Learning from the Grandmothers - Elizabetha
The Hope Conveyed by a 17 Year Old Immigrant
This year I want to share 12 grandmothers, one each month. I have been feeling very connected to my grandmothers over this transition from autumn into deep winter. This is always a powerful time, a time when I feel the presence of my ancestors, but it has been different recently. It feels like my female lineage, my grandmothers, want me to pay attention right now. Dreams, gut feelings, whispers, feelings, nudges. So I am.
These grandmothers are part of me, by blood, bone, and sinew. They connect me to different aspects of myself and different ancestral traditions from which I gain insight and guidance. I know deep within that they have things to teach me.
For some of them, her stories are close to the surface; for others, I am delving into the historical record to re-create her story. All of them tether me to my ancestral past and to my roots. Their ancestral wisdom is there, in the shadows, just waiting to be rediscovered by me, so that I may bring it back into the light and integrate it into my life and our family’s practices.
I hope you’ll come along, and together we can see what I discover.
The Immigrant
New Year’s Eve is a quiet time in our home. Our New Year’s Eve verse says it all: On New Year’s Eve it is always fitting to remember how past and future are linked together in life and in the existence of the whole world.
I wonder how my great grandmother Elizabetha felt on New Year’s Eve, at the cusp of 1901. She would have been at home in Mramorak, located in the Kovin municipality, Vojvodina province, in the South Banat District of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; now, its part of Serbia.
In just over a month, 9 Feb 1901, at the age 17 she boarded the SS Bonn and sailed from Bremen and to the Port of Baltimore, arriving on 20 February 1901. The Bonn was a steamship belonging to Norddeutscher Lloyd Company [North German Lloyd] of Bremen. Elizabetha was on the Bonn’s last voyage from Bremen to Baltimore. She was one of 1063 passengers and she traveled only with her brother, Frederick age 23. He was a laborer and they could both read, write. They also paid for their passage themselves.
As the story goes, upon arrival Elizabetha saw the blue crabs in the water and was afraid they would get her. Charles Gramlich (age 28 at the time) was walking along the docks and saw how afraid she was of the crabs so he carried her off the boat. A little less than a year later (2 Feb 1902) they were married.
As I sit here nestled in by the fire, I can’t help but think about Elizabetha. What a huge decision to make as a 17 year old. I look at our kids, ages 16 and 20 right now, and can’t even begin to image them heading off on a steamship from Baltimore to Bremen for 11 days of travel by sea. No other family members traveled with Elizabetha and Frederick on this arduous journey. What led them to make such a monumental decision?
Mramorak at the Turn of the 20th Century
There were three aspects I knew could shed light on their decision: Life in Mramorak, Travel Conditions, and Family. What was life like in Mramorak at the turn of the 20th century?
During the 18th century, the Habsburg monarchy of Austria, enticed Germans to emigrate to the unsettled lands of Southern Hungary. These lands had been devastated by over 150 years of Turkish occupation. From 1711 to 1750, approximately 800 villages were founded in Hungary by German settlers. The Banat Province was one of the primary areas of settlement. (Susan Clarkson).
Mramorak was a large village in the southern Banat. Most settlers emigrated in the years 1820 - 1821 from Hesse, Palatine, Alsace, and Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. It was an ethnically diverse community, composed of Germans, Serbs, Hungarians, Romanians, and other groups. Before World War II, more than 3300 German people lived in the village. In addition, there were approximately 1200 Serbs and about the same number of Romanians. (Mramorak Church Books 1821-1877 by Peter Feiler).
The Banat was primarily a farming community. The land supported grain, corn, other crops, animals, and there were small farms and larger estates. The Banat was relatively prosperous compared to other parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but inequalities existed between landowners and peasant farmers. There were challenges such as heavy taxation, increasing scarcity of land, poverty, and occasional poor harvests.
Changes were coming as the 19th century came to a close. Modernization — roads, railways, public services — had come to the empire but were slow to reach Mramorak and the southern Banat. There was compulsory military service. Under Parliamentary law, military service began when a man reached the age of 21. After three years of active service, men were transferred to the "Reserve," where they could be recalled until the age of 43. There were growing Hungarian nationalist policies including promotion of the Hungarian language and culture in schools. For non-Hungarian-speaking groups within Mramorak this may have caused tensions as German-speaking communities (like Mramorak) maintained strong cultural identities.
Between 1899 and 1913 about 200,000 Germans emigrated from Hungary, mostly to the USA. These included more than 90,000 from the Banat. (Zentrum gegen Vertreibungen, 2013).
