Maurice Reppel's Immigration from France

Hi.  This is my first posting for my genealogy blog.  I subscribe to several genealogy blogs.  One of them had a link to create you own.  I was inspired to try using the blog to document some of my finds. My most recent fine was an immigration document for Maurice Reppel, my great uncle.

Maurice Reppel - French immigrant

Maurice & Myrtle Reppel

Yesterday I located the immigration report for my Great Uncle Maurice Reppel on the Ellis Island website. He was on his was to Saskatchewan, Canada after leaving his home in Mussig, Alsace.

He listed his destination as Reford, Saskatchewan, Canada.  A web search for Reford didn't turn up much. It is a small farming community, population in 2006 was 296 people, 55% employed in agriculture.

Here is the data from the ship manifest.

Ship of Travel Vaderland     Port of Departure Antwerp     Date of Departure May 13, 1911            Manifest Line Nbr 0021     Name Maurice Reppel     Age at Arrival 23  yrs, 1 mo      Gender/Status Single Male         Occupation Baker     Able to Read/write Yes/Yes     Citizen/Ethnicity Germany/German     Last Residence Germany, Strasbourg     Nearest relative Josef Reppel, Mussig     Final Destination Reford, Saskatchewan     Passenger Funds $25     Height 5’5”     Complexion/Hair fair     Hair/Eyes fair/blue     Place of Birth Strasbourg, Germany

What do I know about Uncle Maurice?

He was born in Paris, France on April 3rd, 1888, the second son of an Alsatian baker named Francois Joseph Reppel and his wife Melanie Breitel.  In 1895 his family emigrated back to Alsace then under German domain. His father became the baker for the small farming village of Mussig. 

As was common during this time, the oldest son, his brother Rene Reppel, would inherit the family business. He had a younger brother who was born in 1900 in Mussig, my grandfather Robert Leo Reppel.

Alsace was like a ping pong ball, bouncing back and forth between France and Germany. As a results of the Franco Prussian war of 1871, Alsace was annexed by Germany. German rule was unpopular among many of the residents. Being that his father was a baker in Paris for a time, it is safe to speculate that the Reppel family preferred the French Rule. The schools were taught in German.  Maurice learned to read and write German which was similar to his native Alsatian language.  It is unknown whether he learned any other language in his early years, but he was able to read and write French and English before his 30th birthday.

The political unrest in the 1800's resulted in an economic crisis. Hundreds of young Alsatians fled to American and Canada searching for a home and occupation. 23 year old Maurice emigrated in 1911, just before the start of World War I. He settled in Saskatchewan, Canada which had both a significant German and French immigrant population. Although he was a skilled baker, it is doubtful that he practiced the trade after his immigration.

Maurice settled in the village of Cavell (Coblenz) where on May 29th, 1914 he was appointed as as the postmaster. On a map of Cavell there is a notation that Maurice also ran a real estate business.  The village is now a ghost town.   Click for additional information on Cavell/Coblenz.

Around 1913 Maurice married Yvonne Brunkant, where and when is unknown.  Yvonne born on October 28th, 1893 immigrated from France in 1913. According to the 1930 census, Maurice was 24 and Yvonne was 18 when they married. Their first born child a boy was born May 18th, 1914 in Cavell, Saskatchewan. Their second child, a daughter named Sylvia was also born around 1917 in Cavell.

In 1916, Canada conducted a census of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta provinces (1916 Census for Repell at the Library and Archives of Canada).  The "Repell" family was living in the Battleford district of Saskatchewan. My transcription of the family is as follows: 

        Line                             32                  33               34   

        Last                             Repell            Repell          Repell

        First                             Maurice         Yonnie         Edmond

        Relationship                 Head             Wife             Son

        Sex                              M                  F                 M

        Marital Status               M                  M                S

        Age                              28                 22                2

        Birth place                    France          France          Sask

        Religion                        R Catholic     R Catholic    R Catholic

        Year of Immigration     1911              1913            --

        Year of Naturalization  1914              NA              --

        Citizenship                    Canada         Canada        Canadan

        Race                            French           French         French

        Can speak English        Yes               Yes              Yes

        Can speak French        Yes               Yes              Yes  

        Native tongue               German         French         French

        Can read                      Yes               Yes              No

        Can write                     Yes               Yes              No

        Profession                    Postmaster     none            none

The population of Cavell peaked in 1913. Soon families began moving away. On August 29th, 1917 Maurice resigned as Postmaster. Maurice and his family moved to a nearby village of Leipzig. There he was working as a Notary Public. Around 1919 their third child, Yvonne was born. In the fall of 1919, Maurice's 19-year-old brother Robert emigrated from France to Saskatchewan. According to the 1920 Canadian Almanac & Directory, Maurice Reppel was the Secretary-Treasure of Leipzig, Saskatchewan.

