GENEAL-FORUM

Linda Messier fragt (deutsche Zusammenfassung weiter unten):

Families in Stone in the Rhine...
[...]I am a second generation American. My grandfather Ernest A. Sulger was from St.Gallen (born in 1890) and immigrated to the US (Fry, Arizona) in the early 1900's. I am seeking to locate any information I can on the Sulger family or make contact with any living descendants, can you point me in the right direction?

My great-grandmother's name was Mary Sulger and my great-grandfather's name was Ernest Arnold Sulger. I know that my grandfather had a half-brother, William Hugen and a sister or maybe she was a half-sister, Mary Aberwein. William Hugen is deceased as is my grandfather. I have no information on Mary Aberwein. I do not know if she was married, had any children, etc. I have no additional information for my great-grandmother, I do not know her maiden name or even where she was born.
[...]
Linda Messier
Austin, Texas, USA

Die Betreffzeile ("Stone in the Rhine" soll vmtl. Stein am Rhein sein) steht etwas im Widerspruch dazu, dass Ernst A. Sulger 1890 in St.Gallen geboren sein soll, als Sohn von Ernst Arnold Sulger und dessen Ehefrau Maria. Ernst A. Sulger wandert Anfang 20. Jhdt. in die USA aus. Er hatte (Halb-)Geschwister Wilhelm Hugen und Maria Aberwein (beide Namen kommen im Familiennamenbuch nicht vor). Gesucht wird jegliche Information zu Sulger bzw. Kontakt zu heute lebenden Nachfahren.

Hi Linda,

your enquiry is a bit confusing - in the subject line you mention "Stone in the Rhine", which looks a bit like a literal translation of the name of "Stein am Rhein" in canton Schaffhausen; in the text, however, you state that your grandfather was from St.Gallen - which is another canton.
On http://www.ellisisland.org I found two entries for an Ernst Sulger, 19 years old in 1909:
arrival 03 Aug 1909, place of residence St.Gallen
... but he's not on board - instead ...
arrival 21 Aug 1909, place of residence Basel, place of birth St.Gallen. Now this is a bit confusing as well - though one has to keep in mind that the existence of a "place of citizenship", which may have nothing to do with either place of birth or residence, may be confusing for someone not familiar with the specifics of Swiss citizenship.
What about Stein am Rhein: could you, please, quote exactly on which information your "Stone in the Rhine" is based.

Now, you are lucky: Sulger is not a very common name - and they have been citizens of Stein am Rhein for centuries - since before 1589, when a line from Stein am Rhein gained citizenship of Basel (see Occurences Sulger in Switzerland). In my sources there is no mention of any Sulger in canton St.Gallen - though they could have lived there without gaining citizenship.
I would therefore suggest you start your research in Stein am Rhein and Basel with requests to the Zivilstandsamt Schaffhausen (responsible for Stein am Rhein) and the Zivilstandsamt Basel: ask whether they can identify your grandfather on their register (give them as much info as you have!) and, if yes, what you are expected to do to get a "Familienschein" (combination of vital data).

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Die Verwirrung beruht evtl. auf zwei Einträgen unter http://www.ellisisland.org:
Ernst Sulger, 19 Jahre in 1909:
Ankunft 03 Aug 1909, letzter Wohnort St.Gallen
... er ist aber nicht auf dem Schiff, sondern kommt erst später ...
Ankunft 21 Aug 1909, Wohnort Basel, Geburtsort St.Gallen.
Hier könnte es sich wieder einmal um eine Verwechslung Geburtsort - Wohnort - Bürgerort handeln. Interessant wäre auch zu wissen, worauf die Aussage "Stein am Rhein" beruht.

Nun ist Sulger kein besonders häufiger Name - seit vor 1589 sind sie Bürger von Stein am Rhein, denn in diesem Jahr erwirbt eine Linie auch das Bürgerrecht von Basel-Stadt. Empfohlen wird deswegen eine Anfrage bei den Zivilstandsämtern Schaffhausen (für Stein am Rhein) und Basel, ob der gesuchte Ernst Sulger in deren Registern identifiziert werden kann - und was ggf. zu tun ist, um einen Familienschein zu erhalten.

I know this post is really old but is there a way I can get in touch with Linda Messier. This is my family line as well and I would like to see if she was able to find any additional information.

Hello,
The Sulger's in 1600's Stein am Rhine can be found at the following URL:

http://www.online-ofb.de/namelist.php?n ... s=&lang=en

Best wishes, Walt