Oeveste Letters
(1834-1857)

To Colonel Kessens of Oeveste in Rieste
Office of Vorden Kirspil
Branch

Baltimore, May 19th, 1834

Beloved parents and siblings,

We finally landed happily and well in Baltimore on May 18th. I now have a chance to share what has happened so far. Our voyage did not start as well as one would hope. We left Bremen on March 12th and arrived at the large ship on the 13th and traveled from the Bremer port the following night for a few hours, but had to come back because of contrary wind and anchored for two days and set sail again on the morning of the 17th and did not arrive in the Canal between England and France until the 21st. On the 23rd we had strong winds from the west which made most of the passengers seasick. We saw a lot of English land and mountains but only saw a few French mountains. On the 27th we left England and entered the Spanish Sea. During the Easter weekend and the week after Easter we had good eastern winds and traveled quickly. The ship usually takes four hours to travel eight German miles. On the 5th of April Friedrich Kröger’s daughter died at the age of seventeen weeks and sank with a stone the following night into the quiet sea. On the 14th of April we had a storm from the southwest for twenty-four hours. On the 16th we had a worse storm from the northwest. The waves came like mountains upon us and violently hit the ship. The water came through the portholes in the tween deck [living quarters] and the water got to most of the beds. On the 25th and 26th we had a violent storm from the west and on the 27th we had southern winds with rains and on the 28th the storm came from the west. It stormed all of April, but the captain and seamen announced that we were not in danger due to the strong and steady, well-built ship. A sea storm is still very dreadful, terrible, and extremely unpleasant for anyone who has never experienced it. You practically cannot walk or stand, sit or lie down. The chests were not cautiously secured and fell on top of each other. It was practically impossible to eat or drink. The month of May started seemingly well but on the 7th we had another storm from the southwest. Happily, in the night between the 8th and the 9th, H. Brodman from Lohausen’s wife gave birth to a healthy boy. The wind still mostly came from the west. On May 12th we finally received a pilot boat [Lothzen]. For  a long time, we could see nothing except the water and different species of fish and sea birds. But now and then we saw ships. Several came close to us when they passed but others did so from a distance. On the morning of May 13th, we saw the first woodlands of America when we were forty-five German miles away from Baltimore. But because of the contrary wind we had to lay anchor on the 15th and 16th and did not reach Baltimore until the 17th. A doctor came that day as well as some men to examine the ship.

We could not yet get off the ship because of Pentecost. But on the first day of Pentecost the captain agreed to drop off anyone who wanted. So, I was able to arrive in Baltimore on the first day of Pentecost with several good friends. I first greatly admired the city. What I first noticed was the many chattering black negroes. We went with some others to the German Lutheran Churches. Things were run the German way in the church. One could understand the preacher well. In the evening two sailors brought us back on board. On the second day of Pentecost the ship came to the bank and we were met with a large crowd of spectators, many of whom were Germans. The first person I recognized was Ludwig Aschendorf and Twiefels Menke, both of whom came from Förden. Afterwards I saw our Friedrich Hussman Gedrut Greve von Stickdeig. There are many Germans here. The city is said to have a population of 100,000, including 40,000 negroes. There were enough of us who wanted to stay in a hostel. We are now in a German house. Many who came are staying here to work. The work here is good to get but Ernst Kiesekamp, H. Höpker, and I are wanting to go to Wilmington, then Cincinnati, and then to Dayton to look for Höpker’s brother. We have already secured a wagoner. One hundred [miles] costs about two dollars. The loving God has so far been here with us in this strange place and in the time that I have been away from you I have not hurt a finger on my body, and my comrades and I also did not get seasick. Some were bedridden the entire time. The cold fever  was also on the ship the entire time. And now I want to hope that you will receive my letter in full health. My thoughts of home disappear gradually and I hope that my absence does not distress you, because I want to see more of the world, and I hope that someday, when I arrive at a new destination, I can write a new letter that will bring you joy. Now say hello to all of my friends, relatives, and acquaintances on behalf of your dutiful son.

Johann Heinrich zur Oeveste.

Dear Father and Mother, brothers and sisters,

I wanted you all to know that I am healthy and happy here. I have been quite at peace here at all times. I was not seasick during all of our many storms, though many had to lay down and pray, and I thought of you a thousand times. Send my respects to all of my friends, relatives, and good acquaintances. Greet your mother from your brother and sister. We were seasick for fourteen days because of this violent storm. Afterwards they were all healthy. I greet all of my friends, relatives, and good acquaintances and everyone that has asked about me. I want to close with this. I am and remain your obedient son,

Hermann Heinrich Höpker

Johann Heinrich zur Oeveste to Colonel Kessens, 30 Sept. 1834
Translation by Sam Grunow (HC 2021); edited by Ryan Ruder (HC 2022).
(A German transcription is also available.)

(Skip to the next letter or return to the contents list.)

***

To Col. Kessen
zur Oeveste in Reiste
Kirspiel Branch Office
Vörden Kingdom Hanover
New York
In Bremen

Ohio the 30th of September 1834

Dear Parents and Siblings

It has already almost been seven months that I have been away. I know that you are very concerned about my circumstances. But I hope that my letters get to you from Baltimore. Now I will take a break from my responsibilities so I can tell you as much as I can about my current circumstances. As far as I’m concerned, I am still healthy as always and hope that you receive my letter in thoroughly good health.

On Tuesday, after Pentecost, we traveled from Baltimore with a group of 15 men and loaded our belongings on a wagon to Wilmington. This trip was not particularly enjoyable for us, because there were almost exclusively mountains and cliffs that appeared quite dangerous. We came to one of the highest mountains and saw that the clouds were below its peak. We went further up the mountain and such a strong fog overcame us that we could not distinguish anything beyond walking through the clouds.  We spent fifteen days in this manner. As soon as we made it to Wilmington, we put our things on a steamboat and traveled over the Ohio River to Cincinnati in forty-eight hours. Here we met many Germans from our people’s country. We went by Bernardt Biest’s house. He was doing quite well and had a good income. But I heard that he hasn’t yet written home. But he said that he wanted to send a letter at the first opportunity, and I certainly think you all will receive a letter from him shortly.

We stopped in Cincinnati for three days and travelled up the canal 45 English miles and left our things besides some clothes and a couple of shirts with Wilbrand Struwe in Cincinnati. We visited Rudolph Höpker and met him in good health in the place where he wrote the previous winter.  He hosted us gladly, but because things were not going well with the brewery at the time, we couldn’t stay there. Still, Bahs had insisted that his brother could go to work. But we heard that we could find work on the canal in Dayton. Ernst Kiesekamp and I went to Dayton and arranged for us to work on four English miles of the canal above Dayton for 12 dollars a month. Thalers are worth 100 cents and according to your money probably 96 Groschen. But the canal did not appeal to us because of the poor food and sleeping conditions. We went three days the same way back to Dayton and negotiated with the farmers for 9 thalers a month and free food and laundry. That made us feel better.

Fourteen days later we visited Rudolph Höpker in Dayton who had the idea that he should rent a farmhand. He offered it [the position] to me and because I foresaw that we would not be able to stay with the farmers next winter, he went with me and made me end it with the farmers. The farmer gave me what I had earned the next morning and I got up and went to the still house in the works, which one calls a distillery by you all. I did not work much in the still house at first, instead I did all kinds of work outside. But now, I have my work in the distillery. My work is skimming the beer  and goes from noon until midnight. Then someone else comes and replaces me. I pretty much enjoy this work. My pay is 10 thalers every month and we have good food, but the laundry one must do themselves. We have twelve men working here now. This includes seven Germans and five Americans. This distillery is very artistically arranged and lays under a hill. The drink which is made here every day is certainly worth over eighty dollars. It’s called whiskey and it mostly comes from corn that has been fermented, which by you all would be called Turkish wheat. The Whiskey is driven through a fire and the water becomes hot enough for cooking.

