On page 15 of the Pallanza passenger list it shows Batkes on lines 27 - 29.
Line 27: $580(?) in cash, Batke, Johan, age 35
Line 28: Batke, Anna, age 65
Line 29: Batke, Anna, age 11
The Batkes state they can read and write; their country of birth is Russia and their race is German. Their destination is Ernfold, Saskatchewan. Johan states he was a farmer in Russia and plans to be a farmer in Canada. They say they plan to "always" stay in Canada and declare their religion as Evangelical. They note they will be traveling inland on the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).
Information includes stories, images and comments about the Henry Batke/Katherine Reck family from Russia. Also included in this Blog are their close neighbors, Jacob Link/Maria Philips, also from Russia. These two families homesteaded in Saskatchewan then traveled to Alabama and eventually to St. Joseph, Michigan together. Please share your stories and memories about these two amazing immigrant families.
About Henry Batke and Katherine Reck
Heinrich Batke, the son of Martin Batke (c1848-b1912) and Anna Lock (1848-1939) was born in Chortitza, Russia on September 7, 1877. Also in Russia, Catharina Reck was born on October 14, 1890. Her parents were John Reck and Renata Shirk. Henry and Katherine married in Russia on September 22, 1910. On July 13, 1912, Henry, his wife and seven month old daughter, Katherine, sailed from the Port of Bremen, Germany on the ship Pallanza. They traveled to Quebec City, Canada arriving on July 28, 1912. They immediately left on a special Canadian Pacific Railroad train to Saskatchewan, Canada. The Batkes homesteaded in Lydiard, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan between 1913 and 1918. On October 3, 1917 Henry Batke became a citizen of Canada. Due to England's sovereignty over Canada, he became a British citizen. Finding farming in Canada difficult, on December 7, 1921 the Batke family, now also including Mary, William and Selma, left for Yellow Pine, Alabama. After the birth of Anna and much hardship in Alabama, the family moved to St. Joseph, Michigan where children Henry, Ruth and Edwin were born. Henry, a furniture maker in Russia, became a machine operator at the 1900 Corporation, a fore-runner of Whirlpool, in St. Joseph. After Henry's death on April 7, 1949, Katherine Reck Batke married Gustav Schmeichel in 1959. Katherine Reck Batke Schmeichel died at the Claremont Nursing Home in Benton, Michigan on October 28, 1979.
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