Johanna’s Immigration

Leonard Brunken shared the following research notes with Diane Lliteras in the 1970’s:

Johanna was the first to emigrate to America in 1869 during the German-French War. Her ship was shot at and wounded, and later found in mid ocean. It was abandoned and all persons aboard saved. They used rockets shot into the air until spotted by another ship. She settled in Passaic, New Jersey, working in a laundry and cleaning department. She married John Brunken 17 March 1873 and they arrived in Nebraska in 1878.

Departure

Johanna crossed the Atlantic alone on the Hammonia class Silesia from Hamburg as is seen in the Staatsarchiv Hamburg; Hamburg, Deutschland; Hamburger Passagierlisten; Microfilm No.: K_1715:

The Ancestry.com transcription of the entry for Johanna Plath is:

Information  Source

Staatsarchiv Hamburg. Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008.

Arrival

Johanna arrived in New York Harbor on 9 Dec 1870 as per Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 337; Line: 7; List Number: 1128

The Ancestry.com transcription of the entry for Johanna Plath is:

Information  Source

Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Transatlantic Crossing Time

Departure date from Hamburg: 26 November 1870

Arrival date at the Port of New York: 9 December 1870

Time to cross Atlantic: 14 days

Family Lore

As Leonard Brunken’s research notes state, family lore has that the ship on which Johanna emigrated from Germany was fired upon and disabled.  All persons were transferred at sea to another ship.

According to Wikipedia, there was a war in progress at the time that Johanna immigrated to America:

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War (German: Deutsch-Französischer Krieg, French: Guerre franco-allemande), often referred to in France as the War of 1870 (19 July 1870 – 10 May 1871) … was a conflict between the Second French Empire of Napoleon III and the German states of the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia.

Hence war conditions existed such that a ship on which Johanna was crossing the Atlantic could have been fired upon. But the ship that was fired upon would not have been the Silesia. Nor, could the Silesia have been the rescue ship.  According to the above two Silesia passenger manifests, the Silesia departed from Hamburg and arrived in New York with Johanna aboard.

Johanna apparently had previously departed Germany on another ship that became disabled and a rescue ship brought the passengers to the Port of Hamburg.  Here Johanna boarded the Silesia to complete her crossing of the Atlantic to America.

Discussion

Leonard Brunken’s research notes state that Johanna emigrated “in 1869 during the German-French War”. However, as the above passenger manifests show, she emigrated from Hamburg on November 26, 1870. Also,  the “German-French War” did not begin until July 19, 1870.

Leonard Brunken’s research notes also state that Johanna was the first to immigrate to America. However, as will be noted below, Johanna’s father and her brother arrived in New York Harbor on July 12, 1869 which is over 17 months before Johanna emigrated from Hamburg.

Both passenger manifests list Johanna as being 18 years old.  Johanna Plath was born February  22, 1853 and the Silesia sailed from Hamburg on November 26, 1870. Hence, she was 17 years, 9 months and 4 days old at the time she left Germany on the Silesia. So she was about 3 months from being 18.  Johanna must have been a spunky young woman to travel alone at 17 – possibly she was traveling with relatives. Also, there is the question of how Johanna got from Ratzebuhr, Pommern to Hamburg – a distance of almost 600 Km?

Father and Brother’s Immigration

According to Ludwig Plath’s biography and obituaries (See: Ludwig Plath’s In Memory):

Ludwig married Henriette Maria Kubath on 12 March 1852. They immigrated separately to the United States, Ludwig and son Leopold arriving before Henriette and children, William, Mathilda, Marie and Gus.

He came to America in 1869 and located in New Jersey, following his trade as a finishing carpenter. Nine years later he retired from active life as a tradesman and came to Platte county and he had since made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Brunken.

He came to America in 1869 and located in New Jersey where he worked at his trade, that of finishing carpenter. He came to Platte county about twenty-four years ago. His wife died in 1874.

Johanna’s father and brother immigrated over 17 months earlier than Johanna on the Smidt from Bremen as is given in this 1869 Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 314; Line: 10; List Number: 788

The Ancestry.com transcriptions of the entries for Ludwig Plath and Leopold Plath are:

Information  Source

Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Mother and Sibling’s Immigration

Johanna’s mother and younger siblings emigrated a year later than Johanna on the Holsatia from Hamburg as seen from the Staatsarchiv Hamburg; Hamburg, Deutschland; Hamburger Passagierlisten; Microfilm No.: K_1716:

Information  Source

And they arrived in New York Harbor as is seen in this 1871; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 351; Line: 8; List Number: 1197:

Information  Source

Silesia

The Silesia was the vessel on which Johanna crossed the Atlantic from Hamburg to New York in 1870.

Description

The Silesia was a late 19th-century Hamburg America Line passenger and cargo ship that ran between the European ports of Hamburg, Germany and Le Havre, France to Castle Garden and later Ellis Island, New York transporting European immigrants, primarily Russian, Prussian, Hungarian, German, Austrian, Italian, and Danish individuals and families. Most passengers on this route were manual laborers, including stonecutters, locksmiths, farmers, millers, upholsterers, confectioners, and tailors, though physicians and other professionals also bought passage on her.

Building

Built by Caird & Company of Greenock, Scotland, the Silesia, along with the SS Germania (I) (1863), SS Germania (II) (1870), SS Frisia (1872), SS Pomerania (1873), SS Hammonia (I) (1855), and SS Hammonia (II) (1866), was a Hammonia class ship. Some sources report her as being 340 feet (100 m) in length and 40 feet (12 m) from side to side though other contemporary sources report her as somewhat larger.

With both a steam engine and a set of traditional masts, she was one of a brief but large category of “transitional” (wind-to-steam) vessels. Like many of these ships, the Silesia had a steel hull, two masts, and one steam funnel. Her two engines drove a single 10 ft (3.0 m) screw with 2,200 horsepower making 54 revolutions per minute. Twelve men shoveling coal continuously from her four coal bunkers kept her engines running around the clock, consuming 75 of her 1,100-ton capacity of coal per day. All of the steam generated in her boilers was recovered and reused during any given length of her journey. The smoke from the burning of coal quickly blackened many of her sails, which were as follows: on her foremast she had two staysails (a fore staysail and a fore topmast staysail), a course, topsail, and topgallant sail; and on her mainmast, the equivalent five sails (a staysail, topmast staysail, course, topsail, and topgallant sail) plus a spanker for a combined total of eleven sails.

A Hammonia class ship, the Silesia appeared very much like the ship pictured here, the Frisia

History

She began her maiden voyage from Hamburg to Le Havre and New York on 23 June 1869. Her last voyage on this route began on 24 February 1875. After this she was fitted with a compound engine and supposedly began sailing the route from Hamburg to the West Indies, though passenger manifests continue to show her bringing immigrants to New York for many more years.

Accounts then differ as to the path of her ownership, with some sources claiming she was given to W.G. Armstrong & Mitchell Company in 1887 before being sold to the H.F. Swan Company who renamed her Pacifica, then in 1888 sold to A. Albini of Genoa, then in 1889 sold to Fratelli Lavarello, also of Genoa, and renamed Citta di Napoli, then in 1890 sold to the La Veloce Line, again of Genoa, and renamed Montevideo. Others record that once refitted she went to an unnamed British firm, then to an Italian company called Solari & Schiaffino, then year after that sold to Fratelli Lavarello, and then in 1891 sold to La Veloce.

Sources agree, however, that on 2 December 1899, she ran aground near the island of Lobos in the River Plate between Uruguay and Argentina and was eventually sold for scrap metal.^[2]

Information Source

WikiVisually https://wikivisually.com/wiki/SS_Silesia