<T209> Karoline Gerstenberg.
Jan. 4, 1883.
Dear Daughter. I received yesterday your and your children’s letters from Dec. 8th of last year, and I give myself the pleasure of answering them. We also had an excellent summer here, snow since mid November and good tracks for sledding since the beginning of December. The cold has been mild so far, but since New Years Day it has been very cold.
We have had two hard nuts to crack again this summer. In the middle of May, on a rainy and gloomy day, our cows broke out of their pasture. I followed them, with an umbrella in my hand, along the slope of a steep hill. I started to run to cut off their way, when I stumbled and fell. When I tried to get up, I thought I had broken my joint. I hobbled home in awful pain. My foot and leg swelled up all the way to my knee. For a week I had compresses that had to be changed every half hour day and night to soothe the pain a little bit. When the swelling was mostly gone, a doctor examined my foot and told me that it was not broken but only bruised. I had to lie in bed for a long time and did not know where to put my foot down. After six weeks I finally started walking again.
On June 27 I visited my garden for the first time since my accident. I found everything in good shape. We had had a beautiful spring; peas and potatoes were in bloom; lettuce was planted, 200 heads of cauliflower and 1300 of cabbage were planted, onions, melons, cucumbers, pumpkins, flowers—everything looked beautiful and promised a rich crop. My heart was singing. But around noon a thunderstorm came up from the south and another from the north, and they met right above our heads. Lightning after lightning, thunder after thunder, followed by torrents of rain, hail as big as walnuts or chicken eggs, set the valley under water, pulled all leaves and fruit from the trees. After the water had flowed off, there was nothing green left in my garden. Big pieces of soil as deep as the land was plowed were washed off, still others were covered by stones that the flood had washed down from the upper end of the valley. Many things started to grow again, but it took three to four weeks for it to look green again. <T210> All the crops were late and bore little or no seeds; instead of 300 bushels or 1800 lb. of corn we harvested only 10 bushels; instead of 30 or 40 bushels of onions we had one bushel; instead of 200 or 300 bushels of potatoes we had 10 bushels; instead of 300 lb. dried sage we had 100 lb., etc. I have lost at least $300.
And then people still believe that God governs the world and pray that he may take care of them, if an accident can ruin everything in a few minutes. The misfortune did not hit me alone. Many of my pious neighbors who often go to church and do not eat without praying before and afterwards, are beaten also. "God helps those who help themselves." Many plowed their fields and sowed buckwheat or beets, others folded their hands and prayed to God for help. The first ones still had an excellent crop—as we had a beautiful autumn—but the latter ones either can starve this winter or have to go begging. We manage as well as we can and hope for a better summer.
We are all healthy and hope the same is true of you. We all send our wishes. I especially greet your husband, who will soon write me a letter. Your Father.
==
Dear Otto! I was very glad to receive your little letter. You write very well—the tails are a little too long. I am surprised that all the big apple trees near the house are dead. I cannot remember any more the sweet apple tree from Münster. Please write and tell me what crops you had last year. How many kilo of rye, potatoes, cabbage, and so on; how many cows, pigs, and chickens; how much hay; and so on.
My best greetings to you, your Grandfather.
Dear Frieda!
I have already asked your mother whether you are a boy or girl; I will take you for a girl till I hear differently. You must be about 11 years old now. Do you already help your mother with the housework? What do you do from morning till evening? Your letter was written very well, only you spelled the names of phlox and Chinese carnations wrong.
I forgot to tell your mother that I received a letter on Christmas Eve from your sister Karoline from Berlin, with <T211> a picture of her and her brother Wilhelm, which was a wonderful Christmas present for me. If your mother does not have time, you and Otto must write again soon. With my best wishes, your Grandfather.
Mr. Benary in Erfurt, Germany.
Jan. 9, 1883.
You will find enclosed a money order for 19 Mk and 82 Pfennig for which I ask you to send the seeds listed below. if the seeds should cost more than the amount enclosed, I will pay the difference with my next order. I am very satisfied with the seeds you sent me last year.
About the seeds: …
<Written in English.> to H Crouse
11 Feb 1883 [excerpt].
… having nearly made up my mind to emigrate to Washington Terr. … [F.A.M. is now 78 years old—LPM]
<T211, cont.> Mrs. Emma Schlomann, care of H. Rolfs, Jersey City Heights, Palisade St. 367, cor. Franklin St.
Febr. 19, 1883.
Dear Emma! Your letter came as a surprise, but was no less welcome because of that: Neither your mother’s letter that I received on New Year’s Day nor the letter that your sister Lina wrote to me last autumn mentioned that you were in America.
