HTML: 5A 1884
<T231> Mr. Karl Gottlieb Wünsche in Schönbach near Löbau, Saxony.
Jan 12, 1884.
It is now nearly a full year since I received your last letter, and I cannot resist the desire of my heart to write a few lines to you, hoping that you will accept them kindly and that you have not excluded me from the number of your friends on account of different viewpoints on religious matters. You must consider how different from yours the conditions have been under which I have lived my life. Childlike faith, as Schiller points out in his "Walk to Essenhammer" ("A pious knight was Fridolin …") is surely very nice; it fills the heart but not the mind.
On the 27th of last month I was 79 years old, and I still enjoy good health, although my strength has decreased a bit. My wife and children are also healthy.
I still have a married daughter from my first wife in Germany near Hamburg. Her married name is Gerstenberg. She has several children. One son [Wilhelm, b. abt. 1851] is in Berlin, one [prob. Ernst, b. 1863] in Hamburg, and one [prob. Otto, b. abt. 1867] in Altona; they are all married. There is a daughter in England [Karoline 2, b. Nov 1859] and another one [Emma, b. 1861] with her husband in Jersey near N.Y.; although in America she is still 1,000 miles away from me.
I have three children still at home. Our oldest son Ernest is in Utah, the Land of the Mormons, 1,000 miles west of here; Adolph lives in Cashton; both are married. Carl and August and our daughter Dora are still at home.
Because of the large amount of snow last winter, spring was very late and the whole summer was unusually cool. A late frost destroyed the apple and plum blossoms again; pears and cherries don’t thrive here at all. Wheat, barley, and rye were very good, however the crops were one month later than usual. Corn, which is the main crop here, was completely ruined—half ripe—on Sept. 8 by a severe night frost; also all my tender vegetables in the garden.
The prohibition that excludes American pork from being imported to Germany is ridiculous and <T232> I feel sorry for the poor people who are thereby forced to eat their bread dry. We all live on pork here and don’t know anything about Trichinosis, but it has greatly depressed the price of pork and so also the price of butter. Fat pigs sell for only three cts. per lb. live weight, butter 10 cts, wheat 1-1/3 cts., barley 4/5 cts, and rye 2/3 cts (1 cts. = 4 pf.), meadow hay $4 to $5 per 2,000 lb., Timothy hay $6 to $8. You can get straw for nothing; also little pigs were given away last autumn; potatoes sell for 1/2 ct. per lb., wheat flour 2-1/4 cts. per lb.
The winter started in Nov.; we have one foot deep snow, and had 40 degrees (Fahrenheit) temperature a few days ago. In summer the temperature rises to 90 or 95 degrees.
Have you heard again from your neighbor who went to Texas? Is he still homesick?
Wishing and hoping that these lines may reach you and your dear family in good health, I remain with "greetings and a kiss," Your F.A.M.
Mr. Karl August Meissner, No. 519 Astor Street, Milwaukee.
Jan 20, 1884.
Dear Sir! By chance I got a copy of the Herald for Jan. 3 into my hands. I read there that you and your wife celebrated your silver wedding anniversary. As your name is the same as mine, I cannot resist the impulse to ask you whether we are perhaps relatives. I had an uncle named Karl Meissner who lived in Ütersen near Hamburg and died there also. He came originally from Schönbach in the Saxon Oberlausitz, where my father and grandfather were ministers. Expecting a kind reply, I sign, F.A.M.
<T233> Mr. Karl August Meissner, No. 519 Astor Street, Milwaukee.
Jan 27, 1884.
Dear Sir! I received your letter of the 24th with the anniversary songs and was very pleased about everything, and although the branches or our tree may be far apart, they may have all come from the same root. My friends in Germany, who still give my father and grandfather a place of honor in their memory, have taken the trouble to search for the origin of the Meissner family and have sent their results to me in a letter some years ago. [See <T181> letter Dec. 1876 to Mr. Wilh. Rud. Jähring, Minister in Schönbach: "… I received your … letter with my pedigree …] As you have the same name, you might also be interested, so I give you the following excerpts.
