WW1 Diary – April 10, 1916

Twentieth installment from the diary of my great-grandfather’s sister Alise, written during the First World War. When the diary starts, she is living just a few miles from the front lines of the Eastern Front, and is then forced to flee with her husband and two young daughters to her family’s house near Limbaži as the war moves even closer. It was here that her third child, a son, was born in February 1916. For more background, see here, and click on the tag “diary entries” to see all of the entries that I have posted.

April 10, 1916

Easter

Empty, sorrowful. No news from Papa. My heart is full of sorrows, I want to do nothing but cry. Thankfully, the children are healthy and happy and joyful in their childish minds. OlÄ£erts, the little soldier, is a very good child and demands little work, I can’t compare him to the restless girls.

Tombstone Tuesday – Andrejs Å leiners and Ansis Jenzens

In this series, I am providing pictures of tombstones from Latvian cemeteries, all with death dates prior to 1945. I do not have any further information on the people mentioned.

Photo taken by me, October 2012. Click to enlarge.

Names: Lid. Virs. Viet. Andrejs Å leiners (Air Force Officer Andrejs Å leiners), born August 26, 1900, died June 3, 1929;
Lid. Serž. Ansis Jenzens (Airman Sergeant Ansis Jenzens), born January 2, 1903, died June 28, 1929

Location: Meža kapi, Rīga

Workers’ Newspaper – April 7, 1923

This is part of my series of interesting newspaper articles and snippets that I find in the old Latvian newspapers available through Periodika. Most of the articles I post are in some way related to migration, wars or other events that are of particular genealogical note.

Source: Strādnieku AvÄ«ze (Workers’ Newspaper), April 7, 1923

Escaped from a ship’s command. The following ship workers deserted from the steamship “Estonia” when it was in a New York port: Jānis Strazdiņš, Adolfs Freimanis, Augusts RudzÄ«tis, Bruno Freimanis, Staņislavs VodeiÅ¡o, Staņislavs Papirtis, Aleksandrs Dovkants, Ludwigs Zvagulis, Ernests KreiÅ¡manis, Adolfs Eilenbergs, Adolfs Kleins and Reinholds Baburs. By order of the captain, if the deserters return to Latvia, they will be held to account for their actions.

One has to wonder – why did these ship workers desert the Estonia, a ship that travelled from Liepāja to New York during the 1920s? I am particularly interested in finding answers, since the last man mentioned, Reinholds Baburs, is very likely to be my great-great-grandmother Karline Matilde Baburs’ cousin. Baburs is an extremely uncommon name in Latvia, and the ages fit with a Reinholds Baburs I have a record of.

I looked up the ship manifest on Ellis Island, and this is what I found about the twelve men, in the same order as mentioned in the article – their jobs, their ages, and their years of service at sea.

  1. Jānis Strazdiņš – Cooks’ mate, 27, 7 years service
  2. Adolfs Freimanis – Mess boy, 30, 1/2 year service
  3. Augusts RudzÄ«tis – Mess boy, 42, 9 years service
  4. Bruno Freimanis – Mess boy, 33, no years of service
  5. Staņislavs VodeiÅ¡o – Waiter, 45, 2 years service
  6. Staņislavs Papirtis – Waiter, 25, 4 years service
  7. Aleksanders Dovkants – Musician, 33, 1 year service
  8. Ludwigs Zvagulis – Musiker, 37, 1/2 year service
  9. Ernest KreiÅ¡manis – Electrical Assistant, 39, 12 years service
  10. Adolfs Eilenbergs – Kitchen boy, 24, 8 years service
  11. Adolfs Kleins – Waiter, 41, 1/2 year service
  12. Reinholds Baburs – Music Conductor, 41, 2 1/2 years service

The manifest mentions four other deserters as well, but those four were not Latvian citizens, so hence why they probably weren’t mentioned in a Latvian newspaper.

Looking at their ages, and the average time at sea – one really has to wonder why they left the ship. The conditions must have been extremely harsh to get people who have had as many years of service as some of them have to desert – I’m sure that could affect future job prospects. And why would two musicians and a conductor desert a ship if there were bad conditions? Could they have not pursued a career on land? I’m very curious.

Then the next question – did they leave as a group, or individually? Did they know that the others were planning it too? How common was desertion from ships in this era? That is a question I want to answer.

