I think what is lost to most Americans is their immigration story. If your family lineage is other than Native American, your history is that of immigration. It defines who you are, and who you could be.
It is important to know where you came from. Sure some of it might not be pretty, but it gives you a baseline. There is the old proverb that rings true. You must know where you came from to know where you are going. Maybe this is the reason that so many Americans seem lost and out of touch.
It is an epic tail of Prussian Peasants who can date there ancestry back to the 1700s. It's a story of no opportunity in the old world and unlimited opportunity in the new. A story of lost family and wartime horror. Above all else, it is the typical American Story that sadly is lost to most Americans.
The History of August & Gottliebe Skowronek (Skofronick)
By Jean Klenbenow
August Skowronek immigrated to the United States in December I889 on the ship, Aller. The Aller took an indirect route from Bremen to New York. It stopped at Southampton, England, to take on more passengers. Taking a ship the indirect route cost less but took more time. August was a steerage passenger. The manifest or passenger list gives his age as 24 and occupation as farmer. He had one piece of luggage. On December 28th, 1889, August Skowronek took his first step onto U. S. soil. He came through Castle Garden, was the Immigration Station in l889. Castle Garden was on the lower tip of Manhattan.
He probably took a train to Wisconsin, although the mode of transportation is unknown. He settled in Merrill. He probably had friends there. The l890 (Federal census burned, so his residence was unknown. There were lots of boarding houses and lots of immigrants who spoke German, so he probably had no trouble finding a place to stay. Except for the 1893 Merrill City Directory which lists a Skowronek, August, lab. (Laborer) bds. (boards) 702 Douglas. Little was known about where he worked and lived.
A lot of this is speculation, but there was nothing to keep August in Prussia. His father had died of smallpox when he was four. His mother had remarried a year later only to die in childbirth four years after that. By the time he was nine, he had lost both parents. He had a sister, Wilhelmina. They lived with their stepfather, who had married a relative, Amelia Skowronek, but as more children tilled the house they became unwanted. August and Wilhelmina were shunted from house to house until they found a permanent home with a relative of their mothers. By this time they were older and able to work.
Most young men were required to register for military service, and August had to register. He could not immigrate without having served his time. Men could start their military service at 16 or l8 and serve two, four or six years. When he was 18, August started to serve his military time which would be 4 years. While he was gone he worried about his sister, Wilhelmina, or Mina as he called her. He knew there was no future for him in East Prussia and wanted to leave and go to America. But Mina was his only close relative, four years younger, and he had to take care of her. August was very relieved when Mina met a good man and talks of marriage began. lf Mina married he was free to leave. She married and August left for America.
Advertisements were everywhere about land in the United States. lt was cheap. August had probably saved some of his military pay. He was single, an orphan and his sister was married. Why not leave his village and immigrate?
So August left by way of Bremen and came to Wisconsin. He had been living in Sawadden with relatives of Gottliebe Sparks, the person he wanted to marry. She was just a child when he left in 1889, only 12 years old. August knew he wanted to marry her, but first, she had to grow up. Going to Wisconsin would give her a chance to do that.
By late l895, August was ready to return to his village. He wanted to see his sister, Mina, and see Gottliebe, whom he called Liebe or Libby. (Lieb means love in German.) By now she was 18. Gottliebe was the oldest of six children, three boys, and three girls. Gottliebe and August were either first or second cousins, so her parents were not too keen on their marrying and especially taking their daughter to America, but the courtship began. Soon Gottliebe was pregnant. Now they had to marry and did so in May 1896. By June the newlywed couple was in Hamburg ready to sail on the August Victoria. Gottliebe later told her children that she was very sick with her pregnancy and the trip was miserable. But she was with August and loved hint very much and was excited about the trip. The ship landed in New York .lune 13, 1896. They had been at sea for nine days. This time August did not travel Steerage. He could not afford a cabin but could afford something in between. The manifest shows August as 30 and Gottliebe as 20 and their destination as Wisconsin. ln 1892 Ellis Island had opened for the screening of newly arrived immigrants. They were healthy and August had a home for them. The train again took them to Wisconsin.
