12 October 2014

Fiegenbaum Migration

Migration to the New World

When this web site is completed, this page will have an essay on emigration from Germany. It will examine pressures to emigrate, applying for permission, ports of embarkation, costs, length of voyage, and other factors involved in leaving hearth and home for a new life in a strange land. I hope to be able to discuss the circumstances of emigrating to both North and South America.

In the meantime on this web site I can offer:

Migration of the Fiegenbaum-Peterjohann family
A not-yet-finished essay which discusses the probable date when Adolph Heinrich and Christine Elisabeth (Peterjohann) Fiegenbaum family left the Province of Westphalia, Kingdom of Prussia (Provinz Westfalen, Königreich Prueßen) for the U.S.A. — 1832, 1833, or 1834.
Leontine passenger list, 1841
A transcription of the passenger list of the bark Leontine, which departed Bremen, Germany and arrived in Baltimore, Maryland on 28 June 1841. On board were members of the Fiegenbaum, Aufderhaar, and Bierbaum families, a total of 13 persons, emigrating from Ladbergen, the Province of Westphalia, Kingdom of Prussia to Missouri, USA.
Iduna passenger list, 1869
A discussion of the passenger list of the Iduna which departed Hamburg, Germany on or about 13 August 1869 with 122 passengers from various locales in the Kindgom of Prussia bound towards Rio Grande do Sul, Empire of Brazil. One of the "families" on board were Ernest Friedrich Wilhelm Fiegenbaum (1838-1911) and Sophia Elisabeth (Berlemann) Fiegenbaum (1830-1907), five of their children (ages 15 to 1 year) and Friederike Schroer, age 22.

Elsewhere on the internet are these resources which I have found helpful:

Emslanders to the American Mid-West
This well-organized site concentrates on Emsland, a portion of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) in northwestern Germany. It also has good general information on emigration from Germany.
Emigration from Oldenburg, 1830-1880
An article available in both German and English: Ostendorf, Johannes. "A History of Emigration from old Amt Damme (Oldenburg), in Particular to North America, in the Years 1830-1880," Oldenburger Jahrbuch des Landesvereins für Geschichte und Heimatkunde, 46/47 (1942-1943), pages 164-297.
The Immigration Story of Ernst Bohning, 1843

The Bohning family of Barkhausen, Kingdom of Hanover, departed from Bremen and landed in Baltimore, Maryland, before settling in Cleveland, Ohio. Ernst Bohning was 10 years old at the time. Some many years later, he wrote down his recollections of the family's journey.

A version of this account was edited and published by Jill Knuth in 1987, but it seems that it is no longer in print.

This diary has appeared and disappeared a number of times from the internet. At present, in early 2017, amongst many dead-end links, I have been able to find it in only one place.

Lisa Christensen, the owner of the web site Lisa's Genealogy, has included a transcription of Mr. Bohning's memoir among the resources she has used to document the family history of Herman Frederick "Fred" Boehning. Look for a section in the table that is identified as "Notes" Along with the transcription, you will find annotations from various researchers who have expanded on some of the details about which Ernst Bohning wrote.

The Immigration Diary of Michael Friedrich Radke, 1848
Michael Friedrich Radke's memoir of the conditions of his life near Berlin, his desire for more favorable circumstances for himself and his family, their sea voyage from Bremen to Baltimore and the struggle to find a fruitful home in the USA is a compelling, but too-short document.