SCHUSTER, Ferdinand

SCHUSTER, Ferdinand

Male 1865 - 1912  (46 years)    Has 14 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.

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  • Name SCHUSTER, Ferdinand 
    Born 1 Nov 1865  Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    Biography
    • FERDINAND SCHUSTER and KLARA BAUMGARTNERThe spring of 1904 was auspicious for Ferdinand (1864-1912) and Klara (186 8-1955), the winter of 1903 had been especially hard and the new Conscript ion law passed by the Diet in Vienna, the capital of the Austrian-Hungari an Empire, a decision had to be made. Since 1894 Ferdinand's two brother s, Joseph with his wife Anna (nee Augustin) and Frank, with his wife An na (nee Poelmann) had immigrated to America (1894 and 1901 respectivel y) as had other family and friends from Furstenthal, settling on the hi gh plains of Western Kansas near Ellis.
      The letters from family and friends who had immigrated earlier to the pla ce called Kansas sounded unreal, tales about the many acres farmed, the nu mber of cattle pastured, how cheap the land was, and any number of wonde rs convinced many to immigrate. Little was ever written about the cold win ters, the howling winds, the awesome storms or the many hardships these im migrants had to face. To Ferdinand and Klara, Kansas must have sounded li ke heaven, later they would come to understand the reality of life on t he high plains of Kansas.
      Conscription (service in the Army mandatory for all adult males) was anoth er mitigating factor, the Austrian Empire was at this time was requiring i ts young men to serve at an even younger age, 16. Ferdinand had serv ed as a young man, it hadn't been a pleasant experience, although it was t here that he learned trade of a shoemaker which would later be of great va lue to him. Life in the Austrian army was hard, dirty and dangerous ev en without a war and Ferdinand understandably wanted no part of it for h is sons. Frank their oldest son would soon reach that age. To spare the ir sons they must be removed from this perceived threat.
      Thus the Conscription combined with the lack of opportunity for their chil dren forced the question of immigration. The promise of a better life th at is the American Dream no doubt left little question where they would g o. America, the place where a family could grow and prosper, a place of u nlimited opportunity for all of their children.
      Ferdinand and Klara set out for this Golden Promise in faraway Kansas Amer ica, just as their ancestors had left Bavaria at the beginning of the 19 th Century for the promise of greater things in a place called Bukovina. T hat they would follow their friends and family members to Kansas, made t he decision easier. Yes they were going to a strange new land. But there w as family and friends already there to ease the transition.
      So as late winter gave way to the first signs of spring, Ferdinand and Kla ra sold or gave away what they could not take with them, and as summer ca me they said tearful goodbye to family and friends, gathered their seven c hildren, Frank age 14 (1891-1980), Mary age 11 (1892-1980), Theresia a ge 9 (1894-1978), Barbara age 8 (1896-1971), Stephanie age 6 (1898-1989 ), Paul age 3 (1900-1990), and Jacob whowas only 5 months old (1904-1989) and left by oxcart to the rail stati on at Radautz.
      Their journey would last approximately a month and can be traced by studyi ng the old railroad maps of the era. A train from Radautz to Vienna, to M unich, to Frankfort and then to Bremen where the family boarded the SS Kai ser Wilhelm der Gross June 28th, 1904 bound for New York.The voyage was hard, especially for Klara confined to a single cabin wi th five children and a baby to feed and care for. All their food for the m ust be brought with them, according to Aunt Fannie (Stephanie) consist ed of bread, sausage, cheese and cabbage.
      Few things were provided for passengers in the steerage, coffee and wat er was available, milk could be purchased but was expensive. The men wou ld join their families in a common room (Frank, because of his age was wi th his father placed with the other men in a large below deck dormitori es as was the custom) for their main meal which they could purchase but bo re little resemblance to anything familiar or eat what they themselves h ad brought with them. Decidedly the food available on the ship wou ld be foreign to a family used to making their own meals from the garden b ehind their former home.
      A charming story is told about Frank as the Kaiser Wilhelm entered New Yor k, July 4, 1904, witnessing an Independence Day fireworks display, young F rank asked the ships personnel "Is there a revolution?" How astonish ed he must have been to learn that the skyrockets were celebrating the ann iversary of America's revolution.
