Constance Schwanke

Constance Schwanke, born about 1895, arrived at Ellis Island in May 1911 aboard the S.S. Cedric along with her mother, Karoline (Caroline); brother, Emil; and sister, Emelie. She was 16 years old at the time. The family was planning to stay with Karoline's cousin, K. Kulberg, in New York.

By 1920, according to the federal census, she had married John Freiman and was living at 894 N. 42nd Street in Philadelphia along with their infant daughter, Martha, and Constance's mother. They also had taken in a Latvian immigrant boarder, Robert Strum.

In 1940, the couple lived in rural Haverford in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. By then the family had grown to include two more daughters, Vera and Alma, as well as a son, Leon. Caroline Schwanke also was still living with the family.¹ Leon was born in 1935 and died in 2001, according to his obituary.