• Immigrants awaiting inspection in front of Ellis Island's Main Building

    Ellis Island

    Part of Statue of Liberty National Monument NJ,NY

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Stollmayer Family

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Katherine Stollmayer, c. 1914.

National Park Service, Statue of Liberty NM

In 1912, Katherine Stollmayer, age 18, left Arad, Hungary, to join her older brother, Joseph, living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She sailed on the Prinz Freidrich Wilhelm from Bremen, Germany. After a 12-day voyage to New York she traveled to Pittsburgh by train. Her brother placed a housework-wanted ad in a local paper, and Katherine was soon hired as a governess with a wealthy family. She stayed with the family for 14 years until her marriage to another Arad native, John Schmidt.
 
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Katherine Stollmayer with her mother, Elena and father, Anton before her departure for America, c. 1906.

National Park Service, Statue of Liberty NM

In 1925, Katherine sent for her parents, Anton and Elena Stollmayer, who longed to see their only children. The aged couple journeyed across Europe and sailed to New York from Le Havre, France.

Did You Know?

Notable Ellis Island Immigrants

During the island's 62 years of operation, over 12 million immigrants were processed at Ellis Island, including quite a few who went on to become famous such as: Frank Capra, Bela Lugosi, Baron Von Trapp, Irving Berlin, Max Factor, Claudette Colbert, Rudolph Valentino, Igor Sikorsky and Bob Hope.