Lutherans from Bohemia
I am trying to determine the origin area of Gustav Christof (Christian) Riba/Ryba. His marriage certificate lists his father as George. He consistently cited his origin as Bohemia/ Austria but never supplied an area or a city. He spoke German. He arrived in New York from Bremen in 1867, supposedly went to Pennsylvania and then showed up in New Ulm, MN, by 1870. He married a good Lutheran girl (Winkelmann) from Wuertemberg there. He is listed as a farmer. New Ulm has a large number of Bohemian farmers coming at that time but they were all Catholic. There seems to be little crossover.
It is possible he was Catholic and converted but there is no indication of that. I have searched the areas that generated the Catholic New Ulm Bohemians.
Was there anything happening historically around 1867 that would help me narrow down where in Bohemia he might be from? (I am aware that Bohemia persecuted Lutherans and that Austria loosened immigration requirements in 1867.)
Hi Paul - just guessing many German-Bohemian from western Bohemia came to Minnesota at this time. Do you have a passenger list to check on other people that came at the same time as Gustav or DNA or other records that could tighten up the search to smaller than Bohemia? I believe Gustav was born 10 Oct 1845 and died 08 Mar 1917.