SS Schiedam

History and family connection

• [RECORD] Rosine Antretter’s indexed arrival says: “Rosine Antretter, 19, born 1861 Germany, occupation Farmer, arrived Manhattan 17 September 1880 aboard Schiedam from Rotterdam.” FamilySearch (external address omitted for offline reading)

• [RECORD] The maritime database describes an iron passenger/cargo steamship built in 1874, launched 1 September by A. McMillan & Son of Dumbarton, with one screw, 1,500 IHP and a speed of 8.5 knots. It gives 2,236 gross tons, 2,085 net tons, length 94.49 m, beam 12.04 m, depth 7.06 m, draught 6.5 m, and capacity for 722 third-class passengers: “Bouwjaar: 1874”; “Material Hull: Iron”; “Launch Date: 1874-09-01”; “Power: 1500”; “Speed in knots: 8.5”; “Gross Tonnage: 2236.00”; “Length 1: 94.49 Meters”; “Beam: 12.04 Meters”; “Passengers … 3rd … 722.” MarHisData (external address omitted for offline reading)

• [RECORD] Ownership changed from San Marcos to Schiedam under the Dutch-American company in October 1877, and the line became owner on 20 September 1880: “Date/Name Ship 1877-10-00 SCHIEDAM”; “Manager: N.V. Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij”; “Date/Name Ship 1880-09-20 SCHIEDAM”; “Eigenaar: N.V. Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij.” The same history says: “1903-02-00: Final Fate: Verkocht voor de sloop naar Genua.” MarHisData (external address omitted for offline reading)

• [COMPILED] A passenger-list index documents the ship on both Dutch departure routes: “SS Schiedam 12 April Rotterdam, Netherlands to New York, NY” and “SS Schiedam 20 February Amsterdam, Netherlands & Plymouth, England to New York, NY.” Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild index (external address omitted for offline reading)

• [COMPILED] Norway Heritage gives the equivalent imperial dimensions “301ft x 39.3ft” and one later Rotterdam–New York passage as “Journey of 12 days.” That 1888 example is context, not Rosa’s measured 1880 crossing time. Norway Heritage (external address omitted for offline reading)

• [COMPILED] Steerage context for steamships of the period—not a surviving plan of Schiedam—says: “The steerage was usually divided into two or three large sections”; bunks were arranged like “long two-story shelves”; and “Passengers had to supply their own bedding.” Norway Heritage (external address omitted for offline reading)

• [RECORD] The passenger index labels Schiedam as “Ship Name.” FamilySearch (external address omitted for offline reading) The place of the same name is a city adjoining Rotterdam: “De gemeente Schiedam … grenst aan Rotterdam.” Municipality of Schiedam (external address omitted for offline reading)

• [COMPILED] The company historian writes that Maas was renamed Maasdam “to bring all the ship names in line with the DAM naming policy” and that a later renaming “establish[ed] the naming pattern which has lasted to the current day.” This documents a policy/pattern, while the municipality quotation above establishes that Schiedam itself is the adjoining Dutch city. Captain Albert’s Holland America timeline (external address omitted for offline reading)

• [RECORD] Image metadata: “SS ‘Schiedam’, voorheen ‘San Marcos’”; photographer “Jacob Olie”; date “12 May 1894”; licence “Public domain.” Wikimedia Commons (external address omitted for offline reading),_foto_15_Jacob_Olie_(max_res).jpg)

Sources

Sources and credits are recorded in the factsheet above.