Karl Gottlob (Carl) VOLAND was born on 26 Jul 1816 in Saxony Germany. He immigrated on 14 Aug 1854 to New York, NY, USA

Arrival date: 14 Aug 1854
Port of Departure: Hamberg, Germany
Ship name: St. Charles
Port of arrival: New York
Carol Gottlieb Voland, 37, farmer
Rosine, 30, wife
Wilhelmina, 10
Wilhelm, 9
Gottlob, 7
Robert, 3
Mortiz, 5
Frederich, 3/9, infant

He owned 10 acres of land in Mequon, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin purchased after 1854. In a biographical sketch of Karl's grandson, Alfred Voland, it states, "Gotlieb Voland purchased 10 acres of land, and in addition to the cultivation of that tract, he also worked at the mason's trade."

He was naturalized on 24 April 1860
Immigration information:
Carl Gottlob Voland
Residence: Port Washington, WI
County of Allegiance: Saxony
Born: 1816
Arrived: New York, August, 1854
Date of Declaration: 31 March 1856
Naturalization: 24 April 1860
Witnesses: Mathias Linden, J. H. Thien
Source: Sheboygan County, WI Naturalization Records, Vol. 2 #282

Karl Gottlob (Carl) VOLAND and Johanna Rosa SCHOBER were married in 1840 in Germany. They appeared in the census in 1870 in Mequon, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin. In this census Karl's name was given as Charles Volland. His occupation was stonemason. Their real estate was valued at $660 and personal property was valued at $325. Their sons Louis, 11, and William, 17, were living at home and attending school, while son, Charles, 23, was only listed as living at home.

Karl lived in William's home, Town of Mequon, Ozauikee Co., WI in 1880. He died on Dec. in Mequon, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin. Headstone reads: Voland, Carl G. Geb. 26 Juli 1816 in Sachsen, Gest. 3 Dez. 18?? in Mequon (there is damage to the date). He was buried in Opitz Cemetery, Mequon, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin.

Carl Voland wrote this original life story or diary in German. This document also includes the following notes written by the person who translated the German text:

"There are several things that do not translate well - especially expressions. I tried to include ones that are familiar with now. Any of my own notes I added in parenthesis. Since much of this is from over 150 years ago, we have to remember how money and the government have changed since then. There are several references to how much something was in American money or measures. I left in the Germany amount of currency and someone who has a chance to research German history might give you a better insight to how much the pay was worth. Karl lived in a time when kings ruled certain regions. There were his appointed officials carrying out duties. The church also had its organization into regions and districts and there were some things that the church had control over. Again, someone who could research this might give you more insight to who all Karl went to during the different times in his early life. When there was reference to how far away a town was (so many hours), it was how long it would take to travel by foot, which was the way most people went. In refiner to his trade of masonry, it was common practice for a young man at the age of 13 or 14 to go into a trade. They went into apprenticeship with a master for several years after which they would then become a journeyman and have a certificate or license. So it was late for Karl to become a mason at the age of 22. In those days, there were officials that you would go to if you needed a job. That is why he would go to these officials begging to be taken on with them. Record books of each working person contained notes on how he behaved himself at work, as well as how he worked and how long he worked."

Diary of
Karl Gottlob Voland
Born in the reign of King Sachsen
on the 26th day of July, 1816 in Marbach by Nossen

From my life's journey, I can remember things from when I was between 4 and 5 years old. Our neighbor built a grain mill, where the workers always wanted to cut off my ears. Once I also had a toothache. Then my father went with me to the doctor so he could pull out my tooth. These were my first dealings with pain in my life. Sometimes my father went to our neighbor; he had a winery (still). There our neighbor gave me a cup with a little bit of liquor and little pieces of bread with it. These I pressed in the liquor and ate a little bit of it. When I was 6 years old, I had to go to school. My mother gave the teacher candy wrapped in paper and big raisins and a roll. When the school ay was over, the teacher gave me these back and encouraged me to come to school diligently. At 7 years, I already began to write on paper. This made my dear father very happy and he bought me an ink feather and paper since in his school years, he learned neither reading nor writing. My mother was his second wife, namely his second marriage. To this marriage were my sister, who was a year younger than me, and I born. I was my father's beloved, so he provided well for me during his life. Before his death, he provided a guardian for my sister and me and wrote out a will naming me as the first heir. The house where we lived should be mine and 1000 dollars. My sister should get 600 dollars, my mother 500 dollars. This was my father's wealth. My step-sister already had received her inheritance. That was 1000 dollars.

When I was 7 years and 7 months old, names the 24th of February, 1824, on Sunday afternoon at 1 o'clock, my father died without having any illness. He said that he was tired and wanted to lay down for a while. That was at 12 noon. He fell asleep and never awoke. He was 80 years old and had never been ill during his lifetime. But happened after my father's death! My stepsister would not be satisfied and went with my guardian Broges to the court and an official came and locked my father's things and furniture in a one room. After four weeks passed, my mother got everything back but the district administrator (bailiff) took all my inheritance into his own hands. My guardian let everything go, since my mother didn't have any relatives that stood by her and could give her good advice. So I already got my father's church stand. My father had a nice seat or stand in the church and this church seat was passed down when the father died and became the oldest son's. If there was no son, then it went to the father's brother, namely this was a man's inheritance and it was similar for a woman. Four weeks after my father's death, my mother went to the Pastor and asked about the churchstand. The pastor gave her word that everything was in order, but my guardian hadn't bothered with this and the pastor betrayed me and assigned the churchstand to my stepsister's son. This was the pastor's neighbor.

