1873: NY - Immigrating via England (Don't do it!)
January 15, 1873 - Der Lutheraner
It’s been four years since we began our emigrant mission in New York. Praise and thanks be to the Lord our God, who has called His children to this work in His kingdom, for His gracious help in all the difficulties and sorrows that it entails, as well as for all the blessings that He has so far bestowed upon it. May He forgive and make amends for all our failures and errors that have occurred due to human weakness, and may He also continue to demand and bless this work of our hands in years to come.
My time and strength have been abundantly employed as is proven in the following figures. Public newspapers rarely report on the state of our mission. Other groups publicize so in abundance – and those are often more concerned with the glorification of their author than with the truth. In spite of all this, commissions sent me have increased significantly compared to years prior. I have received them not only from congregations within our own synod, but from our entire Synodal Conference, from far beyond the borders of our church and our country. Additionally, the influx of immigrants was exceptionally strong this year.
Last year,
293,933 foreigners from almost all nations of the world landed in New York.
64,972 more people immigrated compared to the previous year.
683 ships brought them across the sea.
128,030 Germans arrived, the largest contingent of other groups.
What a bloodletting of our fatherland! These numbers do not even include the thousands of Germans who entered via Quebec, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, and Galveston. It is not surprising that the German government is becoming restless in the face of this mass migration and are trying to take measures to hinder it. This will be of little help. For the Holy Council of Divine Providence is quenching the desire to emigrate. Every time a great political upheaval occurs in Europe, it has resulted in a particularly strong emigration. This was true in 1848 and 1866. Last year’s emigration, which isn’t expected to weaken this year, is a consequence of the Franco-Prussian war and its natural aftermath. In addition, the sad state of affairs in many ecclesiastical circles drives thousands away from the old fatherland every year. Finally, the immigrants in America continually sponsor families. Thousands upon thousands would never be able to emigrate without this assistance from their relatives or friends in America. In short, the emigration from Germany and Europe has political, ecclesiastical and social motivations. Human reason and violence cannot affect these motivations, and therefore they cannot prevent emigration.
Traveling to New York via England
Many people travel to America via England. I strongly discourage this. No German who has traveled to New York via England would do it again. This method is much more arduous, time consuming and expensive than a direct German steamer line. First emigrants are brought by ship to a small English port. From there, they are taken by rail to Liverpool or Glasgow, and are accommodated in inns until the steamer can board them. When they finally embark, they find themselves among a class of people whose language they do not understand and whose behavior is mostly crude and disgraceful. This is truly a terrible journey, especially with a family! Also, a common complaint regarding these lines is that they routinely lose luggage which can either never be recovered, or only recovered with great difficulty, time, and money.
“It was strange to note how the different nationalities had drawn apart; for all English speakers were in the foremost bunks, and Germans and Scandinavians had clustered aft into a couple of pens upon the starboard side. This separation was marked and openly recognised. I remember coming down one morning to look for the Russian, and being told that I should find him ‘back there wi’ the Germans’. When Jones and I entered we found a little company of our acquaintances seated together at the triangular foremost table. A more forlorn party, in more dismal circumstances, it would be hard to imagine. The motion here in the ship’s nose was very violent; the uproar of the sea often overpoweringly loud. The yellow flicker of the lantern spun round and round and tossed the shadows in masses. The air was hot, but it struck a chill from its foetor. From all round in the dark bunks, the scarcely human noises of the sick joined into a kind of farmyard chorus.”
The Amateur Emigrant (1883), Robert Louis Stevenson
If the agents who sold these tickets told the truth, people would not even think about traveling via England. Sometimes people who want to travel back to Germany from America obtain tickets for Bremen or Hamburg via England. It is only when they arrive in New York that they realize they were deceived!
The ticket issuance from Germany to America and back involves many frauds. I take this opportunity to again state that you can turn to me for these transactions. Many have done so already and realized the benefit. I reach out to them before their departure and give them advice. I arrange to greet them upon arrival and advise them on the rest of their journey to the interior of our country. Agents usually only issue a ticket, collect the money and then leave people to their fate. Whether the travelers arrive safely, they care little or not at all. I am responsible for meeting immigrants and helping on their onward journey. Would it not be simplest and most advantageous if their entire transport from Germany were placed in my hands from the start? Likewise, those traveling from here to Germany only benefit from waiting until they arrive in New York before buying a ticket. Much is at stake when someone has already committed to a steamship company compared to those who can still choose when they arrive in New York.
