Tag: SS Kaiser Wilhelm II

Joseph R Brejcha was my Mother In Law’s maternal Grandfather. He was born 23 January 1882 in Pisek, Bohemia, Austria. I found his birth location on his WW2 draft card.

His draft card also stated his birth date, that he lived in Flushing and that he was working for the New York Linen And Laundry Supply Company in New York City. On the lower right side was his signature. On the back side of the draft card it stated that Joseph was white, that he had blue eyes and brown hair and a ruddy complexion. It also stated his height, weight and that he had a mole on his left cheek.

Josef was married 15 May 1902 to my Mother In Law’s Grandmother, Rose Bumbicka.

The couple had their first child, a son, named Joseph Anthony, born 19 February 1904. A second child and my mother in law’s Mother, Anna, was born 7 April 1908 in Defurovy Lažany, Bohemia, Austria.

Joseph left for America and arrived on the steam ship Kaiser Wilhelm II in New York on 24 April 1912.

We also have the ship’s manifest.

Transcript of the manifest:

Name	Jozef Brejcha
Gender	Male
Ethnicity/ Nationality	Bohemian
Marital Status	Married
Age	30
Birth Date	abt 1882
Birth Place	Bohemia, Czechoslovakia
Other Birth Place	Onjerol
Last Known Residence	Laziang, Bohenia
Departure Port	Bremen
Arrival Date	24 Apr 1912
Arrival Port	New York, New York, USA
Residence Place	Bohemia, Czechoslovakia
Final Destination	New York City, New York
Height	5 Feet, 8 Inches
Hair Color	Blonde
Eye Color	Blue
Complexion	Fair
Money in Possession	25
Person in Old Country	Rusena Brejcha
Person in Old Country Relationship	Wife
Person in Old Country Residence	Larany Des Frurs 29 Bohenia
Person in US	William Formann
Person in US Relationship	Uncle
Spouse	Rusena Brejcha
Ship Name	Kaiser Wilhelm II

Joseph had an uncle named William Formann. I don’t have Joseph’s parents names, so this could be a potential brother of his mother. Joseph sailed from Bremen, Germany.

The trip from Defurovy Lazany to Bremen was over 700 kilometers or 434 miles long.

Joseph’s wife Rose and his children followed him to New York only six months later in September of 1912. Their third and last child, Rose Marie, was born 4 March 1917 in Manhattan, New York. In 1918 Joseph filled out a WW1 registration draft card.

Transcription of his draft card:

Name	Joseph Brejcha
Race	White
Birth Date	23 Jan 1882
Residence Date	1917-1918
Street Address	516 E. 82
Residence Place	Manhattan, New York, New York, USA
Draft Board	138
Physical Build	Medium
Height	Medium
Hair Color	Blonde
Eye Color	Grey
Spouse	Rose Brejcha

It states that Joseph was a resident alien and not yet naturalized. Joseph and his family appeared for the first time in the US Federal Census in 1920. It stated that he submitted his first papers meaning that he had applied for US citizenship. A new family member appeared on the census, Joseph’s Mother in law, Anna Urnbick. She had immigrated in 1914.

Name	Joseph Brejcha
Age	37
Birth Year	abt 1883
Birthplace	Bohemia
Home in 1920	Manhattan Assembly District 14, New York, New York
Street	East 82 Street
Residence Date	1920
Race	White
Gender	Male
Immigration Year	1913
Relation to Head of House	Head
Marital Status	Married
Spouse’s Name	Rose Brejcha
Father’s Birthplace	Bohemia
Mother’s Birthplace	Bohemia
Native Tongue	Bohemian
Able to Speak English	Yes
Occupation	Mechanic
Industry	Laundry
Employment Field	Wage or Salary
Home Owned or Rented	Rented
Naturalization Status	Papers Submitted
Able to read	Yes
Able to Write	Yes
Neighbors	View others on page

Name	Age
Joseph Brejcha	37
Rose Brejcha	35
Joseph Brejcha	16
Anna Brejcha	11
Rose Brejcha	7
Anna Urnbick	67

By 1924 Joseph is a citizen. He is on the 1924’s voters list on 112 Norwood Avenue in Queens, New York.

Him and his family appeared on the 1925 New York State Census. His son Joseph probably had moved out already and his mother in law might have died. Also his birth place had changed to Czechoslovakia instead of Austria. After WW1 the borders had changed.

Name	Joseph Brejcha
Gender	Male
Color or Race	White
Age	43
Birth Date	abt 1882
Birth Place	Czechoslovakia
Residence Date	1925
House Number	112
Residence Place	New York, Queens
Relationship	Head
Number of years in US	18
Assembly District	04
Line Number	21
Page number	58

Name	Age
Joseph Brejcha	43
Rose Brejcha	41
Anna Brejcha	17
Rose Brejcha	8

In the 1940 Census Joseph and Anna live by themselves. Joseph had a good job, was a citizen and owned his own house. We also find out that Joseph hat not gone to school or attended college. Despite his disadvantage, he became a successful hard working immigrant with a good job. The census taker completely misspelled his last name. Joseph probably had a heavy accent and the census taker just wrote down what they heard.

Name	Joseph Brezeka
Age	59
Estimated Birth Year	abt 1881
Gender	Male
Race	White
Birthplace	Austria
Marital Status	Married
Relation to Head of House	Head
Home in 1940	New York, Queens, New York
Map of Home in 1940	New York,Queens,New York
Street	168 Street
House Number	61-35
Farm	No
Inferred Residence in 1935	New York, Queens, New York
Residence in 1935	New York
Citizenship	Naturalized
Sheet Number	5A
Number of Household in Order of Visitation	8
Occupation	Machinist
House Owned or Rented	Owned
Value of Home	5000
Attended School or College	No
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census	50
Class of Worker	Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939	52
Income	2000
Income Other Sources	No
Neighbors	View others on page

Name	Age
Joseph Brezeka	59
Rose Brezeka	56

In the 1950 Census, Joseph and Anna lived with their son in law and daughter, Joseph and Anna Pilc, and their family in Nassau, New York. Joseph still worked 47 hours a week despite being older.

Name	Joseph Brejcha
Age	68
Birth Date	abt 1882
Gender	Male
Race	White
Birth Place	Czechoslovakia
Marital Status	Married
Relation to Head of House	Father-in-law
Residence Date	1950
Home in 1950	North Hempstead, Nassau, New York, USA
Street Name	S. Overlook Road
House Number	42
Dwelling Number	225
Farm	No
Acres	No
Questionnaire Number	O
Inferred Previous Residence Place	Queens, New York
Occupation	Millwright
Industry	Laundry
Father Birth Place	Czechoslnvkia
Mother Birth Place	Czechoslovakia
Citizenship	Yes
Occupation Category	Working
Hours Worked	47
Worker Class	Private
Same House	No
Previously on Farm	No
Same County	No
School Completed	S8
Grade Completed	Yes
School Attendance	30 or over
Weeks Worked	52
Income	3000
Other Income	None
Supplemental Income	24
World War II Veteran	No
World War I Veteran	No
Veteran	No

Name	Age
Joseph Pilc	47
Anna Pilc	42
Robert J Pilc	21
Rosemary Pilc	6
Joseph Brejcha	68
Rose Brejcha	65

Joseph’s wife Rose died 4 February 1958 and Joseph died 28 August 1960 in New York City.

Name	Joseph W Brejcha
Gender	Male
Age	78
Birth Date	abt 1882
Residence Place	Albertson, Nassau, New York, USA
Death Date	29 Aug 1960
Death Place	New York, USA
Certificate Number	57197

Joseph left behind one son, two daughters and at least six grandchildren.