Gerhard and Auguste (Reents) Harms

I am working on getting all the information I have into binders.  I'm planning on doing a binder per family unit, so today I'm working on my Gerhard and Auguste Harms family.

Gerhard Harms Immigration

Gerhard is my earliest known direct immigrant Harms ancestor from Germany and my 2nd Great Grandfather.  My father was Buddy Lee Harms.  His father was Leo Ervin Harms.  Leo's father was Henry August Harms.  Henry's father was Gerhard Harms.  Henry is also an immigrant ancestor since he came to America with his father, Gerhard, and his mother Auguste, when he was about 2 years old. They arrived in Baltimore on March 28, 1884 aboard the ship Habsburg from Bremen, Germany.

 

Source Citation: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, DC; Records of the US Customs Service, RG36; Series: M255; Roll: 38. Baltimore, Passenger Lists, 1820-1948 and 1954-1957. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

 Here's a closer view of the same passenger list showing Gerhard Harms, Augusta his wife and Heinrich his son.  

Here's the information this passenger list contains:

Name:	Gerhard Harms
Arrival Date:	28 Mar 1884
Age:	27
Estimated Birth Year:	abt 1857
Gender:	Male
Port of Departure:	Bremen, Germany
Ship Name:	Habsburg
Port of Arrival:	Baltimore, Maryland
Last Residence:	Germany
Birthplace:	Germany
Page:	14

Name:	Auguste Harms
Arrival Date:	28 Mar 1884
Age:	28
Estimated Birth Year:	abt 1856
Gender:	Female
Port of Departure:	Bremen, Germany
Ship Name:	Habsburg
Port of Arrival:	Baltimore, Maryland
Last Residence:	Germany
Birthplace:	Germany
Page:	14

Name:	Heinrich Harms
Arrival Date:	28 Mar 1884
Gender:	Male
Port of Departure:	Bremen, Germany
Ship Name:	Habsburg
Port of Arrival:	Baltimore, Maryland
Last Residence:	Germany
Birthplace:	Germany
Page:	14

This passenger list gives Heinrich's age as 2/5.  What does that mean?  Well, I have Henry's birth date as 26 August 1882.  They arrived in Baltimore on 28 March 1884.  That's 5 months before he turns 2, so that's what the 2/5 age must refer to.

I only have one picture of Gerhard and Auguste and it's from a book entitled:  DeKalb County Cemetery Census 1845-1971.  It was published by the DeKalb County Historical Society in Maysville, Missouri.  Copyright 1972.  I sent for a copy because it has a good amount of information in it about this family.

I did my best to scan their images so that I could have a portrait picture of each of them:

 Auguste's picture is blurred some because she was closer to the book's binding.  But, it's all I have of them so far.  I love the picture of Gerhard!  He looks like such a kind and happy man!

There's some information about them written below their picture.  Here's what it says:

Gerhardt Harms was born in Jever, Oldenburg, Germany, June 14, 1857, and passed away Jan. 7, 1941.  In 1880 he was united in marriage to Auguste Reents who was born in St. Joost, Oldenburg, Germany on Dec. 12, 1855, and passed away in Santa Rosa, MO., on Feb. 7, 1930.

They came to the United States of America in 1883 and settled in St. Joseph before purchasing farms in the Maysville and Weatherby area around 1905.

She was the daughter of Heinrich and Henrietta Janssen Reents.  Her parents and her brothers and sisters also came from Germany to Missouri a few years later.  He was raised in an orphanage.

To this union were born six children: Henry, William, Herman, Marie (Jeffries), Katherine (Newby), and Emma (Gould).

Gerhardt and Augusta are at rest in the Hopewell Cemetery.

I'll be referring to this book more in the future since it contains information on Gerhard and Augusta's children.

 Some of the information above is accurate, so far as I know, but some is different than I have in my records.  So, I'm going to compare what I have with what was written the book to make sure what I have is correct.

 I thought I only had one photo of Gerhard, but in going through my files, I found a photo copy of another photo of him sent to me years ago by Kathy Harms (wife of Vernon Harms) when I lived in Germany while Carl served in the Army there.  She sent me several things, and I'll add them on this blog as I get to them, but here's the picture of Gerhard:

Gerhard Harms Birth and Baptism

Carl was stationed in Germany for 3 years back in 1980.  In fact, my son, David and my daughter, Shiloh were both born in Germany while we lived there.  During that time, I was able to find the area that Gerhard lived in and sent for any information they could find for me.  The Pastor searched the records and found Gerhard's birth and baptism certificates along with his siblings and the names of his parents, Gerd Harms and Fulke Catharine Ahrens. I sent for those certificates, so I have the originals.  The Pastor also sent the marriage information to me for Gerhard and Auguste.  

Here is Gerhard's birth and baptism record.  He was born 14.6.1857, which is June 14, 1857 in Jever, Germany (which I believe was in Oldenburg).  He was later baptized on 19. Juli 1857, which was 19 July 1857 in Jever.  The Taufpaten listed were Godparents.  They might have been relatives, so I'm hoping to trace them someday.

This birth record also lists Gerhards father, Gerd Harms and his mother Fulke Catharine Ahrens.  I don't know anything more about them.  I need to send for more information directly from Jever and see if there are any more records.  The Pastor said Gerd Harms was a very common name, so he wasn't sure which line to follow.  But I need to pursue this and find my Gerd Harms.

It was interesting to me to read in the book that Gerhard was raised in an orphanage.  That's the very first time that I had heard that about him.  Wouldn't that mean that both his parents died before he was grown?  Did all his siblings go to the orphanage, too?  Was there a war in Germany during that time?  Or a disease that killed a lot of people?  

The Pastor also sent me the birth records of Gerhard's sibling - at least those he found records for.  Gerhard was the third-born child.  The first-born was Gerd Harms, born Jan 29 1851.  Next came a sister, Hiemke Marie Harms, born Feb 3, 1854.  Gerhard was next and the last one I have a record for is Katharine Margarete Harms born July 3, 1861.  They were all born in Jever.  Katharine was baptized Aug 25, 1861, so I know that the parents were still alive on that date.  But, if Gerhard was raised in an orphanage, when did he enter it?  When did his parents die?  What caused their deaths?  In 1861 he would have been 4 years old.  I need to try to find more information on Gerd and Fulke Catharine Harms and also try to find what orphanages there were in the Jever area at that time.