Appendices
62
George Krauss was born about April 16, 1834, in/or near Hutschdorf, Bavaria which is in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria. George was a wagon maker and then became an undertaker
Passenger Manifests
| Name | George Krauss | |||
| Event Type | Immigration | |||
| Event Date | 11 Jun 1867 | |||
| Event Place | New York, New York, New York, United States | |||
| Gender | Male | |||
| Age | 29 | |||
| Birthplace | Germany | |||
| Occupation | Farmer | |||
| Ship Name | Western Metropolis | |||
| Birth Year (Estimated) | 1838 | |||
| Departure Port | Bremen | |||
| Literacy | Unknown | |||
| Destination Place | United States | |||
| Affiliate Manifest ID | 00030436 | |||
| Affiliate ARC Identifier | 1746067 |
Information Source
Information Source
Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, SS Western Metropolis. Downloaded from https://immigrantships.net/v12/1800v12/westernmetropolis18670611_02.html
Notes
- At first it appeared this George Krauss was traveling alone as passenger 327. However, upon further examination of the passenger manifest, Renati [Renada] and two children John [Johanna] and Margaretha {Catherine] were found as passengers 494-496.
- The name and gender of the oldest child is incorrect. It should be Johanna Krauss – Female.
- The name of the second daughter should be Catherine.
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The SS Western Metropolis was the steamship on which George and Renata (Kraus) Krauss and family made the crossing of the Atlantic from Bremen to New York.
Ship Name
The SS Western Metropolis derived its name from the Lake steamboat Western Metropolis. The engine, which had originally been in the Lake steamboat Empire State, had been used in the construction of the Lake steamboat Western Metropolis. When the Lake steamboat Western Metropolis was refurbished with a new engine, the Empire State engine was taken to the Atlantic coast and used in the construction of the SS Western Metropolis.
Information Source
Maritime History of the Great Lakes, Western Metropolis (steamboat) at http://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/results?fsu=Western+Metropolis+%28steamboat%29
Ship History
The wooden side-paddle steamship WESTERN METROPOLIS was a built for George Griswold, A. Benner, William Wall, and others (contemporary reports list her as belonging to the firm of Benner & Brown) by F. Z. Tucker, Brooklyn, and was launched in 1863. 2,269 tons as built (remeasured in 1865 at 2,092 tons); 285 ft 4 in x 40 ft 8 in x 23 ft (length x breadth x depth of hold); draft 16 ft; straight stem, 1 funnel, 2 masts. Her engine (75 inch bore; 12 foot stroke) had been built in 1848 by Merrick & Towne, Philadelphia, and had served two Great Lakes steamers, the EMPIRE STATE, built in 1848, and the WESTERN METROPOLIS, built in 1856–it is from this vessel that she took her name–new boilers, wheels, and general reconditioning by Morgan Iron Works. Described by a contemporary, Capt. George H. Norton, as a “very slow, clumsy, unwieldy, hard steering steamer”.
Chartered by the Quartermaster Corps immediately upon completion for $850 per day, and kept in continuous use from December 1863 until late January 1865. First voyage, New York-New Orleans; on the return voyage, seized the steamer ROSITA, with a cargo of munitions and liquor, and towed her prize into Key West on 29 January 1864. Spent most of 1864 ferrying troops and supplies between New York and Hampton Roads, in support of the Union Army’s activities in Virginia; northbound, carried hundreds of sick and wounded. December 1864, loaded troops for the attack on Fort Fisher.
20 February 1865, single roundtrip (and first commercial) voyage, New York-Greytown, chartered to M. O. Roberts. April 1865, single roundtrip voyage, New York-New Orleans, chartered to H. B. Cromwell & Co. May-July 1865, New York-New Orleans, chartered by Quartermaster Corps. August 1865, single roundtrip voyage, New York-New Orleans, chartered to W. H. Robson & Co; returned with a record cargo of 3,000 bales of cotton. 30 September 1865, single roundtrip voyage (her only voyage for her original owners, Benner & Brown), New York-Apalachicola, Florida, returning with a cargo of cotton.
