A New Life in America

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 2: Origin

My maternal grandmother, Clara (Klara) Maria Schorsch, was born in Moerschbach, Germany on Friday, 1 March 1912. She was only two years old when her father, Peter Schorsch, was called into the Imperial German Army during World War I. Peter was captured in France and imprisoned during his second year of service. He escaped but was recaptured and sentenced to four more years. Clara and her mother, Anna (Klumb) Schorsch, survived six years in the French zone of Germany. When Peter was released from prison in 1920 (two years after World War I ended), he returned to his family and Clara, then about eight years old, didn’t know him. It was a struggle for the family emotionally and financially given the period of separation and severe economic conditions.

Clara’s father was adamant about keeping his family safe and secure. Clara’s uncle, Henry Schorsch, had immigrated to Canada in 1912 and then to the United States in 1923. Henry provided the financial assistance Clara’s family needed to come to America. 

Clara was thirteen years old when they traveled from Ruemlin to Bremen, Germany (about 45 miles) and boarded a ship named the SS Columbus.

The Peter Schorsch Family’s Trans-Atlantic journey began on Sunday, 17 January 1926 and they arrived at Ellis Island, New York on Wednesday, 27 January 1926.

From New York, Clara’s family traveled by train to San Antonio, Texas and her Uncle Henry picked them up in an open touring car. The family sharecropped cotton for her uncle in Atascosa County, Texas for one year until their debt was repaid. 

The little family unit persevered by working hard, saving their money, and making a new life for themselves in rural South Texas. Clara was sworn in as a Citizen of the United States on 20 December 1944 in San Antonio, Texas.