I can only praise your decision to go to the country and to found a permanent home there, but I cannot advise you to go to Dakota. Why not? You could claim 160 acres of land for a homestead for only a few Talers. But then what will you have? A big piece of desert land with no bushes or trees, no house, and no water. First you will have to build a house, then you will need some strong oxen to break open the soil, a breaking plow, a harrow, a wagon, two or three cows, and more. The first year you will be able to raise little or nothing. Only the second year you will have a good crop in autumn. In winter the climate is very cold on those prairies, and the snow is very deep—and no trees. Many people from here have gone there, but they usually return in winter and go back there in spring.
Is your husband German? Does he know anything about farming? Do you have the means <T212> to buy all these things and then to live for nearly two years out of your own pocket? I have a neighbor who wants to go to Dakota in the beginning of May. He went there last autumn and has claimed his land. He loads two railway wagons full of stuff, the first has a ready made house and the other two horses, two mules, two cows, plows, harrows, and household goods. He himself will follow behind with his eight children. He wants to rent his farm here, which is sown with winter wheat. Most of the land has been plowed in autumn. There is a good house, enough wood, and good water. The usual rent is 1/3 of the crop. It seems to me that this would be a good opportunity for you. You could live here for a little while at first, and then if you still want to go to Dakota your husband can go there next autumn and look around. If you will write me soon, I might be able to hold this place for you, but you would not have to come before April. We live so far north here that spring comes at least one month later than in N.Y., either here or in Dakota.
Your way to Dakota passes only a few miles from my home. You can buy your ticket in N.Y. via Sparta, Wis. From there it is only 18 miles to Cashton, to which a branch of the Milwaukee Railroad goes. I live about 1-1/2 miles from Cashton. you can leave your luggage in the depot at Cashton, and anybody can show you the way to my house. I would be pleased to hear from you again soon, and it will be a pleasure for me to help you with my advice and deed. My wife and children also send their regards.
Your Grandfather, F.A.M.
P.S. I would rather like it if you would address me in your next letter with ‘du’. We have had a very hard and lasting winter; the snow lies two and three feet deep.
Martin Rade, Minister in Schönbach near Löbau, Saxony.
Febr. 28, 1883.
Your Honor! Your letter of Jan. 22 was a welcome surprise, and has again refreshed my memories of my birthplace and my youth. My dear friend Jähring seems to have entirely <T213> forgotten about me since he gave up his residence in Schönbach. I hope that sickness is not the cause of his silence. I am very interested in the news of the parish; I find many a familiar name among them, along with many unknown ones. I can still remember very well the late Mrs. Friedricke Luise (wid. Zitsche, born Binzig) who visited my mother when she was 12 or 13 years old and learned to knit and mend.
The comparison chart shows that over 100 years, between 1782 and 1882, births and weddings doubled but deaths quadrupled. The number of communicants has decreased rather than increased; that might be a sign that the light is starting to shine in the old home also. I can surely honor the attachment old people have for the religion that they drank with their mother’s milk, but I would like to ask you whether you, as a young man who not long ago was at the University where you were surely unable to close your eyes to the achievements of science, can harmonize your office and everything around it with your reason. (If this question seems disrespectful to you, considering the newness of our acquaintance, please ignore it.)
Winter has been long and hard in Wisconsin this year. The snow started early in November. It continued snowing off and on, and now we have snow two to three feet deep. The temperature has remained between 20 and 30 degrees Fahrenheit, or sometimes even 40. Last winter we had hardly any snow at all, and very mild weather.
My wife and I return our friendly wishes, and send friendly greetings to you and your sister. Your F.A.M.
Mr. K.G. Wünsche in Schönbach, near Löbau in Saxony.
Febr. 28, 1883.
My hopes have not been deceived. My friends from my homeland have not forgotten about me (at least not you! I have not heard from Mr. Jähring since he went to Dresden). When Christmas and New Year’s Day passed without news from Schönbach I began to feel bad, but then your letter arrived. What a clear picture it gives me of how Schönbach has changed from my youth.
Germans seem to prefer pleasure-hunting, and here in America, in small towns and big cities where many Germans live, there are <T214> so many clubs and associations, like acting clubs, military clubs, gymnastics clubs, singing clubs, etc. Here the men spend the money, while their family at home is in need of many things. In public life the railway and highway robbers were on top for a while, but now nearly all have been shot or imprisoned. But almost daily big frauds are increasing; the treasurers of the States, the Counties, and the big corporations commonly run off with thousands or hundreds of thousands of Talers and leave empty carcasses and bare banks [?].
We have had a very good year around here and nearly everywhere in America, except for some regions where hail or floods ruined everything. Wheat costs 1-1/2 cts. per lb., pork seven cts., butter 25 cts., eggs two cts. each (butter and eggs will be cheaper as soon as spring comes), flour three cts. per lb., corn and rye one ct. per lb. The winter is very hard and lasts a long time. It started snowing in November, and with short intervals between it has snowed all the time since, so we now have two to three feet of snow and temperatures from 20 to 30 degrees, sometimes even 40. In states south of Wisconsin (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) they have already had thawing weather for the past two weeks. The rivers swelled over their banks and the results were terrible floods. We hope for a good summer and hope keeps us alive.
