On Jan. 23, 1943, my uncle, Frank Ebner Gartz, (photo in uniform, above) reported to the draft board in Chicago to start his training for WWII. So began the correspondence between him and family & friends, comprising almost 300 letters going both ways. I’m posting many of these World War II letters, each on or near the 70th anniversary of its writing. To start with his induction, click HERE.


This blog began in Nov., 2010, when I posted a century-old love note from Josef Gärtz, my paternal grandfather, to Lisi (Elisabetha) Ebner, my paternal grandmother, and follows their bold decision to strike out for America.


My mom and dad were writers too, recording their lives in diaries and letters from the 1920s-the 1990s. Historical, sweet, joyful, and sad, all that life promises-- and takes away--are recorded here as it happened. It's an ongoing saga of the 20th century. To start at the very beginning, please click HERE.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

An Alien Made Manifest


 
Every ship entering the port of New York was required to provide customs officers with comprehensive details of its cargo, passengers, and crew. The "List or Manifest of Alien Passengers" (left) is a snapshot of a single moment--a century the  the past. It captures salient details of the 800 or so people who arrived on the same ship,
just as they were embarking on their wholly unknown future in a foreign land--the U.S.A.

The manifest allows us to look back upon our ancestors through the eyes of one of the first officials to welcome (and scrutinize) them as they stood before the officer, undoubtedly with  heart in throat, wondering if anything they said might provide an excuse to send them back whence they came.

Whoever looked at my grandmother, Lisi, when she arrived on the evening of September 26th, 1911, began filling in the twenty-nine columns on line 19 of the manifest with the details that the U.S. wanted to know about this "alien" prior to her entry into this country.

Line 19 of manifest for the steamer, Kaiser Wilhelm II
Columns 1and  2 -- her full name: Ebner, Erzsebeth (see detail, above)

Never mind what her real name was. They took the Hungarian equivalent, Erzsebeth, from her passport/Dienstbuch [for details of this dual-purpose document, see 6/14 post, When a Resume Worked as a Passport)

The mistaken transcription

Years later, when all this information was transcribed into a searchable database, her name was mistakenly copied as “Ebnor” with an “o” and Erzebeth was miscopied as “Erssebeth,” making my search just a tad more difficult. But because of the detailed information Lisi had written on the postcard of her ship (see last post), I found it. The U.S. wanted further bureaucratic information:

Column                  Question             Lisi's answers
3                                Age                         24
4                             Gender                        F
5                             Married/single             Single
6                             occupation                   Cook
7                             Able to read/write        yes/yes
8                            Nationality                   Hungary
9                            Race/people                 German
10                        Last Permanent
                              Residence                   Hungary, N[agy] Apold [Hungarian for Grosspold]
11                          Nearest relative
                            In home country           Samuel Ebner [father]
12                        Final Destination           Cleveland, Ohio
Compose
Aha! Question #12, the last question on the first page of the two-page manifest, is how I discovered that Lisi didn’t go directly to Chicago to meet my grandfather. Instead her first stop was Cleveland, where her stepsister, Maria Wagner,  lived. I hadn’t known this before.

The questions continued on the second page, allowing us to stand in the interrogator’s place, and imagine how Lisi appeared to him/her:

Height:                         5’ 4”
Hair:                             black
Eyes:                            grey [I recall deep brown eyes!]
Complexion:                fair [not really]
Marks of identification:  none

Is she’s a polygamist? No.
An anarchist?             No.

(Who would answer “yes” to these two questions?!

Condition of her health, mental and physical: good

Deformed or crippled?  No.
In possession of at least $50 and if not, how much? $40

Ticket to final destination? Yes
Who paid for passage?       Self
Ever in U.S. before?           No

Manifest showing (left) Lisi arrived with $40; Right: the name of
address of her destination: Rudolf Wagner, 4287 St. Clair Avenue,
Cleveland Oh
Going to relative or friend? If so [give] complete address:

Rudolf Wagner [her stepsister’s husband] 4287 St. Clair Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.




I had seen that name before, and this piece of unknown information on the manifest was a revelation that connected Lisi's arrival to an incident forty years later.

A family of documentarians brings life full circle


I had never met the Wagner family--nor do I recall hearing about them--until I read my father's 1950 diary. During one of his many business trips out of state, he traveled to Ohio and made a side excursion to visit the Wagner family in Cleveland. By 1950 they had grown sons, owned a restaurant where the sons and father switched off to work night and day, and had many American luxuries. Another immigrant family that had fulfilled the American dream. Details to come.

Meantime, Lisi successfully passed inspection, both health and moral (no polygamy or anarchism!). Josef will have to wait a few more weeks to see his darling, but she let him know she had arrived safely.
Coming up: the postcard of New York Lisi sent to him and how a seemingly unimportant business card turned out to be a key clue as to how they connected in Chicago.

10 comments:

Margel said...

What a journey. Again, thanks for sharing. For some reason, I didn't picture your grandmother with black hair. I don't know why.

Linda Gartz said...

It was closer to very dark brown. I have a hank of a long braid which I'm sure was hers (lots of folks saved hair in the past -- maybe you have some in your collection). So I think the Ellis Island folks were moving and observing quickly--first impressions. So glad you're following the story.

PETER said...

Wonderful story, Linda! Reminded me when I first came to this country the questions were different but just as "unskillful" as the Buddhists say. They wanted to know if I "intended to sell pornographic pictures and if I was a member of the Communist Party." Who would answer with Yes? And this was in 1952. Treasure your material, it is irreplaceable!

Adrienne said...

Great details about your grandmother's arrival and such a fascinating comment from Peter. I wonder what they ask now. I'm imagining: "Are you a terrorist?" for sure, but what else?

Linda Gartz said...

Peter and Adrienne--
Yes, the boogie men are forever shifting - those shadowing evil "other" we must protect ourselves against.

Lynn Palermo said...

Interesting she didn't rush into the arms of her future husband?? I suppose not appropriate then?

Linda Gartz said...

Stay tuned, Lynn. I know Lisi was very close to her step-sisters, with whom she was raised from the age of about 12, when her father remarried. See Blended Family Breakthrough
Since Cleveland was on the way to Chicago, I suppose she figured this might be the last chance to see her stepsister, Maria, for a while. She was right. Coming up: How she and Josef connected, married, and the work that precluded travel!

Kathy Reed said...

I agree with Lynn's comment. The pieces really are beginning to fall into place. I'm glad you had other sources so you could overcome the transcription errors.

Linda Gartz said...

Hi Kathy -- each little scrap I find adds to the story. I also apologize to anyone who tries to click on the link I put in my previous comment "Blended family Breakthrough." It doesn't work -- and I don't know what I did wrong. But anyone can just look for for that blog post by entering it into the "search this blog" --upper right. Thanks for dropping by!

Elizabeth Handler said...

I've just discovered your blog - this is so fun! It's wonderful that your grandparents saved so much that helps you to tell their story. To tell my husband's grandparents stories (at http://jewishgenealogyjourney.blogspot.com/) I mostly started with my in-laws' memories, a few photographs and U.S. research (so far).