During the last week of April, 1878, the SS Montana, of the Guion Line, arrived in New York Harbor, having sailed from the port of Liverpool, England some two weeks earlier. Arnold Merk, of Prussia, occupation shoemaker, age 20 years, was one of the many immigrant passengers that disembarked at the Castle Garden Emigrant Depot. Arnold had been born in Embrach, Zurich, Switzerland 21 February 1857 a son of Jacob Merk and Barbara Goodkanught. Today, Embrach is a suburb of Zuirch, but it may have been a rural village in 1878. Just above Arnold Merk’s name on the ship’s manifest was the name Ulrich Gutnecht, of Prussia, occupation shoemaker, age 40. It is possible that Ulrich Gutnecht and Barbara Goodknaught are related as passengers who traveled together were usually listed together on the manifest. Just above Ulrich‘s name was Johan Kickle, of Purssia, occupation shoemaker, age 30 who could possibly also be related to Arnold Merk.
On May 19, 1880, Arnold Merk was married to Rosina Buehler in Paris, Bear Lake, Idaho. Rosina had been born 18 July 1862 in Bern, Switzerland. Rosina reveals in later census records that she arrived in America in 1879. By 1900, Arnold and Rosina have left Idaho for Washington County, Kansas. In 1910, the family has given up Kansas for Howell County, Missouri. Rosina is now mother to 14 children; 11 boys and 3 girls. By 1920, Rosina had evidently passed away, because her husband was then living in St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri with a new wife named Elsie and a step-son, George Humphrey.
Arnold and Rosina Merk’s children can be found in the 1930 census living in Missouri, Nebraska, and Iowa. The eldest son, Arnold Merk, Jr., born 29 July 1881, Bear Lake, Idaho would become the Grandfather of our cousin Winnie.
You can find the Merk family in our database here
http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=fletaaday&id=I3704
I have added a Merk surname page to our 3 Sister’s website here
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~powell/merk/
with census images and other documents relating to this family. It was fun searching for this family, starting without even knowing the grandfather’s given name and finding records of his first arrival in the America.
5 comments:
I guess you did pretty good Fleta, but what will you do now 24/7. I am sure you have been searching every free minute....and betty is doing crosswords...Pat is chickening...and I have been cleaning....Winnie has been removing wall paper...
In between crosswording and fishing...I was looking too. Can't find much on Mary Ann Wheeler who married Arnold Merk Jr.
It great to see who they were.
Yes, Helen, you have been cleaning. You are the odd ball out. Whatever your sister's are doing today, none of them are cleaning.
Hello, Ladies!
I am a granddaughter of David Merk, son of Elsie Meltabarger Humphreys and Arnold Merk, Sr. We (myself, my mom and her mom) are trying to put together some family tree "stuff" on our history and it was a pleasant shock to stumble across your blog! We have some old Merk photos that we can't quite sort out who is who (the pictures are pasted onto some moisture activated gum/grid paper) as we can't see the backs of them. Would you like to "play" with us?
Signed...A cousin..somewhere along the way...I am almost sure... (I live in Iowa *grin*)
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