Dear list-members, you might find it a matter of interest to read how contempary sources of Schleswig-Holstein mirrored the loss of healthy young people, who had a mind and a will strong enough to endeavour to get aboard a sailing ship, to spend six weeks or more in the crowded steerage compartment, and then to try, with not much more than their own workforce and willpower, to find for themselves or their families a new existence in a strange land, a land that had endless stretches of fertile farmland that, as it must have seemed to them, belonged to nobody - except maybe to the funny-looking natives who walked round with feathers on their heads. I transcribed and summarized an article from a newspaper of the year 1846. It is not an exact translation, but it will give you at least 90 % of all information that it holds. Today, you can read the first half of it. The rest will follow next weekend. For those who do not want to wait that long : I pasted the article into my website www.rootdigger.de , you will find it when you click the button "People" and then scroll down a bit. Most of the persons mentioned below are featured in more detail in my database "Emigrants", also accessible at www.rootdigger.de I wish everyone a restful Sunday, with greetings from the "Old Country", Klaus Struve, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein (genealogical researcher) Preetzer Wochenblatt Nr. 24, Sonnabend, den 13. Juni 1846 (Preetzer Weekly Magazine, number 24, of Saturday, 13th June, 1846) [summarized by Klaus Struve, www.rootdigger.de] page 281 : Of the Probstei, belonging to the monastery in Preetz : The Emigration to America It must be seen as a remarkable process, given the affinity for their native land, that so many Probsteiers were the first noteworthy group of emigrants from Holstein to America. But taking into account, that, according to the 1845 census, there lived 7,681 souls on a space of merely 1 1/3 sqare miles, one has to wonder why not so many more have left their overpopulated homeland until now. In spite of the dense population, the majority of the Probsteiers have managed to get by, by working in different yearly employments as far away as the Eiderstedt-peninsula, and the Danish islands of Seeland and Fuehnen, keeping a low standard of living there while away, and bringing home some small savings. That yearly emigration for jobs is a trait that the Probsteiers have long since got used to. Only 50 years ago, many of them, called Hollandgaenger, went to work in Holland even. Thus it does not seem to make too much of a difference for many of them, alienated of their native land! by their long absence, whether they migrate to Denmark or to America. Many more would have gone already, if only they had sufficient funds to pay for their and their families passage. Those who did go did so with hopes of being able to buy some land over there right away, or of finding a rewarding job, and making enough money to buy their own patch of land soon after. Seeing public announcements and rumors that now around 150 Probsteiers are about to leave for America, one must say that this figure appears highly exaggerated. Up to date, only 37 persons have been known to seek a better fortune in America, 20 from the parish Schoenberg, and 17 from the parish Probsteierhagen. Seven or eight years ago, Hinrich Viet, a laborer from Prasdorf, emigrated, with his savings that he had gained by thrift and eagerness. It was due to his reports back home, and also to the report of a Holsteiner who had lived not far from him for 11 months, saying how well he was doing and getting on, that others were incited to follow his example. Hinrich Viet had arrived in Iowa, where already several Holsteiners had established their homes. The land there is very fertile and suitable for a great variety of crops. In August last year, 9 people followed him into the New World, namely : 1-3) a young economist named Hagge, son of the teacher in Prasdorf, with his wife, only just married, and his sister 4-6) the cottage-farmer Asmus Kuehl, well in his fifties, with his wife and his mother- in-law, 72 years old 7) the carpenter Schneekloth from Prasdorf 8, 9) two brothers of the above-mentioned, Claus Viet, a weaver, and Dittmer Viet, a laborer, also from Prasdorf. All of them moved to Iowa, except the carpenter Schneekloth, who remained in Canada.They had had a strenuous journey from New York, partly on water, partly overland. The old woman (Asmus Kuehls mother-in-law) died in St. Louis and was buried there. The young Hagge has already bought land, horses, cows, and seedcorn, and is expecting a plentiful crop of wheat and corn. They say when spreading the seedcorn sparsely, a fifty-fold harvest may result. In March of this year, 5 people from the parish Schoenberg left through Hamburg : 1-3) Hinrich Mundt, a cooper from Stakendorf, with his wife and his brother Claus 4) Hans Wiese, a young man from Krumbeck, agricultural laborer 5) the shipwright Peter Stoltenberg from Wisch. On the 10th of May this year, the largest group so far emigrated, consisting of 22 persons : 1-3) August Petersen, a 57 ½ year old laborer, with his wife and a daughter, 6 years old 4, 5) Hinrich Moeller, 50, from Krumbeck, a carpenter, with his young bride of 21 years 6) the weaver Hans Stoltenberg from Fiefbergen, about 30 years old 7) Jochim Plambeck from Schoenberg, 26, an experienced rural worker 8) the glazier Peter Wiese from Schoenberg 9) Jochim Steffens from Wisch, 42 years old, who is said to have saved a fortune of 600 to 700 Reichsthaler over the years 10) the (wood-) turner Peter Muhs from Barsbeck, 40 years old 11) the weaver Hinrich Steffens, 29, from Krumbeck 12-14) the brothers Claus, Hinrich, and Peter Puck from Barsbeck, 46, 35, and 30 years old, respectively, who all have had long stays on the Danish island Seeland, and, by thrift and diligence, saved a little fortune, which they are planning to spend for establishing themselves 15) Wiebke Efflandt from Wisch, a single woman, 23 ½ years old. Apart from these 15 of the parish Schoenberg, there were 7 more from the parish Probsteierhagen : --- to be continued ---
Dear members of this list, here comes the second half of my posting. I transcribed and summarized an article from a newspaper of the year 1846. It is not an exact translation, but it will give you at least 90 % of all information that it holds. I pasted the complete article into my website www.rootdigger.de , you will find it when you click the button "People" and then scroll down a bit. Most of the persons mentioned below are featured in more detail in my database "Emigrants", also accessible at : www.rootdigger.de I wish everyone a restful Sunday, with greetings from the "Old Country", Klaus Struve, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein (genealogical researcher) Preetzer Wochenblatt Nr. 24, Sonnabend, den 13. Juni 1846 (Preetzer Weekly Magazine, number 24, of Saturday, 13th June, 1846) [summarized by Klaus Struve, www.rootdigger.de] page 281 : Of the Probstei, belonging to the monastery in Preetz : The Emigration to America Apart from these 15 of the parish Schoenberg, there were 7 more from the parish Probsteierhagen : 16-18) Hinrich Wiese, tailor from Lutterbek, with his wife and a child 19-21) Asmus Viet, shoemaker from Prasdorf, a brother of the above-mentioned, with his wife and a daughter, 10 years old 22) his (Asmus') brother-in-law Claus Arp from Laboe. All of these are heading for Iowa, where they hope to buy land, or, the craftsmen amongst them, expect to find a good income, without buying land. They left the 16th May from Hamburg, arrived safely in Hull, and on the 23rd, set off for Quebec. From there, they will travel on the St. Lorenz River, the Great Lakes, and finally the Mississippi River, that will lead them to their countrymen in Iowa. Our best wishes are sent to accompany those who are leaving, and we extend them to those who have already arrived in America. May none of them nourish sanguine hopes, and may none of them build castles in the air ! May they take along with them into the New World the diligence they know, and the good habits and moral values of their native land. May they not forget the saying that is valid in Holstein as well as in America : In the sweat of your brow, you shall eat your bread. And may forthcoming generations give testimony of this. Postscript : With the last group of Probsteiers traveled, from outside the Probstei : 1-6) the farm-tenant Schroeder from Matzwitz, with his wife and four children 7-10) his brother-in-law, Scheel, fisherman from Todendorf, with his wife and two children 11, 12) his [whose ? Schroeder ? Scheel ?] aged parents-in-law. These people took along with them a considerable sum of money that will enable them to purchase a good deal of land. So it is a total of 49 persons so far who have left the north-east of Schleswig-Holstein for the transatlantic mainland a remarkable process in the life of our people, whose hearts and minds are touched and excited, and, should the news from abroad continue to be favorable, will entail a much bigger one of its kind.