Philadelphia Latvian Baptist Youth Society

Oscar Kupler

Oscar Kupler

Oscar Adolph Kupler (Oskars Kuplast) was born Jan. 3, 1887. He arrived in the United States in early June 1906 aboard the S.S. Friesland. He was one of a number of Latvians on the ship, including William Consul, according to the passenger list.1

Kupler described the voyage and his early experiences in America for the Baptist periodical Avots, which was published in Rīga, Latvia. "Now I live in Philadelphia," he wrote, "but when I have returned from work to my little room, it seems to me that I am back in unforgettable Rīga. When I go out on the street, I remember that I am not among my dear and close ones, but in a foreign land, among foreign people."2

According to the 1910 census, he was a boarder in the Wallace and Mary Maude home in West Philadelphia.3 Kupler was 30 years old and worked as a machinist in a gas engine works. In 1917, he lived at 4261 Viola St. and worked as a machinist in the Newton Machinery Co., according to his World War I draft registration.4

Notes

1. "Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1883-1945," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:23Q2-26S : 8 December 2014), Oscar Kuplast, 1906; citing Immigration, NARA microfilm publication T840 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,402,552.

2. Kuplers, Oskars (Kuplasts). "Atmiņas no ceļa uz Ameriku." Avots, 42 (1906): 4.

3. "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGCX-9CZ : accessed 19 January 2017), Oscar Kupler in household of Wallace Maude, Philadelphia Ward 24, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 527, sheet 5A, family 87, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1398; FHL microfilm 1,375,411.

4. "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K6K7-7F7 : 12 December 2014), Oscar Kupler, 1917-1918; citing Philadelphia City no 19, Pennsylvania, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,907,638.