I read in the parish news about the death of Friedricke Luise Binzig, former Zitsche. This interested me very much, as I knew her well when she was just a girl. She was about two years older than I. Her death reminds me that my time is also running out.
But the inner or psychic world changes as well as the outer or physical world, and so I am very much afraid, my dear friend, that your pious wish that your new Minister may succeed in leading his community back to the old pious religion will not be fulfilled.
A. and Emma Schlomann, Jersey City Heights, N.J.
March 8, 1883.
Dear Emma, dear Schlomann! Yesterday I received your letter of Fbr. 29 [!], and I want to thank you very much for your picture, which must suffice until I shall see you personally. I am afraid this won’t happen very soon. <T215> In order to manage a farm this summer you have to have at least a team, but you cannot buy a pair of good working horses for less than $200, and two cows will cost about $60 more. You could earn about $200 or $300 this summer, but then winter comes, at least six months long, during which your money will all be spent.
The railroad through Denver is supposed to be finished next summer (1884) to the Pacific Ocean. If I am still alive and healthy, I and my family will emigrate to Washington Territory. The climate there is about the same as in England, neither too warm nor too cold, so that in the coastal counties the grass stays green all winter and cattle can always find their own food. Apples, pears, plums, and cherries are of excellent quality; water and wood in abundance.
Here in Wisc. we have good soil for wheat, but cannot raise fruit. The trees die off or freeze in winter. We have very good spring water and enough wood, but the winters are very long and very cold, and the farmer has to work hard all summer long to provide food for his cattle in winter.
My advice therefore is: stay where you are and save as much as you can, and when the Northern Pacific Railroad is finished, go to Washington Territory; where you have wood and water and a mild climate, getting started is much easier. Even if you don’t have much money you can establish a good home. If I am still alive then and can sell my farm, I will go with you.
But we won’t have the pleasure of seeing you with us for a long time yet. Your sister Lina [Karoline] will probably come over also in the meantime. Only a few days ago I received a letter from her in which she writes that she will leave her job in April.
From which country do you come, dear Schlomann? Where do your parents live? Where did the two of you meet?
Dear Emma, do you have a little garden? If so, I will send you some flower seeds. My wife and children were so happy to think that you might be coming soon, but now they are all very much disappointed.
With my best greetings, …
<T216> Karoline Gerstenberg [b. Nov. 1859], Kaiserin Augusta Straße 59, Berlin, Germany.
[March 8, 1883]
Dear Karoline! I received your dear letter a week ago, and I would have answered it right away if I had not been waiting for a letter from your sister, Emma Schlomann. About two weeks ago I received a letter from her saying that they are thinking of moving to Dakota this spring and taking up a Homestead there where they can farm. As the route would take them through Wisc., she promised to visit me. In answer to her letter, I told her what they would need in order to establish a farm in Dakota. Yesterday I received a reply from her and Schlomann, in which they confess that they do not have the necessary means. In my answer today I advised them to wait at least two more years, and to stay where they are right now and save as much as they can.
So if you, dear Lina, decide to come to America (the passage from Hamburg to N.Y. is very cheap), you will find your sister and her husband still living in Jersey City Heights, Palisade Ave. 367, corner of Franklin Str. This is very close to N.Y.
Emma and her husband also sent me their picture. She looks pale, but it is surely the fault of the big fat baby [Hans?] that is sitting on her lap.
Give my regards to your brother and tell him that he should not entirely forget me; and write once in a while after you leave Berlin.
A. and Emma Schlomann, care of H. Rolfs, Palisade Ave. 367, corner of Franklin Str., Jersey City Heights, N.J.
June 11, 1883.
Dear Children! You have not yet answered my letter of March 8, and if I did not have your picture in front of me I would think it was only a dream. Shortly after I mailed my last letter to you I received a letter from the Postmaster in Montesano, Chehalis Co., Washington Territory, which I enclose herewith and which confirms what I wrote to you about that region. (Please return the letter.) I also read in the paper that the Northern Pacific Railroad might even be finished this autumn.
<T217> We are having a very late, but especially good spring. The apple trees have just finished blooming, the corn is rising, potatoes are not up yet, the oaks are not yet entirely green. My wife has been ailing for a couple of months, so that she has to be in bed most of the time. I hope that these lines may reach all of you in good health. My wife and children send their regards. Your Grandfather.
Mr. Martin Rade, Minister in Schönbach near Löbau, Saxony.
June 11, 1883.
Dear Sir! I received your letter of May 10, and I was glad that you took the trouble to try to inform me about some dark [?] things. I will try to answer your letter, but it is written in such general terms that I don’t know where to start.
It is surely difficult for an uneducated man to discuss anything with an educated man, but educated men often go the wrong way too. So Prof. Darwin believes that man is the descendant of the ape, and an educated minister in Berlin teaches that the earth stands still and the sun revolves around it.
