Albert Wilhelm Budnick, 1841-1905

 

ALBERT WILHELM BUDNICK was most likely born in May 1841 in Poblotz, Kreis Stolp, Pommern, Prussia, to unknown parents.  There is no birth certificate of baptism information available, as the Kreis Stolp records for this time period are not complete.[1]  This information was arrived at via two proof summaries as shown below.

Supporting Conclusion #1:  Albert Wilhelm Budnick birth date was most likely May 1841

All records found with a birth date or age are provided in Table 1 below. 

Table 1

Document	Date of document	Age in document	Calculated birth year
Passenger list	22 Jun 1863	22	1840/1
1870 census	29 Aug 1870	29	1840/1
Marriage record	10 Aug 1872	31	1840/1
1900 census	26 Jun 1900	59	Census states birth month/year of May 1841
Find A Grave	1906	64	1842/1

CONCLUSION:

The 1900 census indicates he was born in May 1841, and is the only document providing a birth month.  For all the documents except FindaGrave, his birthday would have already occurred by the time the document was completed.  All documents together indicate a probable birth year of 1841.

Supporting Conclusion #2:  Albert Wilhelm Budnick was born in Poblotz, Kreis Stolp, Pommern, Prussia

According to the 1900 census, Albert immigrated in 1863.[2]  The passenger record for the ship SS Adler arriving in New York on 22 June 1863 shows that Albert Wilh Budnick, 22, was a passenger, with his home of Poblotz.[3]  Excerpt from this record:

He emigrated with 22 others from the same town, as well as 8 from nearby Wollin.

In addition, his marriage record indicates his place of birth as “Poplotz, R.B. Köslin, Pommern, Prussia.”[4]  See below.  (Note that his wife is from Wollin.)

According to Meyers Gazetteer, a search for Poblotz results in three potential locations, but only one that is in “R. B. Köslin” – which is in Kreis Stolp, in the Pommern province.  A history of Poblotz[5] provides the following information:

“Poblotz, called Poblitz after old mortgage letters, was owned by von Tessen as early as 1485. After the death of Swantes von Tessen in 1608, with which the family went out, the estates went to the princess Erdmut, wife of Duke Johann Friedrich, and after her death to Christoph von Hoym, who was with the last Pomeranian Duke Bogislaw XIV in service as Oberhofmarschall.  According to old loan letters, the Leba River with both banks and "fishing in it" belonged to the estate, as well as fishing in a lake on the Feldmark.  Originally, von Hoym also had fishing rights on Lake Leba. The hoof classification of 1717 contains the entry:

Owner:  George Christoph von Heymen Wittib and heirs.

Farmers with 1/2 Lh .: 1. Matthias Crifkoitz, 2. Michel Chrounsk, 3. Simon Barnet, 4. Michel Budenick, 5. Woyke Koibeck, 6. Greger Wankoitz, 7. Matthias Kroffzeitz, 8. Joung Dwusche, 9. Michel Worsikoitz, 10. Joung Marenitz.

According to Bruggemann, around 1784 Poblotz had a farm, a water mill, ten farmers, three kossats, a smithy, a schoolmaster, a sheep farm and a cow's dairy, which was newly established at the time, along with four Budner families and a total of 42 fireplaces.  At that time Kashubian was still spoken predominantly in the village. Until 1801 the von Hoyms were resident on Poblotz. The von Blankensee family is named in 1836 and, from 1837, the captain Wilhelm Klaudius Theodor von Krause.” [emphasis added]

Note that two of the 1717 farmers were named Budenick and Dwusche – it appears that these men’s descendants traveled together on the 1863 ship to the United States.

