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)

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Luneburg and Kolm Move to Schuyler, Nebraska from Wisconsin

The first of our relatives to settle in Nebraska were two sons of William and Anna (Klauck) Luneburg: the civil war veteran Henry J. Luneburg (1841-1880) and family, and his brother Fritz Luneburg (1838-1895) and family. The moved from Middleton, Wisconsin to Schuyler in Colfax County, Nebraska between 1871 and 1875.

In October 1878 both William and Anna Luneburg died in Middleton, Wisconsin. About a year later, in November 1879, their youngest daughter Doris, her husband Henry Kolm, and their children joined the Luneburg brothers in Schuyler.

When Henry and Fritz arrived in Schuyler, it was a young town. The railway station was built in 1868, and the first general store opened in 1869. In 1870, the year Schuyler was incorporated, Texas cattlemen started driving thousands of head of cattle into the newly established stockyards. Businesses were opened to serve the cowboys, and many newcomers settled in town. The population reached population of 600 by the end of that year.

This initial prosperity did not last long - grasshoppers and drought plagued the settlers during the mid-1870s, causing the cattle to be moved further west. Times were tough until the rains returned in 1877. The occupations of Henry and Fritz Luneburg during this period are unknown. In 1880 Fritz was a laborer living in Shell Creek Precinct, northeast of Schuyler. Henry died before the 1880 census was taken. Fritz died in 1895.

When Henry and Doris (Luneburg) Kolm arrived in Schuyler in 1879, Henry worked as a carpenter, as he had in Wisconsin. By 1888 he was breeding cattle and horses on a farm owned by the Wells and Nieman Flour Mill Company, just north of Schuyler along Shell Creek. Doris and her daughters cooked for the ranch hands. When the 1900 census was taken, it appears they were living on this ranch, in Grant Precinct.

Later, son Charles Kolm had a farm in Richland Precinct, closer to the Platte River. This farm was located two miles north of the Platte River, near Schuyler, which was mostly pasture and hayland at the time.

In about 1905, Henry Kolm retired, and he and Doris moved into the town of Schuyler. Even after Henry retired he was supposedly asked to come out to the ranch to look after machinery.

Henry Kolm died in 1909 and was buried in Schuyler cemetery. The widow Doris eventually returned to Middleton, Wisconsin to live with one (or both) of her married daughters, Anna (Kolm) Orth or Lena (Kolm) Staack. She died in 1924, and her body was returned to Schuyler, where she was buried next to Henry.



(Information about living on the ranch taken from a letter from Ramona “Mona” Staack Gray to Leland “Lee” Kolm, 1976. “I’m sure Mother said she was two when they moved to the ranch.” (her mother, Lena Kolm, was born in 1886). Mona indicates it was either the Fuller range and or the Wells-Nieman ranch.)

Schuyler Links
•Obituary of Doris (Luneburg) Kolm (note that there are many typos and phonetic spellings in the original!).
• Township map of Colfax County, Nebraska, from the 1885 Atlas of Nebraska
•History of Schuyler, Nebraska (from the from the Nebraska "Our Towns" site)
•Andreas' History of Nebraska, 1882 - Colfax County (including a description of the business of Wells & Nieman's Flour Mill).
•Information about Schuyler from 1892 History (scroll to bottom of page)
•History of the First Presbyterian Church of Schuyler (organized in December 1869. Minnie, Marie and Anna Kolm, daughters of Henry Kolm, jr., were members of this church)
•A methodist minister in Schuyler (where the people apparently drank too much) from A Frontier Life: Sketches and Incidents of the Homes in the West, by Charles Wesley Wells, 1902.
•Satellite Map of Schuyler
•Schuyler today

Related Links
•Railroad map of Nebraska, 1874
•Prairie Settlement (Library of Congress exhibit about the settlement of central Nebraska - Custer, Buffalo, Dawson and Cherry counties - west of Colfax County.)
•Ranchers and Farmers Collide in Nebraska, 1884 (homesteading in Custer County)
•Nebraska State Historical Society Photographs, 1850-1938 (photos from all over Nebraska, including Colfax county).
•Wessel's Living History Farm in York, Nebraska. Focus on the 1920s-1940s. At this time our ancestor Will Kolm was living on the west coast. His brother Charles was running the Kolm family farm in Colfax County.