Then my mother became seriously ill. She was 40 years old. The doctor and my neighbors felt that she would surely die. That night I sorrowed and nearly cried the whole night. My sister said ˆ should sleep. I answered her, "Our father is dead and now our good mother should also die. Then we will be abandoned (forsaken, all alone) and must rely on strangers." My sister was too young to have that much insight and understanding. After being in the sick bed for a quarter of the year, my mother finally recovered and I did whatever I could do to make her happy.

When I was 16, I went to work for an old farmer. He wore a comb in his hair as was the old style. He had as much land as here is 60 acres and I had to work that with his two horses. After a year, I received 16 dollars, two calfskin pants and two linen shirts. There I had it better, but there I also had an unfortunate day, which I fortunately came out of. There was a ravine that was about 100 feet deep. In it lay a log 18 feet long and 20 inches in diameter and there was no way that it could be gotten out except to wrap chains around it and pull it up with the horses. A hired hand (daily laborer) and I always had to help. All at once, the chain broke and the log went backwards again. To my luck, the log got hung up on a little bush, otherwise it would have rolled over me.

The old farmer was church president. In April, as I came home at noon from plowing, the old farmer told me that the pastor had sent him a letter and I should meet with the pastor at 12 o'clock. I thought perhaps that it was about the churchstand since it had been two years since I had been confirmed. When I went to the church I would go on my father's churchstand. The farmer's son was also confirmed. So on Sundays there were always 3 men on the stand and that was too many and I had my rights. I went to me mother and took her along with me to the parsonage. As we came, the old pastor had also called the superintendent to come. So my mother and I were asked to wait in the study and the old farmer that had received the stand was also there. Then the superintendent asked me, “Who gave you permission to sit on the churchstand? I answered, “No one had to give me permission. I understand enough now that I know what is right and wrong.” He said that no one had spoken up. Then I said, “Here is my mother.” He called my mother a liar and the old superintendent said that if I went on the stand again I would be fined 5 dollars. When I came home, the farmer asked me all about this. Of course they knew all these things already and he and the whole congregation were one together. I answer him, if so much deceit in the Lutheran religion was accepted, then I didn't want to hear any more of the Lutheran religion and I would change to a different religion. I took my horses and went out to plow. That night, my guardian came to me and spoke good words. I should stay away from the stand. He had enough legal problems from my inheritance. However, I still went on the churchstand and no one could get off of it. At that time began my unbelief and disrespect of the whole church leadership. And of my fatherly heirloom, the saxon authorities robbed me of it. After my father's death, the old bailiff died too. In this position the authorities placed a magistrate that made a bad law in which the inheritance of children under the age of 21 whose parents had died should go to him. He secretly invested it into second and third parties, which went bankrupt. From each of us that he had borrowed the money from, he had received his pocket money and all of us poor children lost everything and he ran away from it. One evening my guardian came to me and told me that he had had a letter drawn up to the king and I should give it to King Friedrich August in Dresen since every month he had two days of public hearings. Since from the other orphaned children there was no one who would undertake this, I left for Dresen on Wednesday. I had eight hours to go to Dresden since I had to be at the kingly castle by 10:00 o'clock in the morning. As I approached the king's castle, a sentry directed me toward a hall where more people were also waiting to address the king. Everyone received a number and I was number 3. A servant stood at the door, so everyone went into the king in order according to their number. When one was finished with his address, he went out another door. When it was my turn, the servant let me into the room where the king was. As I first went it, I stood still; I thought the king would be in his uniform, but instead he was in his back tunic. I noticed though that he had a star on his breast. So I walked up to him, bowed to him, and said to him, “Your Majesty, I beseech you. We are 21 orphaned children and the Noffen town official has swindled us out of our father's inheritance. Our guardians have gone to fight for us but have gotten no help, so I have taken it into my hands and have come to ask you to investigate and stand by us.” He answered that he would help us and at the next public hearing I would receive an answer. Four weeks later, I received an answer. If it was true what was written, the guardians should sue the district official. The king gave it over to a (prime) minister who sent us an answer that our inheritance was lost and no lawyer would take up our case. There is a saying, “A crow will no pick out another crow's eyes.”

At 17, I went to work for our town judge who had a large piece of land and 'ranch'. I was the second hired hand in one year. For the year's pay, I received 25 dollars. I worked with two horses which were each 4 years old and had never pulled a wagon. I was to train these two young horses. My boss had his own ideas and everything had to go his way. Because of this, he became a very poor man. He was very rich, and owned a brewery, a steam house, and steam mill. But everything had to be done his way. I knew how to work well with the horses. I was told to go plow a steep hill which I didn't want to do since one of the horses was very jittery when something touched its back legs and would immediately run away. In Sachsen we had a plow where the plow rod rested on small wheels. At 9:00 o'clock he brought me breakfast and asked how everything was going. I answered him, “Here is that slope. Now it is not so bad, but when I get to the worst place, the wagon will tip, the plow rod will hit the horses' back legs, I may have an accident. Don't blame me.” He answered, ”Stay with the job. The horses must get used to this.” When I turned the plow the wagon fell over. In Sachsen we surely would have the left horse on a leash and the right horse connected by the reins. So the right horse jumped over the other horse when the rod touched its hind legs. I jumped quickly in front of them and wanted to catch them by their leash. I fell between both horses but was back on my feet before the plow reached me. I wanted to try to catch them again, but they ran down the slope before I could. At the bottom of the hill was a path that went to town. There was a four foot high gate which they proceeded to jump over and tore the gate apart. Then came a cross road which had a stone fence on one side. Instead of going left they turned to the right and the wagon was hurled with great force against the stone fence and was torn apart from the plow. Fortunately there was a bush where the horses got caught. There I caught them and took them home. As I came to the farm, my boss sat in a shady place and smoked his cigar. He asked immediately, “What happened?” I replied, “As I told you at breakfast would happen, happened.” Then he asked if I had other hardware for the horses since the first set was now broken. I said yes. He said I should put on the new hardware and take the horses and go back to plow at the same place. Then he came into the stall and I had to give him my good whip. He whipped the horses so much that they didn't know which way to turn. When I came back to the place to plow, the wagon and plow were broken. This was the first unfortunate day.

