Anna Marie Schafer

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Virginia Boshart [send private message]

Biography

Burial: St. Simon section, Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Whitesboro, NY in Family plot

Emigration Date: 3 AUG 1893, arrival at Ellis Island, age on arrival: 17 years Her occupation was Maid (this was listed on boat to Ellis Island Passenger List)

Nationality: German

Notes

It was her dream to come to America, and her parents were against her making the trip to the United States. She had some relatives here and it was one of her cousins who paid for her passage when she finally did make her move.

She set out with friends and neighbors for a country she had only heard about, a country where they spoke a different language than she did. She appears to have been traveling with a group of seven other girls, all between the ages of 18 to 25. One girl’s mother was a 43-year-old seamstress, and also traveling with them there was a 56-year-old nurse, Wilma Nurge. They may have been the chaperones. Both mother and daughter were headed for Newark, and the nurse identified New York City as her final destination. Anna and Josephine Noll identified Utica as their destination. One of the other girls in the group was headed for Syracuse, NY.

She told her grandson Freddie that she first noticed Frank, her husband, as “the nice looking man in the front of the church saying the rosary.” It was a short time after that someone at the church introduced her to him.

Freddie recalls that some time after she was married, Anna did consider going back to Germany with her two oldest kids (Bertha and Frank) for a visit. Her husband discouraged the idea, so she never did get to see her parents after coming to America.

Freddie remembers that Anna’s mother lived to be 92.

She was heavily involved in the Catholic Church and had very strict religious beliefs.

Anna died at home. She suffered from angina and that day she had a particularly bad attack. There was total chaos in the house and the daughters were hysterical. Freddie summoned the priest for Grandma Anna.

Utica Observer Dispatch Obituary:

Mrs. Frank Thomas Sr., 60, of 623 Emily Street died unexpectedly last night, September 21, 1938, at her home.

Mrs. Thomas was born in Bavaria, Germany, daughter of the late John and Catherine Orth Schaffer, and came to the US at the age of (15) [should be 17 according to Ellis Island records]. She has since made her home in Utica and married Mr. Thomas on July 17, 1897 in St. Mary’s Church.

Besides her husband she leaves four sons: Police Officer Frank Thomas Jr., Henry, Joseph and Harold Thomas all of Utica; three daughters, Mrs. Fred (Bertha) Enos, Mrs. Thomas (Anna) Ruffalo and Miss Clara Thomas, all of Utica; five grandchildren; one brother, Anthony Schaffer, Bavaria, and several nieces and nephews.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Virginia Boshart for creating WikiTree profile Schafer-488 through the import of Devins Family.ged on Oct 4, 2013.