FINDING FREDRICK PART 1: Genealogical Sleuthing

This is Fredrick Eckhardt, patriarch of the Canadian line of Eckhardts from Lincoln County (Niagara) and my great-great grandfather. I am determined to be the first to trace Fredrick back to his homeland, which seems to be the Alsace-Lorraine region of France.

Fredrick identified himself on various Canadian census forms as being born in France and being of German origin. This is a big clue that he came from what is commonly called Alsace-Lorraine, the area of France that is traditionally German-speaking. This region flipped back and forth between German and French control over the centuries; during the two decades leading up to Fredrick’s birth in 1818 and until 1870, it was part of France – all of which probably explains his census recordings.

Unfortunately, there are over a thousand communities in Alsace-Lorraine, and the records for the region are organized by community. Which one did he hail from? I could search through many microfilms (very little is available on-line) to try to find him… or maybe there’s a different tack. What about immigration records?

One of his obituaries says he came to Canada as a young boy with his parents. Hmm. How old is a “young boy”? Does twelve still qualify? Ten? Working back from his marriage date, which was probably in 1843 (assuming a marriage before 1844, the year his first child George was born), I am going to assume he immigrated somewhere between 1818 and say, 1830.

I don’t know his father’s name, who as head of the household, would be the main passenger to search for, but not a lot exists in terms of shipping records, anyway. To find his father’s name, I checked Fredrick’s death record, but parents’ names were not recorded in 1901, the year of his death. I also tried to hunt down his marriage record, but civil records did not begin in Upper Canada until years after his wedding and the Mennonite church – the church of his wife, Magdelana, where I assume they were married – does not keep marriage records.

He may have had a brother, George, who also appeared in Niagara around the same time as Fredrick, was just a little older and also from the Alsace region. What I’ve been able to trace so far on George has yielded no helpful clues.

So. I’m searching for the Eckhardt family in Alsace-Lorraine – a region of over a thousand communities – who had at least one child (Fredrick) born in 1818, parents’ names unknown. Port of departure unknown, probably sometime between 1818 and 1830, ship and route unknown. Arrival date in Upper Canada unknown and possibly via routing through some port in the United States; eventual settlement somewhere in the Niagara district.

I’m all for a good hunting expedition, but really, Fredrick.