Johann Wolfgang Sperber – Part Six: 1850s – 1860s, Starting a New Life in America

This is the sixth part of a story about Johann Wolfgang Sperber immigrating to the United States. Due to its length, I have broken part six into two time periods: 1850 – 1868 and 1870 – 1905.


This is the sixth and final part of the story of Johan Wolfgang Sperber’s immigration to Gloversville, New York from the Grand Duchy of Baden.

The first of this story provided an overview of the family legacy John Sperber established in his new homeland, an historical background on where John was from in Baden, Germany, the influences on his migration to the United States, and the historical evidence of his departure and arrival to America.

The second part of John Sperber’s story describes his journey from Baden-Baden to Le Havre based on historical evidence and historical accounts.

The third part of the story assesses the three major inland pathways to European ports that John had options to consider. Since it is not absolutely certain that John sailed on the Germania from Le Havre, I have provided historical background on the relative accessibility of the three major routes John may have taken to make his voyage to the United States. 

The fourth part of the story provides possible explanations of why Johann ended up in Fulton County, New York working in the glove making industry.

The fifth part of the story covers his travel to New York City and his options to travel to Gloversville, Fulton County, New York.

The sixth part of the story covers his establishing a new life and family in the Johnstown and Gloversville, New York area in the 1850s and 1860s.

The seventh part of the story is about the John’s Family in the context of Gloversville’s development  in the 1870s and 1880s and John’s career in the glove making industry.

The eighth part of the story is about the Sperber family in the 1890’s and the twilight of John’s life after the turn of the twentieth century.


The Marriage of John and Sophie

It was Sophie Fliegel’s sister, Catherine, that lead the way for the family and immigrated first to America in 1848. She married Henry Krause in two years of her arrival to America in Little Germany, New York City. They started a family and then moved north to the ‘Village of Gloversville’, which was part of the town of Johnstown in census records, as reflected in map one below. [1]

Map One: One of Nine Towns in Fulton County: Johnstown in 1868

Click for Larger View | Source: Adaptation of original map found in Nichols, B., Assisted by H.B. Stranahan, W.A. Sherman, H. Loomer, P.A. Cunningham and S.W. Fosdick, New York: J. Jay Stranahan & Beach Nichols, 1868
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-6f08-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99/book?parent=29c2ee00-c5f8-012f-95c2-58d385a7bc34#page/1/mode/2up

Based on information from the New York state census of 1855, after seven years the entire Fliegel family was reunited in the Gloversville. The parents as well as the three adult children were living with Catherine (Fliegel) Krause and her husband Henry Krause and their three year old daughter Elizabeth.

It is interesting to note that column 13 of the 1855 New York census asks how many years the individual lived in the city or town (see below). The information provided to the census enumerator corroborate when each of the family members came to Gloversville based on their migratory patterns.

For the members of the Fliegel family that recently immigrated and arrived in January of 1855, the census corroborates that they were living in Johnstown for five months. The census was taken on June 14th, 1855. Catherine and her family moved to Gloversville in 1850. This fact is also corrobrated in the census tabulation which states the Krause family have lived in Gloversville for five years.

1855 New York Census – Krause and Fliegel Household

Click for Larger View | Source: New York, U.S., State Census, 1855, Fulton County, Johnstown , E.D. 2, Page 358, Lines 16 – 23

As Johann became adapted to American ways of life, he is referred to as John in census records. It is not known if John knew of the Fliegel family prior to his emigrating to the United States. However, only two years after Sophie Fliegel arrived in January 1855 and started a new life with her family in Gloversville, she and John found each other and they married.

“Selecting a spouse was a far from random matter, even from the point of view of a disinterested observer. Who married whom reveals a good deal about the values of those who immigrated … . First of all, they married their “own kind.”” [2]

Marriage Practices Among German Immigrants

Endogamy is the cultural practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, or ethnic group.

Exogamy is the cultural practice of marrying outside a specific social group, religious denomination, or ethnic group [3]

Only a severe shortage of suitable candidates within their ranks drove some German immigrants to seek spouses elsewhere.

Social scientists have long used intermarriage as an indicator of adaptation and assimilation of immigrants into the destination country. Various historical and social science studies have found low rates of exogamous marriage (marrying outside of a given ethnic group) among first-generation immigrants but higher rates among their U.S. born children, which has been interpreted as the weakening of cultural or ethnic ties and declining ethic group cohesion among the second generation. [4]

Nadel’s study of marriage patterns in Little Germany between 1840 – 1880 indicated a lower endogamy rate among Germans from Baden. Only 24 percent married other individuals from Baden. However, they had a high endogamy rate of 76 percent of individuals marrying spouses from other German states. [5]

“Linguistic compatibility may have been at least as important in the selection of a spouse, given the relative lack of mutual intelligibility between nineteenth-century German dialects. After all, a couple might want to be able to relax at home and use their native speech.” [6]

The predilection of marrying someone from the same German state or other German states was influenced by a number of contextual factors, such as the relative size and sex ratio (number of males to females) of Germans with in a city or area, how diverse was the population in the area, the share of the native-born white population in the area, and the proportion of life that immigrants spent in the United State. [7]

The marriage patterns of the Fliegel family siblings, based on the ethnic background of their spouses, reflect the general patterns associated with first generation German immigrants in America. Both Johann and Sophie were from Baden. While the spouses of Sophie’s siblings were not from Baden, they were German born in other German states, as reflected in table four.

Table One: Marriages of Fliegel Family Members that were First Generation German Born

Date of
Marriage
Family
Member
German
State
Origin
SpouseGerman
State
Origin
1866Rosina FliegelBadenLouis KnopfPrussia
1856Philip FliegelBadenMagdalen EdelWürtemberg
1850Catherine FliegelBadenHenry KrauseSaxony
1857Sophie FliegelBadenJohan SpeberBaden

John and Sophie’s Certificate of Marriage (below) indicates that they married on the second day of February 1857 in Gloversville, New York. The certificate has no identifying features that suggest a church or religious affiliation. It is not known if they were married in a church or had a religious ceremony in a home. A pastor, “L. Herrmann”, officiated the ceremony.

Original Certificate of Marriage February 2, 1857

Marriage document of John Wolfgang Sperber and Sophia Fliegel Source: Original Document from Family Collection | Click for Larger View

I have been unable to find any information on the pastor “L. Herrmann”. I have possible leads regarding the two witnesses, “J. Tiedemann’ and ‘Sophie Witzel’.

There is a remote possibility that I found Sophie Witzel in the 1865 New York State census. However, this ‘Sophie Witzel’ would have been 15 at the time of the wedding. In 1865 Sophia Witzel was 23 years old in 1865 and was a servant living with George and Martha Wilson who had four children ranging in age from 8 to less than a year. The census Indicates she was born in Germany. in 1865, eight years after the wedding, Sophia Witzel lived close to Philip Fliegel’s household. Based on the census enumerator’s path, the Wilson househld was the 280th house canvassed. Philip Fliegel’s house was the 276th household, four houses away. They essentially were neighbors. [8]

I also found a “J Tiedemann” who was a boarder on a farm in Grand Island, Erie County, in the 1855 New York census. Grand Island is right on the Canadian border near Buffalo and is roughly 255 miles from Gloversville. Due to the distance between the two towns, it is unlikely that this J Tidemann is the witness at Johna and Sophie’s wedding in 1857. [9]

Religious Affiliation of John and Sophie

It is not known if Sophie and John were associated with a specific religious community in the Gloversville area. Johann and Sophia’s families came from northern areas of the Grand Duchy of Baden that were largely associated with the Protestant faith. Their religious affiliation is reflected in the characteristics of prior generations of German immigrants that were from their area of Baden. The first wave of Palatine immigrants in the early 1700s that settled along the Mohawk River were mostly Lutheran. [10]

The German states were far from homogeneous in religious beliefs and practices. The southern areas of the Grand Dutchy of Baden were largely associated with the Catholic faith while the central and northern areas were mostly Protestant. Most of the Protestant Germans belonged to the Lutheran sect with a very minor fraction identifying themselves as Calvinist.

The historical strife in the German states in the seventeenth and eighteen centuries prevented Catholicism or Protestantism to establish itself as a sole religion in a state.

(E)ach german state established the religion of its ruling house but this sometimes left large portions of the population disaffected and alienated from the state religion. … This religious turmoil often weakened all religious ties in many parts of Germany and hastened the spread of secularization in the nineteenth century. … What especially distinguished German New York from many other immigrant communities was the overwhelming predominance of its secular subcommunities over its religious ones. ” [11]

As early as 1801 there was a German church in the Gloversville area, The Reformed Protestant German Lutheran Church of the Western Allotment of Kingsboro. The church was reincorporated and named the German Lutheran Church of Johnstown in 1810. The Lutherans having no church edifice of their own, were granted the privilege of using St. John’s church until they erected a church in the Gloversville village in 1815. The name of the church eventually changed to the St. Paul’s Church, Johnstown, N.Y. in 1826. I have not found the name ‘Herrmann’ associated with St. Paul’s church. [12]

While it was reported (i)n 1856, Fulton County contained 3,717 horses, 7 asses and mules, 7,416 milk cows, 1,420 working oxen, 13,484 sheep, 8,239 swine, and 30 churches”, I have been unable to locate evidence of a church that provided marriage services to John and Sophia. [13]

Some churches in the 1850s did not have their own dedicated buildings. It was not uncommon for some churches to worship in houses or other non-church buildings. The 1851 census of churches in the U.S. counted both churches with dedicated buildings as well as those without. It found 38,061 total churches, of which 3,130 (8.2%) were “halls, schoolhouses, private houses, etc.” used for worship in the absence of a church edifice.

“A church to deserve notice in the census must have something of the character of an institution. It must be known in the community in which it is located. There must be something permanent and tangible to substantiate its title to recognition. No one test, it is true, can be devised that will apply in all cases … . It will not do to say that a church without a church building of its own is, therefore, not a church; that a church without a pastor is not a church; nor even that a church without membership is not achurch. There are churches properly cognizable in the census which are without edifices and pastors, and, in rare instances, without a professed membership. Something makes them churches in spite of all their deficiencies. They are known and recognized in the community as churches, and are properly to be returned as such in the census.

“On the other hand, there are hundreds of churches borne on the rolls of religious sects having botb. a, legal title to an edifice ancl a nominal membership, wbich never gather a congregation togetber, support no ministry, and conduct none of the services of religion.”[14]

Starting Their Family

Sophie’s Personal Note

See the story: “The Art of Translation and Discovery”

An interesting fact about the start of John and Sophies’ family involves ‘their’ first child Rose Sperber.

Rose was born in October 1855. This implies that Sophie was pregnant when she was traveling to the United States. There are no records to suggest that Sophie was married at the time of her departure from Europe.

Rose was born out of wedlock and her biological father is not known. In a personal note written by Sophie after both of her parents had passed away, she mentioned that “Rose was one year and four months when I got married to Johann, he is her stepfather.”

It appears that Rose Sperber was conceived around the time of Sophie Fliegel’s arrival to the United States, at the beginning of 1855.  [15] Sophie arrived in the United States from Germany with the family on January 26, 1855. There is no mention of an infant or a child under one year old on the ship manifest list. It is not evident that Sophie had a prior marriage. She still had her maiden name when she married John Sperber in 1857.

Regardless of the sensitivity of out of wedlock births, Sophie and John lived within a time period where illegitimacy rates were high and in many communities out of wedlock children were accepted and treated equally. The reason for the increased illegitimacy rates in Europe and the United States are subject to academic debate but they nevertheless existed. [16]

The illegitimate fertility rate soared between 1750 and 1850, from one end of Europe to another.. In all but a handful of villages and cities for which data are available, illegitimacy rose, departing from modest plateaus of one to three percent of all baptisms, to often ten or fifteen per cent. Also prebridal pregnancy, women who are already pregnant when they marry, climbed dramatically. The percentage of first children born less than eight months after marriage in parish register data also rose along with illegitimacy in most places.” [17]

Rose’s biological father is not known. It is assumed that Sophie lived with her daughter in her father’s home prior to marriage. Within a year, she met and had a short courtship with John, they fell in love, they were married and started their family. Rose was accepted as John’s own daughter.


Relationship to Harold Griffis and his sons James and John Griffis

The First Child of the Sperber Family in America: Rose Sperber

To provide some historical context of who was Rose Sperber, according to oral family history and personal correspondence, Rose (Sperber) Knopf had a close relationship with her nephew Harold Griffis. When he was in college, Harold corresponded with his Aunt Rose. She was very proud of her nephew’s accomplishments.

Based on oral family history, Rose was a ‘favorite’ great aunt of James and John Griffis, sons of Harold and Evelyn Griffis. In the 1940s, both young James and John eagerly anticipated aunt Rose’s visits from New York City. As a married adult, Rose lived in New York City and she would visit the young boys living in Gloversville and Troy. The young boys were always excited to have Rose come to town. She would take them to movies, bring gifts from the big city of New York, and create wonderful memories with her grand-nephews.