[M. Camphäusen translation edited by Hilmer W. Besel and Bartocha:] In the year 1650, Emperor Ferdinand III expelled all his Lutheran subjects from his countries. Some of the people who fled first from the little Bohemian town of Platten asked the Elector of Saxony, Johann Georg I, for permission to settle down on the Fastenberg mountain, only one hour distant from Platten. The request was granted. There they took possession of two little cabins.
On Febr. 24, 1652, a petition signed by Caspar Clench [sic; should be Caspar Bernd] and Christopher Meissner was sent to the Elector saying, "Our grandparents, miners, built two cabins for themselves some time ago on the Fastenberg near the Bohemian border, to stay in while working. Afterwards they settled down there permanently. They also received a piece of land from the forester of Burghartsgrühn and paid yearly fees for it in order to have a pasture for a few head of cattle. They also paid civil and church taxes. Now we want to keep on living in these cabins, inherited from our parents, but first we have to rebuild them. We therefore beseech you to give the order that these cabins and pasture land that were given to them be granted to us and our heirs in return for a stipulated inheritance fee, and also that the lumber shall be given to us free of forest tax."
These first eleven settlers on the Fastenberg were followed, on the cold winter night of Christmas [eve] 1653 by 39 other families from Platten, carrying all their belongings on their shoulders. Among these <T234> were Johann Löbel Jr. and Abraham Löbel. These on Febr. 12, 1654, asked the Elector’s permission to settle down on the Fastenberg and to build a little town there. Their wish was granted on Feb. 23, 1654, with the condition that they name it, after the Prince’s name, Johann Georgen Stadt.
On Nov. 21, 1656, Johann Löbel, Sr. was elected as mayor. On Oct. 18, 1665, Johann Georg II granted tax exemption to the Löbels’ house in Johanngeorgenstadt.
Christian Friedrich Meißner was born June 15, 1721 in Johanngeorgenstadt in the Saxon ore fields of Erzgebirge. His parents were descendants of two old refugee families that had come from Bohemia. His father, Master Christian Meißner [or Meichsner—LPM], citizen, blacksmith, [b. 1687] died 1769, 83 years old. His mother, Johanne Christiane Löbel, died 1772, some 70 years old. [Note: Church records in Johanngeorgenstadt give Maria Catherina Löbel (1698-1772) as mother of C.F. M. Furthermore, according to Frank Teller, the Meichsner ancestors of Christian Friedrich Meißner probably came from Eibenstock in Saxony and were already living on the Fastenberg at the time of the Exile.]
He [C.F. M.] attended his hometown school and the Johannis school in Leipzig, 1740 the Bautzen school, 1744 to Leipzig University, and then to Wittenberg. On Jan. 28, 1753, he made his examination speech in Schönbach and on March 11 his first sermon. He had 16 children from two wives, and preached for the last time in 1800. He died [at Schönbach] April 1802 at 80 years of age. He was only 11 months short of his 50th anniversary in office.
On Christmas 1790, Ernst Friedrich Meißner, a ministerial candidate, was appointed assistant to his father. He held this office for 12 years. After his father’s death, he worked 15 more years as minister. He died young, on May 1 1817, 53 years and 10 months old. He left three children: Adolf, Ernst, and Karl.
Friedrich Adolph Meissner, born Dec. 27, 1804, last Christmas 79 years old, is the writer of these lines. I have five children, four sons and a daughter. I live 1-1/2 miles from Cashton and do gardening and farming.
So far as I remember, Mühlhäusen is not far away from Johanngeorgenstadt. [There are several places with this name—the most likely one is about 100 miles WNW near Eisenach, between Erfurt and Kassel—LPM.] It would therefore easily be possible that the roots of our family trees are joined.
