USA Echerer Family Tree and Supporting documents

by Scott Echerer

Lorenz Echerer (b. 1906, Neukirchen, Germany) was my paternal grandfather. He came to the USA in 1930 at the age of 24. He was single and for his occupation he reported himself as a butcher. Below we have have the master ship manifest records that show where he sailed from Hamburg on December 4, 1930 to New York on the ship named “SS New York” That ship was later sunk by an air attack at Keil on April 3, 1945.  He worked as a butcher for A&P in Queens, New York for many years before retiring to Jacksonville, Florida in approximately 1970. He died in Jacksonville, Florida in March of 1974.  I now refer to him and his decedents as USA Echerer Branch #2.

For many years we thought Lorenz Echerer was the first Echerer in the USA, but this is not true. Below there are some records to support the facts plus the cryptic starts of a USA family tree.

So, Lorenz Echerer married Aurora Chalenski. They had one daughter Clara Echerer followed by two sons - Lorenz B. Echerer and and Stephan Echerer. The descendants of these Echerer's are listed below as "USA Echerer Branch #2"

For some years I have followed a few other Echerer's around the country via Google - wondering just how they got here and how I might be related to them. As it turns out, some 49 years before Lorenz Echerer's arrival, Anton Echerer and his wife Anna Echerer came to the the USA and settled in Chicago. I have labeled them "USA Echerer Branch #1". They came from Austria/Czechoslovakia/Bohemia. According to the 1910 Census (included below as a PDF file), they spoke Czech. It also says that they immigrated to the USA in 1881. They had three sons. One was named Irvin Echerer who was b. in 1903 and who died in 1981. I have been able to follow him, but his name may have been changed (or incorrectly reported) as Irwin.

A newspaper birth announcement (also listed below) from Jan 5, 1972 announces the birth of Brady Christopher Echerer on December 18, 1971. Ervin C. Echerer is the father of Gary A. Echerer (Clearwater, Florida, died in 2009) who is the father of Brian Echerer and Brady C. Echerer. Brett Echerer, Gary's 3rd son, was not born until 1982. Look in the second column under “Baby born seconds after New Year begins”

I think I have now found most of the Echerer’s in the USA. There were two different crossings. Are we related? Probably. Lorenz Echerer had 10 other siblings and both branches came from areas that were less than 50 miles apart.

A History Lesson offered by Andreas:
The explanation for Austria / Bohemia is quite simple. After world war I (1914-1918) the Austrian Empire split up into about 10 independent countries. One of them was Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia was split in four provinces and Bohemia was one of them.

Most Austrian or German people lived in areas adjacent to the Austrian or German border of Bohemia. So in the census 1910, before WW 1, they were Austrians. They did not call themselves Czechs, because Austrian people did not like them. They were not able to call themselves Austrians, because they were separated from Austria, so in 1920, after WW 1, they called themselves Bohemians, meaning Austrian people living in the Czechoslovakia. The areas were Bohemians used to live are not too big, so there should be the possibility to find the place of origin. Unfortunately after WW 2, when almost all of the remaining people of German or Austrian descent were kicked out of Czechoslovakia and were moved to Austria or Germany, the Czechs destroyed / burned most of bohemian records.

This must also be the link to the Echerer family living in Austria (like Mercedes and Bruno).
Looking up google.cz (the czech version) delivers: http://www.pozemnihokej.cz/detail_kola.asp?id_souteze=199

Milan Echerer - a hockey player who scored one goal on October 15 2006 for the team of "Bohemia B" against "Hradec B"
You find Milan Echerer on a telephone list of a suburb of Prague, dated February 8th 2007
(http://www.dolnimecholupy.cz/ )   (for a dictionary: http://www.slovnik.cz/)   It is hard to understand, because Czech is so different.