Portrait of Rose Sperber Knopf

Click for Larger View
Source: Family Archives, photograph circa 1920’s

Establishing a home in the late 1850s & into the 1860s

When Sophie FliegeI and Johann Sperber arrived in the Gloversville – Johnstown area in the mid-nineteenth century, Gloversville was becoming a major center for leather tanning and glove manufacturing, industries that would dominate its economy for the next century. The village of Gloversville incorporated in 1853 as the glove industry expanded. Local business directories from 1856 show a variety of merchants in dry goods, groceries, drugs, clothing, and other goods and services catering to the growing population. [18]

By 1859, four-fifths of Gloversville’s inhabitants were directly or indirectly involved in the glove trade. Over $500,000 in capital was invested in the industry. Large tanneries and glove shops employed a significant portion of Gloversville’s workforce. Despite the growth of larger glove making shops, home workers and shops continued to sew the gloves from leather cut in the factories. Related businesses like box makers, sewing machine repair, and thread dealers emerged to support the glove industry. [19]

“(T)he manufacture of gloves never became one of mass production. The creation of each pair of leather gloves was the work of an individual craftsman. “The Glove Cutter” was personally responsible for the quality of his product. A middle management level was never developed in the glove industry. Each owner of any one of dozens of glove companies, both large and small, had a personal relationship with his “cutters” and sewers or “makers”.” [20]

The 1860 U.S. Federal Census captured a snapshot of the young family of John and Sophie Sperber (see below). John is listed as 31 years old and Sophie is 29. Rose is reported to be 4 years old and their second child, Anna, is 2 years old. John Frederick Sperber, their first of two sons, is reported to be 8 months old in August 1860. John indicated his occupation was in the ‘skin business’ and Sophie was a glove maker.

It is also interesting to note that John’s father-in-law Christopher Fliegel, age 72, is living with the young couple. The household also has two boarders living with them: Frederick and Rosa Leppert who are in their mid 30s. Both of the boarders were also born in Germany.

1860 U.S. Federal Census – Sperber Household

Click for Larger View
Source U.S. Federal Census, New York, Fulton County, Johnstown, Page 183 Lines 23 -28

An interesting observation in the 1860 census is the comparison of John Sperber’s household with the household composition of Philip Fliegel’s family, Sophie’s brother. The father, Christopher Fliegel, is listed in both households! (See line line 28 in the 1860 Federal Census above and line 28 in the Federal census below.)

It is difficult to determine how close each household was located to each other since street names are not provided. John’s household was the 1,432nd household canvassed by the census enumerator. Philip’s household was the 1,398th household canvassed by the census taker. The difference of 34 households is not much given the size of Johnstown – Gloversville. The two households were probably two or three streets between each other. It appeared that Philip Fliegel may have stayed at either of the households.

1860 U.S. Federal Census – Philip Fliegel Household

Click for Larger View | U.S. Federal Census, New York, Fulton County, Johnstown, Page 179, Lines 16 – 21

Christopher Fliegel was a widower in 1860. Five years prior, he and his wife immigrated to American with his wife and three adult children. As discussed above, he ended up living with their daughter Catherine and his family. After the death of this wife, Juliana, in 1867, he lived with the households of either his son Philip or daughter Sophia – both multi – generational households.

Distribution of living arrangements of white individuals and couples aged 65
or older, United States, 1850–1990

Click for Larger View | Source: Ruggles, Steven. (2003). Figure 1: Distribution of living arrangements of white individuals and couples aged 65
or older, United States, 1850–1990 in Multigenerational Families in Nineteenth-Century America. Continuity and Change. 18. Pages 139 – 165. 10.1017/S0268416003004466 https://users.pop.umn.edu/~ruggl001/multigenerational.pdf

Multigenerational Families in the Mid-Nineteenth Century America

For most of American history, multi – generational living has been the norm, not the exception. This is especially true in rural areas where the economy of a farm household relied on support of two or three generations of family members. This is also true for areas in the mid-nineteenth century that witnessed population growth in urbanized areas.

 A multi – generational household is characterized by adults from two or more generations, and potentially their minor children or grandchildren, all living together under one roof. The specific composition can vary but it goes beyond the “nuclear family” of just parents and minor children living together. [21]

In the United States overall, multi – generational living arrangements were very common in the 1850s through the turn of the century. Around seventy percent of elderly Americans aged 65 and over lived with their adult children or children-in-law in 1850. Only about eleven percent of the elderly lived alone or with just a spouse at that time. [22]

As reflected by the Sperber and Fliegel households in various Federal and state census , German immigrants were more likely than some other groups to live in nuclear family arrangements, at least when first arriving, while still maintaining connections to extended family. But overall, multi – generational households were still the norm for most Americans in the 1850s. The Germans’ greater propensity for independent living likely stemmed from factors like their occupational skills, cultural values, and the staggered migration of families. [23]

Multi – generational families were almost universal among the aged population of the mid-nineteenth century. Moreover, under the pre- industrial economic system, multi – generational living arrangements offered social and economic benefits to both the older and the younger generation. The great majority of families went through a multi – generational phase if the parents lived long enough. According to this interpretation, the multi generational family was a normal stage of the pre-industrial family cycle. Families were typically multigenerational only for a brief period after the younger generation reached adulthood and before the older generation died. [24]

As reflected in the graph below, between 1850 and 1910 there was no substantial increase in co-residence with increasing age of persons residing with one of their children. The average percentage of individuals living with their children declined. This finding is consistent with the interpretation that the elderly did not typically move in with their children for support – instead the children never moved out.

Percentages of White Persons Residing with One of Their Own Children by Age

Click for Larger View
Source: Figure 10. Percentages of white persons residing with one of their own children, by age, United States, 1850–1990. (Source: IPUMS.) in Ruggles, Steven. (2003) in Multigenerational Families in Nineteenth-Century America. Continuity and Change. 18. Pages 139 – 165. https://users.pop.umn.edu/~ruggl001/multigenerational.pdf

“Even though most households did not include multiple generations at any given moment, the great majority of families went through a multigenerational phase if the parents lived long enough. According to this interpretation, the multi generational family was a normal stage of the pre-industrial family cycle. Families were typically multigenerational only for a brief period after the younger generation reached adulthood and before the older generation died.” [25]

It has been suggested that the decline of the multigenerational family in the twentieth century is connected to the rise of wage labor and the diminishing importance of agricultural and occupational inheritance. [26]


“External forces shaped the way the (glove) industry grew in the decade of the 1860s. The newly invented sewing machines were improved enough to be adopted by glove-makers. The invention of dies revolutionized (glove) cutting.  County manufacturers began making dies, adding to one of the many industries spawned by glove-making. The Civil War had an impact in creased demands for gloves for the infantry and calvary, but shortages of both leathers and workers limited increased production. The burgeoning industry felt the aftermath of war much more strongly than the war years. Numerous factories sprang up and the county began producing fine gloves. Marking post-war growth, a railroad finally reached the county in the last years of the decade.” [27]

East Fulton Street (from the Four Corners), Gloversville (1860)

Click for Larger View | Source: Steve Oare, Johnstown, Gloversville, Broadalbin and More … Facebook Public Group, East Fulton Street (from the Four Corners), Gloversville (1860), https://www.facebook.com/groups/517141798366499

In the 1865 New York State census for the Gloversville – Johnstown area, the value of John Sperber’s home was $400.00. This is equivalent in purchasing power to about $7,707.21 today. [28]

John is reported to be 35 years old and his wife Sophie is 32. Four of their children were living at the time: Rosa (Rose) at 9 years of age, Anna at 8, Frederick at 6 and Katie or Kathryn at 2 years of age. Other records indicate that Kate Sperber was born on January 1, 1864. The enumerator evidently rounded up Kate’s age. [29] John Sperber’s occupation is listed as a “glove maker”.

1865 New York State Census – Household of John Sperber

Click for Larger View | Source: 1865 New York State Census, Fulton County, Johnstown, Page 387, Lines 33 – 38

1868: The Sperber Family and the American Dream

Roughly 16 years after arriving in the United States, the year 1868 was a notable year for John Sperber. It was a year some would say he was realizing the American Dream. John had a growing family in a vibrant community. He had steady work in the glove making industry. 1868 was also a year that he purchased a home and became an American citizen.

The American Dream is a national ethos and set of ideals in the United States that suggests anyone, regardless of their background or circumstances of birth, can attain their own. [30]

While the phrase “American Dream” was popularized by historian James Truslow Adams in his 1931 book “The Epic of America” during the Great Depression, the ethos and ideals of what would later be called the “American Dream” can be found in various writings and movements of the nineteenth century, even if the exact phrase was not yet used. Throughout the 1800s, waves of immigrants came to America in pursuit of opportunity, upward mobility, and a better life for their families – the essence of the American Dream. This immigrant perspective shaped the understanding of the concept. [31]

Truslow described it as “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.”

The roots of the American Dream lie in the Declaration of Independence, which states that “all men are created equal” and have the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The idea evolved over time, shifting from an emphasis on democracy, liberty and equality to a focus on achieving material wealth and upward mobility. While the existence and reality of this dream being real or and an illusion has been argued over time, the key aspects of this ethos is:

  • Freedom and opportunity for prosperity and success;
  • Upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work;
  • Belief that the United States is a land of opportunity that allows people to rise above the stations of their births; and
  • Owning a home and having a successful career as traditional markers of the Dream.

John Sperber became an American citizen in the fall on October 6, 1868, as reflected in the document of naturalization below.

Naturalization Document for John Sperber

Click for Larger View | Source: Family archives

Earlier in the same year, John Sperber purchased a home in Gloversville – Johnstown, cementing his stakes in his new homeland. The following is documentation in the Fulton County Index of Deeds, reflecting the purchase of property from Ellery and Edna Cory. The Index of Deeds for Fulton county noted the transaction on February 14, 1868.

Index of Deeds 1868 – John Sperber Grantee

Click for Larger View | Source: John Sperber, Grantee, Ellery R. Cory, Grantor, 14 Feb 1868, Entry Number 36, Page Number 115, “United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:62ST-8C2T : Sun Mar 10 17:41:25 UTC 2024), Entry for Ellery R Corey and John Sperber, 14 Feb 1868.

The recorded deed to the house indicates that John purchased the house from Ellery and Edna Cory, who were from Cooperstown, Otsego County, New York on January 2, 1868. John purchased the house for the sum of five hundred dollars.  [32]

The description of the property indicated:

All that tract or parcel of land situate in the town of Johnstown Fulton county and bounded as follows Beginning at the eastern end of a board fence on the Southerly side of the highway leading from the house in which Hezekiah Hulbent formerly lived to Francis Simmons Saw Mill and nearly opposite to the house formerly occupied by Jack Hoag and runs from thence Southerly near by a Yellow oak tree to a small Willow Sapling marked standing on the edge of a swamp thirteen rods thence westerly and parallel with said highway ten rods to a stake thence thirteen rods to the west end of the said board fence thence ten rods along the said board fence easterly to the place of beginning being the premises formerly occupied by Michael O. Burns and described in a deed from Henry Stassel to Ivers H Burns executed July 19th 1832.”

The Deed to John Sperber’s House 1868

Page One of the Deed

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Source John Sperber, Grantee, Ellery R. Corey, Grantor, 14 Feb 1868, Entry Number 36, Page Number 115

Page Two of the Deed

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Source: John Sperber, Grantee, Ellery R. Corey, Grantor, 14 Feb 1868, Entry Number 36, Page Number 116

To be honest, I would have a difficult time finding this piece of property based on the ‘legal’ description of the deed. I imagine the board fence described in the deed above is gone and the cast of property owners mentioned had already left the area.

Perhaps the Simmons saw mill referenced in the deed would provide historical and geographical context to locate John and Sophie’s home.. The saw mill referenced in the deed was one of many enterprises originally created by Francis Simmons.

“Andrew Dye (Simmons), eldest child of Francis and Elizabeth (Dye) Simmons, … grew up on the home farm and engaged with his father in farming and milling operations. Upon his succession to the property and business, he converted the old mill into a modern one, and engaged extensively in lumbering and manufactured lumber. His mill was equipped with modern woodworking machinery, and supplied his section with sashes, blinds, doors, etc., used in the erection of private and public buildings.” [33]

The Simmons saw mill was southwest of John Sperber’s property, as reflected in the portion of an 1868 map of Gloversville below.

John Sperber’s House in Relation to Simmons Saw Mill [34]

An interesting fact that is reflected in the above map. While the map is obviously not to scale, there is a property identified as “L. Nuff” which was close to John and Sophies’ property. The map of Gloversville on page 23 in the 1868 atlas of Montgomery and Fulton counties actually refers to the property of Louis Knoff. “Knuff” appears to be a phonetic pronunciation of Knoff. Louis Knoff was John Sperber’s brother-in-law who was married to Sophie’s sister Rosina (Rose) Fliegel.

Louis Knoff learned his trade in the leather tanning trade in Breslau, Prussia. He apparently came directly to Gloversville to apply his trade.  He started working in tanning shops in Johnstown. He eventually started his own business in Gloversville in 1861 which flourished and then built a factory and tannery in 1865 on South Main Street. Knoff was a widower with a son, Herman, when he remarried Rosa Fliegel in 1866. [35]

The general context of where John Sperber’s new house was in the village of Gloversville in 1868 can be viewed in the map below. John’s new home was on South Main street, “on the Southerly side of the highway”, as stated in the deed, on the lower end of the village along the Cayadutta Creek. His home was on the southern outskirts of town along the Cayadutta Creek.