      The ship docked at Ellis Island on July 5th and the family began as many o thers the arduous inspection by biased Immigration employees that would al low them to enter America. The family would be five days on Ellis Islan d, Barbara had contracted an eye infection on the passage, which in itse lf would disallow her admittance into the country, before being allow ed to continue their journey to Kansas.
      Frank in later years would relate a story about the prejudice encounter ed on Ellis Island. He told that on the ship coming from Bremen there we re 99 persons of the Jewish faith, 96 were turned away when they told offi cials that their destinations was New York City apparently the official w as to have commented that there were already enough Jews in New York.
      Frank, was inquisitive as all young people are, not restricted to the cab in or common room on the ship or the close quarters provided on Ellis Isla nd roamed about. His innate language ability allowed him to acquire so me of the English he would need in America, which would stand the entire f amily in questionable straits on the train from New York City to Ellis, Ka nsas.
      Nearing Chicago on the train, the family was extremely low on food. Fran k, who felt he had learned enough English to get by, was given some coi ns to find the family something to eat at the next station. He returned wi th what appeared to be a sausage, a loaf of bread, and some apples. Au nt Fannie would recall " That sausage wasn't what we were used to, it w as bologna and bad too, by the time we got off the train the next day in E llis the whole family was sick." Aunt Fannie remembered that on arrivi ng in Ellis there was no one to meet them as they got off the train, Unc le Joe and Uncle Frank lived on farms west of town and hadn't been certa in of the family's arrival. Mrs. John Weber, a cousin of her mother w as in town for supplies, bundled the family into her wagon and took them o ut to the Weber farm where she fed them their first meal in Ellis, Pota to Soup.
      It was a hard establishing a new life for a growing family. Three more ch ildren would be born to Ferdinand and Klara after settling in Ellis, Cla ra 1906, John 1909-1983 and Engelbert (Bert) in 1911. To make ends meet Fe rdinand took work on the Union Pacific Railroad. Often gone for days, t he work on their rented farm fell to Klara and the children.
      Aunt Fannie relates Mama was really upset when she saw what Kansas was li ke "There were no trees" she would say. Life was hard for Mama; the old er girls would help with the household chores and us younger children. B ut Mama was left to tend the gardens, feed and water our few cattle and mi lk our cow, Frank would hire himself to the neighbors for the extra mon ey needed for store bought things. There was always something she had to d o. Later when we lived on the farm, the wind was something she could nev er get used to, 'This will drive us all crazy' she would say. Accordi ng to Mama it was never so cold, or so dry, or so windy in Furstenthal.
      "But she'd make the best of it, we were never hungry and always busy, we c hildren all had chores to do, but the bulk of the work fell to Mama and Fr ank. Mama was always very proud of the way she was able to manage."
      Ferdinand and Klara would begin their new life in Kansas on a rented far m. By saving money earned by Ferdinand on the railroad and combining it wi th what they had been able to save before coming to America, Ferdinand a nd Klara in 1908 were finally able to purchase a farm 10 miles southea st of Ellis. (This farm is still in the family 82 years later, it is now o wned by Michael Schuster, the third generation of Schuster to be there.) S undays were a special day for the family. Even living ten miles out of Ell is, the town still provided their main source of social contact, their chu rch, St. Mary's. Sunday mass was required and there was much visiting do ne between the families of the parish after mass.
      During the erection of the present church which began in 1909, the male pa rishioners of St. Mary's, which included Ferdinand, his brothers Joe and F rank, cousins, uncles and other friends from Furstenthal used their spa re time to assist in building of the new sanctuary. When the weather was g ood, the wives could be relied upon to prepare mountains of food which wou ld be laid out under the trees on makeshift tables along Big Creek after S unday mass. After the days work was done a country fair atmosphere would p revail. Uncle Joe could be relied upon to bring his fiddle, and cousin Fra nk had a Jews Harp, all those that could play an instrument were ask ed to play. There in the shade by the side of Big Creek watching their n ew church reach skyward, the families renewed their Bukovinian German Heri tage.In 1912 Ferdinand died. Frank, now 21 became the head of the family. Ev en Ferdinand's death did not alter the families' dream. They stayed on t he farm, growing wheat and raising a few cattle, attending St. Mary's a nd marrying and becoming an integral part of the Ellis community.
