Hand written translations of Letters George
Willich’s sent to his family in
Germany
Housed at
The
Austin
Texas
Transcribed by
Angel D. Birkner
2904
(903)
454-9180
River.
September
6,1834
My dearly beloved
At last, you will say, once again a message of where the wanderer
is. But what shall I say? Since I have left
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upstream, so that we can begin settling and
building on the company-owned lands, and then a way will be found for us to get
our letters. Please continue to
write to the enclosed address, but be very sure to copy it carefully, because if
there is the least mistake, the American postman will, without further ado,
throw it in the fire. Also things,
which I nevertheless do not expect, you may send to this address; young Pappe is
probably not in New York any longer; he had already given up his business before
my departure, and was on the point of going to Philadelphia and from there to
Savannah, South America, or, in case of the failure of his plans, to East
India. He is a good, true, really
honest soul, but much too young and undecided and inexperienced to be able to
make his fortune in a place like New York; but enough about that, he has,
although he was not in the position to pay the to him remitted 50 dollars,
nevertheless treated me like a true friend; for no price
would
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I have the good old doctor find out through
you anything about the misfortunes of his son; it jwould be quite unnecessary
and depress him, without his being able to change anything; therefore, I beg
you, keep this all to yourself; Pappe is still young and does not lack in
talents; here there are a thousand ways to financial security; God will not
forget him, because he is an honest good person.
My last letter from New York (with ship Howard, Captain Tiler, the
same honorable man with whom I made the try from H. to N.Y.) you will, God
willing, have received, and so I will briefly tell you how I have fared since
then up to this moment.
It was on the 28th of this year when I was on board the small
schooner Climax, after we had lain anchored 4 days in the middle of the majestic
Hudson river in anticipation of favorable wind, that I at last left magnificent
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under the
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and raging of the over the ship breaking
waves, and as much as I tried, I could not help laughing at this hellish
concert. I had experienced very
different storms on my trip from
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last, laughs best; and so it came
about. The second night was really
a little bad, for the sky stood above in a constantly glowing fire so that one
was totally blinded. About 150 tons
of meat, bread, corn, salted fish, potatoes, ect., which had been fastened on
deck because of lack of storage room, were taken by a single wave. I, poor
devil, had fastened a bucket containing a new pair of cloth trousers, which had
cost me, cash, a hard earned 15 dollars in New York, three new fine cuff shirts,
three pairs of new workpants which had been given me and several skarfs, between
the tons, and they also went overboard; many had a similar fate. We had had these things in our beds and
a single man whom the company had engaged only a few days before our departure,
had infested the entire ship personnel with lice. After the man had been cuffed and
thrashed a thousand times, he was put on land on
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and trunks, had soaked these in salt water
to get rid of the parasites, and we lost them all in this sudden and unexpected
storm in which it was impossible to take anything below deck. In the third night, the N… works or
water tight galleries on the back bord side on which I and three other
passengers had our posts and which we had tied ourselves with rope, went to the
devil; only or united strained strengths enabled us to hold on until an old,
determined sailor named Parrison cut us loose in great haste just before a
second wave walzed over the ship, and which would undoubtedly have torn us into
the unfathomable depth. So we four
succeeded in reaching the foremost, our binding-ropes cut up, and there was
nothing else for us to do but to clasp the most until day-break, and stay
covered by the house-high waves, breaking every minute over the ship. At last, toward morning the storm
settled, and the sun came up in full glory. Around 9 o’clock the sea became so still
that it was possible to open the portholes, but what a picture
of
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woe met out eyes! 61 persons,(we other 11 were on deck
through out the whole storm), covered with dirt of all sorts, with blood smeared
faces and bruised limbs, between a mass of turned over boxed, trunks, broken
vessels of all kinds, canned goods, women’s finery, syrup, oil, and the
penetrated ocean water, stumbled and crawled as well as they could to the opened
port holes, with loud rejoicing greeted the fresh air; quickly they began to
cook for the first time in 3 days, and after a few hours all was happy and gay
almost to the point of wantonness; everyone had lost more or less, or was
damaged more or less, but all was forgotten! On the deck, I like all others, had lost
a large, fine ship hat (Spauhut) which had cost 1 and ½ dollars. In the room my fine, new, silk hat which
had cost me 6 dollars cash, had been torn from a nail, and among 20 others,
crushed to mush. In the
quarter-deck lay Madame Prentiss, ghostly pale, with her small child on spread
out mattresses, and
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so lay also Mr. Cigent Miles, the Doctor of
the company, Thompson, a young lawyer, Nuel, the brother of Madam Prentiss, Mr.
