TRIP TO AMERICA AND LYONS, IOWA‑ 1882

On March 25, 1882, Jens Nicolas Asmussen, born May 2, 1851, 30 years old, with Anna Catherine Jacobsen Asmussen, born October 5, 1852, 29 years old, his bride of just over two years, said goodbye to Monkebull, Germany forever. They left the towns they'd lived in all their lives and the house that was Jens' only home and the Asmussen home for over fifty years. That house is still there, albeit completely rebuilt. It is said to be the oldest house in Monkebull.

Asmussen Ancestral Home, Monkebull, Germany — still standing

Anna left all of her relatives behind in Drelsdorf. Jens and Anna, with their one-year-old son, left from the local seaport town of Husum. The day they left was probably damp and dreary, windy, perhaps rainy and cold, a typical early spring day in Northern Germany. Husum today is a bustling city of 25,000 people and is a commercial center to the small towns our Asmussen‑ Jacobsen family came from.

That long awaited day came after much planning, discussion and anticipation. I'm sure Peter and Sophie had written them about the long, not fun trip across 4000 miles of Atlantic Ocean, during which time all you can see for days and even weeks is water. Jens was anxious to see his mother and sister.

The Port of Husum, Germany

Jens had reservations for the three of them as the trip was noted on Jens' military passport of which we have copies. The number 1182 and his destination were indicated as Lyons, Iowa, North America as well as the date they left. They probably left Monkebull a day or two early to travel by horse and wagon with their trunks and all they could carry to Drelsdorf. That way they could take a day or so to say goodbye to Anna's mother and brothers and sisters. They probably discussed her pregnancy and cuddled the just about one-year-old Carsten Ludewig. Unless they came to America, she may never see them again. Her sisters and brothers were saying they were going to come to America too. Husum was only about fifteen miles south of Drelsdorf. That would have made it easier to get to Husum in the morning. Some of the Jacobsens probably went to Husum to see them leave and wave goodbye.

Their ship left Husum on March 25, 1882, which coincidently was Carsten's first birthday, maybe a good luck omen. On the ship's documentation, the son Carsten is listed as being nine months old, which probably means they made reservations that much ahead of time. They would have left Husum at high tide on the smaller ship because the water was too shallow at Husum to take ocean-going ships out to sea. The smaller ship took them south to the much larger port of Hamburg. Because we are told they didn't arrive in America until May 11th, they must have had to stay a week or two in Hamburg. Finally they boarded a larger steamship, The WESTPHALIA. We don't know its capacity but it probably carried about 200‑300 passengers. While they had reservations to guarantee them a place on board, they probably had to keep their trunks and other things like blankets and some food that would not spoil with them. They probably found a place in one of the large rooms below deck, which is where they'd make their bed and sleep, eat and stay for the three week (they said 20 days) long trip to America. Many people stood on deck at the railing waving goodbye to relatives and friends and watching their homeland fade into the distance. The Westphalia went up the long channel from Hamburg to the open North Sea and then turned north going between England and Germany, then turning northwest with Norway to the east and Scotland and Ireland in the gray distance to the west and south. They headed toward Iceland, then turned southwest toward America across the open sea. The sea trip was about four thousand miles. Land was not in sight and wouldn't be for days, even weeks. All they could see was water, water and more water.

Jens had lots of questions that only time would answer. When it wasn't too windy or cold, I imagine he stood at the railing looking ahead toward America wondering what was ahead for them?

Would they like the new land of America? What would America and Lyons, Iowa be like? Was it to be the best place for their one-year-old son? In fact, he and other children they may have, was the main reason they decided to come to America. Was it really as free and good for the people as they'd heard about this new country? Jens' wife Anna was also three months pregnant. Were they right to leave their home country now? She was already sick. He hoped it was only morning sickness. Peter Lorenzen, his brother in law, had written that he would get Jens a job in the lumber mills, which would give him a guaranteed weekly salary, and that life was better in Lyons, Iowa USA than in Germany. Jens knew he had no special training. He couldn't even speak English. He had lots of questions and concerns.

