Searching for Pauline

In 1986, I began my family history journey with a set of Russian documents. I took those documents to my first genealogy society meeting where a kind volunteer translated them into English. With these translations, I launched my love of genealogy and began my search for Pauline.

1910 Travel document for Pauline Arndt and 3 of her children.¹Original certificate owned by Donald Norenberg (1932-2012). Translated copy held by Karrie Blees, January 12, 2024.

Where and when was Pauline
(who married Gottfried Arndt)
born?

European Geo-Political Issues

One of the biggest hurdles to overcome is geo-political. My ethnic Germanic ancestors, like Pauline, lived in what we now consider Ukraine, but it was Russia then. My people claimed to have been born in Poland. However, from 1772 to 1918 there was no country of Poland; the land was partitioned by its neighbors (Russia, Austria and Prussia). Here’s a good map for reference. This Beginner’s Guide is very helpful, too.

Because of the changing political borders, there is no clear roadmap to Pauline’s eastern European birthplace.

Travel Documents

The Russian travel document (above) stated that Pauline (pronounced pow-LEE-nah in German) was 49 years old when she traveled with 3 of her children from Russia in May of 1910. From this document, we calculate a birthdate of late 1860 or early 1861. The Russian patronymic Danielova indicated that her father’s name was Daniel. She had family in Kalisz guberniya Province.

Pauline did not apply for U.S. Citizenship, so there are no naturalization records in which she declared her birthdate.

Left-side page S.S. Corsican Manifest, Line 13: Paulina Arendt [sic]²NARA microfilm Port of Quebec and Montreal arriving July 21, 1910. S. S. Corsican sailing from Liverpool on July 14, 1910. Paulina Arndt, Line 13, age 40.

Right-side page S.S. Corsican Manifest, Line 13: Paulina Arndt
Far right column: Place of Birth Ditto [Russia], Turek

On this 1910 Manifest, Paulina Arndt declared her age to be 40 [born about 1870]. She stated that she was born in Turek [capital of a district within the Kalisz Governorate of Russian Poland]. Her age seems to be 10 years too young, but all of the children listed are hers and she is traveling to her husband in Cass Lake, Minnesota. So, this document was for Paulina who married Gottfried Arndt;  her age was incorrectly stated and/or documented.

Alien Registration

In February of 1918, the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety passed the Alien Registration Act.  This legislation ordered all unnaturalized aliens (foreigners) to register and make sworn declarations about themselves, their family, and their property. For Minnesota researchers, these collected declarations are quite helpful.

Pauline Arndt, Alien Registration, page 1³Cass County MN Alien Registration of Pauline Arndt. Minnesota Commission of Public Safety. Alien Registration Correspondence and Other Records. Minnesota Historical Society. Handwritten notes in the left margin indicate the questions asked on the pre-printed form.

Pauline Arndt, Alien Registration, page 2

The Alien Registration listed the following information about Pauline Arndt:

• Date of birth: November 3, 1860, age 57 at last birthday
• Place of birth: Co Kalishkae [sic] Poland Russia
• Signature is an ‘X’ – She could not write her name.
• Filed: February 26, 1918 in Cass Lake, Minnesota

This form is in the same handwriting as her husband’s Alien Registration, so the same person filled it out. Is this information to be trusted? Pauline could not sign her name and likely could not read. Did she provide the information or was it given by another family member?

Pauline, her husband Gottfried “Fred,” their children, and their children’s spouses also filed their registration paperwork on February 26, 1918. The only one to sign his own name was son-in-law Constantin Nürenberg. Pauline Arndt was unable to read/check her own document for accuracy.

Census Record

Paulina lived in the United States during only one U.S. Census enumeration. Listed in the 1920 Census, she was 61 years old, born about 1859 in Russia.⁴U.S. Census.  Year: 1920; Census Place: Cass Lake, Cass, Minnesota; Roll: T625_824; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 102.

Death Records

To date, I have not found a newspaper obituary, which may have printed her birthdate, birth location and maiden name.⁵The March 13, 1930 issue of the Cass Lake (MN) Times is not included in the Minnesota Historical Society’s microfilm collection of that newspaper. That is the issue in which one would expect a death notice/obituary to appear. The paper was published once per week. However, Pauline’s Minnesota death record provides some information.