Drury, a heartily good youth of 20 years, and another half dozen of young men
who had associated themselves with the undertaking; who, however, were now all
scratched; they had all nearly vomited the hearts out of their bodies were now
tired out. But if I wanted to
continue at this rate, I would hate to write you a book. That I cannot do today, and therefore I
will limit myself to only the most important things pertaining to myself, and
save the rest until the good heaven unites up under happier circumstances, then
I will tell you in long winter evenings by a warm stove so that you will laugh
heartily and so that occasionally your hair will stand on end, without my
varying from the truth one hair’s
breadth.
As soon as it was noon the sum was measured, or rather, the meridian
taken, and we found that we had been beaten 1700 English miles off our course;
we steered now
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always south west ward toward the fast land
of America; we had flown past the entire immerse provinces of New Jersey,
Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia in a southeasterly direction, and only on the
13 of June did we glimpse Cape Hatter as, the fast land of North Carolina. Now we steered seaward again and kept
about 150 miles from the river bank; so we swept by the coasts of South
Carolina, Georgia, and a part of Florida, and on the 17 and 18 we crossed the
Gulf-stream, this most ravenous of all currents, which carried with it whole
forests of green trees still populated by their gay colored feathered
inhabitants. We went ever
south-east and saw on the 20 several of the smaller Bahama islands; on the 21 we
saw the larger island, Abaco, which belongs to this great group of island, and
shipped around the 30 miles into the sea lying rugged mountain range, in which
the to every American seaman known “hoch in der Welt” (hole in the world) is; it
is this regularly made mountain gate, which was formed by Mature in this huge
mountain wall, through which the largest ship would be able to sail, if the
shooting, tearing current which goes through this same
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opening, would not immediately crush every
ship which came too near the opening.
Uncountable ships sank here in stormy weather, and this gate of hell
holds immeasureable treasures in its groundless abyss. Since the storm had settled, our ship
had been escorted by hundreds of sharks, whose instincts leads them to follow
heavily manned ships in the hope that a corpse will be thrown overboard; of
there are sicknesses on board they are as if tied to the ship, and will not
leave it even in the worst storm; many of these man eating monsters were over 40
feet long; we killed several smaller ones with bullets, and caught two of the
same with strong finger-thick fishing-hooks; one of them ground up the massive
arm of a strong mahogany chair, which had accidentally fallen over on the deck
as if it were a piece of sausage; since no one wanted to eat of these
man-eaters, which one is sometimes forced to do when in need; and since in the
capture of these sharks we had lost several of the best and very expensive
fishing lines, this hunt was soon given up. Every day we sailed through miles of
herds of Poppers, a sort of thick, shapeless fish which one finds already in the
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of a small boat; we came through similar
herds of black fish, these from the size of a boat to the size of our schooner,
which was 52 feet long; these animals would be very dangerous if they were not
so cowardly and did not go out of the ship’s way so expertly; the number in such
herds might be larger than several million; but what is that in this huge
world-sea, more than a dot in the sound sea (Schall-see)! We always headed southeastward because
of the low wind which threatened to throw us between the islands, which are all
surrounded by rocks; and so it cam about that on the 27 we sailed along the bank
of the island St. Salvador, which has became so famous because it was the first
to be greeted with the joyful cry “Land” by Columbus’ men, and where the famous
world-discoverer first put his foot on land. Now we often saw the ship escorted by
the most beautiful of all fish, the Delphin, in larger or smaller numbers; this
fish throws from itself all colors of the rainbow in the gleam of the most
beautiful diamonds; besides, this fish is just as tasty as it is beautiful, and
in Havana and other sea-places it is a costly delicasey.
