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The passenger manifest says that his destination is Buffalo.

Buffalo, New York

Upon the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, Buffalo became the western end of the 524-mile waterway starting at New York City. At the time, Buffalo had a population of about 2,400 people. In 1853, Buffalo annexed Black Rock, which had been Buffalo’s fierce rival for the canal terminus. During the 19th century, thousands of pioneers going to the western United States debarked from canal boats to continue their journey out of Buffalo by lake or rail transport. During their stopover, many experienced the pleasures and dangers of Buffalo’s notorious Canal district.

German immigrants became one of Buffalo’s most prosperous ethnic groups in the areas of brewing, flour milling, meat-packing industries, banking and politics.

On April 18, 1853 the Weltbürger merged with the Buffalo Democrat under the firm of Brunck, Held & Company. The Weltbürger became a weekly supplement of the Democrat.

Originally built in Buffalo, New York in 1825 as the “portal to the west,” the Erie Canal Harbor served as the terminus for the passage of goods and passengers from the East Coast across the Great Lakes for much of the 19th century. More importantly for Buffalo, the commercial activity fueled by the harbor helped transform the city into a thriving metropolis. Buffalo’s notorious Canal Street was a short distance from the canal terminus.

The residential neighborhoods surrounding Downtown Buffalo are noted for their history and diversity. Buffalo’s Fruit Belt section was founded in 1839, named for the orchards planted by German immigrants

By 1900, the Buffalo’s Germans, now making up more than half of the city’s population, had left their East Side enclave and assumed a major role in the life of the city. The whole fiber of the city had become German.

By the 1840s German-Americans made up one-third of Buffalo’s population and were the largest foreign-born group in the city.

Unlike the Irish, German immigrants to Buffalo settled inland from the waterfront in an East Side area known as the “Fruit Belt” because of its street names.

1850 42,261 32.0%
1860 81,129 92.0%

Horse and Buggy Care and Maintenance

Grandmother, Martha (Cordes) Kirmse, said that my great grandfather, Julius Kirmse,  Julius’s passage was paid by a doctor from New York. Julius worked off his debt by maintaining the doctor’s horse and buggy so that it was ready for any immediate house call the doctor needed to make.

Grandmother Kirmse said that his passage to America was paid for by a medical doctor who was visiting from America and was visiting a neighbor.  To work off the debt, Julius

Horse health care feeding grooming shoeing exercising.preventing hoof care, shoeing lameness respiratory problems

A horse and buggy (in American English) or horse and carriage (in British English and American English) refers to a light, simple, two-person carriage , drawn usually by one or sometimes by two horses.

The maintenance of the car in good running order may be left to other hand

That means groom, tack up and mount as normal, but all the while make the horse standing still during that process the most important thing.

Thoroughly wash the carriage This goes a long way in the maintenance of a carriage. It is easy to dismiss rust or a crack as dirt. Even if it is “just dirt”, the grit in that dirt can lead to wear and corrosion if left unattended.

Training the horse as well as the driver.

Since horses vary widely in size and shape they do not always fit into a stock size harness. To handle this eventuality we may substitute parts from different size harnesses. F

There are numerous issues that can plague the suspension of your carriage. The springs take the bulk of the shock from the ground that you drive over.

The best way to protect and preserve your harness is through regular cleaning.  In the process of cleaning a harness you will get to know the harness better.  The harness will become more supple and pleasant to work with each cleaning.  You’ll observe any areas of unusual wear that could lead to a breakdown.  The life of the harness will be extended as you remove corrosive agents such as sweat and sand.

Brakes on a carriage get half the attention that we give the brakes on our car. However the consequences of a failure can be equally distressing. If your carriage is equipped with brakes of any kind, they should be robust enough to hold the full weight of the carriage on a moderate to steep incline. Even if your are responsible enough to have breeching on your horse, you can not predict every circumstance that you’ll be in. If there is a failure of the breeching, or your horse stumbles, falls or becomes suddenly lame, you’ll need to be able to hold that carriage back for him. Likewise, it is taking a chance to depend on your brake system alone to slow or stop your carriage. Vanity and laziness are the only reasons people have eliminated this crucial part of the harness. Anyone who tries to argue that leaving the breeching in the barn for weight savings should look more closely at their conditioning program rather than the harness.

It sounds silly, but many people get so hung up in the harness and carriage that the horse gets
forgotten.  Get ’em clean, bathed, and brushed out.  Make sure that the tail is snag free.

Check that the tire is firmly attached over the full 360 degrees of the wheel. Carriages that do not have rubber are still considered to run in “tires”. The steel rim that encompasses the wheel should be attached without play or gaps.

Abstracted from Coachman’s Delight

New York 1855 Census

New York conducted a census in 1855. The records are maintained at the county level and only recently have been transcribed and entered in searchable on-line databases. A search for Julius in these records has not been successful. Possibly, Julius had left New York before the census was taken.