Many young people from Banat who emigrated during this period were in search of better economic opportunities. For some, the goal was to earn enough money to return to Hungary and buy land. Some did, but most stayed in their new countries.
I imagine Elizabetha and Frederick heard about their neighbors who had emigrated for the opportunities available abroad. I can just imagine the families of those who left sharing the news of their success. Their friends talking about it in church on Sunday mornings. And Elizabetha and Frederick, at home, sitting my the fire, discussing whether they should go. Was one of them more in favor of going? Did both want to go? I’ll never know but it could not have been an easy decision for them to make.
The push for economic opportunities must have been so enticing. Immigrants from Mramorak were building strong communities in the USA and Canada. The idea of being able to to travel to a new country and finding a community of familiar faces must have been reassuring as well. But, I suspect there was more to the story.
Locust Point was the Ellis Island of Baltimore.
Companies made it fairly seamless for immigrants to make their way to the USA. Between the marketing in Central and Eastern Europe and a system built to facilitate the movement of people from Europe to the Midwest in the USA, there was a closed network for moving people.
The directors of the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad saw the opportunity to link ocean travel with rail travel. In January 1867, the president of the B&O signed an agreement with the representative of the North German Lloyd Company in Baltimore. The B&O agreed to build an immigration pier in Locust Point on Baltimore’s harbor and to connect the pier with existing rail lines. The idea was that immigrants would disembark from North German Lloyd ships and board trains that would take them to the Midwest at a discounted rate. The North German Lloyd Company agreed to send at least one immigrant ship per month. (Nicholas B. Fessenden)
Meanwhile, the German railroad network was expanding and established connections with Bremen in 1862. An immigrant could buy a package and travel by train, for example, from Munich to Bremen, by steamship from Bremen to Baltimore, and then by train to Saint Louis. The North German Lloyd Company established a network of ticket agents all over Central and Eastern Europe to sell travel packages. (Nicholas B. Fessenden).
If Elizabetha and Frederick could get to Bremen from Mramorak, about 1050 miles, a steerage passage between Bremen and Baltimore cost $30 in the 1890’s; a second class berth $46. A ship’s passage in steerage was approximately equivalent to three weeks’ wages ($10 per week) for an adult semiskilled worker in the USA during the same period. (Nicholas B. Fessenden). Once in Baltimore Elizabetha and Frederick could stay with an aunt from Mramorak who lived on Richardson Street several blocks from the immigration dock.
The obstacle was the money needed for the rail travel and ship travel. I wish I knew how they got to Bremen. How long it took. How much is cost. What it was like. Unfortunately, that knowledge has been lost.
Family Matters
Then there is the family. Elizabetha was born in 1884. This is the last record we have about her parents. There are no records on whether the oldest sibling and parents were still alive when Elizabetha and Frederick left Mramorak. Most of their aunts and uncles had already passed away or their status is unknown. There are no known cousins at the time of their departure. The tie to Mramorak was the community, not family. The only extended family for which there is a record at this time, is the aunt in Baltimore. For all intents and purposes, they appear to have been on their own.
Given the economic conditions in Mramorak, seamless and encouraged travel between Germany and Baltimore, and the only extended family they had was living in Baltimore, the decision to leave for Baltimore seems reasonable. Risky. Scary. Daunting. Yet, reasonable. They came to Baltimore in 1901 and stayed with the aunt who lived several blocks from where Elizabetha and Frederick first set foot on the land that would become their new home.
World War I and Changes at Home
By 1917 World War I was in full swing and life in Mramorak and the Banat was changing, forever. Mramorak and the Banat had been occupied by Austro-Hungarian forces since 1915. Internal dissent and pressure from various ethnic groups seeking independence or greater autonomy was growing throughout the empire. Food shortages were exasperated by the war. Military conscription continued. After the war, the Vojvodina province was granted to Serbia in the Treaty of Trianon, and in 1945 it became part of Yugoslavia (South Banat District - Vojvodina and Treaty of Trianon).
In Baltimore, World War I closed off the flow of immigrants. The immigration pier burned down in 1917. Homes that Elizabetha and Charles lived in were torn down for development projects. The legacy of the immigrants from this time period can only be found in the neighborhoods around the pier and harbor, and two markers:
A marker at The Locust Point Immigration Depot, Baltimore Immigration Memorial Site on North Haubert Street; and,
The Immigrant House. The congregation of the Deutsche Vereinigte Evangelische Christuskirche in Locust Point built the Immigrant House in 1904, just five blocks from the Immigration Pier. This was a place where immigrants could find room, board, and job placements. The Immigrant House was administered by the Reverend Otto Apitz, the same pastor who married Elizabetha and Charles in 1902.
