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Four passenger lists that include emigrants from the Suchdol nad Luznici area in South Bohemia, Czech Republic

In the 19th century people who left the villages of South Bohemia traveled by horse cart to a train station, then by rail to the ports in Germany where they could board ships. Some departed from Hamburg, Bremerhaven, and Antwerp (Belgium), but most Czechs went to Bremen where the shipline Norddeutscher Lloyd (North German Lloyd) offered regular passenger service to America on several of their ships, first sailing vessels and later, the larger steamships.

One such steamship was the Mosel, built by Caird & Co. at Greenock, Scotland, launched in1872, maiden voyage 1873. Her gross tonnage was 3125 or 3200 (two sources). She had an iron hull, two masts, one funnel, single screw (propellor), dimensions 365 ft. by 40 ft. She crossed the Atlantic for Norddeutscher Lloyd until she ran aground in 1882.

One such trip of the Mosel left Bremen, stopped in Southampton (England), crossed the ocean and arrived in New York City on June 19, 1876. Captain H.A.F. Neymeber (sp?) certified the passenger list at the Port of New York. On a portion of the list copied for me by the the National Archives, I noticed several names from the Suchdol nad Luznici area among passengers 293 through 343, including the cousins Frank Koranda and Joseph Kropik who were heading for Oxford Junction, Iowa. In the data base Mosel Passengers are the Czech names found in these sources:

My photocopy of a page of the original (New York) list.

Czech Immigration Passenger Lists, Volume 5, NY arrivals 1870-1880, compiled by Leo Baca who extracted Czech names from the microfilmed passenger lists.

Germans to America, Vol. 32 , Jan. 4, 1875 to Sept. 30, 1876 (arrival dates). Only the passengers who stated they were German were extracted by G to A compilers from the lists of 1856 and later, although some other ethnicities including Czech can be found, sometimes with Germanized spellings.

Another ship that held emigrants from the Suchdol nad Luznici area was the Hermann which also left from Bremen destined for New York where it arrived October 22, 1877 as certified by Captain H. Reichmann. The Hermann was built by Caird & Co. in Greenock, Scotland in 1865 and owned by Norddeutscher Lloyd. She had a tonnage of 2873, dimensions of 337 ft. by 40 ft., single screw, two masts, one funnel, and an iron hull. She held 80 first class passengers, 120 second, and 1000 third (steerage). Final voyage 1893.

The data base Hermann Passengers contains names I found in Vol. 5 of Baca (see sources for the Mosel names) and on the LDS (Mormon) microfilm #295774 which is an image of the original passenger list. G to A does not include this passenger list.

The third ship that I am describing (there were many others) that carried our South Bohemia relatives to America was the Oder. Captain K. Oterendorp guided this ship from Bremen and Southampton to a New York arrival on December 1, 1875. The Oder, named after a European river as was the Mosel, was built in 1873 by Caird & Co. in Greenock, Scotland. Owned by Norddeutscher Lloyd, she had a gross tonnage of 3200 or 3265, was 351 ft. by 39 ft., single screw, two masts, one funnel. She carried 90 first-class, 126 second-class, and 680 steerage passengers.

Arriving on the Oder on Dec. 1st of 1875 was John Wochoka (Vochoska), 19, John W_chota (Vrchota?),19, John Dusek, 19, Joseph Pasek, 19, Adalbert (Albert) Stanek, 19, Elisabeth Tikelsky (Tikalsky?), 18. Vochoska was from Hrdlorezy and headed for Oxford Jct. via Chicago. Also: John Pavlicek and family, John Elick (Jilek), Katerina Ryson/Rysen, Frank Chadima, Anton Rabonek, and surnames Kabala, Klerak, Karas, Svoboda, Blahnik, Klecak, Prochoska, Wohac, Dondra, Dostal, Pekar, Pospicil, Adamek, and Wesely (Veseli).

