SPBrunner: Canada Genealogy


The Brunner Family
I have the travel documents of the Brunner family from Switzerland. My grandfather Herman (Age 14) and my great grandparents Jacob Brunner (age 62) and Maria Stucki (age 44) came from Switzerland in April 1894. They were to leave Bern on 11 April 1894 and then arrive in New York on 14 April 1894. They were traveling on the Westernland of the Red Star Line. They were to continue on to South River in Ontario, Canada. On the travel documents, after the name and ages of the family, I can only read one word of the next column. That word is “Verheiratet” means married – What I can gather, Jakob and Marie are married and rest says “ledig” which means unmarried. The next column says Heimatort, which means Hometown. I am assuming that this is where they were born and it says Lützelflüh (Luetzelflueh) for all the members of this family. The next column first has a work that looks like “Lebtor”, but I can find no translation for it. However, the second word is Wohnort. Wohnort means inhabitance, residence, place where one lives, hometown, town where one was born or grew up, or city where one resides. I take it they were living in Munsingen. The last column says “Beruf” which means Occupation. Only Jakob gives one and it looks like Schuhman (Shoemaker?) (small word I cannot read) and then maybe Landwirt (which is farmer). Jakob gives his occupation as a farmer on the ship’s manifest. Below I have some pictures and more information at page bottom. To go to the Genealogy Tabs click here.
Below is a picture of the Westernland of the Red Star Line. This ship was built by Laird Brothers, Birkenhead, England, 1884. It is 5,736 gross tons; and is 440 (bp) feet long; and 47 feet wide. It has a compound engine, single screw. It's service speed is 14.5 knots. It could carry 1,340 passengers (80 first class, 60 second class, 1,200 third class). It was built for the Red Star Line in 1884. It was used for traveling between Antwerp and New York. This ship was chartered by Red Star Line in 1901 and was scrapped in 1912. The ship manifest gives the following information: Jacob Brunner – 61 9mo – Farmer – Switzerland- South River, Ontario, Dom. of Canada Maria Brunner – 44 – Wife - Switzerland - South River, Ontario, Dom. of Canada Maria Brunner – 29 – Switzerland - South River, Ontario, Dom. of Canada Elizabeth Brunner – 15 –Switzerland - South River, Ontario, Dom. of Canada Herman Brunner - 11 11mo –Switzerland - South River, Ontario, Dom. of Canada Bertha Brunner – 10 –Switzerland -South River, Ontario, Dom. of Canada Ernest Brunner - 8 - Switzerland - South River, Ontario, Dom. of Canada Lydia Brunner – 6 -Switzerland - South River, Ontario, Dom. of Canada Otto Brunner - 1 - Switzerland - South River, Ontario, Dom. of Canada To see more pictures of this ship, go to The Ships List site.

Also, just under the Brunner family I found two others who were from Switzerland and were traveling to South River, Ontario, Dom. of Canada. They were Arnold Stameli – ages 19 years and 4 months (born in 1875), a Shoemaker and Otto Salvett aged 23 years and 6 months (Born in 1871), also a Shoemaker. I could find no trace of Arnold Stameli, but there was an Otto Salvett in Manitoba in both the 1901 and 1906 census. This Otto Salvett was born in 1875 in Switzerland. I do not know if they are the same people.
Below is a picture of the house Jacob Brunner and family lived in in Munsingen before they left for Canada. They had an apartment on the 2nd floor of this house.

Below are more recent pictures of the house Jacob Brunner and family lived in in Munsingen before they left for Canada. My parents had visited relatives in Switzerland some time ago. Unfortuately, our families have lost touch and I do not know who they visited. The first pictures is the front of the house. The next picture is the back of the house.



I have put the full Brunner family on Rootsweb with a database name of brunnsu or go directly to it starting from Christens Brunner. Go back to the Genealogy tabs or to page top.

The Brunner Family