Elizabetha died in 1917 in childbirth with her 8th child. She and Charles had five children that lived beyond birth. The youngest was 4 years old when Elizabetha died and the oldest, my grandpop was 15. There are no family members that I know who also knew her. My mother never knew her grandmother. My grandpop never talked about her. I didn’t know anyone who remembered her so I never heard stories about her.
More accurately, I only heard the one story about how she was afraid of the blue crabs. It was the only story my mother heard from her grandfather Charles. I suspect he liked the romance around that story and the gallant way it portrayed him. I appreciate that story so much; it gives me a bit of insight into who she was when she made this journey.
Everything must have been so very different. Even in 1900 Baltimore was a big city. Elizabetha came from Mramorak with a population of around 5,000 in 1900 to Baltimore with a population of 508,957. How did the city feel compared to Mramorak? What smells and sights surprised her? How did it compare to what she thought it would be? How much did she rely on the traditions and practices she brought with her, to ground her and help her understand this new city? How much did she rely on Charles after he carried her away from the blue crabs? Frederick was married in Ohio in 1905 - how did she cope with her brother leaving to start out on his own?
Those answers aren’t what comes through in this story.
I can extrapolate and hypothesize as to how Elizabetha felt but that is really just me placing my thoughts on her. In seeking to understand, I had to learn and connect. I began by learning about the geography, history, towns, places, traditions, foods, embroidery, folklore. I allowed what resonated within me to connect me to her in time and place. I also turned within, to the places of quiet that allow my heart to speak. All of this awakened so much recognition within me.
Rosemary was my entry herb into herbalism, I carried it in my wedding bouquet, I had some with me at both of our children's baptisms and both of my parent's memorial services, and I grow it in my gardens. I have come to learn that rosemary's calling to me came from a deep ancestral place. In Elizabetha's tradition, rosemary is a symbol of love, faith, and earth.
"The little sprig of rosemary, as a symbolic mark, epitomizes fertility, health and life-creating power on special occasions such as christening, wedding and burial, Kirchweih, Swabian ball, and rendering of the pigs, throughout the events that make up a human life." (Hans Gehl as translated by Nick Tullius, 2006).
The red geraniums that I just knew had to be placed in our window boxes when we moved into our home 18 years ago were also important in Mramorak, and it was customary to overwinter them for the next season.
Even though I have never met her she is one my greatest teachers. Elizabetha teaches me about bravery, perseverance, herbalism, farming/planting, ceremony, connection to land, and, above all, hope. A hope that transcends distance and darkness. A hope that changes the stars of everyone who comes next. A hope that lives on and on.
What brings you hope right now?
5 Notes
Five final notes on what I’m diffusing, making, reading, listening to, and practicing in yoga.
Diffusing: Rosemary, Lavender, Cedar, Pine, Cinnamon Bark Herbal Academy recently posted on their Instagram about herbs for connecting with ancestors. If you are feeling the pull towards herbalism, Herbal Academy has a FREE Becoming an Herbalist Course that opens on January 8. This course offers a clear, supportive foundation to help you navigate the many paths of herbalism with confidence. You’ll learn about legal considerations, safety, ethical practices, and how to network with others in the herbal community. With this series of guideposts, you’ll gain clarity on your own unique path and be inspired to continue your herbal education. Join and start today!
Making: Candles. This is something our oldest and I enjoy doing together. We use old glasses or bottles as votives and build the candle right in the jar. Once I make this particular candle, I will work with and enjoy it for the rest of the month, lighting and tending to it every morning as a devotional practice. The flame creates a direct connection to my heart, and helps me open my heart to compassion, community, care, and love. Its a focus on nurturing the self and others. If you’d like to get started making candles, we began about 10 years ago by using this video from Aromahead Institute. Andrea makes an aromatic candle but you can always make an unscented one, if you prefer.
Reading: Hope by Cristina Mittermeier. This is the most beautiful and powerful book I have seen in a long time.
Soundtrack: Michael Franti & Spearhead, especially Big Big Love. The energy is incredible. I find myself smiling while listening.
Yoga: The new year is here. The day light is lengthening. Both kids are back at school. There is a waxing moon, a time for new projects, growth, expansion. I can feel the energy within me beginning to bubble. Not dramatically, but deep within. I find I want to stretch, I want to energize (just a bit). I want to re-focus my concentration. I want to integrate the hope of a new year and the hope that flows from Elizabetha. Sun Salutations help me do all of that. My practice right now, looks like this:
