Dear Parents, brothers and sisters!

We’re not in home territory anymore; the rocking boat, which is to take us to our new home, is our quarters for a short while. Soon the banks of our homeland will disappear from view; I hope and wish that after some short years our eyes will have the opportunity to see this land again. Fare well, until we meet again, but at this time, accept from me my innermost appreciation for all that you have done for your children. The bitter departure choked the words of expression from our lips; the tears, that lightened our pain, while streaming from our eyes were testimony to our inner emotion, dwelling in our hearts. Departure is hard, but it must be overcome, as not too often, putting us in a depressing mood later. The decided road has been blessed by our God and shall be for the best of all, even if our eyes can’t quite appreciate it now.

Fare well our beloved parents and again many thanks for all your sorrow and strife, that we have caused you to suffer.

Dear siblings; I have to request of you again to console our parents in the loss of our parting. Dear brother, try hard to learn much; otherwise it’s so hard to get ahead in this world.

The grand parents in Burg and the close relatives, greet them all from me; to write to all of them, my time will not allow. Tell them also my thanks for all they did for me.

May our dear God bless all of you and keep you well, and may God grant me the opportunity to send you good news. Fare well, fare well!

Your obedient son and brother,

N. Mildenstein

Contains: Letter to parents and siblings, report of the happy arrival in America. Step by step report of the 36-day long journey per sailboat (boarding 4 of the Mildenstein-family

from Fehmarn, leaving Hamburg going to New York. This letter is the only one kept in original form. (See copy).

July 14^th 1857

Most beloved parents and siblings!

After a fortunate trip of 36 days we arrived in New York, I hasten to write to you about our arrival as to ease your mind. - Although we didn’t experience a storm, yet the infamous illness of suffering sea sickness, took my August 8 days and also the brothers, especially Heinrich, he was also hard hit. Not only did he loose weight, but also suffered from swollen legs, during all the sitting still and being ill while it was very cold on deck; but now all is well again.

As you may have learned from uncle Christoph, the sailboat "Louis Napoleon" sailed with 15 cabins [saloons], 56 2^nd class cabins and 282 steerage passengers, on the 6^th of June,7 A.M. from Cuxhaven, from where our trip actually started. Near the last fire-ship, stationed in the river "Elbe", our boat pilot left us, to him I gave the Ministerial Document and a letter to uncle Christoph, to send to you. A good wind swelled our sails and we could already see the rocky banks of "Helogland" at noon. While passing this English island, which lies so close to our homeland, we were steering toward the "English Channel", when already Auguste got sea sick and soon the brothers followed.

Mondays the wind changed direction and the captain feared, if this wind would linger it could take us a long time to get through the channel and force us 14 days longer deep into the "Atlantic Ocean", so we changed course toward Scotland. A good breeze drove us quickly forward and already on the 10^th, in the afternoon we passed the "Orcney Islands", we saw several of them. Because of the northerly wind the temperature got much colder, we could hardly stand it, although we were wearing two coats. Heinrich and Georg were up on deck all the while, wearing 3 coats and still were freezing; they were not able to march around, they couldn’t stand the rocking of the boat and the smell in the cabins. Auguste never left the cabin. But when we saw land she let us persuade her to come on deck. She liked it and later on preferred it, to be up on deck, although she got very cold. On the 12^th we passed several Shetland-islands, we were so close that we could spot the poor vegetation, no people living there and the steep cliffs of the banks sticking out of the ocean.

At night, the same day, the wind calmed down and the ailing people felt better. The smooth sailing of the ship encouraged the passengers, and they arranged a dance party. One musically inclined passenger from the 2^nd class cabins played the clarinet and another the violin. A stronger wind helped pass the last of the islands, but it also brought back sea sickness. On the 16^th of June, just on Heinrich’s birthday, the wind picked up so much strength that the sails had to be reefed in. Not very good weather for brother’s birthday, he was very seasick. This wind (not strong enough to be called a storm), kept on until the next day, at that time the sea sickness also let up and didn’t seem to return.