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We could not catch one, but
caught many Benitos and Baracedos, also very tasty fish about the size of a 4 to
10 pound carp. Also a Squit of 1 ½
foot length was thrown on deck by a wave, surely the most hideous fish which
human imagination could muster; out “Rochen” of the
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Sharks, saw-fish, and many others, in part
rare and monstrously formed sea-animals (whose names I did not know, like
everyone else on board, with the possible exception of the captain, whom I could
not ask) shot greedy as vultures and fast as lightning after innumerable
lobsters, crayfish, and other shelled animals, who, in their place, tried to
hide themselves in the cracks of the rocks. Thousands of turtles from the size of a
dollar to the size of a small boat played their game in the deep regions, and
upon the slow rearing of the ship, took their hurried departure into the deeper
lying, unexplorable, black rock abyss, whose wide throat yawned toward us
everywhere. On the tips of the
millions of steep rock towers hung oysters, wonderful shells, and sea-snails of
the most different types, or they were covered with octopuses, long rock-moss
with sweet little apples, or with forests of red, white, gray and black corals,
who spread out their dry limbo and branches in all directions, and threaten the
daring seaman with death and ruin.
But now enough about this peculiar, wonderful, underground rock world;
upon me it made an unspeakable impression and I have, upon closer examination of
all forces on deck, even in the roughest Irish coal-mine
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workers’ face, been able to
clearly read speechless amazement and a secret horror of the vastness of God’s
works. Not everyone who goes over
the Bahama Bank sees the same majestic spectacle, because when the weather is
somewhat restless, the mire is loosened from the rocks, and the water is
momentarily dull and not transparent, so several, who had often made the trip,
assured me. On the 2nd
day toward afternoon we had safely shipped over the bank, which was very good,
since the weather became rougher and gloomier. We now had the “double head shop keys”
off hand, a many miles long row of single vertically reaching rocks, to which we
had to come fairly near, but before which we had to wend westward. The captain, a man who had been
especially found of this trip by the Trinity Land-Company because he belonged to
one of the beloved Temperence Clubs, (and who was therefore cannon-drunk every
day) himself overtook the night watch at this dangerous place, where he slept
excellently with the watch-sailor, after they had both gotten very foggy. The old red-headed sailor Parrison, whom
I have mentioned earlier, had, probably because he knew how much
the
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captain was to be depended upon, sat
himself upon a chair on the fore-deck close by my hard bed (because of the lice,
I always slept on the open deck and on the bare boards) and after hours of
talking I had dozed off a little with him, when suddenly the shrieked out cry:
rocks! rocks! close ahead! rang in my ear.
I sprang up and saw, truthfully, not with out shuddering, two
ship-lengths ahead, a high black rock-wall against which the breakers foamed and
raged high. Only this cry in the
greatest danger which urged the helmsman to most expert turn, saved the lives of
87 persons; a second later, or a momentary indecision of the helmsman, and not a
single life would have been saved; like an arrow the ship now shot close under
the rock wall through the raging breakers using the favorable current into the
dear open sea, during which the tumult on the ship really began. The captain cursed the dark weather and
his drunken sailor dogs a thousand times; the women had misunderstood the cry,
and all plunged out on deck in bare chemises
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and with any valueless
trinket under their arms, pushing and screaming fire! fire! One had an iron pot with cold potatoes,
a second, a bundle of stockfish, and a giant Irishman of the English East Indian
Guard Dragons, had dragged a wooden milliner’s block belonging to old Mrs. Moore
on deck; first everyone cursed, then laughed, and at last everyone crept back
into bed; but I could not sleep, and had entertainment enough, since every half
quarter hour we glided by one of these remarkable and danger threatening
rock-towers until we had the last behind us around 10 o’clock in the
morning. On the 4th of
July we saw the island of Cuba and stayed close to her shores, until in the
afternoon, at about 2 o’clock, we sailed close under the immense fortifications
of Havana (the main city of this big, blooming, and rich island, the only
property still belonging to Spain in this part of the world, which had once
largely belonged to this crown. The
fort which protects the entrance of the harbor,
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with all its store-rooms, soldiers
barracks, batteries, towers and breastworks, is hewn inside and out from a
single granite rooted in the ocean bottom; but the Spaniards had hitherto
already known people who could carry out such almost impossible gigantic
works. How many an unfortunate may
here in this outrageous heat have forgotten his last drop of sweat under the
feeling of the nearing deliverer from all earthly plagues. As soon as we had shown our North
American colors, there rose above our heads in majestic glory, the old Spanish
coat-of-arms, still shining with the insignias of those lands and properties,
which this, at least here, unconscious might had long ago lost. We now rode much as you and I used to do
in our sloops in the Hamburg Harbor, close by the wide harbor of Havana, in
which among several (Kaufarthey schiffen) of the various nations of all parts of
the world, a lot of war-ships of first and second ranks showed up like sea
monsters of a greater and more horrible species. Behind and to the side of the harbor
rose the terraced world famous trade city with its churches, cloisters, domes,
and towers. The scent of the
orange, granate,
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and citrus forests blew over
us, their dark green high surpassed by the crowns of the slender heavenward
reaching coco-date and (Kohlpalmen), between which again ran terraced almost
endless rows of batteries, dotted with thousands of fire-abysses, death and ruin
threatening to every enemy on comer.
The background of this glorious scenery was formed in the blue distance
by the colossally high mountains of Jeuowa (?) the mighty island, which offered
one’s fantasy a boundless play room.
After three or four hours we ran along the shores of this small
fast-land; thereafter toward sun-down we turned west-north-west, again toward
the southern shores of North America, for the second time cutting through the
tearing gulf-stream. On the
7th of July we met the fine and big package-ship “le Pilgrim” from
Haure, which had left
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of the reason for our
journey through the speaking pipe.
On the 9th we saw the Bellise, that is, the flat shore of the
grand-father of all North American rivers, the Mississippi; here at its mouth it
is close to, or perhaps over 300 English miles wide, and loses or changes this
width 100 miles upstream only to 250 miles. Since it was not the season for the
usual flood, we deducted that in the inland hefty rains must have fallen,
because several times whole green forests of century-old trees of all North
American wood sorts came toward us, surrounded and followed by myriads of fish
of all sorts and sizes, which filled the water the whole width of the mouth to
the bottom so thickly, that it seemed as though they were being heaped over each
other by huge invisible shovels. We
needed only to throw the usual draw-buckets over board as often as we liked, to
pull them up again full of precious fish.
On the 11th we had crossed the mouth, and on the
14th of July we passed the mouth of the Sabine River, which forms the
boundary between the
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did see the shore of Texas, and after we
had sailed up and down the coast like lost or giddy sheep for 8 days more,
without being able to find the hole, that is, the entrance to Galveston Bay, we
at last found heart and sent a well-manned sloop under the command of the
captain and Mr. Prentiss to an inviting island which, to our unspeakable joy,
turned out to be the Galveston Island, lying across the bay in a length of 20
English miles. With his entire
black and colored house-members, armed to the teeth, the food, honest (hootse)
Mr. Patrick met us, and after we asked him to (lootsene) us into the by, he
confessed that in view of our inexplainable maneuvers, he had held us for
nothing but a pirate brigade in wait for some booty, and had therefore not dared
to come to us on board. Here we
first got some idea of our future way of house-keeping. A house made of rough
cedar stems laid one on the other, the spaces between stopped up with fine,
pleasant smelling, several yards long tree-moss, the roof of roughly-split
spruce shingles, nailed over each other; in every corner of the only general
room
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Was a clean cotton mattress and a curtain
of coarse gauze or chintz for protection against the mosquitos, and a few iron
pots, and tin or earthen bowls and plates, a teapot, a coffeemill screwed into
the wall to grind the coffee and the Turkish wheat intended for bread, and
around the walls a lot of buffalo, ox, horse, calf, deer, panther, tiger, wolf,
raccoon, and other furs, a good supply of dried beef and deer meat on strings,
rifles, flints, snake-sticks, axes, hoes, and shovels; these were the furniture
and decoration of the building, in one corner of which, a mighty fire flared
under a chimney of lime and wood-blocks laid one upon the other. Before the door smoked another fire of
green wood to keep the mosquios away, about which many pig-families who were
gnawing on the rinds of the water and musk-melons we had just eaten, as wall as
on heaps of half-eaten, innumerable fish.
