Martin Friedrich BRUSS

1799 - 1854  (55 years)

• Name	Martin Friedrich BRUSS
  Born	1799	Cammin, Kreis Cammin, Pomerania, Prussia
  	Date from Old Lutherans Emigration book showing him 40 in 1839, and in the 1850 Census showing him as 51.
  Gender	Male
  Occupation	1839	Cammin, Kreis Cammin, Pomerania, Prussia
  	Ship's carpenter, or Schiffszimmermann, his occupation both in Cammin and in Milwaukee
  Immigration	19 Sep 1839
  	Arrived in New York City with wife Sophie, 3 sons August, Martin and Johann, on board the ship Echo, then traveled to Buffalo NY with group of Old Lutherans from northern Prussia. He gave 12 Sep 1839 on naturalization petition.
  Residence	Nov 1839	Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
  	Martin Friedrich Bruss, wife Sophie and young sons August, Martin and John arrived in November 1839 with the Old Lutherans. Wm. George Bruce wrote in his Memoirs that they arrived in 1842 but also when his father was 9, ie 1839.
  Naturalization	22 Feb 1841–11 Nov 1844	Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
  	2/22: Filed Intent to become a Citizen document with court. Gave origin in Cammin. 11/11: Filed Petition for Citizenship or second papers, referencing the earlier Intent document. Filed with 3rd Judicial District Court, Territory of Wisconsin.
  Residence	11 Nov 1844	Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
  	Soundex Index to Naturalization Petitions for the United States District and Circuit Courts, Northern District of Illinois and Immigration and Naturalization Service District 9, 1840-1950 (M1285)
  Census	1 Dec 1847	Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
  	Address: 363 East Water Street
  	Martin Bruss family, First Ward, 363 East Water, 12 males, 9 females in 4-unit dwelling
  Residence	1847–1848	Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
  	First city directory listed him as "Bruce Martin, ship carpenter, 283 E Water," Bruss anglicized to Bruce.
  Residence	1848–1849	Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
  	in 1st Ward
  	Entry: Martin Bruss, ship carpenter, 363 East Water Street
  Census	15 Aug 1850	Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
  	Ship carpenter, 51, b. Germany, $1,500 in real estate. Sons Martin and John in household along with second wife Maria, her son Hermann Gerschwitz, others.
  Residence	1851–1852	Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
  	Recorded as Martin Brurs, Ship carpenter, 383 E. Water. Milwaukee City Directory by Parsons & Van Slyck.
  Misc	25 Aug 1852	Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
  	A "Wo Ist" advertisements shows a Maria Bruss looking for a Martin and August Bruss; Wisconsin Banner (weekly ed.), 25 Aug 1852, pg 3 col 7. Source: Milwaukee German Newspapers database by Gary Rebholz. Perhaps to tell them of father's death?
  Died	1852–1854	Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
  	Died before 1854-1855 City Directory w/Maria Bruss, 383 E. Water, no Martin, & before 1 June 1855 Wisconsin Census w/Mrs. Brauss, Aug. Braus, no Martin Bruss. Petition for probate likely 25 July 1855 [Ellen Rohr]. No Bruss in 1852-1875 death index.
  Probate	17 Aug 1859	Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
  	August Bruss was granted letters of administration for probate of father's will on 8/17/1859. See Atlas Tagliche Ausgabe (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) for 1859.
  _UID	4F1E676785F04D20B8C830C69795CEB441DE
  Person ID	I930	My Family History
  Last Modified	25 Aug 2011

  
  