Mission Work
But enough of this. I will now share some of my experiences. I begin, most importantly, with my mission work. This was mainly done through distribution of the well-known tract, written for immigrants. I distributed 21,869 last year, free of charge. It is a favorite among immigrants in Castle Garden, next only to the New Testament distributed for free by the American Bible Society – this is a work of incalculable blessing! No printed word is so gladly read, might I say devoured, as our tract. Protestants as well as Catholics, Christians as well as Jews, stretch out their hands for it as soon as I begin distribution. After a few minutes I see groups standing together or sitting on the floor while one reads it aloud. The content is found true and effective in the receivers’ hearts by how attentively they listen. There are occasional nods in approval and even tears that flow down their cheeks.
When I occasionally ask, “what did you think of the tract?” The response is usually, “Oh, it’s wonderful! What a pity if someone doesn’t read it! Whoever follows this must be doing well.”
Our Emigrant Calendar with its instructive and edifying content (2000 distributed last year), is also received with great joy. Reading it also has had benefits.
I received an old mother from Saxony upon her arrival and gave her this calendar. She told me last summer how her daughter had sorely persuaded her to join the Methodist sect. Even the Methodist preacher had harassed her repeatedly, and sometimes had put her in a position where she could not refute him. Then, one Sunday, when she was alone in the house, God placed in her hands the calendar I gave her. She had never read it. That day she read the story of a miraculous rescue from the snare of a Methodist. Through the article, she became even more certain of her Lutheran faith and declared she would never fall away from her mother church.
Shouldn’t you, dear reader, be moved by such fruits among the immigrants, to remember our mission when distributing your gifts? This is part of preaching the Gospel to all nations, which we are expressly commanded to do by the Lord.
In addition to the tract and calendar, I have also given away a large number of individual issues of “Lutherische Volksblatt” published by our brothers in Canada. They sent it to me free for distribution among the immigrants, and have scattered the unchangeable seed on many a heart with it.
It’s not surprising that in my missionary activity I occasionally encounter opposition, blatant unbelief, ignorance, or gross poverty. Sometimes a tract I hand out is returned because people don’t like it. Once someone tore a pamphlet to pieces and in anger threw it on the floor. I was unable to find the culprit in order to properly acquaint myself with him. Our publications are a thorn in the flesh because of warnings against joining secret societies. But, thank God, they are bothered by it! Almost everyone who has been in America before is returning from a visit to Germany. Using Scripture and reason, I try to point out to Lodge members their objectionable beliefs, but alas! I make little headway. In the end, their motto is: “I’d rather leave the church than the lodge.”
I’ve also disputed with Lutherans who have fallen away and joined Methodist or Baptist sects. Even in these cases I have never been able to do more than testify to the truth from which they have fallen away. In the case of apostates, Scripture is reaffirmed: “with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.” Psalm 18:26
I have many interesting stories, pleasant and distressing, that I have had with scoundrels, ill-mannered children, unfaithful spouses, thieves, squanderers, as well as those who have been visited by God with great misery, but time and space do not permit.
This much I have made clear, that I have ample opportunity to scatter God’s seed in all directions, although I can firmly grasp the sad truth of His parable of the fourfold field.
A chapel for holding Sunday pilgrimage services has not yet been found. The cost would be significant. No location could be found for less than $50,000 to $60,000. If all congregations in our Synodal Conference undertake the work, God will provide.
Services rendered to the Flesh
$19,334.90 received
$17,084.57 paid to immigrants
$1378.20 sent to Germany
$872.13 remains in our treasury, including $216.73 sent to me for my services
If there are any errors or irregularities in my accounts, I apologize and ask for your pardon. There are many days when the work is too much for me. Three or four thousand (or more) immigrants arrive in one day. On these days my office is a dovecot. One comes, one leaves; one wants to travel here, another there; one has travel money, the other not enough, a third lacks it entirely and wants an advance; one is missing his luggage, the other has a sick family member needing hospital care; one wants money exchanged, another needs railroad tickets, or to return an incorrect one; one is looking for work, another advice on where to settle; one has been cheated by an innkeeper or runner, and seeks help from me. Meanwhile, money needs to be received, paid, and sent. Letters have to be opened, answered and dispatched. If I could sit quietly in my office, I could get by, but often, while I have a room full of people, I am told that the steamer is unloading and her passengers are in Castle Garden! I have to tear myself away and seek and advise those recommended to me, and hand out my writings. Most understand that even with the best intentions, things do not always go as I wish. Nevertheless, I receive many rude and inconsiderate letters.
I received and forwarded a total of 500 lots or 1900 persons. Below is the breakout of where individuals traveled.