Also a few chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese ran about, all left quite
to themselves. Next to the turkish
wheat fields fenced in by some sort of spanish riders, grazed a lot of oxen,
cows, and calves, all beautiful as deer, and thin and fat like the
eels,
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also a dozen mustangs or captured wild
horses, of which two or three were made rideable. One sees at the first glance, that the
race would be very good, if, through negligence, it had not gradually been
crippled. But that is the way of
these Native American settlers and the few Mexicans, who inhapit these
voluptuous wildernesses, by nature so richly blessed and suited for every
farming purpose, in intervals of 10, 20, to 50 English miles. They milk as many cows as they just need
milk, many are too lazy to make even a little butter for their own use; should
it occur to them to eat beef or pork, they shoot a pig or an ox (yearling),
whose meat is excellent, and whose size does not differ at all from the size of
3 or 4 year old oxen. Only the best
bone-less meat for drying in slices, the hide, and the blindingly white rich
tallow is used; everything else is a booty of the dogs, pigs, beasts of prey,
and vultures. The poultry, which
one could raise in unbelieveable numbers with the least of care, and which one
could, while sending one’s spare products, easily send to the neighboring
sea-ports, were there are always willing buyers against beautiful cash mexican
silver money, becomes to two-thirds the booty of the wolves, snakes, and owls,
since
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these poor animals, for which, despite the
greatest surplus of fine, easy to work with wood, they do not build any stalls,
are forced to find their refuge at night beneath bushes or in trees. Would you believe that in the nearby
Matamores, and so in every other port, a barrel of potatoes (not more than a
sack over there), each of which is, on the average, 5-6 pounds, and many 15
pounds heavy, finds willing buyers up to the price of 10 hard dollars! The same goes for wheat and other
products; but so great is the indolence of the present inhabitants, that they
hate everything that causes the least work like death, and they know no greater
happiness than eating, drinking brandy, and sleeping. What a future stands open for the only
averagely industrious and busy European?
Could you keep your sons from following their father here and uniting
their young, fresh strength with the experiences and little knowledge of their
growing old father, who intends nothing else than to acquire and ensure you and
our children a sorrow-free, independent future, even if your love for me will
never be strong enough to follow me into this paradiscical
land.
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Would it not be much more of a sin, if you
did not help them in every way, when they themselves have the desire and courage
for such an undertaking. The
climate is excellent, and the light, perhaps every three or four year returning
fevers, which are never fatal except to wholly fallen to drink drunkards, are
the only sickness known here. But I
give you time enough to consider, because as much as I long to press one of you
dear ones to my heart, I nevertheless don’t want to see one here until I have
some property, and that can, if I want to fill my responsibilities as an honest
man, not be much before a year’s time, and until then I intend to let you know
as often as I can of my true state and my prospects and plans, and lay before
you my reasonable wishes for testing and consideration. Until then let the boys become
acquainted as much as possible with the farming business and the English
language; I well know that it will be hard for them to bring it as far as
speaking, but every foundation helps extraordinarily, and since without bragging
I can call myself a thorough master of the English
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language, I will soon help them. I am now studying the Spanish language
with enthusiasm and success. Mr.
Prentiss has given me two new, wonderful, Spanish grammars and one similarly
excellent beautiful dictionary and besides that I have the opportunity every day
to speak the Spanish language with the Mexicans living here, which will soon
bring me to the place where I can express myself rapidly and correctly both
orally and in writing in this language which is so necessary and useful in the
governmental affairs. The two
German Colonists who have lived here in Anahuac for three years, a Swiss and a
Hessen-Darmstaedter and 3 French settlers will have a hard time, and that only
and alone because the fact that they don’t know any English, the general
land-language, will always stand in their way. They can learn little or nothing from
these lazy North Americans, who are so lazy that they hardly want to open their
mouths to push in the food, and who, largely, do not know how to write their
mother-language. When I sometimes,
if I have the opportunity, speak German, English, and French at the same time,
they stare at me like a cow at the new gate; if can only
learn
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perfect Spanish, I can earn heavy money as
an occasional interpreter and translator; I see that daily since the seat of a
spanish (mexican) official is here.
