Choosing Cass Lake

When my family immigrated to America, they chose to settle down in Cass Lake, Minnesota. Why did they select this small town in the north woods? As with many genealogy questions, the FAN Principle was critical in discovering why my family chose Cass Lake.

Genealogist and Author Elizabeth Shown Mills is credited with naming this type of cluster research as the FAN (Friends, Associates and Neighbors) Principle or FAN Club. Oftentimes, our ancestors did not leave a perfect paper trail, so we look at the documentation of their FAN Club members.

Follow along as I trace the steps to find out how Bertha Arndt and Constantin Norenberg ended up meeting in Cass Lake, Minnesota.

Part 1: The Arndts

Bertha Arndt’s extended family traveled from Russia to Minnesota nine years before she arrived in Cass Lake. Her uncle Christian Moritz was the first family member to leave the Stepan/Ugly Kolonie area and was married to Ernstine Kot, a maternal aunt. He departed from Bremen and arrived at the port of New York in June of 1902.¹Naturalization Final Papers, Christian Moritz, Cass County MN District Court, Reel 2; Code 10, Vol 2, page 13; Chrisitian Moritz; 18 June 1910; occupation: farmer; born 26 Jun 1863 at Pawlow Russia; emigrated from Bremen Germany on 15 Jun 1902 arrived at Port of New York. Ernstine and her children followed him in December of 1902 and went to meet Christian in Albany, Minnesota.²Microfilm List of New York Passenger Arrival Records, 1789-1957, Microfilm T715 (Washington: National Archives and Records Service), roll 313, chronological by ship; S.S. Blucher, 17 Dec 1902, for Ernstina Moritz, page 183, line 13.

A few years later on April 12, 1905, Bertha’s sister, brother-in-law and 3-month-old son arrived at the Pork of New York. Edward and Anna Schoenborn declared on their immigration paperwork that their destination was Albany, Minnesota to see their uncle Christian Moritz.³“New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JF35-6JX : 2 March 2021), Eduard Schonborn, 1905, S.S. Dania, page 40, line 6. Indeed, the 1905 Minnesota Census for Albany, Minnesota enumerates the Moritz family as well as Anna Schoenborn and her infant son, Reinold, in June.⁴1905 Minnesota state census, Stearns County, population schedule, Town of Albany, page [blank and/or crossed out, John Batz enumerator], District 27, June 28, 1905 for Christian Moritz and family; Anna Schoenborn and infant Reinold.

But, where is Edward? Did he leave his wife and young son in search of steady work? It is puzzling to see Anna Arndt Schoenborn (and her baby) listed on the census in Albany without her husband.

The J. Neils sawmill opened in Cass Lake, Minnesota in 1899⁵http://dnrc.mt.gov/divisions/forestry/forestry-pioneers/j-neils-family; accessed 8 Oct 2021. and perhaps Edward traveled to Cass Lake in search of employment. Previously, when I searched the Minnesota 1905 Census for Edward, I did not find him because his name was shortened and it was indexed as Schaen.

Let’s take a deeper look at the 1905 Minnesota Census which gives a few details about each person listed. On sheet 10, line 67 of the Cass Lake enumeration is Edward Schoen living “near Neals Mills.”⁶1905 Minnesota state census, Cass County, population schedule, Town of Cass Lake, page 10, District 13, June 12, 1905 for Christ Moritz line 61 and Edward Schoen line 67. He was a laborer, aged 21, from Germany [at least German-speaking], resided in Minnesota for one month and lived in Cass Lake for one month. Could Edward Schoen be our Edward Schoenborn?

The name listed on line 67 is the right age. He is the correct ethnicity. If he immigrated in April, he had indeed resided in Minnesota a very short time. But the more convincing detail is on the same page, six lines above Edward: Christ Moritz also lived “near Neals Mills.” He was a laborer, aged 42, from Germany, lived in Minnesota for 2 years and lived in this district for one month. This is Uncle Moritz!

It would seem that Edward and Christian Moritz went to Cass Lake together to find employment; Christian is enumerated twice on the census: once in Albany and once in Cass Lake. The owners of the J. Neils Lumber Company were German-Lutherans and this employment opportunity would bring our family to Cass Lake.