      Frank married Rosie Aschenbrenner in 1921, Mary married Joseph Locker in 1 916, Theresia married Nicholas Kaiser in 1921, Barbara married Stephen Nem echek in 1921, Stephanie married Louis Locker in 1917, Jake married Elma M ickelson in 1931, Clara married Mike Zimmerman in 1923, John married Mar go Dreiling and Engelbert married Iva Withers in 1939.
      Most of Ferdinand's and Klara's children stayed in the Ellis area, marrie d, baptized their own children and are buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in El lis, Kansas.
      Ferdinand and Klara's grandchildren now reside in Arizona, New Jersey, Cal ifornia, Colorado and of course Kansas.
      Klara Baumgartner Schuster died July 3, 1955, 51 years after arrivi ng at Ellis Island.

      by Gay (Ryan) Schuster.------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- ----------------------------------------------Another Story...this one a letter by Mary (Kaiser) Conard to her niece Pat ty

      Dearest Patty:Had a chance to get to town to do some photocopying...so here's a Schust er start.I wish that I had more time to write the stories as I did about Grandma 's house. Names are okay, dates are a bore (but essential, I've found) a nd stories are fun.
      I also filled out a set of pedigree sheets for you. This can really get in volved for anyone who really does it well and with scrupulous accuracy, a nd I have tried to be accurate as I've copied. The typewritten family lis t-sheets I got from Fred Schuster's wife, Gay, who's delving into, fo ur or five intermarried families from the Furstenthal area. Word has i t, she started on the Ferdinand Schuster line and also Freddie Schuster 's mother Rosie Aschenbrenner (married to Uncle Frank Schuster, Mom's brot her) and found so many families intermarried that she went into more famil ies, and as a result the book she was hoping to get published is sti ll in the process. Since families keep adding, I doubt that she ever wi ll get a book accomplished. I dabbled in family sheets, but not living cl ose to where we have family or being able to visit frequently in Kansas . .. what I've done amounts to what it is...dabbling.
      From what I can read, and here again lots I want to know, isn't translate d, the Schuster ancestors were originally from the Black Forest Regi on of the German Empire and moved to the village ofFurstenthal in Bukowina (Bucovina). (Bucovina means "Beech Woods")
      Furstenthal was first settled at the bequest of Austrian Emperor Jose ph in 1803, German speaking settlers were originally from Pfalz, Hasse, t he Wertemberg Highlands, among others. The villages from which our ancest ors came are located in the Black Forest Region on the Bohemian Czech bord er. I Find Baumgartners and Schusters in an account of Bucovina in Apr il 1803, and listed with those who came from the area of the Bohemian Woo ds were names of some of the earliest among them; Sebastian Baumgartner, A ndreas Schuster and Franz Schuster. By 1808 we also find among the immigr ants from the Bohemian Forests; Josef, Ferdinand, Julius and Johann Baumga rtner. With my very limited knowledge of German, it seems to say that o ur ancestors were Craftsmen. I read accounts where some German Bukovina pe ople come to the area because they were skilled salt miners, and Grandma S chuster did say there were salt mines nearby. (She gave me and also Ro se a crucifix . . .about rosary size . . . she said was obtained of a miss ion held at the salt mines.) There were possibly other mines, as one of t he people with our ancestral names was a smelter, and there are stampers l isted in Furstenthal village census.
      I base my assumption that our people were craftsmen with informati on from a 1822 censuslists and among the glassworkers in Furstenthal were Anton and Michael Gas chler, Franz and Jacob Schuster. Christoph Gaschler was a smelter. List ed under private handworkers and listed as cobblers were Johann and Micha el Schuster. As Village Justice, a Johann Baumgartner served from 1859 to 1888. I found others serving equally as long, so this did not seem o ut of reason.
      Here again we have families living in villages, each with their own fenc ed in yard with house, barn, well, etc, as in Russia and the Alsace. He re again are solely Catholic villages and villages of other faiths…again m arriages to only ones of their own religion and "Komradschaffen" and fr om their own villages or ones of the same faith nearby. There was a sma ll exception to this. In both Franzfeld and Furstenthal lived other Germa n-speaking people who were Jewish. They stuck together on the fring es of the city (village). Jews married no one of another Faith or Cultur e. They were the moneychangers who had the taverns that only men frequent ed, they traded in grain and merchandise ... and sometimes in illegalit y. Jews and Catholics did not associate with one another, the Jews bei ng looked down upon here as in Russia. To this there was one exceptio n. . when their children were needed to make up the school rolls to have e nough students needed to receive money from the government. (This was giv en without interference from the government).