Only pray to God, my beloved, dear wife for health and blessing for me;
the rest leave to my undefeatable perseverance and my honest determination. I have taken all necessary steps to take
possession, as a mexican citizen, of the Spanish square mile of land and forest,
to be located anywhere I wish, which, as a European settler is coming to me at
the end of my year, and in this direction I will not neglect anything
further. As small as I must begin
on my great estate of 4440 (rheinlandischen Morgen) so I will, nevertheless,
with God’s blessing, soon reach about me, especially if I am supported through
the help of my dear boys, and perhaps even your own. I look, despite the fact that I now have
to evercome hard complaints and privations, nevertheless, with joyful courage
toward the future, and an inner unsmotherable voice tells me that I will
establish the success of my family and also win for my so deeply beloved wife, a
happy, old age free from sorrow; but it will take
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perseverance and is not a thing which can
be pushed into the oven. By the
way, what these lands will be worth after 20 years when the government no longer
has any square miles to give away, can be easily figured out if one throws only
a glance at the United States; the same land which 10 years ago for ½ dollar the
(morgen), was openly sold on credit to land-speculators, last spring was
rebought in my presence for 200 dollars the (Morgen) cash; this land lay in
Virginia, far from the sea-coast, and where is there a spot in Virginia whose
climate as well as whose soil could compare with this blessed land. You can dig here 30 or 40 feet deep,
which often happens while digging wells, and you always find the inexhaustable,
rich, black, loose garden-soil.
Only the for thousands of years untouched surface needs some culture; it
is not, however, hard, for with the above all measure pitaful plows here, with
which one could not plow 5 steps in the Qarrentiner soil without their breaking
into a thousand piers, one can draw the deepest furrows; no sand, no rock or
pebble dulls your plow-iron; you plow after a soft rain,
which
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In this glorious
heaven never stays longer than 8 days, as though in black bitter, and numerously and hearty also grows
every fruit, all crops briefly, the grouths of all kinds in this excellent
soil. With my own eyes I have convinced my self of what I had
already heard earlier as proof of the rapid vegetation in Texas the peach tree,
which you plant today as a seed, bends itself in the second year under the
burden of its fruit and so it is all in the plant as well as in the animal
kingdom. Now I ask you, how old are our dear boys after 20
years? Not yet as old as their
father now is, who also has
whims. And if they should long for
Germany, then I am convinced, that
they will much sooner be in the position to enjoy their industry, and they
will have the sweet feeling that they have established the happiness of their
childrens children’s children’s
children by their possessions here.
It is impossible that you should think of the dangers of the trip, and as
a pious Christian you must have the
conviction that God knows to find him whom he wants, as well in a Grandfather chair as on
board a dancing (Dreymaster)
Therefore
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Consider well what you owe as a Mother of
your children and you will, yourself meet my wishes and plans Amen
However I still owe you the conclusion of
the description of my journey,
and then I will also, so
that you will not yawn yourself to
death, close So to the
task.