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Henry Kolm & Doris Luneburg in Middleton, Wisconsin

When Carl Heinrich Christian "Henry" Kolm arrived in America from Mecklenburg, in about 1860, he made his way from New Orleans, up the Mississippi River towards the town of Mendota, Wisconsin. (Family legend says that Henry mistakenly got off the boat at Mendota, Illinois and had to make his way north on foot). Finally, he arrived in the large community of immigrants from Mecklenburg in Middleton Township, Dane County, Wisconsin.

The town of Middleton, on the shore of Lake Mendota near Madison, was originally called Mendota, then officially changed its name to Middleton in about 1870.*

Wilhelm and Anna (Klauck) Lüneburg settled in Middleton Township, in the Pheasant Branch area, in the early or mid-1850s. They were also emigrants from Mecklenburg. The two oldest Lüneburg children, George Luneburg and Marie (Luneburg) Nortmann, lived in Milwaukee with their spouses and children. The three younger children: Friedrich "Fritz", Henry, and Maria Dorothea Caroline "Doris" Luneburg lived in Middleton with their parents.

It is not known whether Henry Kolm settled in Middleton immediately upon arriving in Wisconsin. We do know that Henry Kolm and Doris Luneburg married on June 23, 1862 in Madison. On their marriage license, Henry listed his occupation as a carpenter and joiner.

After their marriage, Henry and Doris settled in the town of Middleton, where Henry worked as a carpenter. They had six children in Middleton: Henry, August, Frank, Mary, Charles, and Anna.

The Kolms remained in Middleton until November 1879, when they joined Doris' brothers Henry and Fritz in Schuyler, Colfax County, Nebraska. (three more Kolm chilren were born in Nebraska: Fred, William and Lena).

The elder Lüneburgs both died in October 1878. Wilhelm and Anna are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Middleton.

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Links:

• My earlier post about the 1873 Middleton Township plat map.

• History from the City of Middleton web site, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Middleton Tourism Commission.

• Photos from the Wisconsin Historical Society
--- 1873: Middleton Wisconsin Rail Crossing
--- 1876: Bird's Eye View of Middleton, Wisconsin

• Articles from the Wisconsin Historical Society
--- 3-14-1920 Wisconsin State Journal
--- 11-18-1928 Wisconsin State Journal
--- 2-5-1939 Capital Times

* This town in Middleton Township, Dane County has been called Peatville (1856), Middleton Station (Juen 1862), Mendota (July 1862) and finally Middleton (April 1870). It has always been located near the shore of Lake Mendota. (see "The Early History of the Pheasant Branch Watershed" for details)

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1873 Plat Map of Dane County, Wisconsin: Kolm, Luneburg

Carl Heinrich Christian "Henry" Kolm (1837-1909) emigrated from Mecklenburg-Schwerin in about 1860, settling in Middleton Township in Dane County, Wisconsin, near Madison. There he met and married Maria Dorothea Caroline "Doris" Lüneburg (1842-1924) in 1862. The Kolms remained in Middleton until 1879, when they moved to Schuyler, Nebraska.
The Dane County Historical society has put the county 1873 Plat map on-line. (NOTE: all links are to large images).

Property owners in Middleton Township include:
• "W. Lunenburg" in Section 16 (probably William Lüneburg, Doris' father)
• "H. Luneburg" in Section 26 (probably Doris' brother Henry)
• "F. Kolm" in Section 21 (either Henry Kolm with miswritten first initial or an unknown relative)

Southwest Middleton Township: Sections 16-21 and 28-33.
Southeast Middleton Township: Sections 13-15, 22-27, 34-36

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Mini bio: William & Anna (Klauck) Lüneburg

Brief biography of Carl Friedrich Wilhelm "William" Lüneburg (1807-1878) and his wife Anna Dorothea Klauck (1804-1878). Their position in the family tree.

Carl Friedrich Wilhelm "William" Lüneburg
Birth: December 29, 1807 Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany)
Baptism: unknown
Parents: unknown
Known residences:
--- 1842 Vellahn, Mecklenburg-Schwerin
--- about 1851 emigrated to America
--- 1860 in Pheasant Branch, Middleton Township, Dane County, Wisconsin
--- 1870 in Middleton Station, Dane County, Wisconsin
--- 1878 in Middleton, Dane County, Wisconsin
Occupation: Büdner (farmer with small land holding) in Mecklenburg, farmer in Wisconsin
Death: October 21, 1878; buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Middleton, Dane County, Wisconsin