Before August had sailed for Germany, he had made two land purchases. One was in October 1895 from Oscar Simon and his wife for lots 1 and 2 in block 3 of the Schulz and Leland addition for $100.00. The other was in November 1889 for $240.00, for three lots of the J. M. Smitts fourth addition to the City of Merrill. The sellers were Adam and Emma Turnowski, former residences of his village in East Prussia.
The 1900 Wisconsin Federal Census showed August and Gottliebe living at 437 Riverside Drive (Avenue?). Helen and Robert had been born. In about a month Gottliebe would deliver another child. August was a sawmill laborer. The family could read, write and speak English. The 1900/01 Merrill City Directory gave August's occupation as a laborer and living on Riverside Ave. and Geneses St.
The 1905 State Census showed an increase in the family. Gertrude and Gust had been born. The surname was spelled Skovernok. August was a day laborer. The directory of 1905/06 had Skowronek, August, as a laborer living at 501 Riverside Ave. ln 1908, Skovinka, August (Libby) wks. mill. h 706 Schulz. (August works at a mill and the family lives at 706 Schulz Street.) August and Libby continued to live at this address until they died. The 1925 city directory showed six Skofroncks. Robert had married Leone and they are listed. Ann, August and Gottliebe, and Gustav are also listed. They live at 706 Schulz Street.
The 1910 Wisconsin Federal Census had all of the children listed except Leone, who had not been born. English was spoken at home. August was a table Sawyer in the sawmill working full time. They owned the Schulz Street home free and clear. The census state they were aliens. In October 1892, August had taken out his first papers toward citizenship. The process was completed on August 29, 1910. Gottliebe became a citizen when her husband did.
In the 1920 Wisconsin Federal Census Leone is the youngest at 9, Helen has married Art Buss and Gertrude has married Harry Gehrke. Gottliebe and August are naturalized citizens. August worked in the lumber mill all year (not seasonal). Robert and Gust were laborers in the lumber camps and worked all year. Just below August and Gottliebe on the census record are the Gehrkes. Harry was 23 and worked in the lumber camp, Gertrude was 19 and Gordon was 3 months. They live with her parents, the Skowronek.
By 1931 all of the children were married. August was 66 and Gottliebe was 54. Again there were children living with them. Gust had married Esther Franke and they shared the house. Gust and Esther would live there on and off for years. Jim was born there; Jean was born while the family lived on Matthews St.; Richard’s birth said the address was West Main Street and Bruce at the Schulz Street address. Between Bruce‘s birth in 1937 and early 1942, the Gust Skofronicks lived at 506 Eighth Street. After Gottliebe died, they bought the Schulz Street house. A contract dated January 6, 1942, showed Gust and Esther Skoironik buying lots Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen and Fifteen (12, 13, 14 and 15), of Block Seven (7) of the Schulz and Leland Addition to Merrill, Wisconsin. The contract did not state the amount of money paid for the home but did say that Gust and Esther must pay to Mrs. Leone Richards of Ely, Minnesota $300.00. A later contract showed the amount had been paid.
Gottliebe died on October 3, 1941. She was 64. Besides her children, she was survived by three brothers and two sisters in Germany. Esther stated that one sister had married a Lutheran minister and he was crippled, It is a wonder that all survived WW 1. The names of her siblings are unknown. Gottliebe had a will, dated Dec. 31, 1926. August died June 22, 1948, at age 84. He left no will. Besides his children, he was survived by one sister living in Germany. (When I was in Poland I looked at the Lutheran Church records in Johannesburg. Everything had been destroyed by the Russians and the death records I looked at started in 1952. The records listed the maiden name of the wife. I found no Wilhelmina Skowronek. It was possible she had moved from the area, as it was now Catholic Poland, or had died between 1948 and 1952. Will we ever know?"This is a story that is lost to many Americans. It is a story that needs to be relearned. We are now 6 generations strong in American and we'll keep getting stronger.
