Meixner Family History #10 - The Journey (Part 5)

In late August, 1881, the Meixner Family was at Castle Garden in New York harbor.  They were ready to make a new life in their newly adopted homeland.  But realizing their dream was not easy.

Castle Garden was the entry point for emigrants coming to the United States, the melting pot of the world.  In 1881 some 455,600 immigrants came to the United States.

Collection of Maggie Land Blanck.
Castle Garden.  Photographed by and Published by B.W. Kilburn - Littleton, N.H., 1891.


There are several accounts about the Meixner's journey that were given to me by relatives.  They are:

 - A child died of typhoid in their homeland.
 - A child died of typhoid on the trip.
 - Once the family was at Castle Garden a crook stole or swindled them out of their money and they were left with only $40.
- The family came to Texas and worked on the Horatio "Rasche" Hearne plantation.

First I think it is very likely the first or second accounts, and possibly both, are true.  If you look at the pattern of ages of the children: 2, 5,6,7,8,10.  The gap between 2 and 5 is obvious.  Given the frequency of births at that time in history and the gap between these two ages, I think it is quite possible a child was born between those two children.  Also, it is quite possible a child was born after the child that was then age 2 and a half.  Possibly Theresia was pregnant and lost the child at birth on the trip or maybe they had a small baby that died on the trip.  Those things I don't know but it would not be unusual for them to have lost a child by this time due to the high mortality rates of that era.

The third  story above I had always discounted a little just because I didn't think they would let that happen.  In reading stories in the New York Times newspaper and other accounts of the time I can better understand how that could have happened.  These accounts tell of large numbers of people that stayed around Castle Garden working every type of thievery and swindling that you can imagine.

The last story has always held the most mystery for me.  Why did they come to Texas?  Through the years, as I did research, I became quite puzzled as to why this family would come to Texas number one and secondly why would Frank be working on a man's plantation instead of having his own farm.  The majority of immigrants from the area they came from settled in Wisconsin and Minnesota.  Very few came to Texas.  Many Germans from other areas came to Texas but not ones from this area of Bohemia and usually they started farming their own farm or farmed for others.

Only last week I e-mailed my cousin Claudia Brown.  She is Alberta (Meixner) Neve's daughter.  Alberta is my dad's younger sister and was known to me as Aunt Peaches.  Claudia has been researching longer than I have and we used to collaborate on researching our family history.  I mentioned to her I was doing a blog and told her about my desire to know why the Meixner family came to Texas.  Well to my surprise she wrote me back with the answer.  Here is the story she sent to me written as she had heard it from her mother:

 "The story goes like this:  When they landed in New York on the SS Ohio, they were taken by some con artists who came to them, spoke their language, and said, 'Let us exchange your money for you.  You can't spend this money in America.  We will bring you American money.'  Well, they didn't come back.  Grandmother Meixner (Theresa) had some money hidden in between the quilts she had packed to bring to America and they survived on it for a while."  

When I did my post a couple weeks ago I did not know this story.  I did not include in the description of the trip through Castle Garden about the exchanging of money, the legitimate exchange.  There were legitimate people on site that did money exchange at a discounted rate that allowed them to make money off the transaction and converted the immigrant's money into dollars.  However, articles in the newspapers of the time and other first person accounts talked about the fact the new immigrants could not speak our language and did not always know what was going on.  They were barraged by people trying to sell them things and trying to swindle them in some way.  If someone came to them and spoke to them in their language and offered to help exchange their money for U.S. dollars I can see they could easily have been taken in.  They knew they had to convert their money and would have thought this was what they needed to do. I can see how this very easily could happen and how it must have happened to thousands of immigrants.

Caption:  "Castle Garden"
Source:  Puck Magazine
Date:  June 14, 1882
Artist:  Frank Opper

"The prevalence there of various cheats and swindlers was one of the principal arguments for development of Ellis Island in 1892."

museum.msu.edu/exhibitions/virtual/immigrationandcaricatue/exhibitionsection.html

Now the second part of the story:

  "A man from Hearne, Texas named "Rasche" Hearne owned a plantation.  1881 was enough years after the end of the Civil War that the field hands who stayed with their masters after being freed had died out, and the young ones had left the farm, so to speak.  Mr. Hearne went to new York City to recruit farm hands from the scores of immigrants who were coming to America and would pay passage on the train to Texas.  Some how Frank Meixner got in on this deal.  They rode the train from New York to Waco (per Herman Meixner who heard the story from his father Frank Meixner, Jr.)  and then took wagons and buggies to Hearne.  Hearne, Texas is named after the Hearne plantation.  They lived and worked on the cotton farm."

Remember in the last post I wrote about the Labor Exchange at Castle Garden.  My guess is that Hearne went to the Labor Exchange and Frank, desperate for a job now that his money was gone, went to the Labor Exchange and received an offer of work from Mr. Hearne.