John Sperber’s House in Context of the the Village of Gloversville [36]

Click for Larger View |

“Almost every city and village is situated on a stream or body of water which has been the determining factor in its location.  Johnstown and Gloversville has such a stream, the Cayadutta creek.  It is a small stream but it has had a great influence on Fulton county history.” [37]

The name “Cayadutta” comes from the Iroquois language and means “rippling waters” or “shallow water running over stones”. By the time that John Sperber lived by the creek, its original name did not reflect the actual conditions of the creek. The creek provided water power that enabled the early leather tanning and glove making industries to develop in Gloversville in the early nineteenth century.

One hundred years later from the time Johann Sperber lived near Cayadutta creek, leather tanning processes did not significantly change and the effects it had on the creek which runs through Gloversville and Johnstown. The creek ran rainbow colors from the materials and chemicals being dumped into it by tanneries. 

“There were about a dozen really big tanneries. And the creek ran different colors. Sometimes it was blue, and sometimes it was yellow and Sulphur-stenching, and sometimes it was a burgundy red color, but mostly it was just sort of a gray brown sludge. … The blue is chromium – that’s the tanning solution – and so the hides would come out bright blue. And then when they were done with tanning those hides, they would just dump that right in the creek, and the creek would run blue.” [38]

There were multiple tanneries and leather manufacturing operations, some quite large in scale, located along the Cayadutta Creek in Gloversville during the early-to-mid 1800s as the area became a major center for leather and glove production. The creek provided the necessary water power for operating the mills. By the 1860s, Gloversville was a growing village with about 500 houses and nearly 3,000 people. Leather tanning and glove making, centered along the Cayadutta Creek, were the dominant industries. [39]

The 1868 purchase of property was the first of five documented land indentures that I have discovered in the Fulton county land records that involved the Sperber family (see table below). First four involve John and Sophia and the fifth is associated with their son J. Frederick Sperber. Ella J. Sperber was Frederick’s wife.

New York Land Records of the Sperber Family

DateGrantorGranteeFulton County
Deeds
14 Feb 1868Ellery Corey & WifeJohn SperberVol 36 Page 115-116
08 Feb 1871John & Sophia SperberMichael KennedyVol 39 Page 412
25 Feb 1874John & Sopia SperberG & KSRR Co.Vol 45 Page 478
28 Jun 1882A. D. Simmons & WifeSophia SperberVol 59 Page 548
28 Nov 1886A. D. Simmons & WifeElla J SperberVol 68 Page 287

The next section of this story discusses the above mentioned land deeds associated with the Sperber family in the 1870s and 1880s as well as the family’s life into the twentieth century.

Sources

Feature Photograph: This is an amalgam of a cut out of an 1868 map of Gloversville in the center. Highlighted in yellow is the approximate location of John and Sophia’s house that they purchased in 1868. In the upper left hand corner is a cut out is John Sperber’s Marriage certificate to Sophia Fliegel. Below the marriage certificate is a portion of the Land Indenture that was the legal document for the sale of their new home. John’s naturalization paper, signifying his becoming an American citizen, is on the right hand portion of the banner..

[1] Gloversville was incorporated as a village in 1853 and as a city in 1890.  In the state of New York, Villages are municipal corporations voluntarily formed by residents within one or more towns to provide additional services. A village remains part of the town(s) it is located in, and village residents are still residents and taxpayers of the town(s). In contrast, towns encompass all territory in the state outside of cities and Indian reservations. Villages have their own local governments separate from the town(s) they are located in. Towns are direct subdivisions of counties and have their own town governments.

Village Government, New York Local Government Handbook, https://video.dos.ny.gov/lg/handbook/html/village_government.html

Town Government, New York State Handbook, https://video.dos.ny.gov/lg/handbook/html/town_government.html

Gloversville, NY, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 5 April 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloversville,_New_York

Johnstow, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 5 May 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown,_New_York

Administrative divisions of New York (state), Wiipedia, This page was last edited on 2 June 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_New_York_(state)

[2] Nadel, Stanley, Little Germany Ethnicity, Religion, and Class in New York City 1845-80, (Urbana:University of Illinois Press, 1990), Page 48, https://archive.org/details/littlegermanyeth0000nade

[3] Endogamy, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 4 January 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endogamy

[4] See for example:

Xu, Dafeng, Ethnic Endogamy after Settling Down for Several Generations: Evidence from the 1930 U.S. Census, The Conference Exchangehttps://paa.confex.com › mediafile › Paper18830

Angrist, Josh, Consequences of Imbalanced Sex Ratios: Evidence from America’s Second Generation, Working Paper 8042, Dec 2000, National Bureau of Economic Research,  https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w8042/w8042.pdf

Jimenez, Tomas R., Immigrants in the United States: How Well Are They Integrating into Society?, May 2011, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, Migration Policy Institute, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/publications/integration-Jimenez.pdf

Martin D, David Hacker J, Francesco S. Becoming American: Intermarriage during the Great Migration to the United States. Journal of Interdisciplinary History 2018 Fall; 49(2):189-218. doi: 10.1162/jinh_a_01266. Epub 2018 Aug 31. PMID: 31527926; PMCID: PMC6746435. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6746435/ 

Logan, John R. and Hyoung-jin Shin, Immigrant Incorporation in American Cities: The Case of German and Irish Intermarriage in 1880, https://paa2009.populationassociation.org/papers/91494

Logan John R. and Weiwei Zhang,White Ethnic Residential Segregation in Historical Perspective: U.S. Cities in 1880, https://paa2010.populationassociation.org/papers/101466

[5] Nadel, Stanley, Little Germany Ethnicity, Religion, and Class in New York City 1845-80, (Urbana:University of Illinois Press, 1990), Page 48 – 61, https://archive.org/details/littlegermanyeth0000nade

[6] Nadel, Stanley, Little Germany Ethnicity, Religion, and Class in New York City 1845-80, (Urbana:University of Illinois Press, 1990), Page 50, https://archive.org/details/littlegermanyeth0000nade

[7] Martin, Dribe, J. David Hacker, Scalone Francesco, Becoming American: Intermarriage during the Great Migration to the United States, Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 2018 ; 49(2): 189–218. doi:10.1162/jinh_a_01266 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6746435/

[8] A Sophie Witzel was found in the 1865 New York State census. She was 23 years old and was a servant in a household.

Sophie Witzel Documented in 1865 New York Census in Gloversville

Click for Larger View | Source: 1865 New York Census, Johnstown, Fulton County, Page 443

The preceding census page lists the house of Philip Fliegel:

Philip Fliegel Household in the 1865 New York Census

Click for Larger View | Source: 1865 New York Census, Johnstown, Fulton County, Page 442

[9] 1855 New York Census, Erie County, Grand Island, page 18  Line 10.

[10] “All three of the officially sanctioned German churches were represented among the migrants. Reformed parishioners were most numerous, making up 39 percent of the group. Lutherans made up 31 percent, and Catholics 29 percent. The remaining 1 percent were Baptists or Mennonites.”

Otterness, Philip, Becoming German: The 1709 Palatine Migration to New York, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2004, Page 21

[11] Nadel, Stanley, Little Germany Ethnicity, Religion, and Class in New York City 1845-80, (Urbana:University of Illinois Press, 1990), Page 91, https://archive.org/details/littlegermanyeth0000nade

See also Menear, Peggy and Jeanette Shiel , History of Gloversville, Copied from from The Gloversville Daily Leader, of the Date of Saturday, October 28, 1899, 13 May 2008, Fulton County NYGenWeb, https://fulton.nygenweb.net/history/glovshistory.html

[12] Frothingham, Washington, History of Fulton County, Syracuse: D. Mason & Co. 1892, Pages 262 – 263 https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Fulton_County/3QNIAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1

[13] The Gloversville Daily Leader, Saturday, October 28, 1899, Gloversville New York, page 15;

[14] Table XVII – (A) and (B) Statistics of the Churches in the United States at the Censuses of 1870, 1860, and 1850, Pages 500 – 526, https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1870/population/1870a-48.pdf

[15] New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island, 1820-1957, The National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010; January 26, 1855 arrival, Ship: Zurich, Lines 3-7.

[16] See for example:

Lee, W. R. “Bastardy and the Socioeconomic Structure of South Germany.” The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, vol. 7, no. 3, 1977, pp. 403–25. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/202573. Accessed 3 July 2023.

Shorter, Edward. “Illegitimacy, Sexual Revolution, and Social Change in Modern Europe.”The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, vol. 2, no. 2, 1971, pp. 237–72. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/202844. Accessed 4 July 2023.

Shorter, Edward. “Female Emancipation, Birth Control, and Fertility in European History.”The American Historical Review, vol. 78, no. 3, 1973, pp. 605–40. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1847657. Accessed 4 July 2023.

[17] Shorter, Edward, et al. “The Decline of Non-Marital Fertility in Europe, 1880-1940.” Population Studies, vol. 25, no. 3, 1971, pp. 375–93. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2173074 .

[18] The Gloversville Daily Leader, Saturday, October 28, 1899, Gloversville New York, pages pages 12 – and 13;

See also Menear, Peggy and Jeanette Shiel , History of Gloversville, Copied from from The Gloversville Daily Leader, of the Date of Saturday, October 28, 1899, 13 May 2008, Fulton County NYGenWeb, https://fulton.nygenweb.net/history/glovshistory.html

[19] Gloversville, New York, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 5 April 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloversville,_New_York

The Gloversville Daily Leader, Oct 28, 1899, Page 12 https://fulton.nygenweb.net/history/glovshistory.html

[20] Morrison, James, City Historian, City of Gloversville, https://cityofgloversville.com/residents/city-historian/

[21] The U.S. Census Bureau defines a multigenerational household as including three or more generations, such as grandparents, parents, and children. Pew Research Center defines multigenerational households as including two or more adult generations (with adults mainly ages 25 or older) or a “skipped generation” consisting of grandparents and grandchildren younger than 25.

Ruggles, Steven, Reconsidering the Northwest European Family System: Living Arrangements of the Aged in Comparative Historical Perspective, Volume 35, Issue 2, 12 June 200, Pages 249 – 273, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2009.00275.x 

[22] Ruggles, Steven, Multigenerational Families in Nineteenth-Century America. Continuity and Change. 18. 2003 ,Pages 139 – 165. 10.1017/S0268416003004466 https://users.pop.umn.edu/~ruggl001/multigenerational.pdf

[23] Liu, Philip, German Immigrant Family Structures, 13 May 2009, People of New York City, https://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/seminars/drabik09/articles/g/e/r/German_Immigrant_Family_Structures_c5bf.html#cite_note-1

Nadel, Stanley . Little Germany: ethnicity, religion, and class in New York City, 1845-80. Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1990

[24] Ruggles, Steven, Multigenerational Families in Nineteenth-Century America. Continuity and Change. 18. 2003 ,Pages 142. 10.1017/S0268416003004466 https://users.pop.umn.edu/~ruggl001/multigenerational.pdf

[25] Ruggles, Steven, Multigenerational Families in Nineteenth-Century America. Continuity and Change. 18. 2003 ,Pages 153. 10.1017/S0268416003004466 https://users.pop.umn.edu/~ruggl001/multigenerational.pdf

[26] Ruggles, Steven, Multigenerational Families in Nineteenth-Century America. Continuity and Change. 18. 2003 ,Pages 139 – 165. 10.1017/S0268416003004466 https://users.pop.umn.edu/~ruggl001/multigenerational.pdf

[27] Barbara McMartin, The Glove Cities: How A People and Their Craft Built Two Cities, NY: Lake View Press, 1999, Page 24

[28] Value of $400 from 1865 to 2024, CPI Inflation calculator, https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1865?amount=400

[29] Kathryn Sperber, Born 1 Jan 1 1864, Died 17 May 1941; Age 77, funeral was 20 May 1941 in Gloversville, cause of death: carcinoma of cecum, Undertaker: Walrath & Bushouer.

Prospect Hill Cemetery Gloversville, Fulton County, New York, USA, Section 8, Memorial ID: 114576667 https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/114576667/catherine-sperber

Click for Larger View | Photograph taken by James Griffis

Social Security Index / Application lists her birthday as 1 Jan 1864, U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007

[30] Adams, James Truslow, The Epic of America, Boston: Little, Brown & Co, 1931, https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.262385/page/n1/mode/2uphttps://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.262385

American Dream Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 3 June 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream

Investomedia Team, Reviewed by Somer Anderson, Fact checked by Suzanne Kvilhaug, What is the American Dream? Examples and How to Measure It, July 2, 2024, Investpedia, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/american-dream.asp

“The American dream.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, 22 Jun 2024, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20American%20dream .