If you understand the Christian Religion to be the Religion of Love, and if this is what you preach, then I entirely agree with you that your task is a beautiful one. But the Freethinker’s religion is also the Religion of Love. Only his reason refuses to believe in superstition, nonsense, and impossible things. The stupid Catholics (most of them are probably not!) (genuine Christians!!) [believe] that the virgin Mary conceived by the Holy Ghost and that she was still a virgin after Christ was born. The Methodists (genuine Christians!) believe that all their sins were washed away by Christ’s death—they accuse the Freethinkers of all possible vices.—If you want to look for the biggest cheats, you will find them among the most respected and zealous members of the Church. The Christian Church is not only the Religion of Love, but their adherents are also obliged to believe nonsense and impossible things; with the result, that right now a minister is before <T218> the Clerical Court in N.Y. because he refused to believe and to preach:
1) That the Old and New Testament is [not] God’s Word, but only contains it;
2) That he does not recognize the Supremacy of Love, the holiness of Christ; much less that the virgin Mary was made pregnant by the Holy Ghost ; he does not believe either in the miracles of the Old and New Testaments; that the doctrine of the Holy Ghost is falsely interpreted; and that there is no such thing as the "Last Day";
3) That he did not believe and teach the above mentioned and other principles of the religion, as he had promised to do when he was appointed to his office;
4) The fourth accusation contains various trespasses against some of the articles mentioned.
I enclose herewith a newspaper clipping, if you want to see more details. But I don’t want to argue with you. If you have been around in this world so much, and still hang tight to your blind faith, it would be in vain anyway. Therefore I would like to think with Sosa: "A fire sparkle of truth keenly thrown into the tyrant’s soul …" [?]
Now I will answer the questions you asked: If you or other people believe and teach that there is a heaven or hell, where people are rewarded or punished after their death, I have to say that this is nonsense. Where should heaven be? In the air above us or in the moon? Where is hell? In the bowels of the earth? The human spirit is not a personality; we recognize it only by its works and deeds. Luther’s spirit is still living, while the weak mental powers of many people go out when their body dies.
In the same way, the doctrine or belief about the resurrection of the body is nonsense. All organic bodies pass over after their death into putrefaction; they dissolve into gases from which the plants live, which in return are food for animals and the animals again are food for man—that is an eternal cycle.
But why should I tell you all this if you studied Natural Science at the University. You know it all better than I—if you want to know it.—
<T219> If God or Christ would awaken, on the "Last Day," all people who lived on the earth from the beginning of the world, what a number this must be! Where should they take their bodies from? Since they are all formed from each other, where should they all find room? For instance, you have one lb. of lead; you make it into 10 balls. Then you melt the 10 balls again and make 10 other balls. You continue doing this and every hour you make new balls; that would be 86,600 balls in one year. You are now the creator of 86,600 balls [i.e., all from one lb. of lead—LPM]; you can also calculate this number, but you cannot possibly make it happen.
You say that the need for religion is urgently felt now; but by whom? By the rich, powerful people, to whom blind faith is the best way to keep people in ignorance and suppression? Not only the Christian but all religions have always been used to suppress mankind.
In Boston, a man and his wife are before the court right now because—out of too much piety and blind faith—they have slaughtered their child and sacrificed it to their god.
In St. Louis a man was taken into custody and forced to eat (he had fasted for eight days!). He believed it necessary for the salvation of his soul to fast for 40 days.
"Light and men and all good and perfect gifts come from above." Is our reason not the greatest and most perfect gift that God has given us? We have the body in common with animals. Reason is what raises us above them. But how can I believe that my weak pen will make any impression on you? As an educated man, you surely have also read, besides the doctrines of the Christian Church, also the works of our great ‘Freethinkers.’ (They unfortunately have no parish to grant!) If they couldn’t convince you, I surely cannot do it myself.
"Every religion is good that teaches man to be good."
"I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church. My mind is my one church."—Thomas Paine.
<T220> Karoline Gerstenberg [b. Nov. 1859], 8 Blenheim Mount, Bradford, Yorkshire, England.
July 1, 1883
Dear Lina! I received your letter of June 3 on the 20th, and I enjoyed hearing how and where you are. The news of your father’s illness makes me realize how hard this must be for your dear mother. Here too, not everything is as it should be. My wife has been sick for four or five months now, and has to stay in bed most of the time. If it weren’t for my little Dora, it would be very bad for us. She has to milk three cows, make the butter, bake the bread, cook the meals, and nurse her mother.
What kind of work do you have to do? You said you were glad to hear that your sister is doing quite well. She wrote me that she used up $100 for her household goods etc., and that besides that they saved $200 this year. Aren’t you close friends, as you did not write to her yet; and how is it that your mother never mentioned that Emma is in America? Please give me a little more information about your relationships. Your picture always looks at me so friendly. I hope you will be sure to have enough time to answer these few lines. Keep healthy, and don’t forget your Grandfather who loves you.
