An Immigrant Family's Story: A Custom Map (Part 4)

As I continue to share the story of my Peters ancestors' 1859 immigration, today I'm sharing a map my dad made using Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006 Editor. In a post last week, I discussed the various places their steamship, the Bavaria, passed on their journey. The details of the journey were found in a New York Times newspaper. In this post, I am retelling their journey as more of a story. I will continue to add details as I discover them.

Map created by Jon R Stewart

On June 14th, 1859, Joachim and Henrietta Peters boarded the steamship Bavaria in Hamburg with their four sons and two daughters: Louise (14), Eckard (13), Carl (10), Wilhelm (7), Heinrick (6), and Friedchen or "Freda" (4). They first took the short trip to Southampton where they probably stayed a few nights while merchandise was packed on board. Then, four days after leaving Hamburg, the Bavaria set sail for America. Shortly after leaving port, however, they evidently saw the American ship, Sonora, and "signalized" her.

It only took nine days to cross the Atlantic Ocean with "strong westerly winds throughout the passage." At that time, they came in site of Cape Race, Newfoundland who telegraphed New York letting them know the Bavaria had been sighted. "No ice" was seen.

Five days later, at 6 a.m. on the morning of July 2nd, the Bavaria passed Sandy Hook and entered New York Bay. Almost two hours later, she arrived at "The Battery, the 25 acre waterfront park at the tip of Manhattan." [Source: castlegarden.org]

The Peters family had dreamed of America, and now they were here.

[A huge "thank you" to my dad for creating this map! It took many hours of work, and I think it turned out wonderfully!]

The source of the newspaper article: Arrived, The New York Times, New York, New York, 4 July 1859, page 8, column 5, digital image, newspapers.com (http://www.newspapers.com : accessed 28 September 2016).

My Line of Descent:

• Joachim Peters (~1814-~1894) m. Henrietta Bingher (1817-1874)
• Carl "Charles" Peters (1847-1910) m. Fredericka Werther (1847-1888)
• Emil Peters (1877-1955) m. Myrtle Mae Coppenbarger (1880-1970)
• Hazel Peters (1910-1975) m. Edward Stewart (1910-1972), my grandparents

Do we have ancestors in common? I'd love to talk! Please leave a comment or email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net