Albert Wilhelm Budnick family

It is unknown who Albert Budnick’s parents were.  However, extensive research using DNA and traditional documentation indicates that two siblings of Albert’s have been identified.  Charlotte (Budnick) Burbott, his older sister, traveled with Albert on the SS Adler in 1863.  Charlotte and her family were neighbors of Albert in Kent County, Maryland, according to the 1870 U.S. census.[6]  An older brother Hermann Budnick immigrated two years later in 1865 on the SS Therese.[7]  A chart built using DNA matches is below (if you click on the chart, you can read it easier!):

Albert’s life in the United States

After Albert’s arrival in 1863, it is apparent that he moved to Philadelphia, and then on to Maryland.  His oldest son Albert was born in Pennsylvania in July 1867, while subsequent children were born in Maryland starting with Frank in 1868,[8]  William Edward in 1870,[9] Frederick Harry in 1876, Charles Henry in 1879, and Robert in 1886.[10]  He married Florentina Freitag after the birth of the first three of their six boys in 1872 at the St. Michael’s and Zion Lutheran Church in Philadelphia.[11]  They continued to live in Maryland, moving to Aberdeen and purchasing land there.[12]  He worked as a farm laborer / farmer.

Albert never went through the process to become a naturalized citizen, as evidenced by his “Al” (or Alien) status on the 1900 census.  Albert died on 15 December 1905 at the age of 64 in his own house in Harford County of heart and kidney trouble (which he had been suffering with for many months) and heart disease (which he had for three months).[13]  He is buried at St Paul Lutheran Cemetery, Aberdeen, Maryland.  His headstone has incorrect dates for his death year, and most likely his birth year, as previously discussed.

Ancestry, Find A Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43447250/albert-budnick : viewed 5 June 2021), memorial 43447250, Albert Budnick (1842-1906), St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery, Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland.

 

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[1] See https://www.stolp.de/kirchspiele/articles/kirchspiel_zezenow.html and https://www.pommerscher-greif.de/anzeige-kirchenbuecher.html?parish=30-E-27 for records available for Poblotz.  Civil records are available for 1876 and later, while Zezenow parish records are noted as “lost / destroyed.”  Significant search on the Stolp-L index, and documents received, showed no birth information for Albert Budnick.

[2] 1900 U.S. census, Harford County, Maryland, population schedule, Aberdeen, enumeration district (ED) 0142, sheet 16A,  dwelling 330, family 331, Albert W. Budnick household; NARA microfilm T623, roll 623; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4120208_00474 : viewed 23 Nov 2020), image 31.

[3] New York Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, microfilm publication M237 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1962), SS Adler, 22 June 1863, for Albert Wilh. Budnick; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7488/images/NYM237_230-0175 : viewed 14 December 2020), image 5.

[4] St. Michael's and Zion Church (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), marriage record, Albert Wilh Budnick and Florentina Freitag ; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2451/images/42154_331456-00112 : viewed 6 June 2021), image 2683.

[5] See https://www.stolp.de/poblotz_einfuehrung.html

[6] 1870 U.S. census, Kent County, Maryland, population schedule, district 3, Chestertown post office, p. 54, dwelling 335, family 326, Albert Budnic household; NARA microfilm M593, roll 590; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4269478_00258 : viewed 23 Nov 2020), image 54.

[7] New York Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, microfilm publication M237 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1962), SS Therese, 11 August 1865, for Hermann Budnick; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7488/images/NYM237_254-0552 : viewed 17 October 2021), image 4.

[8] 1900 U.S. census, Harford County, Maryland, population schedule, Abingdon, enumeration district (ED) 141, sheet 2A, family 92, Albert Budnic; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4120208_00426 : viewed 17 October 2021), image 11.

[9] 1900 U.S. census, Baltimore City, Maryland, population schedule, 12th precinct, enumeration district (ED) 82, sheet 8B, dwelling 142, family 152, William Budnick household; NARA microfilm T623; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4119780_00423 : viewed 17 October 2021), image 16.

[10] 1900 U.S. census, Harford County, Maryland, Aberdeen, ED 0142, Albert W. Budnick household.

[11] St. Michael's and Zion Church marriage record, Budnick-Freitag.

[12] "Real Estate Transfers in June," The Aegis & Intelligencer (Bel Air, Maryland), 10 July 1891, p.3, col.1; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/466023929 : viewed 19 August 2020).

[13] Maryland, Certificate of Death, Albert Butnick [sic], 1905; Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, series S1177, online microfilm SE41-2089, image 11.