The family didn't stay in Leipzig long. On December 24th, 1920, the family emigrated from Canada. At the Port of Winnipeg, Manitoba, the family applied for admission into the United States. They were listed on Page 7 of the manifest. Robert "Reppell" immigrated with them as well.  He was listed on page 4 of the manifest.

        Page/line                    pg7 / 17            pg7 / 18            pg4 / 3            

        Last                          Reppel              Reppel               Reppell 

        First                          Maurice             Yvonne             Robert           

        Age                              32                     26                    20                  
        Sex                               M                      F                     M                  

        Place of Birth:            Paris, France    Paris, France      Mussig, France         

        Occupation                Notary Public    --                      Baker

        Read/Write English    Yes                   Yes                   French

        Citizenship                 Canada             Canada              France         

        Last Residence          Leipzig, Sask.    Leipzig, Sask.    Leipzig, Sask.         

        Final destination         Peoria, Ill          Peoria, Ill           Peoria, Ill        

        Funds on passenger   $1000               --                      $100   

        Height:                       5’5”                  5’2”                  5’6”          

        Complexion:              med                  med                   fair         

        Hair:                          lt brown            brown                lt brown          

        Eyes:                         blue                  brown                grey

        Page/line                    pg7 / 19           pg7 /  20          pg7 /  21            

        Last                          Reppel             Reppel              Reppel

        First                          Edmond           Sylvia               Yvonne

        Age                           5                     3                       1
        Sex                           M                    F                       F

        Place of Birth:           Cavell, Can      Cavell, Can       Leipzig, Can    

      

The family settled in Peoria Illinois. They found a rental home on 501 Aiken Ave. Maurice found work as a book keeper. His brother Robert, who was living with the family, was employed at the Bohi bakery as a baker. Late in 1921, misfortune visited the family. The Illinois death index shows their young daughter "Silvia Rappel" died November 7th, 1921. They didn't stay in the house long, the 1922 city directory shows the family had moved to 1314 Western Ave.  Both brothers were working as bakers.


In 1923 Maurice obtained employment at the Federal Warehouse as a shipping clerk, a job he held for many years.  Federal Warehouse Co. was a full service shipping company, and an agent for Allied Van Lines. He must have been a good worker, as by 1927 he was promoted to Superintendent. With steady employment, the family was able to purchase a home located at 1041 Greenlawn Ave. which in 1930 was worth $4000.

Robert, who was working as a baker for the Bake-Rite bakery moved into his own place at 510 Hamilton. Robert was not listed in the 1924 city directory, he had moved to Colorado.

Maurice and Yvonne applied for citizenship. Maurice's citizenship was granted January 25th, 1927; Yvonne's was denied. It is unknown whether she obtained her citizenship at a later date. 

Around 1933, Yvonne and Maurice divorced. Their two children were teenagers, Edmond about 19, and Yvonne (aka "Dots") about 14. Yvonne and Dots moved to a house at 1200 1st ave. Yvonne supported herself by working as a furrier. She had learned the furrier trade working for furrier David Schaffer in 1929. She obtained employment with Brooks fashion store where she worked as a furrier and a seamstress.  She worked from Brooks until she left Peoria sometime after 1943.

Edmond who was now working at Federal Warehouse stayed in the family home until it was sold. It appears that around this time, Maurice lost his job, perhaps due to his failing health. Maurice developed diabetes; it compromised his eye sight. His employment ranged from kitchen helper, to packer, to factory worker. At some point he received assistance and training for the blind.  It was at the center for the blind where he met his second wife Myrtle Ernst. They were married about 1940. 

In 1942 Maurice was required to register for the draft.  He and Myrtle were living at 1201 Maywood. At that time he was unemployed. He soon found employment, in the 1943 Peoria city directory stated that he was a factory worker with the Caterpillar Corporation.  He remained with Caterpillar until his retirement about 1959.  

After his retirement, Maurice and Myrtle moved to Arizona where his son Edmond and his brother Robert were both living.  They purchased a small home at 2807 W. Solano Drive. I have some memories of going to visit Uncle Maurice and Aunt Myrtle when I was a child.  We lived on the other side of town, so we didn't visit them often.  Uncle Maurice died on Feb. 13th, 1966 when I was 12 years old.  He was 77. He was survived by his wife Myrtle, son Edmond and daughter Yvonne Seeber. He was buried in Resthaven Memorial Park.

His obituary as printed in the Arizona Republic on Feb. 14th, 1966 is as follows:

Maurce X. Reppel - Maurce X. Reppel, 77, of 2807 W Solano Drive, a retired heavy equipment   operator, died yesterday at him home. Mr. Reppel came to Phoenix six years ago from Peoria, Ill.,     after 29 years with the Caterpillar Tractor Co. He was born in Paris. Services will be held at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Mortensen-Kings Funeral Center, 1020 W. Washington. Burial will follow in Resthaven Memorial Park. Surviving are his wife, Myrtle; a daughter, Mrs. Yvonne Seeber of Riverside, Cal.; a son Edmond of Phoenix; a brother, Robert of Phoenix; and three grandchildren.