Jacob Besler's Long Journey to Canada Part Two: From Liverpool to Landestreu

This is part two of a two part story about Jacob Besler’s journey to Canada from Galicia. If you missed part one you can read it here.

The morning of June 14 1902 dawned clear and sunny. It was going to be a beautiful day, especially since Jacob’s journey across the Atlantic was almost at an end. He’d heard that they were now in the middle of the St Lawrence River and would soon be arriving in Quebec. Jacob and his cousins Johann Kendel and Philip Besler were excited and glad they would soon be on dry land. The 722 3rd class passengers had been tightly packed into the ship and they longed for open space. The ship stops and a boat approaches - the medical superintendent Dr. G.E. Martineau is now boarding the ship to check for illness.

Jacob and his cousins line up. Behind them in the line they hear coughing and sniffling. That doesn’t sound good. They turn to see fellow Galicians the Sloboda family. The Landestreu group are the only German speaking Galicians on the voyage but they know enough Ukrainian to converse with their fellow passengers. Jacob, Johann and Philip pass their examination with flying colours. But Maria Sloboda and her children aren’t so lucky - they have the measles. The doctor also finds one case of smallpox and one of chickenpox. As a result 352 steerage passengers and 15 members of the crew will be quarantined.

Library and Archives Canada. Passenger Lists, 1865-1922

Library and Archives Canada. Immigrants at Grosse Île Quarantine Station 1832-1937

Grosse Ile was established in 1832 as a place to inspect and detain incoming ships and people to prevent disease spreading to North America. Grosse Ile was the perfect spot. It is located 50 kilometres downstream from Quebec City, en route for ships arriving from Europe via the St. Lawrence river. It had a good supply of fresh water, and as an island, was naturally suited for keeping newcomers isolated from the mainland. Years had passed since the cholera and typhus epidemics that struck down so many Irish emigrants. But in 1902 illness was still an issue.  

View of Grosse île from the river

Jacob and his cousins are confused. Why do they have to disembark here? Luckily for the travellers German speaking agents appear to explain the situation.

After a short ride to the island the travellers are brought to the two story disinfection building where they and their possessions will be disinfected. 

The sick passengers are taken directly to the hospital

The ship will be sprayed with mercury bichloride to kill micro-organisms and then fumigated with sulphur dioxide gas to kill any pests.

 

All of Jacob’s possessions are taken and put into numbered bags. The bags are put into a large wire mesh box and then onto railcars to be brought into the steam chambers for dry steam cleaning to kill any pathogens. 

Next: a refreshing disinfecting shower! Jacob looks down the corridor and sees 44 steel stalls. Each stall has a metal door with chicken wire around the top to prevent any peeping on your neighbour. Jacob enters, undresses and gives his clothing to the agent for disinfection. Jacob hesitates, then enters the shower. For 15 minutes water sprays from above and from the side. The solution is a mixture of hot water and diluted mercury bichloride. First class passengers are used to showers but this is a new experience for Jacob. There were no showers in Galicia.

Exiting the shower Jacob is glad to see his clothes have been returned to him. He dresses, receives his disinfection certificate and is reunited with his luggage. 

He is relieved to see Johann and Philip and is glad that they’re allowed to stay together. They are now approached by nurses who inspect them again for signs of disease and check to ensure they've been vaccinated against smallpox – a legal requirement to enter Canada. All is in order so the trio heads to the third class hotel where they will complete the mandatory quarantine period with daily medical exams.

The third class room is the space between the two couches

At the third class hotel Jacob, Philip and Johann share a room. The quarters are cramped but food is provided.

There are no toilets or sinks in the building so the travellers must visit the nearby washhouse.

There are no lounges but they are able to go for walks around the island. The weather during their quarantine is pleasant though some days are rainy. Jacob and his companions don’t become ill but some others come down with measles: all 6 members of the Vasilinchuk family, all 7 members of the Panchuk family and the rest of the Sloboda family, among others. 