      Village life apparently follows the European way. Cattle were herded in to the woods to graze every day by the cowherd who was paid by an assessme nt of all the villagers (Remember in the story of Heidi where Peter, the g oat-herder took the goats up on the mountain to graze each morning and bro ught them back at milking time?) Geese were tended to by a goosegirls in m uch the same way. Theresia did not say whether they had a swineherd or n ot but one was common in many accounts.
      I don't know if all the little Furstenthalers went to school, but the litt le Schusters did by the time they were six, both boys and girls. The gove rnment gave money to the villages, provided there was an enrollme nt of 40 pupils for three consecutive years... this "might" have been an i nducement to have all available students in school. The government did n ot specify the curricula and each taught in their own language and accordi ng to their own culture. They studied usually under the village priest a nd a schoolmaster trained for such. Many times the church and school we re the same building. . i.e.…a room set aside in the church or eventual ly added on to, and in later years a building nearby. In addition to wh at we know as the 3 R's, they started to study Latin in the first grade . .. Latin was the language of the Catholic Church's Mass. Religion was t he 4th of the "R's", but first in the order of importance. Theresia said l earning English reading was comparatively easy for her as she'd learn ed to learn to read and write the German Gothic Script and the Latin Rom an letters. Boy! that's a tall order, as for as I'm concerned, for s ix or seven year olds.
      In many ways, you could say their social life, too, revolved around the ch urch. Religious Holidays were the ones most celebrated. Lent was strict ly observed, Theresia said, with no meats and fasting every day for t he 40 days. We did not celebrate birthdays, nor was it customary f or us in Nick and Theresia's family to gather anywhere for Thanksgiving, I ndependence and Labor Days etc. These were days used for catch-up work be cause the whole family was home. We went to a Catholic School and were o ut of school on Holy Days, however no servile work was done on those days.In the yard, our Schuster Family had a cow, chickens, pigs, etc. in the Eu ropean way. Theircow went out with the cowherd each morning and back at night. Agricultur al Fields were outside of the village, as well as a large community garde n. Theresia referred to thunder as "God's Potato Wagons" going across t he sky, because thunder sounded like the potato wagons coming into the vil lage in the fall. There for winter-feed for the cattle, they planted co rn (or cane-type crops) interspersed with pumpkins. In the fall they wou ld gather the grains, then bind the stalks and put the pumpkin under the f eed "shocks". This they would feed the cattle over the winter. They fou nd it surprising when they came to this country, that Americans ate catt le feed... referring to the pumpkins. Theresia said the terrain was a l ot like Montana, but with the hills all covered with woods. Since the ar ea was "woody" they did not use twists of straw for household cookery.
      Weather was apparently cooler, as it was not the custom for our Schuste rs to build summer kitchens (as it was among the Kaiser people) so it prob ably wasn't something they did in the old country. Later photos of hous es in Furstenthal also show no little enclosed porch like affair around t he main entry door as was custom in South Russia, so I am guessing, the wi nd was not as high and they had fewer flies. In both the Schuster and Kai ser's European cultures, the front gate to the family home area ... a lar ge one through which to drive the stock, wagons, etc. usually had an orna te archway, the large gate was adorned, and a little side gate that just a dmitted people next to this large one was also decorated. A rather asi de from the story is an oddity in toilets between my parents' culture. T he Kaiser toilets were usually a deep pit with the toilet "shed" on top. .. had maybe two holes, and a little lower one built on the side. When fu ll, the shed was moved. The Schuster toilet was a covered seat, one hol er that sat flat on the ground with a "trap door" in the back. Through th is it was often cleaned out, along with the henhouses, hog sheds, etc. ( In the old country each yard had it's "Mistplatz".. literally manure place .) Eventually this was all put on the fields and gardens. I doubt that th is was left long in the buildings, as it was Theresia's habit when I was g rowing up, to clean the henhouses once a week, and this had to come from h er "Up-bringing".