<T235> I see on the envelope in which you sent the songs, "Wholesale Druggist." Is that your business? I raise 200 to 300 lbs. of sage every year; I could raise twice this amount if I had customers. I still have one barrel here from my last crop, priced at 30 or 40 cts. per lb. Could you perhaps use it for 20 cts.? I will send you a sample. Tomorrow when I take your letter to the post office I will give Mr. Utzinger your greeting.
[See Appendix 2: The Founding of Johanngeorgenstadt.]
<T235, cont.> Karoline Gerstenberg [b. Nov. 1859], 2 Clifton Villa, Bradford, Yorkshire, England.
Febr. 10, 1884.
Dear Lina! I just received your letter, written as you said on New Year’s Eve. We were already very much worried about you, as you left us so long without any news. We are very sorry that you are ailing; it is worse when one is among strangers. I am pretty old and you won’t be able to depend too much on me, but if you would come over here my wife and children would welcome you with all their hearts and you would then be among friends and relatives. I should think that your sister and Schlomann would also be very happy. On Christmas I received a letter from Emma. She, her husband, and the children were all well, and they were getting ready to decorate a Christmas tree for little Luise. I will write to Emma today and send her your new address. Now, dear Lina, I and all of us hope and wish that when these lines reach you you will be well again and that you can soon spare an hour to write to us again.
Your Grandfather.
August and Emma Schlomann, care of H. Rolfs, Palisade Ave. 367, corner of Franklin Str., Jersey City Heights, N.J.
Febr. 10, 1884.
Dear Children! I just received a letter from Lina. She writes that she is having a lot of trouble with her teeth and often feels depressed. The cause, in her opinion, is the climate. She says that she has not yet received an answer to the letter she wrote you. Accordingly, I am sending you her new address. How is Schlomann’s health now? He surely does not have to suffer from malaria in the winter. You write that things are pretty hard for him right now in his job. We don’t work all the time <T236> in winter, but if it was a bad year like the last two, it is all we can do to make a living. We can’t even think of saving anything. We are all quite well, and hope you are the same. Let us hear from you again soon. We all send our regards. Your Grandfather.
Lina’s address is: 2 Clifton Villa, Bradf. Y. Engl.
Aug. Schlomann, care of H. Rolfs, Palisade Ave. 367, corner of Franklin Str., Jersey City Heights, N.J.
Febr. 24, 1884.
Dear Children! We have received your letter of the 17th, and we are happy to hear that you are all well and doing fine. You must live awfully economically if you can save so much, while so many people who have their own business can hardly make a living. I think you can still see the difference: When the weeks or the months are over, Schlomann has earned a certain amount of money, whether his employer can spare it or not. Take good care that you don’t lose your dearly saved money when you start a business of your own. We will always be happy to hear good news from you. With our best wishes we remain, Your Grandparents … etc.
Karoline Gerstenberg [b. Nov. 1859], 2 Clifton Villa, Bradford, Yorkshire, England.
[March or April, 1884.]
Dear Lina! I received your very short letter today. I learned from it that you have a very bad leg, but are otherwise quite healthy. I would be interested to know whether you got your money back, and whether you plan to come over here this summer. We and also the Schlomanns have heartily invited you[?], but you don’t say a word about it. Schlomann wrote to me that you sent him $5 in cash and that you did not want to come because it is so far from home. Don’t you know the old German song: "Where is the German’s Fatherland? Wherever the German language is spoken and God in Heaven sings his songs, there it shall be; this, wise German, call your own." A letter from England does not get to Kummerfeld much sooner than one from America. For the past two years we have had a neighboring farmer; last year his sister and brother-in-law came over here, and a few days ago his married brother and his parents arrived. They all left their old home and obtain a new one here. Last week I met a German family in a nearby village, <T237> a young wife about 20 years old, her husband a common laborer; the wife’s 18 year old sister had just arrived from Germany, and had made the trip from Bremen to N.Y. in 10 days. I honestly have to confess, dear Lina, I cannot become smart from you. You write so very conservatively. I cannot understand what should tie you to England, much less to Kummerfeld. You cannot make a living at home. Open your heart once fully to your old Grandfather. If you don’t have the travel money, we will send it.
