GenWisconsin-L Archives

Archiver > GenWisconsin > 1999-03 > 0921188255


From: chartman <>
Subject: [GenWisconsin-L] Re: Old Letters from US to Germany
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 13:37:35 -0800


********************************************************************
4th letter:

To the School Teacher Mr. August Pritzlaff
Tonnebuhr by Guelzow, Hinterpommern
Kingdom of Prussia, Europe

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
April 23, 1842

Dear Mother, Brother, and Sister!

Grace from God, the Father, and from Jesus Christ,...and from the Holy
Ghost... May God fill your hearts with peace and happiness; may He lead
you on the right path; may He fill you with His grace that you may know
no need; may He remain your one and only, your hope in need, your joy in
sadness;... This is my dearest wish and desire. May God grant you
goodness, health, long life etc.....

Since I've been away almost three years and have heard nothing from
you and you not much from me, I can no longer delay in reporting to you
how I am in body and in soul. Even though it was my duty to write you,
I kept putting it off until another time. Many times I would begin a
letter and then tire of it. Many times I consoled myself with the
thought that you must have heard from the Tonne boys that I was in
America and living. You know that I tearfully departed for America on
May 16, 1839. Even though we reached Hamburg within 14 days, we had to
wait a full month for our countrymen (and fellow believers) who were
detained in Stettin because of passports. On my last day in Hamburg I
wrote you a quick letter which I do not know if you received. On June
31 we left for Engand on a steamship and landed in New Castle in three
and one-half days. On the third day after our arrival we went by train
to Carlisle and from there by steamship to Liverpool. On July 11 we
sailed on sailboats with three masts, and after many hardships and with
God's gracious assistance we reached New York on September 6. During
the last fourteen days on board and the first two weeks in New York I
was very sick. God helped me back to health. After we traveled by
steamship to Albany and by train to Buffalo, our money was rather
exhausted and there was not enough work to be had. Therefore, our group
had to separate-- those who were better off traveled by steamship
another 1,100 English miles to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the poorer ones
looked for work in and around Buffalo. Many of us sought canal work in
Buffalo. Some of us, like so many immigrants, did not have a good
beginning because of language difficulties. In a short time on the
canal we earned enough money to enable us to travel from one place to
another. I have always been one who enjoys traveling.

After working in New York State for one year, Herman Roggenbuck and I
traveled to Pennsylvania because wages were higher there than in New
York. After we had worked there for nine months, H. Roggenbuck moved
back to his parents and relatives in Buffalo. The entire family then
followed their acquaintances and fellow believers to Milwaukee. Because
I could not get my pay at the same time as Herman, it was necessary for
me to remain an additional four months. When I got paid, I left on
September 29, 1841 and traveled by train and canal boat to Buffalo,
where I stayed for three days. I then traveled by steamship over Lake
Erie, Huron, and Michigan to Milwaukee, which lies on Lake Michigan.
This long 1,300 mile trip (or approximately 325 German miles), which
cost me twenty talers, took nine days. The reunion with my countrymen
and fellow-believers was a joyous one, since I had not seen nor heard
much from them in three years. Many had already bought land and formed
a German settlement. This past winter I worked for an American farmer
and earned $9.00 a month; recently I quit, however, and haven't looked
for work yet.

(continued)

This thread: