Coming to America
A wave of emigration from Alsace to America took place in the late 1820’s through the 1850’s. During this period the population of Alsace grew rapidly and the combination of economic and demographic factors led to hunger, housing shortages and a lack of work for young people. Many young men also left to avoid military service in Germany.
An entire industry emerged to encourage people to make the move. Agents traveled through Alsace advertising the opportunities in America. Carriage services transported families and individuals to the coast, where the travelers boarded ships to the new world.
Transatlantic crossings were undertaken in sailing vessels called packet ships, and the journeys were time consuming and often perilous. In the early 19th century sailing ships took about six weeks to cross the Atlantic. With adverse winds or bad weather the journey could take as long as fourteen weeks.
The conditions on packet ships at this time were unbelievably bad. Owners sold their excess ship space to agents whose only interest was to fill it with as many passengers as possible. The immigrants were crowded together into unsanitary quarters for voyages of 40 days or more and were particularly susceptible to the ravages of disease.
Steerage passengers slept, ate, and socialized in the same space below deck. On the typical ship there was usually a steerage of about 75 feet long by 20 or 25 feet wide & 5½ feet high. On either side of a 5 foot aisle were double rows of berths made of rough planks; each berth, designed to accommodate 6 adults, was 10 feet wide and 5 feet long. Four rows of 13 berths might therefore hold 312 people, while the 5 foot aisle was congested with their baggage, utensils, and food.
Passengers brought their own bedding. Although food was provided, passengers had to cook it themselves. Typically each passenger received weekly 5 lbs. of oatmeal, 2 1/2 lbs. biscuit, 1 lb. flour, 2 lbs. rice, 1/2 lb. sugar, 1/2 lb. molasses, and 2 ounces of tea. The children under 14 received half that quantity, and those under 7, one third. The preferred months to make the crossing were April and May.
After arrival in America, many of these emigrants from Alsace settled in western New York and Pennsylvania, and others stayed in that area for a short time before moving farther west to places like Illinois and Indiana, where they found public land, rich in timber and good soil, being sold for $1.25 an acre, and settled there.
Such was the case for the Rockenbach, Ott and Catlow families, and other early settlers in the Deerfield area, including the Eschers, Stangers, Iehls, Luthers, Meyers, Bishoffs and Gutzlers.
The Ott Immigrants
The Ott family came from Baldenheim, Alsace in 1832 and settled in Warren Pennsylvania. Their sailing vessel, the “Henri IV”, carrying 500 passengers, took 40 days in crossing. [see the passenger list from the ship Henri IV]. Their hay wagon and rack, which was ballast on the boat, was used as a moving wagon. They travelled by canal boat to Buffalo, by ox-team from Buffalo to Warren, Pennsylvania on the banks of the Allegheny River. They likely lived with or near earlier Ott immigrants in Warren, as the name Ott was common in Pennsylvania much earlier than the 1830s.
After four years residence in Warren, Jacob Ott, second son of Johann Jacob Ott, went west in 1836 with his wife Magdalena Luther and the Luther family to find a good place to settle. They travelled on rafts to Pittsburg on the Alleghany R. then by boat on the Ohio R., north on the Mississippi R. up the Illinois River to LaSalle, Illinois and by foot from LaSalle to Chicago. They did not like Chicago, but the country west around Deerfield did appeal to them. Stopping at Cadwell’s Corners in the Deerfield area they find a “Garden of Eden” of tall oak trees, fertile land, plentiful wild game, and only a few settlers. Jacob Ott built a log home near there on Saunders road.
The following year (1837) Jacob Ott returned to Warren to lead the Ott families to the Deerfield area. Samuel Ott, in 1926, recalls “Money was not plenty these times but the five (Ott) families scraped up enough money to buy horses and wagons and they all came together, overland across Ohio, Indiana through Chicago to meet their sons in the new country at Wheeling, Northfield and Deerfield.”
“The boys had already bargained for claims for their folks, for teams and wagons and their money which was little or none. Their trip over-land, without roads or bridges (six weeks on the way), cannot be described. They landed and in passing through Chicago, my mother told me that they drove knee-deep in water from the loop to the sand ridge, Grayland Station, now on Milwaukee Avenue.”
The Rockenbach Immigrants
The first Rockenbach known to emigrate from Alsace, France to America was Christian Rockenbach (son of Johann George Rockenbach (I) and brother of George Rockenbach (II)) who at age 24 sailed to New York in 1839 on the ship “Iowa”. [see the passenger list from the ship Iowa]. On the same ship were the Andre Meyer, George Bishoff, and George Gutzler families, all early settlers in the Deerfield area. Little is known about Christian’s early days in America but we know that he ultimately married Catherine Hilger and they lived in Yorktown, Henry County, Illinois (per the 1880 census) with their five children, John, Sarah, Fred, William and Eddie.
The next Rockenbachs to arrive in America from Alsace were George Rockenbach (II), his wife Salome (Reidlinger), and their two sons Philip and George (III). They sailed on the ship “Oneida” from Le Havre, France to New York, arriving on May 22, 1841. [see the passenger list from the ship Oneida]. Son Philip was six years old at the time, and George was just 4 months old.
On the same ship were Christian Reidlinger, his wife Elizabeth and their 1 year old daughter Salomie and Philip Reidlinger, his wife Salomie and son Michael. Other families on the same passage included the Wolf and Lehman families.
Their journey from New York was by way of the Erie Canal to Buffalo, then by ox team to Chicago. After arriving in Chicago they remained for a week to rest at the home of Jacob Rehm. Jacob Rehm’s wagon carried the women and children of the Rockenbach pioneer party from Chicago to Lake County. The men walked all of the way.
Soon after arriving in Lake County, George Rockenbach bought a 130 acre farm on Milwaukee Road for $4.00 per acre. A crude log house on the farm housed part of the pioneers, and another on the Job W. Tripp farm held the young Rockenbach family.
The Catlow Immigrants
Our Catlow ancestors emigrated from Burnley, Lancashire, England. First to arrive, in 1852, was Elizabeth Kitson’s brother John Kitson who at age 23 sailed to America on the ship “Universe”. He settled in Palatine, IL. [see the passenger list from the ship Universe].
John wrote home about his journey and four years later in 1856 his brother-in-law John Edward Catlow and family followed him to America aboard the ship “Constellation”. [see the passenger list from the ship Constellation]. On that voyage were John Edward Catlow, his wife Elizabeth (Kitson) Catlow, daughter Elizabeth, and three sons, Wright, James and Joseph. They settled in Palatine.
In 1878 John Edward Catlow’s son Joseph Goodman Catlow married Mary Triebel. Joseph and Mary had three children, Elizabeth, Cora Belle and Chester. Elizabeth (Lizzie) married Almon Rockenbach in 1899.