Anyway, I will write to you more about this country as far I know of it. But it is not possible that I can write everything. Here, it is a free country, and I like this freedom to some degree, but sometimes not. This state was very newly created, and the oldest of the states had their beginning only 30-40 years ago. The townspeople are mostly Americans who come from Pennsylvania and other states.  Almost all of the Pennsylvanians speak German fairly well. Earlier, wild Indian people still lived in this state. It looks a lot different here than for you in Germany. The woods here are in such abundance.

You can see the best logs laying on top of each other rotting. You can see all different kinds of strange trees in the forest. The ground here is thoroughly heavy and stony. Corn is commonly grown here and grows especially well here. The other fruit here are not better than I have seen in Germany. The cattle breeding here is really profitable. One has particularly good horses here and all kinds of cattle like in Germany. The main language here is English. I cannot write much about religion because it is very different. Many of the residents live almost completely without religion and are neither baptized nor allowed to participate in Communion.  Others still participate in a religion later in their life. To each their own. Every now and then churches and schools are established but only a few parents send their children there because no one is forced to. But everyone can keep their religion here. At least every fortnight, we go to Miamisburg, where the German Lutheran church is held. There are good German preachers here, but they have little revenue. Everyone gives what they want because it is a free country here. Each person counts as much as the other, but they do not respect one another. Here in this region, the land is already sold and mostly inhabited. The areas where it is now sold became called New Bremen,  Wabokonette [Wapakoneta, Ohio], and Stalloton [now Minster, Ohio] which is named after the bookbinder from Damme. An acre is sold for $1.25 where nothing but trees stand. I have not yet had the desire to hack into a bush. 

I still cannot forget Germany and do not want to recommend anyone to follow me. Everyone must know for themselves. There is much more money to be earned here, but the expenses are also much more because it is all expensive here. But whoever here is healthy can keep more than by you all.

I cannot write about much more right now, but please write again soon, as I intend to stay here this upcoming winter. I thought that I would stay here this winter. Write to me again about everything, whether my brother, Friedrich, is back home and how everything else is in my dearest family. Now, greet all my friends, neighbors, relatives, and good acquaintances. From your most obedient son,

Johann Heinrich zur Oeveste

Johann Heinrich zur Oeveste to Herrn Rudolf Zur Oeveste, 2 April 1836
Translation by Sam Grunow (HC 2021); edited by Allison Compton (HC 2023).
.(A German transcription is also available.)

(Skip to the next letter or return to the contents list.)

***

Herrn Rudolf Zur Oeveste
in Rieste Kispl Bramsche
Office of Vörden Kingdom
Hannover
in Europe

Cincinnati. The 2nd of April 1836
[Cincinnäty. den 2ten April 1836]

Dear parents and siblings,

I received your letter from August 10th from the bearer on November 6th with greatest delight and in the best of health and learned of your good health and wellbeing, which brought me joy.

I would have written you a letter long ago if I were not travelling last winter, but before my trip, I had sent a small letter with Arndt Müller to assure you of my health and that I had a place to stay. So, you must not think that I care little or not at all about you all. My dear parents, this is not the case. I am not forgetting Germany and my dear relatives. You are always close to my heart and when I hear from you it is the greatest delight that I can have here.

Furthermore, I must announce that I have been travelling for over three months and have just arrived here on the 30th of March in good health. We recently went down the Ohio River and then further down the Mississippi 1200 English miles south of here and worked at Vicksburg Railroad, where steam cars will drive in the future. We earned 20 dollars and had free food for the month. But the food and sleeping conditions were not as one would expect. A lot of excellent cotton grows in that region. Every year it is planted and grows from bushes that look almost like potatoes. Every farmer there  owns negroes as slaves.  There in the city, negroes come every day and they are often sold. There are more black people there than white people, but the negroes are all slaves there and are sold from one to another. There are also many wild Indians in that area. They feed themselves with what they hunt. A few would go almost completely naked and would have cloths hanging [loincloths] and they usually have a weapon by their side. The color of their faces was brown. But they are not as ugly as the negroes in this area.