Gibson, Kate, Pew finds nation divided on whether the American Dream is still possible, July 2, 2024, Moneywatch, CBS News, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/american-dream-is-still-possible-pew/

Defining the Dream: The American Dream, Penn State Behrend, 

https://behrend.psu.edu/school-of-humanities-social-sciences/research-outreach/the-institute-on-the-american-dream/defining-the-dream

Maciag, Drew, The American Dream: Is That All There Is? Is That All There Was?, Jan 30, 2024, Society for U.S. Intellectual History, Blog, https://s-usih.org/2024/01/the-american-dream-is-that-all-there-is-is-that-all-there-was/

Leonhardt, David, The American Dream, Quantified at Last, Dec 8 2016, New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/08/opinion/the-american-dream-quantified-at-last.html

Anonymous, Review: The Epic of America by James Truslow Adams, World Affairs, Vol. 95, No. 2 (September, 1932) , p. 131, Published by: World Affairs Institute

Wills, Mathew, James Truslow Adams: Dreaming up the American Dream, May 18, 2015, JSTOR Daily, https://daily.jstor.org/james-truslow-adams-dreaming-american-dream/

[31] The ethos and ideals of what would later be called the “American Dream” can be found in various writings and movements of the 19th century, even if the exact phrase was not yet used:

  • The concept of “rugged individualism” emerged as Americans pushed westward to explore and settle the frontier. This independent spirit was a key aspect of the American Dream.
  • The Transcendentalist movement in the mid-1800s, led by writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, emphasized self-reliance, non-conformity, and the importance of the individual. These ideas align with the American Dream of forging one’s own path.

The American Dream In The Nineteenth Century, “The American Dream in the Nineteenth Century .” Literary Themes for Students: The American Dream. Encyclopedia.com. 14 Jun. 2024 https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/educational-magazines/american-dream-nineteenth-century

Transcendentalism, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 14 June 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism, Sep 12, 2023, Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/transcendentalism/

Brodrick, Michael, American Transcendentalism, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,

“The American Dream in the Nineteenth Century .” Literary Themes for Students: The American Dream. . Encyclopedia.com. (June 14, 2024). https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/educational-magazines/american-dream-nineteenth-century

Chandan A., American Creed, Writing Our Future, National Writing Project, https://writingourfuture.nwp.org/americancreed/responses/1270-the-immigrant-dream

[32] John Sperber, Grantee, Ellery R. Corey, Grantor, 14 Feb 1868, Entry Number 36, Page Number 115, “United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:62ST-8C2T : Sun Mar 10 17:41:25 UTC 2024), Entry for Ellery R Corey and John Sperber, 14 Feb 1868.

John Sperber, New York Land Records, 1630 – 1975, Fulton County, Deeds 1867 – 1869 vol 35 -36, images 433 and 434, “United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975,” database with images, FamilySearch, Fulton > Deeds 1867-1869 vol 35-36 > image 434 of 677; Fulton County, New York

[33] Greene, Nelson, Chapter 103: Mohawk Manufacturing Statistics, History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614 – 1925, Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1925, Volume 3, Pages 1263-1264 https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/qOApAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj93vfQneOGAxWp8MkDHQfDDNEQ7_IDegQIDxAF

[34] The enhanced version of this map was originally from Atlas of Montgomery and Fulton counties, New York : from actual surveys, New York: Stranahan & Nichols, 1868, National Archive,  https://archive.org/details/atlasofmontgomer00nich/page/n53/mode/2up

However, the enhanced map is different from the map in the original referenced Stranahan & Nichols. The enhanced map contains a directory list of firms on the map.

[35] Louis Knoff Obituary, The Gloversville Daily Leader, 8 April 1893, Page 8

[36] This map was originally from Atlas of Montgomery and Fulton counties, New York : from actual surveys, New York: Stranahan & Nichols, 1868, National Archive,  https://archive.org/details/atlasofmontgomer00nich/page/n53/mode/2up

[37] Palmer, R.M., Fulton County Historian, Without Cayadutta Creek Gloversville Would Now Be Section of Kingsborough, 1949  https://fulton.nygenweb.net/history/glovcayadutta.html

[38] Amy Feiereisel, North Country at Work: Tanning and Glove-Making in Johnstown and Gloversville, North Country Public Radio, Nov 28, 2018, https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/37491/20181128/north-country-at-work-tanning-and-glove-making-in-johnstown-and-gloversville

[39] Cayadutta Creek, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 18 August 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cayadutta_Creek

Morrison, James, City Historian, City of Gloversville, https://cityofgloversville.com/residents/city-historian/

Greene, Nelson, Chapter 103: Mohawk Manufacturing Statistics, History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614 – 1925, Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1925

Volume 2: Chapter 120, The City of Gloversville, Pages 1656 – 1670 https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_the_Mohawk_Valley_Gateway_to_/aOApAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj93vfQneOGAxWp8MkDHQfDDNEQiqUDegQIDhAG 

Johann Wolfgang Sperber – Part Five: From New York City to Gloversville, Fulton County

This is part five of a story about Johann Wolfgang Sperber immigrating to the United States.

The first of this story provided an overview of the family legacy John Sperber established in his new homeland, an historical background on where John was from in Baden, Germany, the influences on his migration to the United States, and the historical evidence of his departure and arrival to America.

The second part of John Sperber’s story describes his journey from Baden-Baden to Le Havre based on historical evidence and historical accounts.

The third part of the story assesses the three major inland pathways to European ports that John had options to consider. Since it is not absolutely certain that John sailed on the Germania from Le Havre, I have provided historical background on the relative accessibility of the three major routes John may have taken to make his voyage to the United States. 

The fourth part of the story provides possible explanations of why Johann ended up in Fulton County, New York working in the glove making industry.

The fifth part of the story covers his travel to New York City and his options to travel to Gloversville, Fulton County, New York.

The sixth part of the story covers his establishing a new life and family in the Johnstown and Gloversville, New York area. This is the end of a rather long story that attempts to provide not only a discussion of the available ‘facts’ we have of Johann and his family but also provide a broader social and historical context in which he made this journey from Baden to New York state. Like a song, some of the ‘facts’ are a refrain from prior parts of the story.


Johann’s Journey from Le Havre, France

When Johann arrived in Le Havre, France to board a Harvre-Union line packet ship, it is not known how long he waited to start his trans-Atlantic journey. Johann may have already purchased a ticket in advance from an Havre travel agent on the French-Baden border before he started his westward journey across northern France. He conversely may have waited to purchase a ticket, given the uncertainties of travel, once he arrived in Le Havre. [1]

With a ticket in hand, he may have waited for a ship to board staying in or around the ‘German district’ in Le Havre. The German district, as discussed in a previous story, was a small area of about two and a half acres of land in the inner section of the port city. The German district existed for about forty years until 1856, after going through successive stages of demolition.

“This small port district of the old Le Havre … built on the former north-western front of the citadel . … . (the German district was) wedged between the barracks of the old citadel and the quay of the same name. Five small streets crossed the quarter, some of which were lined with shops and stalls. The 300 inhabitants, for the most part of modest backgrounds, exercised professions as diverse as sailor, day laborer, grocer, shoemaker or liquor shopkeeper. [2]

1845 Daguerreotype of the Port of Le Havre – German District [3]

The German District was a natural urban outgrowth of the successive waves of German immigrants traveling to Le Havre to start their journey to the United States. This small area of the port grew and prospered, providing services that were needed for the German emigrants waiting to board packet ships. Starting in 1846, the district was demolished in successive stages. By 1856, the district was no longer in existence.


Rediscovery of Historical Facts in a Daguerreotype Photograph

Gregory Saillard provides an interesting and wide ranging analysis of the 1845 Daguerreotype photograph of the Le Havre port shown above. His analysis and insight provides comparisons with drawings and paintings of the subject area during this time period.  

“(T)he photograph … undeniably constitutes, by its date (ca. 1845-1848), its nature (daguerreotype “in the open air”), its dimensions (full plate format), and its subject (a forgotten corner from the old Le Havre), a very important archive piece, at least on a regional scale.” [4]

Viewing the Angle of the Photograph of the German District with Old Maps

Saillard points out that among the most interesting elements of the landscape in the photograph is the presence of the Germain district, which can be clearly seen in the center of the image.  In his analysis of the old photograph he points out the angle from which the photograph was taken in the old port area of the city on an 1843 map.

Angle from Where the 1845 Daguerreotype was Photographed

Click for Larger View | Map source: Jes. Ct. de Saint-Genis (civil engineer) and J. Lenormand de l’Osier (lith.), Le Havre et ses environs d’après les Plans Parcellaires du Cadastre (Le Havre and its Surroundings According to the Parcel Plans of the Land Register), 1843, colored lithography, 155 x 207 cm, (detail), municipal archives of Le Havre, 1Fi2.

We can ‘zoom out’ further to view the Le Havre port and its environs by relying on digital version of the carte d’état-major (1820-1866).

The carte d’état-major is an amazing series of maps in terms of what it covers, how it was developed, and the organization behind the production of the map. The carte d’état-major is a general map of France produced in the nineteenth century by the French army’s geographical services (Dépôt de la Guerre). It covers the entirety of France in 273 sheets. It also reflects the use of cutting edge techniques (at the time) of topographic surveying and representation methods, especially for relief, which was based on leveling measurements. [5]


Johann was one of many Germans, particularly from Baden, who used the packet ship services from Le Havre to sail to New York city. Between 1830 and the early 1850s, Le Havre was the major port of embarkation for German emigrants to the United states from the Rhine valley area to the United States. It was not until 1852 that Bremen first superseded Le Havre as the major port for the emigration of German nationals. Even after 1852, Le Havre remained the port of choice for ethnic Germans along the southwest area of the Rhine valley.

As a Badener, Johann was not alone in departing from Le Havre. In 1852, the year that Johann departed from Le Havre, sixty-three percent of the total number of immigrants leaving from Le Havre were from the German confederated states. Of the sixty-three percent, thirty-five percent of the German immigrants were from the Grand Duchy of Baden. Of the German confederated states, only Bavaria had more departing from Le Havre with almost half of the German immigrants departing from the port. Together, Bavaria and Baden overwhelmingly represented the number of immigrants departing from Le Havre. [6]

Johann’s Ship – The Havre-Union Germania

One of the hallmark characteristics of the Havre Union Packet ship service was its regularly scheduled service between Le Havre and New York city. The monthly schedules for each of the Havre Union Line ships were relatively stable, barring unforeseen changes in weather or other issues that might delay a scheduled departure date. [7]

At the time of Johnann Sperber’s voyage, there were eleven ships that were making four regularly scheduled round trip voyages between Le Havre and New York City for the Union Line of Havre each month. At the time, the Germania was one of the newer ships in the Havre Whitlock Line. [8]

Standard Advertisement for the Havre-Union Packet Line [9]

Click for Larger View

Johann’s day of departure from Le Havre is not known. However, we can arrive at an estimate of when the ship Germania left port. If John Sperber arrived in New York City on June 14, 1852, as reflected in the Germania ship manifest, [10] then based on the reliance of information found in the company’s advertised ship schedule (above), his ship was scheduled to depart from Le Havre on April 8th 1852. If the ship departed on time, this implies the journey took 64 days.

However, records on the westbound passages for the ship Germania indicate the longest trip was 52 days. Since none of the ship’s documented trips were 64 days in length, It would appear that the departure of John’s ship was delayed at the port of Le Havre. Documentation on the ship indicate that the average westbound passage for the Germania was 33 days. John’s voyage to America may have started on or around May 8th, 1852. [11]

Stereographic Photograph of the Ship Germania at Dock in Le Havre [12]

Source: Collections and Research, Mystic Seaport Museum http://mobius.mysticseaport.org/detail.php?module=objects&type=related&kv=197389 | Click for Larger View

Based on the ship manifest records, Johann’s birth date was recorded as 1826. Johann Sperber was purportedly 26 years old when he came to America. His birth place was listed as ‘Bavaria‘. He traveled in the steerage area of the ship. The manifest indicated Johann’s professed occupation was a ‘cultivator‘, a farmer. 

Ship Manifest List – Johann Sperber: The Heading of the Manifest List & a Section of Page Six Where Johann Sperber is Listed [13]

While ‘Johann Sperber’ was identified as being from Bavaria on the ship’s manifest, it is possible he was summarily lumped in with the rest of the ‘Bavarian’ Germans he may have been situated with in the steerage area of the ship when the Captain went around and canvassed the passengers and compiled his manifest list. On an earlier page of the manifest list, the captain lists a number of emigrants from Baden.

The Arrival to New York City

Johann Sperber arrived in New York City in the beginning of hot summer in 1852. Johann arrived at pier 14 on the lower end of Manhattan on the East River (see map one below).

An article from the New-York Daily Times published on July 27, 1852 vividly described an oppressive heat wave gripping the city at that time that Johann arrived in America. The article, titled “The Streets in Midsummer”, stated that “The sun mercilessly beats down upon them all day long, heating the stones to the temperature of frying-pans.

“The Streets in Midsummer” is full of meticulous detail, social commentary, references to art and literature, and overwrought prose. (“Nor is it enough that a man’s juices are evaporated, and carried away in clouds perhaps, to tumble elsewhere in thunder showers, upon unconscious umbrellas.”)

The temperature peaked at 89 degrees in late July before the article appeared, and otherwise stayed in the mid-80s before dipping into the high 70s. This suggests the city in the summer of 1852 was experiencing extreme heat. [14]

Map one below indicates where pier 14 was in lower Manhattan. It also reflects the proximity of an area to the east of the piers where many German immigrants settled or stayed before they continued their journey.

Map One: Lower Manhattan New York City: Proximity of Kleindeutschland and The Havre Union Packet Ship Pier 14 [15]

From the 1830’s onward, New York city was the major port for the arrival of German immigrants. Germans that did not stay in New York city or its environs may have had plans to continue their journey further inland.

It is not known how long Johann Sperber stayed in New York City or possibly in other towns in New York state before he settled in Gloversville, New York.


