"American Notes" by Charles Dickens

In 1842, the year prior to the emigration of this family, Charles Dickens traveled to America. Some of his experiences and some of the places he visited were very similar to those described here. Dickens’ account of his trip was published as “American Notes.”

“Imagine the wind howling, the sea roaring, the rain beating: all in furious array against [the ship]. Picture the sky both dark and wild, and the clouds, in fearful sympathy with the waves, making another ocean in the air. Add to all this, the clattering on deck and down below; the tread of hurried feet; the loud, hoarse shouts of seamen; the gurgling in and out of water through the scuppers; with, every now and then, the striking of a heavy sea upon the planks above, with the deep, dead, heavy sound of thunder heard within a vault; — and there is the head-wind of that January morning.

“I say nothing of what may be called the domestic noises of the ship: such as the breaking of glass and crockery, the tumbling down of stewards, the gambols, overhead, of loose casks and truant dozens of bottled porter, and the very remarkable and far from exhilarating sounds raised in their various state-rooms by the seventy passengers who were too ill to get up for breakfast. I say nothing of them: for although I lay listening to this concert for three or four days, I don’t think I heard it for more than a quarter of a minute, at the expiration of which term, I lay down again, excessively sea-sick.”
Below, it was really pitch-dark, and on top of everything else, we began to feel seasick. It was a miserable feeling that went into us and then poured out again through the heart and mouth. Every one of us thought his last hour had come. Everything the Old Adam had taken in before, he now had to give back again. We prayed to the living God that he would rescue us from this danger. He did; toward morning the weather turned pleasant and calm and we felt moved to thank God for saving us. We began singing a hymn, and somebody read aloud from the Bible how our Lord Jesus and his disciples sailed over Lake Gennesaret and he stilled the rage of the storm.

The sermon was preached by a man named Koring, {Köhring} a farmer coming from {Wetter} Prussia. He and his wife were both short and fat and so were both of their children {they actually had 3 on board ship}, who also had very small slit-eyes. But they were good, pleasant people. Koring continued as our Pastor during the entire trip, and each Sunday we had a church service, with the captain and most of the sailors taking part as well.

The Captain
God had heard our petitions and had led us to a ship with an honest and decent crew. The captain was a splendid man who was especially devoted to us children. He probably had a family of his own at home, and that’s why he was so good to us. When he patted us on the cheek, he did it with such tenderness, it touched our hearts. The trip on this ship as our two-master was called, was very good, as far as the handling of the passengers and the food was concerned, and considering the conditions of the times.

The captain, once laid his hand on my head and said to me, “Boy, you are quite smart and strong. If you eat well for a few years, I could then use you on my ship.” He impressed me so much, I would have gone with him right there. In the meantime, my brothers and sisters and myself helped ourselves to the plentiful supply of salted and preserved meat. The other food was not so tasty, but it was very filling. Syrup and plums were considered a delicacy, but we didn’t touch them. We couldn’t think of anything more unappetizing. There were plenty of potatoes boiled in their skins, and ship’s hardtack bread which we softened in coffee. We couldn’t have bitten into it dry; but soaked, and with butter added, it tasted delicious.

The captain let the old folks and those who were sick have special meals from his kitchen. Naturally, they were better than ours were, and this action really showed his humanity and goodness. As the master is, so are the servants. With the exception of one sailor, all the seamen were good-hearted people who were helpful in every way, and made our lives easier. Others, specifically my older brother, who had made the journey before us, had not had such good going. My brother complained later that he had an underhanded captain and a rough crew on his ship, and the passengers had almost died of hunger.

Friends and Happenings
The young fellows who were with us on the ship constantly played tricks and joked. There were two of them I still remember with pleasure. One came to Cleveland with us.

Even more fun was Faber, who was as good as a sailor when it came to climbing the mast. Once he climbed up the fore mast and from the very top, with arms crossed, delivered a speech to us. When somebody told him to be careful, because if he fell it would be certain death, Faber retorted, “If you are so worried, maybe I should jump down. It’s always good to be careful. Gretken, hold your apron up so you can catch me.” Of course, Gretken didn’t catch him, and when he came down again, he boasted he had seen at least 52 ships, while those of us on deck couldn’t see a single one. When we said he was known as a liar, he said we could see for ourselves by climbing the mast. But no one would, and we all laughed at the braggart.

One night there was a cyclone while we were asleep. The ship was literally whirled round and round, and the sailors wanted to fell the masts. Then suddenly, the danger was over. The sailors felt they had been rescued from great danger, and we celebrated their safety with a church service. That was at the end of our third week at sea.

The trip lasted another three weeks, but we didn’t have any more storms. Instead, the weather stayed nice most of the time, so that my mother and little one-year-old sister, who were constantly seasick, could spend a few hours on the deck every day. The captain had the ship disinfected three times a week to improve the sanitation. He often sent soup from his kitchen to Mother, who was weak, and he made sure everyone got enough fresh air on deck.

During the last few days of the trip we almost always had a good wind, and the sailors were working hard to set all the sails they could find on board. During this job my six-year-old brother, who was on the deck, got his leg caught in a loop of rope. At a command, the sailors pulled, and my brother dangled upside-down with one leg in the loop. On the second “Yuh” he was pulled up to the winch through which the rope ran, and by the third command, his leg undoubtedly would have been crushed. But God sent his messenger in the person of a sailor named Christopher, who saw the dangerous situation and cried, “Stop!” At that, he was set free. We then praised God and thanked him.