The second day of misfortune was when I had to go to the mill at 1:30 to grind 3 bowls (9 bushels) of rye by 6:00 p.m. Two old horses had a hard time doing this in that time. At 6:00 I was not finished and it was dark. The miller wanted to see by lantern if we weren't almost finished. The lantern shined through the wheels and scared the horses. With a force, the spokes broke on one wheel and with the remains the horses went around and around in fear until all the spokes were broken. And I had to run after them. There was only one door. Everything else was closed so the splinters always fell around my head. Then I finally got the horses to stand still. The boss didn't go far in his life. He didn't have anything left in his old age.

When I was 18 years old, I went to manage a farm for a different farmer who didn't understand anything about farming because he was firstly foreman over woodcutters in the king's forest. He had earned so much there that he bought himself a farm which was being auctioned when a farmer managed his farm poorly and owed people money so that he had to sell his farm. For the year I earned 30 tahler, two calfskins made into two pair pants and two shirts. I had two horses to work with. Everything was in very poor condition. The farmer's son-in-law, who I knew very well, recommended me for the job since it was only two hours from my birthplace. He told me right away that I would have to look after everything since his father-in-law didn't understand much about farming. As I came there at Christmas and saw how disorderly the harnesses and wagon were, my enthusiasm (spirit) left me. I told my mother that if I wasn't allowed to put things in order, I would be coming home shortly, since he was drunk almost every day. When I had to go to work the first time, he let everything first be repaired. His neighbor had wood. Eight hours away from us there was a limekiln. There was no wood there to fire it, so the farmer sold some to him. So I took a load of wood and the farmer paid my travel expenses. On the return trip home, I took 40 bushels of lime which we would spread over the land in the spring as fertilizer. As I was coming home, there was a very high hill. There the farmer met me with two horses. I already had 4 horses. The hill was pretty high and I needed 6 horses to pull the wagon up, or I couldn't make it up the hill. As he approached me, he was so drunk that he could hardly stand it. It was shortly after Christmas, so the road was very poor and he walked behind the wagon. When the wheels on one side would sink into the mud, he thought the wagon would call over and he would scream at the top of his voice so that the horses would get so scared that I could hardly handle them. Since he was drunk, I had to handle all 6 horses alone. I told him to be quiet and he ran from me and told me I could drive alone and if something happened to me he would not help. When I came to the house, I gave him the bill. I purchased two new traces (ropes), had to have the sheet metal smith fix a chain and one horse had to get its shoes tightened. He told me that I had paid too much money; at home I could have gotten everything done more cheaply. I told him that when you are traveling and you come into difficulties, you have to pay more than you would at home where you normally buy and do things

In February I had to haul firewood with a sled. He had a “Brukjard”. I had to get up at 4 o'clock in the morning. No one woke me up. I had to see to that myself. The horses needed two hours to eat and at 6 o'clock I had to leave so I would be home by 11:00. At 2:00 in the afternoon I was to return, otherwise it would be too close to the night and the roads were not good to drive. With the early rising, the wife said to me one morning that it was unnecessary for me to get up so early. I was burning the lamp oil. (She liked to sleep late.) She said the horses ate as fast as old cows. I could not go out at night without his knowledge or against his will since he had my record book in his hands which was provided by the government. In it was written about a man's behavior and what he did the whole year. But I already knew how to take care of myself. On every farm there were 4 houses, namely the living quarters, storage barn and two houses which had stalls for the horses on the bottom and hay under the roof. Under one of the houses was a wagonshed and on the outside was a board wall. I pulled the nails out of two of the boards and when I left, I could pull the boards apart and put them back when I returned since all the doors were locked at 8:30 every night. Our gang sometimes had a place that we came together to amuse ourselves.

The last week in February I had hauled wood and at that place there was one horse so knowledgeable as here the Kuller but instead of a buckle there is a lock. I took the Kund to the blacksmith who should put it back in the stand. He couldn't do this the same day. There came my old farmer for lunch as I was feeding the horses. He came to me in the stalls and was so drunk that he could hardly stand. He asked me if I had gotten the kund from the blacksmith. When I told him, no” he began to scold me. I was to get the Kund right away and I wanted everything in order. It was broken before I came to work for him so it could stay that way. I answered him that with his poor harnesses and wagon, I didn't want to travel again. He had already reproached me that the other smith was so expensive, and if on my trip something should break. That angered me and I looked for a way to get out of my year of service and I could take up and leave.

