An Online Site With Galveston Immigration Lists

Dorothy Rachui and I discussed immigration lists at the recent reunion. I told her the Galveston Historical Association had put Galveston's immigration lists online.  Here is the link to their site.

I'm disappointed because it's not as good as I remembered it.  Actually, I confused this with the search facilities available to visitors at the center.  It has several kiosks for various searches of their data base.  

Regardless, I thought I'd post this link in case anyone wanted to use it.  You'll see that the Bark Gessner is listed among the ships in the data base.  It's the ship on which August Wilhelm Rachui/Rachuig sailed to Galveston in 1868. (I just tried searching for August, but had no luck.  I'm not sure if this site is working.  I may have to contact them.)

A Still Photo from 2012 Reunion

Family members at the Rachuy-Rachuig-Rachui-Schulz Reunion on July 21, 2012:  We are standing in front of the meeting hall at Our Savior's Church in Norse, Texas.

  

Emilie Zuehlke Bernhardt

I'm very sorry to report that Emilie Zuehlke Bernhardt died recently in Waco.  She was mother to Herman and Fred.  I want extend my sincerest sympathy to them and their families for the loss of their mother.  (My thanks go to Dorothy Krueger Mansur for notifying us of this news.)

Will Krueger, Sr. - Member of the Bernardt Band

Here is a photo of Will Krueger, Sr. when he was a member of the Bernhardt band. He appears to have been an euphonium player. I'll have to dig through Uncle Will's ancestry to see if he was a Bernhardt descendent. His wife, Hilda Rachuig was the granddaughter of Henrietta Bernhardt, so maybe he was admitted to the fold as an in-law, or maybe anyone could join.



Here's another picture of the Bernhardt Band. I presume it predates Uncle Will's picture. I know the Clifton Museum has pictures and memorabilia of the band - they must have been popular.

Marriage Registry for Washington County, Texas

Mike Chandler, grandson of Richard & Anna Marie Rachuig, sent me this link to the marriage registry for Washington County, Texas which was the first stop for many of our family groups when they migrated from Germany to Texas.

Notice that my branch of the family is given even another spelling of the family surname: RACHOUG. This is probably a transcription error, or misreading when the typist transcribed the original, hand-written ledger. It's just another example of how names can acquire variant spellings.

Also notice the number of RACHUI entries. As I've said before, my branch of the family has the same spelling on the US Census for 1880. It's likely we are related.

(Update) I got a note from Dorothy Rachui pointing out the entry labeled RACHIN is actually a RACHUI, too. There's another mispelling of our surname.

Link to Washington County, Texas Marriage Registry

Embarkation Requirements for Emigrants from Bremen, German

I found this document which listed the embarkation requirements for emigration from Bremen, Germany to the US in 1837. August Rachuig emigrated from Bremen in 1868, but I doubt the requirements were much different from those listed here. Unfortunately, most of Bremen's emigration documents were destroyed by bombing raids in WWII. Hamburg's records are still in tact, but my ancestors didn't emigrate from that port.


Link to Document

Undated Picture, Bernhardt Band

I got this picture from my aunt, Mayme Rachuig Hause. As you can see it shows the Bernhardt Family Band. I don't have a date or location, but I presume it came from the Bosque County (Texas) Library.

The Bernhard and Rachuig families have close ties, intermarrying in various generations. Since they both emigrated from Posen and settled initially in Washington County (Texas), they very likely knew each other back in the old country.

Henrietta Bernhardt is the matriarch of the Rachuig branch of the extended Rachuig-Rachui-Rachuy family. (She and August Rachuig are my great-great-grandparents. They created the variant spelling which added a 'g' to the end of their surname. As I pointed out in an earlier posting, they are identified as Rachui on the 1880 US Census.)

August & Henrietta Rachuig Family in 1880 US Census

I've included this document because it shows the 'Rachuig' family is listed as 'Rachui' on this census. (See line #176.) The change in spelling is still a mystery, but this is another bit of evidence that the Rachuigs & Rachuis are branches of the same family.

My aunt, Mayme Hause, enhanced this photo of her great-grandmother, Fredericka Henrietta Bernhardt Rachuig. (I never knew her first name was Fredericka.)

Caroline Bernhardt Harmel

Pat Walker sent me this picture of Henrietta Bernhardt Rachuig's sister. The notation on the back was written by Caroline's great-niece (Pat's aunt), Frieda Rachuig Flair. As she says, she didn't know her grandmother Henrietta, so she fondly remembers her great-aunt as a 'substitute.'

I've posted pictures of Frieda in earlier entries. She's the young girl holding the reins in the picture of Richard Henry Rachuig's family taken at their home in Olney. (I think that's the location. Maybe Pat, Mike or Elizabeth will known.)

Anyway, I'm always glad to get pictures of people born in the 'old country' - in this case Posen.

August and Henrietta Rachuig's Grave Markers

Clifton Cemetery, Clifton TX

Home of August and Henrietta Rachuig, Clifton, Texas

Lanelle Schminke Sonntag provided this picture at the 2009 reunion. I'm not exactly sure where this house was located, but it is on the Bosque River near Clifton. I think that could be Lanelle's grandmother, Lydia Rachuig (Lange) Larson on the porch.

Henrietta Bernhardt Rachuig with Grandchildren

This is a photograph of Henrietta with her grandchildren. I've checked my records and I think these are Albert Rube Bernhardt (b 1902) and Marie Henrietta Bernhardt (b 1904). They are the children of Alvina Amelia Rachuig Bernhardt, 6th child and 3rd daughter of Henrietta and August. The birth dates of these grandchildren seem to fit to me.

August & Henrietta Rachuig

I have no firm date, but this photograph must have been taken early in their marriage, which means its location is Washington County, Texas.