By July 2 most of the passengers have successfully completed their quarantine and are ready to leave. Jacob and his companions are excited to finally be on their way after eighteen days.

They board a shuttle boat to the port of Quebec. The pier building, similar to Pier 21 in Halifax, is no longer there. Here is a photo of the site. 

A medical inspection confirms that the Landestreu group is now healthy. They also must pass a civil inspection - Jacob only has $6 in his pocket as does Johann. Their older cousin Philip has $40 which should be enough to get them to their final destination and the land they plan to homestead.  

At 6pm on Wednesday July 2 they board the CPR train to Winnipeg. This is a later schedule but gives you an idea of the time involved - they don’t arrive in Winnipeg until 9:50 am on Saturday July 5. 

CPR Schedule, 1912. https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/chung/chungtext/items/1.0357107

Winnipeg’s current train station wasn’t built until 1912 so the facilities would have been more basic. Trains didn’t run north into Saskatchewan until 1909 and at the time Saskatchewan was still a territory. Jacob would have had to purchase supplies and once again travel by horse and cart to his new life. It was a long journey but he had finally arrived in Canada and now the hard work of clearing and settling could begin. On Thanksgiving Day I am thankful a young man of 19 decided to make a better life in the new world. 

 

 

Jacob Besler’s Long Journey to Canada Part One: From Landestreu to Liverpool

I’ve written before about my grandfather’s life in Galicia here, and earlier about his arrival in Canada here. But only recently have I been able to fill in some gaps in between: how did he get from his small village in Galicia to the Canadian prairies? Here’s what I learned.

As the third son in the Besler family Jacob’s prospects in the tiny village of Landestreu were slim. Lured by the prospects of his own farm in Canada Jacob decided to seek his fortunes overseas. Everyone in Landestreu was related to each other so he likely had heard about villagers who had emigrated to Landestreu Saskatchewan. Accompanied by cousins Johann Kendel and Philip Besler he made his travel plans and in the spring of 1902 began his journey.

Jacob probably hadn’t ventured too far from his home in his life so he would have excited but on the other hand nervous about leaving Landestreu for good. The first step in the journey would have been to travel to one of the nearby towns to catch a train. The Galician Railway was extensive with about 1540 kilometres of lines connecting the eastern part of the Austro Hungarian Empire with Vienna, Berlin and Warsaw. 

The Lemberg-Czernowitz Line was built in 1866 and included a station at Stanislau (now Stanisławów), the closest to Landestreu. If the travellers were lucky they would have been transported by horse and cart. Jacob’s passport listed his occupation as Wagner (wagon driver) so he may have had access to a cart which would have shortened the nine hour walk. Once in Stanislau they would have boarded a train for the first step of their journey to Lemberg (now Lviv).

Stanislau Station https://sudilovski.livejournal.com/77246.html

Lemberg Station Interior https://sudilovski.livejournal.com/77246.html

Lemberg reception building https://sudilovski.livejournal.com/77246.html 

 

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In Lemberg Jacob and his cousins would have visited one of the many travel agents whose windows were decorated with posters meant to lure travellers in. They would have discovered that it was cheaper to travel to Canada instead of the US as the government subsidized the emigration cost via a fee paid to travel agents for each immigrant they booked. They also would have discovered that an indirect route to Canada was cheaper than a direct journey. That meant sailing from a port such as Hamburg, Bremen, Antwerp, Danzig, Stettin or Rotterdam to Grimsby, Humber or Hull in the UK. 

A train would then take them to Liverpool where they would board a ship sailing to Canada. The package they purchased would have included the cost of food and lodging, train ticket to the port, steamship ticket to Hull, train ticket to Liverpool and steamship ticket to Canada. The cost was about $40-50 or about $2000 in 2023 Canadian dollars, a not insubstantial amount of money. The group paid the sum and headed off on a journey that would have taken about 3 weeks in total.

