Elizabeth, New
Jersey (NJ)
Archivist:
Mary Regan
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From Ellis Island,
a brief ferry ride will take you to Jersey City,
and from there, Elizabeth, NJ, is about ten
miles to the south – just across the Arthur Kill
[formerly the Staten Island Sound] from Staten
Island, and immediately south of Newark.
Elizabeth is a
port city, one that easily accommodates
oceangoing freighters. First settled in
1664, Elizabeth was the first capital of New
Jersey. Both Alexander Hamilton and his nemesis
Aaron Burr attended school there, and while
George Washington may not have slept there, he
most certainly stopped for lunch in 1789 on his
way to New York City to be inaugurated first
president of the United States. |
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By the 1830s, the
fledgling railroads began to connect the port of
Elizabeth with the interior of the country,
establishing its position as an urban center of
commerce and industry. The population of
Elizabeth began a long term increase during this
time, as German and Irish immigrants arrived to
take advantage of the increased need for labor.
Many of the newcomers were Catholics, so the
first Catholic Church in Elizabeth, St. Mary’s
of the Assumption, was established in 1844. Not
long after, the German immigrants expressed
their need for a German-speaking church, and by
1852, St. Michael’s Church on Smith Street began
serving the German-American Catholics of
Elizabeth. |
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The Attraction to
Elizabeth
What was there about
the community that it attracted Danube Swabian
immigrants to go there?
What were the early years like?
Last updated:
31 Mar 2010
An Immigrant's Plea to a Powerful
Man By
Andrew Carroll
Letter dated I
think 1942, portion of the letter to the president:
I belong to German sick and death benefit
society and a German Singing Society here in
Elizabeth N.J.
www.historynet.com/an-immigrants-plea-to-a-powerful-man.htm
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Local Genealogical Research
Aids
Elizabeth, Union
Co., & New Jersey State Records |
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Danube Swabian
Associations and Neighborhoods
in Elizabeth
What groups or
organizations did they join or form? Did they
become members of specific parishes and
congregations? Did they tend to live in the same
neighborhoods or sections of the community?
What ongoing
presence of the Danube Swabians continues to exist
there to this day? What local Danube Swabians and
their descendants achieved some kind of prominence
or importance in the life of the community or nation
if any?
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Elizabeth, NJ Archivist,
Mary Regan
DVHH
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Destination: The Americas
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United States
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Last updated:
Wednesday March 31, 2010
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