      The Ferdinand Schuster daughters raised good gardens... Do you suppose th ey knew something, God given, that our generation, with its commercial fer tilizer, could learn something from? They were all scrupulously clean hou sekeepers. No bedbugs, lice, or dirty kitchen grease in their homes.
      I digressed there, I'm afraid. Grandpa Ferdinand was the last of his brot hers and sisters left in Austria, Grandma once said. He wanted to come wh en they did, but he was enlisted as a cobbler in the Austrian Army ... I t hink this was a little like the militia, as in colonial days in Americ a. Military men drilled as a group in each of their villages in readine ss for whatever wartime action was asked, (or commanded) of them. He seem ed to be home, from Mom's stories, most of the early years of Ferdinand a nd Klara's marriage, Austria was not at war, and if it was, he most like ly cobbled for the army staying in the village. I would guess that he com es from a line of cobblers, because the name Schuster means "One who mak es shoes or footwear (shoemaker)." At any rate, he was afraid to apply f or passport out of Austria before his military time was up. There must ha ve been some unrest, (Mom said there was usually a lot of that ... with o ne ruler trying to gobble up another to fill his own coffers.) They final ly went to a Jew, who forged passports for the family for them to get o ut of the country. About the trip from Bucovina to Bremen, I have not hea rd anyone tell stories. Theresia said they had a little room on the sh ip and that most of them were very seasick, though Grandma Klara seem ed be able to take care of the young family of seven aged from 13 yea rs to five months . . . Frank, Mary, Theresia, Barbara, Stephanie, Paul, a nd Jakob. They boarded the "Kaiser Wilhelm" on the 18th of June in Breme n, Germany, and arrived at Ellis Island on the 5th of July, 1904. (Interes tingly the Kaiser's came also on the "Kaiser Wilhelm", embarking at Brem en in 1907 and 1908.)
      They came to Ellis because that was where the rest of Ferdinand's family a nd other Furstenthalers had settled. (Another interesting note: Both Kla ra and Ferdinand come from relatively small families as compared to lar ge families that were general norm in Europe. Klara had one brother, Anth on Baumgartner. Ferdinand's brothers were Frank and Joseph, and his sist er was Franziska (translated Frances) who married Franz Augustine. The bo ys had large families, but sister Franziska only had three children. O ne possible explanation: Many times small families were the result when o ne parent died, and the other did not remarry.
      In an old account about Ellis, I read where at first the European immigran ts settled like the European ancestors in small homes in Ellis and went o ut to the land to work it, though I don't know if by the time our Schuste rs came this was the case. An incident sticks in my mind. After Bob a nd I were married we'd visited, along with Mom and Dad at some of the Aunt 's houses in Ellis. Mom pointed out a gravel road straight south of Elli s, and at one turn in the road she said, "This is the first place we liv ed when we came to America." I asked, "You must not have lived there ve ry long?" She said, "No, it wasn't very long after that, when her Daddy bo ught the place where we called 'Grandma's House"'. I have no idea now whe re that place she pointed out to me was. I don't know if they just liv ed there, rented, or bought and sold.
      I don't know if this is all, but some of the land is described as: N E¼ of Section 33 in TWP 13 S. Range 21, W of the 6th PM. Listed in book B B, page 12 in the County of Trego, State of Kansas. This information was c opied from a cutting... and I will go into this with another tale.
      Upon Klara's death (at which time all her children were still heirs) the f amily decided that each of the others would sell their portion of the inte rest to the land to the youngest son, Engelbert. The others could keep th eir oil rights on the oil leases or sell them back. The inherited oil rig hts ended at the death of Klara's children. Theresia sold her's back to E ngelbert at the time Grandma Klara's estate was settled. So far as I kno w, there were no pumping wells on the property, though in 1939 a lessor br oke a 1935 lease agreement, and action to clear this was taken. Possib ly to lease to someone else, or to keep the rights in the estate.
      To get to Grandma's we went East on Highway 40, turned South on the ro ad by the Riga elevator and to the North of Grandma's was a place called " Round Mound". It was a raised round area of earth, a landmark, as it wer e. I can't remember just how far we went South before we turned West (f or a little tad of a ways), then the yelling started, "I see Grandma's hou se first."