The next Tuesday we had a Mardi gras ball. The farm hand that was there before me, the farmer couldn't stand. When I took up his position, the farmer forbad me to have companionship with him and never to bring him on the farm. But he was a good friend and I really liked him. I didn't bring him to the farm, but I always stayed good friends with him. I made a plan that would anger the old farmer. I went to the ball and also the old farmer who sat on a side bench and was an onlooker. I went and got a glass of bitters and in the middle of the hall, I drank to friendship with the friend whom the farmer couldn't' stand. When he saw that, he went into an adjoining room and played with the other farmers. Then I said to my comrade that he should dance with the maid-servant that also worked for my boss. I ordered coffee and pancakes. We had our biggest amusement and the old farmer always made a sour face toward us. The next day I said to the maid, “Today we will get either a good breakfast or a good lunch.” The maid laughed at me and said that I always had silly things in my head. Early in the morning he always sent again to the bar. When he came home at noon we were already eating. The innkeeper and the brewer were leading him. He sat down at the table, but out of drunkenness he couldn't eat because he began to scold at the maid and said she had danced with a rascal, a bad man. After that he started on me and said, “Karl, you have befriended, even had a toasted with a bad fellow. I will send you today to the devil.” (Go to Hell!) Both of the other men heard this. I didn't give him an answer and went quietly to my horse stalls and though about all he had said. His wife and daughter called after me saying that I should forget the bad words. It was a point for me that the innkeeper and the brewer had heard him say he would chase me to the devil. I was quiet the whole week and spoke very little. On early Sunday morning, I didn't go to eat. I fed and brushed my horses. His daughter came to me in the stalls and said I should come to eat. I answered that I didn't want to eat this morning. She asked if I was sick. I said, no, that I just didn't want to eat this one time. After breakfast, the cowhand came to me in the stall. I asked him what the old man was doing. He answered that he prayed the morning blessing, since on Sundays he was always sober, but during the week he was for the most part drunk from early in the morning until night. Then I went into his room and bid him a good morning. He immediately asked me why I hadn't come for breakfast. I told him that I hadn't had an appetite. Then I asked him if he remembered what he had said to me on Wednesday during the noon meal, also the curse that he would chase me to the devil, which I didn't like at all. I said that he better now write anything bad about me in the report book and that I wouldn't stay in his employ and he should find a replacement for me. In four weeks I would leave, since it was required by law that four weeks notice be given and I was not allowed to leave (quit) before the four weeks was up. So that whole week he gave me good words so I would stay with him because he couldn't keep me any longer because of the bad words. He had had two other workers the year before. Because of his drinking and careless management of the farm, the desire to stay left me. So he went to talk to the judge who told him that he couldn't keep me there. I couldn't foresee having a good earnings year. So he had to fill my record book with good notes and had to pay me two months wages.

I went home to my mother and told her that I was unemployed. So my mother asked me what I would begin now. I replied that I would go to the town of Noffen the next day and would become a postal carrier because working with horses was a pleasure for me as would be the yellow clothing and blowing the post horn. A man would ride for 4 hours between poststations where they would change off or relieve the horses, and then he would go back and sound a tune on his horn. So the next day, I went to the postmaster who already knew me. I asked him if he didn't need a postman, that I was unemployed. I told him how things had gone with the old farmer and I gave him my record book. When he had finished reading, he said I could come, but I had to work for four weeks as a stall servant after which time I would have a position. From there I went to visit an uncle who lived in that town and was a carpenter. When I arrived, he asked me what happened that I would visit him on a weekday. I told him about the whole story. When I told him that I was going to be a postman, he spoke against it and said that he believed the postal express with all the riding made stiff, old men who weren't worth much in their old age. I should become a carpenter like him and it was better that man learned a trade in his youth than work all his days as a farm hand. I told him that I had no money to buy the tools necessary and that if a person wanted to learn a trade, he must also be able to buy the tools. Then he said I should become a mason who needed only a hammer, trowel, and a plumb. I told him that masons were made fun of and regarded as lazy persons. He said to me that that was heresay, whoever has learned a profession well and worked hard didn't have to believe such sayings. (heresay) So we talked so long until I followed his opinion since during Mardi Gras there were always students taken on by the masters. So he sent me to the district master mason who lived in Noffen. As I came there, I gave him a hopeful greeting and asked him if perhaps he could not use me as an apprentice. He answered me that he could use no one else, he had already taken on two and I should go to his father who still wanted to take on another apprentice. He lived in a different town. When I came there he wanted me right away, but, I should first work for three months as a handyman. That, I didn't want to do. Then I went to the third city where there was a young mason. He had just become a master mason and I already knew him a little bit. It was night when I arrived. I was his first apprentice. If I learned well, I would become a mason quickly and would have much work. So the first year I got 3 Groschen pay a day. That was 3 cents American money and I had to support myself. Fourteen days I worked as a handyman then he sent me with an old experienced mason to a place where we had to build a wall against the river (bank of a river?) I didn't go back to being a handyman, but the masonry didn't suit me long. In the summer I worked at masonry and earned 2 shilling of which I had to pay the master 3 cents a day and still had to support myself. I finished my apprenticeship. In winter I had to thrash with the flail in the barn for the farmers from 5 o'clock in the morning until 6:00 at night. There I earned 2 silver groschen a day which was 6 cents (American money) and my board.

