My Journey To America

By Julius Gottlieb (1869 - 1921)

(translation and footnotes by Selma Gottlieb Kallis)

On a beautiful May morning, Wednesday the seventh (1884), I left my old home[1] accompanied by my father and my Uncle Wilhelm to seek my fortune in the new world.  It was still early, only 5 o'clock, when we left and at 6:30 we were in Turkismuhle. We had to wait until 7:27 for the train to come roaring in that was to carry me from my native place. We had to change at the Birkenfeld station. My father went with me as far as Heimbach, where Siegmund Seligmann met me. There I took leave of my father and on I went.

Since the area was very beautiful, the time flew by almost unnoticed as we continued to gaze out the window at the scenery. The high cliffs between which the railroad passes, the famous church hewn into the cliffs near Oberstein—none of this escaped our notice. So along we went, sometimes between high hills, then again through the beloved valleys of the Nahe river, where some wine grapes are already being planted, and past fertile fields to Kreuznach where we saw salt works.

From Kreuznach, the way led through an almost unbroken valley until finally at 11:26 we came to Bingerbrucke (Bingen Bridge), where we had to change. We went to the waiting room, had something to eat, and then bought our tickets. We finally learned that one train would leave at 12:35 for Cologne and another (express train) at 1:09. We took the first and soon departed along the beautiful Rhine River.

We would especially have liked to see the Mouse Tower and the Germania monument in the Niederwald (lower forest). But because we thought it was not so near, we were talking with some of the passengers without paying attention to the surroundings and so these sights escaped our notice. When we asked if the Germania monument was nearby, we were told that it was far behind us.

The most beautiful vineyards on the banks of the Rhine are in this area. Occasionally one sees ruins of old castles here and there on both banks. Most of them were built in the middle ages but some in Roman times. Pretty villages and towns are also scattered alone both sides of the lovely river, and there are factories of all kinds among, the houses. Here the hillside vineyards are the most beautiful along the entire Rhine. In fact, near Bonn the Siebengebirge (Seven Mountains) slope down very near the Rhine. As we went on, we came to lower hills as far as Cologne, where the Rhine enters into the valley.

At 4:56 we reached Cologne. We were met at the station by an innkeeper named Schroeder with whom many emigrants take lodgings. Then we went to the agent, were given our tickets, and I received a refund of 38.25 Mark (about $9.50), the amount I had paid for tickets so far.  In Cologne we strolled alone; several streets and then toward evening we went to the hip bridge (Schiffbrucke).  It is very nice to stand there on a beautiful evening, as this one was, and see the countless boats going up and down the river with many lights gleaming.

Next morning we arose at 5 o'clock and after breakfast we went at seven with the innkeeper to the Cologne-Minden railroad station at Deutz on the other side of the Rhine. There the agent met us and gave us our railroad tickets. At the station we met still more traveling companions. At 7:40 the emigrant train left Cologne for Bremen[2].  In the compartment with us were two boys and four girls. The compartment was so small that one could scarcely move.  The railroad goes first in a northwesterly direction through level land. This area is not as pretty as the Nahe valley nor along old Father Rhine. For this reason, we did not pay much attention to the places the train was rushing past but spent the time talking, joking, singing and eating. We noticed though that we were passing many factory towns and villages full of life and activity.  As we went further, we saw pretty meadows in which cattle were grazing or chewing their cuds in the shade and calves were leaping playfully. Thus towns, villages, meadows, fields and forests alternated.

Soon we were in the province of Westphalia where the surroundings are no longer so attractive. There are many thickets and much undergrowth, especially spruce.  These decreased as we went further into Muenster, instead there are countless very large stretches of sand. The area is so level that one can see for miles in all directions. Muenster is an old city. I could not see much of it from the train though I noticed the many towers in this long famous Catholic place. Soon we rode further through broad thickets interspersed with sand stretches and spruce saplings. This area is so monotonous and the day was so warm that after we had played cards for a while and had had something to eat, I tried to sleep but couldn't because the train made so much noise and I wasn't sleepy.

We soon came to the Hanover district where I saw very miserable little houses, the worst I ever saw, a sign that the area is not prosperous.  In Osnabruck our train made a longer stop.  Since we were so crowded and it was so hot, we were thirsty but the train had not stopped at any station long enough for us to get out. We drank wine to quench our thirst and after we finished that we had brandy but Siegmund and I could drink very little. After we had spent almost the whole afternoon longing for a drink, the conduc­tor went to get a bottle of water at one of the stations; each of us gave him 5 pfennig (about 1 cent) for a drink though he didn't want to take it. Along this stretch we noticed many swamps and marshes.