Raina A. Mercedes Echerer (born 16 May 1963 in Linz) is an Austrian film and stage actress, host of TV and radio shows, and politician.  From 1999 to 2004 she was Member of the European Parliament for the Austrian Green Party, part of the European Greens, although she was not member of the party. During her term she was member of the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport, and substitute for the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market.  In 1994 she also hosted the Prix Ars Electronica. As of 2006, she is playing Elmire in Molière's Tartuffe at the Lower Austrian state theater in St. Pölten.

Echerer Surname Origins from Donna Pointkouski (Who has a great Grandmother with the name Echerer!) Thanks Donna!
Surname – ECHERER
Meaning/Origin – I have not found a definitive answer on the origin of the ECHERER name, but it may be related to ECKER or EGGER.  According to the Dictionary of German Names, Second Edition by Hans Bahlow, these names are found frequently near Munich and they mean “from the dwelling place on the corner (uff der Egg)”.  The name may also be derived from the place name Eger or Egerer.
Countries of Origin – The surname Echerer is German.  According to the World Names Profiler, the countries with the highest frequency per million residents are Austria with only 2.58 individuals per million, and Germany with .82.  It is not a very common name. The next highest countries (and their respective frequency per million) are the United States (.13) and Spain (.1).

Donna's genealogy blog is here. The PDF version of her research has been saved. It is in the table below and also here.

Echerer Family Tree - Data collected by Scott Echerer as of 1992 Autocad Plot saved as a PDF is here.

Files:

Listed in databases as Echerer, but appears to be Scherer. Old style of writting "S" may be a source of family name spelling change from Scherer to Echerer. 1907-Stadt Freiburg im Breisgau.pdf 5,952.47 KB	Screenshot from Ancestry.com showing spelling error in conversion to their database 1907-Stadt Freiburg im Breisgau-screenshot-incorrect-spelling.pdf 149.80 KB	Cook County, Illinois (Chicago) 1910 United States Federal Census.pdf 5,370.94 KB	Cook County Illinois Screenshot 1910 United States Federal Census-Screenshot.pdf 189.01 KB	Notice the way he writes the E in Echerer. To me it is very easy to read this as Scherer. 1917-1918-Tally-John-Echerer-World War I Draft Registration Cards.pdf 4,418.18 KB
1917-1918-William-Peter-Echerer-World War I Draft Registration Cardss.pdf 2,955.42 KB	1917-1918-WW1-Draft-RegistrationCards-screenCapture.pdf 39.63 KB	Cook County, Illinois (Chicago) 1920 United States Federal Census.pdf 10.52 MB	Cook County, Illinois (Chicago) 1920 United States Federal Census-Screenshot-w-alternate-spellings.pdf 197.95 KB	Cook County, Illinois (Chicago) 1930 United States Federal Census.pdf 5,706.30 KB
Cook County, Illinois (Chicago) 1930 United States Federal Census - screenshot.pdf 37.39 KB	Lida Echerer - Probably says Scherer, not Echerer 1930 United States Federal Census-Berrien-Michigan.pdf 5,358.36 KB	Lida Echerer - Probably says Scherer, not Echerer 1930 United States Federal Census-Echerer-Lida-screenshot.pdf 11.78 KB	Death Records(4).doc 45.00 KB	Death-Record-Index(4).pdf 40.61 KB
Echerer Family 3.ftm 499.00 KB	Echerer-Austria.jpg 81.03 KB	Echerer-Lorenze-Passenger-Ship-New-York.pdf 1,931.67 KB	Echerer-Lorenze-Passenger-Ship-New-York02.pdf 3,392.34 KB	echerer-oregon.xls 16.50 KB
Echerer-Phone-Records-1993-2002.pdf 204.99 KB	Echerer-US-Public-Records-Index-1of3-2007.pdf 200.26 KB	Echerer-US-Public-Records-Index-2of3-2007.pdf 205.81 KB	Echerer-US-Public-Records-Index-3of3-2007.pdf 239.70 KB	Herald-Arlington Heights-Illinois-Jan-5-1972-Birth.pdf 1,005.35 KB
Dght Glara Echerer & Watalid Echerer Suspect translation error. Should be "Scherer" Watalida is also probably Lida Echerer in other records New York Passenger Lists 01 1820-1957.pdf 5,064.76 KB	Lorenz Echerer's arrival in NY in 1930 on S.S. New York New York Passenger Lists 02 1820-1957.pdf 2,957.82 KB	New York Passenger Lists 1945 Irvin_C_Echerer.pdf 2,851.34 KB	New York Passenger Lists 1945 Irvin_C_Echerer-Screenshot.pdf 165.75 KB	Data on the SS New York Ship-New-York.xls 14.50 KB
Computer list of ship passengers with two suspected Scherers listed as Echerers Ship-Passenger-Lists-Echerer.jpg 66.53 KB	Picture of the SS New York. Ship-SS-New-York.jpg 52.91 KB	At least one Echerer supported Al Gore for President Gary Echerer Democrat.pdf 52 KB	Blank 1910 Census Form (easy to read) 1910-Census-Form-Blank.pdf 12 KB	Echerer Surname History by Donna Pointkouski Surename_Saturday_ 2009_10-17.pdf 492 KB
		Echerer_Family_Tree Data as of 1992 AutoCad_plot.pdf 233 KB