A changing wind drove us toward Greenland and here the thermometer showed 10 - 11 degrees Celsius. At this time an elderly woman passed away, ahead of her, two newborns passed away, one was born while we were still on the river Elbe. The body was wrapped in a sail cloth, sewed up and late at night dumped into the waves. The illness of the woman had already been brought on, while getting on board and only because of sea sickness got worse.

On the 19^th the wind changed direction and brought us quickly out of the Greenland vicinity and closer to the Newfoundland coast. We had many days, where our ship reached speed up to 9 - 11 English miles per hour, a speed that a steam ship easily surpasses by 2 - 4 miles an hour.

The 26^th of June (on our 20^th day at sea), we reached the Newfoundland bank, from where the rest of our tour could be made in 8 days. Here a noticeable change in temperature was being recorded, yet the thick fog suppressed the warmer temperature. At this time we had another death: a small child of only 20 weeks, passed away with cramps. - By a mostly overcast sky and cold damp air, made it unpleasant to stay on deck.

Since the 4^th of June there was no ship in view; therefore it was an uplifting moment, when on the 24^th an English bark, coming from Quebec, passed us so close, that we could greet them, by pulling our flag up and down three times. Near the Newfoundland bank we passed several ships, as is the case, when you make the tour through the English Channel, this time of year. Little wind and the presence of dangerous fog, kept us near the bank until the 29^th. It is strange, that here, a thick fog is always present, which makes our voyage very dangerous. From our ship a sounding bell informed other ships of our presence, as to prevent other ships to pass us. Since many ships are passing here and a great number of them are fishing here for codfish, it isn’t rare that they overhaul other boats. We must have chosen a favorable crossing for no warnings from other ships reached us.

When we left the coast, the fog let up and cleared the atmosphere, then it got warmer. The warm air was a relief for all the passengers, especially those, squeezed in, on the lower deck. The 2^nd of July we reached the full-rigged ship we had been seeing for some time, since we were so close, we could recognize the "Bremen" flag, we had a conversation with them, per signal flags.

A signal book shows the different position of the flag and it’s meaning. So they told them the name of our ship and they answered, that on the voyage, their rear top gallant mast (Besanmast) had broken. Then we asked how long they had been at sea, they answered, 27 days. Now they asked us on what longitude we were, which was answered with 57 degree, 10 minutes west. Then we asked for their name and they answered "Hermine", when both departed with the greeting of 3 up and down strokes of their national flag. With this type of maneuver a whole hour passed, while we had drawn so close to the "Hermine", we could see with the naked eye the crowded passengers on the quarter deck of the boat. Slowly she disappeared in the distance until the oncoming darkness took her totally out of sight and didn’t reappear again.

Since that morning the increasing eastern wind got stronger and stronger, by evening it was so strong that the rocking of the ship disturbed most of the passengers in the cabins and forced them to stay awake. Their laud conversation forced also us to loose sleep. At 5 A.M. the wind was the strongest, so strong, that the sails on all the masts had to be pulled in, except for one mast. During the morning, the wind had calmed down and all the sails were up, until noon only the upper sail was missing. We only reached 7 miles per hour instead of 12 ½. The clear sky and the refreshing air made it comfortable to be on deck, while it was uncomfortable in the cabins, by 22,5 degrees Celsius.

The shifting wind on the 3^rd of July and the calming of the wind on the 4^th and the 5^th made a change in our plans, since we had hoped to get our pilot already on the 4^th of July and be in New York on the 5^th. On the 6^th a fresh breeze changed the wind direction from the south, south west to north east, and it wasn’t until the 11^th

when the wind changed direction to the opposite. In the evening of the same day two young children, who had been ailing for some time, died.