Furthermore – did any of these men ever return to Latvia? I found a newspaper article that mentions a Reinholds Baburs selling land in Preiļi parish in 1935, but that doesn’t say anything about his age, so I don’t know if he is the same Reinholds Baburs. Not to mention such a sale could potentially take place without him being there. So did he ever return? If so, what was his punishment? Or do I have some unknown distant relatives somewhere in the United States? I’m curious to know! So if you happen to be descended from Reinholds Baburs – or any of these crewmen, for that matter – do let me know what happened to them!

RÄ«ga Banns, Week of April 7, 1925

Part of my series of publishing the banns read in RÄ«ga in the interwar period. See this post for more details.

April 7, 1925 (Latvijas VÄ“stnesis [Latvian Herald], April 8, 1925)

  • Military clerk PÄ“teris Mednis (Lubeja) and Elza Ceļmala (Gulbene)
  • Clerk Hugo Velens (Sigulda) and Irma Wilhelmina Ozoliņš (RÄ«ga)
  • Military clerk Arnolds VÄ«ksne (IkÅ¡Ä·ile) and Marta Paulina Andersons nee Neulands (RÄ«ga)
  • Military clerk Hermans Wilhelms Segliņš (RÄ«ga) and Anna Otilija EglÄ«tis (Ainaži)
  • Clerk Antons Dreimanis (Liepupe) and Anna Margareta SaulÄ«te (CÄ“sis)
  • Telegraphist Wilhelms Libtovs (RÄ«ga) and Anna LÄ«ve (RÄ«ga)
  • Tin-smith Kārlis Goldbergs (RÄ«ga) and Sofija Å iff (Krustpils)
  • Merchant Jānis Ganusks (RÄ«ga) and Lucija UzÅ¡alis (VitaÄ·i)
  • Merchant Mārtiņš Gurvičs (VÄ«Å¡Ä·i) and Minna Leventāls (RÄ«ga)
  • Bookkeeper Kārlis Ričards Kabots (RÄ«ga) and Melanija Elisabete PÄ“tersons (RÄ«ga)
  • Wood-sorter ArvÄ«ds Otto KrÅ«ze (DaugavgrÄ«va) and Paulina PriedÄ«te (Birži)

April 8, 1925 (Latvijas VÄ“stnesis [Latvian Herald], April 11, 1925)

  • Machinist Mārtiņš KriÅ¡jānis Lorenzs (Jelgava) and KarlÄ«na Milda Delvers (RÄ«ga)
  • Bookkeeper PÄ“teris Maksis Ribbe (RÄ«ga) and Anna Olchovski (Warsaw)
  • Worker Grigorijs Radionovs (Rozentova) and Anfisa Petrova (LÄ«vāni)
  • Worker Jānis GriÅ¡enko (Vitebsk) and Aleksandra BedrÄ«te nee Stepanova (Novgorod)
  • Tablemaker Jānis Boas-Bosiņš (Talsi) and Johanna Dupurs (RÄ«ga)
  • Bookkeeper Aleksandrs Zariņš (Katvari) and ElfrÄ«da Pakalnietis (Gaujiena)
  • Master Reinholds Novikovs (Daugavpils) and Berta Silbermanis (Kaunas)
  • Farmer Jāzeps Viščnevskis (Kaunas) and Brigita Resse (Bikova)
  • Shoemaker Aleksandrs Julius GrÄ«nbergs (Jelgava) and Vera Afanasjeva (RÄ«ga)
  • Student Alfreds Skroderis (Ä’rgļi) and Emma KatrÄ«na Liberts (Dole)
  • Railway worker Jānis Rozenbergs (Valmiera) and Anna Jermolovičs (Ropaži)

April 11, 1925 (Latvijas VÄ“stnesis [Latvian Herald], April 15, 1925)

  • Worker Terentijs Lavrentjevs (RÄ«ga) and Marija Svestoks (RÄ«ga)
  • Building technician Julius Voldemārs Treidas (Kaunas) and Jevlampija CÄ«rulis (BÄ“rzaune or BÄ“rzone)
  • Sergeant Augusts Priedulans (SÄ“lpils) and Marija Paulina Greiners (Meņģele)
  • Farmer PÄ“teris Stabulnieks (Jasmuiža) and Anna Å lapakova (Gavra)
  • Cabman Ignats Ustinovs (Beržgale) and Anna Beresovskis (Rozenmuiža)

Did this post help you find your ancestors? Do let me know!