USA Echerer Branch #1

Anton Echerer - b. about 1861, Bohemia, Spoke Czech
            Wife Anna Echerer b. about 1863
>    Nettie Echerer - b. 1886 (twin per 1910 census, not listed in 1920)
>   Anna Echerer - b. 1886 (twin per 1910 census, not listed in 1920)
>   William Echerer -b. 1891 (Wife Annie Echerer, b. 1899)
>>         1. Irvin Echerer - b. 1916
>    Tally Echerer - b. 1893
>    Irvin C. Echerer - b. 1903 (Also listed as Dec. 17, 1915) Died March 1981
>>         1. Gary A. Echerer - b. 1947, d. 2009 lived in Clearwater Florida
>>>                   a.  Brian M. Echerer, b. 1969
>>>                   b.  Brady Christopher Echerer, b. December 18, 1971
>>>>                                i. Chase Echerer (male) b. approx 1993
>>>                    c.  Brett Echerer, b. December 8, 1982
>>>>                                           i.  Madison Echerer, Feb. 12, 2007 Born to Traci Morgan and Bret Echerer, a daughter,,
                                                           at Tuality Community Hospital. Hillsboro, Oregon

It looks like this Echerer branch settled in the Chicago area and stayed there for many years. They have since moved to Oregon, Washington and Florida. I also have found a Lida Echerer b. about 1911 on the 1930 Census - not listed as a son, or daughter, but as a "border". A close review of the 1930 Census and this appears to be an incorrect listing for Lida Scherer, not Echerer.

USA Echerer Branch #2

Lorenz Echerer - b. 12-17-1906, Neukirchen, Germany. Died March 1974
                First Wife: Aurora Chalenski Echerer
                        b. in Poland, Three Children.
                    Second Wife: Grace Andre Echerer (no children)

>    Clara "Tootsie" Echerer (never married, no children)
>    Lorenz Bruno Echerer b. 06-23-1943?? - 5 sons by first wife
               m.1 Anna Anita Titone Echerer had five (5) children. b. 03-28- 194?
               m2. Brenda Bagget Echerer
>>        1. Scott James Echerer b. 01-04-1963, no children
                        (m. Teresa Darlene Chavis Echerer, b. 04-04-1964)
>>        2. Vincent Echerer b. 1965,  Three (3) children. 2 sons, 1 daughter
                        (m. Naomi Jean Echerer)
>>>                a. Vincent Echerer II (Vinnie)
>>>                b. Alexis Echerer
>>>                c. Savario Echerer
>>        3. Richard Stephen Echerer b. 08-08-1967, d. 05-31-2008 Two (2) daughters by second wife
                        (m1. Pam Dew Echerer)
                        (m2. Wendy Harley Echerer)
>>>               a. Autumn Echerer
>>>               b. Josie Echerer
>>        4. Lorenz Philip Echerer b. 1969, Two (2) Children. 1 daughter, 1 son
                             (m. Kimberly Trask)
>>>                a. Caitlyn Echerer
>>>                b. Zachary Echerer
>>        5. Philip Salvador Echerer b. 02-17-1971, One (1) son
                        (m. Laura Sue Holton Echerer, b. 07-27- 1970)
>>>                a. Elias Charles (Chaz) Echerer b. 12-25- 2005
                                (Perhaps incorrectly listed as Kevlie Echerer with Philip Echerer's old address)