Finally the conductor said we would soon be in Bremen and we were very glad to hear that.  At 5 o'clock in the afternoon we arrived there.  An official of the Hotel “Zur Stadt Strassburg" (City of Strassburg) met us at the station and we, with many others, went to the hotel where we met about fifty emigrants who had already arrived. The table was set for the evening meal but during our entire stay we ate only permitted (kosher) foods.  In Bremen we met four boys with whom we were assigned a room. Also we became acquainted with an older and a younger woman from Wurtemburg and also with her nephew. They were all very friendly and pleasant and were much help to us on the ship.

Next morning we all had to go to the railroad station with the waiter to look for our baggage, pay for any overweight charge, and receive claim checks. At this station everything is bustling, important activity. We had to look for a long time among hundreds of chests and trunks and have them hauled out by baggage handlers and carted to the right ships. We spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon running around with other boys and seeing something of the city. Bremen is an old, not very pretty city.

The next day was the Sabbath. I asked the waiter where the synagogue was for I wanted to go there. He told me and I went alone. I asked Siegmund but he didn't want to go.  I didn't find the synagogue so after wandering around for a long time and asking other people I came back to the hotel again.

This was the day we had been scheduled to board ship but instead of the Main, on which we were to have sailed, another ship the Donau (Danube) was to make the trip. We were not taken aboard the Donau until the next day, though, because some repairs still had to be made.  Saturday evening we bought a few more things to take on the ship with us.

Next morning we arose early because we had to leave at 7:15, ate break­fast, and then went to the hotel proprietor's office to pay our bills and to buy a few things we needed on the boat. My bill was 9 Marks (about $2.25) altogether. At 7 o'clock we all went with the waiter to the railroad station to take the train for Bremerhafen (Bremen Harbor).  At the station there were so many people that one could hardly take everything' in, and such crowding as we boarded that one almost couldn't get on, for each one wanted to be first. It was a very long train. At 7:45 it finally departed through a monotonous, one could say desolate, region and at 9:25 we arrived in Bremerhafen.

As we left the train we saw the bay directly in front of us and immediately went aboard a small steamboat standing there. This boat took us across a stretch of water until we reached the big steamship, where we had to transfer. Here there developed such terrific crowding that one was almost crushed and had to stop at each step, because there were so many steerage passengers and each one wanted to have the first and best place. After long pushing and shoving we reached the bottom, where the lady went ahead and got a bed for her nephew and me and Siegmund. That was a very good thing for us, because younger boys had to wait until the last. There are rooms for young boys and for young girls and also for families but even so everything was topsy-turvy.

Steerage is the part of the ship that is almost entirely under water. For light, there are at the sides small windows with thick glass. But it is always so dark that when one comes from the upper deck he has to wait a consider­able time until he can make out his surroundings. The Donau had over 1,000 passengers of whom 800 were steerage passengers.  The ship was a big, beautiful three-master.

We had barely gone below when we were told we had to go up again to get cards that we had to show so that we could have our meals. Here again was the same old crowding as before.  Once I was up, I didn't go down for a long while but instead stayed on the upper deck. Finally, it was time to go for our supper. The steerage passengers have to go to the kitchen to receive their food.  I did not go to get anything that evening.

At 8:15 we saw a lighthouse in the distance. When we asked about it, the sailors said that it was on the French coast. Next morning we heard that we all had to go to the doctor to be vaccinated.  I went but was not vaccinated. At one o'clock in clear weather we saw the chalk cliffs on England's coast. At 2:30 we met the fast steamer "Ems" which was built in America and was making its first trip across the ocean. The two ships greeted each other by sounding their whistles.

Next day I was seasick. This is actually not a sickness but only a sick feeling which shows itself as headache, lack of appetite, retching or vomiting.  I couldn't leave the bed. The other two boys were sicker than I was but one of them went to get something to eat. We could hardly eat it. Next morning I tried to go to the washroom to wash myself.  I staggered from one side to the other as if I were drunk, and after a few steps I had to go back to bed again. Next morning the lady, who had been sick but was cured by fresh air, advised us to go on deck. I went and soon felt better. I stayed above the whole day and Friday I was as well as ever. The other passengers were also soon well again.

During this time we had been having bad, windy weather. The wind whipped the ocean and drove the water into waves as high as a house. The water came over the ship's rail onto the foredeck so that the floor was never dry the whole time. We frequently had to flee from one place to another to protect ourselves from the water. We often sought out the warm places near the machines, for the wind and water made it chilly. While it was so windy and bad, many people went below but many others stayed above because it is best in the fresh air. The crew members had to stretch ropes for people to hold onto as they walked, for the wind and the slippery decks made it hard to walk.