So with the Loud rejoicing Lotsie was greeted upon his arrival on board , and although the sun lowered
towards sunset., we yet ran with the favorable wind right
into the entrance to the bay ONCE
again rang out the almost all of us screamed cry of horror: Rocks, rocks, on
both sides! (FELSEU felseu, au
layden Seiten) But Lotse
laughed, and soon we
convinced ourselves the stumped off
rock-points which we thought to see between the waves where nothing but a nation of innumerable turtles, who rocked themselves in the evening sun on the waves . Thousands of pelicans, who are probably not as
plentiful anywhere else in the
world, fluttered abord the ship in
hunt for fish. In the same
way, there swarmed about us a lot
of white swans and crane. 12 to 18
foot high herons, big swallows,
who seemed to take pleasure
in dropping their excretion on the deck, oyster hunters
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Snips)and a
hundred other kinds of water and
swamp birds
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drunk all 3 days and done nothing, so it was decided the whole load on
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33
me if I am now feigning or writing a lie – it
was nothing else than a joyful feeling that after all lost hopes, after all God knows, what hard efforts to get a firm foot again in
the dear fatherland, from whose
unsuccessful results the
breathy understanding
convinced me, I now found
myself in the land where to my innermost conviction should begin a new sphere of activity
for me, for you and for all my dear Children I must close my beloved Doris, and will in my next letter, continue where I leave off here. Only so much more. I am just so far
recovered from a three week long
heavy gall sickness, which I got
through a great anger in the most innocent way in the world, that I am able to write this letter only
through an unexpected opportunity
through Mr. Drury, brother of Madame Prentiss. Who because the time is to long
for him will return today or tomorrow to
My chest has been
rigorously attacked, and I pray daily fervently to God to let this chalice pass
from me. Strength I will get
back
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Soon enough, if I
can first breath freely and deeply again; but if I am not mistaken, It is
getting somewhat better, through it will progress slowly. Madame Prentiss cares for me like a
gentle nun, she carries me, so to speak on her hands. After she tries to enliven me with queries for you and my children and she is
antiapating your acquaintance –
since she lives in the firm belief
that you and the children will soon follow me in which belief I leave her
for good reason; She takes all
privation and the ever renewed
journey complaints and dangers with angelic patience. She trusted to her husband her whole
fortune for the out fitting of this risked undertaking, which stands on a very
risky play; 2 men among which, sad to say, My fiend Newson, have died as a of the most
immoderate search for Brandy; the
death of the latter, and at which I was nurse until his
last breath, has affected me
deeply; 9 days and 9 nights this
man fought against death
with out a moment’s peace until his last breath
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35
Left him with the
last small piece of liver and lung.
The second was Warf, a
Swiss, who was married to a 17 year
old charming niece of Mr. Prentiss
from
Page 36
Elizabeth Prentiss
to George Willich, in memory of Galveston Bay, on such and such a date. During my whole illness, everyday she herself has made my mattress
bed and brings me all refreshments of which she can become master,
herself
He shaves me alternately
with his brother-in-law, Drury, as long as I am sick, cut my hair himself and with her help has rubbed my
chest with strengthening
salves. To immoderations I do have
to blame my illness, because I
swear to you since my departure
from New York up until several days ago,
I did not drink a bottle of
alcohol altogether; but now
upon doctor’s order every
morning I have to drink a strong beeker of whiskey. 20 year old Irish corn brandy, of which
a bottle costs 1½ dollars, spiced
with 100 pepper corns ; which they hand to me each morning
before breakfast filled to the brim
whenever she and he have me
alone, they beg me every time not
to leave them; all they have they
offer me. I shall only ask and if
after their
service time is over, they shall just a 10th part
of what they now promise, so this
will make my beginning considerably easier. Of all 72 Colonists only 9 are left including the old Mrs Moore and her daughter, who
helps in the kitchen;
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37
All others having
gone away in all directions in part with the to them entrusted valuable tools
and with what they could other wise get into their hands through cunning, and in
part with
large money advances out of which
they knew to talk Mr. Prentiss in his weaker hours. The arm of the law does not as yet reach
through these immeasurable
wildernesses , which however
will be quite different in a few years.
A 30 year old Scots women,
with her 14 year old daughter.
We have upon her wish sold
for 20 dollars and a good saddle horse to a planter who lives 8 miles
from here, after her husband ran
away 8 days ago She now
serves the planter alternately with her daughter; Good Luck as long as it will
last.
But now to
end: I kiss you, my unforgettable, beloved wife, with
true caressable love a thousand and again a thousand times, and also all my dear children with honest
fatherly love. To my honored and beloved my respectable
greetings, and my sincere wishes for the happiness and well being of my
brother Johannes and
his dear ones. Is my good
“Doertchen” alive and is she better?
A thousand greeting to Madame Kreitz’ Witte, Berelits, all, all friends
and acquaintances,
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38
Also Schulvetter
,and Jergens in Ratenburg;greet all those in my memory heartily for me, as
though I had mentioned each by name and say to my good father especially, that I would take great pride in earning
back in complete measure his
respect, which I beleivr or fear to
have lost in my unfortunate years;
may he have misunderstood me, so he shall, if it be God’s will, really
learn to know me. I am writing a
short letter to the dear parents,
because the writing strains me too much . If you have the opportunity, send this letter later to the dear
parents, since they will
undoubtedly want to know something
about my present circumstances.
