How can family memorabilia further your ancestry research? Read the first-hand account of one of our researchers about how a family photograph helped her extend her family tree..
Most of us know what it’s like to misplace our keys just as we leave home. We hunt high and low, then look down: they were “hiding” right in front of us, sitting on the windowsill or hanging from one of our fingers, obscured by other belongings. What a relief! We laugh at our distractedness and move on.
Family research can be like that. I know from experience. Before my training as a genealogist, I searched for a couple of years for the birth village of my great-grandfather Louis Gruber in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. My initial geographical focus was Austria since my mother insisted that Louis, his brother Jacob, and their wives identified as Austrian. I had some information and promising leads, but when no birth records or other documents surfaced in Austria, I broadened my search to the entire empire. Eventually, I set the research aside — until one day, I examined an old family photograph more closely on a whim, and the astounding evidence I discovered unlocked the door to my quest.
The Often-Overlooked First Step in Genealogical Research
I made a rookie mistake when I was an amateur genealogical researcher. I failed to glean information from all the family memorabilia available to me. Photos, letters, objects with company or place names printed on them, and more could have provided clues that changed the progress of my research. I also neglected the importance of comprehensively interviewing family members, especially the eldest living, beginning with open-ended questions about family origins, history, and individuals and then clarifying details with specific queries.
Expanding My Personal Ancestry Research: introducing Louis Gruber and Paulina Springer, my great-Grandparents
My great-grandfather Louis Gruber immigrated to the U.S. from “Bohemia” on the S.S. Westernland, arriving in New York in 1894. At the 1900 census, Louis lived in St. Paul, Minnesota, in the household of his older brother Jacob. Louis was reportedly born in November 1873 and was 26 years old. His birthplace, as well as that of his parents, was listed as Germany.
In August 1902, Louis married my great-grandmother, Paulina Springer. Paulina, 22, arrived in New York in October 1901. On the ship manifest, she was identified as Bohemian, and her last place of residence was “Kuschwarda.” Kuschwarda was the German place name for what is now the Czech village of Strazny in the South Bohemian region of the Czech Republic. This information about Paulina’s origins helped narrow down possibilities for Louis’s home village since Paulina might have been intended as Louis’s wife, and the families were connected in their homeland.
The Conundrum of Identifying Nationality in the Austro-Hungarian Empire
One point of confusion in my research was the discrepancy regarding Louis Gruber’s nationality. Were Louis and Jacob indeed Austrian? Did they identify as such? The various U.S. and Minnesota censuses between 1900 and 1930 identified Louis’s nationality differently from census to census. In 1900, he was enumerated as German, in 1905 and 1910 Austrian, in 1920 Bohemian, and 1930 German. We often don’t know who provided census information to enumerators – the head of household, the wife, a child, a neighbor? This calls into question the accuracy of the information. Also, detecting a German accent or being told that the family spoke German might lead an enumerator to mistake a family’s origins. Given the numerous border changes and regime shifts in Germanic Europe during the nineteenth century, these discrepancies made it difficult even to know where to look!
A Place Name to Go On
As I continued my research, I found death and Social Security records that narrowed down the name of Louis’s home village. Jacob’s 1937 Social Security application listed his parents as John Gruber and Maria Lusick, and his birthplace was given as “Neuoven, Austria.” Notably, Neuoven translates in English to “new oven.” Louis’s 1930 death record recorded his parents’ names as Johannes Gruber and Maria Lustig – likely the same woman as that noted on Jacob’s Social Security application. This was confirmed by Jacob’s 1956 death record, which cited his mother’s name as Maria Lustig, precisely as in Louis’s. Louis’s death record listed no birthplace.
If Louis and Jacob shared the same parents, Louis’s birthplace likely was in or near the “Neuoven” noted in Jacob’s Social Security application. Still, no German spelling variations of the place name Neuoven in Austria, Germany, or other Eastern European collections yielded birth records for Louis or Jacob. At a loss, I told myself the records were likely destroyed in the World Wars.