During the voyage we saw many water fowl such as sea swallows, sea ravens, sea gulls, and so on, and wondered how these birds could maintain themselves on the ocean where they could not find even a small spot to perch until a passing ship might provide a little resting place. Some people also saw a whale near the ship but by the time I came it was so far away that I couldn't see anything but the stream of water that it sprayed up. He noticed only a few other fish in the water.

Saturday, May 17, the wind quieted down and we had better weather but Sunday it turned cold and stayed cold until Wednesday morning. The day before we saw white clouds in the distance but soon learned that they were icebergs and that one could see them fairly well with a spy-glass. Wednesday the weather was warm and with favorable wind and under full sail the ship flew quick as an arrow to the west — the goal of our journey. On May 22, though, it became foggy, so the ship had to travel slowly. Every minute or two the fog horn was sounded. The ship often stopped for we were not far from land, and the water depth was measured frequently. A piece of lead fastened to a long rope is let down and then one can also tell what kind of ocean bottom is below.

About 3 o'clock in the afternoon it gradually became lighter and after a while we saw other ships. One, especially, came toward us and finally came so near that the steamship stopped and a pilot from the sailboat was pulled up on a line.  He climbed up the line like a squirrel and was soon on board. Then we knew that we were not far from land. Friday was a beautiful day. About one o'clock in the afternoon we saw in the distance what seemed to be a small white cloud that grew larger the nearer we came. Finally we saw that it was an island. Then, too, the ocean changed color.  It became dirtier, and grass and other plants floated around on it.  From that we knew that we soon had to be coming to land, and quite soon we also saw houses and other buildings on the island.

Everyone was glad that we would soon be treading on God's green earth again. Most people came to the foredeck to see better and stood on benches and other high things. The sailors chased us down but without success, because as soon as they were gone, we climbed up again. Meantime I went to the pay­master to change the German money I had left into American money. Then I went down to wash because we thought we would land that same day.

The ship moved very slowly; at times it seemed not to be moving at all. Then we saw more of the coast. A small ship soon came to take the mail from our ship and later we saw a neat little ship which, I learned, carried the doctor. He soon boarded our ship and we all had to show him our vaccination certificates. We also saw a ship which came from Hamburg with a load of emigrants. The people on the two ships greeted each other by waving hats and handkerchiefs in the air. Then we had a long stretch of coast before us. It was a welcome sight after such a long absence from land. Everything seemed to be fresher and the grass and foliage greener than in Germany. The further we went the more houses appeared out of the ocean and soon we saw before our eyes part of New York or rather its suburbs. Also we saw the famous bridge over the East River between Brooklyn and New York.

At 6 p.m. we arrived at Hoboken, New Jersey. Here anchor was dropped and the cabin passengers disembarked. The ship stopped here for the night. The many electric lights that burned through the whole night in the towns surrounding the harbor are very lovely to see from the ship. Some, on towers, looked like fire, in fact. That night, which was our last on the ship, we were very merry. We sang, there was music, and since it was a beautiful evening, many people danced until late into the night.

The following morning (Saturday) we arose early and made ready to leave. Then we walked or sat around on the foredeck and at 7:30 a part of the rail of the ship was taken down, some broad boards laid to the baggage room and we went or rather slid down. The baggage room (or pier) is a large hall which juts out into the water. We saw many such nearby. After the passengers came below, the trunks were allowed to slide down on boards and we were asked to hunt for our own and open them so that the customs officers could look inside. They soon came and after they had taken a quick look scrawled something on the lid with chalk, they went on.  A little steamer was waiting alongside and the trunks were loaded on it. After a long wait we gave a man some pennies whereupon he promptly took our trucks away and gave us claim checks for them. Meantime I went to the kitchen to get something to eat because it was so early that we had not yet had any breakfast.

Finally a ship came to take the emigrants to Castle Garden[3].  After several loads had gone ahead of us we boarded and in a quarter of an hour we were in Castle Garden where we encountered very many emigrants, or rather immigrants. From the harbor one could see ships of many nations flying flags of many colors. After we had sat or stood around in Castle Garden for a while, we went to an office where those who were to travel further exchanged their boat cards for railroad tickets.  A little later it occurred to me that I didn't know what time my train was to leave.  I told Siegmund that I would go ask and that he should stay in the very same place until I came back. But, when I came, he was no longer there.  I looked for him but I could not find him.