This Minnesota Death Certificate for Pauline Arndt lists this data:

• Birth date: December 1, 1859
• Birth place: Poland
• Father: Fred Kout, born in Poland
• Mother: Unknown, born in Poland
• Informant: C. Norenberg [son-in-law]

Can the information on this record be trusted? Did Pauline’s daughter’s husband know the correct life details? Perhaps not.

Pauline’s daughter Anna (Arndt) Schoenborn died in the Spanish Flu Epidemic. This record was produced during Pauline’s lifetime and includes her maiden name.

1918 Minnesota Death Certificate for Anna (Arndt) Schoenborn
Maiden Name of Mother: Paulina Koth

Four more of Pauline’s children’s death records list her maiden name this way:

• Paulina Coats⁶Minnesota Death Certificate, 1943-MN-002160. Helen Eichberg, February 17, 1943.Emma Eichberg (daughter of Helen/granddaughter of Pauline), informant.
• Paulina Tratter [sic, Tratter was Paulina’s daughter-in-law]⁷Minnesota Death Certificate, 1936-MN-002404. Edward Arndt, July 5, 1936. Edward’s brother-in-law Ed Schoenborn was the informant; he likely misunderstood the question. Edward’s wife was Hulda Tratter.
• Pauline Coat⁸“Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8SJ-VKJ : Fri Oct 13 17:08:53 UTC 2023), Entry for Emil Or Emanuel Arndt, 07 Apr 1943. Informant is Mrs. Olga Arndt (wife of Emil/Emmanuel, Pauline’s daughter-in-law).
• Pauline ? (question mark in the original)⁹Minnesota Death Certificate, 1970-MN-025160. Bertha Norenberg, October 21, 1970. Otto Norenberg (Bertha’s son/grandson of Pauline), informant.

Conclusions

From these collected records we can determine that Pauline (who married Gottfried Arndt) was born in November or December in 1859 or 1860.

She was born in Turek or Kalisz Province in (what we know call) Poland. At the time of her birth, the area was a Russian partition.

There is no absolute proof of her parentage, but there are a couple of good clues:

1. The travel document’s Russian patronymic Danielova: her father’s name was Daniel
2. Her maiden name was likely Koth (pronounced Cote in German). The later death certificates for her children contained possibly Americanized and/or phonetic spellings.¹⁰Great grandson, Kenneth Norenberg recalled that her maiden name was pronounced “coat,” according to his grandmother Bertha (Arndt) Norenberg. Her marriage record gives her name as Kot (in Russian).

Next Week

Let’s look at what information is available through the Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe (SGGEE).

SOURCES

• 1
  Original certificate owned by Donald Norenberg (1932-2012). Translated copy held by Karrie Blees, January 12, 2024.
• 2
  NARA microfilm Port of Quebec and Montreal arriving July 21, 1910. S. S. Corsican sailing from Liverpool on July 14, 1910. Paulina Arndt, Line 13, age 40.
• 3
  Cass County MN Alien Registration of Pauline Arndt. Minnesota Commission of Public Safety. Alien Registration Correspondence and Other Records. Minnesota Historical Society. Handwritten notes in the left margin indicate the questions asked on the pre-printed form.
• 4
  U.S. Census.  Year: 1920; Census Place: Cass Lake, Cass, Minnesota; Roll: T625_824; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 102.
• 5
  The March 13, 1930 issue of the Cass Lake (MN) Times is not included in the Minnesota Historical Society’s microfilm collection of that newspaper. That is the issue in which one would expect a death notice/obituary to appear. The paper was published once per week.
• 6
  Minnesota Death Certificate, 1943-MN-002160. Helen Eichberg, February 17, 1943.Emma Eichberg (daughter of Helen/granddaughter of Pauline), informant.
• 7
  Minnesota Death Certificate, 1936-MN-002404. Edward Arndt, July 5, 1936. Edward’s brother-in-law Ed Schoenborn was the informant; he likely misunderstood the question. Edward’s wife was Hulda Tratter.
• 8
  “Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8SJ-VKJ : Fri Oct 13 17:08:53 UTC 2023), Entry for Emil Or Emanuel Arndt, 07 Apr 1943. Informant is Mrs. Olga Arndt (wife of Emil/Emmanuel, Pauline’s daughter-in-law).
• 9
  Minnesota Death Certificate, 1970-MN-025160. Bertha Norenberg, October 21, 1970. Otto Norenberg (Bertha’s son/grandson of Pauline), informant.
• 10
  Great grandson, Kenneth Norenberg recalled that her maiden name was pronounced “coat,” according to his grandmother Bertha (Arndt) Norenberg.