A. and Emma Schlomann, care of H. Rolfs, Palisade Ave. 367, corner of Franklin Str., Jersey City Heights, N.J.
Aug. 19, 1883.
Dear Children! I have received your letter of June 17, and I would have sent my congratulations on the birth of your new baby [Clara] already a long time ago, if there were not so much work at harvest time. I only hope you are all still as well as you were when you wrote your last letter. My wife is still sick, sometimes better and sometimes worse.
Two or three days ago, I received a letter from Lina. She thinks that you feel hurt because she did not return the money that she borrowed from Emma. I enclose Lina’s letter, from which you can see that she is entirely innocent. She also sent me the envelope and a letter to the German Consul in London, which I will keep as I intend to send both to the Consul <T221> in London to find out whether the money can be recovered. I hope you will write to Lina after you read this letter and relieve her fear. Lina’s address is: Karoline Gerstenberg; 8 Blenheim Mount; Bradford; Yorkshire; England. You always misspell my post office: it is called Cashton. Farewell for now, and let me hear from you again soon. Your Grandfather.
Karoline Gerstenberg [b. Nov. 1859], 8 Blenheim Mount, Bradford, Yorkshire, England.
August 19, 1883
Dear Lina! I received your letter of Aug. 13. I wrote to Emma and Schlomann today and enclosed your letter. I enclose for you herewith Schlomann’s last letter, from which you will see that Emma has fortunately given birth to a second girl, and that they are all well and happy.
From the tone of your letter, I suspect that you are not doing to well in England. Please come over here as soon as you can scrape the money together. Close to N.Y. you will find your sister, who will surely welcome you with open arms; and here is your Grandfather who would still like to embrace his second Lina before he dies. You must not worry about a job; you will find enough here. You will also see from Schlomann’s letter that he and Emma arrived in N.Y. entirely without money, and that they are doing well. A common housemaid makes $2 per week here, and cooks from $3 to $5 per week; and then the girls are treated much better here than with the proud snobbish Englishmen.
I will also still write to the Consul in London today. Maybe you can still get your money back. Emma’s address is: A. Schlomann, care of H. Rolfs, Palisade Ave. 367, corner of Franklin Str., Jersey City Heights, N.J. When you come to N.Y., you take the railroad to Jersey City, and there you can easily inquire for the address. That’s enough for now. My wife is still sick. I hope to hear from you again soon.
<T222> Karoline Gerstenberg, Kummerfeld near Pinneberg near Hamburg.
Aug. 19, 1883
Dear Daughter! Even if you don’t write to me very often, you surely won’t mind my writing to you more often. I have been corresponding continually with your two daughters, Lina and Emma. Lina, who is still in England, complains in her last letter of Aug. 1 that she has not yet received a letter from home. Schlomann wrote on June 17 that Emma had another healthy girl; this is now already the second one. He also writes that they are all healthy and well and doing fine. "We feel happy and contented, and have already saved 300 Talers in the 2-1/2 years; we spent $100 on our household and have $200 in cash." Schlomann is a clerk in a grocery store. I am really surprised that you never wrote about Schlomann and Emma being in America.
How are you? That is a useless question. I have to wait a long time for an answer. My wife has also been sick for about six months and sometimes has to stay in bed. I hope and wish that you are all healthy.
Mr. Martin Rade, Minister in Schönbach near Löbau in Saxony, Germany.
Sept. 6, 1883.
Dear Sir! I have your letter, better called sermon, from Aug. 8 in front of me. It is useless to try to answer it, as I recognize that you cannot understand me or don’t want to. But I will still try again.
First, I cannot understand why you should be insulted if I hint that you manage your office for the sake of the income. I am a farmer and I plow my field for the daily bread that I want to reap. The shoemaker makes boots for the same reason; the tailor works for a living and so do most people. We need food to keep us alive.
The fact that so many new churches are being built does not prove the purity of the Christian church; it only proves that there are many stupid people and that the clever ones are taking advantage of the stupidity of the others for their own purposes: the more churches, the more jobs for ministers.
Now about missions: what the rich people donate is hardly worth mentioning, but the poor people are cheated of their hard-earned pfennigs, which they should be using instead to by bed for their children, to finance an expedition to Africa where Christian love will be taught to fat <T223> Negro girls. As for the newspapers—they can be bought or bribed in religious matters as well as in political matters. The church is the last means for keeping people in Christian slavery. Next, concerning the limits or our knowledge: I never believed and never said that reason can explain everything; but I won’t bother to brood about things that go above my mental horizon.
"Natural knowledge and our senses do not teach us what is good and what is evil. If thought would bring us to the religion of love, why did the great wise men of antiquity not find this truth?" [from Rade’s letter to F.A.M.?] I have a little pamphlet here which shows that Seneca taught the same things as St. Paul. It gives many examples where Seneca taught about love, but in different words. This pamphlet ends as follows: "Meanwhile … the Christianity of Nature."
