Christmas is not a just day. Instead, it is a 12 day celebration that begins (in some traditions) on December 25th and continues for 12 days (until January 6th). As a reminder, we have the 12 Days of Christmas carol.
For each of the 12 days of Christmas, I will be posting one event / person from my genealogical research that relates (sometimes in a rather convoluted way) to the particular gift of that day in The 12 Days of Christmas. If you wish to peruse the entire schedule, check previous posts for Days 1-6 and Days 7 – 12.
Dec. 26 - Partridge in a Pear Tree (Day 1)
The partridge belongs to “a non-migratory Old World group.”
When your ancestors come to this country (that is, the country in which you now reside) who did they leave behind? Also, Who did they travel with? and/or Who did they come to join? (Who proceeded them?)
John Brenner (my 2g-grandfather) left his home in Adelshofen, Baden, traveled to LeHavre, France, where he booked passage to the United States on the William Tell packet ship. He arrived in New York City (Castle Garden) on 23 October 1854. I have reviewed all 13 pages of the ship’s passenger manifest and have found no other relatives. It appears that John (age 18) sailed to the United States alone. His brother Conrad F. Brenner (9-10 years older than John) arrived in the United States two years earlier. There is no record of another Brenner on the Zurich (the ship upon which Conrad sailed). So, it seems that Conrad also sailed to the United States alone. Conrad, after his marriage to Catharine Siegel in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, moved to Columbiana County Ohio.
John went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Rochester, New York, before joining Conrad and Catherine in Ohio. After a short time with Conrad and Catharine, John moved a few miles north to Youngstown, Ohio, where (according the the 1860 census) he live with his uncle and aunt, Martin and Katharine Winterbauer. Katharine, nee Brenner, was the sister of John’s father.
I have found no evidence that John’s father (Georg Friederich Brenner) or mother (Johanna Catarina Venninger) ever emigrated from Germany. John Brenner lived most of his adult life in Youngstown, Ohio, where was in the nursery business; was superintendent of Oak Hill Cemetery; sold cemetery monuments; and was office manager for a construction business. He and his wife, Katharine Welk, were parents of 15 children, nine of whom lived beyond their 22nd birthdays. John served as a union soldier in the Civil War. He died in 1910 at age 73. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Youngstown; later, son Judson had his remains moved to Belmont Park Cemetery.