Amana Colonies

Elizabetha came to America against her will

/ Gail Grunst Genealogy / 2 Comments

There probably have been many turning points in our ancestor’s lives.  The main one was most likely when they made the decision to come to America.  They all came for various reasons such as economic, religion, political, avoiding military service, and some came against their will.

The turning point for one ancestor, Elizabetha Schuh, was coming to America at the young age of 16 against her will.[1] Elizabetha was born in Nussloch near Heidelberg, Baden, Germany on 26 May 1831.[2] Her parents sent her to America with family friends the Bortz family because they disapproved of her relationship with a boy.[3] She departed Le Harve, France and arrived at the Port of New York on 9 September 1847 on the ship Harve.[4] Above her name are the names of the Bortz Family, Adam (57), Margaret (47), Catherine (22), Susanna (19), Elizabeth (17), Philippina (12).[5]  Elizabetha and the Bortz family arrived at the Ebenezer Colonies in September 1847.[6]  The Ebenezer Colonies was a settlement founded by the Community of True Inspiration in what is now the town of West Seneca, New York. A congregation of Inspirationists emigrated to the site from Germany in 1843. In 1854, the Ebenezer Colonies bought land in Iowa and began relocating to Iowa in 1855 and the by 1865 all had moved away and established the Amana Colonies in Iowa.[7] Elizabetha arrived in the Amana Colonies in 1863 now age 32.[8] Maybe this was the second turning point in her life.  She continues to live in the Amana Colonies and was a housekeeper throughout her life.[9] [10]  The Inspirations history reports that she is a person of size and strength.[11] I never found any proof that she married, maybe the boy back in Germany was her one and only true love. 

Elizabeth’s nephew Conrad Reinhardt and his family settled in Amana after coming to America in 1880.[12] They only stayed a few years before leaving the Amana Colonies and moving to Ottawa, Illinois.[13]  At least for a few years, she had family there.  It seems to me that she led a lonely life, but maybe the community there was her family. 

She died on 25 May 1908 one day shy of her 77th birthday,[14] and she is buried in the Amana Cemetery.[15]  In her will dated 2 March 1900, she leaves all her property to George Bernhart residing in Amana, Iowa County, Iowa. [16]  I could not find what the relationship was between Elizabetha and George Bernhart.  It was a very simple will, and I can’t imagine that she had a lot of property as everything was communal property in the Amana Colonies.  I hope one day to find out more about Elizabetha’s life in Amana, Iowa.

Copyright © 2026 Gail Grunst

Week 11: A turning point 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

[1] Email from the Amana Heritage Society to Gail Grunst dated Friday October 13, 2017.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Year: 1847; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 069; Line: 15; List Number: 677

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] From website: Ebenezer Colonies – Wikipedia

[8] Email from the Amana Heritage Society to Gail Grunst dated Friday October 13, 2017.

[9] Year: 1870; Census Place: Amana, Iowa, Iowa; Roll: M593_396; Page: 131B; Family History Library Film: 545895

[10] Ancestry.com. Iowa, State Census Collection, 1836-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.

[11] Email from the Amana Heritage Society to Gail Grunst dated Friday October 13, 2017.

[12] Amana Church Membership Records, in archive collection of the Amana Heritage Museum, Amana, Iowa.

[13] Ottawa Illinois City Directories, Ottawa, Illinois1888, 1891, 1894,1895,1898, 1901, 1902, 1904, 1905, 1906,1907, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1912, at LaSalle County Genealogy Guild, 115 W. Glover Street, Ottawa, Illinois 61350

[14] Email from the Amana Heritage Society to Gail Grunst dated Friday October 13, 2017.

[15] Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.  Original data: Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.

[16] Will Records, 1853-1929; Author: Iowa. District Court (Iowa County). Source Information

Ancestry.com. Iowa, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1758-1997 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.  Original data: Iowa, County, District and Probate Courts.

A Woman of Size and Strength

/ Gail Grunst Genealogy / Leave a comment

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks topic this week is Random Fact.  

Elizabeth Schuh grave

While I was researching a great-great uncle, John C. Reinhardt, I found an article in the Sabetha Herald about John’s recollection of his childhood in the Amana Colonies in Iowa.[1]  I found this interesting since he is my great grandmother’s brother and our common ancestor is his father (my great-great grandfather).  In the article John mentions that his great-aunt was a school teacher for more than half a century.  She weighed 225 pounds and was 6 feet 2 inches (random fact). The name of the great aunt was not mentioned in the article.  I figured this was my great-great-grandfather’s connection to Amana, and this is one of the reasons he probably chose to go there upon arriving in the US.  I had corresponded with the Amana Heritage Society previously when needing information on my great-great-grandfather.  I wrote to them once again and they were able to provide with information about the aunt. 

Here is their answer to my inquiry.

“We took some time to peruse the Inspirations=Historie, The Anderson Cards, the Koch Verzeichnis, and another resource and came up with the following information:

The Aunt was Elizabetha Schuh born in Nussloch near Heidelberg, Baden, 26 May 1831.  She came to Ebenezer Society in September 1847, then to Amana in October 1863.  Died in Amana 25 May 1908.  Our Internal records of Amana Society indicate that she came with the Bortz family with the intention of going to live at Galion, OH.  I make the assumption, that because they were all from the Heidelberg area, and that’s where the Rappites had their stronghold before founding the communal society at Zoar, they were familiar with both us and them.  The Bortz Family another outside source claims that her parents did not approve of her relationship with a certain boy so they shipped her to America.  We cannot corroborate this fact, but she did come with another family and not hers.

To her physical size, the Inspirations=historie call her a ‘person of size and strength’ so her exact measurements are not documented.  The histories do not give her occupation in Ebenezer or Amana.  All communal-era teachers were men.  The excepton was the knitting school was usually taught by women.  So this could have been her job.  As I mentioned, her occupation is not documented.”

Amana Heritage Society[2]

I was able to find her on the 1870 United States Federal Census[3] and the 1885 Iowa Census[4] and on both census records her occupation is listed as housekeeper not a teacher.  I also found her the ship passenger list.  She departed from Le Harve, France and arrived at the Port of New York on 9 September 1847 on the ship Harve.[5] Above her name on the passenger list are the names of the Bortz Family, Adam (57), Margaret (47), Catherine (22), Susanna (19), Elizabeth (17), Philippina (12).[6]  It is interesting that they have a daughter named Elizabeth about the same age as Elizabeth Schuh.  I also noticed the names Susanna and Philippina are also names used in the Schuh family.  Now I wonder what the Bortz family connection is to the Schuh’s, or were they just friends.? This is why genealogy never ends.   I also found her grave on find-a-grave (see above). [7] 

I now have all these questions.  How did Elizabeth feel about being sent away to a new country without her family at just 16 years old?  Did she see her family of origin ever again?  What was so awful about the boy she was seeing that she needed to be sent so far away? 

Elizabeth never married and I wonder if she had a happy life. 

Copyright © 2018 Gail Grunst

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[1] Sabetha, Kansas, Sabetha Herald, Wednesday, December 9, 1936, Pg. 4.

[2] Email from the Amana Heritage Society to Gail Grunst dated Friday October 13, 2017.

[3] Year: 1870; Census Place: Amana, Iowa, Iowa; Roll: M593_396; Page: 131B; Family History Library Film: 545895

[4] Ancestry.com. Iowa, State Census Collection, 1836-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.

[5] Year: 1847; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 069; Line: 15; List Number: 677

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.  Original data: Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.