Ernest (25) and Adolph (23), my two oldest sons, each took a wife last winter. Ernest lives about 1,000 miles from here, and Adolph lives nearby. With greetings from my wife and children, I remain,
Your Grandfather F.A.M.
Mr. A. Schlomann, care of H. Rolfs, Palisade Ave. 367, corner of Franklin Str., Jersey City Heights, N.J.
April 28, 1884.
Dear Schlomann and dear Emma! I have received your letter of the 10th and was glad to hear that at least Emma and the children are well. Your rheumatism, dear Schlomann, will probably—let us hope—get better as the weather improves and gets warmer. You must not trouble yourself with too many worries about the future: "Comes time, comes advice also" [German proverb—M.C.].
I cannot understand why Lina does not want to come over. What is keeping her in England? The English are snobbish; here all are equal. A farmer who is our neighbor, a German, has been here only a few years. Last year his sister and brother-in-law arrived; a few days ago his brother with wife and parents came also; so we now have three [German] families in the neighborhood. Last week I met a German family in a nearby village, a young wife about 20 years old, her husband a common laborer; the wife’s 18 year old sister had just arrived from Germany, and had made the trip from Bremen to N.Y. in 10 days. So thousands and thousands are coming and looking for a new home.
For the last two weeks we have had beautiful weather with a little frost at night, so the soil is just dry enough <T238> for sowing. The bushes are starting to get green and the sheep and cows are finding some grass.
I can’t supply your appetite for goose breast [liver?], because the geese had been doing a lot of damage to my garden and so we butchered them all last autumn and did not save their breasts.
We are quite well; only my wife is ailing. I think Emma leads quite a lonely life if you are gone from home all day, but you can’t always have everything just the way you want it.
Your Grandfather.
Karoline Gerstenberg, Kummerfeld near Pinneberg near Hamburg, Germany.
June 1, 1884.
Dear Daughter! I have your letter of May 1 in front of me. You write about an obligation that I am supposed to have in my hands, and which you want me to cancel and return. I have looked through all my old papers, but can find no such paper. It has been so long since I left Kummerfeld, and I have seen and learned so much during this time, that I can only remember something vaguely. So I don’t know, either, what the cancellation certificate that you want should look like. Please be so kind as to draft the note as you would like it to be, and then send it to me, and I will sign it and send it back to you.
Best wishes to all from your Father and Grandfather, F.A.M.
Mr. Martin Rade, Schönbach near Löbau in Saxony.
June 1, 1884.
Dear Sir! As you took the trouble to answer my last letter, I don’t want to delay acknowledging it, either.
If you cannot understand me, this proves only that your reason is held captive by the prejudices of your profession. I don’t reject at all Christ’s good doctrine, any more than that of the world’s other wise men. I only reject blind faith. I put reason above religion. The cruel stories that I told you should only prove to you where religion can lead if it is not directed by reason. You say Christ has founded a church; according to my understanding he was only a teacher. The clerics themselves have done the church-founding, which wants to live off the stupidity and the <T239> sweat of their fellow men. There is the Lutheran church, whose members believe everything their ministers tell them; there is the Methodist church, and so many other churches. There is Joseph Smith who founded the Mormon church; his apostles go through the whole civilized world and convert the stupid believers, and lead them to Utah where they willingly and patiently give 1/10 of their income to the clerics.
But enough for this time. Even if I don’t write a book, I still have so many necessary things to do that I can hardly spare any time at all.
Your devoted, F.A.M.
Mr. K.G. Wünsche, Schönbach near Löbau in Saxony.
June 1, 1884.
