In 1975, my mother’s cousin received a letter from a fellow Jentz who was researching the family tree. An exchange of information followed, evidenced by the folder of photocopies and correspondence in the records. Whether the story entered our family lore at this time or we were the ones to share it, I don’t know, but the letters from the 1970s are one clue as to how the legend of the missing sister became part of our tale.
A story is that brothers William, John, and Albert with a sister Catherine Ann came to America in 1851 and after landing in New York the boys went to get their things from the boat and when they returned they could not find Catherine. They searched and searched but never did find her. One report is that Albert died soon after coming to this country.
While most of the information in the photocopies is correct, there are a few errors – which opens the door of possibility that oral history doesn’t always match historic records. Part of the story is that the siblings were en route to Platteville to join their oldest sister Anna Jentz Suhr. Anna did live in Platteville eventually, but she didn’t immigrate from Germany until 1882, 30 years after the boys. There are no familiar names in the 1850 Platteville Census, so it’s possible that Fred and William knew someone there but it wasn’t their sister Anna.
The boys did have another sister, Catharina Margaretha Sophie Jentz, who married Berend Christoph Sierk in their hometown of Spieka, Germany. Sophie and Christoph married in 1849 and their children were born in 1849 and 1851 in Spieka… but that’s the last known record of them. Did they move to the United States? Their last name could make finding records difficult with various misspellings. They were not on the same ship that brought Fred and William to America, according to the ship’s records.
So what happened to Catherine Ann? And Albert? Research to date doesn’t support the story, but as more records are uncovered there’s always the possibility that new details will emerge. For now, I think the legend of the missing sister is false – if Catherine Ann and Albert did travel to America, their tale is lost to time.
Image:
Arrival of a Ship of Immigrants in the Port of New York 1853-1855
by Samuel Waugh (1848-1927)
De Agnostini Picture Library, Museum of the City of New York
https://www.watercolourworld.org/painting/arrival-ship-immigrants-port-new-york-tww002022