Possible Scenarios and Awareness of Ecological Fallacies

There are a few possible scenarios that describe how Johann made decisions to ultimately arrive in Gloversville, New York and become a glove maker.

  1. With knowledge of his ultimate destination, he may have simply gotten off the ship and then headed north up the Hudson River to Albany and the Johnstown-Gloversville, New York area.
  2. He may have had a vague idea of heading to an area that past generations of Badeners from his home region established homes from prior migrations (the Palatine area around the Mohawk River). He may have stayed in Little Germany in New York City to gain additional information or work, to determine his next specific steps and possible economic opportunities.
  3. He may have had no idea of his next step. He may have stayed in New York city to gain a sense of what his next step would be and given a predilection toward adventure, was willing to try anything and make a new life for himself up north along the Mohawk river.
  4. He may have stopped at one or more intermediate places in between New York City and Johnstown.

What we do know is Johann Sperber married Sophia Fliegel on February 2nd 1857 in Gloversville, New York. It is assumed that they met in Gloversville at least within a year before their marriage or sometime in late 1855. The Fliegel family arrived in January 1855.

I cannot find Johann Sperber in the 1855 New York census for Johnstown, New York or in the various Wards of New York City. As a single young man who probably was a boarder in a household, he may have eluded the census enumerator. The state census in Gloversville was taken in August of 1855 in Fulton county. I do not believe their marriage was arranged, so it is a question of how long their courtship was in in late 1855 and/or 1856.

Timeline for Johan and Sophia

This implies that Johann could have lived in New York City one to four years before traveling to Gloversville.

We do not have evidence on many of the specific actions and stages of life related to Johann Sperber. When attempting to provide possible scenarios of his journey to Fulton county, New York, one must guard against the ecological fallacy of inferring Johann’s individual experiences and characteristics to be necessarily associated with various German immigrant groups or group patterns.

An ecological fallacy is a logical error that occurs when inferences about the nature of individuals are deduced and made from inferences about the group to which those individuals belong. We need to guard against erroneously applying group characteristics of German immigrant groups to Johann who is also part of that group. It is a common error when making inferences from aggregate level data without examining individual-level data. [19]


Arriving in New York city could have been treacherous regardless of whether one had clear ideas of their next step when departing the ship.

“One of the greatest problems for the emigrants was arranging for their travel in the United States. On both sides of the Atlantic aggressive agents, called Makler in Germany and “runners” in the United States, hustled to sell railroad and canal tickets. They often misrepresented the actual cost, facilities and travel time, sometimes selling completely fraudulent tickets.” [20]

The trials of the immigrant were by no means ended when he reached shore, for wherever he landed he was liable to fall a prey to the spoiler. Without the aid of friends who knew the snares that were set for him and understood the arts and wiles of the “bunco” men that lay in wait, he was fortunate if the first few weeks of residence in the land of hope and freedom were passed without the loss of a great part of his possessions including his health and freedom. [21]

(R)unners” met the incoming ships, and by ingratiatory manners, deception, and false promises, sometimes even by seizing the baggage as it was landed, beguiled or forced the immigrants to follow them to the resorts they represented. It is a significant fact that most of the boarding-house owners and nearly all the “runners” were themselves foreign born, and they plundered most successfully people of their own race.” [22]

“Railroad agents and private ticket sellers also sought to influence newcomers. For instance the New York and Erie Railroad sold tickets for departures from the wharf so that docking passengers would not be able to change their minds and head in a direction not served by that line. Whenever an immigrant ship came into port, there was never a lack of hungry agents and runners who swarmed about peddling their services.” [23]

Kleindeutchland” – Little Germany

Only a relatively short distance from the pier 14 where the packet ships arrived from the Le Havre was an area on the east side of Manhattan where Germans started to settle in the 1840s. The area became known as “Kleindeutchland” or little Germany (see map one above). In the mid 1800’s, this area of New York City could more appropriately have been called the “Upper East Side” since it was the northern edge of the developed area of eastern Manhattan Island. [24]

“The entire area reaching roughly from Division Street in the south to 14th Street in the north, and from the Bowery in the west to Avenue D in the east became a thriving center of German-American life and culture in the mid- to late 19th century – not only for New York City, but also for the country.” [25]

Many of the German immigrants who came during this time period, notably those who landed in New York City, settled down to live their lives on the Lower East Side of New York City. Beginning in the 1840s, large numbers of German immigrants entering the United States provided a constant population influx for “Little Germany”. Other German immigrants used this geographical ethnic enclave as a launching pad to find a spouse, establish social networks or gain information and resources to make plans to travel further west into the United States for jobs or land.

“Between 1855 and 1880, Vienna and Berlin were the only cities with a larger German population than New York. Together they constituted the three capitals of the German speaking world.” [26]

Map two below provides a ‘bird’s eye” view of where Little Germany was located in lower Manhattan. Although the map was created thirteen years after Johann’s arrival and a few buildings and docks may have changed in the environment, it gives a sense of the size and location of Kleindeutchland. I have highlighted the approximate area that encompassed Little Germany. [27]

Map Two: Bird’s Eye View of Little Germany in New York City

“By 1855, New York City, then consisting only of Manhattan, was the third largest “German” city in the world, after Berlin and Vienna, and by the 1870s it has been estimated that roughly 30 % of the population of New York City was made up of German immigrants and their American-born offspring. The core of that population lived in Kleindeutschland, the German cultural capital of the United States.” [28]

Kleindeutschland was composed roughly of the 10th, 11th, 13th, and 17th Wards of Manhattan. The 11th and 17th wards were the upper wards bounded on the south by Rivington Street, which were developed primarily through the arrival of these German immigrants. This area was not purely German, but the ‘Teutonic culture’ dominated in most parts. Wards four, five and six, which are contiguous and southwest of Little Germany, were areas that were predominately inhabited by Irish immigrants.

“The most densely Germanic area in terms of residents was the area around Tompkins Square Park, especially extending to the north and south. Avenue B, due to its importance as a commercial center, was sometimes referred to as German Broadway – Yorkville wouldn’t usurp the title for another few decades – and Avenue A rivaled it in importance simply as the main artery through the heart of the community. A bit further west, on and in the vicinity of the Bowery, were many of the important German social and financial institutions as well as places of recreation such as beer halls, theatres, and other attractions.” [29] See map three below.

Map Three: A Close Up of The Four Wards of Little Germany

Click for Larger View

If Johann Sperber stayed in Little Germany before he embarked for the upper New York state, he may have resided in any of the four wards of Kleindeutschland. Badeners and Wurttembergers seem to have been fairly evenly spread throughout the four wards in the earlier years with no major concentrations. [30]

Table One: Relative Concentrations of Immigrants from the German States in Kleindeutschland and Its Wards in 1860 [31]

Click for Larger View

As time went on Germans tended to cluster more than other immigrants in New York City, such as the Irish. Germans from particular German states had a tendency to live close to each other.

  • Grand Duchy of Baden: Johann Sperber’s fellow countrymen, the Germans from Baden, were found in all wards of Little Germany.
  • Kingdom of Prussia: The Prussians were most heavily concentrated in the city’s Tenth Ward.
  • Province of Hesse-Nassau: Germans from Hessen-Nassau tended to live in the Thirteenth Ward and in the 1860s and in the ensuing decades moved northward to the borders of the Eleventh and Seventeenth Wards.
  • Kingdom of Württemberg: Germans from Württemberg began by the 1860s to migrate northward into the Seventeenth Ward.
  • Kingdom of Bavaria: The Bavarians (included Palatines from the Palatinate region of western Germany on the Rhine River, which was subject to the King of Bavaria), was the largest group of German immigrants in the city by 1860. They were distributed evenly in each German ward except the Prussian Tenth.
  • Kingdom of Hanover: Germans from Hanover constituted a small group and had a strong sense of self-segregation forming their own “Little Hanover” in the Thirteenth Ward.

Although there was self-segregation according to homeland state, there were interactions between Germans of various states and with other immigrant groups in the neighborhood. Bavarians displayed the strongest ‘regional bias’ mainly toward Prussians. The most distinctive characteristic of their settlement pattern was that they would be found wherever the Prussians were fewest. [32]

While the neighborhood was called Kleindeutschland or Little Germany, the wards were not entirely German. Depending on the year canvassed, each of the wards ranged between 33-60 percent of the population as German born. The four wards combined were 65 percent German by 1875. Houses were two to four stories tall, often with a store on the ground floor and/or a workshop in the back, made of wood, stone or brick, and usually with a rear yard for toilets, laundry space, and a kitchen garden. [33]

In the mid-1850s, the tenth and thirteenth wards, retained an early character of urban architecture consisting of wooden frame structures as opposed to the emergence of newer masonry structures. Buildings tended to cover only a small portion of their lots. Each block was ‘a jumble’ of buildings and a maze of alleyways. Industrial workshops were generally tucked away on internal courtyards.

“Alleyways led into the interiors of the blocks, which were filled with the workshops and factories that accounted for 64 percent of the manufacturing establishments in the built-up portion of the city (and 57 percent of the manufacturing establishments in all of New York City).” [34]

The demographics of New York’s settlers had an impact on the city’s make-up as well. Skilled labor would stay in New York City if jobs were available or began to use New York merely as a gateway, staying for a few months before moving to homesteads in outlying areas or the Midwest. Immigrants that stayed in New York city tended to stay in areas close to where they worked. Walking was virtually the major mode of transport available to the immigrant population.

Map four provides a three-dimensional (3D) map showing population density in Manhattan in the year that Johann Sperber arrived in America. The map visualizes population density data in a 3D format, with height representing the number of people living in each area. I have outlined the area that comprised Little Germany in the map. The 3D rendering makes dense population centers visually stand out. Little Germany contained some of the highest density areas in New York City in 1852.

Map Four: Three Dimensional Population Density in Manhattan 1852

Click for larger View | Source: adaptation of a still shot of Solly Angel, Shlomo and Patrick Lamson-Hall, The Rise and Fall of Manhattan’s Densities, 1800-2010, Jan 9, 2015, NYU Narron Institute of Urban Management, YouTube, https://youtu.be/AGXJTwkc0CA?si=DF_qY78pCk8p4Usr

Between 1800 and 1910, density in urban Manhattan tripled from 200 to 600 people per hectare. A hectare is larger than an acre of land. One hectare is approximately 2.47 acres. The area known as Little Germany, which is now called the East Village, was significantly more dense than the average population density in the city, approaching 1,200 people per hectare.

As reflected in graph one, the density of Manhattan remained stable at approximately 200 persons per hectare from 1800 to 1840 but then it began to steadily climb. The area (modern day East Village) which was Little Germany in the 1800s, experienced a rapid increase in population density between 1840 and 1860. Little Germany’s density increased three-fold from roughly 200 people per hectare to 600 in 1860. When Johann arrived in New York City, the density of Little Germany was roughly 500 people per hectare.

Graph One: Density in Manhattan Neighborhoods

Click for Larger View | Source: An adaptation of a chart in Angel, Shlomo and Patrick Lamson-Hall, The Rise and Fall of Manattan’s Denisities, 1800 – 2010, Working Paper 1st 8, Nov 2014, Marron Institute of Urban Management, New York University, Page 17 Figure 17 https://marroninstitute.nyu.edu/uploads/content/Manhattan_Densities_High_Res,_1_January_2015.pdf

As indicated in graph two below, during the same time, Germans living in Little Germany experienced a drastic reduction in their respective living areas.  The floor area per person in Little Germany declined seventy percent from about 1,200 square feet per person in 1830 to about 350 square feet per person in 1850. This was well below the average of 500 square feet per person.

Graph Two: Residential Floor Area per Person in selected Manhattan Neighborhoods [35]

Click for Larger View| Source: An adaptation of a chart in Angel, Shlomo and Patrick Lamson-Hall, The Rise and Fall of Manattan’s Denisities, 1800 – 2010, Working Paper 1st 8, Nov 2014, Marron Institute of Urban Management, New York University, Page 18 Figure 18 https://marroninstitute.nyu.edu/uploads/content/Manhattan_Densities_High_Res,_1_January_2015.pdf

After Johann’s departure from the area, the living space in Little Germany continued to decline but at a less drastic rate to 200 in 1860. As population sky rocketed and living space did not increase at a commensurate rate, politicians, reformers, and scholars were seriously concerned with living conditions, notably in Little Germany, in the city’s crowded neighborhoods during this period. This is reflected in an opinion piece in the New York Times in 1876.

New York Times Article – Over Crowding in Tenement Houses in 1876

Overcrowding in Tenement-Houses
Click for Larger View | Source: Overcrowding in Tenement-Houses, Dec 3, 1876, New York Times, Page 6, https://www.nytimes.com/1876/12/03/archives/overcrowding-in-tenementhouses.html

The river districts of the eleventh and thirteenth wards contained some of the world’s leading shipyards. The Eleventh Ward was also the major slaughterhouse district, where more than half of the hogs in New York city were slaughtered. [36]

The thirteenth ward, compared to the other wards, had more and heavier industry. Artisans’ workshops gave way to small and medium sized factories. Some of these factories produced the same products as the artisans’ workshops and furniture factories predominated. Other factories operated on a larger scale such as a fire brick manufacturer with forty employees. [37]

Johann Sperber fit the ‘archetype’ example of ‘the German immigrant in New York city in the 1850s’: a young single German male in his 20s. In 1850, two years prior to his arrival, 66 percent of the German immigrants in little Germany were in their twenties and thirties, as reflected in the distribution chart below. In addition, the male to female ratio was 61 : 39 in 1850, indicating a heavy predominance of single males.  [38]

Graph Three: Ages of German Born Population in Kleindeutschland in 1850

Source: Nadel, Stanley, Little Germany: Ethnicity, Religion, and Class in New York City 1845-80, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990, Figure 3, page 27 (Highlighted area is mine) | Click for Larger View

There were many young men arriving from various German states in New York city. All looking for work and perhaps a potential spouse to start a family and a new life. Little Germany offered job opportunities and an effective mesh of social networks for gaining information on possible job opportunities in Little Germany and other areas where Germans were migrating.

