. "Birds of Passage" they are called, returning home with the intention of buying land or improving their living conditions there.  There are no passenger lists leaving the U.S. nor arriving in Europe.  I would have to find him in the records wherever he ended up.  The city of Grossbetscherek has a complete family book, and he is not listed.   

The quest has stalled out.

Next steps?

Dear Reader, as you can see I have been most throrough, and I regret I do not have a resolution to this search to share with you.  We have gotten to know several Michael Stumpfs.  Who would have thought there were so many Michael Stumpfs out there!  I still long to know the fate of my Michael Stumpf.  Where, dear reader, do I go from here?

I started a list of potential Michael Stumpfs from some of the large genealogy databases that included residences or indexed deaths in places like Pittsburgh, Chicago, Syracurse (NY), Springfield (OH), St. Louis, St. Paul (MN), Detroit, and Milwaukee.  Do I track each of these leads down to eliminate them?  Just like with the gaps in the Banat records, there are some records that are not easily available and accessible in the U.S. and not everything is in these databases, so I might still miss him.  New York death certificates, for example, are vaguely indexed, but the certificate needs to be ordered, paid for, and waited for to determine if the information is useful in more than eliminating another candidate. 

Or, do I assume he returned to Hungary and refocus on finding a death record for him in the Banat?  How would I even do this?

To be continued...?  (Hopefully)

Citations

I chose not to make citations or hyperlinks for all the info in this article, beyond what I described in the text and captions.  Since the information was used to eliminate candidate Micaheals, I felt like it wasn't super critical, and because I did describe where the information was found, so can hopefully be discovered easily, if desired.  I did however cite one book:  

Egert, Roswitha, compiler. Familienbuch der katholischen pfarrgemeinde Kathreinfeld im Banat: 1893/1895/1915-1947 (Teil 2). Villingen-Schwennigen: Herausgegeben von der Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Veröffentlichung Banater Familienbücher (AVBF), 2006.