Marianne shared a translated copy of the diary kept by Edwin Leuthold (1858-1942) during a two-year visit to the United States. It is extremely valuable to a family historian because he relates many details about his journey from Oberrieden via Basel, Paris, Havre and New York.
His father and sister traveled with him by steamboat to Zurich and then by train to Basel where he deposited his "handluggage" at the immigration agency. They toured the city, returning for the luggage before the 5 p.m. train to Paris. That journey took Edwin from Basel via Porrentruit to Delle, where he crossed the French border.
Edwin arrived in Paris at 11:00 in the morning and was able to spend the rest of the day touring the city. At 9:00 p.m. fourteen people were driven to the station where they took another train to Havre--arriving the next morning. They were able to watch the "Hammonia" arrive; they boarded later in the evening of July 28, 1886.
He thoroughly describes the voyage, including the ship, its sleeping quarters, meals, the weather, sea sickness, fellow passengers and the process of arriving in Hoboken on August 7, where they had to open luggage for customs officers. After inspection they took a small river steamer across to Castle Garden where immigrants' information was recorded.
The funeral of General Ulysses Grant was taking place the day of their arrival and Edwin describes the street decorations and the parade, which included a large military formation at the end. He also mentions that the Brooklyn Bridge had been completed four years earlier and they paid 2 cents to walk across.
The "emigrant's train" cost $1 to travel from New York to Nevada, Ohio (his first destination), but he could have gone to Chicago for the same fare. Edwin visited and worked on farms of acquaintances from Switzerland in Wyandot County, Ohio, Livingston County, Illinois and Nemaha County, Kansas. He also visited friends in Chicago, Illinois, before finally arriving at the Leuthold farm in Waupaca County, Wisconsin. He mentions many names of Swiss immigrants who had agreed to host him and describes the work at each of the farms.
After spending 1887 with J. H. Leuthold, Edwin left in December for California, providing a detailed story of that train trip. He worked in Napa for two months before receiving a message that his father was very ill. He left immediately to return to Switzerland, intending to return to America. However, his father had recovered during Edwin's return voyage and convinced him to stay in Oberreiden to run the family sawmill.
*52 Ancestors: "Adventure"
No comments:
Post a Comment