Young German Immigrants

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Our line of Smith family history in America began with William Q. Smith and Mary Katherine Schwab, two young immigrants from continental Europe. William, a man whose given and surname would suggest English origin, was actually born Wilhelm Schmidt on December 9 or 10, 1836. Mary Schwab was born on January 3, 1840. Her birthplace was Darmstadt in the present day State of Hesse. William’s birthplace was Ramsen, a small municipality in the Donnersbergkreis district, in the present day State of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

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William and Mary did not come from Germany as we know it today. At the time of their emigration in the 1850s, Germany was not yet a unified country. Although it was recognized throughout the world as a region, it wasn’t until unification in 1871 following the Franco-Prussian War, that Germany became an official nation. Until that time, Germany had been a series of fragmented kingdoms, duchies or autonomous city-states. Germans defined themselves as citizens of these places, which is why William and Mary reported their birthplaces as Bavaria in the US Census in 1860 and 1870. This is confirmed by several sources. In those days Bavaria included geographic areas that are now part of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate (See Code C in Figure 3 vs Figure 2). By the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, William and Mary reported their birthplace as Germany. Curiously, however, William at times claimed his origin as Alsace-Lorraine, which became part of France. This could be due to confusion over changing borders. But it's also possible he deliberately made this claim in reaction to anti-German sentiment in the U.S. later in his life.