Ewald Pruschwitz (1814-1895) - Happy 205th Birthday and Happy Arrival Anniversary!

Ewald Pruschwitz is another of my 3rd great grandparents on my Minor line.  Today is his 205th birthday!  In pulling together the information for this post I realized it is also the anniversary of his arrival in the US as well. Two anniversaries on one day!

Relationship to me:  me > my dad > William Minor Sr > John R Minor (1880 - 1937) > Pauline (Pruschwitz) Minor (1856-1939) > Ewald Pruschwitz (1814-1895).

Ewald was born on 3 November 1814 in Ligenitz.  This village in southwest Poland is now called Legnica. [1]  In census records Ewald lists his birthplace as "Prussia". [2] At the time of his birth what we know today as Poland was part of Prussia. It was very exciting to figure this out because he is my only ancestor (so far) from eastern Europe.

At some point prior to 1850, he married Caroline Buffee in Prussia. [3] In 1855, Ewald, Caroline and their two children, Augusta and Wilhelm packed up their belongs and set out for America.  They boarded the ship D Kohlmann in Breman, Germany. [4] They arrived at the Port of New Orleans on 3 Nov 1855. [4]  Ewald was 41 years old on the day of his arrival into the New World.  How cool is that!

"New Orleans, Passenger Lists, 1813-1963" This family starts on row 122.

The passenger list record indicates they were headed to Illinois to settle. [4]  Did my ancestors have family or friends in central Illinois that they were coming to be close to?  History would tell us that is a likely supposition.  Many new immigrants came over with other families that they were going to settle with or they met up with family and friends from home that had already settled in a particular place.  There are other passengers on the ship's manifest going to Illinois so both of these ideas are possible.

From New Orleans the Ewald Pruschwitz family would take a boat up the Mississippi to St Louis, Missouri.  If their initial destination was Peoria, Illinois where they were living in 1860 [5] they may have taken a second boat up the Illinois River.

By 1860 Ewald and Caroline are settled in Peoria, Illinois with their family. [5]  My great-great grandmother, Pauline (Pruschwitz) Minor was born there on 15 or 16 May 1856; less than a year after their arrival in the US. [6]   By 1860 also it appears that their son, Wilhelm has died as he is not listed on the census for that year.

In the passenger list, Ewald lists his profession as "joiner". [4] Wikipedia defines this term as "an artisan and tradesperson who builds things by joining pieces of wood, particularly lighter and more ornamental work than that done by a carpenter, including furniture and the "fittings" of a house, ship, etc." [7]  He seems to have carried on this trade in Peoria because in the census records for 1860, 1870 and 1880 his occupation is listed as carpenter or cabinet maker. [8]  I wonder if he made cabinets for some of the big homes on the east and west bluffs?  What older buildings in town still have cabinetry items made by great-great-great grandfather?

Both census and city directories also indicate that Ewald and Caroline lived on Jefferson in Peoria from at least 1860 until Ewald's death in 1895.  Starting in 1875, the city directory identifies their specific address as 106 West Jefferson. [9]  This is just a couple of blocks up from the river.  Also, this address is just a few blocks from where my Nufer ancestors were living.  Did they know each other?

Ewald died on 24 Mar 1895 in Peoria. [10] Caroline lived on a few more years.  They are buried together in Springdale Cemetery in Peoria. [1]  They both lived long enough to see their two daughters married and their grandchildren all born.  I now realize that my great-grandfather, John Minor (1880-1937) would have known them both.  He was a teenager when his grandfather Ewald died and a young adult when his grandmother passed.

Entry for Ewald is on record 170 at the bottom.

This sketch was a good deal of fun to do.  It is so nice when our ancestors are found where they are supposed to be and doing what we expect them to be doing!  So it was with Ewald and Caroline.  They came to Peoria very soon after arriving in New Orleans and pretty much stayed in the same location until their deaths.  They left a number of records which made it easy to find and trace them.

Next step....see if they can be found in records over in Poland or Germany!

