Document Chronicles: Christian & Henriette Jaekel

I am fortunate to have an incredibly supportive network of relatives, who, upon hearing of my project, have been forwarding memories and whatever familial documents they have in their possession. One such resource is a genealogical booklet of the Christian and Henriette Jaekel Family, which was sent by my grandparents, Larry and Joyce. They are the great grandparents of my grandfather. A team of relatives, the Boettchers, compiled the booklet in 1993 and was able to find many significant historical documents to complement the family tree. I have been absolutely amazed by the document copies. It is one thing to imagine your ancestors emigrating and starting anew in another country but it is certainly another when you can see tangible evidence of their life-changing decision.

My Great-Great-Great-Grandfather, Christian Jaekel, was born in Wentsie, Kries Behrendt Provinz and Koenigreich Preusen, Germany on December 23, 1825. Germany then was not a unified country, but rather a group of independent states, like the Kingdom of Prussia, that were part of a larger area usually referred to as ‘the Germanies’ even during the Holy Roman Empire. According to Meyers Gazetteer of the German Empire from 1912, Wentsie was a noble’s estate of 49 persons in West Prussia. It was 3.5 km from the Berent Railroad Station. I have discovered an old map from 1855 that depicts the Behhrendt Province near the main port of Danzig. 

Behrent is just west of Danzig, which is on the coast of the bay of yellow-outlined West Prussia.
Image courtesy of Reinhold Berg Antique Maps.

Christian’s wife, Henriette Kowalke was born in Old Paleschken, West Prussia, Germany on June 12, 1833. Old Paleschken is now known as the small village of Nowe Polaszki, Poland. Its current population is around 460. This is not much of a change since the 521-person population listed in the 1912 Gazeteer. Another Prussian genealogical researcher discovered Alt Paleschken’s village dates back to 1289 during the Northern Crusades against the pagan Prussians. Teutonic Knights later purchased the land in 1359 but by 1456 the village was royal property.

Alt-Paleschken is to the right of Neu-Paleschken in the upper left corner.
Other similarly small manorial villages can be seen.
Image courtesy of Bill Remus.

View of Nowe Polaszki, Poland today (Point A).
Image courtesy of Google Maps.

Though they lived in different villages, both the Jaekels and the Kowalkes would have been peasant farmers with little to no land of their own and even less to pass on to their descendants. It is easy to understand how Christian and Henreitte Jaekel might have felt at the prospect of new unclaimed territories in America. The Jaekels left no evidence as to why exactly they emigrated, but being free to work their own land would be my guess. Other Germans were known to have immigrated to America due to the potato famine in Germany, draft evasion in the Germanic/Russian territories and religious oppression. Once they had decided to make the journey, the Jaekels would have sold off their possessions to pay for passage as well as to downsize their portable property. Then, they would have needed the requisite “Permit to Emigrate” and passports, which were sometimes combined documents. Personal recommendations from local church officials went far in obtaining these permits. So far as we know, neither a passport nor a permit survives.

However, we do have copies of Christian’s, his son’s (Gustave), and his brother-in-law’s (August Kowalke) Certificates of Renunciation of Citizenship to Germany. The forms clearly state that “it is my bona fide intention to become a Citizen of the United States, and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity which I in any wise owe…to the Emperor of Germany, Emperor Wilhelm I of whom I have heretofore been a subject.” Gustave’s certificate is below as it is the clearest copy from 1993. Signing and submitting this kind of document must have been an incredible moment for immigrants; it was the final official step from their homeland and embrace of their new life.

Gustave Jaekel's Certificate of Renunciation 1886

Several years later, the Jaekels and the Kowalkes would have been eligible to file their Certificates of Naturalization, a legal affirmation of their new American citizenship. August Kowalke’s (Henriette Jaekel’s brother) copy is dated 1868, just five years after their presumed arrival. Christian Jaekel's is not included in the ancestry booklet. But his son's is. According to the 1790 Naturalization Act, the wife and children of a naturalized citizen are automatically considered naturalized. So, I can only conclude that since Christian's is missing--as is Henriette's--and that his son still went to swear before the Chaska Court over thirty years later in 1897, Christian and Henriette Jaekel never followed through their promise of becoming legal status U.S. citizens. This is definitely an interesting plot-twist, if true.

By 1868, the Jaekels and Kowalkes had been farming on their new homesteads for five years, the requisite time for their land to officially be their own property. Though the certificates would have meant their new legal American nationality, I can only wonder if this paper would have truly felt like an equally large step as the renunciation. Working for five years on American land that I had paid for would certainly have made me feel more American already. Perhaps the reason Christian and Henriette never filed (if our research is correct) is because they did not need to prove they had become Americans. They had cleared and toiled unsettled land for five years. Would a paper have brought them any further validation? Obviously official legal status is extremely important to the foundation of a new settled life, as Gustave and his uncle felt. But I ask myself if this might be where my inherited indifference for any kind of certificate of participation or certain award stems from? While my friends pined over small blue ribbons at Field Day and what have you, I have always been content knowing I had done the best I could and did not feel the need for any kind of recognition. Then again, I have always been very shy and probably never wanted any extra attention. Whatever the case, I happily imagine a large traditional German feast in honor of August Kowalke's (and later Gustave Jaekel's) authenticated naturalization as well as the new life these families had started in Minnesota.

 

August Kowalke's Certificate of Naturalization 1868.

Watch for Part Two of my Document Chronicles series, which covers the Jaekel’s homestead in early Waconia, Carver County, Minnesota.