Immigrant Surnames
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IMMIGRANT SURNAMES

A listing of names that immigrated to Oshkosh from Bohemia and Bavaria. If known the village will also be listed. Send me an email to add your information. State that it is for this page. A separate Sacred Heart listing is available. They are listed here under Sacred Heart only if they are not listed in another source. I do not have a St. Vincent's listing. People listing Germany on the 1900 census coming someday. Almost all these names are German, some maybe Czech but the people spoke German.

E-mail from Charles Nigl, 2002

According to Herr Friedmann Fegert, the first person to lead a group of Immigrants to

Oshkosh  from Bischofsreut was a Kellermann, followed by Joseph Nigl in 1872, his wife

Karolina Bloechl, Joseph's sister Cresentia (Nigl) Stadler and her husband Hermann Stadler,

were all from Bischofsreut (or Langreut).

 Again according to Herr Fegert and the Emigration records, 50 % of all the emigrants

to America from the Boehmerwald area, came from the Bischofsreut area.

   In the book, he explains, how the young people of the Bischofsreut , Langreut, Phillipsreut

area, had no choice but to migrate to Bohemia, or Hungary and finally to America.

One big reason, was that a man with no farm or occupation, could not marry.

The easiest route, was to travel just over the border to Bohemia, where there were no

such restrictions, at first.  In my own family, as early as the 1700s, Nigls moved to

Schattawa, to start a new life. Eventually Austria gained control of Bohemia and enforced

similar laws as those in Bavaria, this led many people to travel to Yugoslavia or Hungary

to start a new life.