If this essay has not yet convinced you that you are wrong, I want to add some extracts from a speech by Minister Reims that he made in the Lutheran church at La Crosse: [See Buddhism, <T188>.]
"When Christianity came, slavery broke down by itself." You are wrong about this too, Mr. Rade. The Christian Southern States in America had slavery till a few years ago. Not only the masters but also the slaves were members of Christian churches, and the ministers—for the benefit of the masters—told the poor slaves that in heaven the masters would become the slaves. On the farms in Holstein, not too long ago, the farmers were mere slaves; in Poland the farmers are or were slaves of the noblemen; also in Russia—all countries with the Christian religion.
Haven’t you read the Bible recently? I have to give you back this question, or else you would know that there is as much bad in the Bible as good, or even more. I think the Catholics are very right when they don’t want to give the Bible into a common man’s hand. You no longer know the Christianity that you are trying to teach. How do you conclude <T224> that I reject pure Christian doctrine? I only reject the nonsense that ministers have written into it for their selfish interests. You speak so much about the equality of men, and love for our neighbors. You should also put this into practice. Don’t dress better, don’t eat better, don’t drink better, and don’t live better than your neighbor, Mr. Weaver, who has to give his money to beautify your home. Give something to beautify his home, or postpone him to heaven like the Southern slaveholders did with their slaves.
"Test everything and keep the best." That is exactly my principle; but how am I to do it if not by my reason?
"Without religion, a child will kill his father in order to possess his belongings." Just read English history: how the Christian kings and princes murdered their fathers and brothers to get the crown.
Your letter would sound very good from a pulpit, where nobody is allowed to talk back. But before the court of reason it would collapse into nothing. Judging from our short acquaintance, I would think that you had been educated as a Jesuit, and I am very much afraid that you and people of your kind will try to obscure or even make impossible the light of reason (the candle of God) that has started to shine in my old home country also.
With my best regards to your sister, I remain your devoted F.A.M.
Mr. Wilh. Rud. Jähring, Minister emerit., Dresden, Altstadt, Glückstrasse 6, ground floor.
Sept. 6 1883.
Dearest friend! When I did not answer your very dear letter sooner, you must not believe that I wanted to ‘take revenge.’ I surely could say as an excuse that in our short summers the urgent work leaves little time for letter writing, that I always put it off to the next Sunday, but many a <T225> Sunday came when we had guests who wanted to see my garden, or other interruptions; but instead I will confess to a sin of negligence and ask for forgiveness. I enjoyed your letter very much as I was able to hear how comfortable you feel being retired: You live in paradise, even better, because there [in paradise] are no bakers, butchers, grocers, and all the other nice things you have. I can still remember my dear old Dresden very well. I also spent some nice days there in my youth. The trade gardener Seidel of whom you speak is probably an illegitimate son of the Court Gardener or of Traugott and Jacob and [?] Seidel [or Traugott Jacob Seidel?], neither of which had any legitimate children.
So far we have had a very good but cool summer with plenty of rain but not too much, while in the neighboring states tornadoes did a lot of damage, destroyed cities, blew railway cars from their tracks like balloons and rolled them away, causing many people to lose their lives. I only hope that the frost won’t come too early this autumn, as everything is doing well in my garden, but is far behind in season. My health is still quite good but my wife has been ailing for six months; she has to stay in bed sometimes. She is at the age (46) where women usually have to suffer a lot.
To show how highly I value your friendship, I will make you my confidant with regard to my correspondence with Mr. Rade, of which I enclose a copy. Please mail the letter after you read it.
Very friendly greetings to your wife and daughters, and best wishes for all the long and undisturbed pleasure of your present nice situation. I remain your honest friend, F.A.M.
The Victory of Religion Over Reason
In Pennsylvania, in an isolated region on the shore of Lake Erie, a wealthy farmer named Sylvester Knoth lived. Some months ago he attended the meetings of the Salvation Army about eternal damnation. The sermons he heard there inflamed his mind so much that he had no more peace. The last two weeks he wandered up and down the banks of the lake—in rain, sunshine, or storm—painting the horrors of hell <T226> in loud monologues, and he told all sinners to repent and escape eternal damnation. Yesterday morning he erected a big cross in the woods, intending to nail his eight year old son to it, believing this to be the only way to save him from hell. With supernatural strength, Knoth held his son while he pushed a big nail through his hand—unmoved by his crying, but some hummingbirds heard it and came to help. After Knoth knocked one of them down with the hammer that was in his hand, he ran away and jumped into the lake.
