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The Mendheims of the United States
(From Prussia)
To date we have evidence that at least five Mendheims came to the United States from Prussia during the 1835 to 1850 time period. They all arrived in New York from their native land. From the 1850 Federal Census and other documents reviewed in Columbus, Georgia we can place four of them in and around Columbus during the period 1846 to 1851. The four were Emil, Moritz, Benjamin and Isidor. Herman came later and very possibly went directly from New York to California.
****Recently, it was discovered that three females (Mariane, Rosalie and Johanna) arrived here from Hamburg on September 4, 1850 aboard the ship Helena Sloman. On the manifest they stated that their destination was Georgia. While the transcriber listed their last names as "Menelheim", a review of the manifest suggest that there name is in fact Mendheim (the "d" that is used for ditto also looks somewhat like "el"). Additionally, there are individuals in the 1850 Columbus census that most likely are these same individuals. I have been in communication with an individual that is researching Hermann Bauer who married Rosalie Mendheim (who was reportedly born in Kustrin, Brandenburg, Germany) in San Francisco and they went to New York where they had children. The children were Fanny and Philip and were born in 1856 and 1860 respectively. The information above along with other information collected suggest that Rosalie:
Came to or returned to the US September 4, 1850
went to Columbus Georgia and was part of the 1850 US Federal Census which was taken there on October 26, 1850
sailed from New York to San Francisco on August 20, 1853
arrived in San Francisco September 15, 1853
married Hermann Bauer in San Francisco ****
Emil
In naturalization records recorded in Book E of the Superior Court of Muscogee County (Columbus) Georgia, Emil stated that he came to the USA in 1835. He reported that he left from Liverpool and came through the Port of New York. He was naturalized in Columbus on December 23, 1848 and reported his age to be 31 at that time (Emil's Naturalization pg1, Emil's Naturalization p2). We therefore assume he was born around 1817. We have found in 1846 that E. Mendheim witnessed the will of Levi Coleman in Columbus. Additionally, a Mendheim Dry Goods store in Columbus was destroyed by fire in March 1847 which, from records, we believe Emil owned. We have not found much else to date regarding Emil.
Moritz
Moritz came to the US through the Port of New York on November 7, 1849 arriving on the ship Washington from Southampton (it's possible there was a stop in Bremen as well). He reported his age as 30 years and 11 months (projecting his birth year as 1818). While we believe he was in Columbus Ga. during the 1850 Federal Census ( M. Mendheim age 30), he was there in 1851. Records in Columbus show Moritz, Benjamin and Isidor recovering money ($2.87½ each) from the city on May 31, 1851 (Book G of the Superior Court of Muscogee County. Moritz was naturalized in the New York Court of Common Pleas on October 10, 1855 and a M. Mendheim sailed into San Francisco October 14, 1856. We show Moritz living in San Francisco in 1866 and dying there in 1883.
HOWARD (1822)
Oil painting by L. Petersen, 1847
Benjamin
Benjamin and another Mendheim, recorded as Fedor, came to the US through the Port of New York on October 14, 1841 arriving on the ship Howard (see photograph) from Hamburg. He was in Columbus Ga. during the 1850 Federal Census (Muscogee County- Census 1850 - entries 32 & 33) listed as age 28 (he was listed as age 21 in 1841), we therefore assume his birth year to be 1822. Benjamin's naturalization was recorded in Book E of the Superior Court of Muscogee County (Columbus) Georgia on November 28, 1848. While we do not have much more information regarding Benjamin there is a Philip Mendheim listed in the 1870 Federal Census in Augusta, Georgia - 1870 Census (Philip Mendheim). The census shows Philip with a wife named Adline and three children ages 13 to 17. Philip (who was 46) was born in Prussia and Adline, age37, was born in New York. The 1850 census shows a Mrs. A. Mendheim (age 17) born in New York living with Benjamin. We assume Mrs. A. is Benjamin's wife so we have to question whether Benjamin and Philip were one and the same.
Isidor(e)
We do not yet have solid evidence as to when Isidor came to the US. We believe he was the "Fedor" listed with Benjamin due to the similarity of the names (when spoken in questionable English) and we have found no other reference to a Fedor Mendheim. Likewise, we do not yet have record of his naturalization process although he did homestead property in Alabama (which required a foreign born to be naturalized or in the process of doing so). From the information we have gathered, he apparently was born around 1825. Since I am a direct descendent of Isidor, most of the historical information on this site relates to Isidor and his family(s) which is included on the pages related to him.
Get more information at the Isidor Mendheim Family page.
Herman
Herman Mendheim came to the USA in 1850 from Hamburg. In 1866 he was living with Moritz in California and reported his age as 34 which would put his birth around 1832. He was naturalized in US District Court in San Francisco on August 30, 1858.
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