Fleischhacker: Arriving in America
Susanna (Klein), Joseph Fleischhacker and their 5 children emigrated from their home in the Burgenland in the fall of 1903. Last week, we discovered their reason for coming to America and examined the passenger list created when they departed Liverpool.
When they arrived in Boston, their adventure intensified.
Immigrant Inspection
Before entering the U.S., the family knew that they would need to pass another inspection. In Liverpool, all immigrants submitted to their first medical examinations. Very likely, the Fleischhackers saw other ticket-holders scrutinized, prodded and perhaps weeded-out in Liverpool.
Dr. Albert Nute, M.D. described the medical inspection of immigrants at the Port of Boston where he worked.1Nute, A. J. “Medical Inspection of Immigrants at the Port of Boston” Boston Medical Surgical Journal, April 23, 1914, Vol 170, pages 642-646. In 1914, Dr. Nute thoroughly explained in the Boston Medical Surgical Journal the inspection process and noted that “seldom does the alien suffer from too harsh a medical judgment. All things considered, he gets the best end of the doubt, for the rules require the certificate to be based on conclusive evidence.”
The Immigration Act of 1903 sought to exclude anarchists. Furthermore, it also enacted legislation that fined steamship companies for transporting immigrants who would become a burden on society. In addition to the $100 fine, the steamship company was required to return all refused aliens to their homeland.
10-year-old Anna (Sr. Alana) remembered the inspection:2Unknown. “Family History of Sisters Alana, Hermina, Mavilla Fleischhacker” Author unknown, probably Sr. Alana (Anna) Fleischhacker. Undated, typed manuscript given to Karrie Blees by Katherine H. Fleischhacker Blees. 3Fleischhacker, Sr. Alana (Anna). “Our Trip to America.” 1985. Typed copy held by Karrie Blees.
We were in the upper section of the ship and had a very nice trip, which lasted ten days. Our father was sick all the way and was very sick by the time we landed. Before going on land we had to go through the inspection line. Our father was very sick and haggard-looking.
The sad verdict was ZURÜCK [return].
Columbus ship manifest, page D, arriving at the Port of Boston, November 7, 1903.4“Massachusetts, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820” database. Ancestry. www.ancestry.com: accessed 6 Sep 2022. entry for Josef Fleischacker (age 45), page D, line 26, and entry for Susanna Fleischacker (aged 44), page F, line 1, arrived in Boston, MA, November 7, 1903, aboard the Columbus from Liverpool.
Page D, line 26: Josef Fleischacker, 45, male, married, farmer, can read, can write, Hungarian nationality, German race, last residence was Rotterdam, final destination is St. Paul, Minn., has a ticket to final destination which was paid by his brother-in-law, possesses $20, never before in U.S., going to brother-in-law Louis König at 762 Lafond Street, St. Paul, Minn. He answered no to the questions about former imprisonment, polygamy, anarchy, or employment solicitation. [Yes, the children’s ages are incorrect on this list.]
The second from the right column is listed with ditto marks, indicating that his health was good. Neither was he crippled/deformed (last column).
However, look at the line inserted just below Maria’s name/line 27. This is different handwriting.
See Dr. before Discharge
Page F, line 1: Susanna Fleischacker, 44, female, married, wife, can read, can write, Hungarian nationality, German race, last residence was Rotterdam, final destination is St. Paul, Minn., has a ticket to final destination which was paid by her brother-in-law, possesses $12, never in U.S., going to brother-in-law Louis König at 762 Lafond Street, St. Paul, Minn. She answered no to the questions about former imprisonment, polygamy, anarchy, or employment solicitation. Her health is good and she is not crippled/deformed.
However, look at the line inserted at the far end of Katherine’s line. The ink is different.
See Husband Father D 26
Dr. Nute stated, “The doctor never admits an alien, neither does he ever exclude one; that is the function of the immigration officials.”
Deportation
Joseph, Susanna and the children were ordered into a room on the lower deck of the ship. For a week, they were locked inside that chamber. Sr. Alana recalled, “They brought us meals but kept us locked up like criminals. Once, when they left the door open, Joe and Mary ran out and begged the men to let us out.”
At the wharf, the ship took on crew, cargo and passengers for the return trip. The din of activity was unbearable day and night, especially for a sick man. Every morning an old sailor would come to clean the room. Perhaps afraid that the family had a contagious disease, he gruffly shouted, ‘”GET OUT!” Susanna tried to warn and humor her children saying, “Hier kommt schon wieder der Alte “GET OUT!” [Here comes that Old “Get Out”!]5Fleischhacker, Sr. Alana (Anna). St. Cloud, Minnesota. Interview by Patrick and Karrie Blees. 31 March 1986. Transcript, privately held by Karrie Blees, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 2022.
Escape
On the final day of passenger-boarding, Sr. Alana recalled feeling hopeless. There was no chance of release; they were going back to Europe.
Desperate, the oldest siblings, Mary and Joseph, ran up the steps. They pounded on the locked door and yelled for help. Soon, some sailors came to investigate the cause of the commotion. Susanna assured the men that there was no serious trouble,. However, her children were afraid that they had to make the return voyage.
The sailors told them not to fear.
That same evening, the family was taken to an office on land. With all the window shades drawn, the room was dark. At midnight, the sailors opened the office door, released the family and led the tired group to the train station.
Joseph Dies
On November 14th at 10 p.m., the Fleischhackers finally arrived at the St. Paul train station. Friends and cousins from Apetlon greeted the weary family.
Indeed, Joseph was too sick to provide for his family in America. He was confined to his bed for the last eight weeks of his life and died died January 4, 1904 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Catholic Church paid for his burial plot in Calvary Cemetery.
More Research
Why are the children’s ages off? Could it be that children over age 12 needed their own ticket?
Who is Vincent Gangl? He is the teenager listed immediately after Susanna on both the departure and the arrival lists.
What other versions of this intended deportation have you heard?
How did the family survive in St. Paul?
SOURCES
- 1Nute, A. J. “Medical Inspection of Immigrants at the Port of Boston” Boston Medical Surgical Journal, April 23, 1914, Vol 170, pages 642-646.
- 2Unknown. “Family History of Sisters Alana, Hermina, Mavilla Fleischhacker” Author unknown, probably Sr. Alana (Anna) Fleischhacker. Undated, typed manuscript given to Karrie Blees by Katherine H. Fleischhacker Blees.
- 3Fleischhacker, Sr. Alana (Anna). “Our Trip to America.” 1985. Typed copy held by Karrie Blees.
- 4“Massachusetts, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820” database. Ancestry. www.ancestry.com: accessed 6 Sep 2022. entry for Josef Fleischacker (age 45), page D, line 26, and entry for Susanna Fleischacker (aged 44), page F, line 1, arrived in Boston, MA, November 7, 1903, aboard the Columbus from Liverpool.
- 5Fleischhacker, Sr. Alana (Anna). St. Cloud, Minnesota. Interview by Patrick and Karrie Blees. 31 March 1986. Transcript, privately held by Karrie Blees, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 2022.