On the 12^th in the morning we heard the call: "land!" A white line appeared from the waves. It was the coast of Long Island, very quick we’re approaching, so that about noon we could see buildings and trees from the island with the naked eye. Among several of the sailing ships on our horizon, we could, with the help of a telescope recognize a pilot schooner. This one is lying to the side at 2 P.M., passengers are crowding the deck, who are assembled with great curiosity to see if the American pilot is coming aboard. One boot is released by the pilot schooner, in which two men are bringing the pilot aboard. This man is being admired, as if in general a pilot is dressed like a plain seaman, this man is different. He is dressed like a gentleman in a blue, uniform-like

dress-coat, and pants of the same cloth. The elegant boots creak with every step he makes, it seems to be a typical American fashion. From him we learned, that the pilot schooner "Kit Larson", who was to transport us, had already arrived in New York on the 2^nd of July.

On the 13^th in the early morning a steam-tug passes us close by. The excessive demand doesn’t seem to come to an agreement and while he is passing further into the see, another steam-tug approaches our ship. This one agrees with our captain to a price of $70.00 and a bottle of wine. From this boot we’re being tugged and passing "Sandy Hook" (the outer extreme point of the New Yorker pier, at noon.

We enjoy a most delightful view of the green land. We seem to not get enough of it and often hear people exclaim: "Never did I think of America to be so beautiful!" But it is very nice. Hardly can the banks of the "Elbe" compare to the forested hills and heights of Long Island-, the Highland-, Staten Island- and Wards-Island banks, covered with beautiful small country homes on the other side.

At Wards Island the doctor comes on board. By request of the parents to examine the ailing children. For us, the first-class cabin passengers is only a routine account made. The doctor comes to Auguste and says: "You are going to be sick, I think, and also that lady, while he is pointing to another, rather stout lady. Both of them looked pretty good, which prompted him to express this humorous remark. A gift of a smoked ham from Hamburg, from the captain and some Limburger cheese made him even more humble.

Halve an hour goes by for the examinations, then the steamboat starts again to turn his wheels and only 15 minutes later the anchor is sunk. We’re lying in the midst of the pier, across from "Castle Garden". Immediately officers from there appear with shields, so that the passengers can’t escape and forbid those, who surround the ships, to get on board. From below there is an exchange being attempted to trade white bread with the passengers, for their mattresses.

From below they’re throwing the bread up to the ship; with those mattresses, nobody knows how many bugs they’re exchanging. It wasn’t seldom that the owners of the mattresses didn’t get betrayed. From below people would show the bread but when the mattresses were thrown down, the bread was not thrown to the ship’s passengers. This kept up until evening.

In the meantime a toll officer appeared and after the deck had been cleaned somewhat, the examination of the suitcases started. This was done rather hap-hazardous; unsuspected baggage was not even opened. This made it possible that a third of the passengers were done by 7 PM while only one officer was working. Then the boat left for Castle Garden and they gave passengers a choice to go along or stay on bord. Those, whose luggage was already examined and transferred to the other boat, of course went along, the other passengers were not too anxious to go and make their acquaintance with Castle Garden, just a few went along. Next morning the officers had returned early and were done with examining the luggage at 11.00 AM. The boxes of the passengers, in the first cabins, who didn’t want to go along at first, were pushed aside and then examined to make sure that there weren’t any items hidden, that weren’t toll free. That way we had to wait til to-night before we can have our luggage examined, since we intend to leave in the morning. -

What we, in Germany might think of Castle Garden, is not at all reality; as we find out to our regret and as the other departed friends from Fehmarn showed great confidence in the management, will also be gravely disappointed. As great as the praise for the German Company in New York may be, the opposite is a fact, when the American newspapers criticize the swindle that the German company is using as a cover up and using as pretense. Castle Garden is the official place where all emigrants land, except the first-class passengers; and what the "runners" used to do in minute instances, we find in Castle Garden as major instances. As I have heard on occasion, is, that the emigrants are robbed of their luggage or it is stolen from them. In some cases they have received $10.-- for the damage of losing their luggage even if it was worth $100.– Our captain has had the experience, that one of his passengers was lured into buying a ticket to travel inland for 10% higher than what they would pay if they bought it in the depot, and he assured us that a ticket purchased in Castle Garden would always cost several Dollars more than what it would cost in the railroad depot.

