Moss/Maas Family Collection

Collection

Identifier: GRHC SC 025

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Moss/ Maas Family Collection consists of a Romanian passport belonging to Elias Maas (Moss) and some history on the Moss/ Mass family. The passport is dated to 1922 and is 5 1/4” x 3 ½.” On the front of the passport is printed, “Romania Pasport,” and the passport is numbered 52654. The passport lists the Mass family and their ages: Elias, age 35; Deophilia, age 28; Josef, age 7; Mariana, age 4; and Rochus (Robert), age 1 month.

The family history folder contains many pages on the Moss/ Mass family; including stories, births, deaths, family trees, etc.

Dates

1922
2006

Access

Access to the physical collection is available upon request. Request must be made at least three (3) business days prior to ndsu.grhc@ndsu.edu.

Copyright

Copyrights to items in this collection remain with original copyright holders or are in the public domain.

Biography

Elias Maas was born in 1886 in Emmental, Bessarabia, South Russia, to parents Johannes and Marianna (Arnold) Maas. Elias Maas married Deophilia Mueller, and the couple had six children: Joseph, Mary, Robert, John, Clara, and Rose. Elias Maas served in the Tsar’s army during World War I. In 1922, the Mass family boarded the S.S. Cameronia and immigrated to North America. In April 1922, the family arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and it is likely here the family name was changed from Maas to Moss. The Elias Moss (Maas) family eventually settled in Saskatchewan, Canada, where Deophila’s parents were already residing and farming. Elias Moss became ill in the winter of 1930 and later died on February 6, 1930. In 1935, Deophilia remarried to Raphael (Ralph) Miiller. Deophilia died on May 30, 1949.