The merchant Gustav August Böving Burmeister was born on January 8, 1879 in Teterow, in the north of Germany, son of Heinrich C. F. Burmeister and his wife Luise Böving, and was baptized on March 3, that same year. When was twenty years old he set sail for Mexico, Mazatlán, arriving in December of 1899 to work for the Bremen based trading company, Melchers Sucs. Like many of his fellow countrymen, Gustav set down roots in Mazatlán and never returned to live in Germany. When Gustav arrived to ‘La Casa Melchers’, his bosses were Georg Claussen and the Consul for Germany, Emil Philippi. Amongst his fellow workers were Federico Unger, Emilio Vidal, Carlos Bölken, Georg Hauss and Luis Coppell Rivas. (From 1923-1929 he would be a partner with Luis Coppell Rivas in the company, ‘Coppel y Burmeister Mexicana’. From 1899-1912 he was also associated with Enrique Schmidt and Enrique Hoyen in the company ‘Goldschmidt Succs’, and in 1918 he associated with Fernando Veytia in the company Fernando Veytia, S.C. Mexicana. On May 14, 1905 in Mazatlán, he married Emelina Aguirre Duque Estrada, from Havana, Cuba but who had arrived at Mazatlán in the 1890s. Emil Philippi, and Carlos L. Volquardsen, both partners of Melchers and José H. Rico, were witnesses at his wedding. When Consul Emil Philippe returned to Germany at the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution, Federico Unger became managing partner along with Claussen and took over the title of Consul for Germany. Burmeister was named vice-consul. Three years later, when their friend and boss, Georg Claussen died, Don Federico Unger and Gustav B. Burmeister became the managing partners of Melchers, leading the company through the difficult years of the Mexican Revolution and, even more so, through the conflicts of WW1. Don Federico Unger in a letter dated September 27, 1914 to his wife María, mentions Burmeister, ‘Burmeister has gone to Mexico City via Manzanillo abord the SS Mazatlán, which was waiting here yesterday, to take General Iturbe to Manzanillo. Up till now it appears that they didn´t get further than Guadalajara, I’m not sure if that is due to a lack of trains between Guadalajara and Mexico City or due to rumors that there are new differences between Carranza and Villa. I hope the latter is not true.’ Don Federico and Burmeister were close friends, Unger was a witness at the birth of Gustav’s daughter Ilse and they were both witnesses at the civil wedding of Emilita Volquardsen Sowerbutts and Friedrich Auguste Thulesius which took place on the upper floors of Casa Melchers on May 3, 1926. Emilita was the daughter of Carlos Louis Volquardsen (1867–) and Flora Sophia Sowerbutts (1877–) and niece of the deceased Georg Claussen. May 3, 1926. L to R. Walter Melchers, Don Federico Unger Glade, Doña Catalina Volquardsen de Melchers, Doña Flora Sowerbutts de Valquardson, Gustav B. Burmeister, Doña María Ferreira de Unger. Bride: Emilita Mathilde Volquardsen Sowerbutts. Groom: Friedrich Auguste Thulesius. Flower girls: Anna Luisa Unger Ferreira and Carlota Unger Ferreira. About 1929 Gustav and his family leave Mazatlán and go to Mexico City, where they live for the next thirty odd years. His wife Emelina died in Mexico City on July 26, 1963 and less than four months later, Gustav followed her, dying on November 8 that same year. He was 84 years old. Both are buried in the cemetery ‘Panteón Español’ in Mexico City.
In 1910 he visits his brother Amad Burmeister who was living in Hamburg at 83, Lubeckerstrasse. He left Hamburg on 9 Oct 1910 on board the S.S. President Grant, en route to New York and then onto Mazatlán. He is travelling with the Eimbcke family from Mazatlán, Gustav Eimbcke Dietz and his wife and children. California Passenger and Crew Lists, 1893-1957 Federal District, Mexico, Civil Registration Births, 1861-1931 Federal District, Mexico, Civil Registration Deaths, 1861-1987 Federal District, Mexico, Civil Registration Marriages, 1861-1950 Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1971 Mecklenburg, Germany, Parish Register Transcripts, 1740-1918 Mexico, Select Church Records, 1537-1966 New York Passenger Arriva...(Ellis Island), 1892-1924 Roll 1580, vol 3481-3483, 20 Oct 1910 Image 360 of 1084
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