Schwitzgebel Genealogy

John Bauman

Among the brick walls in our research, the ancestry of John Bauman has long been a non starter. According to my mother, there were some bad feelings in the family that left my grandmother and her sisters unwilling to talk about their father (my g-grandfather, Henry Bauman) and his family. Whatever they knew went with them to their eternal rest.

For decades, the only information we knew about about John Bauman, Jr., was what his son, Henry, reported on his death certificate: He was born 10 Nov 1842 in Baden, Germany, and was the widower of Mary Bauman when he died 16 Jan 1929, in Canton, Ohio. John's father was also named John and was born in Baden. Henry inexplicably reported his mother's name as "Unknown", but gave Baden, Germany, for her birthplace.3

I knew from family lore that John Bauman, Jr., was married to Mary E. Winafeldt, born 24 Apr 1842, in Sidney, Shelby Co., Ohio. They were married about 18662 and had four children: Catharine, Mary, John W., and Henry Joseph. According to census data, John came to America about 1857.2 Elsewhere, I found that Johann Baumann, aged 14½ years, arrived at the port of New York as a passenger aboard the Reinhard on 1 Sep 1857. His place of origin was Baden, and his listed occupation was "taylor".4

It wasn't until I stumbled on a German birth record at FamilySearch that I started to pick up a trail. There, I found Johannes Baumann, born 10 Nov 1942 in Unteruhldingen, Baden, and baptized the next day in the Catholic parish at Seefelden. His parents were Johann Baumann and Anna Maria Pfaendler.1 Additional records at FamilySearch show that Anna Maria's parents were Bartholomäus Pfendler and Walburga Bischof, who had at least 13 other children. Among these were Johann (b. 1823) and Jakob (b. 1824).

The 1860 census shows a John Bowman, age 18, living in the household of John Pfindleer, age 40, occupation "carpenter".5 This is an interesting bit of circumstantial information, as it coincides with my mother's recollections of her great grandfather (John Bauman, Jr.) being a furniture maker. In Jacob's and John's Civil War draft registrations, Jacob is listed as a tailor and John a cabinet maker.

From all of this, I have formed a theory: John and Jacob Pfendler immigrated to the United States before 1857 and settled in Canton, Ohio. John Bauman, Jr., was a tailor, and in those days, if there was already a tailor in his community (or gemeinde), it would have meant that he would have had to travel the surrounding area seeking work as a journeyman. With his uncles already emigrated to America, he may have chosen to join them and take up his trade there, though he apparently made a career change once he settled in Ohio.


Sources

  1. "Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VHWT-6LP : 28 November 2014), Johannes Baumann, 11 Nov 1842; citing Unteruldingen; FHL microfilm 936,357.
  2. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Census Place: Canton Ward 2, Stark, Ohio; Roll: T624_1230; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0165; FHL microfilm: 1375243. [link]
  3. "Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8PH-X2H : 8 December 2014), John Bauman, 16 Jan 1929; citing Canton, Stark, Ohio, reference fn 9429; FHL microfilm 1,991,723.
  4. Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Year: 1857; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 178; Line: 20; List Number: 1048. [link]
  5. Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Census Place: Canton, Stark, Ohio; Roll: M653_1037; Page: 166; Family History Library Film: 805037. [link]
  6. Ancestry.com. U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. [link]

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