Did the Lüneburg family come to America in 1852 on the ship George Canning?

We know that Maria Dorothea Caroline "Doris" Lüneburg (born September 2, 1842) came to America from Mecklenburg with her family some time before 1860. In that year, most of the Luneburg family was living in Middleton in Dane County, Wisconsin. Unfortunatelty, Different records list different years for the Luneburg immigration to America.

According to Doris's obituary, she came to America at "age 8" (about 1850 or 1851). The 1900 Census says 1853 and the 1920 Census says 1850. Records of her siblings suggest the family arrived in America in about 1851.

The newly released database of ship passenger lists from Castle Garden in New York includes one possible listing for the Lüneburg (or Luenburg) family:

The ship George Canning left from Hamburg, arriving at Castle Garden on July 30, 1852:

Name ______________ Occupation Age Sex
HANS ___ LUENNEBURG Unknown 44 M
ANNA ___ LUENNEBURG Unknown 46 F
JOACHIM_ LUENNEBURG Unknown 19 M
MARIA __ LUENNEBURG Unknown 17 F
FRITZ __ LUENNEBURG Unknown 14 M
HEINR.__ LUENNEBURG Unknown 12 M
DORIS __ LUENNEBURG Child... 8 F

This is a very close (but not exact) match to our Luneburg family:

- Carl Friedrich "Wilhelm" Luneburg (born Dec 1807) - age 44 in July 1852 (age matches, name does not)
- Anna Sophia Dorothea (Klauck) Luneburg (born Feb 1804) - age 48 (age close, name matches)
- George Luneburg (born about 1833) - about age 19 (age match, name close)
- Marie "Mary" Luneburg (born about 1834) - about age 18 (age match, name match)
- Friedrich "Fritz" Luneburg (born Feb 1838) - age 14 (age and name match)
- Heinrich "Henry" J. Luneburg (born Nov 1840 or 1841) - age 11 (age close, name match)
- Maria Dorothea Caroline "Doris" Luneburg (born Sept 1842) - age 9 (age close, name match)

It is possible that ages (and to a lesser extent names) were either written incorrectly in the passenger list, or transcribed incorrectly into this database. Hopefully further research will clarify whether this is our Luneburg family.

LINKS

Description of the George Canning (with picture)
Passenger list of the George Canning from November 1852 (showing many passengers from Mecklenburg)