Surname Saturday – Estates are Live on the Latvian Surname Project!

What do we have for today’s Surname Saturday? A new content category on the Latvian Surname Project!

If you’ve stopped by the Latvian Surname Project recently, you may have happened across some of the work I’ve been doing adding surnames from some of the earliest estate revision lists. I’m adding these for two reasons: One, because these revision lists are some of the earliest sources of surnames that we have, and thus it is important to keep track of them to see how people and their surnames migrated from place to place, and two, because there are a lot of surnames that I don’t have entered into the Project itself yet, for a variety of reasons (time and uncertainty about the meaning are the main culprits here). But it is still important to see where surnames came from, so at least the bare minimum of information – that is, the name – will appear on these estate pages, even if they don’t have their own separate surname pages yet. All in good time!

So you can see this new category here – right now I only have a few added, but this number will grow with time!

WW1 Diary – April 3, 1916

Nineteenth installment from the diary of my great-grandfather’s sister Alise, written during the First World War. When the diary starts, she is living just a few miles from the front lines of the Eastern Front, and is then forced to flee with her husband and two young daughters to her family’s house near Limbaži as the war moves even closer. It was here that her third child, a son, was born in February 1916. For more background, see here, and click on the tag “diary entries” to see all of the entries that I have posted.

April 3, 1916

Palm Sunday

A beautiful day. Yes – the beauty of spring cannot be stopped by the boom of the cannons, or the bad luck of humanity. The cannonfire could be heard all night, and now it is booming so uncomfortably that I can’t stand listening to it. What sort of days are ahead? What will happen, what with my little children, my little son? Right now again we have a horse, egg, curds [undecipherable]. Eggs already cost 12 kopecks. Everyone is afraid of famine. Many houses nearby are already filled with Austrians. Many of the sick and wounded have been put in the school. Theft and murder is on the rise… oh, if only we could get away to some quiet Russian province, then we could live and there would be plenty of bread.

Tombstone Tuesday – PÄ“ters Lodziņš, 1904-1930

In this series, I am providing pictures of tombstones from Latvian cemeteries, all with death dates prior to 1945. I do not have any further information on the people mentioned.

Photo taken by me, October 2012. Click to enlarge.

Name: Lid. Serž. Pēters Lodziņš (Airman Sergeant Pēters Lodziņš), born May 15, 1904, died December 4, 1930

Location: Meža kapi, Rīga

WW1 Diary – April 1, 1916

Eighteenth installment from the diary of my great-grandfather’s sister Alise, written during the First World War. When the diary starts, she is living just a few miles from the front lines of the Eastern Front, and is then forced to flee with her husband and two young daughters to her family’s house near Limbaži as the war moves even closer. It was here that her third child, a son, was born in February 1916. For more background, see here, and click on the tag “diary entries” to see all of the entries that I have posted.

April 1, 1916

I’m reading from the journals sent by the minister’s wife. Some of them have such beautiful meaningful poems… We are still living in the upstairs room at Kroņi. Papa headed off again to look for a place to live. TrÅ«tiņa and Dagmāra are very healthy and are playing with their nanny. OlÄ£erts is crawling very well and is a quiet and dear child. But still that ear is troubling me. I look for satisfaction everywhere, and I am reading the book “Hinter den Waldern” where there is a child born without irises and with a cleft palate, but still plays like a normal child without any cares.

Riga Banns, Week of March 31, 1925

Part of my series of publishing the banns read in RÄ«ga in the interwar period. See this post for more details.

March 31, 1925 (published in Latvijas VÄ“stnesis [Latvian Herald], April 1, 1925)

  • Railway worker Jānis Rudolfs KriÄ·is (Palsmane) and Lisete Milda Beitels (Bauska)
  • Merchant Kristian Marinnus Jeusen (Denmark) and ElvÄ«ra VÄ«tols (RÄ«ga)
  • Artist Sergei Jakovlev (Vilnius) and Tekla Skrebovsky (Lithuania)
  • Sergeant Martiņš Puksis (RÄ«ga) and Lucija Katrina Solkovskis (RÄ«ga)
  • Worker Antons Rasnačs (LÄ«ksna) and Ludwiga Puga (LÄ«ksna)
  • Clerk Arturs Voldemārs Elsiņš (RÄ«ga) and Barbara Busards (RÄ«ga)
  • Merchant IndriÄ·is Levinsons (Jelgava) and Sofija Mejerovičs (RÄ«ga)
  • Barber Ludwigs BÄ“rziņš (Bauska) and Ieva Eiduks (Jaunbebri)
  • Barber Otto Arturs Britans (RÄ«ga) and Katrina Agnese Svicevičs (RÄ«ga)
  • Advertiser EmÄ«ls Lambergs (RÄ«ga) and Paulina Blumbers, nee Ginters (RÄ«ga)
  • Sergeant Jānis Zinovskis (ApriÄ·i) and Marta Wilhelmine Tiltiņš (RÄ«ga)
  • Tailor Augusts Zigurs (AlÅ«ksne) and Marija Å alkins (RÄ«ga)
  • Alfreds Bārdziņš (CÄ“sis) and Natālija Tiltiņš (RÄ«ga)