Right in Front of My Eyes
Having set this question aside for many months, I visited my parents one weekend and found myself admiring a portrait of my second-great grandparents, the parents of Paulina Springer. The photo is striking, with the couple dressed in travel clothes, their eyes seemingly set on some unknown destination. On a whim, I asked my father to remove the photo from the frame. The photo was nailed into the frame, and although I feared damaging the photo, I was determined to know what lay on the opposite side. On the reverse, we discovered the words, “GRAND[MA] + GRANDPA SPRINGER, Mother Gruber’s Parents.” Mother Gruber, of course, was Paulina.
Beneath those words was an intricate illustration of a photography studio and the words “Ateliér Jos. Seidel, Krummau.” Atelier is the German word for studio, and Krummau is German for Cesky Krumlov, a city in the South Bohemian region of the Czech Republic. Joseph Seidel was a leading photographer of his day, known mainly for representing the life and culture of people living in the Czech-German-Austrian borderlands. What’s more, his photography studio – the very one illustrated on the back of my second-great-grandparents’ portrait – is now a museum that celebrates his work as a leading photographer of his time. 
A Second Chance at Finding Louis’s Home Village
I began reconsidering geographical possibilities. Strazny, where Paulina originated, is in the South Bohemian region, as is Cesky Krumlov. Might there have been a Neuoven in that vicinity? Also, given that the place names were originally identified in German, I should look for a Czech translation of Neuoven. In Czech, “Neu” is translated as “Nova.” I began exploring the areas between Strazny and Cesky Krumlov for places containing the word “Nova.” I quickly found a village called Nova Pec, which translates to “new furnace.” Nova Pec is located roughly 35 miles from Cesky Krumlov.
The Rewards of Locating Louis Gruber’s Home Village
Having almost certainly identified the origin of Louis Gruber and his brother Jacob in Nova Pec, I verified their nationality as Austrian and ascertained why the Gruber men immigrated to the U.S. During the nineteenth century, Austrians increasingly moved eastward into the Czech lands. Although after 1867, Czechoslovakia was under the control of the Austrian crown, ethnic tensions between the staunchly nationalistic Czechs and German-speaking residents sparked conflicts large and small. War was always on the horizon, and all Austrian men were obligated to serve eight years in the army. In addition, with rapid industrialization and urbanization, population numbers boomed, reducing opportunities for quality employment.
Advertisements recruiting German-speaking people for work in the U.S. were regularly circulated, particularly by the American railroad companies. Leaving Bohemia would release the Gruber brothers from conscription in the army. These may have been enticing opportunities for building a better, more peaceful life in America. After arriving in St. Paul, Louis and Jacob worked as sole cutters in the shoe industry. Later, they and their offspring worked for the Great Northern Railway as engineers, painters, and clerks. They thrived financially, brought their culture, traditions, and cuisines to St. Paul, and helped develop a community of immigrants who kept their cultural norms alive. Even my grandfather Walter Gruber carried on his family's traditional Austrian folk music, playing his concertina for me and my family whenever we visited him in Minnesota.
Genealogical Research is Not Linear
What did I learn from this experience that might help you avoid pitfalls in your family research?
- Always collect and examine every memento, photograph, letter, and other tangible family treasure that might contain important clues to your research question.
- Don’t forget that you might not immediately notice certain pieces of evidence or have fully gleaned all evidence from an object on your first pass. Come back to them again with fresh eyes, and you might find something unexpected.
- Engage your family members in your efforts! Interview them and ask to see any family mementos they might possess that you haven’t seen.
- Research extended family members and acquaintances whose genealogical records might contain indirect clues to your research subject.
- When you find a new clue in your research, ask family members what it might mean to them if you think it’s relevant.
You never know what hidden key might unlock the door to a family mystery! I will forever be grateful for that beautiful illustration of the Joseph Seidel photography studio on the reverse of my second-great-grandparents’ portrait!
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