There are several stories about John Brunken’s immigration to Nebraska. The following was copied from Brunken Family Tree notes prepared by Leona (Brunken) Lindorfer:
Changed his name in Germany to take someone else’s place in the draft. Since this person wasn’t called he went to America.
John Brunken came to the USA in 1869 and worked for a Race Horse owner in Passaic, New Jersey.
He married in 1873 and had three children after which he went to St. Louis, then traveled to Omaha in 1878 by pretending to be a railroad worker. He then walked to Columbus Nebraska, 100 miles to his brothers home where he bought a farm and had his family later join him.
Betty Meyn noted her family lore has that:
John worked as a railroad worker from Passaic to St. Louis to Omaha. He then walked from there to Columbus where he met up with his brother and bought 80 acres to farm. … When John was in Passaic, … he worked in a woolen mill and did carpentry on the side.
John Brunken’s obituary states:
Mr. Brunken came to America in 1869 and found employment in the woolen mills in Passaic, N.J. … In 1878 they came to Nebraska, directly to Platte county, and settled on a farm 12 miles north of Columbus.
Bark Mozart Passenger Manifest – 1869
The Bark Mozart was the sailing vessel on which Johann Diedrich “John” Brunken made the crossing of the Atlantic from Bremen to the Port of New York on his way to New Jersey.
Transcription as per Ancestry.com
| Name: | T D Brunken [Johann Diedrich Brunken] |
|---|---|
| Arrival Date: | 30 Apr 1869 |
| Birth Date: | abt 1845 |
| Age: | 24 |
| Gender: | Male |
| Place of Origin: | Oldenburg |
| Port of Departure: | Bremen, Germany |
| Destination: | New York |
| Port of Arrival: | New York, New York |
| Ship Name: | Mozart |
| Search Ship Database: |
See Also
Index for arrivals at Castlegarden: Ship Record: Name: J.D. Brunken, Occupation: farmer, Age: 24, Sex: Male, Ship: Mozart, Arrived:20 Apr 1869, Port of Departure: Bremen, Province of latst residence: Oldenburg, Destination: New Jersey, Paid by: Self (http://castlegarden.org/quick_search_detail.php?p_id=5322066) downloaded 7 May 2013.
Bark Mozart
The following is a brief description of the ship history.
Bremerhaven Emigration Passages
DIE MAUS – A Project with the Bremen Chamber of Commerce and the Bremen Staatsarchiv (State Archive) maintains historical archives of documentation and databases of vessels in the Port of Bremerhaven.
Departures by Ship Named “Mozart” Through 1870
| date | vessel’s name | Agency / shipping company | captain | destination | number of passengers | Arrivals | Remarks | |||||||
| 21.05.1842 | Mozart | Guardian, J | New York | 211 | jul 01 | |||||||||
| 07.10.1865 | Mozart | Franz Tecklenborg | Huntemann | New York | 379 | |||||||||
| 03.05.1866 | Mozart | D.H. Wätjen & Co. | Bätjer | New York | 383 | |||||||||
| 03.10.1866 | Mozart | D.H. Wätjen & Co. | Bätjer | New York | 359 | |||||||||
| 17.03.1869 | Mozart | D.H. Wätjen & Co. | Jülicher, Ad. | New York | 373 | |||||||||
| 03.04.1870 | Mozart | D.H. Wätjen & Co. | Julicher | Baltimore | 395 |
From this, the Bark Mozart on which Johann Diedrich “John” Brunken arrived in the New York, New York Port on 30 Apr 1869 left Bremerhaven on 17 Mar 1869. The Captain/Master was Jülicher, Ad., delivering 373 passengers from the Port of Bremen for New York, New York. This is consistent with the above Bark Mozart Manifest.
Information Source
DIE MAUS – Mozart Departures of Emigration Passages. Downloaded 13 Jan 2018.
Transatlantic Crossing Time
Departure date from Bremen: 17 Mar 1869
Arrival date at the Port of New York, New York: 30 Apr 1869
Time to cross: 43 days
Ship Description
No description or image of the Bark Mozart has been found.