My Immigrant (Who Was YOUR Immigrant?) -- Part 1

 Part 1 -- Before Rochester

Of course, since all of us come from two parents, each of whom had two parents, and so on and so forth, we all have many immigrants in our family tree.  Today, I’m going to pick one of those who uprooted his life and came here from some other place familiar to him.  He is my immigrant, and it is I who will tell his story, as best as I can.  

From bits of various historical information, we can learn much about an immigrant’s journey, and, as well, how that affected the lives of his or her children.  It is an oft-lived pattern that immigrants who come here without material or financial resources struggle to survive; however, their children often benefit from the sacrifices of their immigrant parents.  In the brevity of this blog, I cannot tell everything about my immigrant, so I’m focusing on certain aspects of his immigrant experience:  (1) Why he left his home country, (2) Language and communication, and (3) Earning a living.    

1870s circa Mathias Dossenbach 
(Courtesy UR RBSCP)

My immigrant’s name was Mathias Dosenbach, and he was one of those who came here without financial resources.  He was born and raised in the little village of Rheinweiler, Baden, where his family had lived for generations, in the southwestern part of what we today call Germany*, along the Rhine River.  On December 23, 1915, Mathias was baptized as a Roman Catholic, and in 1839, he married and afterwards had three children.  

In 1848, all of Europe was swept up in revolution, and somehow Mathias was part of it.  While most of the revolutions were suppressed before that year was over, there was a resurgence in 1849, in Baden and fairly near to Mathias’s home.  In fact, Baden was the only place where the revolutionists found success, where the military turned and joined them, where the Grand Duke of Baden was sent scurrying, and where they took over the running of the state.  It was a mess, actually, and after some months, the revolution was again put down, and the revolutionists escaped on foot through the mountains into Switzerland or over the river into France.  

The dream was over, and the repercussions were deadly.  Eventually, those now in charge (largely, Prussians) forced Switzerland and France to kick out the revolutionists who had sought refuge there.  Mathias and others were named on a Baden Police List and were told to either leave the country or face a life in prison (or worse perhaps).  And so it was that in 1851, Mathias found himself on a ship bound for the United States, a country whose democracy efforts had been a beacon of light to the European revolutionists.  How he must have felt on that ship, leaving Baden behind, and headed toward a strange and unfathomable future!  

1851-06-07 Mathias listed on the ship Adheman 
(via Ancestry)

Mathias arrived in New York City on June 7th, of 1851, and identified himself as a Combmaker.  We find him next in 1854, working at a comb factory in Buffalo, New York, where he may have joined relatives.  Interestingly, and several years into my research, I came upon an odd census entry, which showed Mathias in 1855, living in Lancaster, New York, 24 miles to the east of Buffalo.  This census came by surprise, and I had to stare at the name for quite some time to understand the information it contained.  The last name is close in spelling — Dossenbeck, but the first name, well, it looks like Motue, and it made me wonder if this was, in fact, my guy.  The age is right, the country of origin is right, the profession is right, but still . . . 

1855 NYS Census (via Ancestry)

Eventually, I got it.  Motue <—> Matthew.  An English version of Mathias is Matthew.  Motue Dossenbeck is Mathias Dosenbach.  It seems that for a short time, he appears to have called himself Matthew, though eventually he gave that up, and stuck with the name he was familiar with, his identity, Mathias.  Also, from this census entry, we can consider another aspect of the immigrant’s experience — the difficulty in simply being understood, which perhaps led to a feeling of shame.  Clearly, the census taker had difficulty spelling his name — Motue, which suggests that Mathias still had a thick accent, and so the best the census taker could do was to write the sound of what Mathias was trying to say — Matthew.  How frustrating this must have been for Mathias, a grown man.  

Immigrants often leave family behind, and we have read many stories of their efforts to save money to eventually bring their family to join them.  But this isn’t always the case.  The fact is that I don’t know what happened to Mathias’s family in Germany.  (And I don’t judge him.)  This 1855 census included a new wife and a baby — I also don’t know what happened to them.  