1838

In September a large building was being built at the silver mine, which was in my vicinity, and there were too few mine masons since the mine had its own masons. The arts master wrote to my master mason and asked if he couldn't send three journeymen. The building had to be finished by Christmas. So I was sent there. He asked me first if I trusted to build with the mine masons because good walls had to be built and the stones had to be split for it. That was not on the civil building where the master masons get contracts. So I started in September (St. Michael's Day). On the first day for breakfast we got a sixteenth beer which was a bit bigger than an eighth for us. There were several mine masons and the foreman that I knew well. The foreman paired me with an old mine mason with which I would build a wall and break stones. To this person I always gave whiskey for breakfast and was always very helpful when he had heavy stones to lay, so I helped him with that right away. This old mine mason showed and told me everything about the ways and customs of mine masonry. In November, we got a fierce cold spell so that we had to use boiling water for the lime and the stones froze in place as soon as they were laid. The cold lasted until the job was finished. The other two masons that my boss had sent with me stayed home and did not come back. Then the foreman asked me if it wasn't too cold for me too as it was for the other two. I answered him, “My good Mr. Foreman, if the mine masons can withstand it, so can I.” On the silver mine, there were 12 mine masons so there were another 12 masons from other mines brought there. The old mason that I worked with was also sheltered there and he always regretted it since at his mine he could go home and didn't need to pay for room and board and the pay was the same. He asked me if I wouldn't like to stay with the mine masons. I said to him that I really liked the job since I was already 22 years old. He said that he would tell the old foreman sometime. So he told this to the old foreman as he was alone with him and that he should take on more mine masons so that every time more masons were needed, they didn't have to be taken from other mines and their homes. He answered that he couldn't take on another. Then the old mine mason told him, “there is the journeyman mason Voland, whom I have worked with all this time. He is industrious and the work he does is good. The other two ran away and he lasted even when it got cold. He also wishes to stay on.” Then the foreman said he would keep an eye on me and would watch how I worked because in the next spring he would need 24 masons. So he came by often to see my work, but said nothing to me. So Christmas came and the building was finished and I received my discharge. Then I said to the old foreman, “I would rather that you would give me a steady job. I would gladly do any job that I could do and that I would not be afraid to do any job.” He replied that I should ask again later since at Easter he would need more mine masons. And so I went again to work for a farmer and helped with the threshing. When six weeks had passed, I went again to the old foreman and spoke good words. I asked that he should be so good that at Easter I would receive work at the King's silver mine. I had to support my mother until her death, and often the private masons work got a late start in the spring and when it rained I couldn't earn anything. In the winter, man had to speak kindly to farmers to get a couple of months' work threshing for them. So I wished that he would help me out and at Easter in the King's hill station in Freiburg take me on as a mine mason and write me in on the employment list. Then I would enjoy my life and work day to day and summer and winter. So he said he would do what he could. At that time our neighbor lady gave me good advice. If I wanted to become a mine mason, I would have to treat him to a back quarter of a pig. Her son was a school pal of mine who became a town mayor. She also did that. She said that she had one and would lend it to me and that I could pay it back when I had earned enough money. So I bought it for nine Thaler. She had had three daughters and she believed that I would marry one of them. That was why she was so helpful. I had the swine slaughtered and as the sun was setting, I sent a hind quarter to the old overseer's wife with a greeting from me by way of my mother. The old overseer's wife became wistful and I had already spoken so well to her husband that she would tell her husband and I should shortly go back to her husband and he would take me on.

Maundy Thursday 1839 - This morning I went again to the old foreman. On the way, I met the old foreman and the Register of records who were going to buy wood. Already from a distance, the register said, “There comes someone who wishes to speak to you.” The foreman answered, “I know him, but he can speak well.” When I came close to him, I took off my hat and said nicely, “Good Morning”. Immediately he answered that I should go home and provide my certificate and be in Freiberg early Saturday morning at 5:30. There was the king's office and there I had to go first to the officials and speak good words, namely first to the Head Officer, and there I had to knock at the door and lay my hat before the door and bow to him and then persuade him saying, “Your highest Herr Bergmeister, I have a request of you, please don't take it the wrong way, I would gladly in today's session be hired as a miner and be written in and would you be so good to me and help me out in this way?” And so I still had to go to the Herrn Kunstbaumeister, the Herrn Geschowornen and Herrn Schichtmeister, and speak to each of them in hopes of getting hired. I could do that well, but first I had to get my briefcase with my certificates and go to the doctor to get my small pox vaccination and then to my master mason. But my master mason didn't want to give me my certificate. He got angry and said that he had taken on a lot of masonry jobs because he was counting on me and I would first have to work 4 weeks for him (this was in the rules for laborers.) Then I gave him good words. He should give me my certificate. I could work at the mine daily and in winter and summer and have certain work and certain wages every 14 days as long as I could work. But no, he would not give me my certificate. Then I offered him 20 Thaler, which I would pay him 1 thaler every 14 days until he had 20 Thaler. But no, he would not give me my certificate until I had worked for him 4 weeks. If I would work for him for four weeks, it would probably be too late and the meeting would be past and I would not be installed. Because he wouldn't give me my certificate after all my begging, I said that I didn't want to hear any more about the private masonry and I would get my certificate another way. Then he called me again, that if he asked for me again and I didn't listen to his orders, he would have the police pick me up. I thought about it and went home to my town leader with whom I was good friends. I told him my side of the story, that my master mason would not give me a certificate and without one I would not be taken on with the Bergamt. He should write a certificate for me that here in my home town I was always honest and hard-working and that I behaved myself well and with decency. But that now I was pursuing masonry should not a word be written about since the master masons could cause problems for me because the Herr master mason knew me already because in 1838 I had worked a quarter of a year with the mine masons. When I had the two certificates, I went at 5:30 in the morning the day before Easter to Freiberg. I had 3 hours to travel and then I made my compliments the way the foreman had commanded me. At 8:30 the whole Bergbeamten were gathered at the kingly house (city hall). So were the 4 of us that were 22 years old there. We were taken first. The Oberbergmeister said that we should be taken on a town workers and written in. In regards to the earnings, when there was a shortage of work we were guaranteed 5 days of work and 8 hou8rs a day and in those eight hours, 5 Neugroschen pay which is 1 shilling American money. And we should not get a raise in pay since we were already so old. The boys that are 14 years old get 9 cents in 12 hours work and every year at Easter they would get a 3 cent a week raise until they would get 1 Thaler for 5 days work and 8 hours a day. As the Herr Oberbergmeister read that to us and we should always work for our pay, I took a few steps forward and said, “My Sir Oberbergmeister, please don't take this the wrong way but, firstly I must support my elderly mother. If I should marry, the pay would not be enough to support us. Then he answered, “The rules of the mine are this way and against these laws I can do nothing.” Then I quickly thought it over. I shook hands and was willingly taken in. I thought that for me, if it didn't work out, I could leave again. As I came in the front room, there was the old foreman who asked me if I had been taken on. I told him, yes, but that I wasn't satisfied that I would not get a pay raise. He answered me that I should be glad that I was written in, and if I would behave myself and worked hard, I would always find extra work. (Moonlighting) In six years, I would get a pay raise and so much would be added yearly just like the others. So the Tuesday after Easter 1839, I began my first work on the mine. There I had to drill holes in the cliff which was 14 feet in diameter. The mason foreman had to direct the steel drill and I had to strike with an eight pound heavy hammer from 8:00 o'clock in the morning until 11:00 o'clock and should have gone two feet deep and the rocks were very hard. At 10:00 o'clock, the old foreman came with two others and we had only dug 1 _ feet. I got blisters on my hands that broke open. I put my gloves on and then the blood came through the gloves. The other foremen asked the old foreman what was wrong with me. He told them that I was a new worker and I was doing my first job and that my hands were still soft and had to get hardened. Then there was a tunnel that was done with wood reinforcements that we 12 mine masons had to build the walls of. It took us two years to do and when there wasn't work on the mine to do, everyone went to work at anything at the mine. During those 6 years, I let everything else go. It was a job for young men; jobs of hauling or mining ore 144 feet deep in the ground. Two men pulled out 120 bins in 6 hours. Many times we didn't have enough time even to eat a slice of bread in peace and quiet. A strap from the wheelbarrow was tied onto the thigh and over the hips and a person wheeled this over eight inch wide planks. They walked very bent over. Many times the first days the book was under the straps.