      Stories aren't so profuse, and I've heard this expression more than once…" Tight-mouthed Schusters". As an example, quite a number of years ago, I w anted to start a genealogy of ourfamilies, and Mom said to me, "That's all past history and none of your bu siness." However, during the raising of children, they couldn't help but s ay some things to tell us just how lucky we were in our generation. In o ne case I was told that the older girls worked out as farmer's wife helpe rs of an early age. . Mom by the age eleven. This leaves the conclusion t hat they must not have lived in Ellis and gone to their land during the gr owing season. (The older girls received no more schooling after they ca me to America)
      Cash money was always a need, and I've been told that Grandpa Ferdinand wo rked on the railroad. One of his jobs was to walk the tracks from Ell is to Riga and back ... out down one track and back on the other to see th at there was nothing ... ties loose, loose spikes or loose rail plates . .. that would impede the train's progress. On Sunday's he fudged a bit a nd the family would meet him in the buggy at Riga and he would ride back i nto Ellis, so they could all attend Mass together. Apparently it was t he family, not he, that did the farming with horses and lots of manual lab or.
      Theresia once referred to her father as a complete autocrat. She, by t he time this story was told was married with children of her own, and I mi ght add that my parents weren't terribly strict as parents of some of my f riends. She had begun to work for a family by the name of Waldo in Elli s. Mrs. Waldo had given her a hat, and when they picked up Grandpa Ferdin and at Riga, he saw her wearing the hat, and ordered her out of the bug gy to walk home and get her shawl, because only fast girls went about with out their shawls. I asked Theresia if she did, and she said, "No, Mamma ( Klara) told Daddy (Ferdinand) that it was a bigger sin to miss Mass th an to go to church in a hat ... American women already did." By the way, a ll earned money Mom made at her household jobs in Ellis was turned ov er to Grandma Klara.
      Grandpa Schuster died in 1912. 1 had heard that it was complications of t he flu, but in talking to Uncle Englebert he said, "it could possibly ha ve been cancer of the stomach, or the result of a severe injury. He had w orked placing ties on the railroad, and in the process someone hit him sev erely across the stomach area. In 1912, I don't suppose that there was mu ch a doctor did for you, but give you something to dull the pain. Grand ma Klara buried her man, when the youngest child was only nine months old.
      What stamina these women we know as Grandmas and Great Grandmas had. I 'm sure this came from the Grace of God. I may as well add this thoug ht of my own, since I've had it many times -. . And the Apostle Paul, n ot withstanding, who said, "At the head of the woman is the man." . . . "She should pray with her head covered".. ."That she should keep sile nt in the church." ... "That she should always submit." My thought is thi s, that the older I get, it becomes apparent that it was the women in o ur lives both yours and mine, that were the true pillars of family. Th ey didn't "rule" with a velvet glove more like a warm furry mitten. Mam ma did not have to rule with a spanking or yelling. It required only a ce rtain set of her mouth or an almost discernable shake of her head. It w as your great-grandmothers, both Kaiser and Schuster that were the warp th at wove the fabric of the family, and kept it intact. Although I didn't k now my Grandmother Anna Mary Kaiser (the stories tell of her strengths ), I did know my Gramma Klara. There is only one answer as to why we floc ked around her at holidays, that she became such a cause for excitement wh en she came and stayed with us for awhile and that answer has to be LOV E, freely and openly given ... you knew it ... you felt it ... she never s aid it. We never had to be told to "kiss Grandma and hug her". We d id it naturally --- joyfully. We hung around her chair watching her croche t, or darn socks, or patch overalls. We also learned early that we were n ot to disturb her when she held her rosary or read from her German pray er book, because ... "Shhh, Grandma is praying."
      I will insert this bit here, as I don't want to lose it among my note s. In a 1945 census of Furstenthal the name Schuster is no longer liste d, though there are a number of Baumgartners, Gashlers, Artmanns and Kuffn ers. In the upheaval during and after the Second World War alarge percent of German Bukovinans went to Germany under very trying circu mstances. Most of them that live in Germany settled in the Worthgau and Ea st Upper Silesia areas.