Meantime I kept hearing officials call out names. When I asked why, I learned that they were calling the names of people whose relatives or friends were waiting there for them.  (Anyone who is meeting someone else can have his name and that of the arriving person recorded in a book; then these names are called out and those answering are taken to a separate room where it is easier to find them.) When all the names had been called out, an official took us to another hall.  Since my cousin and I did not know each other, each of us had to look for the other. After I had sat there for a while, a lady (namely, my cousin) came to me, asked my name and when she found I was the one she was looking for, we started off to her house. But first I had to exchange the claim check for my trunk for another one and my cousin had the trunk brought to her house.

After we had gone on foot for a while, we boarded a horse-drawn street car.  It took over an hour to reach her home.  I was glad to be safe in a secure home after such a long and dangerous journey.  It was hot in New York, hotter than I had ever before experienced. The same evening I went with Rosalie and her husband to a picnic.  Saturday afternoon I also saw Cousin Hannah[4].

Monday afternoon at two o'clock we went to a railroad station after I had sent my trunk there. We rode by horse-car for a stretch and then had to walk some distance.  When we arrived, we found out that it was not the station from which I was to leave and so we had to walk to another one. It was after four o'clock when we arrived there. We almost had to walk still further but finally the agent said that I could board a railroad car that was standing there.  I was the only person in the whole car and had to wait for another two hours until finally the train went to another station where the other immigrants hoarded.  The train stopped there for a half hour until finally at eight o'clock it left.

Since I was not as familiar with the geography of this area as with that of Germany. I did not pay much attention to the surroundings and for that reason can describe little of it. The people in the car where I was were mostly Swedes. It was now night and many people went to sleep. Since we had only wooden seats, many lay on the floor to sleep.

Next morning when I awoke I saw that we were riding along the Hudson River. I washed and prayed but since there were so many people, I prayed without Tefilin (phylacteries); then I ate a little of the food I had brought along from New York.  For almost the whole morning we rode through beautiful valleys and fertile regions on the Hudson. So the time flew by until we arrived in Buffalo, Tuesday afternoon at six. There we had to change trains and a German-speaking railroad official told us which train to board. We left there about eight o'clock. These were better cars than the ones that we rode in from New York, for we had upholstered seats. On this stretch I saw many lakes.

Wednesday, May 20, at nine o'clock in the morning we arrived in Detroit. There the train crossed a very large railroad bridge over a body of water. The car I was in was hooked onto another train and we then left. When we came near to Chicago we saw huge stretches of sand, or dunes, a sign that a lake or ocean roust be nearby.  In a little while we saw Lake Michigan, on which Chicago lies, and finally we arrived in this famous city. Everyone had to transfer and after we had shown our tickets we were told to board omnibuses which were standing there and which took us to the proper railroad stations.  Since no other passengers were taking the route I was, I was the only passenger in the omnibus. On the way, a hotel official came to the train. After I told him my name, he told me not to go with anyone else and to follow him when he called my name. He led me to the "Frankfurter Hof" (Hotel Frankfurt), a hotel where I ate supper.  I learned then that I had to leave at ten o'clock the same evening. Then after I had a cup of black coffee and paid my bill, which was too high for what I had had, this man went with me to the railroad station, took me to a car, and went back. At ten o'clock the train left and I soon went to sleep.

Next evening at ten o'clock I arrived in Kansas City. There again a German-speaking official cane into the train and told us we had to get off. I learned that I would not be leaving Kansas City until nine o'clock the next morning. He told me I should wait for him in the waiting room. I waited a while and since he didn't come, I stayed in the waiting room the whole night.

He had told me before he left that I would have to exchange the claim check for my trunk for another one here. Next morning I went to the baggage office where I did manage to have the check exchanged after a lot of running here and there.  Finally the official came and showed me which car I should board. At 9 o'clock, off went the last train on which I was to ride on this long journey, and at one o'clock it arrived in Pleasanton (Kansas).  I went outside but since I did not see any of my relatives, I did not leave the train but rode to Fort Scott, where I arrived at two o'clock.

At Fort Scott Junction, my Uncle boarded the train and after he had walked through it several times and could not recognize me, he finally asked me my name and when he knew it was I, he was very glad to see me[5].  In Fort Scott I saw my Aunt too and also the other members of the family, who welcomed me very warmly. There I learned too that it was the first day of Schwuos, which I had not known.  I wrote home and to my Cousin Rosalie right away, and my uncle sent a telegram to Uncle Gottlieb (George)[6] saying that I was there and that he should come. He telegraphed back that it was impossible for him to come and that I should cone to Pleasanton. Cousin Herman and I went to Pleasanton at 1:30 the afternoon of Tuesday, June 3, and arrived at 2:30. We were met by Uncle Gottlieb and were well received by all.

So, after 23 days the goal of my journey across the ocean was happily reached.

Pleasanton, Kansas

July 10th 1885[7]

Julius Gottlieb