Hermine Auguste (De Fin) Hilbert (1876 - 1959)

Born 4 Jun 1876 in Smichow, Smichow, Böhmen, Österreich

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 8 Feb 1959 at age 82 in Hillsboro, Washington, Oregón, Estados Unidos de América

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Biography

Hermine was born on Jun 4th 1876 in Smichow, Bohemia,then included in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, nowadays part of modern Praga, Czech Republic.^[1] Her family was of the lower bohemian nobility and she was adressed as "Baroness" (Freiherrin).^[2] She lived in Smichow 209 (Villa Kesnerka^[3]), Praga at least until she was orphaned (both parents died a few months apart) at the age of 16.^[4] We lost track of her there but in 1903 she was living with husband/partner Josef August Hilbert in Durban, Natal, Southfrica, where her eldest daughter was born. Two other children, a girl and a boy were also born in Durban. They later returned to Europe, where a third girl was born in Klagenfurt, Austria in 1909.^[5] A few years later they emigrated to the Russian Empire, near St. Petersburg. They were caught there by the October Revolution of 1917. They were put in a gulag in 1918 for several months, where they suffered a lot of deprivations. By the end of the year, they managed to "buy" their escape (a very adventurous and hard one) and arrived in the first days of 1919 back to Vienna.^[6] On Dec 2nd 1919 she arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina with her four children, following her husband (Francesca Transatlantic from Triestre) ^[7]and finally emmigrated for the last time to New York in 1925^[8], leaving her eldest daughter married in Buenos Aires. They never saw each other again. At some point between Buenos Aires and New York she split from her husband permanently (he arrived in New York in 1923 and married another woman the next year). Hermine lived with her other 3 children in the USA until she passed away in Oregon in 1959.^[9][10] She was a very refined woman, spoke several languages and was not afraid to get her hands dirty, as she worked as a nurse^[11] and a houskeeper in Oregon to sustain herself. She was a loving mother and kept always in touch with all her children.^[12]

Sources

1. ↑ Baptism record of Hermine Auguste De Fin, 1876, St. Wenceslas (Ss. Philip and James) Catholic church in Smichow (today Smíchov, Prag 5, Chequia)http://katalog.ahmp.cz/pragapublica/permalink?xid=53B0814E802B4F39A683ACB241878963&scan=67#scan67
2. ↑ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Freiherrlichen Häuser Vol. 69, pg. 236-237, ed. Julius Perthes, 1919
3. ↑ Wikipedia, Kesnerka
4. ↑ http://katalog.ahmp.cz/pragapublica/permalink?xid=1E6C4C3C23A911E08F90005056C00008&scan=1#scan1 Prague Census Record c.1883-1915, Prague City Catalog
5. ↑ Personal recollections of Hilbert-Koeraus family, later documentation of said children
6. ↑ Personal recollection of daughter Natalie Hilbert, written for the family
7. ↑ CEMLA public immigration data in Buenos Aires, Argentina
8. ↑ immigration files of Ellis Island, USA
9. ↑ Find-a-Grave homage page
10. ↑ "Oregon Death Index, 1903-1998," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VZHL-N4L : 11 December 2014), Hermine A Hilbert, 08 Feb 1959; from "Oregon, Death Index, 1898-2008," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2000); citing Multnomah, Oregon, certificate number 2123, Oregon State Archives and Records Center, Salem.
11. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCSX-XY2 : accessed 9 November 2021), Herminia Hilbert in household of John W Van Moock, Connell, Washington, Oregon, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 13, sheet 1A, line 28, family 7, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1957; FHL microfilm 2,341,691.
12. ↑ personal letters and memories from Hermine, Emy, Natalie and Bob Hilbert to Gertrud Hilbert