      The Bukovina of the Hapsburg era (the era in which our people were ther e) has been describedas a model for a United Europe. Home of some 12 nationalities, none of wh ich were a majority.Bukovina inhabitants exercised a mutual toleration for the ethnic and reli gious differences of their neighbors. Bukovina, now a part of Romani a, is located on the east side of the Carpathian Mountains. From a topic al map by Dr. Karl Stump, it appears that the terrain is the type that wou ld be situated between flatlands and mountains. I would describe it, as ro lling foothills. Maps show that Furstenthal is located bout 50 km sou th of Czernowity, the capitol. (Present day name Cernovcy) Present day na me for Furstenthal is Voivodeasa. These name changes were made when the U SSR annexed this territory, which now lies behind the Iron Curtain.
      By Mary Kaiser Conard in 1988
    Family History Document
    Bukowina Families 200 Years
    Bukowina Families 200 Years
    The family of Ferdinand Schuster and the families who settled in Ellis, Kansas are well documented in the Bukowina Families book.
    Military Service Bef 1904 
    Immigration Video - A short 10 minute video that gives a good idea about immigration from Europe. 
    Immigration 2 Jul 1904  New York, New York, New York, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Immigration 2 Jul 1904  Ellis Island, New York Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Occupation Bef 21 Jul 1912 
    Died 21 Jul 1912  Ellis, Ellis, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, Ellis, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I1119  1FamilyTree | JaysRelated, JayW_Mom_I101
    Last Modified 12 Apr 2018 

    Father SCHUSTER, Jakob,   b. 17 Jul 1828, Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 12 Aug 1877, Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 49 years) 
    Mother Mueller, Barbara,   b. 16 Feb 1834, Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 4 Sep 1899, Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 65 years) 
    Family ID F15945  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family BAUMGARTNER, Klara "Clara",   b. 3 Dec 1868, Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 3 Jul 1955, Ellis, Ellis, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 86 years) 
    Married 12 Oct 1890  Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
    +1. Male SCHUSTER, Frank Wenzel,   b. 21 Jun 1891, Radoutz, Austria Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 17 May 1980, Ellis, Ellis, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 88 years)
    +2. Female Schuster, Mary,   b. 20 Nov 1892, Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 6 Jan 1980, Ellis, Ellis, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 87 years)
    +3. Female Schuster, Theresia,   b. 6 Jun 1894, Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 9 Jun 1978, Hoxie, Sheridan, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 84 years)
    +4. Female Schuster, Barbara,   b. 24 Apr 1896, Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 23 Feb 1971, Wakeeney, Trego, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 74 years)
    +5. Female Schuster, Stephanie,   b. 13 Aug 1898, Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 16 Jan 1988, Ellis, Ellis, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 89 years)
     6. Male Schuster, Paul,   b. 28 Jun 1900, Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 8 Nov 1989  (Age 89 years)
     7. Female Schuster, Rosa,   b. 22 Nov 1902, Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aft 22 Nov 1902  (Age 0 years)
    +8. Male Schuster, Jacob "Jake",   b. 8 Jan 1904, Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 19 Feb 1989, Ellis, Ellis, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 85 years)
    +9. Female Schuster, Clara,   b. 13 Mar 1906, Ellis, Ellis, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 3 Jul 1998  (Age 92 years)
    +10. Male Schuster, John,   b. 9 Sep 1909, Ellis, Ellis, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 9 May 1983, Great Falls, Cascade, Montana, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 73 years)
    +11. Male Schuster, Englebert L. "Red",   b. 13 Oct 1911, Ellis, Ellis, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 20 Jul 2000, Ellis, Ellis, Kansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 88 years)
    Last Modified 1 Mar 2018 
    Family ID F15944  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 1 Nov 1865 - Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarried - 12 Oct 1890 - Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsImmigration - on the ship Kaiser Wilhelm from Bremen - 2 Jul 1904 - New York, New York, New York, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsImmigration - on the ship Kaiser William the second from Bremen - 2 Jul 1904 - Ellis Island, New York Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - 21 Jul 1912 - Ellis, Ellis, Kansas, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBuried - - St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, Ellis, Kansas, USA Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 
    Pin Legend  : Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  • Photos
    Schuster, Ferdinand
    Schuster, Ferdinand

  • Sources 
    1. [S449] Bukowina Families - 200 YEARS; by Edward "Al" Lang; 1993, Edward "Al" Lang.


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