Frank

   The name Frank was born in the beautiful region of Bohemia, which is now part of Czechoslavakia. It was there that the name Frank became noted for its many branches within the region.
   Surnames like frank developed at a time when most of Bohemia, and most of the German provinces, were states of the Holy Roman Empire. Fairly general principles guided the development of hereditary surnames in Bohemia. Two of the common types of family names found in this kingdom are patronymic surnames, which are derived from the father's given name, and metronymic surnames, which are derived from the mother's given name. The surname Frank derived from the given patronymic name Francis. It is also a name for a person from Franconia (German Franken), which is a region of Southwestern Germany that was named after the Franks, who inhabited the lands around the river Rhine in Roman times. In the 6thÐ9th centuries, under leaders such as Clovis I (c. 466-511) and Charlemagne (742-814), the Franks established a substantial empire in western Europe, from which the country of France takes its name.
   The Frank family's Coat of Arms is a red shield featuring a silver column and an arm in armour.

Personal Information Passenger List Name: Jon Frank Arrival Date: 6 May 1884 Birth year: Abt. 1832 Age: 52 Ethnicity: Prussian Place of Origin: Prussia Port of Departure: Hamburg, Germany Port of Arrival: New York Ship: Moravia View image Personal Information 1900 Census Name:   Joseph Frank Age in 1900:   63 Birthplace:   Germany Home in 1920:   Little Valley, Cattaraugus, New York Occupation:   Wagon Maker Immigration:   1884 Naturalized:   Yes View image View blank 1900 census form SOURCE INFORMATION: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls); Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36; National Archives, Washington, D.C.; 1900 United States Federal Census: 1900; Census Place: Little Valley, Cattaraugus, New York; Roll: 1011; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 49; FHL microfilm: 1241011.

The Moravia was built by A. and J. Inglis Limited, Glasgow, Scotland, in 1883. It weighed 3739 gross tons; was 361 (bp) feet long and 40 feet wide. Its service speed was 12 knots. It could hold 1300 passengers (100 first class, 1200 third class) and sailed for the Hamburg-American Line, featuring a German flag. Fortunately for the Franks, it didn't wreck until 1899.

Burmaster

   Settling in New York State, the Franks allied with another family, the Burmasters, from Rosenhagen, Lauenburg, who had arrived in New York in 1882. As was the custom for German immigrants at that time, the Burmaster family, who arrived first, sponsored the next family, the Franks: Helping them with food and other necessities, until the newer family could find a home. Homeownership was valued highly among German immigrants and they purchased homes as soon as possible and preferred homes made of brick.
   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 FREDERICK J. "FRITZ" FRANK (b. Nov 1868) and his wife, DOROTHEA "DORA" C. BURMASTER (b. 1869) did just that.

Personal Information Census Image Name: Fred Frank Age in 1900: 31 Birthplace: Germany Home in 1900: Napoli, Cattaraugus, New York Occupation: Farmer Birthplace of Father: Germany Birthplace of Mother Germany View image View blank 1900 census form Personal Information Census Image Name:   Fred J. Frank Age:   40 Birthplace:   Germany Home in 1920:   Napoli, Cattaraugus, New York Occupation:   Farmer Immigration:   1884 Naturalized:   Yes View image View blank 1910 census form SOURCE INFORMATION: US Census Records. Index created from United States of America, Bureau of the Census. 1900; Census Place: Napoli, Cattaraugus, New York; Roll: T623 1011; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 53. 1910; Census Place: Napoli, Cattaraugus, New York; Roll: T624_927; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 72; Image: 68.

The Frank house

   Fritz and Dora were married in 1891. They owned their own farm in Napoli, Cattaraugus County, New York, at the turn of the 20th Century, where Fritz worked as a general farmer, according to the 1920 Federal Census, and then as a dairy farmer, according to the 1930 Federal Census. 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." The house burned down in 1941.
   The children of Fred and Dora Frank were:

CHILDREN OF FREDERICK FRANK AND DORA C. BURMASTER

LEWIS E. FRANK was born 22 Jun 1890 in New York. He died on 22 Mar 1964.

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).

EMMA M. FRANK was born in 1896 and married Carl Anderson's brother, Rubert Anderson. They had a daughter, Lorena E. Anderson, in 1819.

WILLIAM H. FRANK was born in 1897.

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.

ERNEST H. FRANK was born on 11 Sep 1901 in New York. He died on 16 Mar 1993 in Machias, Cattaraugus, New York.

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.

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.

Anderson

Freda Frank

CHILDREN OF CARL ANDERSON AND FREDA FRANK

EDNA DOROTHEA "STUB" ANDERSON was born on 04 Jan 1917 in Cattaraugus Co., New York. It was her job to start the wood stoves every morning in the one-room country school house during cold weather while growing up. After class she wood sweep and clean the chalkboards. Edna married OSBOURNE, but had no children. Edna died on 29 Apr 2004 in 14742 Greenhurst, Chautauqua, New York.

PAULINE VIRGINIA "JONI" ANDERSON was born on 27 Oct 1924 in New Albion, Cattauraugus County, New York. She was schooled in a one-room schoolhouse, where the teacher taught grades 1-8. School was a mile away, and father Carl Anderson would take Pauline and Edna to school on a sleigh with horses if the snow was too deep to walk. She then transferred to Little Valley School in the 8th grade, where the students had all been schooled on a yearly schedule. "I had to really buckle down to catch up." She was known a "Virginia" in high school, because she wrote her middle name first when she got there, and the name stuck.

TOP PHOTO: The Frank family in 1910/11. Top Row: Bill, Emma, Freda Frank Anderson, and Esther: Middle Row: Fritz Frank (w/Charlie on his lap). Louie, Dora (Burmaster); Bottom Row: Ernest and Otis. Click here to enlarge.

GENEALOGY

JON J. "JOSEPH" FRANK (1832-1913) married SOPHIA SMITH (1836-1920) and begat...

FREDERICK J. "FRITZ" FRANK (b. Nov 1868), who married DOROTHEA "DORA" C. BURMASTER (b. 1869) 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).

Fritz, Charlie and Dora Burmaster Frank in front of their home. It burned down summer of 1941.