Story: Carl Gottlieb Uebergang (1807 - 1853)

From "The Uebergang Familes in Australia 1848 - 1985, added to this site 3 Mar 2008

Carl Gottlieb Uebergang was the son of Samuel Uebergang and Maria Elizabeth Uebergang (nee Berndtin). Carl's father was a Dreschgätner (winnower) in Profen; a small village in the Jauer district of the province of Silesia; in the country of Prussia. Carl was born on May 8, 1807 and was baptised on the eleventh by Deacon H. Nagel in Profen. Little is known of Carl's youth. He became a small scale farmer and a cobbler in Bersdorf - another small village only a couple of kilometers to the south of Profen. During the winter time the ground was covered in snow and little agricultural work could be undertaken so, to supplement the meagre income, Carl undertook to repair shoes.

On his farm Carl grew wheat, barley, rye, sugar beet and potatoes with some cattle. In 1831 he married Johanna Eleonora Peucker of Bersdorf, and there they lived in a two-story house with a thatched roof - they living on the upper floor while the cows were kept inside all year around on the lower floor and provided the central heating for Carl and his family upstairs.

Carl and Johanna's marriage was blessed with nine children while living in Bersdorf; Maria Rosina (as far as can be ascertained she died in infancy or at birth); Johanna Christine (1833); Johann Carl (1834); Carl Wilhelm (1836); Johann Gottlieb (1839); Johanna Caroline (1841); Johanna Ernstine (1843); Ernst August (1846); Louisa Paulina (1849). A tenth child (Heinrich) was born on the ship Wilhelmsburg while Carl and Johanna and family were on their way to Australia in 1853.

Because of reasons already established, Carl Gottlieb and his family migrated to Australia, arriving in Melbourne in 1853 on the ship Wilhelmsburg. The family did not stay here long but moved to the Merri river in the Alansford district near Warrnambool, Victoria. Here Carl bought a block of land and undertook to establish a home for his family. It was not long before tragedy struck. Only two months after arriving in Australia, Carl, whilst cutting down trees on his land, became overheated. He sat on a log to cool off, collapsed and died; the verdict was cholera - his age 49 years. Johanna Eleonore, his wife, was almost driven to dispair. She was then left with a very young family, including a two-month old child. She yearned for home, not wanting to live amongst strangers who spoke a different language and followed different customs. The eldest son, Johann Carl, aged 19 years at the time said: 'Mother, it was father's wish that we came to Australia. I am strong and can work and, with God's help, we will live.'

The family struggled on; Johanna carried potatoes or whatever they could grow, including butter, and bartered these for provisions, in Warrnambool - a round trip of sixteen miles. Potatoes, vegetables and bread were the chief diet. The few pigs raised had to be sold to supplement the income. It was little wonder that then, with the meagre food supplies, the children were told to 'put the lard on thin'.

Tragedy then struck again. The third eldest boy, Johann Gottlieb, died from suffocation in early 1854. In the early 1860s Johanne Eleonora took her family to the Hamilton district, staying with her son Carl Wilhelm, at Tabor. Here she died on February 21, 1883.

The above is extracted from
The Uebergang Families in Australia 1848 - 1985
© The Uebergang History Committee, 1985,
pp. 337 - 338.
Quoted with permission.