In 1868, Frantisek (Frank) Sismilich and his family came to the United States from the port of the German city-state of Bremen on board the North German Lines sailing ship Bark Gessner. The Gessner departed from the port of the German city-state of Bremen in early May under the command of Captain B. Inburg, Master, and arrived in New York City at the Castle Garden immigration center at the tip of lower Manhattan, predecessor to Ellis Island, on July 15, 1868. From here Frantisek (Frank) Sismilich, his wife, and his five children ranging in age from 11 to 1 stepped into the history which is documented on this web site.

History of the Bark Gessner

At the time in 1991 when I found Frantisek and his family listed on the New York immigration lists, I knew nothing about the Gessner except its captain on their voyage and its 780 ton displacement, as listed on the passenger list. A search shortly afterwards of several well-regarded sources of ship photographs and histories failed to turn up even a mention of it.

However, the ships which brought their families to America hold a special place in the minds and hearts of genealogists of European ancestry. In the months after posting here what I originally knew of the Gessner, I was contacted by others whose families similarly came over on her. Through their research we have been able to reconstruct her description and history. For much of the following, I am indebted to Ray Marshall, whose family arrived in New York City from Bremen on the Gessner in May 1872; and Randy Hill, whose family left Bremen for Galveston, Texas in September 1860 aboard the Gessner, and who discovered this picture of it.

While it is generally agreed that the Bark Gessner was built in 1854, there is some conflict around the remainder of its origins. According to the compilation "Czech Immigration Passenger Lists" (Volume 1, by Leo Baca), the Gessner in 1860 was described as being 114.2 feet in length and 25.1 feet in width, with a displacement of 382 net tons. The ship was said to have been built in Bardenfleth by O. Foche, and was owned at the time by F. Balleer. In contrast, according to "Lloyds Register" (the worldwide insurance industry annual listing of insured ships), the Gessner was described as being 140 feet long, 32 feet wide, drawing 20 feet at the water line with a displacement of 712 net tons (the New York port records of both 1868 and 1872 claim 780 net tons). Lloyds stated that the ship was built in Schiedam by the Gips & Zoonen boatbuilders in the Netherlands in 1854, and in 1872 was owned by W. Stisser & Co. of Germany. There are two possibilities to reconcile these discrepancies. First, there is a small chance that there may have been two ships named Gessner built in 1854 and sailing the transatlantic routes from Bremen; Gessner was the name of a now-obscure German author or philosopher. But perhaps a second, more likely explanation would be a rebuilding and enlargement of the original O. Foche ship at a later date by Gips & Zoonen, accounting for the larger dimensions and greatly increased displacement.

With regard to the style of construction, a bark is a three masted sailing vessel. The forward two masts have the classic "square sails", while the rear or "mizzen" mast has triangular sails which enable it to better pick up winds from varying directions. According to Lloyds of London, the Gessner was constructed of teak, and had a bridge deck, a forecastle on the main deck, and only one other deck below.

As steamships came to dominate the transatlantic routes in the 1880's due to their faster 2 to 3 week crossing time (sailing ships required 8 to 12 weeks), many sailing ships were moved off the lucrative North Atlantic passenger runs, sold to buyers all over the world, and relegated to hauling freight or short distance passenger traffic. This is the turn that the Gessner's fortunes took. The Lloyds Registry shows that it was sailing in Riga, Latvia, in 1896 under different ownership.

The Loss at Sea of the Bark Gessner

In searching on the web for "Bark Gessner", a foreign language web page was discovered. It turned out to be written in Swedish. The translation told of the tragic demise of a ship which, by 1899, had apparently been converted from carrying hundreds of passengers to carrying cargo with a crew of 12. Here is the story as it was written in 1899:

"On January 26, 1899 the Bark Gessner, home port Mariehamn, set sail from Antwerp to Sapelo. Since after the normal estimated time of arrival an exceedingly long time passed with no communications, the ship's owners and crew's dependents started to worry. It was eventually presumed to be lost at sea. These fears were verified toward summer, when the chief ship line owner Robert Mattson of Mariehamn received from the Russian Consulate in London a written message with the information that a message in a bottle from Gessner had been found in Bishop Rock of Scilly Island.

The content of the message in the bottle was as follows: 'The ship Gessner of Mariehamn went under in the Atlantic Ocean the 12th of February 1899. Greet Aaland and my fiance', she lives in Saltvik, that we meet at Heaven's Gate and in Our Savior's bosom. Greet also my parents, yes that we meet in Heaven with God, and also my Sister. So difficult to part. Very difficult. J.T. Holmberg, constable.'