Dearest friend. I have your very dear letter of Febr. 3 in front of me, and I read it very often and with great interest. It is a true consolation for my heart. Your friendship has not failed in the hard test, but I am very much afraid that friend Jähring, who showed so many signs of friendship to me, has admitted to prejudice. I have had a very interesting correspondence with Mr. Rade, but he seems to be a 100% Jesuit; he meets reasons with pious phrases. He is either stupid or a hypocrite (these expressions will appear quite strong to you, but they are American). He always talks about Christian love, but he seems to take care more for his own comfort than for his poor neighbors. You once wrote to me some time ago, how little money the poor weaver makes; it was no more for a full week than one makes here in a day. (My son Adolph has taken a wife last winter. He now works in a shingle mill and each day earns $1-3/4 = seven Reichsmark. You write in your last letter about a wonderful altar cloth and voluntary donations to the Luther celebration. Wouldn’t new clothes for the poor weaver be—according to Christian doctrine—a better gift for God than new clothes for the altar?
June 18, 1884
After a long lasting drought, today we had a nice thunderstorm with rain. I hope it moistened the soil enough so that I can set out my cabbages and many other plants that we have had to keep alive so far by watering them. In general we anticipate a good crop except for the <T240> hay which is very thin.
July 20, 1884
A little bit more, but not too much, rain has improved the grass and everything else. Harvest time is just beginning, and it is looking very good. All that we have to be afraid of now is hail and frost. I will end my letter now and write another one later when I have more time. Goodbye for now and keep up your friendship for your honest friend, F.A.M.
<Written in English.> Ernest Meissner, Beaver, Utah.
5 Jul 1884 [excerpt].
… Adolf [sic], his wife, and baby [Thalia Dorothea "Dillie," b. 25 May 1884] are visiting us …
<T240, cont.> Lina Gerstenberg [b. Nov. 1859], Bradford, Yorkshire, England.
July 20, 1884
Dear Lina! I have received your short letter of May 26 and was glad to hear that you are well again and doing quite fine. I hope that your plans may become reality to your satisfaction. We are all well now; we are having wonderful weather and are looking forward to a good harvest.
We will all be happy to hear from you again. Stay healthy, and don’t forget your Grandfather.
A. & Emma Schlomann, care of H. Rolfs, Palisade Ave. 367, corner of Franklin Str., Jersey City Heights, N.J.
July 20, 1884.
Dear Children. I received your letter of the 4th and was glad to hear all of you are well and are trying to make life as pleasant as possible. A mother-in-law in the house is often a big help, especially if she loves children; but on the other hand she can be a lot of trouble.
We never had better weather than this spring and summer. We are making hay now, and harvest time will soon begin. Winter wheat and barley are already almost ripe. Everything is doing well, but prices are very low: butter sells for only 10 cts. per lb., eggs 10 cts. per dozen; wheat 70 to 75 cts. per bushel. Farmers who have the right opportunity are deciding to raise mostly cattle, as fat cattle bring the best prices. My farm is very well suited for this purpose, but all of my boys leave as soon as they come of age. If you want to try farming, you could go in partnership with me. I will sell you half of the farm, and we can manage it together. If you have <T241> about $400, we should be able to come to an agreement. My farm is worth about $1,500 to $2,000 now. With your help, we could increase the value to $3,000 in a few years. I can’t take it with me when I die, but even so I at least have the consolation that I did not work entirely for strangers; if not for my children then for my grandchildren.
We have three cows and two calves, three horses and one colt, five pigs, 16 sheep, and many chickens.
I, the undersigned Friedrich Adolph Meissner, a former resident of Kummerfeld, certify and declare that I was paid in full in cash and with interest the 1200 Mk—Twelve Hundred Mk—that were promised me by my daughter, the married Karoline Marie Eleonore Gerstenberg in Kummerfeld, in the sales contract dated July 31, 1845.
I therefore propose and grant that the cancellation of these 1,200 Mk be recorded in the debt and pledge protocol or the real estate record book.