 

The only passenger lists easily accessible for this period are the Hamburg passenger lists. I was unfortunately unable to find Jacob and his companions on any of lists for ships sailing from Hamburg to either Grimsby or London in the spring of1902. It’s most likely that they sailed to the port of Hull/Grimsby, probably via the Wilson Lines as the train trip to Liverpool was the shortest route to a port in terms of time and distance.

Special immigrant trains left Hull at 11 am on Monday arriving in Liverpool at 2 to 3 pm that day, though trains could run on an “as needed” basis linked with the regularity of Wilson Line steamships. The railway carriages left directly from Victoria Dock in Hull and ended at Riverside Quay in Liverpool - the travellers weren’t allowed to visit either city as officials didn’t want to chance disease ridden migrants mixing with townsfolk. The immigrant trains took precedence over others due to their length - there were sometimes so many emigrants that 17 carriages were pulled by one steam engine. Baggage was stored in the rear four carriages. The trains were low standard 3rd class carriages equipped with wooden benches to sit on and no toilets.

 

Paragon Station Hull, photo by Richard Croft

Once in Liverpool the travellers would stay in immigrant lodging houses until their ship to North America was ready. The stay could take from 1-10 days. The Dominion sailed for Quebec on a Thursday so Jacob and his companions would have had a few days to cool their heels. 

Liverpool Mercury June 2 1902 findmypast.co.uk

The Dominion was a huge ship weighing 7.000 tons, built in Belfast in 1894 and originally named the Prussia. It was purchased by the Dominion Line from the Hamburg America Line in 1898 and renamed the Dominion. The ship measured 445 feet by 50 feet and could carry 1120 passengers: 200 1st class, 170 2nd class and 750 3rd class. In 1902 the ship had already crossed the Atlantic three times, heading for Portland in January, March and April. The June crossing to Quebec was the first and only of the season as the season for travel to Canada was short due to ice in the St Lawrence River.

I was able to locate the passenger list for Jacob’s voyage from Liverpool. His name was misspelled as “Pessler”, a common error. The Landestreu party were 3 out of 722 third class passengers, the new and improved term for steerage class. It was interesting to note that English, Scottish and Irish passengers were listed first, before the “foreigners”. Included in this group were 75 British Home Children ranging in age from 3 to 18. All third class passengers were bound for Quebec. The 99 second class and 40 first class passengers were bound for Montreal. 

findmypast.co.uk

The morning of June 5 was cool and overcast with a light breeze. The 861 passengers queued up and boarded the Dominion. Under the command of Master Jones the ship began the 9 day trip to Quebec.

To be continued …

Branching Out: The Beslers of Landestreu

Heimat Galizien im Bild,  Hilfskomitee der Galiziendeutschen 

I've been researching my grandfather’s family in Galicia lately which is a perfect lead in for this month’s topic. The picture above is Landestreu, Galicia. My grandfather Jacob Besler left his home there in 1902 at the age of 18 to emigrate to Canada. He never returned to his homeland and never again saw most of his family. I don’t know if he exchanged letters with his family. If he did the letters have not survived. He was busy raising his own family and trying to survive in the harsh climate of Saskatchewan but he must have thought of his parents and siblings and wondered what became of them. Here’s what I discovered.

My grandfather was the 8th of 10 children born to Johann Heinrich Besler and Maria Barbara Baumung as well as the youngest son. Large families were common in the village of Landestreu and land was scarce. Most of the inhabitants of the village were described as Grundwirts or Landwirts which translates to farmer in English. A promising future was not in store for young Jacob so his decision to emigrate to Canada made sense. You can read my earlier blog post about his journey here. 

