THE IMMIGRANT

My immigrant Ritterhouse ancestor was John William Ritterhouse -- or more accurately, Johann Wilhelm Rittershaus. William (as he was most often referred to) was born in Barmen, Germany. Barmen was a small town located in the valley of the Wupper River, north of Koln/Cologne and east of Dusseldorf. Rittershaus families had lived in this area for several centuries by the time William was born on January 3, 1819 (and there are still many Rittershaus families living there today).

Great-great-grandfather William was probably the fourth child born to Johann Wilhelm Rittershaus and his wife, Anna Wilhelmina Pistor. He had at least three older sisters: Anna Wilhelmina (born April 18, 1814), Johanna Gerdraud (born September 16, 1815), and Helena Carolina (born March 12, 1817). As far as I know (at least so far), that was his immediate family. The family story (according to my Great-Aunt Edna who never knew William, but who lived with his wife Rosena while Edna went to high school) was that the Rittershaus's were farmers, but we don't know for sure. William was a locksmith, probably learning the trade in Barmen.

In 1848, at the age of 28, William left home and sailed to New York City. He first traveled 160 miles to the port city of Bremen -- by foot, a several day hike. So why would a young man with a marketable skill leave the home of his ancestors and his family and friends, carrying all of his belongings in two trunks, journey several days across northern Germany, then purchase passage (for probably around $16) on a small sailing ship, packed in tight steerage quarters with 200 of his fellow countrymen for six long weeks? Oh for a copy of a letter he wrote home or a journal with his deepest thoughts to solve the mystery! But no such luck!

In 1848, revolution in Germany brought many immigrants to America. These immigrants were called Forty-eighters. Other factors that encouraged the German immigration around that time included economic depression on the farms, the introduction of machinery causing displacement and unemployment, and political and religious persecution. In general, German immigrants were not destitute, but were seeking a higher standard of living and were seeking to replicate their cherished agricultural system which was rapidly disappearing in Germany. When I asked my Aunt Edna why our ancestor immigrated, her response was: "I don't know why they came to America. I just supposed that they became dissatisfied with life in Germany." It just seems that life would have had to be pretty dissatisfying to endure the hardships, sacrifices and expenses of such a journey.

Recently, I found that a local Barmen businessman, Theodor Wettstein, organized a large group of Barmen-area residents, including our William Rittershaus, to immigrate to Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. They traveled as a group to Bremen to board the ship George Washington. Reviewing the passenger list for the May 2nd journey of the Washington, you can see that nearly every passenger was from Barmen, Elberfeld or another town from the Wupper valley. Of the 186 passengers, 156 of them ended up with Wettstein in Wisconsin. Fortunately for me, William struck out on his own once he arrived in New York City. Another mystery. Why didn't he go with his fellow Barmenians, surely people he'd known all his life and with whom he had just endured the arduous journey across the Atlantic? There is probably no way to ever know.

What is documented, is that instead of being in Wisconsin, William was in Blair County, Pennsylvania, working as a blacksmith in 1850. From there, he continued to head west to Tazewell County, Illinois, where he is found in 1857, marrying the also German-born Rosena Kramer.

So, if anyone knows more about why and how William immigrated, please add your comments! In the meantime, I'm just grateful that he did make the sacrifices and the extreme efforts to move to Illinois when he did, or else I wouldn't be here to write about him!