This past weekend when I sat down with my Grandmother to talk about our family history, I never thought our conversation would continue for hours. She responded to all my questions and left me with more information than I could possibly comprehend. My Grandmother’s biggest hobby is Genealogy and over the years, she has collected thousands of documents, photographs, and letters that are artifacts of our family history. The rest of my family like to joke that she has done so much research that she can trace our family line all the way back to Christ, but of course this isn’t true. However, she has traced our lineage back to 19th century Germany and that is where our story really begins.
Gerhard Friedrich Bonkemeyer was born in Osnabruck, Germany on May 23, 1827. He as well as his family were tanners by trade and led a successful business. At age 27, his father died and left the business to one of his older brothers. Wanting to start a business of his own, but not wanting to compete with his own family, he decided to immigrate to America with his half brother Christoph as his companion. Luckily, they had enough money to pay for a private cabin on board the “Richard Cobden” and were able to avoid the close, unsanitary conditions of the lower deck. On December 13, 1854, they arrived at New York harbor.
Soon after their arrival, Christoph died of Cholera and Gerhard was left on his own. Gerhard traveled to Randolph County, North Carolina to start a tannery with his cousin. However, their business soon failed and Gerhard began working in a salt mill in Wilmington, North Carolina where he met his future wife. Years later, he became a Naturalized citizen of the United States in 1892.
This is only a fragment of the information my grandmother has collected over the years. I could go on for pages talking about my lineage, but I will spare you. The majority of my family, me included, find this history boring. To my Grandmother it is fascinating and her eyes immediately lit up when I brought out my list of questions. I could see out of the corner of my eye everyone else roll their eyes and start to walk away as soon as our conversation began for it is a well known fact that when my grandmother gets on the subject she never stops. However, if it weren’t for her obsessive hobby none of us would know where we came from. When I start to think about it in that perspective, I begin to appreciate her a little more.
Immigration today is a popular subject of interest and often becomes a part of heated debate in today’s society. So why doesn’t the majority of Americans consider their own family’s immigration story important? Is it because in many cases the trip happened hundreds of years ago? After reading Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario and listening to my grandmother, I realized that the two stories were similar. Our discussion then turned towards the hardships of immigration and they have not changed much over the years. This makes me wonder; if everyone in the United States knew where their family came from and the struggle they went through, then maybe the American people would become more understanding towards immigrants today.
Gerhard Friedrich Bonkemeyer was born in Osnabruck, Germany on May 23, 1827. He as well as his family were tanners by trade and led a successful business. At age 27, his father died and left the business to one of his older brothers. Wanting to start a business of his own, but not wanting to compete with his own family, he decided to immigrate to America with his half brother Christoph as his companion. Luckily, they had enough money to pay for a private cabin on board the “Richard Cobden” and were able to avoid the close, unsanitary conditions of the lower deck. On December 13, 1854, they arrived at New York harbor.
Soon after their arrival, Christoph died of Cholera and Gerhard was left on his own. Gerhard traveled to Randolph County, North Carolina to start a tannery with his cousin. However, their business soon failed and Gerhard began working in a salt mill in Wilmington, North Carolina where he met his future wife. Years later, he became a Naturalized citizen of the United States in 1892.
This is only a fragment of the information my grandmother has collected over the years. I could go on for pages talking about my lineage, but I will spare you. The majority of my family, me included, find this history boring. To my Grandmother it is fascinating and her eyes immediately lit up when I brought out my list of questions. I could see out of the corner of my eye everyone else roll their eyes and start to walk away as soon as our conversation began for it is a well known fact that when my grandmother gets on the subject she never stops. However, if it weren’t for her obsessive hobby none of us would know where we came from. When I start to think about it in that perspective, I begin to appreciate her a little more.
Immigration today is a popular subject of interest and often becomes a part of heated debate in today’s society. So why doesn’t the majority of Americans consider their own family’s immigration story important? Is it because in many cases the trip happened hundreds of years ago? After reading Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario and listening to my grandmother, I realized that the two stories were similar. Our discussion then turned towards the hardships of immigration and they have not changed much over the years. This makes me wonder; if everyone in the United States knew where their family came from and the struggle they went through, then maybe the American people would become more understanding towards immigrants today.
*The image at the top left is the ship bark from the "Richard Cobden." Gehard Bonkemeyer is number 8 on the list.
*The second image is the permission from Germany to immigrate. (Equivalent of today's Visa)