Survival into adulthood was difficult. Many children in these large families did not make it past their first year. Heinrich and Barbara’s first child Johann Christian was born in 1868. Their next four children died young: Katharina Elisabeth born in 1871 lived 2 1/2 months and died of Schwäche (weakness), Johann Philipp born in 1872 lived 8 months and died of Zahnen (teething), Jakob Adolf born in 1874 lived to 6 1/2 and died of Auszehrung (weakness/emaciation, possibly tuberculosis) and Maria Katharina born in 1876 lived just 3 weeks before succumbing to fraise (infant spasms). In other families masern (measles), keuchhusten (whooping cough) and rachitis (rickets) claimed many children, causes of infant mortality that we don’t see any more. Luckily for the Beslers their last 5 children were healthy and lived well into adulthood.

Heinrich died on 28 Nov 1912 at the age of 69 from some sort of cranial issue, perhaps a stroke? (Gehirnenig). Barbara died on 26 Oct 1920 at the age of 73 of Alterschwäche (old age). When Jacob married in 1915 he noted that both his parents were dead which leads me to believe that he did not receive letters from his family once he settled in Canada. Perhaps mail wasn’t coming through during WWI leading him to guess that they were dead. 

Record book of deaths. Ugartsthal-Landestreu commune agad.gov.pl

Once the senior Beslers died their oldest son Christian took over the family residence House #7. He had married Eleonora Löwenberger in 1895 and was listed as a Grundwirt or Landmann.

Record book of Weddings, Ugartsthal-Landestreu commune, agad.gov.pl

The couple had 8 children that I know of. I don’t know when or where Christian or Eleonora died nor the fate of 4 of their children.  Fred and his wife Minnie emigrated to Canada, settling in Winnipeg. My mother was close to their daughter Eleanor. Minnie and her husband Wilhelm Schick settled in Toronto. John settled in Toronto as well. 

I wasn’t able to determine the fate of Johann Georg Besler born in 1878. Perhaps he died young or moved to another village in Galicia.

Eleonora Besler married Johann Friedrich Lowenberger in 1896 and had 9 children that I know of. Friedrich died in 1920 of the Spanish Flu, one of a number of relatives that succumbed to the deadly virus. I don’t know of Eleanor’s fate but she remained in Europe. Two of the 9 children emigrated to Canada: Fred and his wife Hedwig and George and his wife Irma settled in Toronto.

Katharina Besler married Johann Reihl in 1913. They had one child that I am aware of. I do not know their fate.

Finally Dorothea Besler married Rudolf Kandel in 1906. This is the only sibling that my grandfather even saw again. First Rudy then Dorothy emigrated to Canada in 1912 with their two eldest children. They settled in Brandon Manitoba. My mother has fond memories of her Aunt Dorothy and stayed in touch with her cousins even when she moved to Toronto.

Hamburg Passenger Lists 1850-1934, ancestry.ca

Jacob and Dorothy were the lucky ones as they left Galicia before the first World War. The inhabitants suffered greatly but many residents remained even after the territory was divided after the War. Things improved in the inter war years but little did they know that the worst was yet to come in the form of World War Two. 

In 1939 Poland was divided between Germany and the Soviet Union as a result of the Ribbentrop-Molotov agreement. One of the terms of this agreement was that those of German ethnic background were to be relocated from the Russian area to the German area. So the residents of Landestreu had to leave; likely they did not want to stay in Russian controlled territories though it was a difficult decision to leave their homeland. Always particular, the Nazis created Einwandererzentralstelle forms, translated as Immigration Centre documents. The documents were stored in the Berlin Document Centre and captured by the American army at the end of the war. Starting in 1939 hundreds of thousands of people were recorded as they packed up to leave their homes. 

In English Landestreu means “faithful land” and the Beslers were indeed faithful to their land. The family moved to Landestreu from Biedesheim in the Rheinland Palatinate in the late 1700s. The village was founded in 1783 and my 4x great grandfather Konrad Besler was listed on the first census of residents taken in 1788.   

