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