Eva Döring was born on January 4, 1856 in Posen, Germany. Jozef Koss was born in Werblin, near Putzig, WestpreuBen, Germany. On January 17, 1876 he married Ewa Frances Döring at Putzig, WestpreuBen (now Puck, Poland).

In 1881 Jozef and Eva Koss left Germany for America with their first two children, Johann and Victoria, Eva's mother, Marianna (Posanski) Döring, and an uncle's family. Their last residence in Germany may have been Karlekau, due west of Putzig.

The family departed from Hamburg, Germany on March 25, 1881 aboard the steamship Grimsby. The 713 gross ton steamship disembarked at Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England and the passengers continued to Liverpool by rail, where they boarded the Britannic (White Star Line).

When departing Liverpool on the night of March 31, the Britannic collided with and sank a schooner, the Julia, on the River Mersey. There was no loss of life, and the accident caused little or no excitement among the 1,600 passengers, according to the New York Times.

During the first few days out, the weather was fine, but four days of severe weather followed. The wind blew from the westward and the sea was heavy.

The Koss family arrived at Castle Garden, Port of New York, on April 11, 1881. The storm had delayed the ship about one day.

The family proceeded to Milwaukee where, on October 24, 1882, Jozef Koss filed his "first papers," declaring his intention to become a citizen of the United States, and renouncing his allegiance to William I, Emperor of Germany. Like many other immigrants, he did not complete the naturalization process.

Jozef worked in Milwaukee as a laborer. The family worshipped at St. Hyacinth's Catholic Church. Jozef died in 1901 after having pneumonia for eight days.

* * * * *

FamilySearch.org has posted an image of the Catholic marriage record of Jozef Koss and Ewa Doering. They were married 17 January 1876 in Putzig, Westpreußen, Germany. That place is now Puck, Poland, near Gdansk on the south shore of the Black Sea. Surprised to find he Catholic Church record in German rather than Latin.

Year: 1876

Marriage Register

Place of residence of the bride: Oslanin

Number of weddings performed in the parish: 5

Number of marriages only reported in the parish: /

The Groom:

Name, occupation/social stand and place of residence

Joseph Koss, servant/farm hand [Knecht] in Oslanin

Previous marriage: bachelor

Age: 27

Confession: Catholic

The Bride:

Name: Ewa Doering

Previous marriage: maiden

Age: 20

Confession: Catholic

Place and day of marriage: Putzig, 17 January

Name, occupation/social stand and place of residence together with the declaration of consent of the parents or the possible guardians on the side of the groom: of legal age

the bride: with the parents' consent

Place and number of the proclamation of the banns to marry for the groom and the bride: in Putzig three times

Name of the pastor who performed the marriage: Pastor Goerke

Remarks: Franz Brzokowsky, Johannes Doering.

* * * * *

Above is the church record of the marriage of Jozef Koss and Ewa Doering, in Putzig, Germany. I had found that image in a new collection available on the FamilySearch_org website. A volunteer researcher on an German Genealogy research group provided the wonderful translation.

The volunteer went even further and located the civil record of the same marriage in a different online archive. It has even more new information, including Jozef's occupation and the names and occupations of both sets of parents. Jozef and his father in law were shepherds. Jozef's father was a cottager with his own "garden." The record even includes the actual signatures of Jozef, Ewa, and the witnesses.

Here is the translation, provided by the volunteer:

No. 2

Bresin, 15 January 1876

Before the undersigning registrar appeared today for the purpose of marriage:

1. the shepherd [Schäfer] Joseph Koss, personally known, Catholic religion, born on 20 May 1848 in Werblin, residing in Abbau Oslanin,

son of the cottager with a garden of his own [Eigenkäthner] Joseph Koss and his wife Marianna née Klebba, residing in Werblin

2. the Eva Doering, personally known, Catholic religion, born on 4 January 1856 in Miruschin, residing in Abbau Oslanin,

daughter of the shepherd Mathias Doering and his wife Maria née Posanski, residing in Miruschin

[end of page 1]

As witnesses were called in and appeared:

3. the laborer [Arbeiter] Jacob Posanski, personally known, 48 years old, residing in Oslanin

4. the overseer over a farm/head servant Johann Janga, personally known, 43 years old, residing in Bresin

Inpresence of the witnesses the registrar asked the engaged persons, each of them and one after another, the following question:

whether they are willing to marry eachother.

The engaged persons said yes and the registrar therefore pronounced them legally as husband and wife.

Read out, approved and signed

[signatures]

Joseph Koss Ea[sic.] Döring

Jakob Posanski Johann Janga

The registrar

Leverenz [signature]