Above: 1861 Canada West Census 
Below: 1870 NYS Census
(Both via Ancestry)

However, by 1861, a Canada West census showed Mathias living in southern Canada and married (presumably) to the wife I would come to know as Regula, and they had four children.  Being that her name was not familiar to Americans (unless they hailed from similar parts of Europe), the census taker has spelled it as Roushaluu.  (NOTE:  Regula also showed up in that earlier 1855 census with Motue, but not as a wife — I’ll leave that as a cliffhanger for a future writing.)  In 1861, Mathias and Regula had four children, and spelled their last name with two s’s, Dossenbach, a spelling which would last through time (and which I will use throughout the rest of the blog).   

1865-1869 circa This is quite likely
Mathias and Regula Dossenbach 
(Courtesy Polly Smith)

Do you see how these formal historical documents can evoke the experience of not being understood, of having a name/identity which is difficult for those around you to grasp, and of starting anew while having left much behind.

By 1870, Mathias and family were back in New York State, living in Suspension Bridge Village, nearly overlooking Niagara Falls, with 7 - 8 children, and it is here that we learn something significant to the eventual success of Mathias and Regula’s family.  Because he had had a difficult time making a living as a combmaker, Mathias was giving violin lessons on the side.  While I can imagine that Mathias’s greatest efforts, and his greatest frustrations, must have been his full-time income, especially with an ever-growing family, in fact, it will be the violin lessons which will sow the seeds of his children’s future success.  

And isn’t this especially pleasing because Mathias’s music must have been his joy and passion, what he pursued whenever he could find the time.  I can only imagine how he would have strained to purchase instruments even when he could hardly support his family.  Oh, if only our Mathias could have known back then, during the trying days, how important the music was, in fact, beyond simple pleasure.

1872-09-02 Mathias Dossenbach
Naturalization (via Family Search)

September 2nd of 1872 was a big day for Mathias — In Niagara County, he became a Naturalized Citizen.  In order to gain this status, a couple of acquaintances testified that he had  “behaved as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States” and that he was “well disposed to the good will and happiness of the same.”  The County Clerk attested that Mathias had “complied in all respects with the laws of the United States in relation to Naturalization.”  And, then, finally, Mathias solemnly swore to “support the Constitution of the United States” and to “entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, potentate, state, and sovereignty whatsoever — and particularly to the Duke of Baden.”  

       Yup, Mathias sent that Grand Duke scurrying one more time.  It all ended with, “So, help me, God.”  And with that, and the signatures, Mathias Dossenbach became a citizen of the United States of America.  With his name, his identity, his profession, and with a new musical family.

Suspension Bridge Village circa 1855-1897

Shortly after this event, perhaps in the waning months of 1872 or the earliest weeks of 1873, something happened which caused Mathias and family to move to Rochester, New York, and it involved the music.  His son, Otto, was “discovered” in Suspension Bridge Village, as a child prodigy violinist, by a prominent violinist and conductor, and the family was persuaded to come to Rochester where the children could receive proper musical training and opportunities.  

1877 circa Otto Dossenbach
(Courtesy UR RBSCP)

Readers of this blog:  Consider your passions and your hobbies, the things you love to do, and how you often have to sneak time for them.  Consider that it was Mathias’s violin, in the tiny hands of his little boy, which brought the Dossenbachs to their forever home city, 22 years after arriving here in the States, and that it was the music which would eventually bring success to Mathias and Regula’s children.

  Don’t give up your passions!  

This is Part 1 of My Immigrant’s story.  Part 2 will chronicle the immigrant family in Rochester.  But, as well, I have written about all of this in much greater detail, of course, in the book I’m developing, so stay tuned for that in some uncertain part of the future.   

______________________

*Germany was not yet a unified country; however, from this point on, here and in Part 2 of this blog, I will simply refer to it as Germany.