Now I want to firstly tell more from what I can remember of my younger years. When I was 18 years old during the long winter nights, we young people often came together on Sunday nights. We entertained ourselves with either dancing or joking around and that is how I learned to dance. However, when there was a ball, I didn't have the courage to ask a girl to dance. Then I would have to first have a drink so I would get a little light-headed and have more courage. That changed after time went by and that was my favorite amusement when there was music. When I was 20 years old, I had to go to the recruitment office in town Noffen because of the Military. There were 20 of us schoolmates of which four of us had our names drawn and I was one of them. That was in November and 14 days before Christmas was the calling and that was in a town which was eight hours away. The name of the town was Rochlitz and there was the main office and also the cavalry was housed there. On Sunday we left home to be there early Monday morning to be at the Marketplace by 7:00 o'clock. Several of the farmers and my guardian said I should of my own free will mingle with the soldiers and perhaps I could through them receive my inheritance which had been taken from me. There were 600 of us young men at the Marketplace and we were divided according to districts. Then we were individually taken to a large hall. As we entered the large hall, we couldn't leave it by ourselves again; we had to have a uniformed watchman with us. From 1:00 o'clock until 5:00 o'clock in the afternoon we were each taken. Then the laws were first read to us and then three times was called for volunteers. At the first call, right away 7 men volunteered. But after the other two calls, no one volunteered again. I thought in my mind that I wanted to draw lots. If I volunteered and I couldn't get my fatherly inheritance, I would be very disappointed and sad. The recruits which studied the exercises would say, “You volunteer dog, why did you run to do this?” I waited until 6:00 that evening until I drew my lot out of the box and put it in the chief officer's hand. As he opened, he called, “259, you are free.” I was out of that hall very quickly and searched for two other comrades which had drawn their lots before me and one had been picked. I was as happy as a bird being released from its cage into the free air. Those that were drawn were locked in a room. I and a comrade left the town at 7:00 o'clock. As we were 5 hours away, and it was 12:00 o'clock midnight, we came to an inn that still had lights on, so we went in and drank a glass of beer. As we wanted to leave, my comrade couldn't stand on his feet anymore and had to stay overnight at the inn and I went on my way home in peace. At 3:00 o'clock, I knocked on my mother's bedroom window. She couldn't sleep out of anxiety and she looked quickly to the window to see if I was there. There was much joy. However, I had 6 years of army reserve because no one was free from being a soldier. I couldn't think about getting married or starting anything. A young man had to serve his time during his nice young years. As 6 years were over, I had to go back to the mining officers and speak good words. It was Easter 1846 when I got 12 pennies a week which was a 3 cent raise and in 1849 I had to do four weeks of testing work with dynamite on a site that was 7 feet high, 3 _ feet wide and 7 _ feet long. That was what we would receive according to our contract when we had worked one week. Then a boss would come and examine how much we had done in one week. After that he would make the contract. So we couldn't work longer than eight hours in one day and in 4 weeks our pay was 9 cents for 8 hours of work. If the wages didn't get that high, we would have to take the examination again in another year. I had to take an examination that was 5 weeks long and I had to work 6 hours a day. I wore only a shirt and pair of pants. The water was so bad that I tried to work 4 hours. But I hadn't worked even 15 minutes before I was soaked through and there wasn't a dry spot on me. Then I had passed my examination and I had to take an oath that I would always be truthful, hard-working and honest and if I saw something wrong at the mine that could cause harm I should report it. And then I received the same wages as the oldest mine workers and so I worked on the mines from 1839 until 1854 and did many unpleasant and dangerous jobs. The first quarter of the year that I worked in the mines almost killed me. The mine was already 900 years in existence and 1000 feet into the ground. With masonry, when there was a dangerous area. . .

