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The history of the Burmeister (Burmaster) family begins almost a millennium ago, in the northern German region of Schleswig-Holstein, where the family name first emerged. The name Burmaster is derived from the German words "bur" or "bauer," meaning "farmer," and "meister," meaning "master;" thus, the name literally means "master farmer." Alternatively, the Low German term "Burmester" refers to the town elder who held the position just below that of the mayor. From this source, the original bearer of the name Burmaster was likely the master of an estate or a prominent figure in his village. The family Coat of Arms is a blue shield with an arm in red coming from the top left of the shield, grasping a green serpent.
Modern Germany wasn't unified as a nation-state until 1871, when the German Empire, dominated by the Kingdom of Prussia, was forged. This was the second German Reich, usually translated as "empire", but also meaning "realm". The second Reich, the German Empire, was proclaimed January 18th, 1871, in Versailles after the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. This was mainly the result of the efforts of Otto von Bismarck, Germany's most prominent statesman of the 19th century, among other things known for fighting Socialists with social reform and Catholic influence in the so called Kulturkampf.
After Germany consolidated, the number of emigrants increased dramatically. Emigration had become more affordable while political and economic problems continued. Emigrants came from all areas of Germany, including large numbers from the eastern provinces of Preußen [Prussia]. Most of these emigrants were peasants, struggling in poverty, looking for opportunities for a better life. The Burmaster family was swept into this wave in the early 1880's:
| Personal Information |
Departure
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| Name: |
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Fritz Burmester |
| Estimated Birth Year |
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abt 1836 |
| Departure Date: |
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4 Oct 1882 |
| Residence: |
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Rosenhagen, Lauenburg |
| Occupation: |
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Arbeiter |
| Shipping line: |
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Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft |
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| Personal Information |
Arrival
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| Name: |
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Fritz Burmester |
| Birth date: |
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abt 1836 |
| Arrival date: |
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19 Oct 1882 |
| Nationality: |
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Prussian |
| POD: |
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Hamburg |
| POA: |
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New York |
| Ship: |
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Wieland: 200 first class / 800 third. |
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SOURCE INFORMATION: Staatsarchiv Hamburg; Hamburg, Deutschland; Hamburger Passagierlisten; Volume: 373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 046 B; Page: 1792; Microfilm No.: K_1728. Year: 1882; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237; Microfilm Roll: 458; Line: 19; List Number: 1485. |
 Fred and Dora Burmaster with grandchildren Agnes and Albert (Bessie's children).
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Our line of the Burmaster family can be traced back to FRED H. "FRITZ" BURMASTER (1836-1917) of Rosenhagen, Lauenburg. The Herzogtum of Lauenburg is named after the medieval Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg, which was one of the remnants of the original Duchy of Saxony. From 1815 to 1864 it was ruled in personal union by the Duke of Holstein, being simultaneously King of Denmark. In 1864 it fell to Prussia after the Second Schleswig War. For a short period Lauenburg was still an autonomous entity, but in 1876 it was incorporated as a district into the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein.
After decades of war and living under changing rulers, Fred and his wife, DORA (b. 1832) emigrated from Hamburg, Germany in the steerage class of the ship Wieland on 4 Oct 1882, and arrived in New York on 19 Oct 1882 with their children Fritz (age 17), Elisabeth (15), Dorothea (9), Joachim (8) and Betti (5).
An article called "The Immigrant's Progress" in the September 1877 issue of Scribner's Monthly magazine, author William Henry Rideing describes the conditions of "steerage class" on immigrant ships headed from Europe to North America. He writes: "... nearly twenty out of every hundred passengers died at sea of fever or starvation. The steerage deck was usually about five feet high, without ventilation or light, and in this space the bunks were ranged in two or three tiers... in 1868, on one vessel alone,--the 'Leibnitz,' from Hamburg,--over one hundred passengers died, out of five hundred."
The Burmaster family survived the voyage to the United States intact. Like other immigrant groups, the Germans followed the natural instinct of forming neighborhoods with their countrymen where they felt at home far away from home. They preferred to head for a region where they could still acquire reasonably priced farm land in areas where German-language churches and perhaps German schools already existed. The Burmasters settled in Cattaraugus county, New York, and prospered. Between 1900 and 1910, Fred and Dora moved in with their daughter, Mary (b. abt 1856) and her family in Napoli. She had apparently married Heinrich "Henry" Kasten (b. 1856) of Klein Wehden, Lauenburg, Germany, and emigrated to New York a few years after her parents, on 12 Apr 1885 aboard the Lessing (Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft line):
| Personal Information |
Census Image
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| Name: |
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Fred Burmaster |
| Age in 1900: |
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64 |
| Birthplace: |
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Germany |
| Home in 1900: |
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Dayton, Cattaraugus, New York |
| Occupation: |
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Farmer |
| Birthplace of Father: |
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Germany |
| Birthplace of Mother |
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Germany |
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| Personal Information |
Census Image
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| Name: |
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Fred Burmaster |
| Age: |
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73 |
| Birthplace: |
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Germany |
| Home in 1920: |
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Napoli, Cattaraugus, New York |
| Occupation: |
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Farmer |
| Immigration: |
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1882 |
| Naturalized: |
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NA |
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SOURCE INFORMATION: US Census Records. Index created from United States of America, Bureau of the Census. 1900; Year: 1900; Census Place: Dayton, Cattaraugus, New York; Roll: 1010; Page: 16A; Enumeration District: 0037; FHL microfilm: 1241010. 1910; Census Place: Napoli, Cattaraugus, New York; Roll: T624_927; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 0072; FHL microfilm: 1374940. |
Dorothea C "Dora" Burmaster Frank
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The custom for German immigrants to New York at that time was for each family to assist the next German family to arrive in the area. So the Burmasters sponsored the Franks: Helping them with food and other necessities, until the newer family could find a home. There is no evidence that the Franks and Burmeisters knew each other back in Germany, but it was often the case in America that unfamiliar families from the same area would band together, both helping each other succeed, as well as preserving old traditions. It was also often the case in this practice that the children would develop relationships, and DOROTHEA "DORA" C. BURMASTER (b. 1869) and her husband, FREDERICK J. "FRITZ" FRANK (b. Nov 1868), did just that.