Print Collection of Maggie Land Blanck.

The Labor Exchange - Emigrants on the Battery in Front of Castle Garden, New York.  Harper's Weekly, August15, 1868.


This is an amazing story.  Think about it.  A random act by a swindler in New York City is probably the reason I am here today.  If Frank had not lost his money and had to take a job with Mr. Hearne and maybe gone on to Minnesota I would not be here.  WOW!!!  Let that sink in a little.  Who knows but it is very interesting to think about.

Next time we'll continue the 1650 mile journey across the United States and finally get the Meixner family to Texas.

Google Maps

Reference:
maggieblanck.com/immigration
Immigration, Dennis Wepman, New York, N.Y.: Facts on File Inc. , Copywright 2008.

Next Post for Meixner Family History

I am having trouble with my shoulder this week.  I received an injection in my shoulder on Monday.  I hope this helps and I will be able to get back to the Meixner Family Journey to Texas next week.

Meixner Family History #9 - The Journey (Part 4)

On Aug 26, 1881, after what most likely was a very difficult ocean voyage, the Meixner family arrived in New York harbor.  The sight of land was certain to cause excitement throughout the ship.

Harper's Weekly, not dated, Collection of Maggie Land Blanck
The Land of Promise, Drawn by Frank Craig.

At this time in the history of the country it was just 45 years since the fall of the Alamo in Texas and 36 years since Texas became a state in the United States.  It had only been 16 years since the bitterly fought Civil War had ended.  The United States now consisted of 38 states.

Perhaps the family was able to catch a glimpse of the Brooklyn Bridge (one of the marvels of that time and  now one of the oldest suspension bridges in the U.S.)  Construction had started in 1867 and was two years from completion but the main structures of the bridge were in place and stretched high about the landscape.

Post card Collection of Maggie Land Blanck.
Brooklyn Bridge, New York.

On the day the family was preparing to disembark from the ship President James Garfield lay in gave condition after being shot by an assassin on July 2nd.  He would die on Sep 19th and Chester A. Arthur would become the 21st president.

Finally the family could see land and anticipate the end of this part of their travel.  The ship's captain, in this case Gustav Meyer, was responsible for the ship's manifest listing all the passengers.

First page of the ships passenger list with the date and place of arrival as well as the name of the ship, where it sailed from and the name of the captain.  (Image from Ancestry.com)

This page lists the Meixner family.  If you look real hard you can see the names listed right in the middle of the page.  Four names above the black line running across the page is my great-grand father Franz Meixner, 33, male, butcher (occupation), Austria (country of origin), U.S. of A (country intending to inhabit), steerage (part of ship occupied by passenger on this trip).  The rest of the family follows, Theresia, Franz, Alvisia, Theresia, Antonia, Hermine, and my grand father, Herman Meixner, 2, is listed last.  (Image from Ancestry.com)

The first order of business for ships entering the harbor was to have a doctor certify there were no infectious diseases present among the passengers.  If this was the case the ship was allowed to continue to the city.  The next order of business was for the passengers and their baggage to be transferred from the ship to barges that were brought up along side the ship.  The barges were then towed by steamboats to the pier.

Print Collection of Maggie Land Blanck.
Transferring Immigrants from Steamers to the battery.
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, Jun 13, 1891.

Google Map of New York Harbor.  Pin point shows location of Castle Garden.

Magazine Collection of Maggie Land Blanck.
"Landing Immigrants at Castle Garden", Harper's New Monthly Magazine, June 1884.

Collection of Maggie Land Blanck.
Castle Garden.  Photographed by and Published by B.W. Kilburn - Littleton, N.H., 1891.

Castle Garden has an interesting history that you can read about online.  It was made the first official immigration center Aug 1, 1855 and was used until 1890.  Ellis Island, which opened in 1892, replaced Castle Garden and is more widely known today.

Finally the barges are tied at the wharf at Castle Garden.  Then the custom's officials examine passenger's baggage.  Once complete the baggage is sent along.  Passengers are inspected by a medical officer once again for infectious diseases.  Finally they are moved along to the rotunda where they are registered.  

Collection of Maggie Land Blanck.
Immigrants Landing at Castle Garden.  Harper's Weekly, May 29, 1880.

Magazine Collection of Maggie Land Blanck.
Historic America:  Castle Garden (1890), New York, The Illustrated American, March 1,1890.

If the immigrant is traveling on to other parts of the country agents from the railroad companies show them to the ticket offices and their baggage is conveyed to the train.  There is also a labor bureau attached to Castle Garden.  If the immigrant does not have a place to go or a job in his new country he might go to this location.  Laborer and employer can get together with out cost to either party.  Also, the employer is required to prove his responsibility.  Tens of thousands of immigrants found employment this way.