When 8 hours had passed, my comrade went home and I would have to endure another 8 hours since I had many responsibilities and my mother to support. 1848-July 10. As I started working after lunch and wanted to start my masonry work, a stone hit me which had fallen down 40 feet and rolled toward me. The blood was spraying out of my left hand. I couldn't work for seven weeks. That was the only wound I got from that, otherwise I was close to death many times. One time we had to build out an area that was 200 feet deep and 20 feet across which was built out with wood and was going to cave in. When I left home, I didn't know if I would come back dead or alive. One time I was in a shaft when I heard a thundering sound. A box had ripped from the rope and I slipped quickly down a ladder 20 feet and crept into a corner for safety. Then once I had to work in the mine on a Sunday with 2 boys and we had to open a shaft which had gotten plugged with stones. I had to poke with a pole until it came down.

Karl Gottlob (Carl) VOLAND started to write the following letter to his brother-in-law in Germany after 1877. This unfinished letter was translated from the original German to English in 2006.

"My dear brother-in-law and Muhme and your son-in-law, your daugther Teresa and her children --

With God's help I take up the feather to tell you how I am. I'm still healthy and well, thanks be to God, and wish from my heart that my few lines find you healthy and well, too. I got your letter. It was 14 days on the trip here. I am glad that you are all still healthy and well. I am now content -- one needs to give themselves up to their fate. Now I love the solitude and think sometimes back to the past. I have already had many chances to marry -- good chances, too -- since I led a happy, contented life with my true, sweet wife, but no. It has not yet crossed my mind because it is hard for me to imagine I will ever again find such a caring and faithful wife. Because I still need to make melancholy days out of the time left to me, I would rather stay alone. If my daugther-in-law and son don't treat me well or hurt or irritate me, then they will have to take my money from me, because I now have left $1100 with my sons and for every $100 they have to pay me $6 in yearly interest. I have a certificate from each of them proving it.

My small farm is valued at $1800, with $1200 in the form of buildings and furniture as well as two cows, and I have kept everything in good condition. If I should be unlucky and have a fire, I will receive $1200 in compensation and if a bolt of lightening strikes a cow out of the clear sky, I'll be compensated $25 for it. We have a fire insurance group with 1200 members, and if one of us loses their farm to fire, everyone pays a part of up to $100 and after that, money will be raised until the total sum is reached and every five years we pay in again. When the five years are up, we aren't allowed to miss a payment; it has already happened that on Wednesday at noon the five years were up and that afternoon one of our members had a fire, but had no claim on our group.

My dear brother-in-law, for every $100 we have to pay 50 cents in taxes, but I don't have to pay any, since my sons pay it. The harvest didn't go very well. When the wheat was going to seed we had a lot of rain and then came the heat and the vermin. First the Schinbocks (some type of bug), they are like little gnats and stink like the Wanzen (another type of bug). These little animals come when the wheat is growing the kernels and eat off the roots, drying out the stalk and then the kernels stay small. Then a little maggot comes into the equation, and eats up the best part of the kernels. The summer wheat has always been the main crop for the farmer.

But, when the harvest isn't good, then everyone sows winter wheat. I too have sown 2 1/2 bushels of winter wheat. We brought in the harvest well -- we had good weather the whole time. We are also having a beautiful fall now -- today is October 14 -- warm days and fruitful rain. The winter wheat and rye has already grown six to seven inches and the volunteer oats already have kernels. The results from the sown bushels are varying; some have gotten six bushels to the bushel, some eight to ten bushels, some even 12 bushels to the bushel.

My dear brother-in-law, America is so big. There are regions where the grasshoppers have eaten up almost everything and where the people haven't even harvested the amount they need to eat. Then the people leave and look for another piece of land. We also had bad weather this summer and strong winds that blew over many trees. I had a bad harvest. I had a mere 24 bushels of wheat, 30 bushels of rye and 2 bushels of barley. I also earned $1100 this summer with masonry work. I work for myself. My old acquaintances who have small jobs always sayl, "I'll go get old Voland; he does a good job." Building baking ovens, sealing kettles and painting rooms white -- I earn a lot of money painting rooms. A paintbrush cost $5 and I need one every spring and fall -- they are different than the brushes in Saxony -- I am not allowed to have a window open and all the furniture stays in the room, but I'm not allowed to spray it. so, on some days, I earn $2 and get my food and drink for free. There are few days that go by that I don't have my glass of beer and I have a good reputation at the brewry. On Sundays I take a walk to the brewry where they like to see me coming and there I can drink as much beer as I have thirst, but I never get drunk.

The new farm house is 13 feet North and 18 feet from West to East. The cellar and above-ground buildings will stay in my possession and remain my residence as long as I live. Should I not stay there after a period of time and should I be somewhere on a visit, I have the right to close my residence and no one will have the right to go inside looking for anything. Should I no longer have my presence of mind or be able to care for myself, I shall keep a caregiver and we will have at all times the ability to come and go as we please, access to the well and as much free water as I need. I will also have a wood stack 12 feet square next to my residence where I can keep a cord of wood and split it. . ."

The letter ends, unfinished, and perhaps this last paragraph belongs to a missing page because it was on a separate sheet of paper. But, obviously, this gives some idea of how Karl was getting on after his wife died and the agreement he had made with his sons for his last years.

Johanna Rosa SCHOBER was born on 3 Dec. 1813 in Sachen, Saxony, Germany. She emigrated on 14 Aug. 1854 from New York, traveling with husband and 6 children. She died on 30 Jan. 1877 in Mequon, Ozaukee Co., WI. The following eulogy or funeral sermon for Johanna, which was with her husband, Karl's papers that were passed to me by a cousin, was translated from the original German in 2006.