November 1865, sold to Ruger Brothers. Originally advertised to sail for the Ruger Brothers’ North American Lloyd Line to Bremen via Southampton on 17 March 1866, the WESTERN METROPOLIS did not sail until 28 June 1866. However, she had been refitted with paddle wheels that shed their floats in anything but a dead calm, and the WESTERN METROPOLIS was forced to turn around and put in to Boston, which she reached on 6 July 1866, before all the paddles were lost. After temporary repairs, on 10 July 1866, she sailed for New York (arrived 19 July), unable to continue the voyage to Bremen; laid up.
Late 1866, together with the other vessels of the North American Lloyd Line, sold to Isaac Taylor’s New York & Bremen Steamship Co.7 March 1867, first voyage, New York – Cowes – Bremen (arrived after a voyage of 17 days). Continued to make eastbound sailings at approximately eight-week intervals. 24 August 1867, sailed from New York on fourth (and last) voyage for New York & Bremen Steamship Co; 8 September 1867, arrived at Southampton with a broken shaft; repaired at Southampton, and proceeded on to Bremen; on return passage, reached New York 6 November 1867, from Bremen 20 October 1867 and Cowes 22 October 1867, with 921 passengers; there had been 3 deaths on the passage: an infant, a case of delirium tremens, and a case of apoplexy.
30 June 1868, sold for $57,000; her new owner advertised her for sale for the rest of 1868 and all of 1869, without success. 1870, acquired by Merchants’ Steamship Co, Frederic Baker, agent, for its New York-New Orleans service. 12 March and 9 April 1870, two roundtrip voyages, New York-New Orleans. 18 May 1870, Capt. H. S. Quick, sailed from New York for Havre – Bremen – Copenhagen – Swinemüunde – Kiel – Christiansand, chartered to Ruger Brothers. Returned by the northern route, arriving New York 7 July 1870, with 954 passengers; from the Shetlands to Newfoundland the weather had been cold and foggy: 3 infants among the passengers died, as did one sailor, of pneumonia. September 1870, returned to New York-New Orleans service. October 1871, port shaft cracked on voyage from New York to New Orleans; shaft replaced at sea. February-August 1873, laid up. 13 February 1875, last voyage, New York-New Orleans-New York (arrived 9 March 1875). March 1875, Merchants’ Steamship Co ceased operations. 1875-1878, laid up; several changes of ownership reported; last sale to Cornelius Delamater, who bought her for $15,000. March 1878, at the Delamater Iron Works, on the North River side of Manhattan, where her engine was removed. I have no information on her later history or ultimate fate
Information Source
Cedric Ridgely-Nevitt, American Steamships on the Atlantic (Newark: University of Delaware Press, [1981]), pp. 329-330.
As a Military Transport
The Steamship Western Metropolis.
BOSTON, Sunday, March 27. 1864The steamship Western Metropolis, of New-York, left this morning for Hilton Head, with part of the Fourth Massachusetts Cavalry. During her stay in port she has excited great attention from her size and beautiful model. She had been visited by crowds, and every person was treated with great attention by her courteous and accomplished Commander, Capt. HILTON. She is, without doubt, the most substantial and commodious transport steamer that has been to Boston.
New York Times March 28, 1864
Information Source
A digitized version from The Times’s print archive, Downloaded 28 Feb 2019 from: https://www.nytimes.com/1864/03/28/archives/the-steamship-western-metropolis.html
Ship Images
A sketch of the Lake steamboat Western Metropolis
Information Source
Illustration from Stanton, Samuel Ward, American Steam Vessels , 1895, page 149. Downloaded 28 Feb 2019 from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Western_Metropolis_01.jpg
Deck view of the WESTERN METROPOLIS as a Civil War transport
Information Source
Cedric Ridgely-Nevitt, American Steamships on the Atlantic (Newark: University of Delaware Press, [1981]), p. 328, Photographed 7 June 1864. courtesy of the U.S. Army Signal Corps.