Print Collection of Maggie Land Blanck.
The Labor Exchange - Emigrants on the Battery in Front of Castle Garden, New York.  Harper's Weekly, August15, 1868.

If all went well the immigrant would be on his way to his new life in America.  However, it didn't always go smoothly.  I have several family accounts of what happened to the family that I need to weave into our story.

Next time the Journey Continues, but things don't go as planned.

References:
How immigrants were processed through Castle Garden on the website:  maggieblanck.com/immigration
Images from maggieblanck.com and Ancestry.com as referenced under the picture.

Meixner Family History #8 - The Journey (Part 3)

Captain Gustav Meyer was a seasoned veteran of the seas.  He had made this voyage many times, but as night fell on Aug. 20, 1881 he thought this could be his last.  Meyer had been Captain of the S.S. Ohio for several years now.  This ship was his second home and storms and rough seas were a hazard of his profession.  As the ship rolled and pitched and waves crashed over the bow he sensed this was not an average storm.  He understood the danger but didn't dwell on it.  He was too busy fighting to maintain control of the ship.

At this same time a young man of 33 was below deck being tossed about by the violent storm.  A short time before he had been on deck.  He saw the approaching storm with it's violent winds and rain, the lightening flashing like he had never seen before.  His stomach was churning with fear.  What had he done?  Why had he put his young family of 6 children and a wife in this dangerous position?  They were depending on him and now they could all be lost.  There was nothing he could do to protect them from what was ahead.

The steamship Ohio was built for the company Norddeutscher Lloyd (North German Lloyd) by Caird & Co., Greenock, Scotland.  

It was 2,394 tons, 301' long and 39' wide (about the length of a football field), clipper stem, one funnel, two masts, iron construction, single screw and had a speed of 10 knots (about 11.5 m/hr).  She made her maiden voyage from Bremen in March 1869.  The Bremen to Southampton to New York route started on Sep. 6, 1871.  There was accommodations for 84 people in first class and 600 in 3rd class or steerage.  The Captain of the ship was Gustav Meyer.

Imagine the excitement, fear, and bewilderment going through the minds of this family as they walked onto the ship Ohio in August of 1881.  The parents must have known of the dangers this trip presented.  There was a very real threat of shipwreck and disease.  Records of the time indicate numerous deaths resulted from both.

Picture in your mind heading below deck with hundreds of other passengers in steerage.  First inching your way down a ladder into the dark passageway below, looking for where you would stay, all the while trying to keep up with 6 children and all your belongings.  Looking around in the dim light you see what amounted to a wooden cell about 36 feet by 12 feet at one end tapering down to 5 feet at the other.  This would serve as so called living room and dinning room for 150 passengers.  To each side are 8 doors leading to the sleeping quarters.  Behind each door was a cramped space about 9' by 12' that would be the sleeping space for 2 or 3 families.  

Finally you are under way.  Now you are thinking of two weeks in these conditions.  Then comes the sea sickness.  My dad remembered hearing that everyone was sick and vomiting on the trip.  You can feel the stifling muggy heat, you can smell the foul odors, and then there is that smell of vomit.  Then when the seas turned really rough you can hear the shifting trunks and other items such as your tin cups, plates and eating utensils as they are thrown about.  You hear the creaking of the wood, the waves crashing against the ship.  You are holding on for dear life to keep from being thrown about the ship and being injured.  Parents trying to hold on to children.  People are in bunks moaning, groaning, and retching.  Accounts from this time frame say most everyone on the ship would get seasick.  People got very little sleep.

The opening account at the top is fiction but could very well be close to the facts.  Think of the size of a modern cruise ship.  It is about 1,000' by 120' and the tonnage is over 100,000 tons!  I've been on a cruise ship in pretty high waves and it was difficult to walk (and I have also been seasick, and it is miserable).  These ships are over 3 times bigger than the ship Ohio and the tonnage is massive compared to the Ohio.  This steamship would have been tossed about a great deal by a big storm.

Accounts in the New York Times in August 1881 tell of storms in the Atlantic.  Several date lines in the Times dated Aug. 26th and 30th talk about damage to ships caused by the storms.  Quoting from an article on Aug. 17th:  "The Captain reports boisterous weather during the whole passage.  The sun was seen only twice.  Yesterday the steamer passed ... a large coppered vessel, bottom up."

The Ohio arrived in New York harbour on August 26, 1881.

This would have been an absolutely miserable, gut wrenching, dangerous trip. 

Next time:  The Journey continues to Texas.

References:
Website:  Gjenvick-Gjonvik Archives; Steerage Accommodations on the Cunard Steamship Line - 1879
Website:  Understanding Your Ancestors: Immigrant Ancestors: Voyage to the U.S.
Website:  New York Times images found on Ancestry.com