I am looking for info on Friedrich Backer (Becker), German sailor who emigrated to USA in 1860 and Dorothea Ehlis (Ehlers) who emigrated to USA in 1862. They were married in Chicago, IL in 1869. I am their Great-Grandaughter. Both are from Hannover.
Regards, Deborah Baker
Hi Deborah,
I have spent a lot of time and cannot come up with anything regarding
your family! A couple questions - When did the Backer become Becker? And
the Ehlis become Ehlers? Do you have knowledge of additional names for
either one of these people? I mean, like Johann Friedrich or the like. In
the emigration archives, there are no Ehlis, but too many Ehlers to know
which would be correct. There are a number of Backer's, but no Friedrich
Backer and too many Friedrich Becker's to know which is right. Do you have
birthdates? Marriage certificates? Birth certificates of their children?
Ship lists? What are the children's names? Did they stay in Chicago?
I am sorry I can't be of more help,
Barbara
Dear Barbara,
Thank you for your interest. My Great Grandfather, Friedrich, was a German sailor who "jumped" ship in San Francisco and traveled East to Chicago. He probably did not want anyone to track him down and I understand that census takers weren't always careful about name spellings especially when an accent was hard to understand. We have land titles and other documents where he has signed his last name as Backer, Becker, and Bakkar. He lived on Baker Street in Chicago and people thought the street name was after him (it wasn't), and so he adopted his last name as Baker. We have been the Baker Family since 1900. His given name was originally Friedrich, sometimes Frederick, and ended as Fred. When in America, be American! (Unlike today). We have no idea of his ship's name.
The only clue we have to his wife's name is on her gravestone "Dorothea Ehlis Baker". But I found that her granddaughter wrote the last name as Allars on her Father's death certificate (probably a phonetic spelling). So I think her last name may be Ehlers.
Both state on Census's that they were from Hannover. I have a feeling both did not want to "stand out" as Germans in a predominantly Irish neighborhood in 1880 Chicago. My Father told me that even his parents had a picture of the Kaiser on their wall but turned it over to another picture when guests were in their house in the 1920's and 30's.
Friedrich built his home and 2-others in Chicago in the 1880's. They lived in the same house until the 1960's. My Father has written a Family biography with pictures from his old neighborhood. Can you believe it, that same house is still standing! But the neighborhood has changed and is no longer a safe area.
As you can see from my last name Yamamoto, I am married to a Japanese.
Life is certainly interesting.
Regards, Deborah Baker Yamamoto