Gawehn Family

I have mentioned members of the Gawehn family briefly in previous posts and I have posted a few of their obituaries so I thought I would tell you what else I know about them.

Zilla (Richter) Gawehn is Lydia (Richter) Elsner's younger sister.  (Lydia is my great great grandmother.)  Zilla was born on October 26, 1863 in East Prussia.  In about 1885, she married August F. Gawehn (born October 9, 1852 in Germany).

While they were still in Germany, they had two children: George Richter Gawehn, born January 20, 1887; and Elizabeth Gawehn born in July 1889 (according to the 1900 US Census or Feb 1889 according to the document below).  The four of them immigrated to the US in 1889.

I saved a pdf file a couple of years ago that contains lists of people that immigrated to the USA on which the Gawehn family is listed.  The file is in German and is titled SEDINA-ARCHIV FAMILIENGESCHICHTLICHE MITTEILUNGEN POMMERNS.  With the help of Google, that translates to Sedina Archive Family History Information Pomerania.  It contains excerpts from ships lists from March 25, 1884 through February 20, 1890 of Pomeranian immigrants to the USA.

Abbreviations and column headings from Sedina-Archiv Familiengeschichtliche Mitteilungen Pommerns.

  Translation:

Abbreviations:

Adr    = Address             K      = Child (ren)                 S     = Son

E       = Spouse              M       = Mother                      T     = Daughter

J        = Years                 NY.   = New York                V     = Father

oo     = Marriage            >        =After (destination)

                Date    Ship      Name        First Name  Age                 Note

Clip from Sedina-Archiv Familiengeschichtliche Mitteilungen Pommerns containing the Gawehn's information.

This tells me that August Gawehn (a tailor, age 37), along with his wife Zilla (26 yrs), daughter Elizabeth (10 months old), and son George (2 yrs) arrived on the Polaria on Dec. 7, 1889 in New York from Lauenburg.

After arriving in New York, they made their way to Fort Wayne, Indiana.  I had wondered why Albert and Lydia had chosen Fort Wayne when they immigrated in 1887, and I now know that Lydia's brother Erich J.B. Richter had immigrated to the US in 1881 and he lived in Fort Wayne.  When Zilla and her family arrived, Erich was still in Fort Wayne, but Albert and Lydia had already moved to Chicago.

Zilla and August had two children born in Fort Wayne: Luella R Gawehn, born July 26, 1892; and Erich John Gawehn, born March 15, 1897.

I have already posted obituaries for Zilla, August, and Effie (George's wife).  I found obituaries for Elizabeth, Erich and George but not Luella.  I ordered copies of the ones I found so far and will post them as soon as I receive them.