== Dated at Portland in the County of Monroe, State of Wisconsin, this 16th day of August, 1884. F.A.M.
Karoline Gerstenberg, Kummerfeld near Pinneberg near Hamburg, Germany.
Aug. 16, 1884.
Dear Daughter! Here is the receipt that you requested, signed and certified. This will set your mind at rest now.
I am sorry that your health is so bad. What is the reason for your frequent illness? We are all very well except my wife, who is always ailing too.
I received a letter from Schlomann and Emma, saying that they are all well and Clara has already learned to walk. They also say they just received a letter from you. Schlomann’s mother has come over, but she is not too fond of Emma and the children, and it seems that she has disturbed the family’s peace quite a lot. I received a letter dated May 26 from Lina, saying that her lame leg is better again. It seems as though she wants to get married in England. I will also write to Emma soon and tell her to answer your letter, but it seems to be a habit with all of you (not answering letters!).
I don’t know whether I already told you that Ernest and Adolph both got married <T242> and that Ernest has a little son [Ernest Richard, b. 24 Jul 1884] and Adolph has a little girl [Thalia Dorathea Dillie, b. 25 May 1884]. It seems to me that the Meissner family is in no danger of dying out soon.
We are having an excellent year, a bit dry but always enough rain. We have been spared so far from hail and rain storms. Harvest time is nearly over. What we fear most is an early frost. Now I think I must stop, or else you will not have the patience to read such a long letter. Best wishes to all of you from your Father and Grandfather F.A.M.
August & Emma Schlomann, Jersey City Heights, N.J.
[Aug 1884.]
Dear Children. Some days ago, I received a letter from your mother in Kummerfeld. She says that both her hands and her feet are almost completely lame. She wants to know how you are doing and how the children are. She thinks you did not get her letter, because you haven’t answered yet.
You also haven’t answered my letter of July 20. I made you what I consider a very generous offer. Please let me know what you plan to do. I think farming is a more pleasant occupation than store keeping. We have the nicest spring water: as cold as ice in summer, never frozen in winter. No king has better cream than what we put in our coffee—the same is true of butter, milk, bread, vegetables, and other things. We are all well; the weather is wonderful. Harvest time is nearly over.
Best wishes to all of you from your Grandfather, F.A.M.
August Schlomann, Corner Webster Ave & Franklin Str., Jersey City Heights, N.J.
Aug 24, 1884.
Dear August and Emma! I only made my proposal because I wanted you to be with us, and because I thought it would provide a more comfortable life for you than store keeping; but if you are so happy in your present business and you have a good chance to get rich there, you should stay there of course. Your earlier idea of settling in Dakota made me think that you would prefer living in the <T243> country to city life. You ask me, will it pay off? In terms of money, it might not pay off, but as for a more comfortable and healthier life—yes, I think it would. Perhaps you think that city life is more comfortable.
Now I will try to explain my plan in a little more detail. I will sell you a separate half of my farm for—let’s say $800, and give you a mortgage on it. You won’t have to pay me the $800; you still owe it to me. So then we go in partnership and manage the farm together, each according to his ability: for instance, Schlomann the fields and I the gardens. One week Emma will cook and the next week my wife. However, a farm cannot be managed without capital. If you will put up $400 or $600, I will put up the same amount. I own four 40-acre plots (total, 160 acres). You will see how they are situated from the enclosed maps. If you were to come here, my plan was to buy the two additional 40 acre plots marked "O" (naturally, with your consent), so that we would have 240 acres. This would have nearly doubled the value of the farm.
After my death, my half of the farm will go to my wife. She can then replace me with one of the boys and the partnership can go on, or you can sell the farm and divide the money between the two of you. Just as you don’t want my family to expel you after my death, I also don’t want my wife to be expelled by you.
You misunderstood me: not all of my children have left me. Three are still here: Dora, Carl, and August. You don’t seem to know much about American young people: as soon as they are old enough, they want to run off; young people always think they are smarter than their elders. They want to be independent.