A search did not find him hiding in the woods, so it was believed that he drowned. But not so: At midnight he returned, broke the door of his house, and knocked his wife unconscious at a single stroke. He went to the room where his only daughter Minna, a pretty girl of 17, was sleeping, tied her hands and feet and carried her to an isolated place in the woods where hundreds of cords of logs were piled up. He made an altar there and tied the girl to it. "I am going to sacrifice you to the Lord, as Abraham did with Isaac," the madman sang, and lighted the pile of wood. The flames soon destroyed the bare limbs of the poor girl, whose miserable cries for mercy only sounded comfortable in his ears. he called on the Lord to receive this sacrifice as penance for his sins as he brought more wood for the fire.
Two young people coming home through the forest from a dance saw the fire in the distance and heard the girl’s shouts. One of them threw the crazy father down while the other broke down the burning pile and lifted the almost naked girl down from her fiery bed—still alive. her feet, legs, and shoulders are covered by big painful blisters, and the terrible catastrophe has darkened her mind, so it is feared that she may end up in an asylum.
<Written in English.> Monday, Sept. 17, 1883.
Clear with a little light frost this morning. Fine weather all day. Forenoon Father went up to Cashton and bought Mother a light pair of shoes and some baskets for going to fair. In the evening Father Mother, Dora and August went to Adolf’s [sic] wedding with Loretta Hastings [sic: m. Loretta Haskins 17 Sep 1883—LPM] which was performed by Sqr. Mech. Behrens at Mrs. Hastings lodgings in Cashton. Got home by fine moonlight about 10 o’clock.
<T227> Karoline Gerstenberg [b. Nov. 1859], 8 Blenheim Mount, Bradford, Yorkshire, England.
October 13, 1883
You surely will have received my letter of Aug. 19. I wrote at the same time to the Consul in England and received an answer yesterday saying that the amount of your money order was sent about May 6 of last year to the Imperial Foreign Office in Berlin to be paid to you. Therefore, if you have not received your money yet, write to your brother and have him pick it up. It will be strictly necessary for you to send your brother the following lines: "The Imperial Foreign Office in Berlin is requested to pay to my brother Wilhelm Gerstenberg the amount of a money order sent from America, which was returned to Berlin about May 6 of last year by the Imperial General Consulate in London. Karoline Gerstenberg."
On Sept. 15, Schlomann wrote me that he, Emma, and the children were doing fine and that they surely not angry with you, and that you can keep the money if you can get it back; that they only wrote about it because they were having a difficult time when they started out [in America] but now they do not need it any more. So dear Lina, if I might advise you, take the money and use it to buy passage to America. But don’t go in the middle of the winter; it is too dangerous. Or do you have to stay a full year in your present job? Hoping to hear from you again soon, I remain your Grandfather.
A. and Emma Schlomann, care of H. Rolfs, Palisade Ave. 367, corner of Franklin Str., Jersey City Heights, N.J.
Oct. 13, 1883.
Dear Children! I have received your letter of Sept. 15, and I was happy to hear that you are all well. Grandmother is pretty well now also, and the rest of us are all healthy. What is your first name? August? Anton? or Adolph?—
Yesterday I received a reply from the Imperial General Consulate in London. Lina will <T228> get her money back.
Last summer was quite cool; wheat, barley, and rye were very good and the harvest weather was wonderful. On Sep. 8 we had a hard frost that damaged my garden considerably, also the corn that was beginning to ripen is frozen. In early Oct. we had a little snowstorm, then nice weather again, and today we have quite a snowstorm, which gives me some time to write letters. So much for now; more next time. Your Grandfather.
Mr. Martin Rade, Minister in Schönbach near Löbau in Saxony.
Oct. 28, 1883.
Dear Sir! As I started to do in my last letter, I still have to send you the following extract from my latest newspaper, which presents very clearly "The Victory of Religion over Reason." [see <T225>.]
Mr. Willi. R. Jähring, Minister emerit., Dresden, Altstadt, Glückstrasse 6, ground floor.
Oct. 28, 1883.
Dearest friend! Hoping that the enclosure in my last letter did not give you indigestion, I will burden you again with some lines. I read in my last paper, datelined London, Oct. 20, that the Trichinosis disease has increased and spread in Saxony; already 500 cases have been reported, etc. The politicians are trying to make people believe that the disease came into the country with American meat. Already last year when I read about Bismarck’s prohibition against importing pork, I felt sorry for the poor people in Germany who were thus forced to eat their bread dry. The farmers here in this country live almost exclusively on pork, bread, and potatoes; and nothing is heard about Trichinosis, and the newspapers usually trumpet out everything they can put their hands on. Pigs are surely not fed anywhere as well as here; most of them are fattened on corn. The prohibition has depressed prices so much that fat pigs are worth only three cts. per lb. live weight; butter cost 20 cts. per lb. last summer but this summer it <T229> sells for only 10 cts.—
My fear of an early frost became reality; already on Sept. 8 the corn and all the tender vegetables in my garden froze. The crop of wheat, barley, and rye is very good. Wheat costs 1-1/3 cts. per lb., barley 4/5 cts, and rye 2/3 cts.
