Johann Friedrich Elling Immigrates to the U.S. - 1859

What a thrill it was to find the ship's manifest that held the names of my immigrant gg-grandfather, Johann Friedrich Elling and his family! The seaport of Bremen in northern Germany was the busiest of all for emigration from Germany. The ships' lists that originated in Bremen, Germany were destroyed during World War II, but fortunately, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Service also created lists when the immigrants arrived in the U.S.

 

Our immigrant Elling ancestors arrived on the Bremen ship, Elise & Mathilde, captained by Geo. Nordenholz, docking in New York City on June 18, 1859. If you enlarge the page above and look just past the halfway point, you will see:

Fred. Elling, age 39, male, farmer, Germany to U.S.

Maria Elling, age 41

" Elling, age 14

Hein. Elling, age 7

Dorothe Elling, age 6

Fred. Elling, age 4 (my g-grandfather)

A later child, Anna, was born after they arrived in the U.S. Seeing the space of 7 years between Maria and Heinrich's births might indicate that a child or two might have been born and died during that time. Because the family probably spoke no English, maybe the officials had to guess at ages; at least, they are in conflict with later census records (not always reliable either) and death records available.

Most sources say that a trip from Bremen to New York City at this time would have taken about 30-50 days, depending on weather conditions. For the poorer immigrants, like the Ellings who traveled in steerage, the conditions were probably primitive and uncomfortable. Sometimes German cargo ships were temporarily adapted to carry passengers on the trip to America, and then they were reverted back to cargo ships on the trip back to Germany. 

To do this, a deck would be built between the upper deck and the hold, called the zwischendeck or as we call it, steerage. Berths for sleeping here were made of narrow planks that could easily be removed for the return trip home to open up more cargo space. Few latrines were available and ventilation was poor. Passengers were to provide their own bedding, food, dishes and utensils. Water rations were supplied. Typically a traveler might pack sugar, flour, groats, salt, potatoes, bacon, bread, dried fruits, cracklings, sauerkraut, beans, honey and hardtack. Along with food, any other family treasures that would fit into their wooden boxes or trunks would be brought. Of course, farmers might also bring along seed to plant on their new American farms.

I copied the whole manifest of the Elise and Matilde for this voyage and every person was a German. Many occupations were noted, such as locksmith, miller, carpenter, merchant, painter, apothecary, weaver, mechanic, baker, shoemaker, barber, but the majority were farmers. Land was cheap in America, especially as one traveled to Ohio and further west. More than 300 immigrants were on the ship.

Our ancestors would have been processed in New York City at Castle Garden, the immigration station in those times. Castle Garden had only been "in business" since 1855 - before that, there were very few regulations for handling immigrants. The Elise and Matilde would have first anchored at a quarantine station below New York City where an officer would check for diseases and deaths during the voyage, as well as the cleanliness of the ship. Then, if passed, the ship would be allowed to travel up towards the Castle Garden depot where customs inspectors would board the ship to examine the baggage and then barges would ferry the immigrants to the Castle Garden wharf. It is likely that their baggage would be removed to a warehouse to be claimed later and the immigrants themselves would have entered the building to be given medical examinations and to register their names and other information asked. Help might be given as to how to get to their destination. After all, the Ellings still had a long trip ahead of them to get to Henry County, Ohio.