Voyages
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Steamship WESTERN METROPOLIS, Capt. William Weir, arrived at New York 24 April 1867, from Bremen 4 April, with merchandise and 710 passengers.
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Steamship WESTERN METROPOLIS, Capt. William Weir, arrived at New York 10 June 1867, from Bremen 27 May, with merchandise and 831 passengers.
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Steamship WESTERN METROPOLIS, Capt. William Weir, arrived at New York 14 August 1867, from Bremen 28 July, via Cowes 30 July, with merchandise and 221 passengers.
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Steamship WESTERN METROPOLIS, Capt. William Weir, arrived at New York 6 November 1867 (passenger manifest dated 9 November 1867), from Bremen 20 October, via Cowes 23 October, with merchandise and 921 passengers, to Isaac Taylor. “Had strong westerly gales the entire passage. Mr. Charles A. Lewin, a saloon passenger, of Plymouth, E[ngland], died of delirium tremens; Mrs. Dorothea Ringwald, of Wurtemberg, aged 66 years, died of apoplexy, and one infant, aged 6 months, [died,] and were all buried at sea.”
Information Source
Palmer, Michael P. Palmer List of Merchant Vessels. Claremont, Calif.: Michael Palmer, 2000. Downloaded 28 Feb 2019 from http://www.oocities.org/mppraetorius/com-we.htm
Passages of the ship “Western Metropolis”
The above passages are confirmed by the following from DIE MAUS Departures of emigration passages.
| date | vessel’s name | Agency / shipping company | captain | destination | Number of passengers | Arrivals | Remarks | |||||||
| 04/03/1867 | Western Metropolis | Friedr. Reck & Co. | Weir | new York | 884 | |||||||||
| 05/25/1867 | Western Metropolis | Friedr. Reck & Co. | Weir | new York | 976 | |||||||||
| 07/27/1867 | Western Metropolis | Friedr. Reck & Co. | Weir | new York | 149 | |||||||||
| 17/10/1867 | Western Metropolis | Friedr. Reck & Co. | Weir, Wm. | new York | 866 |
Information Source
DIE MAUS Departures of emigration passages. Downloaded 28 Feb 2019 from: http://212.227.236.244/auswanderung/abfahrtsdaten/passagen.php?s=s&v=Western+Metropolis&lang=de
Transatlantic Crossing Time
Departure date from Bremerhaven: 25 May 1867
Arrival date at the Port of New York: 10 Jun 1867.
Time to cross: (7 + 10 = 17 days) 2 weeks and three days.
During this time period, steamships made the voyage time from Bremen to New York in 3 weeks or less as reported in Statistics concerning the transatlantic crossing
Steerage
The Krauss family traveled steerage class. Steerage is the name given to the lowest deck on a ship where the control lines ran for the rudder, enabling the steering of the ship, hence the word ‘steerage’. Steerage (or Tween Decks) and Third Class was the default choice of many immigrants from the 1850s through the 1930s who could afford the price of passage and little else.This class offers communal quarters with early steerage often housing hundreds of immigrants in one large room. For a good description of steerage decks, see Emigrants Between Decks
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Family Lore
Julius Henry Kirmse, remembered calling George Krauss, the husband of Renada (Kraus) Krauss “Uncle George”.
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Source: Shared by Helen (Kirmse) Hacker. Digitized: September, 2015.
Who
Left to right:
- Renada (Kraus) Krauss, wife of George Krauss and sister of Barbara (Kraus) Kirmse.
- Child – maybe a grandchild – several possibilities are:
- Arthur Elmer Dunn born on August 7, 1893
- George Finch Dunn born on June 8 1895
- James Earnest Dunn born on February 19, 1898
- George Krauss – the undertaker, husband of Renada (Kraus) Krauss.
