I have posted a similar question to the Ships-list group, but I think I will now spread it a little farther. My ancestors came to America from Orscholz (now Saarland) in 1855. They don't show up on any records in Orscholz after 1842, so what they did or where they went for those 13 years in another mystery. They are named Nicholas Gross and Anna Marie Kiefer Gross. They left La Havre on the North Wind and arrived in NY on April 26, 1855. By May 28 of that year Nicholas purchased land in Keokuk County, Iowa. This Voyage was the only packet trip with immigrant passengers that this ship ever took. My questions are these: 1) Does anyone on these lists have ancestors that took this voyage? 2) How would so many people from one area in Germany end up in the same place. (The township they settled in became known as German township) and many were from the Mettlach area. 3) Is a month a reasonable time to get from NY to the great plains of the USA in 1855. It seems fast to me. Dave Gross