Friday, May 4, 2012

The SS Weimar

The Ratzlaffs boarded the SS Weimar along with many other immigrants.  The ship was bound for Baltimore, Maryland.  Built in 1891, the Weimar (http://fortunecity.com/littleitaly/amalfi/13/shipuz.htm) was a passenger steamship with a capacity of 49 first class passengers, 38 second class, and 1900 in steerage.  The ship maintained a crew of 105. 

A portion of the list of passengers aboard the May 1907 voyage can be seen here: http://www.angelfire.com/ks/gerrus/ShipsBaltJun1907.html.  This list of 195 passengers shows only those who originated in Russia and identified themselves as German.  Among the list are the Ratzlaffs, Wedels and Unruhs:

Pg-Line
Name
Given Name
Age
Sex
M/S
Calling
Country
Race 
Destination
Prev. Residence
20-4
Wedel
Peter
59
m
m
farmer
Russia
German
Galva, KS
Ostrog, Russia
20-5
Wedel
Katarina
60
f
m
none
Russia
German
Galva, KS
Ostrog, Russia
20-6
Wedel *
Maria
6
f
s
none
Russia
German
Galva, KS
Ostrog, Russia
20-7
Wedel *
Heinrich
4
m
s
none
Russia
German
Galva, KS
Ostrog, Russia
20-8
Unrich
Benjamin
44
m
m
farmer
Russia
German
Galva, KS
Ostrog, Russia
20-9
Unrich
Eva
30
f
m
none
Russia
German
Galva, KS
Ostrog, Russia
20-10
Unrich *
Jakob
17
m
s
none
Russia
German
Galva, KS
Ostrog, Russia
20-11
Unrich *
Helen
11
f
s
none
Russia
German
Galva, KS
Ostrog, Russia
20-12
Unrich
Andreas
8
m
s
none
Russia
German
Galva, KS
Ostrog, Russia
20-13
Unrich
Bernerd
7
m
s
none
Russia
German
Galva, KS
Ostrog, Russia
20-14
Unrich
Karoline
5
f
s
none
Russia
German
Galva, KS
Ostrog, Russia
20-15
Unrich
Friedrich
2
m
s
none
Russia
German
Galva, KS
Ostrog, Russia
20-16
Unrich
Johann 
1 mon
m
s
none
Russia
German
Galva, KS
Ostrog, Russia
56-7
Ratzlaff
Andreas
37
m
m
farm laborer
Russia
German
Hillsboro, KS
Lebwa, Russia
56-8
Ratzlaff
Susanna
33
f
m
none
Russia
German
Hillsboro, KS
Lebwa, Russia
56-9
Ratzlaff
Marianna
9
f
s
none
Russia
German
Hillsboro, KS
Lebwa, Russia
56-10
Ratzlaff
Karolina
7
f
s
none
Russia
German
Hillsboro, KS
Lebwa, Russia
56-11
Ratzlaff
Katarina
5
f
s
none
Russia
German
Hillsboro, KS
Lebwa, Russia
56-12
Ratzlaff
Johannes
4
m
s
none
Russia
German
Hillsboro, KS
Lebwa, Russia
56-13
Ratzlaff
Florentine
2
f
s
none
Russia
German
Hillsboro, KS
Lebwa, Russia
56-14
Ratzlaff
Susanna
9 mon
f
s
none
Russia
German
Hillsboro, KS
Lebwa, Russia
56-15
Wedel
Maria 
19
f
s
none
Russia
German
Hillsboro, KS
Lebwa, Russia
56-16
Wedel
Karolina
12
f
s
none
Russia
German
Hillsboro, KS
Lebwa, Russia


Some notes regarding how these passengers are listed:
1)      Maria and Karolina Wedel, who are both listed with the Ratzlaffs, are Susanna (Wedel) Ratzlaff’s 2 youngest sisters.  They’re listed with the Ratzlaffs instead of with their parents, Peter and Katarina Wedel
2)      2 Wedel children, Maria and Heinrich, are listed with Peter and Katarina Wedel.  Maria (Ratzlaff) Penner tells us these are two children of one of Susanna (Wedel) Ratzlaff’s sisters.  The mother had died and the father was away completing Forestry Service, so the children travelled with their grandparents, Peter and Katarina Wedel.  According to GRANDMA, none of Susanna’s sisters fits this bill, so I’m not sure who these children’s mother was.
3)      Jakob and Helen Unrich (Unruh) were apparently on the original ship manifest but were crossed off.  These were the 2 Unruh children who stayed behind in Bremen due to health issues.
4)      While all of these Ratzlaffs, Wedels and Unruhs were actually from Leeleva (spelled “Lebwa” on this manifest), the Wedels and Unruhs are listed as being from Ostrog.

Here’s a scan of a portion of the page of the manifest that shows the Ratzlaff family.  Andreas is number 7 on this list.


This map shows the route the SS Weimar took across the north Atlantic.  The route took the ship through the English Chanel before approaching the Atlantic: