Meixner Family History #7 - The Journey (Part 2)

I last talked about the Meixner family as they set out by train to Bremen and the port of Bremen or Bremerhaven.  I suggested this was probably not a comfortable trip but I bet that kids being kids they were excited about their new adventure they were undertaking.  Probably they had some kind of games they played to pass the time.  They must have gazed out the window at the picturesque scenery that passed by as they wound through the mountains with dense forests and rushing streams.  They traveled in late July so the county side would have been decked out in it's summer colors.

Here are some pictures of the country side from my trip to Austria and Germany.  These were taken in the month of June.

There were probably other children on the train, possibly ones they knew.  During this period people emigrated in groups so it is possible they had other families from the area and possibly from their own home town traveling with them.  Though I don't have documentation of the names, relatives told me they knew of families that lived in Texas that made the trip with the Meixner family.  Yes, more research.

Then finally the arrival at Bremerhaven.  These are images from the website:  maggieblanck.com.  The first one shows the city of Bremen in the upper left hand area near the North Sea.  Bremerhaven is not shown but would be on the port opening to the North Sea.

This image shows Bremerhaven in the 1880s.

This image is Bremerhaven port with a Norddeutscher Lloyd steamer at the dock.

Upon arrival at Bremerhaven the family would have secured their passage to America.  It is possible that they were ale to do this before they left home as part of a package.  My aunt told me she saw paperwork that said the cost of passage was $1,000.  I don't know if this was all the way from their home to Texas but according to my research the cost of steerage on a steamship in the late 1800s was $30 to $35 per person.  The $1,000 number would indicate to me this was the cost for the entire trip.

The website:  understandingyourancestors.com stated that families generally had to scrimp and save for years to be able to put the money together to be able to emigrate.  It may have cost as much as 1/3 of a laborer's annual income to pay for an average sized family to emigrate to the U.S.

Also, quoting from the above website:  "Once emigrants arrived at the port of departure, a few obstacles remained.  Emigrants had to pass various physical exams to ensure a certain level of health before embarking.  This was to prevent the spread of disease while on board as well as to prevent diseases from being carried to the destination country.  Physical exams and eye exams sometimes held emigrants up for days or even an entire week."

Finally the time comes to board the ship.  This is a picture of the ship S.S. Ohio (Steam Ship Ohio).  This is the ship Frank, Theresa and family traveled on to America.

Next time, the journey continues to America.