In spite of these prejudices the institution does great service. Instead of falling into the hands of the "Runners" and almost always ending up with empty pockets before they get away from those crooks, a passenger is mostly better off to just be content with little and hope that the most of the agents are just glad to get rid of the emigrants. Well, that is Castle Garden under German management, this is really a shame for the Germans; also there you are assured if using great caution and show a lot of fearlessness.

One sales person returning from a visit in Germany did tell some passengers on the lower deck about the situation in Castle Garden. He himself had the opportunity to get acquainted with the manager of the institution. So he may be more believable. The passengers returning from Castle Garden this morning spoke well of the place, also two of the passengers sharing the first-class cabins with us, were satisfied although they didn’t doubt the fact that betrayal was going on, as it is prevalent in all of New York, they did tell us that the place was kept very clean.

We have not landed at the pier, it is also questionable wether we’ll be landing to-morrow. We would have to hire a special landing boat and that we could purchase for 50 cents per person, therefore we have not gone on land yet. Tomorrow I’ll take care of the few business transactions and on Thursday we’ll be on our journey. -

So far the travel log. -

As already mentioned, we had 10 passengers and Miss Paulsen sharing the first-class cabin with us, 2 were going to Davenport, Iowa, 3 to Ohio, 2 went to Wisconsin and the others only to New York. When you are confined in a small area, it is a lot easier to get acquainted with strangers. When we were still floating on the river Elbe, we had already made several acquaintances. We were the only people from Schleswig-Holstein. One gentleman and two ladies were from Hamburg, another gentleman was from Stettin. One lady and her son came from Hannover, one elderly lady (of nobility), came from Angermuende in Pomerania, another man and wife also came from Pomerania and one lady from Norway. The lastly mentioned lady, not too young anymore, was the daughter of a Norwegian pastor, she spoke very little German and was, in that respect, more dependant on Auguste and captain Herting’s wife (Who was on board more for the luxury cruise), for conversation, who understood Norwegian, it is very much related to the Danish language.

In captain Hertig we soon got to know an unusual friendly and good natured gentleman, who added much (just like his wife) to the comfort and harmony of our voyage. He is from Schleswig and has only been married for 4 years, to his girl friend of his youth. The death of her only child prompted her to accompany her husband on this voyage, although she is still very weak.

See-sickness also made her suffer more than the others.

Toward the steerage-passengers the captain showed special, caring attention, as in general he is a very upright person toward everybody. An appreciative Samaritan-like care he gave to the ailing passengers. When the manager of supplies gave him the bad news that his wife had passed away, whose illness had not been known to him, he fell into a justifiable discontent and announced again all the rules, that the passengers had to follow.

For us cabin passengers, he tried to make our journey as comfortable as possible; almost daily we had card-playing parties. The two young city dwellers from Stettin and Hamburg misused his trust, while they used sometimes uncouth expressions toward him. He took it for a long time until he complained to us about it, and following that, he lost his temper and corrected those gentlemen, and after that, those young men changed their behavior. Our attitude toward him won him over to our side, that, out of his own decision, offered to have the ship-carpenter secure our boxes with ropes and iron bands, he will also be helpful to us, when we get to New York. I can only report praise-worthy mention of him and can recommend him to anybody who intends to make a trip like this, as a humane and ambitious captain. Also about the rest of the crew and the other 20 persons attending us during this voyage, we never had to complain.-

About the food, I can only say that it was fully satisfactory. The very ambitious cook understood it to enhance the meals to everybody’s liking, that we couldn’t have had it any better, even if we were in a hotel. In the morning at 6 AM the steward rang a bell to wake us up and at 6:45 AM again for coffee. Who ever didn’t show up, was asked if they would like coffee, and then they were served. The milk we brought along was no good and not used much. Instead of coffee many ordered herbal camomile tea or also oatmeal; the later mentioned was my own preference all during the voyage, while the brothers quickly tired of this and instead ordered coffee without milk. For those there were cakes and butter on the table, which I never liked too well, but Auguste did and also the brothers and they put a bit of sugar on them and liked that.