Anna Sophia Dorothea Klauck
Birth: February 24, 1804 in Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany)
Baptism: unknown
Parents: unknown
Known residences:
-- all with husband William
Death: October 30, 1878; buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Middleton, Dane County, Wisconsin

Marriage and Children

Marriage: details unknown (probably in Mecklenburg)

Children:
-- George Luneburg born about 1833, married Victoria Heis
-- Marie "Mary" Luneburg born about 1834, married John "Gerhart" Nortmann
-- Friedrich "Fritz" Luneburg born about 1838, married Mary Kaasch
-- Henry J. Luneburg born 1840, married Mary Schroeder
** Maria Dorothea Caroline "Doris" Luneburg born 1842, married Carl Heinrich "Henry" Kolm

Posts about William and Anna (Klauck) Lüneburg

• Henry Kolm and Doris Luneburg in Middleton, Wisconsin
• 1873 Plat Map of Dane County
• Did the Lüneburg family come to America in 1852?

Off-site Links
• 1873 Plat Map of Dane County Wisconsin - Middleton Township
• Roster of the 11th Wisconsin Infantry, Co. B, the "Mendota Guard": Henry J. Luneburg of Middleton is 2nd Lieutenant. Cousins Frederick and William Lauden (listed as Loudon & London) were enlisted in this company as well.

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Mini bio: Henry and Doris (Luneburg) Kolm

Brief biography of Carl Heinrich Christian "Henry" Kolm (1837-1909) and his wife Maria Dorothea Caroline "Doris" Luneburg (1842-1924). Their position in the family tree.

Carl Heinrich Christian "Henry" Kolm

Birth: August 13, 1837 in Warlow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany)
Baptism: August 15, 1837 in Warlow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Parents: Carl Heinrich Emanuel "Charles" Kolm & Christine "Maria" Maack
Known residences:
--- about 1860 emigrated to America
--- 1863 in Middleton, Dane County, Wisconsin
--- 1870 in Middleton, Dane County, Wisconsin
--- 1879 in Schuyler, Colfax County, Nebraska
--- 1885 in Schuyler, Colfax County, Nebraska
--- 1900 in Grant Precinct, Colfax County, Nebraska
Occupation: carpenter & joiner; farmer

Death: April 21, 1909 in Schuyler; buried in Schuyler Cemetery, Colfax County, Nebraska

Maria Dorothea Caroline "Doris" Luneburg

Birth: September 2, 1842 in Vellahn, Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany)
Baptism: February 3, 1843 in Vellahn, Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany)
Parents: Carl Friedrich Wilhelm "William" Lüneburg & Anna Sophia Dorothea Klauck
Known residences:
-- about 1851 emigrated to America
-- 1860 in Middleton, Dane County, Wisconsin
-- 1862-1909 living with husband Henry
-- 1910 in Schuyler, Colfax County, Nebraska
-- 1920 in Middleton, Dane County, Wisconsin (with daughter Anna (Kolm) Orth)
Death: April 23, 1924 in Middleton, Wisconsin; buried in Schuyler Cemetery, Colfax County, Nebraska

Marriage and Children

Marriage: Henry Kolm and Doris Luneburg married June 23, 1862 in Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin.

Children:
-- Henry William Kolm born 1863, married Helena Becker
-- August Henry Frank Kolm born 1864
-- Sophia Kolm born between 1863 and 1870
-- Frank Henry Kolm born 1867, married Clara Nieman
-- Marie Frances "Mary" Kolm born 1869, married Sidney Tivey
-- Charles John Kolm born 1872, married Fredricka Muenster
-- Anna Wilhelmina Kolm born 1875, married John Henry Orth
-- Frederick W. Kolm born 1882, married Victoria Koziel
** William Louis Kolm born 1884, married Nellie Frida Bernitt
-- Mina Sophia Karlina "Lena" Kolm born 1886, married Henry Staack

Posts about Henry and Doris (Luneburg) Kolm
• Henry Kolm and Doris Luneburg in Middleton, Wisconsin
• 1873 Middleton Township Plat Map
• Luneburg and Kolm Move to Schuyler, Nebraska from Wisconsin
• Colfax County Landscape
• When did Henry Kolm come to America?
• Did the Lüneburg family come to America in 1852?

Links Off-site
• Obituary of Doris (Luneburg) Kolm
• Schuyler Cemetery transcription including Henry and Doris (Luneburg) Kolm
• 1880 Census Transcription: Schuyler, Colfax Co., Nebraska p. 140C
• Naturalizations in Colfax Co., Nebraska (includes Henry Kolm)

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