  Father	Johann Fridrich BRUSS,   b. Abt 1775, Cammin, Kreis Cammin, Pomerania, Prussia ,   d. Cammin, Kreis Cammin, Pomerania, Prussia
  Mother	Dorthea Maria BENTERN,   b. Abt 1777, Cammin, Kreis Cammin, Pomerania, Prussia ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Married	1799	Cammin, Kreis Cammin, Pomerania, Prussia
  	Cammin Dom or cathedral, marriage No. 70, 1799. This is the only couple at this church in this timeframe with a Bruss husband having children baptized, he a ship's carpenter. Very likely the parents of Martin Freidrich Bruss.
  Family ID	F1490	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Maria Sophia STIEMKE,   b. Abt 1802, Cammin, Kreis Cammin, Pomerania, Prussia ,   d. Abt 1849, Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin  (Age ~ 47 years)
  Married	14 Nov 1828	Cammin, Kreis Cammin, Pomerania, Prussia
  	From Cammin, Pomerania marriage records, FHC microfilm. 16th of 18 marriages in 1828. Date interpreted by John Bartelt, confirmed by Gerda Conrad's Kirchenbuch, Hamburg, 1993. Surname spelled Stiemcke.
  Children	1. John BRUCE   2. Wilhelm Friedrich BRUSS,   b. 25 Sep 1829, Cammin, Kreis Cammin, Pomerania, Prussia ,   d. Bef 1839, Cammin, Kreis Cammin, Pomerania, Prussia  (Age < 9 years) + 3. Augustus Frederick BRUCE,   b. 27 Dec 1830, Cammin, Kreis Cammin, Pomerania, Prussia ,   d. 7 Apr 1897, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin  (Age 66 years) + 4. Martin F. BRUCE,   b. 27 Mar 1833, Luxembourg ,   d. 20 Feb 1894, Bagdad, Santa Rosa County, Florida  (Age 60 years)
  Family ID	F392	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Marie Elisabeth GERSCHWITZ
  Married	1850	Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
  	Year correct, date before August 15. Online at the Milwaukee Genealogical Society
  Family ID	F1489	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  When William George Bruce wrote his autobiography, "I Was Born in America," he noted that his father and grandfather both followed the Bruss family traditional occupation. They were sailors when young, then ship's carpenters and caulkers when adult men. With records from Cammin, Kreis Cammin, Pomerania, Prussia, plus naturalization papers, we can confirm that Martin Friedrich Bruss, the grandfather born in 1799 in Cammin, was a ship's carpenter or Schiffszimmermann when he married in Cammin on November 14, 1828. In addition, his father Johann Bruss was recorded as a journeyman ship's carpenter or Schiffszimmergeselle on Martin's marriage record. So to the tradition is a real and historic one. Then, all three of Martin's sons -- August F., Martin F. and John -- also followed tradition, sailing on the Great Lakes when young men and working as ship's carpenters or in the ship dry dock business when adults. Martin Friedrich Bruss married Maria Sophie Stiemke on 14 Nov 1828 in Cammin/Dom, the cathedral in Cammin. Dom is German for cathedral, and Domgemiende appears to mean cathedral parish. In that marriage record, her father was listed as Daniel Stiemke, Jachtschiffer or yacht skipper or mariner. Since the Bruss men were sailors when young, one imagines that the Bruss and Stiemke families knew each other. In fact, German historian Hans-Dieter Wallschlaeger wrote in an email: "The Bruss and the Stiemke families are close connected with carpenters and sailors in the village Cammin and on the isle Gristow." Gristow Island is just west of the city of Cammin. He is the author of books on Cammin and webmaster for the Cammin Website at http://www.cammin-pommern.de/ When reviewing the typed extraction from the Kirchenbuch for Cammin/Dom, the cathedral in Cammin where Martin Friedrich Bruss married Maria Sophie Stiemke, we do not find Martin's birth or baptism record. However, there is a record as follows: Bruss, Joh. Schiffszimmerges. Bentern [? check], Dorothea Johann Joachim *1801-11-11 Cammin Cammin/Dom Followed by the sponsors, apparently Lang, Joachim and Brussen, Engel This is possibly the baptism record of a younger brother to Martin Friedreich Bruss, as the father has the right name and occupation, and the time period is logical, three years after Martin himself was born. Note that Schiffszimmerges. is Schiffszimmergeselle or journeyman ship's capenter. The next step is to look at microfilm of the actual church records from Cammin/Dom, which are said to start in 1798 and should include the baptism of Martin Friedrich Bruss in 1799. Barbara Bradley Petura 9 Nov 2008