 

Ludwig Schneider, Das Kolonisationswert Josefs II in Galizien

This was the only home they had ever known. Despite speaking German and worshipping in the Lutheran church their ties to German were very weak. They were moved to camps in German controlled territories in Poland and often into farms that were cleared of their original Polish inhabitants. The intent was that they would produce food and provide other services to support Germany and the Nazi war machine. 

The Galizien German Descendants has indexed many of the EWZ forms relating to Galizien residents.  The forms from 1940-1941 are available on Family Search to view. I was not able to find my great Uncles and Aunts though I did find a variety of more distant cousins. Then, by chance I realized I was looking at one of my mother’s cousins. Her record had not been indexed and I found it as I browsed the records looking for someone else.

Eleonora Besler was born on 13 May 1900, the second daughter and third child to Johann Christian Besler and Eleonora Löwenberger. Her birth record is not yet available but I located the record of her marriage to Jakob Weiss on 15 February 1920. 

 

Record book of Weddings, Ugartsthal-Landestreu commune, agad.gov.pl

After her marriage she lived a quiet life in Landestreu, until she presented herself and her 17 year old daughter Alwine to authorities in Pabianice on 23 February 1940. They had been moved from their home in Landestreu to nearby Manasterczany then to Zdunska Wola, near Łodz for processing. Today this is a 10 hour drive. Eleonora and Alwine likely spent many more hours on a train to get to the relocation camp. The photos are poignant. They look apprehensive and rightly so. They were headed to an unknown future in a new town. They were separated from Jakob who had apparently already been relocated. The form notes that they are of Polish nationality, the Evangelisch (Lutheran) religion and of the Aryan race (not likely that anyone would say otherwise to this question!). They both wished to apply for German citizenship. At the bottom a physical description is added by hand. Eleonora is 156 cm tall, slim with blond hair and blue eyes. Alwine is 148 cm tall, slim with blond hair and light brown eyes.

Stamblätter 1940-1941, Deutschland Einwandererzentralstelle FamilySearch.org    

 

Their post-war fate is unknown but likely tragic given their location in the path of the advancing Soviet army.  It was a sad end to what began as hopeful emigration and emphasizes how fortuitous my grandfather’s decision to emigrate was.  

To conclude here is a German newsreel clip from early in 1940 showing Galician emigrants in the course of their journey. 

No names are provided but likely some of the people in this film were my family members. The enthusiastic greeting by the Nazis was no doubt put on for the camera - I’ve seen anecdotal evidence that their possessions were stolen and compensation for the loss of their lands never provided. Today Landestreu is in western Ukraine and has been renamed Zelenyi Yar. The fate of this area of the world is once again uncertain.

Archibald Thomson - A Canadian Success Story

This is Heritage Week and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to write about my ancestor Archibald Thomson. Archibald's story is important not only to my personal heritage but also to that of the province of Ontario.

Archibald was born in the small town of Westerkirk in Dumfries Scotland in 1749, one of 8 children born to Andrew and Jannet Thomson. He was baptized in the parish church On May 7th.

Scotland's People Old Parish Registers. Westerkirk 854/00 0010 0057

In 1773 he crossed the ocean in search of a better life, settling in Harpersfield in Tryon County, New York State. He farmed with other young Scots, James Park, Daniel Rose and John Chisholm. In 1775 "his attachment to his sovereign caused him to leave what little property he had acquired (12 acres of land) behind him" siding with the British in the American Revolution. He ultimately filed 16 Land Petitions that provided me with details of his service to the Crown. Archibald was a carpenter by trade and initially completed repairs at Fort Oswegatchie and Niagara. He was later appointed Master Carpenter by Governor Abbott. In 1777 he served under Captain John MacDonnell in the Second Battalion of the King's Royal Regiment of New York. In 1778 Archibald joined Captain Joseph Brant and was allegedly arrested by the Rebels for detecting and defeating conspiracies. There he was placed "under sentence of death for joining the Indians and escaped the Americans". I hope to find more about this interesting part of Archibald's story! He and his colleagues served without pay for seven years until the end of the war and "suffered every extremity of distress" and "engaged in the most dangerous of enterprises" under the command of Captain Brant, serving with "all the Zeal and Bravery of Britons". He was ultimately granted a Lieutenant's commission by Lord Dorchester.