We are having a little more rain now; otherwise everything is still the same.
Your Grandfather.
P.S. You offended me a bit—you seem to think I intended to cheat you.
<T244> Lina Gerstenberg [b. Nov. 1859], 13 Oak Villas, Bradford, Yorkshire, England.
Sept. 6, 1884
Dear Lina! Yesterday I received your letter of Aug. 21. I was not surprised that it was short, because I am now accustomed to that. Judging by your letter’s content—that’s all I can do, because you never tell me what you think—I have to believe that your marriage prospects don’t look so good right now. I have sometimes wondered why such a pretty girl as you must be (judging from your picture) has not yet found a husband. But maybe your expectations are too high and you are too particular. I believe that if you were here you would have just as much opportunity to establish a family; or if you want to go on working for other people, the difference between masters and servants is not as sharp here as it is in England. Here, the maids eat at the same table with their masters, and are not called servants but "hired help." That is true of Americans. The English immigrants still maintain the difference between masters and servants.
You will find a true friend and sister in my daughter Dora, a very good girl, who is only a few years younger than you. I have received two recent letters from your mother. According to her last one, her lame limbs are better again. I have sent her a receipt for the 1,200 Mk that was recorded against her property. Schlomann, Emma, and their children are still doing well. They have started their own business. Schlomann’s mother has come over also, but she was not getting along with Emma and she was unfriendly toward the children, so she is not living with them any more. Ernest’s wife has a little boy and Adolph’s a little girl.
Now, dear Lina, if love does not keep [you?] in England, take fresh courage and come over here. You will be with friends and relatives. Come before the autumn storms make the trip dangerous.
<T245> Mr. August Schlomann, Corner Webster Ave & Franklin Str., Jersey City Heights, N.J.
Sept. 9, 1884.
Dear Children! I have received your letter of Sept. 3. In case you decide to come here, I also promise you a friendly reception, and you will have the opportunity to look the matter over before you accept my proposal. In case you should not like my family or my farm, I have a neighbor, a fellow countryman of Schlomann, who lost his health this summer in an accident, and who wants to rent his farm with horses, wagons, and field tools. Maybe you would like this better.
We have been having very hot weather for several weeks, and some severe thunderstorms as well. The wheat harvest time is over. The farmers are busy right now threshing; soon we will start to stack up our wheat. So far we have not yet had frost.
We all send our greetings. Your Grandfather.
<Written in English.> To Loretta Meissner, Ontario, Wisconsin. Oct. 26, 1884.
<T245, cont.> August & Emma Schlomann, Corner Webster Ave & Franklin Str., Jersey City Heights, N.J.
Oct. 26, 1884.
Dear Children! I received your letter of the 21st yesterday and have little to answer, but was glad to hear from you. We have had an especially good autumn; only a few days ago the first hard frost. I have had my biggest crop of flower and garden seeds in many years. Next week is the election, and I hope that it will make Cleveland the President. No honest man can vote for such a cheat and briber as Blaine is. Best wishes to all of you from your Grandfather, F.A.M.
Karoline Gerstenberg, Kummerfeld near Pinneberg near Hamburg, Germany.
Dec. 1884.
Dear Daughter! Already in August I sent the receipt that you requested, and I haven’t yet heard whether you received it. I will be 80 years old this Christmas [season] and my health is still good enough so that I can do my work. Unfortunately, my wife is always ailing. We have had a very beautiful autumn; no frost <T246> until everything was harvested. The crop was excellent, but all the prices are so low: wheat is only one ct. per lb., pork five cts. per lb. (1 ct. = 4 pfennigs). We just elected a new President, and it seems that this time the people have won. I hope and wish that you are enjoying better health. With best wishes to all, your Father and Grandfather … F.A.M.
Mr. K.G. Wünsche, Schönbach near Löbau in Saxony.
Dec. 1884.