2469 letters exchanged
1495 from US and Canada
120 from Germany
1004 written by me
A missionary from India wrote asking me to take care of his brother, a soldier at Fort McPherson, Arkansas. I wrote to the brother and received this response:
“You dear letter is almost as though it had been sent me from heaven. For three weeks I have been lying ill in my quarters… in my distress I fervently pleaded to God for help and salvation… God’s ways are wonderful, but certain. He who walks in them is well kept. I have been hungering and thirsting for Holy Communion for a long time, but I have not been able to get it, nor do I believe that I will receive it in this wild place. But with God, nothing is impossible. I ask you to write me how I may receive the Holy Sacrament. I do not get more than 48 hours leave, and cannot get farther than the railroad station called Northplatte, 18 miles from here…”
Perhaps it would be possible for one of our pastors in that area to call on the man occasionally. I will communicate his name upon request. In the meantime, I have called his attention to our pastors who live nearby, and have attempted to explain how God’s grace is not only bound to the consumption of Holy Communion, but that it lies in God’s Word and is obtained through diligent prayerful reading of it.
$3572 was advanced this year. A large sum! Many send me money for arriving immigrants, but not enough. Others send none at all, but ask me to make the necessary payments. I wouldn’t object if a punctual reimbursement were always made. But many are so terribly foolish in this respect that I am frequently placed in awkward situations.
$614.70 is outstanding
$12.25 from 1869
$34.06 from 1870
$99.90 from 1871
$469.50 from 1872
These debts tie my hands to remedy the needs of new arrivals. Those miserable debtors, who have been helped out of great embarrassment with these emergency funds, but fail to repay them for years, despite repeated reminders, may well see how they’ll justify their sin before God. God’s word says, “The wicked borrows but does not pay back.” Psalm 37:21
I found employment for 87 people. Nothing causes me so much grief as this. Day laborers, farmers, and craftsmen are the easiest to accommodate, especially if I have a few dollars to send them west or northwest. I have requests from our communities for all kinds of workers. If workers have no means to travel, then advice is hard to come by. The hardest to accommodate are merchants, schoolteachers, scholars, and those who have finished German high school. These often wander for months and don’t find enough work to eat. There are schoolteachers who would benefit our schools, if they were to teach under the strict supervision of an experienced teacher. I have already placed several in our Eastern parochial schools, and they have proved to be faithful and diligent workers. Through my work, many preachers and teachers obtained a helper in their school.
This institution for emigrants, my name and ministry, are still unknown in our congregations. I kindly and urgently request all preachers who have a heart for our work among the immigrants, to draw the attention of their parishioners, as well as those they come into contact with, to the fact that they can and should turn to me in all matters concerning the welfare and well-being of the immigrants. Many pastors, by the way, take the trouble to inform me themselves of any orders from their parishioners and send me the money needed!
This year a special emigrant calendar will be printed. In addition to the main reading material of our usual calendar, it will contain tips and advice for immigrants, as well as a complete list of the fare for all railroads from New York to all the main stations in the interior of our country. It would be desirable that at least every preacher had a copy of it, for then it can be easily calculated how much money a person needs to travel from New York to a certain point. It would be beneficial if this calendar was sent to those in Germany who plan to emigrate to America. I can send a copy anywhere in the US for 12 cents and Germany for 15 cents. The proceeds go to our coffers. Orders will be filled by me immediately.
Finally, I must gratefully acknowledge the faithful assistance I have received from Mr. J. W. Reisig during the past year when my work was overloaded. I owe him this public thanks all the more because he has agreed to take over my work completely during my forthcoming three-month absence. You will find more information at the end of this issue.1
God grant that our Samaritan work among the immigrants may produce many fruits, grow and flourish this year as well. Yes, God grant it!
Amen!
New York, January 4, 1873
S. Keyl
13 Broadway
December 15, 1872 - Der Lutheraner
Fraulein J. Hesse in New York has kindly sent me the following articles of clothing for poor emigrants: 4 shirts, 3 underpants, 6 pants, 4 hats, 3 vests.
In thanking the kind donor for these items, I take the liberty of taking this opportunity to point out that the sending of worn men's clothing is very much desired, especially in the winter time, when I have ample opportunity to not only feed the hungry, but also clothe the naked, in order to protect them against frost and wind.
S. Keyl
The German has an advantage over his Celtic neighbor in his strong love for flowers, which not all the tenements on the East Side have power to smother. His garden goes with him wherever he goes. Not that it represents any high moral principle in the man; rather perhaps the capacity for it. He turns his saloon into a shrubbery as soon as his back-yard. But wherever he puts it in a tenement block it does the work of a dozen police clubs. In proportion as it spreads the neighborhood takes on a more orderly character.”
How the Other Half Lives (1890), Jacob A. Riis
Translated by N. E. Nieminen. Original German article found here.
Rev. Keyl traveled to Europe later in 1873 to connect with pastors, innkeepers, and steamlines in Bremen and Hamburg to better facilitate his mission work.