I take again the liberty to enclose an open letter for Mr. Rade, as you might be interested in its contents.
Greeting your wife and daughters, and hoping that you will spare some time for me soon, I remain your …
<Written in English.> to H Crouse
7 Dec 1883 [excerpt].
… August 17 and Karl 19 … came home tipsy …
<Written in English.> to ?
7 Dec 1883 [excerpt].
… My boy Ernest is now in … Beaver City, Utah …
<T229, cont.> Karoline Gerstenberg, Kummerfeld near Pinneberg near Hamburg, Germany.
Dec. 27, 1883.
Dear Daughter. I have received your letter of Sep. 30, and was happy that you still think of your old father. I am 79 years old today, and I will use my birthday to write to you—maybe for the last time, because old people die very quickly and unexpectedly here. I am still quite healthy and able to do my ordinary work. My wife is also better again, and so are all our children. The two youngest [boys], Carl and August, and Dora are at home. Adolph took a wife [m. 17 Sep 1883] and lives in Cashton, and Ernest lives in Beaver City, Utah, in the land of the Mormons. He is doing fine and will get married next spring [m. Martha Ann Bradshaw 25 Dec 1883—he had actually been married two days when this letter was written.—LPM]
I also received another letter from Lina a short time ago from England. Her employers went away and she took another job. She will send her address soon.
As I read in your letter, you had a bad summer. We, on the other hand, had a very good one, always enough rain and never too much (not counting some heavy floods in January that did a lot of damage in the valleys). Everything grew very well, but the season was about a month late. Wheat, barley, and rye were excellent and we had a wonderful harvest weather. Corn, the main crop here, was ruined—half ripe—by a hard night frost on Sept. 8, along with all of the tender plants in my garden. The prohibition that excludes exports of pork from America to Germany for fear of Trichinosis is ridiculous. We all live on pork and know nothing about Trichinosis. However, it has greatly depressed the price of pork and as a result also the price of butter. Fat pigs sold for six to eight cts. per lb. live weight last year, only three cts. this year. <T230> Butter was 20 cts. per lb. last year, this year 10 cts. Wheat costs 1-1/3 cts. per lb., barley 4/5 cts, and rye 2/3 cts (1 cts. = 4 pf.).
I am glad to hear that Doctor Schlüter still remembers me; please greet him from me. You never wrote that your husband suffers much from gout. Some years ago I also had a severe gout attack. My right arm was completely lame for several months. But it passed and I have never been troubled again since that time. At that time I washed my arm with a solution of saltpeter mixed with brandy. I don’t know whether this helped or whether my nature helped itself.
You wrote me about your mother’s illness and the good care you give her. I hope God will reward you for it and that in turn your children will take care of you the same way. My wife who is in the corresponding situation here has been a faithful nurse to me during all my frequent severe illness, and I have the consolation that she will close my eyes when my last hour comes.
Best regards from all of us to all of you. Your father, F.A.M.
<Written in German; translated by Hilmer W. Besel>
[1883 recap; between entries for 31 Dec 1883 and 1 Jan 1884; excerpt.]
… I must also remark that Adolph married a certain Miss Loretta Haskins in autumn [m. 17 Sep 1883], and lives in Cashton. We just received a letter from Ernest also, which informs us that he married Miss Margarethe Bradshaw. He lives in Beaver City, Beaver County, Utah. …
<Written in English.> 1 Jan 1884 [excerpt].
… Adolf [sic] has got him a wife and lives with his mother in law in Cashton. Ernest who lives in Beaver City Utah, writes us also that he has got married.
[There is a discrepancy in the dates here: In the following letter dated Jan. 2, F.A.M. apparently doesn’t know yet that Ernest is already married.]
<T230, cont.> A. Schlomann, care of H. Rolfs, Palisade Ave. 367, corner of Franklin Str., Jersey City Heights, N.J.
Jan. 2, 1884.
Your little letter, dear Emma, pleased us all very much, especially because we heard that you are all well. We thank you for your good wishes and return them from the bottom of our hearts. We also stepped into the New Year healthy and well.
Since the last letter that I wrote you, we also had a letter from your mother and one from Lina, who wrote that she left her old job and took a new one, and promised to send me her new address in a few days. But a long time has passed and her address has not arrived yet.
You have four [half-] uncles and an aunt. Ernest is 25 years old and lives in Beaver City in the Land of the Mormons. He is doing well and writes that he wants to get married this spring. Adolph is 23, was married last autumn and lives in Cashton. Dora is at home; she will be 21 years old in spring. Carl is 19 and August 17; they are both at home. I was 79 years old on Dec. 27; my wife will be 47 next April.
I think that Lina will come over this spring. She is by herself in England. I still hope to see all of you together. You sure have a nice living. The farmer is surely very much dependent on the weather, but he leads a much nicer and freer life than you, Schlomann, seem to have. Now farewell and don’t forget about your Grandfather.
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