Bertha Arndt Norenberg remembered that Ed and Anna Schoenborn were happy in their new American surroundings, and so they urged the other members of the family to follow them.⁷Norenberg, Donald, “Grandma Norenberg”, manuscript, 1961, photocopy privately held by K.L.N. Blees, 2021. This document was created by Don Norenberg interviewing his mother, Bertha Arndt Norenberg. page 1. In March of 1906 Ed’s father, August, traveled from Russia to meet him in Cass Lake.⁸“New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JFFR-LYZ : 2 March 2021), August Schoenborn, 1906, S. S. Albano, page 17, line 22. In the spring of 1908, August Schoenborn returned to America a second time, this time bringing his wife, his two youngest children and his nephew; they declared their intention to go to Cass Lake, Minnesota.⁹U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963, Microfilm T843 (WASHINGTON: National Archives and Records Service), roll 122, chronological by ship, S.S. Cymric, 19 May 1908; for August Schonborn, page [blank], line 18.

One year later, Edward Schoenborn had more relatives leave Russia and travel to Cass Lake. This group included his father-in-law Gottfried “Fred” Arndt, and three brothers-in-law, including Bertha’s brother, Edward.¹⁰“Canada Passenger Lists, 1881-1922,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2QS2-ZMQ : 23 February 2021), Godfrey Arnd, May 1909; citing Immigration, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, T-4760, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. S. S. Corsican, page Steerage B, line 27. Bertha recalled that her brother chose to leave Russia before he was required to serve in the Army.¹¹Norenberg, Donald, “Grandma Norenberg”, page 1: ” Everyone worked hard to join Anna in her new homeland and when the time came for one of the boys to join the Army, he chose to leave Russia instead.”

Above is the first page of the Passenger Manifest from 1910. The last of the Arndt family emigrated from Russia. Bertha was 17 when she left her home with her mother, Paulina, her two younger siblings, Immanuel and Emma, her older sister, Helen Arndt Eichberg and Helen’s three children. In the column marked “none”, Paulina Arndt has no family in Russia.

Bertha’s son, Don, helped her to write down her recollections of emigration:¹²Norenberg, Donald, “Grandma Norenberg”, page 1-2, editorial notes/corrections made by Karrie Blees, 2021.

As much as the family desired to leave Russia behind, it was still difficult to leave the land they had toiled and loved for so long. Tears were shed as they took a last look at their home and their native land. After selling their crops, the land and buildings could not be sold. The Arndts set forth on their long and often tiresome journey.

Bertha, her mother, one brother, two sisters, a very small niece and two nephews were forced to leave in secret. They waited in a ditch until the early morning hours when a guide came for them. He was paid over one hundred dollars to lead the family across the German line, and they arrived there just as daylight broke.

In Germany, a man and a team of horses took the family to Rosenburg [uncertain which exact town]. From here, they took the wrong route and instead of going to Berlin, they arrived in a town on the Russian border. Here they could see the Russian soldiers patrolling the border and were much relieved to be on the German side. The police took the very tired family into custody and put them in jail. They were questioned as to why they took this particular route since it did not lead to the ship’s port of departure.

After spending a day in jail, Bertha and her family were released and then spent the following twenty-four hours on a train taking them through Austria. They then spent thirteen hours crossing the English Channel and landed in Liverpool. Here, they were forced to stay a week waiting for a ship to come. Each day of the week they were fed fish, bread, black coffee and potatoes.

Eventually their ship arrived and at long last the Arndts were on the ocean. They were eight days en route to Quebec, Canada and from there took a train to [Sault Ste. Marie, then to] Duluth and then to Cass Lake, arriving July 25, 1910.

Bertha was thrilled to rejoin her father, sister and brother and to find that the surrounding terrain was much the same as what she had been forced to leave behind.

The oldest of the Eichberg children, Alec, remembered his journey this way in a 1988 interview with Karrie Blees:

We left in July of 1910 at 2:30 am. It took us 14 days to cross the ocean. There were a lot of Jews on the deck. We never ate so much herring. We were packed into a horse-drawn, enclosed wagon to cross the border from Russia into Germany. The driver told us, “Be quiet!” and lay down when we neared the border. We took a ferry across the English Channel. From Liverpool England, we took the Allen Line to America. On the ocean liner, everyone got seasick, except me. When we arrived, we had to wait one week for the money for train fare to Cass Lake, MN. The other Eichbergs stayed in Russia. Grandpa Eichberg passed away before we left.