April 1, 1925 (published in Latvijas VÄ“stnesis [Latvian Herald], April 2, 1925)

  • Rudolfs Schlossbergs (Ceraukste) and Elizabete Kārkliņš (RÄ«ga)
  • Table-maker Jānis KronÄ«tis (BÄ“rzone or BÄ“rzaune) and Anna Helena BruÅ¡evičs (Liepāja)
  • Surveyor Vladimirs Omelko (Viļaka) and Irma Kristina Zvietis (RÄ«ga)
  • Worker Kazimirs Jaselvičs (Ķiburi) and Petronella KirÅ¡aite (Paudeļi)
  • Merchant Jānis Skribis (DzÄ“rbene) and Ksenija Å ačno (RÄ“zekne)
  • Clerk Voldemārs Skadiņš (Dundaga) and Veronika Kristopaitis (Jelgava)
  • Shoemaker Evalds Oskars BÄ“rziņš (RÄ«ga) and Lida Anete Emma Meirens (RÄ«ga)

April 2, 1925 (published in Latvijas VÄ“stnesis [Latvian Herald], April 3, 1925)

  • Fitter Fridrichs Vaks (RÄ«ga) and Alise Leontine Å Ä·erbele (RÄ«ga)
  • Clerk Vilis Svimpels (Lubāna) and Alma Natalija Jakobi (RÄ«ga)
  • Railway worker Jānis Persis (Terneja) and Helena Hochlova (Lithuania)
  • Clerk Julians Jurgelans (Latgale) and Ludmila Dobele (Liepāja)
  • Photographer Teodors Edwins von Remers (RÄ«ga) and Antonina Schubert, nee Bartsch (RÄ«ga)
  • Lithographer Jerosei Solovisnich (Saint Petersburg) and Marcenila Tusits (RÄ«ga)

April 4, 1925 (published in Latvijas VÄ“stnesis [Latvian Herald], April 6, 1925)

  • Clerk Erusts Voldemārs Georgs PÄ“tersons (RÄ«ga) and Olga EmÄ«lija Å enbergs (RÄ«ga)
  • Clerk Wilhelms Ozols (RÄ«ga) and Benita Leonija Forkampfs (RÄ«ga)
  • Railway worker Ernsts Jākobsons (RÄ«ga) and Jadwiga Sviluks (RÄ«ga)
  • Jānis Vindbergs (Jelgava) and Albertina Luisa Klingners (Jelgava)
  • Nikolai Rischev (Jelgava) and Aleksandra Kulkova (RÄ«ga)
  • Jekabs Teodors Purnis (Jelgava) and EmÄ«lija Pauline Latvena (RÄ«ga)
  • Typesetter Nikolājs Ä’Ä·is (RÄ«ga Liepāja) and Minna Sostiņš (Lithuania) (Nikolājs’ place of residence is corrected in the following issue)

Did this post help you find your ancestors? Do let me know!

Tombstone Tuesday – Milda and Eduards Miezis

In this series, I am providing pictures of tombstones from Latvian cemeteries, all with death dates prior to 1945. I do not have any further information on the people mentioned.

Photo taken by me, October 2012. Click to enlarge.

Top Inscription: “Å e duss” (“Here rests”)

Names: Milda Miezis (maiden name Zaul), born July 8, 1897, died June 6, 1925; Eduards Miezis, born May 10, 1921, died June 20, 1925.

Bottom Inscription: “Un zeme paņema ar dziļiem vaidiem, visskaistākos tÄ“lus ar dzÄ«ves smaidiem” (And the Earth took, with great groans, the most beautiful characters with lively smiles)

Location:Meža kapi, Rīga