Jens left behind only some aunts and uncles, a half brother Peter, and half sister Christine who were both much older than he was. They were married and in their forties. His mother and twin sister awaited them in Lyons, Iowa. His wife was leaving behind her whole family. Anna was soon quite sick to her stomach, and was miserable the entire journey across the windy, cold North Atlantic Ocean. By comments she made later to Jerry Eggers, son of Dora Asmussen Eggers, and to others in the family, she remembered that the Atlantic Ocean was "vide and vild". In German, v is pronounced as a w. She always spoke in her broken English with a strong German accent she never lost. To be on deck was to endure the wind and cold, the "vildness" of the "vide" seemingly endless ocean of water and the high menacing waves. To stay below was rough too, as the wind and high waves tossed the ship to and fro and kept her and many others sick.

Crossing passage was about $35.00 for adults, about one half that for children under twelve years old and free for babies and small children under 3 years old. One ticket was a month's wages in Germany at the time. I doubt there were any staterooms for the regular passengers, only bunks and/or blanket rolls placed close together on the cold, damp wooden floors in large rooms below deck. Each person brought all their belongings with them they could carry and were allowed, and probably kept it all them with them as well. I doubt there was a baggage room though there could have been for larger baggage. Each family had trunks or suitcases, probably one or maybe two for each adult and one for children.

We know some of the things Jens and Anna brought with them that they treasured. One item was a kerosene lamp with a house and snow scene painted on it. We are told this had been a wedding present. Marge and Dick Asmussen have the lamp now and it has been electrified. They also brought a wooden wall or shelf clock and a sewing machine. Anna Jacobsen Asmussen also brought her German Bible, which she and her sister Doris had used. Both their names are in it and the date 1869. Anna may have read in it on that long journey across the Atlantic Ocean. I also have her Bible. I visited the Drelsdorf Lutheran church they attended in August 2001, inside and out, and have some pictures. I am enclosing some in this book. The Drelsdorf church was built in 1100AD and originally was a Catholic church before the reformation. I'm sure they brought other things as well, and their clothes. Eating properly and enjoying the food was not easy. It had to be difficult in those days before refrigeration for the ship to carry and keep enough fresh and tasty food for the long journey. I'm sure nothing tasted good to Anna. Nothing was very easy in those days. The ship probably did have a room where food was kept on ice. The Ship Company maybe provided one hot meal per day and maybe a small breakfast, but I do not know.

Any other food you wanted you either had to have brought for yourself or maybe could buy some things on board. Good drinking water was probably at a premium as well. I am sure there was little in the way of medical provisions. Not that this was a trip known only to this small group. Every year hundreds of thousands of people were leaving Europe going to the new country of America where all people were free, and had the opportunity to live well, even get wealthy. This same ship, the Captain and seamen, probably made this trip several times each year. Since the Irish potato famine and the poor harvests all over Europe in the late 1840s, hundreds of thousands of people went to America each year. What we would consider proper facilities were just not available then, and the long trip was very tiring and difficult to each new boatload of people, especially by our much more demanding standards. Finally their ship docked in New York on May 11, 1882. It had been a very long exhausting trip since they left home, nearly seven weeks in all, about 48 days. I had understood the trip itself was three weeks. The boat records I have received indicates they docked May 11,1882. That would have made it altogether a much longer trip than expected. Anna was grateful to be on dry land as I'm sure Jens was as well.

Their destination indicated on Jens' papers was Lyons, Iowa. Their arrival port was probably New York City, though it could have been Baltimore, Maryland. 1882 was before either Ellis Island or the Statue of Liberty. We do not know the immigration process at the time, except that it must have been fairly easy and easier for them since they had sponsors already in America.

After Ellis Island was opened in 1892 to better screen immigrants, the process to get in took longer. Nearly 800,000 immigrants came to America in 1882, which was the most of any year before and at least to 1900. Most immigrants at that time were from Western Europe, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Denmark and the Scandinavian countries, and from Italy. Jens, Anna and their family probably spent no more time than necessary in New York, maybe a few days to get processed in and get their railroad tickets to Lyons, Iowa.

They traveled west by train first to Cleveland, Ohio and then Chicago, Illinois, then across Illinois finally to cross the Mississippi River at Fulton, Illinois to Clinton, Iowa. The railroad bridge across the Mississippi River from Illinois to Clinton, Iowa was completed in 1865 after the end of the American Civil War. The train part of the trip took about one week so it was about May 20th when they arrived in Clinton. They boarded a smaller train, which took them the three miles north to Lyons.

Lyons and Clinton were bustling river towns that ran together, Lyons on the north side. Most of the way they could see the Mississippi River on their right. Lyons was the older town Clinton was larger and the county seat of Clinton County. At that time, Lyons had about 5000 people, Clinton about 10,000.

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