In the summer it is too warm for the white people, so most of them leave every summer. Nothing was significant about this winter. One could sense some ice only a few mornings. Halfway through March there were already warm days like you all have in the middle of the summer. The trees were already in full bloom. Incidentally, the land was uneven. Cotton was the main crop of the residents. Only in a few areas could you see some potatoes and corn. The haylofts stand here above the ground on four-foot stakes because of damp and unhealthy conditions.  Most of the area is forestry and wood can be seen in abundance. I do not have much more to write about that  region. But I must notify you that evil was severely punished here, namely those who violated the penal laws gambling for money and anyone who hits someone on top of the head so hard that they bleed is hanged with no further questioning. Someone had stood here at the gallows near the church courtyard and many had to suffer for it. By the way, I like the northern region better than the southern region.

Here  in the state of Ohio, as I now hear, the winter has been and continues to be quite severe. I intend to stay here this summer perhaps. There is enough work here today for whoever is healthy and enjoys working. There are many Germans here in the city and one has the best opportunity to go to Sunday church, which is not the case in many places in this country. The city of Cincinnati is almost always full of factories of all kinds where many people work. The earnings here are not so great as in the southern region, but the costs are also not so bad. I cannot write much of the two Höpkers, except that they stayed last fall, when I went away from there. I have been told that the letter from their father that was enclosed in the letter I sent back then should first arrive this spring. I would have answered your letter from August 30 if it were not for the short time before that I had sent one to Germany. I cannot write much today about Ernst Kiesekampf other than he moved to New Orleans last autumn. Bernhardt Biest travelled to Louisville late last year. I heard a few days ago that he was working on a steam ship.

By the way, there are a lot of Germans and good acquaintances here, but here it is not like how people stay in one place in Germany. I suppose the Americans as well as the Germans travel. Some owners that already lived here for many years and sell the place and go far away in a completely different area. One travels here and another there to buy a piece of land, but it is nonstop timber and costs a lot of work the complete. The majority of Germans here who buy land out in the country [bush] and don’t have much money to spare have to work on the canal or wherever they can get work before they are able to work their own land. But whoever has enough ready in order to live off of, sometimes lives better here than in Germany, because the land here is richer and one knows nothing about fertilizer here. Taxes are low here for the countryman. Be it as it may. Whoever has land where you all are, where he can make a life for himself and thinks to sell it and travel to America to live a better life is wrong as far as I know and makes life more difficult for himself.  For one can imagine this much: that he who moves into the country and is around strange people can sometimes not have the same pleasure as one who sits on his own property where he was born and raised. I have not had any desire to buy land for myself because I still am alone. I have often thought about coming to Germany again because you and my dearest family are always close to my heart. But, should it be the case that the prospects in Germany are not better yet and instead are becoming much worse and that if my brother or some other relative would like to follow me, I don’t want to dissuade them. For whoever brings money into the country here can do more with it than where you are, and it would be a great joy for me to have my brother or some other close relative with me.  But I want everyone to live by their own free will. For one hears one say here [“]I don’t desire to be in Germany again, but I will go to Germany again as soon as I have earned some money.[”] The men here must continuously work harder like they do where you are, but the women and children have it better here and only do housework. I have been healthy here so far, thank goodness, and have already earned quite a bit of money, but the expenses here are high. There is not as much left over here as one should think where you are. Whoever becomes sick here or something else is expended once more.

I do not know of much more to write for this time. I want to write more about everything another time. And I wish with all of my heart that you receive my letter in good health. I ask you to write again soon. Say hello to all of my friends, relatives and close acquaintances. From your most obedient son, 

J. Heinrich zur Oeveste

And when you write again, write to this address:

To
Mr. H. W. Struve
in Cincinati Meinstrit over
den Karnal

[Mr. H. W. Struve
in Cincinnati Mainstreet over
the Canal]