When Johann reached America, he landed in a city that had a wide range of employment opportunities in a wide range of occupations. He may have stayed in Kleindeutchland and worked in one of the many occupations that Germans were employed in the four wards in New York City. He may have stayed in a shared living space with other single men to earn a sufficient amount of money to pay for transportation costs to the Mohawk Valley.

As stated in part four of this story, leather tanning and glove making were not novel artisanal activities in Europe. The various stages of the leather tanning and glove making profession and trade had an established history in various European countries.

Jobs in “Kleindeutchland

“The immigrants did not merely enter the economy as isolated individuals – they colonized it. At first the Germans dominated a few trades; then many trades, entire industries, and even whole sectors of the economy became German in character. … (T)he economy of Kleindeutschland evolved and became the basis for a German-American class structure, in which German factory workers and shopkeepers were flanked by a German criminal underclass and by German captains of industry.” [39]

Most of the occupations that Germans dominated were skilled trades or related to the distribution of food and dry goods.

“Some occupations were already German preserves, with Germans accounting for more than half of their practitioners. While many of these were small, specialized trades like furriers and brewers (with fewer than three hundred practitioners each in 1855 ), other German-dominated trades had thousands of members.” [40]

The following data in table two reflects the distribution of German born in selected occupations and trades three years after Johann Sperber arrived in New York City. There were other occupations in 1855 where the Germans were the largest ethnic group even though they were not a majority, for example, food dealers (3,045 Germans), peddlers (941 Germans), and musical-instrument makers (324 Germans).

Table Two: Numbers of German-born Workers in Selected Trades in New York City – 1855 and the Percent German-Born in Each Trade

Data and table are from Nadel, Stanley, Little Germany: Ethnicity, Religion, and Class in New York City 1845-80, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990, Table 11 Page 63

Transportation to the Mohawk Valley in the 1850s

Between 1852 and 1856, Johann had a number of options to reach the Mohawk Valley from New York City.

  • Roads: Stage coaches or wagons on the Highlands Turnpike or portions of the Albany Post Road to the capital area (Albany-Troy-Schenectady) could be utilized to make the trip northward. He then could have traveled west on roadways to Gloversville and Johnstown.
  • Waterways and Roads: In the non winter months, steamboats traveled frequently on the Hudson River between New York City and the Albany area.
  • Railways: Johann could have utilized the railway networks that recently linked New York City and the capital area. Once in Schenectady, Albany or Troy, he had an option to travel by rail following the Mohawk River and Erie canal to Fonda. The remainder of the short distance to Gloversville could be traveled by road.

Map five was published in 1853 but was created in 1848. It is the best map that I could find that depicts the transportation networks of road, rail and water that existed when Johann was traveling to the Mohawk Valley. As reflected in map five, there were a number of options. Gloversville and Johnstown are not on the map. However, you can locate Fonda, New York that is located on the rail line that mirrors the Mohawk River. Fonda is west of Amsterdam and east of Canajoharie. Johnstown is about six miles north of Fonda.

Map Five: Railroads, Canals, and Stage Roads Surrounding Hudson and Mohawk Rivers

Click for Larger Vew
Source: Modified map from Drake, Ira S, and Cowperthwait & Co Thomas. Mitchell’s new traveller’s guide through the United States, showing the rail roads, canals, stage roads &c. with distances from place to place. Philadelphia, Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co., 1853, created 1848. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/gm70005367/

Map Six provides a graphic depiction of the major roads that Johann may have utilized to get from the capital district area of Troy and Albany to Gloversville.

Map Six: The Old Mohawk Turnpike

Click for Larger View | Source: Annotated version of map found inGreene, Nelson, The Old Mohawk Turnpike Book, Fort Plain, NY: Nelson Greene, 1924, Page 6, https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Old_Mohawk_Turnpike_Book/fT9KAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1

The entire length of the Hudson River is three hundred and twenty-five miles. Ships could ascend the river as far as Hudson, one hundred and fifteen miles. Steamboats and sloops could reach to Albany and Troy, which was about 143 miles, as reflected in the following advertisements around 1851. [41]

Hudson River Day Boats Between New York City and Albany

Click for Larger View | Source: Disturnell, J., Disturnell’s railroad, steamboat and telegraph book being a guide through the United States and Canada : also giving the ocean steam packet arrangements, telegraph lines and charges, list of hotels, &c. : with a map of the United States and Canada showing all the canals, railroads, &c., New York: J. Disturnell, July 1851 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=aeu.ark:/13960/t5h99zh14&seq=17

Another advertisement, published in a travel guide (see below) in 1851 indicates the prevalence of various Hudson River steamboat lines that traveled between New York City and the capital areas of New York state around the time of Johann’s arrival to America.

Advertisements for Hudson River Steamboats

Click for Larger View | Source: Cobb, Charles, Compiler, American Railway Guide, and Pocket Companion for the United States; containing correct tables, for time of starting from all stations, distances, fares, etc. on all railway lines in the United States; together with a complete railway map. Also many principal steamboat and stage lines running in connection with railroads. New York: Curran Dinsmore & Co., 1851 , https://archive.org/details/american-railway-guide-1851/page/132/mode/2up

The biggest difference between steamboat and overland road travel was money and time. Overland travel took significantly longer than steamboat travel. Steamboats could travel fifty to one-hundred miles a day against the river’s current, but stagecoaches and wagons traveled only seven to twelve miles. Stagecoaches often moved slower because they had to change horses, and road conditions and weather also caused delays. Steamboat passengers usually paid less than overland passengers due to supply and demand. A greater supply of steamboats existed, all offering the same accommodations to passengers, so competition kept the prices low. [42]

Steamboats began their domination of Hudson River travel after Robert Fulton’s North River (often referred to as the Clermont) traveled from New York City to Albany in 1807 in a record 32 hours. Hudson River steamboats were called ‘sidewheel steamers’. They were unique in that they had two paddlewheels located in the center of the boat on either side. In contrast, Mississippi River steamboats have single, wide paddlewheel at the rear or stern of the boat. [43]

By the 1820s, steamboats on the Hudson were a common sight, running at night as well as during the day. Night boats became popular with businessmen traveling between New York City and Albany, who could travel first-class and arrive well-rested in the morning. While many of the steamboats afforded travel amenities for the emerging middle class, immigrants could obtain cheaper fares in steerage and on older and slower steamboats that were used for freight and steerage. [44]

In 1819 there were only nine steamboats in operation on the Hudson River. By 1840, there were more than 100 in service. By the 1840s, steamboat travel was the easiest and fastest method of transportation in the Hudson Valley. The trip from New York City to Albany took about 10 hours and 30 minutes. [45]

The Steamboat The New World on the Hudson River

Click for Larger View | Source: Buckman, David Lee, Old Steamboat Days On the Hudson River, New York: Grafton Press, 1907, Page 34, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Old_Steamboat_Days_on_the_Hudson_River/cvAZAAAAMAAJ?hl=en

“Each succeeding steamer cut down the time of the passage. In 1817, it had been reduced to eighteen hours and in 1826 the Constellation and Constitution had made the trip to Albany in fifteen hours. By 1836 a new boat, the North America, had cut it down to ten hours and the improvement went steadily on … . “ [46]  

Table three reflects the ongoing ‘race’ between commercial steamboat enterprises for the distinction of having the fastest boat on the river. As reflected in the table the travel time for the fastest steamboats on the Hudson River were significantly reduced between 1807 and 1849. When Johann arrived in America, the fastest steamboat was able to reach Albany in seven and a half hours. I imagine most of the immigrants traveled on steamboats that were not at the cutting edge of performance. The goal for the majority of steamboat operators was to reach Albany in less than 10 hours. The Hudson River Day Line steamboats in the 1860s claimed to operate under the “nine hour system”, taking 9 hours to complete the trip between Albany and New York City, with Poughkeepsie as the half-way point. [47]

Table Three: Speed Records in Steamboat Travel Time

YearSteamboat NameTime (Hour: Minutes)
1807Clemont32
1817Chancellor Livingston18
1826Constellation15
1836North America10
1849Alida7:45
1851New World7:43
1852Francis Skiddy7:30
Source: Buckman, David Lee, Old Steamboat Days On the Hudson River, New York: Grafton Press, 1907, Page 66, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Old_Steamboat_Days_on_the_Hudson_River/cvAZAAAAMAAJ?hl=en

Through the 1840s, steamboat travel was the easiest and fastest method of transportation in the Hudson Valley. It dwindled, however, in the 1850s due to the faster travel service and competition of the Hudson River Railroad.

Railroads were rapidly expanding in the mid-19th century. By the 1840s, a railroad grid was taking shape in New York state, providing a transportation infrastructure that fueled the growth of commerce and transportation.

Between 1852 and 1856, Johann could have taken a train from New York City heading north towards upstate New York. The Hudson River Railroad was chartered in 1846 to build a rail line from New York City north to Rensselaer, NY (near Albany). The full line was completed in 1851, one year prior to Johann’s arrival. This provided the first rail link along the eastern shore of the Hudson River. It reduced reliance on steamboat travel along the Hudson River and spurred economic development in cities and towns along its route

The Start of the Hudson River Railroad was close to Little Germany, as depicted in map seven.

Map Seven: The Start of the Hudson River Railroad in New York City

Click for Larger View | Source: Adaptation of map from an enlarged portion of a map by Moore, W. C. (draftsman), Robert Haering (Engraver), George Snyder (Lithographer), “Map of the Hudson River Rail Road from New York to Albany.” Map. N.Y.: Lith. of G. Snyder, (c) 1848. Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center, https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:ht250c54n

During the winter months, averaging from ninety to one hundred days of each year, the Hudson River was closed by the ice. (I)t proved a serious inconvenience, to say the least, for a channel, through which from one and a half to two millions of passengers were conveyed in the summer months, to be closed for the remainder of the year.” In the winter, when the river was closed the railroad was the major mode of transportation for both passengers and freight. [48]

Map Eight: The Terminus of the Hudson River Railroad in Albany & Troy New York

Click for Larger View | Source: Modified map from Drake, Ira S, and Cowperthwait & Co Thomas. Mitchell’s new traveller’s guide through the United States, showing the rail roads, canals, stage roads &c. with distances from place to place. Philadelphia, Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co., 1853, created 1848. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/gm70005367/

As reflected below, travel by rail took about ten hours between New York City and the capital area for the price of four dollars. Four dollars in 1850 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $161.06 in contemporary times. [49]

Click for Larger View | Disturnell, J., Disturnell’s railroad, steamboat and telegraph book being a guide through the United States and Canada : also giving the ocean steam packet arrangements, telegraph lines and charges, list of hotels, &c. : with a map of the United States and Canada showing all the canals, railroads, &c., New York: J. Disturnell, July 1851 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=aeu.ark:/13960/t5h99zh14&seq=55

Map nine is an amazing multipage map that depicts the entire length of the Hudson River Railroad, from New York city to Albany New York.

Map Nine: The Hudson River Railroad from New York to Albany [50]

Click for Larger View

Since this map is so long, for a closer look at various sections of this map, click on the following lnks for a particular segment of the map:

Map One | Map Two | Map Three | Map Four | Map Five | Map Six

The broadside advertisement [51] of the railroad schedule for the Hudson River railroad below lists twelve trains scheduled for departure from New York City. It is noteworthy that one scheduled night train at 7:30 pm was listed as an “Emigrant and Freight Train for Albany and Troy”. The fares possibly were cheaper than the day rates; and the quality of the ride to Albany was probably ‘below standard’.

Hudson River Railroad Schedule Published on a Broadside Advertisement- July 10th 1852 [52]

Click for Larger View | Source: Hudson River Railroad Schedule of Fares Between New York City, Albany and Troy, New York, 1852, Broadside Poster, The Henry Ford, 10 July 1852, https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/131241/

The following 1850s engravings depict a train with baggage and passenger cars near the town of Hudson, New York, traveling the tracks that parallel the Hudson River.

Train on the Hudson River Railroad, “At Hudson, N.Y.,” circa 1851 [53]

Wood Engraving of a Railroad Train, 1848-1852 [54]

Arriving in Troy or Albany, New York by rail, water, road left about 45 miles from Johnstown and Gloversville. Johann could have continued on rail service to Fonda, New York and then could have taken a stagecoach to Johnstown The distance between Fonda and Johnstown is only 4.6 miles. Otherwise, Johann could have traveld by road from the train station in Albany to Gloversville.

