Person:Carl Reisland (1)

Herman Reisland's father, Gindher, was listed as at home" in the 1880 Census. He was born in Prussia (later Germany and Poland), and the Census listed his parents as being born in Prussia also. Gindher and his wife Augusta had four children. Herman Reisland had one brother and two sisters. Uncle Arnie Reisland and Ed Reisland remembered his grandfather (Herman) speaking of his Aunt Bertha. Gindher's name was listed as Gunther in the 1870 Census. It listed his profession at the time as a common laborer. He was considerably older than his wife Augusta. ("When the Revolution of 1848 in Prussia, along with upheavals in minor German states led to the convening of a German National Assembly in Frankfurt's Paulskirche, the aspirations of middle-class liberates toward national unity, civil liberties and democracy seemed at first to be nearing fulfillment. But their revolutionary hopes of transforming the loose "German Confederation" into a unified and democratically constituted "German Empire" were soon dashed by the conservative-minded establishment, and reaction triumphed. Of the liberal nationalists who now became political refugees, over four thousand went into exile in America, the country whose revolutionary ideals had served them as an example." From Don Heinrich Tolzmann, 1997.

Great granddaughter, Anne, reported that she has seen three different spellings for Gindher's name: Gindher, Guenther, and Genlatre. Also reported was that Gindher left a family in Germany and immigrated to America with his 14 year old son August H. Reisland. (That calculates their immigration year to be approximately 1857.) Many people at that time were fleeing something---religious persecution, famine/hunger, conscription into the army/navy. Gindher remarried in America and raised another family. It was not unusual for German people to have conflicts within the family, and many times not speak to one another. There may have been some descension between Ginher's American offspring (Bertha, Herman, Robert & Anna). At one time Anne's parents (Mr. & Mrs. Hilbert Reisland) said that all of the Reisland's in the Cleveland, OH phone book were related. Anne also reported that Gindher sailed out of Hamburg and entered America at Castle Island (this was before Ellis Island). He was born in Prussia. Reisland is not a common name in Germany.

Janet Reisland was a Park Ranger for the Forest Service, and one summer in the 1970's met a Reisland family from the Cleveland OH area. Carl Reisland told Janet that two Reisland brother's back in the 19th century lived in Hamburg. The "Press Gang" was sent out to force men to join the Navy. The brothers didn't want this to happen so they stowed away on a ship to America.

Anne Love offered the following information: "Guenther Reisland. I think his name was really this, and in doing the census, difficulty with accents, etc. someone wrote Gindher or Genlatre. The tombstone has Guenther. Birth year is 1807, Schwartzburgh, Prussia. Schwartzburgh may not exist anymore. Death date is July 7, 1895 from Chronic Bright's Disease. Buried Monroe Street Cemetery. Guenther and his son, August, sailed on the ship ONWARD out of Hamburg, Germany, and arrived in New York June 23, 1857. He became a citizen November 7, 1864. The 1860 Pennsylvania Index lists a Guenther and August Reisland so they did not come to Cleveland immediately. I do not know why they came to Cleveland or if they had any relatives here but I do not think so. Maybe he knew of an opportunity of some kind here. He is listed as a farmer, milkman, soapmaker, chandler and stearine candle maker in different records. Guenther Reisland's will states that his estate goes to his wife, Auguste, and at her death, the remainder of the estate shall be equally divided among her children. The children of his first wife shall not receive anything of his estate. (This, of course, brings up the questions of why he left Germany, why he brought one child with him (August), why the others were left behind or did they choose not to accompany him, we will never know."

Ship records state Guenther was 50 when he sailed to America.

Id#: 0292791 Name: Reisland, Guenther Date: 7-27-1891 Source: Cemetery record; Cleveland Necrology File, Reel #068. Notes: age 88. Monroe Cemetery Cleveland, Ohio.

Paul Hartman notes: Age 62 in the 1870 census and 73 in 1880. In 1880 - living at 95 Vega Ave. Arrived on ship "Onward" Hamburg to NY arrived 6/23/1857. Passengers listed as Gunther, 29, Farmer, and August, 14, unknown both from Prussia. This might make them brothers and not father/son.

From "German American Names" by George F. Jones, page 220: the possible origin for the Reisland surname, is "Reisman", meaning soldier in German.

1. ↑ 1900 Census.
2. ↑ Anne Reisland/Love.
3. ↑ West E&R Church records, Cleveland, OH.
4. ↑ Tombstone Inscription.
5. ↑ Evang-Luth Kirchgemeinde Arnstadt.