See Chapters Renada (Kraus) Krauss (1836 – 1910) and George Krauss (1838 – 1923) for photo comparisons. The facial features are similar for Renada but older. The facial features for George and his beard is similar in both pictures.
When
Circa 1905 – an estimate based on the following:
Renada (Kraus) Krauss, wife of George Krauss, died April 18, 1910. So picture was taken a few years before 1910.
Sometime between 1900 and 1910 changed his occupation from “Wagon Maker” to “Undertaker”
- 1870 US Census, George Krauss occupation is “Wagon Maker”.
- 1880 US Census, George Krouse [Krauss] occupation is “Waggon Maker”.
- 1900 US Census, George Krans [Krauss] occupation is “Wagon Maker”.
- 1910 US Census, George Krauss occupation is “Undertaker” and he owns his own shop.
- 1915, George Krauss is the undertaker for Julius Kirmse, his brother-in-law in Farrar, Missouri
- 1920 US Census, George Krauss occupation is “None” and is living with his granddaughter, Choe B (Dunn) Strong, in Welch, Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
Where
Longtown, Perry County, Missouri
What
Photograph of the G. KRAUSS UNDERTAKER establishment in Longtown, Missouri.
Helen (Kirmse) Hacker wrote in an email March 5, 2009:
- “George Krause [Krauss] made caskets and lived in Longtown. Your Dad [Julius Henry Kirmse] once wrote a letter telling how he [George Krauss] would use a corn stalk to measure the body and make the casket to fit.”
- “The Kirmse’s had a two seated surrey with a fringe around the top. It was common for the deceased to be laid out in the home and they hauled the casket in a wagon, but when the Kirmse’s took it in their surrey it was a special honor. H. Bachman told that they hauled his forefather and they were so honored.”
Note the wagon and wagon/buggy wheels on the left front of the establishment as well as the “Banner Buggies” sign above the entrance.
Possibly this photograph was taken shortly after George established himself as an undertaker instead of being a wagon maker. Or maybe he had a combined business of undertaker and buggy rentals.
End-of-Life Care Services
In addition to making coffins and being an undertaker, George Kraus provide end-of-life services. For example, in the probate records of Barbara Schuetz (second wife of Conrad Schuetz), the following invoice is for the coffin, funeral and burial services
was a total funeral charge of $28.10.
Also included in the probate file is an invoice for the end-of-life services
for 790 days of board and lodging over a five year period. The total for the end-of-life charges was $159.00.
And there was an invoice for miscellaneous expenses
of $13.50.
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Death
George Krauss died July 16, 1823 as per his death certificate.
From George’s Death Certificate, we have;
Birth Date: April 16, 1834, Germany – (Note: This date is appears to be in error. In all of the US Census reports George’s birth year is listed as 1838 and in the 1900 census his birth month is given as April 1838.)
Death Date: July 16, 1923, Missouri, USA. Lutheran Hospital St Louis
Interment: Concordia Cemetery (Also known as: New Saxon Cemetery) Founded in 1856. In 1884 Immanuel and Zion District congregations relinquished their claim to this cemetery leaving entire ownership to Trinity and Holy Cross congregations.
Krauss vs Kraus vs Krause
George’s surname was Krauss (See Chapter: George Krauss – Undertaker). And, his wife’s maiden name was Kraus (See Chapter: Renada (Kraus) Krauss (1836 – 1910)). Some documents use variations of his last name such as Krause and Krous but these are incorrect.
Summary
George Krauss was born about April 16, 1838 in Bavaria, Germany. He married Renada Kraus about 1865 probably in Hutschdorf, Bavaria. He immigrated with his family to Perry County, Missouri in 1867. His occupation was first “wagon maker” and then he became an “undertaker”. He died on July 16, 1923, in the Lutheran Hospital, St Louis, Missouri, USA. and he was buried the St. Louis, Missouri Concordia Cemetery.