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The travel trunk in the following picture was used by the Peter Meÿer (Meier)[1] family to immigrate to Frohna, Perry County, Missouri from Wenkeloh, Germany in 1869. This trunk is now owned by Martha “Marti” (Krueger) Mueller who is a great-great-granddaughter of Peter Meÿer (Meier).

This type of travel trunk is sometimes known as an “Immigrant Trunk” because it was often used by immigrants to carry their possessions. This trunk has a rounded/dome-top and is wedge shaped on the sides.

Compartments

The trunk has inner tray compartments to store the owner’s valuables. With the lid open as you can see, Marti uses the trunk to store her Christmas china.

And there are other compartments inside.

Writing On Front of Trunk

The trunk has some water damage which makes the wording on the front of the trunk hard to read. Marti attempted to decipher the wording the best that she could with the help of a German friend.

A possible translation is “???? for Peter Meÿer of Wenkeloh to New Orleans, Louisiana and then to Frohna, Missouri, United States North America”. Wenkeloh is where the Peter Meÿer family was living before they left Germany.

To help transcribe the first word, it was magnified and color adjusted.

According to Daniel Oetjen, “The word on the Meÿer Trunk is Passagiergut. Passagier is the passenger, gut is simply the word for goods.” Email received 6 Aug 2018.

Notes

1. The Peter Meÿer family changed the spelling of their last name to Meier after they arrived in America. German surnames have undergone many spelling changes, especially for Germans who have immigrated to the United States: Meÿer, Mayer, Maier, Meier all have the same meaning – a tenant farmer.
2. Marti says that her husband Tom thinks the trunk looks like a casket. 🙂 Indeed, there are stories of people who died at sea being buried at sea in travel trunks.
3. There is another Peter Meÿer travel trunk owned by a Meier relative in Missouri.