At 9 AM the steward set the table again and at 10 AM he rang the bell for breakfast. This was during the first 14 days, served with black whole-grain bread from Hamburg and also fine rye bread with butter, later it was replaced with freshly baked rye- and wheat-bread. Further alternately they served Labskaus (ground beef with potatoes and vegetables, prepared on the boat) and aspic as well as left-over roast. After they had butchered a hog we were also served "Presskopf", headcheese and fried pork. Three different kinds of cheese, anchovies and salami was always on the table.

The main dinner was different every day of the week only the same on Sunday, Monday and Thursday, while on the other days it was changed. Precisely at 1:30 PM the table was decked and if we experienced a storm the tables were securely supported so that the plates wouldn’t slide. On Sundays we always had three entrees, chicken soup with rice, then fried chicken or chicken fricassee with vegetables (mostly french and not so tasty) and for dessert either rice- or flour-pudding or plum-torte. Mondays: green pea soup with toasted bread or fresh peas with cooked salt meat, with bacon and potatoes, plums and more vegetables. Thursdays again chicken soup and the same as we had on Sunday, but after the butchering, we had sweet sour soup (Schwarzsauer) with dumplings and raisins, very delicious, this was sometimes replaced with roast pork. The other days we were served different dishes like: Sago with wine, followed by a roast or soup with baked apples, rice soup, prune- and potato-soup and also barley in wine, always followed with a roast. Twice a week they served us pancakes with a fruit sauce, which was our favorite meal. During the first days the table was never totally occupied, on account of many suffering from sea sickness and most people just ate the wine soup. Later, when their appetite returned people enjoyed the meals more and it seems like we were eating twice as much on boat as we did on land, just to satisfy our appetite.

At 4 PM they served coffee and at 7 PM the evening meal. This was a lot like the breakfast, only they served tea with the meal, at times we got ham and potatoes with the jackets on, with some sauce and herring. As they had advertised, there were no alcoholic beverages served; the many fruits that they served us, we had no need for wine, and only a few ordered "St. Julien" in hopes of curing the ill feelings you get at sea and also to improve the bad tasting water, they sold this to us at 20 cents a bottle. We enjoyed the juice that we brought along, when people got sea sick they also had a tremendous thirst and the sweet-sour taste of the diluted juice was satisfying. Most of the passengers had brought a fermented raspberry vinegar, which has even a better taste and lasted longer. In Hamburg we could buy this at one mark "Courant" (currency); we wish we had brought some more along. The kind you can buy here on board is not very good and doesn’t even taste like raspberry. The oranges we brought along, lasted us all the way to New York and didn’t get old; but instead we should have brought the raspberry vinegar along. -

The second-class cabin passengers were served almost all the same food as was served in the first-class cabins. But there was one complaint about the bean-soup being too thin and burned. The captain usually had a trial meal sent to him to make sure it was alright. The steerage-passenger’s food was of course not what we were used to in the country, yet there were the Southern people that exclaimed, that the food was better than what they were used to at home. The steerage deck was very crowded and when anyone got sea sick, it was probably pretty uncomfortable. Many passengers, who were well off, had a wrong picture of what it would be like, in the lowest deck and remarked that they were sorry not to have spent a bit more money to be able to travel in the first-class or even the second-class cabins.

The second-class cabins, compared to the steerage-deck is like a lounge, all is very much in order and you only meet well-mannered people there, several passengers were from Schleswig-Holstein. One of the Schleswig-Holstein passengers came from Appenrade and during our conversation I learned that he had traveled to Iowa the previous year in the summer and Herr Göhlmann returned in the fall on the "Borussia", - on the 1^st of June he went back to America with his family. -

The sleeping area was rather narrow and the beds hard, this was so in the beginning but we got used to it, and soon stopped to complain about the beds being so hard. When you get seasick, it all looks gloomy but afterward, when you feel better you get used to anything and you adjust.