Related Blog Posts -
Francis Grant Minor (1852 - 1918)

Bibliography -
[1] For birthday see: Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 03 November 2019), memorial page for Ewald Pruschwitz (3 Nov 1814–24 Mar 1895), memorial no. 119510306, cemetery marker in Springdale Cemetery and Mausoleum, Peoria, Peoria County, Illinois, USA; maintained by "Stephen Cantrell," contributor no. 48212706. Also see: Peoria County, Illinois, death records register, database and images, book 2 (26 Jan 1889 - 1 Nov 1899), p. 38, Peoria County Clerk (http://www.peoriacounty.org/documentcenter/index/1858 : accessed 3 Nov 2019), entry for Ewald Pruschwitz, 24 Mar 1895, entry no. 170.  For birth location see: "New Orleans, Passenger Lists, 1813-1963," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com  : accessed 3 Nov 2019), entry for Edwald Pruschwitz, 3 Nov 1855, Port of New Orleans; citing "Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1820-1902," NARA, Washington, D.C., NAI no. 2824927, record group 85.
[2] 1860 U.S. census, Peoria County, Illinois, population schedule, Peoria Ward 2, p. 106 (penned), line 5, household 818, family 840, Ewald Pruscewitz; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Nov 2019), citing National Archives microfilm publication T653, roll M653_216,  FHL microfilm 803216.  Also see: 1870 U.S. census, Peoria County, Illinois, population schedule, Peoria Ward 1, p. 3 (penned), p. 228 (stamped), line 15, dwelling 18, family 18, Purshwitz Ewalt; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Nov 2019), citing National Archives microfilm publication M593, roll M593_267, FHL film 545766.
[3] This couple's oldest known child, Augusta (Pruschwitz) Schader's birth day is listed on a death index as 17 Jun 1850 in "Ligmitts, Germany".  Ewald and Caroline would likely have married prior to that year.  See "Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947," database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : 14 Apr 2019), Augusta Schader, 19 Nov 1922; citing "Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916–1947," index, FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2010.
[4] "New Orleans, Passenger Lists, 1813-1963," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com  : accessed 3 Nov 2019), entry for Edwald Pruschwitz, 3 Nov 1855, Port of New Orleans; citing "Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1820-1902," NARA, Washington, D.C., NAI no. 2824927, record group 85.
[5] 1860 U.S. census, Peoria County, Illinois, population schedule, Peoria Ward 2, p. 106 (penned), line 5, household 818, family 840, Ewald Pruscewitz; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Nov 2019), citing National Archives microfilm publication T653, roll M653_216,  FHL microfilm 803216.
[6] Peoria County, Illinois, death certificate no. 30714 (27 Nov 1939), Pauline Minor, Peoria County Clerk, Peoria.  Also see for conflicting date: "Mrs. Pauline Minor," Brimfield (Illinos) News, 30 Nov 1939; microfilm, Brimfield Public Library, 2007.
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joiner
[8] See [5].  See also: 1870 U.S. census, Peoria County, Illinois, population schedule, Peoria Ward 1, p. 3 (penned), p. 228 (stamped), line 15, dwelling 18, family 18, Purshwitz Ewalt; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Nov 2019), citing National Archives microfilm publication M593, roll M593_267, FHL film 545766. Also: 1880 U.S. census, Peoria County, Illinois, population schedule, Peoria, Enumeration District (ED) 203, p. 10-D (penned), p. 28-C (stamped), line 42, dwelling 100, family 113, Awalt Brushwick [Ewalk Pruschwitz]; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Nov 2019), citing National Archives microfilm publication T9, roll 240.
[9] O. E. Root, compiler, Root’s Peoria City Directory 1875  (Peoria, Illinois:  O. E. Root, Publisher, 1875), p. 179, entry for "Pruschwitz Ewald"; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Nov2019), "U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995," Illinois > Peoria > 1875 > Peoria,Illinois, City Directory, 1875.  See also: Franks Peoria Directory Co., compiler, Franks Peoria City Directory for 1892 (Peoria, Illinois:  Franks Peoria Directory Co., Publishers, 1892), p. 520, entry for "Pruschwitz Ewald G."; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Nov 2019), " U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995," Illinois > Peoria > 1892 > Peoria,Illinois,City Directory, 1892.
[10] Peoria County, Illinois, death records register, database and images, book 2 (26 Jan 1889 - 1 Nov 1899), p. 38, Peoria County Clerk (http://www.peoriacounty.org/documentcenter/index/1858 : accessed 3 Nov 2019), entry for Ewald Pruschwitz, 24 Mar 1895, entry no. 170.