Johann Heinrich Fritz Martin Barmann comes to Chicago | Mike Lembke's Family History Page

I do not know why John Barmann decided to come to America in 1886 when he was 21 years old. There was a family story that he came to avoid military service. This could certainly have been true, as it was one of the most popular reasons for young men to emigrate from Germany at that time. Otto von Bismarck, the German Chancellor and former head of the Prussian state, had demonstrated that he would use war to further his political agenda, but the new German Empire, formed in 1871, had been at peace since the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. If John Barmann had been drafted, he would have served for 3 years and then been eligible for recall (part of the active reserve) until middle age.¹

Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 1910

It is possible that John left because of the lack of prospects for the son of a farmhand in Pustohl, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany. Mecklenburg was one of the poorest states in Germany. The economy was mostly agrarian. The dissolution of serfdom in 1820 may have seemed like a good idea for the peasants, but, in fact, it was a disaster. Yes, they were free to leave the land they were tied to by serfdom, but the estate owners were also freed of all obligations to the serfs. The land owners no longer had to care for sick and elderly peasants and they could simply evict workers that they no longer needed or wanted. Grinding poverty, desperation and living hand-to-mouth characterized the existence of Mecklenburg’s poorest people. Nearly one third of all Mecklenburgers left the state between 1820 and 1890. It is one of the highest percentage of 19^th century emigration of any European state.

Almost 1.5 million Germans emigrated to the United States in the 1880s, the largest number in any decade before or since. John Barmann’s older sister, Friederike and her husband, Martin Peters, emigrated in October, 1885, one year before John’s voyage. They likely lived in Chicago and so the booming midwestern city was John’s destination in October, 1886. Positive reports John likely received from his sister would certainly have been an important factor in his decision to leave Mecklenburg and come to Chicago.

John boarded the SS Polynesia of the Carr line on October 20, 1886 in Hamburg and docked in New York on November 6. The 17 day passage was one of the slowest of this period because the Carr Line was known as the “budget” ship line. The ships did not have the most up-to-date propulsion systems or the best accommodations. The Polynesia had no first or second class cabins, it had capacity for 950 third class passengers.

It is likely that John stayed with his sister’s family for a short time after his arrival in Chicago. This was likely in the Bridgeport neighborhood near many other German families. John married Albertine Damaschke on 24 March 1889. Six people are recorded as witnesses in the Holy Cross Church marriage register, but it seems odd that John’s sister and brother-in-law are not among them.

Holy Cross Church

I can only hope that John and Albertine were happy in 1889, because 1890 was not a good year for them. The year started on a high note, their first child was born early in the year. However, two weeks after Meta Johanna Friedrike was born in January of 1890, Albertine, her mother and John’s wife, died. John and Albertine’s life together was very short-lived.

John was probably not thinking about buying a cemetery plot when 1890 began, but he did purchase a six burial site on January 31, 1890 at Concordia Cemetery in Forest Park. Albertine was buried that day in Section 4 lot 959. It was an unusually warm day for January, possibly reaching 50 degress, with no precipitation. Horse-drawn carriages would have proceeded from Holy Cross to Concordia. First in line would be a carriage for the pastor and pall-bearers, next the hearse, followed by carriages with family and friends. Well-to-do attendees would have driven in their own carriages, but most people would use a rented carriage provided by the family.

On that day, Concordia records show that John lived at 3113 Wall Street in Chicago, a few blocks away from Holy Cross Church, where Meta was baptized two weeks earlier and where the services were held for Albertine. Wall Street is now called S. May Street.

The next few months would have been very stressful for John. Single men were not expected to know how to raise children, so John was probably very worried about his daughter. He would have relied on the people at Holy Cross and the recent immigrants from Mecklenburg-Schwerin , for help. Only 3 ½ months after Albertine’s death, John was married to Sohia Behning, the oldest daughter of Elizabeth and the late William Behning on 17 May 1890. The Behning family must have known the Barmann family from back in Mecklenburg. Gnemern, the home of the Behnings and Pustohl, the home of the Barmanns, were nearby communities whose residents attended the Church in Behrendshagen, a small town roughly midway between Gnemern and Pustohl. The short courtship and the fact that John and Sophia are second cousins leads me to speculate that this was a marriage of convenience. I can see why John would desire this match, his new wife would help him raise his daughter. It is a little more difficult to understand Sophia’s motivation for accepting this match. Ironically, the likely reason for the marriage, little Meta Johanna Friederike Barmann, died on 1 Jul 1890, 6 weeks after John and Sophia’s wedding.

The year 1890 must surely have been the most memorable year in John Barmann’s life. John Barmann began the year with a wife and a baby due any day and ended the year with no children, a different wife and another child on the way. John and Sophia’s story, which includes 11 children, will be the subject of a future post.