Certificate of Arrival

Last month I wrote about my wife's 3rd-great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Schwarzlose Koehler. This post takes the family one generation back, to Mary's father John William (Johan Wilhelm) Schwarzlose. He was born on 19 October 1826 in Prussia, near Magdeburg, Germany. One immigration story on the Schwarzlose family is that they came on the ship Currituck from Bremen to New York in November 1853. An earlier document shows a Wilhelm Schwarzlose arrived in Dover, England on 21 August 1851 carrying a passport from the Prussian government.

Source: Ancestry. England, Alien Arrivals, image 541 of 847.

The book "Genealogy of the John William and Maria Elizabeth Schwarzlose family, 1853-1989" states that John and his wife Maria arrived in West Salem, Illinois during the winter of 1853-1854. "They lived in a barn on the Gentz farm north of where the Schwarzlose school was later built (just south of West Salem). Over the years they raised a family of six children."

Source: Schwarzlose book on FamilySearch

One researcher on Ancestry has a marriage date for John William and Maria Elizabeth as 14 November 1852 in Roxforde, Gardelegen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. They had a son, Johan Wilhelm Schwarzlose Jr, on 4 August 1853 in Germany. Their second son, Henry J. Schwarzlose, was born on 14 October 1856 in West Salem, Edwards County, Illinois.

According to the Schwarzlose book, John William Sr signed a declaration to become a US citizen on 4 December 1865 and received his citizenship on 7 September 1868. "When he became a citizen, his wife and first son, John William Jr, automatically became citizens."

"John William Sr. was a farmer. He was known as William or William Sr., and his wife as Mary. During the first few years he probably worked for other farmers, and/or rented or leased farm land, since the first record of his having bought land was 1 July 1864. He bought 40 acres for $250 'in hand paid' in Section 20, the next section southeast of West Salem. From that time until 1890 he and his wife bought 235 acres plus several lots in West Salem. The largest purchase was 100 acres for $2500 in February 1873. All, except one purchase, were paid in cash. The exception was one parcel bought through a mortgage. John William is shown on most of the deeds as William Schwarlose but some show William Sr. Some deeds were signed William but some were signed Wilhelm."

"John William Sr. and Maria Elizabeth spoke German throughout their lives. The deeds show that John William Sr. could write, but Maria Elizabeth could not. She signed the deeds with her mark - X. Their children all spoke German. Some of the grandchildren knew some German. John William Sr. did not participate in the Civil War."