Part 2: Charlie Norenberg

Konstantin “Charlie” Nörenberg left his Russian home in 1909 and first went to Long Island, New York. [See the Norenberg Immigration post.] Additional research is needed to determine why “Charlie” went to Cass Lake. Perhaps one of his German-Russian friends in New York encouraged him to go to Minnesota. Likely, he had heard about good jobs at the J. Neils sawmill.

Enumerated on the 1910 federal census, there were several German-Russians in Cass Lake, Minnesota. This census was taken before Bertha and the last of the Arndts arrived in the United States.

Konstantin was among those listed in Cass Lake. He worked at the sawmill and boarded at the house of Henry Hamann who was an employee of the J. Neils Company and a German, but not from Russia. Also boarding in the Hamann house are John Eichberg, August Schönborn and his son Adam Schönborn; all work at the sawmill.¹³1910 U.S. Census, Cass County, Minnesota, population schedule, Cass Lake, enumeration district (ED) 14, sheet 6A, family 99, line 16, Constantine Nurenburg; NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 693. John Eichberg was married to Bertha’s oldest sister, Helen. August’s eldest son Edward was married to Anna Arndt, another of Bertha’s sisters.

Just two households ahead of Henry Hamann, was the Louis Baker household. Louis was also an employee of the sawmill and housed two German-Russian boarders: Ed Arndt and Carl Moritz. Ed Arndt was Bertha’s older brother. Carl was one of Bertha’s cousins and would witness her marriage in 1911.¹⁴Edited on 2 April 2023 to correct Carl Moritz’s relationship to Bertha.

Of these German-Russians in Cass Lake, Minnesota in April of 1910, Konstantin was the only one not related to the Arndt family, but that would soon change.

SOURCES

• 1
  Naturalization Final Papers, Christian Moritz, Cass County MN District Court, Reel 2; Code 10, Vol 2, page 13; Chrisitian Moritz; 18 June 1910; occupation: farmer; born 26 Jun 1863 at Pawlow Russia; emigrated from Bremen Germany on 15 Jun 1902 arrived at Port of New York.
• 2
  Microfilm List of New York Passenger Arrival Records, 1789-1957, Microfilm T715 (Washington: National Archives and Records Service), roll 313, chronological by ship; S.S. Blucher, 17 Dec 1902, for Ernstina Moritz, page 183, line 13.
• 3
  “New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JF35-6JX : 2 March 2021), Eduard Schonborn, 1905, S.S. Dania, page 40, line 6.
• 4
  1905 Minnesota state census, Stearns County, population schedule, Town of Albany, page [blank and/or crossed out, John Batz enumerator], District 27, June 28, 1905 for Christian Moritz and family; Anna Schoenborn and infant Reinold.
• 5
  http://dnrc.mt.gov/divisions/forestry/forestry-pioneers/j-neils-family; accessed 8 Oct 2021.
• 6
  1905 Minnesota state census, Cass County, population schedule, Town of Cass Lake, page 10, District 13, June 12, 1905 for Christ Moritz line 61 and Edward Schoen line 67.
• 7
  Norenberg, Donald, “Grandma Norenberg”, manuscript, 1961, photocopy privately held by K.L.N. Blees, 2021. This document was created by Don Norenberg interviewing his mother, Bertha Arndt Norenberg. page 1.
• 8
  “New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JFFR-LYZ : 2 March 2021), August Schoenborn, 1906, S. S. Albano, page 17, line 22.
• 9
  U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963, Microfilm T843 (WASHINGTON: National Archives and Records Service), roll 122, chronological by ship, S.S. Cymric, 19 May 1908; for August Schonborn, page [blank], line 18.
• 10
  “Canada Passenger Lists, 1881-1922,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2QS2-ZMQ : 23 February 2021), Godfrey Arnd, May 1909; citing Immigration, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, T-4760, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. S. S. Corsican, page Steerage B, line 27.
• 11
  Norenberg, Donald, “Grandma Norenberg”, page 1: ” Everyone worked hard to join Anna in her new homeland and when the time came for one of the boys to join the Army, he chose to leave Russia instead.”
• 12
  Norenberg, Donald, “Grandma Norenberg”, page 1-2, editorial notes/corrections made by Karrie Blees, 2021.
• 13
  1910 U.S. Census, Cass County, Minnesota, population schedule, Cass Lake, enumeration district (ED) 14, sheet 6A, family 99, line 16, Constantine Nurenburg; NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 693.
• 14
  Edited on 2 April 2023 to correct Carl Moritz’s relationship to Bertha.