Below are several portions of the passenger list of the S.S. Rhaetia and a photo
of the ship. The Rhaetia departed from
Hamburg, Germany on June 3, 1885 and after a two week journey, arrived in New York
City on June 17th.
The top 3 sections are from the Hamburg departure list. The cover page indicates the name of the ship
(Rhaetia), port of
departure (Hamburg), and date of departure (June 3, 1885), along with the
Captain's name.
Next, the passenger list identifies the family members by name, sex, age, and home town. There are some discrepancies in this name list which I have not been able to explain. First of course, is the spelling of the last name - "Schlenski". As there were no grammatical standards at the time, this doesn't really concern me. I've seen "Zielinski" spelled many different ways in many different records. John is the head of the family and is listed at 47 years old. Next should be his wife Elizabeth. The script is difficult to read, and it doesn't really look like "Elizabeth", but the age matches. Julie, age 20, would be Julianna, and that fits. Antonia should have been 21, but this record shows what looks to be 18. Marianna is listed at 16 years old. She would actually turn 16 on June 30th - two weeks after arriving in the U.S. Franz is shown as 9 years old when he should have actually been 12. Johanna is listed as 3 years old, when in fact she was only 13 months. John, who was 3 years old, is not listed at all. That I can't figure out. Joseph, age 17 at the time, is also not listed. They grew up fast back then, and at age 17, he could well have gone on ahead on his own. Or, he could have been in the army and immigrated later. Even with these discrepancies, I feel quite certain this is indeed the immigration of the John and Elizabeth Zielinski family. I think that there are too many similarities for it not to be. But, of course, I will keep looking!
The 3rd section is actually the back page of the Hamburg departure list. It gives a synopsis of the passenger count broken down by class and age. Onboard the Rhaetia were 53 first class passengers and 1,288 third class (or steerage) passengers, for a total of 1,341 passengers. The steerage compartment was comprised of 931 adults, 288 children under 10, and 69 children under 1. The Rhaetia was built in 1882, so it was a fairly new vessel. Even so, the steerage compartment was built with a capacity of 1,100 passengers, so it would have indeed been a cramped 2-week voyage! No doubt filled with excitement and hope for the future but tempered by sorrow and concern for those left behind!
Below is a photo of the SS Rhaetia taken during the late 1800's. She was built in 1882 and, having one funnel and three masts, she could achieve a speed of 12 knots. During this period, she sailed for the Hamburg America Line.
Below are sections from the arrival passenger list for the
Port of New York. The Rhaetia would have made berth at Castle Garden, as
Ellis Island did not open until much later. Once again, the top section shows
the cover page, which lists the Captain's name, ship name,
port of departure, and arrival date of June 17, 1885.
Below are the passenger names showing all the same information as above. John's occupation is shown as "workman". The family is shown being of Russian nationality. Gross Waplitz lies in West Prussia, very close to the border with East Prussia. Regional and national borders changed often in Poland. West Prussia was historically German, while East Prussia was historically Russian. That could explain the naming of Russia as their nationality.
Upon arrival in New York, the family would have most likely taken a train for the final leg of the journey. More than likely, this train ride would have taken them via Chicago, then Milwaukee, before arriving in Menasha.