Au SG - death - 1881 - Zoller Joseph - died in USA
I hope the title is not too confusing ๐.
Josef Zoller was a citizen of Au (canton St.Gallen) and born in Au on 24.11.1809 to Anton Zoller and Maria Katharina Oesch. He was a glazier. He married three times (1838, 1841, 1861) and was widowed three times (1840, 1860, 1867). At some stage he travelled to the USA - it is unknown whether just as a trip (business or holiday), or whether he was emigrating. In 1867 his youngest (living) child was 10 years old: did they come with him or did he leave them behind (I have not found him in passenger lists)? If he left them behind, this may be an indication he didn't travel too shortly after 1867. According to the "Bรผrgerregister" of Au he died in the USA in 1881 - unfortunately no exact date and no more specific place.
This group may not be the best place to ask for help (as I am looking for data in the USA) - but which group would be best? I only find several groups concentrating on regions (but I don't know in which region to search) - and United States Federal Records - but could relevant information be found in Federal Records?
Answers
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For those interested - you find more details (in German) on Joseph Zoller ooI 1838 Katharina Keller, ooII 1841 Franziska Raimann, ooIII 1861 Rosina Heinzle.
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I found a Josephus Zoller in FamilySearch Person number 9N1C-R64
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/9N1C-R64 with the same parents and two wives. Do you agree that this is the same person? If so, I think the next step is to make sure his profile is completely built out.
- Start by adding the third wife and any missing children.
- Add a death date of 1881 with USA as the place.
- Attached any current sources
- Then we can see what record sources the system suggests.
Let me know if you need any help
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Thank you for your advice, ShelleWells.
I have spent a couple of hours to verify the Bรผrgerregister data - not always possible (contradicting information).
I have added his first wife - also with limited success: I have entered her (most likely) date of birth - but it is not shown now (for some reason her death date is shown). Same with the marriage date (which is proven).
I have added 1881 as his year of death and "Amerika" (which is what the source states) as place of death - again not shown.
Sorry - my first experience with familytree is frustrating.
I have also corrected his third wife's surname and place of birth (at least that worked).
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@WSeelentag I'm sorry you had a frustrating experience with FamilySearch. It does take some practice! I'll take a look at the FS page for Josephus later today and get back to you with some insights from the changes you made. Are there any other children besides Maria Siena Zoller born 1851?
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Are there any other children besides Maria Siena Zoller born 1851?
Quite a few ;-) - see Joseph Zoller ooI 1838 Katharina Keller, ooII 1841 Franziska Raimann, ooIII 1861 Rosina Heinzle - where I in the menatime have the confirmed birth & death dates for his first wife (with links to the sources).
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I've added the children who had sources waiting to be attached, so take a look at their records now.
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/9N1C-R64Do you think this Fina a Grave record might be the Joseph Zoller you are looking for?
The Find a Grave notes say he immigrated in 1865 and died in West Virginia in Sept 1879. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106611725/joseph-zoller
What port would he have left from to get to the USA?
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Many visitors will appreciate these links to the index entries - which I could not provide, as I don't have access to these entries from home. Some of them should be corrected, however. I am planning to check them all systemically (I can view the files on the State Archive web site) - but, please, give me some time (many other things on my to-do-list).
Re the Find-a-Grave record: name and calculated year of birth fit - so I will add this info on Geneal-Forum. There are some concerns, however:
1) Year of death differs - but how reliable is the year 1881? I'll have to try to find out which route this information had taken.
2) What concerns me more: he married a third time in 1861 - and then emigrated in 1865, leaving his wife behind? She died in Au SG in 1867.
3) Zoller is a quite common name in this region (with many emigrants in the second half of the 19th century), and Joseph is a common given name. I have another 2 Joseph Zoller in Au within 1808/10 - and he may originate from another parish in the region.
4) In the ship record of 1865 he is listed as farmer - in the Au church records he is described as glazier or manufacturer.
5) Finally - I am no longer 100% sure "in Amerika" actually meant the United States. It is my experience from other communities in canton St.Gallen and the (few surviving) passport registrations that Amerika means the US - and other countries like Canada, Argentine, โฆ are mentioned explicitly. Now I have another emigrant from Au, however, who was "murdered in Amerika" in 1870 โฆ and I have found out this actually happened in Montevideo (Uruguay). So I am only 95% sure now ๐.
Port of emigration: this will have been influenced by the agents organising the journey. Favourite from the St.Gallen Rhine Valley seems to have been Le Havre, followed by Antwerp.
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To start with I had a closer look at the three marriages of Joseph Zoller - as examples: bottom lines = present content / top lines = potential changes (disregard the first column). This led me to these questions:
1) Can (or should?) these index texts be edited? If yes: would you do this - or would it have to be forwarded to someone else?
2) Birth date: though titled "Birth date" only years are given, although the record gives the full date. Is that a general rule (and the title misleading) or should the full date be entered if known?
3) What about umlauts? ร > O or Oe (or better use key combinations to create ร on an English keyboard)?
4) Abbreviated given names: I assume completing abbreviated names carries the risk of misinterpretation - and should be avoided. In the case of Maria Katharina รsch (being mentioned three times as the groom's mother) this just leads to differences.
5) What about obvious misspellings in the original record? Maria Franziska Raimann's father has been correctly transcribed Baumann - which is an obvious mistake by the pastor: is there a possibility to at least point this out, e.g. in a comment?
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I think it would be helpful to see if you can find him on any of the ports of emigration you mentioned - I believe that will tell you where he was going and help you narrow it down. (Favourite from the St.Gallen Rhine Valley seems to have been Le Havre, followed by Antwerp.)
I also think that profession - glazier or manufacturer - is relevant. In your experience, has someone with a trades profession transitioned to farming?
Those misspellings are, unfortunately, a fact of life. They didn't value spelling (especially names) the way we do now. You can keep the umlauts if it's easy to do with your keyboard. It translates it for me when using the English version.
Finally, yes, I'd be happy to help you edit indexing (as long as it is available for the record). I'll need a link to the document and precise details about what needs to be changed for the specific listing.
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I have just sent you a private message.
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