"Like the clock that strikes the hours of the stars to the man as the years go by, so he continues to live against death, the end goal of all existence.

Mori, to think that you must die -- this thought occurs to no one as strongly as in the solemn, deep stillness of a cemetery -- beside the open tomb which stands ready to take the body of a now-departed pilgrim of the earth into eternal rest. Indeed, here beats every heart stronger and sunk deep in thought the people stand here -- the young man and the young woman, the man and woman of mature years, the old man and woman -- they all assuredly ask themselves quietly, how long will you still travel the earth's orbit, when will the first hour come when the light of the golden sun will go out for you, and you must then spearate yourself from the beautiful earth, from your loved ones, from your friends and acquaintances.

To be sure, some begin this trip early, others later, still others in advanced old age, but everyone has this particular trip to take. The prince on this throne, robed in crimson and precious stones, as well as the beggar in his rags -- here, everyone is equal. The earth, the mother to her own-made children, calls them back to her breast, back into her lap, and wraps the richest and poorest equally in her love.

Everything in the great, wide universe is developing; growth or life, destriction or death. Consider the starry sky with its million suns-- the stars rose from gas and, after millions of years of long wondering in immeasurable space, are smashed back into atoms. The plant grows, bares fruit, and wilts. So does man--the highest physical being is created through some strange power--he is born, grows up with difficulty, hurries through his life--one with restless, tireless activity, the other with contentment and calm prevailing--and dies.

For the thinker, the man who observes nature, Death is not frightening. He knows that death is an unalterable law of Nature. Neither does the free man, the man free of religion, fear death--no terrors of Hell threaten him, no Purgatory, no kingdom of eternal torture and punishement. The sorrowful cup full of fear and terrors will not be handed to him in his hour of death. The free man, after an active life, after a life full of humanity and love--he can look death in the eye with philosophical calm.

Of course, dear friends, we are filled with a deep and bitter pain of the heart when the one most loved and dear to us on the earth is taken from us; and what is the dearest thing that can be taken from someone? The mother! She is our best friend.

With what care the loving mother guards her little ones, how faithfully she leads their growth so that they grow into good and honest people, and even when they are grown and working, with duties and dignity, even then are the mother's watchful, loving eyes on them--she still guards and helps with her loving hand, even today, my dear ones! We are standing at the grave of a mother, a wife, who has forever been taken from her husband, who loved her above everything, and from her deeply mourning children--the grave of Frau Voland. To her husband, who stands at her grave, sunk in sorrow for her, she was a true, counseling life partner. She was a caring, loving mother to her children, a worthy and dear friend to her neighbors and acquaintances. She did not feel hate for anyone--she lived quietly and peacefully in her home--she was a friend to all of humanity.

Oh, that our most tender relationships here on earth are so suddenly torn apart, that we are so suddenly separated from those in whom we find the greatest happiness of our lives!

Quite understandably, dear relatives and friends, the departure is the pain and these tears for your beloved wife and mother are a tribute from you--and so it has been from the beginning. Since then people have grieved and cried at the death of a loved one and so it will be as long as people love one another and human hearts beat. A human being who was dear to us deserves our mourning and our tears that flow with their return to the lap of Mother Nature.

For this pain, for these tears, dear friends, there is only one sure, and that is time. Time heals all pain, closes even the deepest wounds. When you, the relatives of the departed, stand by the grave years from now, your tears will indeed wet the flowers that will bloom here, but those tears will have an alleviating effect on you and only in quiet melancholy will you remember your dear wife and mother.

Certainly every person, like the woman resting before us, is able to enter into eternal rest after a long, active life, after a life full of love and humanity. Such a life continues, is constant. Will the wave caused by the actions of a person become weaker and less noticeable the farther out it goes into the ocean of time? Who can say where its ripples completely end? Who can define the border where good deeds cease to have an affect? Who can say how many hundreds or thousands of generations it will take for the seed of goodness sown in a long life to stop bearing fruit? Where there is no border of time, there is eternity and such a life is eternal.

Frau Voland, the woman resting here in her grave before us, was born on December 3rd, 1813 in Saxony. In 1840 she married her husband Gottlieb Voland, who here mourns for her. Ten children came from the marriage, six of whom are still living and mourn with their father for their mother. Frau Voland reached an age of 63 years, 2 months and 2 days.

She was buried in Opitz Cemetery, Mequon, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin. Karl Gottlob (Carl) VOLAND and Johanna Rosa SCHOBER had the following children:

1. Wilhelmina VOLAND, born in 1843 in Saxony, Germany.
2. Frederick (Fritz) VOLAND, born on 27 Apr 1845, Saxony, Germany; married Theodora (Dorothy) STRUPPARDT, about 1869, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin; died on 17 Mar 1908, Manitowoc Co.
3. Carl (Charles) VOLAND, born on 22 May 1847, Saxony, Germany; married Anna Margaret WITTENBERG, on 29 Mar 1871, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin; died in Apr 1924, Milwaukee.
4. Ernst VOLAND, born on 23 Apr 1849, Saxony, Germany; married Mary STANGE, on 25 Apr 1875; Keil, Manitowoc Co., WI; died on 17 Feb 1917, New Holstein, Calumet Co., WI.
5. Robert VOLAND, born in Feb 1851, Saxony, Germany; married Maria HANDEL, on 14 May 1872, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin.
6. Wilhelm (William) VOLAND, born in Jul 1853, Saxony, Germany; married Dora STANGE, on 2 Apr 1877, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin; died before 1920, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin.
7. Louis VOLAND was born in 1859 in Wisconsin