Almost every day we held a short worship service, and usually the captain and most of the sailors participated. After one of these services, when we had sung with extra vigor, Christopher the sailor said if the wind remained favorable, we would be in Baltimore, Maryland, in eight days.

That’s why we wanted to send Faber up the mast again, since he could see one thousand miles away and tell us if Baltimore was really in sight. Then we could put on our clean underwear and clothing. But the pestered Faber was lucky. A thick fog appeared and he did not have to go up. The fog and calm lasted for several more days. Then the weather cleared up again, and Faber the Farseeing had to scale the mast to search for Baltimore. Soon he came back down and announced there was a whale. With his naked eyes he had seen as much as the captain could discern with his telescope.

It really was an eighty foot whale, snorting and bellowing as it glided toward our ship, spouting high jets of water. The captain said it would be close to our ship in about ten minutes. Many of us were worried and thought about Jonah in the belly of the whale. But the captain laughed at those who were scared. The monster swam right by the ship so we were all able to see it.

Chesapeake Bay Pilots Arrive
At last, in the middle of the sixth week of our journey, the pilots arrived. At first we wondered if they might be roving pirates. My fear turned into great joy when Christopher told me these were the pilots who would now command the ship and, in a few days, bring her into Baltimore. He added I should not say anything to anyone. He just wanted to see how soon I would tell. In fact, in about two minutes it was all over the ship. Those who were sick quickly started feeling better. This news was the best medicine. Mother came out on deck, and it seemed to us that our little sister, who had become run down during the trip from a lack of good food, once again had a rosy glow on her face. Everyone began hoping for a speedy arrival. The news had such a powerful effect that we all went around with new energy.

The Captain gave the command of the ship over to one of the pilots who had arrived. Then he delivered a short speech to us, saying he would go ahead to Baltimore on the two-master the pilots had brought, and would wait for us there, and give us the necessary instructions for further travel in America. We could have the same confidence in the new captain, who would take better care of us than he had been able to do. Then he swung on a rope down to the small rowboat lying below, and was brought on board the two-master. We wished him God’s blessings as long as he could hear us.

The new captain — I have forgotten his name — then said to us, “I’m glad you have grown so fond of your Captain. You will always remember him. He is like gold, like love itself; if only God willed for all captains to be like him, a real father to his passengers. There are too many rough fellows out there.”

A couple more days passed until Faber could climb up the mast again and announce land. The joy was universal. We were coming to the Promised Land. Our old captain received us, and helped us in word and deed until we were on our way to Ohio.

Arrival in Baltimore, Maryland
All 186 [sic] of us immigrants — men, women, and children — marched together to the Baltimore train station with our packs and sacks. But not directly, for we lost our way, and marched around in vain for a full half hour in the heat.

We saw black people for the first time; they greeted us with loud hoots. Other inhabitants of Baltimore sat in their windows or stood in the doorways and yelled and screamed as if we were monsters or clowns. However, they meant well. When we were beginning to get tired out from walking, an old German man finally showed us the right way. We reached the station, and before we climbed on the train, we had time to have something to eat and drink; everyone was very hungry and thirsty.

I first looked at the railroad cars that would haul us. They were small, light, flat cars fitted with little wheels. We sat on rough-sawn benches, arranged crossways, half of the passengers riding forward, and the other half, backward. To protect us from the sun and rain, a board roof had been crudely knocked together.

I also wanted to see the little iron horse that was supposed to pull us. It was spare and small. The belly was like a sugar barrel; it stood on end rather than on all fours; the neck was like a stovepipe, standing straight up. There was no head, and I didn’t notice any tail. This was how the little horse looked, and I was worried that it could not pull us with all our chests and trunks. Although it was small and slight, it had an unruly spirit for inside it rumbled and roared a lot. I became so worried and frightened, I ran away after seeing the driver who would drive the little iron horse.

The first wave, consisting largely of Irish and Germans, has become well established. The Germans have done especially well, having founded German language newspapers and successfully lobbying the Maryland Legislature to have every general law published in German as well as English and to have German translators at all trials (Greene et al. 1986). Sixteen of Baltimore’s public schools give lessons in both German and English (McWilliams 1990) You learn of the many civic and church-based ethnic organizations like the Hibernian Society of the Irish and the German Society that will help the new immigrant make a start. Immigrant building and loan associations are there to assist the many who desire to own their own homes. It is said that Baltimore’s first savings and loan was started by the German Catholic congregation of the Holy Redeemer (Kraut 1988). Finally there is the Russian Night School established by Harriet Szold which teaches English and other skills to immigrants. The name is misleading as all are welcome. The concept is a novel one and quickly spreads to other cities (Fein 1971). Years later, New York’s Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia would remark, “Were it not for such programs of education and Americanization at the time of our greatest immigrant waves, a new slavery would have arisen in American society perhaps worse than the first” (Fein 1971).

Unskilled for now, you take a job in a sweatshop, but you vow that you will better yourself. You will go to the night school. You are hopeful for the future. You know you will succeed. You have indeed arrived.