The SS Kaiser Wilhelm II arrived in New York July 2, 1907 with six men traveling together from Setschan, Hungary. Jacob Gilde, 27, came to the United States with his brother-in-law, Anton Keipp, 24. They were sponsored by Nick Eichof and, according to the passenger manifest, were to meet him at 147 Lily St., Mansfield. Jacob and Anton were married to two of Nick’s sisters: Katherine and Theresia. The passenger manifest said all six of the Setschan men were farm laborers. The manifest listed the village under its Hungarian (Magyar) name of Torontal Szecsany.
Katherine Eichof Gilde followed Jacob to Mansfield in December of that year, bringing my grandmother, Catherine Gilde Vogel, 3, and John Gilde, 10 months. The 1910 US Census listed the family still at 147 Lily St. According to the census Jacob was working as a section hand for the railroad.
The Gilde’s had a total of seven children. They were Catherine Gilde Vogel, born in 1904: John Gilde, born in 1907; Teresa Gilde Leitenberger, born in 1914: Elizabeth Gilde Hoff, born in 1916; Jacob Gilde, born in 1917; Anne Gilde Skulski, born in 1920; and Helen Gilde Hallabrin, born in 1921.
According to a family history prepared in 1992, the family lived at a couple of Mansfield area farms that they rented. Eventually they moved to 34 Prescott St. Jacob worked at Phoenix Electric as an assembler. He became a U.S. citizen in 1936.
Katherine Gilde died in 1938 at the age of 54. Jacob survived until 1961 when he died at the age of 81. In later years he lived with his children.