The area around Albany, Troy and Schenectady had a long history of developing segments of railway. The Erie Canal, opened in 1825 between Albany and Buffalo and followed the Hudson and Mohawk rivers between Albany and Schenectady. The 40-mile Albany–Schenectady water route included several locks and was slow. Stagecoaches traveled the 17-mile direct route between the cities. In 1826 the Mohawk & Hudson Rail Road was incorporated to replace the canal stages between Albany and Schenectady. The Mohawk & Hudson Railway opened in 1831 [55]

“One by one, railroads were incorporated, built, and opened westward from the end of the Mohawk & Hudson: Utica & Schenectady, Syracuse & Utica, Auburn & Syracuse, Auburn & Rochester, Tonawanda (Rochester to Attica via Batavia), and Attica & Buffalo. By 1841 it was possible to travel between Albany and Buffalo by train in just 25 hours, lightning speed compared with the canal packets. Ten years later the trip took a little over 12 hours. In 1851 the state passed an act freeing the railroads from the need to pay tolls to the Erie Canal, with which they competed. That same year the Hudson River Railroad opened from New York to East Albany.” [56]

Conclusion

Once Johann Sperber landed in New York City, he had a number of options for his future in America. New York City provided a geographical base to plan his future movements. For the 1850s saw major changes and improvements in transportation, ushering in what historians call the “Transportation Revolution.”

The biggest advancement was the rapid growth of railroads. In 1850, there were about 9,000 miles of railroad tracks in the U.S. By 1860, this had more than tripled to over 30,000 miles. Railroads allowed people and goods to be transported much faster and more efficiently than ever before. A trip from New York to Chicago that used to take over a month could now be completed in just two days. [57]

However, train travel in the 1850s was still quite primitive and uncomfortable compared to today’s standards. Passenger cars were hot and stuffy in the summer, freezing cold in the winter, and filled with smoke and soot from the engine. Seating was on hard wooden benches. There were no dining cars, so passengers had to rely on meager offerings at train stations, which often lacked proper facilities. [58]

Before railroads became widespread, stagecoaches were a common way to travel longer distances. In the early 1800s, a network of toll roads called turnpikes were built, with stagecoach lines running between major cities. By the 1830s, the travel time from Boston to New York had been reduced from 4-6 days to just 1.5 days thanks to better roads and stagecoach relays. However, stagecoach travel was still bumpy, dusty, and unpleasant. [59]

In addition to overland travel, steamboats and canals became important modes of transportation, especially for freight. Starting with Robert Fulton’s steamboat in 1807, a network of steamboat lines soon developed on major rivers. Canals were also built to connect waterways, with the famous Erie Canal opening in 1825. But by the 1850s, railroads had outpaced both improved roads and canals to become the dominant form of transportation.

In the early 1800s, the primary routes from New York City to the Mohawk Valley were turnpikes (toll roads). Stagecoaches and wagons traveled these rudimentary roads, which made for slow and uncomfortable journeys that could take weeks.

However, the transportation revolution of the early-to-mid 19th century brought major improvements. The Erie Canal, completed in 1825, provided an efficient water route between the Hudson River at Albany and Buffalo on Lake Erie, running through the Mohawk Valley. This allowed goods and people to be transported much more quickly compared to overland routes.

The development of railroads in the 1830s and 1840s further transformed travel. In 1831, the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad began the first regular steam locomotive service between Albany and Schenectady. By the 1850s, several railroads were operating in the region as part of the rapidly expanding New York state railroad system, including the Utica and Schenectady Railroad and Syracuse and Utica Railroad. These rail connections made travel between New York City and the Mohawk Valley substantially faster and more comfortable compared to previous decades.

For example, maps showing travel times from New York City in 1830 indicate that reaching Albany took about 1 week.

Click for Larger View | Source: Paullin, Charles O., John K Wright, ed., Atlas of the Hstorical Geography of the United States, Carnegie Institute of Washington and the American Geographical Society of New York, 1932, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Atlas_of_the_Historical_Geography_of_the/NbU5xRPiM-QC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=rates%20of%20travel

By 1857, that same trip only took around 1 day by railroad. The 80-mile trip from Schenectady to Utica along the Mohawk Turnpike that used to take days now took just a few hours by rail.

Click for Larger View | Source: Paullin, Charles O., John K Wright, ed., Atlas of the Hstorical Geography of the United States, Carnegie Institute of Washington and the American Geographical Society of New York, 1932, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Atlas_of_the_Historical_Geography_of_the/NbU5xRPiM-QC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=rates%20of%20travel

While Johann was traveling up to the Mohawk Valley between 1852 and 1856, the many options he had available were rapidly changing.

Sources

Feature Photograph: This is a portion of an 1847 map that also appears in Williams, Wellington, Map 19, Appleton’s northern and eastern traveller’s guide: with new and authentic maps, illustrating those divisions of the country. Forming, likewise, a complete guide to the middle states, Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Illustrated with numerous maps and plans of cities, engraved on steel and several wood engravings, New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1855,  https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b263188&seq=251

[1] Braunstein, Jean, L’émigration allemande par le port du Havre au XIXe siècle, Table: Emigrants Allemands Embarques Au Havre (1830 – 1870), Annales de Normandie, 1984, Page 102, https://www.persee.fr/doc/annor_0003-4134_1984_num_34_1_6382

[2] Gregory Saillard, Discovery of an unknown daguerreotype from old Le Havre: “The quai de la Citadelle circa 1845-1848” , 11 Jan 2023, The Classic, https://theclassicphotomag.com/discovery-daguerreotype-le-havre/

[3] Daguerreotype Photo Source: Anonymous, Havre, Quai de la Citadelle  ca. 1845-1848, full plate daguerreotype, 20 x 24,8 cm, temporary modern mount, private collection.; referenced in Gregory Sallard’s blog story.

[4] Gregory Saillard, Discovery of an unknown daguerreotype from old Le Havre: “The quai de la Citadelle circa 1845-1848” , 11 Jan 2023, The Classic, https://theclassicphotomag.com/discovery-daguerreotype-le-havre/

[5] Carte D’Etat-Major 1820-1866,  https://geocatalogue.apur.org/catalogue/srv/api/records/833fc566-cdbf-418e-8485-6fcd00af118b

The Service Géographique’s Carte de France refers to a detailed topographic map series produced by the French military’s geographical service, known as the Service Géographique de l’Armée. This map series, often referred to as the “Carte d’état-major,” was initiated in the early 19th century and played a crucial role in military and administrative planning in France.The Carte de France was notable for its scale and detail, typically at 1:80,000, which allowed for precise military and civil use. 

The production of these maps was a significant undertaking, involving extensive surveys and cartographic expertise. The maps were highly regarded for their accuracy and detail, including topographical features like elevation contours, waterways, and urban layouts, which were essential for both military strategy and civil administration.

Carte d’état-major, Wkiipédia, La dernière modification de cette page a été faite le 20 avril 2024, https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carte_d%27état-major

[6] Beckert, Sven, Empire of Cotton: A Global History, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2014, Pages 95, 148, 202, 205, 211 – 212, 216

See also: Dunham, Arthur L. “The Development of the Cotton Industry in France and the Anglo-French Treaty of Commerce of 1860.” The Economic History Review, vol. 1, no. 2, 1928, pp. 281–307. JSTORhttps://doi.org/10.2307/2590336

“En 1852, 63 % des 72 325 emigrants embarques au Havre sont des Allemands. Ce chiffre s’eleve meme a 78,5 %, soit 54 000 emigrants allemands, en 1853. L’ emigration allemande par le port du Havre a atteint alors un sommet qui ne sera plus depasse.”

Braunstein, Jean, L’émigration allemande par le port du Havre au XIXe siècle, Table: Emigrants Allemands Embarques Au Havre (1830 – 1870), Annales de Normandie, 1984, Page 97 (quote) and page 101, https://www.persee.fr/doc/annor_0003-4134_1984_num_34_1_6382

[7] Havre-Union Line, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 14 January 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havre-Union_Line

Albion, Robert G. (1965). Square-Riggers on Schedule: The New York Sailing Packets to England, France, and the Cotton Port (reprint ed.). Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1965, Pages 110, 126 – 27, 286 – 287

Fairburn, William A. (1945). Merchant Sail, 6 vols. Center Lovell, Me: Fairburn Marine Educational Foundation, 1945, Pages  1136 -1137, 1235, 1245, 1269

Holley, O. L., ed. The New-York State Register, for 1845. New York: J. Disturnell, 1845, p. 257.

[8] A ‘standard’ advertisement of the Havre Union Shipping Line schedule between New York and Le Havre provided standardize dates for departure and arrival for each ship. It was routinely posted in the New York Evening Post as reflected below:

  • Evening Post 12 February 1851, Page 4
  • Evening Post 21 February 1851, Page 4
  • Evening Post 16 May 1851, Page 4
  • Evening Post 29 July 1851, Page 4
  • Evening Post, 7 October 1851, Page 4
  • Evening Post 23 October 1851, Page 4
  • Evening Post 18 November 1851, Page 4
  • Evening Post 10 December 1851, Page 4
  • Evening Post 29 January 1852, Page 4
  • Evening Post 3 March 1852, Page 4
  • Evening Post 8 April 1852, Page 4
  • Evening Post 24 July 1852, Page 4
  • Evening Post 1 July 1852, Page 4
  • Evening Post 27 July 1852, Page 4
  • Evening Post 10 August 1852, Page 4

[9] Evening Post 3 March 1852, Page 4

[10] This record is found on microfiche Passenger lists of vessels arriving at New York, 1820-1897 United States. Bureau of Customs; United States. National Archives and Records Service [microform], slide 552 of 830, reel 114 – June 1-19, 1852 https://archive.org/details/passengerlistsoo0114unix/page/n551/mode/2up . The entire ship manifest list came be accessed as a PDF file.

[11] In its thirteen years in service, the shortest westward trip for the Germania was 26 days, the longest was 52 days and the average number of days the Germania took to reach New York City was 38. See Fairburn, William A. (1945). Merchant Sail, Volume II  Center Lovell, ME: Fairburn Marine Educational Foundation. Pages 1198 & 1298

[12] The photograph was a stereographic photograph of the ship Germania docked at the Quai Casimir Delavigne, port of Le Havre. The stereographic photograph was produced after 1850. Handwritten in pencil on back was “Packet Ship GERMANIA/ Chas H Townsend [sic.] Comdg”. The photograph was printed “420 Quai Casimir – Delavigne (Havre).” The GERMANIA was built 1850, Portsmouth, New Hampshire by Fernald & Pettigrew. It was part of the New York & Havre Union Line.

Ship GERMANIA at pier, Le Havre, France, Collections and Research, Mystic Seaport Museum http://mobius.mysticseaport.org/detail.php?module=objects&type=related&kv=197389

Stereographs became extremely popular in the 19th century, especially after the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. Cheap stereoscope viewers and mass-produced stereograph cards made the technology affordable and accessible to the general public. By the mid-1850s, stereographs had become a widespread form of home entertainment.

Johnson, David, Nineteenth-Century Virtual Reality Devices, Oct 19 2017, New Orleans Museum of Art, https://noma.org/stereoscopes-first-virtual-reality-devices/

Guthrie, Anabeth, Stereo Views: The Nineteenth Century Meets the Twenty-First Century, National Gallery of Art, https://www.nga.gov/press/exh/138/backgrounder1.html

Development of stereoscopic photography, Britanica, https://www.britannica.com/technology/photography/Early-attempts-at-colour

Falza, Labiba, Double Takes: A Brief History of Stereographs, Jun 30 2023, Library Matters, McGill University Library News, https://news.library.mcgill.ca/double-takes-a-brief-history-of-stereographs/

Christie, Ian, 19th Century Craze for Stereoscopic Photography, Gresham College, https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/19th-century-craze-stereoscopic-photography

[13] Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data:View Sources. “United States Germans to America Index, 1850-1897.” Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 18 July 2022. Citing NARA NAID 566634. National Archives at College Park, Maryland.

M237 Roll 114, 1 Jun 1852–19 Jun 1852, https://www.archive.org/details/passengerlistsoo0114unix

[14] Weiser, Benjamin, Heat-Struck, July 1852, New York TImes, July 26, 2013, https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/nyregion/heat-struck-july-1852.html

Weiser, Benjamin, Heat-Struck, July 1852, July 26, 2013, New York TImes, https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/07/28/nyregion/heat-struck-july-1852.html

[15] This map is a portion of the 1850 map made by Mitchell, Samuel Augustus, City of New-York, Hand Colored Map, 1850 Mitchell Map of New York City, Published by S. Augustus Mitchell, Philadelphia 1850.

Mitchell Map of New York City 1850

Click for Larger View

“This hand colored map of New York City is a lithograph engraving, dating to 1850 by the American mapmaker S.A. Mitchell Sr. The map epicts the island of Manhattan from 37th street (Kips Bay) south to Battery Park and Brooklyn from Williamsburg to Columbia St. The whole is shown in magnificent detail with many important buildings, ranging from the Brooklyn Naval Yard to important hotels and churches, depicted and labeled. One of the most visually appealing maps of New York City to emerge from the workshops of a mid-19th century American cartographer.”