>    Stephen Echerer - b. 06-10-1946  - 2 Daughters by first wife
                     m1. Margaret "Margie" T. LaCalandra, b. 03-19-1947. d. 12-20-2000.
                     m2. Diane Echerer b.02-24-1958
>>        1. Lorie A. Echerer b. 03-1975-(m, Erwin Van Riel, b.)
>>>            a. Gavin Van Riel    b. 08-14-2006
>>>            b. Sierra Van Riel    b. 01-13-2009

>>        2. Tina M. Echerer b.03-17-1975 (m. Michael Elderbaum)
>>>              a. Sofia Elderbaum
>>>            b. yes...???
>>>            c. Michael Stephen Elderbaum, March 18, 2010

Originally settled in Queens, New York and Lorenz Echerer has his name on the Immigrant memorial on Ellis Island. Of his three children, Clara and Grace Echerer now live in Jacksonville, Florida. All of Lorenz Echerer's family lives in South Carolina or Georgia. Stephen Echerer's family lives on Long Island New York.

Additions to the German Echerer Tree...

This is tough. The last time I updated the printed tree was 1992. Since then I have discovered others and still more have been born.  The name is fairly uncommon. I welcome information and/or correspondence from others who share an interest,

Other unknown (to me) are Mercedes Echerer, Varina Echerer and Reka Echerer (all believed to be in Austria)  All found on Facebook. Reka is the daughter of Mercedes Echerer. As of the summer of 2009 Reka Echerer was estimated to be about 16 years old.

Recently found are Adrian Echerer, b. January 19, 1994. At the age of 15, his Facebook page says his political views are "Die Grünen"...which means he is probably related to Mercedes Echerer. Mercedes Echerer is a fairly well known actress in Austria was a member of the Green Party in the European Parliament.

I have also met Patrick Echerer on Facebook. He is in Austria.

I have met Thomas Echerer on Skype. He is in ??? not sure, but  near to Neurkirchen.

On December 16, 2009, Born to Michael Echerer and his wife Nelli Echerer (Munich) is a daughter - Evelin Echerer.

April 27, 2010
Dear Scott, 
I am a journalist in Denmark, and I am writing to you, because I am trying to find relatives
to a German woman named Mathilde / Madlen  Echerer. She was a nun in Denmark at a convent
called Sostrup until 1993, where she died.  She was born in 1918. Her name as a nun was
sister Madlen and she had a sister, who lived in Bayern. 
I know it is a long shot, but do you know if she was a relative of yours?
I am writing to you because you have the same last name.
I have got your email from your cousin, Michael Echerer. 
Thank you for all your help. 
Best regards
Anette
Anette Dybbro Klokkerholm DR Østjylland
AKLO@dr.dk

Other Echerer's found recently:

May 2010
	Laurentius  Echerer in Aulzhausen, Germany. Relationship unknown.
	Thomas Echerer in Aulnzhausen.  Relationship unknown.

Also found in May 2010 on Facebook are:
	Isabella Echerer in Thierhaupten, Germany
	Verina Echerer somewhere in Germany	
	Xandra Echerer - Sister of Varina Echerer - somewhere in Germany

For corrections, additions, etc contact:

Scott Echerer
echerer@aol.com