CARL DIETRICH SIEGFRIED BERG Born: December 1, 1829 Quetzen, Westphalia, Prussia Married: Tiene Charlotte Busse July 30, 1854 Logansport, Indiana Died: October 23, 1856 Logansport, Indiana |
Sailing Ship known as a barque |
It was from the records found in Germany of the origins of this man that his great-grandson, Walter H. Berg, Jr., developed an interest in family history.
Carl Dietrich Siegfried Berg was the second illegitimate son of Hanne Berg, born on 1 Dec 1829 in Quetzen, Westfalen, Prussia. He was confirmed in the Lutheran church at Lahde, as Friedrich Bultemeier, but reassumed his birth name upon maturity. He learned to be a shoemaker in Quetzen as an apprentice, then joined the Prussian Army. He was also handy at making furniture. He was discharged from the army in Minden in 1853. Returning home to Quetzen, he found conditions difficult. There was a continuing problem getting along with his stepfather. There was the stigma of illegitimacy that he could not escape. Conditions were poor for finding work. In addition there were letters from his older brother in America describing the good life he had found in Logansport. So, Carl made the decision to sail for America in 1854.
He set sail from the port of Bremen, Prussia about May 1, 1854 on the Wieland, a sailing vessel called a barque. To get to Bremen, he had to go by river boat down the Weser River from the village of Lahde. Also travelling on the Wieland was a young woman five years older than he by the name of Tiene Charlotte Busse. "Dina" was from the village of Ilfesheide. It appears likely that they met aboard ship.
An immigration document issued by the State of Indiana shows that "Frederick Bergh" arrived in New York from the port of Bremen, Prussia on May 1, 1854. However, checking ship arrivals and passengers lists, there were no ships from Bremen arriving on that date. In the indexes in Germans to America, 1850-1884, vol.7, by Glazier & Filby there is a Friedrich Berg, age 24, arriving New York from Bremen on the "WIELAND" on 20 May 1854 with a destination of Indiana. On same ship was a Tine Bresse, age 29 with a destination of New York. Ages of both are right to be Carl and Tiene. A slight misspelling of Busse and a careless recording of the arrival date is understandable with the difference in languages that were spoken. Carl is listed as Friedrich Berg, and is shown to be a shoemaker. This has to be this couple. They are not listed together on the passenger list which names 192 passengers..
A bark, or barque, is a sailing vessel not quite up to being called a ship. It has at least 3 masts. The distinguishing feature of a barque is that all masts are rigged with square sails except the sternmost. Barques on the Atlantic in the mid 19th century were typically wooden, three masted vessels. Four masted barques appeared in early 20th century. A typical wooden, three masted barque would be about 150 feet long, 28 feet wide at beam, and 28 foot draft, of about 360 gross tons.
Whether Carl and "Dina" left Germany together or knew each other before the trip will never be known for certain, but they did arrive together in New York, and travelled together to Logansport, Indiana by means a combination of canal boat and train. They were married in Logansport on July 30, 1854. Fred found work making furniture.
The couple had a son - Heinrich Friedrich Christian Berg - born on March 20, 1856. Carl was taken ill with "consumption" shortly after the boy was born and died on October 23, 1856. He was just 27 years old.
When Carl Dietrich Siegfried Berg (finished his tour of duty with the Prussian Army in 1853, he received a certificate of discharge that set forth the terms of his discharge. After his death the document was kept by his widow and later his son. In 1973 it was found in an old trunk in the attic of his granddaughter - Magdalena Johanna Berg. Ultimately, that document led to the discovery of a wealth of information about the Berg family from the Lutheran Church at Lahde, West Germany. But at the time, the only words decipherable were the man's name and the name of a city in Germany - Minden. A letter with a Xerox copy of the document was sent to "Department of Records" - Minden, Germany, hoping for a response that would shed some light on the man and his family.
Several months passed with no answer to my inquiry. In the meantme, an old gentleman in Tampa,Florida who could read old German script, translated the document. Madge was fluent in German and could read a typed page, but the script was beyond her. This man was a stamp collector and did the translation in exchange for a box full of old stamps. It was only then that we learned that the document was an army discharge certificate.
Carl Berg had served as a "Fusilier" in the Prussian Army, apparently a duty imposed on all Prussian youth.
After many months a letter came from the Lutheran church in Lahde, explaining that no records were kept by the government before 1872 because there was no unified German country until then. All records were kept in the local churches. The inquiry had found its way to the church in Lahde. Subsequent corresondence led to discovery of the names of several ancestors through their birth, baptismal, marriage, and death records in the church.
One of the few surviving possessions of Carl Berg was an old pipe bowl, made of white ceramic material. There was a delicate painting on the side and a bit of poetry beneath the painting. The bowl was shaped in a strange way, and with no stem it was difficult to imagine what the full pipe looked like. For years it remained a mystery as to what the pipe looked like or how it was used.
All of the correspondence to the churches in Germany led to an exchange of trips with Berg descendants on both sides of the Atlantic. On one of those visits the pipe bowl was identified as one typically used by marching men in the Army. To be functional as a pipe, the bowl was attached to a long stem - three feet long - with a tasseled cord for hanging the pipe around one's neck. The top of the bowl was usually covered by an ornate silver lid.
The only other surviving possession of Carl Berg is a chest of drawers hand made by him in the old style. Two small drawers are recessed at the top, and there are three large drawer in the lower section. Each drawer has a keyed lock. Both the pipe bowl and the chest of drawers are in the possession of Fred's great grandson, Walter H. Berg, Jr.
Documents:
Birth Certificate
Confirmation Certificate
Discharge from Prussian Army
ImmigrationCertificate