Mitchell, Samuel Augustus, City of New-York, Hand Colored Map, 1850 Mitchell Map of New York City, Published by S. Augustus Mitchell, Philadelphia 1850; Online image: Geographicus NewYork City, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1850_Mitchell_Map_of_New_York_City_-Geographicus-_NewYorkCity-mitchell-1850.jpg

Information on the location of the Havre Union Pier is based on: Map of the Port of New York on the south tip of Manhattan Island in 1851. Source: From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. Map of the Port of New York on the south tip of Manhattan Island in 1851. Heavy broken line marks the waterfront below City Hall park in 1784. Area filled in prior to 1820.  The original source is unknown. The old illustration was found in Carl C. Cutler, Queens of the Western Ocean, Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 1961  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Port_of_New_York_1851.jpg

Information regarding the boundaries of Little Germany are based on information in Nadel, Stanley, Little Germany Ethnicity, Religion, and Class in New York City 1845-80, (Urbana:University of Illinois Press, 1990), Page 24

[19] Ecological Fallacy, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 15 May 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_fallacy

Hsieh, John J.. “ecological fallacy”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Sep. 2017, https://www.britannica.com/science/ecological-fallacy

[20] Hoerder, Dirk. “The Traffic of Emigration via Bremen/Bremerhaven: Merchants’ Interests, Protective Legislation, and Migrants’ Experiences.” Journal of American Ethnic History, vol. 13, no. 1, 1993, pp. 76. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27501115

[21] Thomas W. Page, “The Transportation of Immigrants and Reception Arrangements in the Nineteenth Century.” Journal of Political Economy, vol. 19, no. 9, 1911, pp. 744. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1820349 .

[22] Ibid, Page 744

[23] Rippley, La Vern J. “Official Action by Wisconsin to Recruit Immigrants, 1850-1890.” Yearbook of German-American Studies, vol. 18, 1983, pp. 185-196; Page 186

[24] Nadel, Stanley, Little Germany Ethnicity, Religion, and Class in New York City 1845-80, (Urbana:University of Illinois Press, 1990), Page 24, https://archive.org/details/littlegermanyeth0000nade

Herman, David, Revisiting Kleindeutschland, the East Village’s Little Germany, Oct 6, 2022, Off the Grid: Village Preservation Blog, https://www.villagepreservation.org/2022/10/06/revisiting-kleindeutschland-the-east-villages-little-germany/

Moses, Richard, Kleindeutschland: Little Germany in the Lower East Side, Lower East Side Preservation Initiative (L.E.S.P.I.), https://lespi-nyc.org/kleindeutschland-little-germany-in-the-lower-east-side/

Herman, David, Revisiting Kleindeutschland, the East Village’s Little Germany, Oct 6, 2022, Off the Grid: Village Preservation Blog, https://www.villagepreservation.org/2022/10/06/revisiting-kleindeutschland-the-east-villages-little-germany/

Schulz, Dana, Kleindeutschland: The History of the East Village’s Little Germany, Oct 2, 2014, 6sqft New York City, https://www.6sqft.com/kleindeutschland-the-history-of-the-east-villages-little-germany/

Little Germany, Manhattan, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 22 November 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Germany,_Manhattan

Carter, Abi, Little Germany, NYC: The rise and fall of a New York German community , 22 Sep 2023, https://www.iamexpat.de/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/little-germany-nyc-rise-and-fall-new-york-german-community

Yarce, Julio, What’s Left of Little Germany in NYC, Kleindeutschland, Untapped New York, https://untappedcities.com/2021/01/28/little-germany-nyc/

Lebkuchen, Leckerlee, A Brief History of Kleindeutschland in NYC, Nov 18, 2016, Leckerlee, https://leckerlee.com/blogs/blog/a-brief-history-of-kleindeutschland

Carr, Nick, Remnants of Kleindeutschland (Little Germany), May 11, 2009, Scouting in New York Blog, https://www.scoutingny.com/remnents-of-kleindeutschland-little-germany/

The Decline and Fall of Kleindeutschland, Blog Archive, Tenement Museum, https://www.tenement.org/blog/the-decline-and-fall-of-kleindeutschland/

[25] Richard Moses, Development of Kleindeutschland or Little Germany, Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, https://lespi-nyc.org/kleindeutschland-little-germany-in-the-lower-east-side/

[26] Nadel, Stanley, Kleindeutschland: New York City’s Germans: 1850 -1880, PhD Thesis, Columbia University, 1981, Page 1, https://www.proquest.com/openview/5078409a29b659dedb77c9e5b41ff5a7/1?cbl=18750&diss=y&pq-origsite=gscholar

Nadel, Stanley, Little Germany : ethnicity, religion, and class in New York City, 1845-80, Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 1990, https://archive.org/details/littlegermanyeth0000nade

[27] Bachmann, John, and Kimmel & Forster. Bird’s eye view of New York and environs. [New York Kimmel & Forster, 1865] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/75693052/

[28] Nadel, Stanley, Kleindeutschland: New York City’s Germans: 1850 -1880, PhD Thesis, Columbia University, 1981, Page 1, https://www.proquest.com/openview/5078409a29b659dedb77c9e5b41ff5a7/1?cbl=18750&diss=y&pq-origsite=gscholar

[29] Moses, Richard, Kleindeutschland: Little Germany in the Lower East Side, Lower East Side Preservation Initiative (L.E.S.P.I.), https://lespi-nyc.org/kleindeutschland-little-germany-in-the-lower-east-side/

[30] Nadel, Stanley, Little Germany : ethnicity, religion, and class in New York City, 1845-80, Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 1990, Page 38, https://archive.org/details/littlegermanyeth0000nade

[31] Nadel, Stanley, Little Germany : ethnicity, religion, and class in New York City, 1845-80, Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 1990, Appendix B Page 163 https://archive.org/details/littlegermanyeth0000nade

[32] Nadel, Stanley, Little Germany : ethnicity, religion, and class in New York City, 1845-80, Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 1990, Pages 29, 37 – 39, https://archive.org/details/littlegermanyeth0000nade

[33] Ziegler-McPherson, Christina. (2014). German Immigrants in New York City, 1840-1920. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305770017_German_Immigrants_in_New_York_City_1840-1920/citation/download

See also Ernst, Robert, Immigrant Life in New York City, Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1994, Page 193. While this table reflects numbers for 1855, it is representative of the ethnic and native born mix of population in each of the New York City wards.

Click for Larger View

[34] Nadel, Stanley, Little Germany : ethnicity, religion, and class in New York City, 1845-80, Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 1990, Page 32, https://archive.org/details/littlegermanyeth0000nade

[35] Floor Area Per Person (FAPP) is a measure of the amount of floor space available to each individual within a given area or building. It is commonly used in space planning for offices, residential buildings, event venues, and public spaces to ensure comfort, safety, and efficient use of space.

Floor area, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 16 May 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floor_area

Bitton, David, What Is Floor Area Ratio (FAR) & How to Calculate It, may 28, 2024, Doorloop, https://www.doorloop.com/definitions/floor-area-ratio-far

[36] Nadel, Page 32

[37] Nadel, Page 34

[38] Nadel, Page 24

[39] Ellis, B. Eldred, Gloves and the Glove Trade, London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd, 1921 , Page 71 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Gloves_and_the_glove_trade_%28IA_glovesglovetrade00elli%29.pdf

[40] Ellis, B. Eldred, Gloves and the Glove Trade, London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd, 1921 , Page 71 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Gloves_and_the_glove_trade_%28IA_glovesglovetrade00elli%29.pdf

[41] Bradbury & Guild, Hudson River and the Hudson River Railroad : with a complete map, and wood cut views of the principal objects of interest upon the line, Boston: Bradbury & Guild, 1851, Page 8, https://archive.org/details/ldpd_11549740_000

[42] Oklahoma Historical society, Steamboat Heroine, Overland Travel vs. Steamboat Travel, https://www.okhistory.org/learn/steamboat6 

[43] Barges were also used to transport passengers up and down the Hudson River.

“Another feature of river life in the early days of steam navigation was the barges that carried passengers up and down the Hudson. These generally hailed from some of the small towns on the upper river that could not supply traffic enough to support a steamboat service. … These barges were boats with a main and upper deck almost as long and commodious as a steamer.” – Page 95

“It is believed the propeller type of river boat was especially built to make it more feasible to tow these barges, as the side wheel boats made it very noisy, the revolving paddles splashing the water at the side of the barges all night long.  … Traveling by barge was not always the height of enjoyment and comfort … . Progress was slow and the boats latterly carried a varied cargo of farm products, bales of hay and live stock. Calves and lambs bound for the city slaughter horses and horses for the New York street car lines… .” – Page 98

Buckman, David Lee, Old Steamboat Days On the Hudson River, New York: Grafton Press, 1907, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Old_Steamboat_Days_on_the_Hudson_River/qEet2wKZTScC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PP9&printsec=frontcover

[44] Blauweiss, Stephen and Karen Berelowitz, The Hudson River was yesteryear’s Thruway, AUG 18, 2021, HV1, The Hudson River was yesteryear’s Thruway, https://hudsonvalleyone.com/2021/08/13/the-hudson-river-was-yesteryears-thruway/

[45] North River Steamboat, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 1 May 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_River_Steamboat

Blauweiss, Stephen and Karen Berelowitz, The Hudson River was yesteryear’s Thruway, AUG 18, 2021, HV1, https://hudsonvalleyone.com/2021/08/13/the-hudson-river-was-yesteryears-thruway/

[46] Buckman, David Lee, Old Steamboat Days On the Hudson River, New York: Grafton Press, 1907, Page 65 https://www.google.com/books/edition/Old_Steamboat_Days_on_the_Hudson_River/qEet2wKZTScC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PP9&printsec=frontcover

[47] Map of the Hudson River Line Steamers, 1883, Jan 21, 2014, Croton History & Mysteries, https://crotonhistory.org/2014/01/21/map-of-the-hudson-river-line-steamers-1883/

[48] Bradbury & Guild, Hudson River and the Hudson River Railroad : with a complete map, and wood cut views of the principal objects of interest upon the line, Boston: Bradbury & Guild, 1851, Pages 10-11, https://archive.org/details/ldpd_11549740_000

[49] CPI Inflation Calculator, https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1850?amount=4#

[50] Moore, W. C. (draftsman), Robert Haering (Engraver), George Snyder (Lithographer), “Map of the Hudson River Rail Road from New York to Albany.” Map. N.Y.: Lith. of G. Snyder, (c) 1848. Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center, https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:ht250c54n

This map is also found as the last page in Bradbury & Guild, Hudson River and the Hudson River Railroad : with a complete map, and wood cut views of the principal objects of interest upon the line, Boston: Bradbury & Guild, 1851 https://archive.org/details/ldpd_11549740_000

[51] Broadside printing was a popular form of printing in the 18th and 19th centuries that involved printing on a single large sheet of paper pr heavy cardboard, only on one side. Some key characteristics of broadside printing include:

  • Broadsides were typically large sheets printed on one side only, designed to be read unfolded and posted publicly to disseminate information widely.
  • They served as an early form of mass media before newspapers became common, used to spread news, announcements, advertisements, and political views to the public.
  • Broadsides were a very common form of ephemeral, disposable printing from the 16th-19th centuries, intended to have an immediate impact and then be discarded.
  • They were often quickly and crudely printed in large quantities and distributed for free or sold cheaply on the streets.
  • Broadsides featured large, eye-catching lettering and sometimes included woodcut illustrations to attract attention from a distance.
  • In the ninteenth century, new technologies like fat face type and chromolithography allowed for more expressive typography and color printing in broadsides.
  • Broadsides were used to announce events, publish proclamations, advocate political and social causes, advertise products, and celebrate literary and musical works

Broadside (printing), Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 15 May 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadside_(printing)

The Popularity of Broadsides, Printed Ephemera: Three centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/collections/broadsides-and-other-printed-ephemera/articles-and-essays/introduction-to-printed-ephemera-collection/the-popularity-of-broadsides/

Brabner, Ian, Rare Americana, American Broadsides: History on a Sheet of Paper, https://www.rareamericana.com/articles/american-broadsides/

[52] Hudson River Railroad Schedule of Fares Between New York City, Albany and Troy, New York, 1852, 10 July 1852, Broadside (Notice), Mat board Paper (Fiber product), Height: 16.438 in x Width: 10.75 in, Seymor Dunbar Collection, Digital Collections, Henry Ford Museum, https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/131241/#slide=gs-204355

[53] Train on the Hudson River Railroad, “At Hudson, N.Y.,” circa 1851, Height: 7.688 in Width: 10.5 in, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago Illinois, Digital Collections, Henry Ford Museum, https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/162285#slide=gs-224603

[54] Wood Engraving of a Railroad Train, 1848-1852, Height: 5.688 in Width: 9.375 in, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago Illinois, Digital Collections, Henry Ford Museum, https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/61888#slide=gs-219882

[55] New York Central Railroad, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 27 September 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Central_Railroad

Troy & Schenectady Railroad, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 12 September 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_%26_Schenectady_Railroad

Adam Burns, Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, American Rails, June 7, 2023https://www.american-rails.com/mohawk.html

List of New York railroads, Wikipedia, This page was last edited on 3 August 2023, , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_York_railroads

Adam Burns, New York Central Railroad (NYC): “The Great Steel Fleet”, Sep 11, 2023, American Rails, https://www.american-rails.com/york.html

Adam Burns, Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Railroad, Apr 13 2023, American-Rails, https://www.american-rails.com/fjg.html

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