Dorothea was born on 3 March 1870 in Germany. She and Frederick J "Fritz" Frank were married in 1891. They owned their own farm in Napoli, Cattaraugus County, New York, at the turn of the 20th Century. Although born in Germany, each of them could read, write and speak English. "Grandpa was a very short man," remembers his granddaughter, Pauline, who grew up four or five miles away. "(He) always ate a big breakfast, because he had a lot of cows to milk." She recalls that "Grandma Frank could speak German, and would sometimes sing in German." They lived, "in a great big farmhouse that was very nice with a player piano in the parlour."
Fritz died on 22 Oct 1938 and Dorothea followed him on 18 Feb 1941 in Cattaraugus, New York. The farm burned down the same year.
The children of Fred and Dora Frank were:
CHILDREN OF FREDERICK FRANK AND DORA C. BURMASTER
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LEWIS E. FRANK was born 22 Jun 1890 in New York. He died on 22 Mar 1964.
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FREDA MARIE CHRISTINA FRANK was born in 15 Dec 1892, probably in Napoli, Cattaraugus, New York. She married CARL OSCAR ANDERSON (b. 25 Aug 1889) and had two daughters, Pauline (Palmer) and Edna (Osbourne).
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EMMA M. FRANK was born in 1896 and married Carl Anderson's brother, Rubert Anderson. They had a daughter, Lorena E. Anderson, in 1819.
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WILLIAM H. FRANK was born in 1897.
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 | ESTHER HELEN FRANK was born in 1899. Mrs. Drayton of Randolph Vicinity Dies
RANDOLPH- Mrs. Ester H. Drayton, seventy, of Bowen Rd., Randolph, died of pneumonia and complications at 3:45 a.m. Saturday (July 19, 1969) in WCA Hospital, Jamestown.
Born May 21, 1899, in Napoli, she was the daughter of Frederick and Dora Burmaster Frank. She had lived in the Napoli-East Randolph area most of the life.
She was married to Ray Drayton in Otto May 8,1919. They lived in the Elm Creek area for a time and later at several places in the Randolph area, including the Bowen Rd. address for the past twenty-six years. They observed their fiftieth wedding anniversary in May.
Mrs. Drayton was a member of St. Michael's Lutheran Church, Little Valley.
Surviving are her husband; one daughter, Mrs Charles (Leona) Bossman of Randolph; a foster daughter, Mrs. Floyd (Ione) Aldrich of Orchard Park; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; two brothers, William and Ernest Frank of Cattaraugus; a sister, Mrs. Emma Anderson of Cattaraugus, and several nieces and nephews. A son, Edward, died in 1935.
Friends may call from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. at Hoitink Funeral Home, 165 Main St., where funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Tuesday by the Rev. Paul E. Holls of St. Michael's Lutheran Church, Little Valley. Burial will be in East Randolph Cemetery.
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ERNEST H. FRANK was born on 11 Sep 1901 in New York. He died on 16 Mar 1993 in Machias, Cattaraugus, New York.
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OTIS C. FRANK was born in 1904. He married Helen L. (b. 1912) and they had two daughters: Ione Frank and Alice M Frank (b. 1930). In the 1940 Census, Helen was married to Kermit Stanton and Ione and Alice were living with her in Carroll, Chautauqua, New York (it also says they lived in Napoli, NY in 1935). Click on the photo at right to see a tin-type of a young Otis posing with his sister Esther. Otis is in the cap, and Esther has the open sweater.
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CHARLES "CHARLEY" G. FRANK was born on 7 Oct 1907 in New York. In the 1940 federal census, he is single and lives on the family farm in Napoli, Cattaraugus, New York, at age 32. He died on 8 Oct 1964.
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TOP PHOTO: The house Dora Burmaster Frank's parents lived in when they came from Germany. The house was on John Milk's farm in Napoli near Pigeon Valley.
GENEALOGY
DOROTHEA "DORA" C. BURMASTER (b. 1869) married FREDERICK J. "FRITZ" FRANK (b. Nov 1868), and begat...
FREDA FRANK (b. 1893), who married CARL O. ANDERSON (b. 25 Aug 1889) and begat...
PAULINE VIRGINIA ANDERSON (b. 27 Oct. 1924), who married RAYMOND PALMER (1917 - 1981) and begat...
CYNTHIA ANN PALMER (b. 03 Jan 1951), who married TERRY LEE DOTSON (b. 12 May 1950) and begat...
LORI ANN DOTSON (b. 07 Oct 1973), who married JEFFREY HAUSE (b. 07 Jun 1961).
The Wieland sailed from 1874-1895, and was built by Alexander Stephen and Sons, Ltd., of Glasgow, Scotland. Tonnage: 3,504. Dimensions: 375' x 40'. Single-screw, 14 knots. Compound engines. Two masts and one funnel. Second funnel added later. Iron hull. It held 200 first and 800 third class passengers. When the Burmasters sailed on this boat it was run by Captain Hebich for the Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft Line. She made her final voyage to New York in 1894 and was scrapped in 1895.
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