As steerage-passenger, it isn’t possible, therefore to travel as 2^nd class passenger I would only recommend to the people who can’t afford to pay the price for the first-class cabins. And they should bring along none-perishing food, and drink, also some rum. Many of our passengers brought their own salami, smoked ham, bread etc. from home, while others missed this, especially in the beginning. To advise the first-class passengers to bring their own food along is not necessary. One of our first-class passengers had brought along some cheese and bread, on advise of an emigration landlord, where he had stayed in Hamburg; but when he got on board he gave it away to some acquaintances in the second-class cabins. It is wise to bring along drinks namely raspberry vinegar, I would recommend 3 to 4 bottles per person. The lingering thirst at sea forces one to drink and the water is not tasty, which one can change by adding some of the vinegar or juice. - To wear fancy dress is not advisable, since there is much wear on it; our clothing has served us well. The same goes for fancy underwear, we didn’t put great importance on it.

As a curiosity I like to add, that all the gentlemen from the top deck were tied down by the ship’s sailors, accept Georg and Heinrich. The first opportunity for this happened by passing the English Bark before the Newfoundland Bank. The two gentlemen Mr. Schultz and Mr. Figge, the one from Stettin and the other one from Hamburg, climbed into the "masthead", to see the ship in passing. When they gave them orders to get down from there and they didn’t listen, a sailor came with a rope and tied them down to the "vant", right where they were at. After 5 minutes the bands were loosened, because they offered to pay the sailors a dollar, to get them out of the situation and having made a spectacle of themselves. A Mr. Sommerfeld from Pomerania and me, were being appressed into offering a tip, in front of the "galley" of the ship, but we were not noticed much by the people. A boy who had climbed to the 3^rd "Rah" was right away tied up by the sailors and for taking such dangerous chance, his cheeks were tarred, this didn’t stop him from yelling silly language to the crowd below. After halve an hour, he was hauled down with the warning, if he would do such trick again without permission, he would get a severe beating on his behind.

Flying fish jumped out of the water (about 7 to 8 foot in length, they came out during good weather, and raised their backs way up out of the water), tumblers (their seemingly dog-like face, were different than the first group we saw), then came several wales in sight, the last one we saw made a good show and raised himself way out of the water, easy to notice because of the exhaling, cloud-like stream of water and reach a height of at least 6 - 7 feet over the sea.

The package that was given to me by aunt Catharina, to give to aunt Mary, I have taken care of here in New York, since I feared to send it by mail. - We are all well, thank God, and look forward courageously to the inland journey.

Many greetings from all of us to all our friends we left behind, especially our friends on the other side of the sound (the mainland), the relatives in Burg, and in Staberdorf etc. and also all of you! As soon as time permits me, I’ll write you from Iowa. Stay well; we have overcome the worst here in New York.

In true love

Your obedient son N. Mildenstein

P.S. You may share this letter with the parents in law, since Auguste wasn’t able to write, the distress at sea did not allow her to do so. As soon as we get to Iowa she also will write.

7. To Mr. Captain F. Herting, Sailboat "Louis Napoleon"

Content of this letter: In this letter Nicolaus Mildenstein in the name of all the first-class cabin passengers, thanks the captain for the lucky voyage and his friendly way of showing all the people on his ship, great courtesy.

In harbor of New York, July 15^th 1857

P.P.

Giving this thank-you message to you from all the passengers of the first-class cabin, I should like to add a few words. Fate led us for a short spell together. Through your humanity and friendly gesture it was possible to make our voyage very comfortable; and involuntary sentimentality overcomes our feelings when parting from you. You have found a place in our hearts and shall, although our roads are separating, live on in our memories. Therefore take our most sincere thanks and may the best of luck follow you on all your journeys and soon have all your wishes fulfilled.

A friendly farewell to you and your wife!