The fourth ship carrying people from the Suchdol area, the Elbe, arrived NY on Sept. 27, 1884 from Bremen, 856 in steerage, Capt. F. Hamelmann, built 1881 by John Elder & Co., Glasgow, 131.90 X 13.70 (ft.) 4511 gross tonnage, 4 masts, 2 funnels, owned by Norddeutscher Lloyd, made Southhampton to NY in 8 days, 13 hrs., collided with another ship in 1895 and sank, killing 303 or 332 people. Passengers (Sept. 27, 1884) included:

Dudracek, Johann 35, workman from Austria with Rosalie 26,
Marie 4, Johann 2
Boham?, Johanna 17 from Austria
Sazma, Maria 17, from Austria
Stanek, Johann, 19 (ALL these were from Austria except a few
on the G to A list where they stated that everyone was from
Germany.)
Homolka, Mathias 29 (later married Teresa Vochoska)
Sazma, Rosalie, 29
Wochoska, Anna 54, Teresia 18, Franziska 17, Franz 14,
Adalbert (Albert/Vojtech) 11, Rosalie 4. (Anna's husband
Frank died in '82 or '83. They were from Hrdlorezy,
Vochozka in Czech and Vochoska in Oxford Jct.)
Schulake, Franz 20
Tech, Johann 11
Womacka, Rosalie 26, Wenzl 7
Beck, Anna 24, Selma 8 mo.
Schneider, Marie 16
Kuecherer (Kucera??), Catha. 40
Schneider, Helene 21
Krajewicz, Peter 42
Rudolf, Christine 26
Kannitzki, Barbara 27
Konundowska, Emilie 21,Edmund 9 mo.
Przybilniska, Franciska 23
Blaschiewsky, Joh., 33
etc.
Sources: LDS film # 1027348 and Germans to America, volume for Sept. 1884.

All the passengers on the above four ships were accepted into America at Castle Garden which processed 8 million newcomers before Ellis Island opened in 1892. Our1875-84 ships also preceded the Statue of Liberty, unveiled in 1886 and the Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883. Trinity Church in lower Manhattan would have been the tallest structure seen by the immigrants from the harbor except that the 1884 Elbe folks would have seen the Brooklyn Bridge.

Finding your ancestor/s on a passenger list can be a daunting task, especially for early arrivals, before the end of our Civil War. LDS (Mormon) Family History Centers which welcome everyone are especially helpful for passenger searches. Their website www.FamilySearch.org gives center locations. Whenever I read copies or film of an original pass. list I find more detail than in the published extractions. Once you have the date and/or ship of your ancestor you might find more, plus travel-companions, on the corresponding film. Remember that there were other ports of arrival besides New York. Contact me for sources of photos of the the immigrant ships. Another source for passenger lists is:

German Immigrants, List of Passengers Bound from Bremen to New York, in four volumes that cover 1847 through1871 (perhaps more volumes by now), compiled by Marion Wolfert and Gary Zimmerman. The compilers were motivated to search the National Archives microfilm series M237 (Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York) of American records for Bremen departures as the German records of Bremen departures were destroyed. They extracted only names with stated origins, 21% of the passengers, and alphabetized them. Bremen departures are included in G to A volumes, but this book also includes some non-German names from Boehmen (Bohemia) and Austria. In the volume for 1855-1862, there is a Martin Benda, 28 with wife Barbara, 30, and baby Matthias. They were from Borek (Bor?), arriving in NY in 1861. In the same volume Martin Wanek (Vanek), 34 with wife Anna, 25, and 5 month old Petronilla, from Bohemia, arriving 1861. The volume for 1863-1867 includes Joseph Paulischka (Pavlista), 14 who was headed for Oxford Jct. with the Wenzel Prokop family, all from Prodozow (Podrezov near Vamberk) in 1866. The volume for 1868-1871 includes the Joseph Vozenilek family from Dzbanov who emigrated to Oxford Jct. in Nov. 1870. There are too many names to gather all those who might have come from South Bohemia or the Dzbanov area. I did check for the Oxford Jct. names Vilimek, Villamack, Willimack, Vosoba, and Wosoba with no success.

Judy Nelson, October 2004