And my journey here. When
you write, do write very detailed
about every thing.. It does not
really matter in the letter exchange
about 14 days or
4 weeks. Think of me in love, pray
for me as deeply as I pray everyday
for you, and don’t forget Your always true and loving
husband
George Willich Jr.
Address the
envelopes of your letters for
me to
Mr. Nicbahr Jr. to the care of Mrs Nicbahr at
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39
Send your letter to Dr.
Pappe,
I will also write him a few
lines.
ADDRESS OF THE LETTER AS
FOLLOWS
Au Madame Willich
Jr.
Per
Received in Zarrentin on
28th February 1835
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40
WITTENBURG
–
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41
(SENT)
The 7th November 1834
(RECEIVED) The
30th of June 1835
Beloved
Parents!
In the greatest of haste
today I can only write you a few
lines whose main purpose is to renew urgently my so often repeated plea for the seeds
you know about . I am
here only to have my clothes
repaired since the place I
actually stay is Liberty, 30 miles from here, where I work as a gardener for
JUDGE HARDING and earn good
money. On the 24th of
this month, I am moving I am moving
into my own house to which belongs 12 (Morzen) of find land like which there is
none in Europe, and after the end
of February this next year I will be in possession of my own square mile of land
with all the necessary documents from the government of Mexico looked after as already my
estate. How all this is how it
hangs together I will write in
detail to my loved ones, but in
this instance it is allowed neither by time nor
place; also I have not as received a single letter from any one
of my loved ones or acquaintances
over there, but believe that surely there are several letters for me
in New York, for which I am writing today
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42
Above all
things, I beg God for this richest
blessing for you and my dear ones, that is my daily fervent prayer. Now however, I beg you pleadingly to help me to the
so muchly wanted articles for which I am including a
small list, they are not only
useful to me but are absolutely necessary to the establishment of my well being. Ask therefore, all who are any way interested in
me. Who have my luck in their
hearts, to help you to get these
things and send me such, or
at first a part there of, to
the enclosed address in
a well packed, water tight box or
canvas cloth. I will gladly repay everything three times as soon as I can find an opportunity
with in the next year; only help me now as soon as
possible; My dear Doris, and her
parents and brother, perhaps also the good Ludwiglustus and Doctor Pappe will help you Farewell, I will write more at the first
opportunity. God bless you, and
keep you well
Your sincere deeply loving
son
George Willich
Jr
(No. 1 seeds can go under a general
heading )0
page 43
1
rifle
1
musket
SEEDS
Willow seeds (preferably basket willows) potato
seed, beet roots, all sort of cabbages and onions, peas,
beans and beets, onions and their species,
in short all vegetable sorts that are available to you , the more the better of every kind all
sorts of fruit kernels and seeds, flax seed, hemp seed, rope-seed , a little of every kind of corn and peach
seed of every species (maybe Mr,
Schroeder will help you to a small assortment of flower seed., wine kernels of
different sorts, sun flowers, in short
every known useful seed for that I can let others have; I can get large amounts of money; so don’t think that the freight and
other costs will fall heave on me.
What all can not go at one
time, please send with another ship;
it would be preferable anyway, as far as I am concerned, that you send the things in two
shipments on entirely different ships.
I will be just and thankful for everything as soon as possible, so don’t think it outrageous when I beg
everyone to send me as much of all as they can get together, and
ask
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44
You to continue
from time to time with the same articles (as far as seeds are concerned) Charge
all to me in God’s name, next fall
I will pay through a good exchange.
At this moment I need a thousand things and must earn everything with my
own hands. MR.HARDING had my small
house built for nothing; I also
already have 1 cow, 1 calf, 4 pigs
and 5 hens. By next year at this
time I think add at least a zero
after each of these figures, if
only God will give me health and hand me his protection and blessing
Take my plea today
to heart and oh (?ich?) beg my dear wife to do the same you cannot possibly
imagine of what importance their
(Gewarhung) is
God Bless
You!
Sign George Willich
Jr.
Mr. Lor. Chr.
Willich
Addr. Expedition of the
(Lesefrichte)
Received