Cousin Connections: Tracking Down Family Portraits

According tho the Haase papers, in 1909 Pauline Schlund Haase, a granddaughter of Fidel and Josepha Schlund, purchased two life size oil paintings of Fidel and Josepha. They were purchased from members of the Marckhart family in Immenstadt and Pauline brought them to the United States. As of the writing of the papers, 1959, the portraits were owned by Elsa Haase Sweet.

The papers also include crude photocopies of pictures of the portraits. I was curious if I could find better quality pictures of the oil paintings. I decided to look on Ancestry.com and see if I could find any descendants of Pauline Schlund Haase.

I got into touch with a gentleman who ended up being a cousin! He shared better pictures of the portraits with me. I then shared the information he had given me about who the current owner of the portraits might be with another cousin. We have just started working together and she has shared so much information with me. I am so glad we connected! She was able to find out who has the portraits. In just one day!

So now we know who currently owns the portraits and have better pictures of them. I never realized before how much connecting with cousins really pays off in genealogy. Now that I am making these connections I am learning more than I have in a long time. I also am able to share what I know about the Schlunds with others which really makes me happy!

I have permission to share the portraits so I am posting them here. I also am posting a retouched version, done by a photographer friend from Facebook. I hope anyone with connections to the Schlund family enjoys these pictures.

Retouched version of the painting of Fidel Schlund

Retouched version of the painting of Josepha Schlund

Immigration to America- Part 2

Fidel Anton Schlund's family immigration has been documented in the Herbert Haase papers. In them he writes that after Fidel's release from prison the German authorities found a stockade of firearms hidden under the floorboards of his factory. One family account says the weapons were submerged in water, in the stream that ran near the buildings. The guns were for revolutionary purposes. In danger of further imprisonment he began to dispose of his property as best he could and make arrangements to travel to America. According to the Haase papers, Fidel sent two of his sons, Peter and Crysant (Christian) ahead of the family to America to explore the possibilities. He hired an English governess two years before the families departure, so that when they arrived in New York they all had knowledge of the English language. In 1852 Fidel, Josepha, and 8 of their children left for America. His eldest daughter Anna had married and remained in Immenstadt. Fidel made ample provisions for her. They brought with them two servants or retainers who stayed with them until they died. 

Some of the above mentioned is collaborated or disproved through the following ship records. 

Inman Line’s City of Glasgow
Image from Wikipedia.

Records show that Fidel, his wife Maria Josepha, and their children departed from Liverpool, England on March 7, 1853 aboard the Inman’s Line SS City of Glasgow. They arrived March 22, 1853 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

The Haase papers claim that Crysant went ahead of the family to America, however records show that he was on the SS City of Glasgow with his family in 1852. If the Haase papers are correct then maybe Crysant had gone ahead to America and returned to Germany? I have not found records to show such a trip occurred. 

SS City of Glasgow Passenger List

Fidle Schlund	22 Mar 1853	47 Years	abt 1806	Male	Liverpool, England	City of Glasgow	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	M425_76
Josephina Schlund	22 Mar 1853	44 Years	abt 1809	Female	Liverpool, England	City of Glasgow	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	M425_76
Anton Schlund	22 Mar 1853	25 Years	abt 1828	Male	Liverpool, England	City of Glasgow	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	M425_76
Aloys Schlund	22 Mar 1853	18 Years	abt 1835	Male	Liverpool, England	City of Glasgow	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	M425_76
Joseph Schlund	22 Mar 1853	15 Years	abt 1838	Male	Liverpool, England	City of Glasgow	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	M425_76
Maria Schlund	22 Mar 1853	23 Years	abt 1830	Female	Liverpool, England	City of Glasgow	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	M425_76
Fidel Schlund	22 Mar 1853	10 Years	abt 1843	Male	Liverpool, England	City of Glasgow	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	M425_76
Max Schlund	22 Mar 1853	8 Years	abt 1845	Male	Liverpool, England	City of Glasgow	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	M425_76
Mary Schlund	22 Mar 1853	13 Years	abt 1840	Female	Liverpool, England	City of Glasgow	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	M425_76
Emily Schlund	22 Mar 1853	11 Years	abt 1842	Female	Liverpool, England	City of Glasgow	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	M425_76

Crysant is listed separately from the family, but on the same page of the ships manifest.

SS City of Glasgow Passenger List

Christ Schlund

22 Mar 1853

23 Years

abt 1830

Male

Liverpool, England

City of Glasgow

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

M425_76

I was able to find records that show that Fidel's son Peter and his daughter Katharina did immigrate to America in 1852 a year before the rest of the family.

SS Humboldt Passenger List

Peter Schlund arrived May 8th, 1852 in New York. He was 20 at the time. He departed from Bremen, Germany. He was listed as a merchant. He was aboard the SS Humboldt.

Samuel M Fox Passenger List

Katharina Schlund was 19 when she traveled to New York aboard the Samuel M Fox. She arrived Aug 4, 1852. She departed from La Havre, France. Also aboard the ship were her husband Anton Aniser and his family.

Sadly Fidel’s daughter, Maria Theresa Schlund, and his son, Karl Albert Schlund passed away in Germany before the family immigrated.

It is believed that Fidel and his family settled for 2 or 3 years in Newark, New Jersey, however about 6 years after immigrating they were living in Chicago, Illinois.

Willmer Alois Leonhard Schlund- Father of Fidel Schlund

Fidel Schlund's father, was Willmer Alois Leonard Schlund. Willmer was born in about 1770 and died in 1837.

The following information about Willmer is from "The Schlund Family" a family history paper written by Herbert E Haase in 1959. It is currently my main source for information regarding Willmer as very little is known about him.

Willmer Schlund came originally from the city of Weingarten, which is located about 50 miles northwest of Immenstadt. He had been impressed into Napoleon's army and captured by the Austrians. When he was liberated he came to Immenstadt. The Napoleonic/Austrian War was fought over ownership of Bavaria. When the French were in control of the area they impressed many Germans into their ranks, regardless of nationality and inclination.

A family story told by one of Willmer's great granddaughters is the theory that Willmer was a Frenchman, not a German, and that he had assumed a German name when he settled in Immenstadt. There is no verification that this story is true so it remains an interesting speculation.

Willmer married Katherine Kennerknecht on January 18, 1803. She was his second wife. The Schlund family home was a impressive four-story structure on the most prominent corner of the open city square in Immenstadt. Willmer bought the home from the Count of Rosenfels, who occupied it as his town house. As of this writing (1959) the Vogt family had owned the home for over one hundred years.

Willmer was a dyer and manufacturer or woolens, cottons, and linens. He was a merchant.