Dear friend! I have your very dear letter of Sept. 14 in front of me, and learned from it that on almost the same day when frost destroyed our hopes for a good fruit crop, frost also harmed your region. We also had very good weather hear earlier, and it was dry at harvest time. Hail and cloudbursts came down only a few miles from here, but we were spared. After the harvest we had a lot of rain which was troublesome for threshing. (Here the wheat etc. is put into big stacks in the field, and is threshed by big machines that are pulled by steam or by horse power.) The autumn was very beautiful. On Oct. 9 we had the first frost, which did no more damage because my seeds were already harvested. Two years ago hail, and last year frost, destroyed everything for me. This year, I had an excellent crop of flower and garden seeds. The potatoes were mostly spoiled. Wheat is unusually beautiful, but the price is barely one ct. per lb. Live fat pigs sell for 3-1/2 cts. per lb., pork 4-1/2 cts. per lb.
The election is over and, thanks mostly to chance, we elected an honest man, Grover Cleveland, for President for the next four years instead of the big scoundrel, James G. Blaine. More people voted for Blaine than for Cleveland. The number of believers who were persuaded by the officials and money makers, who hoped to make a big profit from Blaine’s election, was bigger than the number of reasonable people.
You believe my opinion of Martin Rade is wrong or unjust, but somebody looking over a city from a mountain <T247> is better able to judge its size than somebody living in the narrow streets of the town.
You seem to identify the Freethinkers with superstition and unbelief. The Freethinker recognizes reason as the highest law court. He also does not believe in March fogs [?], Seven sleepers [something like Ground Hog Day?] and Twelfth-nights; any more than he believes in Heaven and Hell. Why? Because they are all superstitions; they are all contrary to reason.
You have painted me such a beautiful picture of your Heaven, where God resides as President. Now tell me, where is your Heaven? In the air above, on the moon or sun, or on which star? Doesn’t God reside throughout the whole universe?
I don’t want to rob you of your religion: It makes you happy. You believe what you have been taught since childhood, what your minister preached every Sunday, without asking your reason whether this could be possible. Schiller says: "Your guilt is paid off; your faith was your share of happiness. You can ask any wise man: what you refuse in a minute, no eternity will bring back."
Now some notes from the papers. The Department of Agriculture reports the value of farm products from the last year: Wheat, $800 million; corn, $695 million; wheat [?], $437 million; hay, $410 million; butter and cheese, $353 million; cotton, $272 million. A committee in the state of Kansas that was appointed to investigate cattle raising in the states west of the Mississippi reports that there are 23 million head of cattle there.
I also read in the papers that Socialists were elected to the German Reichstag. Could you please explain to me what their political principles are? Maybe you could send me a Socialist newspaper.
I will be 80 years old this Christmas [season]. My health is still good enough so that I can do my usual work. I hope and wish that you are also well, and that you will please me very much by a reply soon.
<T248> August Schlomann, Corner Webster Ave & Franklin Str., Jersey City Heights, N.J.
Dec. 27, 1884.
Dear Children! I have been hoping for a long time to get a letter from you, to find out how you are getting along. I read in the newspaper that there are many poor and needy working-class people in your region, and as I think these are your main customers, this could be bad for your business. Are all of you well and healthy—especially Emma and the children? I am 80 years old today and my health is still good enough so that I can do my usual work. Unfortunately my wife has been sick for several weeks and has to stay in bed, but she seems to be a little better now. Our Dora takes good care of her and manages the household. Carl and August chop and haul wood, and I am busy with the seeds. Since the beginning of December we have had very cold weather and good tracks for sledding, but for the past few days it has been thawing and raining.
You should be glad that you did not go to Dakota. You might have starved and frozen to death. Many people have come back to live here during the winter. Our farmers are complaining a lot about bad prices, but all of us have enough food and wood and water.
Best wishes to all of you from your Grandfather, F.A.M.
HTML: 5A 1884
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