On 27 July 1781 Archibald married Elizabeth McKay in Quebec City. Elizabeth was the daughter of Hugh McKay another Scottish refugee from New York State who became the High Constable of Quebec.

Quebec Gazette 2 August 1781, page 2

The couple moved about the province acquiring and selling land in various areas that was acquired by their successful land petitions to the Crown. 

Ontario Archives RG 1-58 Township Papers, Scarborough MS 658 Reel 436

Elizabeth acquired land due to her status as a daughter and wife of a Loyalist. Archibald acquired a town lot in Kingston in 1790. He ran a timber yard, wharf and store from this property. In the same time period he also acquired land in Fredericksburg Township as well as in Thurlow Township. In 1793 he also acquired a town lot in Newark (later Niagara on the Lake)and property in Stamford Township. By 1797 he owned a coveted town lot in York (later Toronto) near the St. Lawrence Market. As you can see from this detail from a map from the time his neighbours included his brothers David and Andrew

Detail from the Peter Russell 1797 map of Toronto, Toronto Public Library

And here's where Archibald's importance to the province lies - in 1796 he had petitioned the crown for 400 acres of land for his brothers who wished to join him in Canada and settle in Scarborough. He was successful and the rest is history. His brother David and David's wife Mary were the first settlers in Scarborough.

By 1799 Archibald himself joined his siblings in Scarborough purchasing and leasing 4 plots of land. He ran a "house of entertainment" and a grist mill while farming and also acting as a Justice of the Peace. In 1815 he certified his son Edward's land petition. Here's his signature. I found it to be consistent on the various documents over the years.

Upper Canada Land Petitions, Library and Archives Canada RG 1, L 3, Volume 497 "T" Bundle 10

Archibald died on 22 January 1819. Elizabeth had died two years earlier and I believe the couple were originally buried on the family farm. They were reinterred at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Scarborough, the first Presbyterian Church in Scarborough, erected on land donated by the Thomson family. The inscription is difficult to decipher but reads: "Their remains moved to this place on June 3 1854 by their descendants numbering 231".

Picture taken by the writer

Archibald's demise was noted in the Upper Canada Gazette on the 28th of January 1819. He received a fine tribute:

Upper Canada Gazette, 28 January 1819, page 2

Archibald had packed a lot into his 70 years probably beyond what he expected as a young boy in Dumfries. He left behind a legacy that was build on by his many descendants. Archibald and Elizabeth had 12 children all of whom lived to adulthood. Two of his sons Hugh Christopher Thomson (1791-1834) and Colonel Edward William Thomson (1794-1865) have entries in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Roy Thomson, Lord Thomson of Fleet, and his son Ken are descended from Archibald's youngest child George. Actress Norman Shearer (descended from Colonel Edward) and writer Farley Mowat (descended from Hugh) are also Thomsons. 

And I'm a Thomson too! I'm descended from Archibald's fifth child Elizabeth McKay Thomson who married Thomas Forfar in 1806. I was pleased this year to be able to prove my descent from Archibald and receive my certification from the United Empire Loyalist's Association of Canada. Here's the back of Elizabeth's Land Petition referencing her father's UEL status:

Upper Canada Land Petitions, Library and Archives Canada RG 1, L 3, Volume 187 "F" Bundle 8

Archibald was recognized as a United Empire Loyalist as he demonstrated Loyalty to the Crown. In recognition of his service in defence of "Unity of Empire" I can now use the letters UE after my name. Archibald Thomson rose from a refugee to a founding member of Upper Canada due to his perseverance and hard work.