"Advent of the Pioneers, 1851" by Frances Foy

The Pioneer was the first locomotive of the Chicago & North Western Railway (then the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad). Peter worked for the C&NW from 1966 to 1969. The Pioneer has been restored and is on display at the Chicago History Museum. See: Murals in the Chicago Loop Post Office

PetersPioneers Who Emigrated from Europe to America, 1830s to 1880s

PetersPioneers travelled from Ireland, Germany, and Switzerland to New York, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois in America between 1834 and 1888. They went from their home in Europe to a seaport, then by sailing ship and later by steamship to New York or Baltimore, then westward to their new home in America. The land travel in Europe and America was by walking, horseback, horse and wagon, canal, and later by railroad. This page lists the families and, where available, the names of the ships they came on. Another page, Kassel to Tiffin, 1834, illustrates the journey of the family that we know the most about. It also happens to be the first family to immigrate to America.

U.S. Flag	Period	New States	Immigrants
13 stars	1777 to 1795	Delaware Pennsylvania New Jersey Georgia Connecticut Massachusetts Maryland South Carolina New Hampshire Virginia New York North Carolina Rhode Island
15 stars	1795 to 1818	Vermont Kentuckey
20 stars	1818 to July 3, 1819	Tenessee Ohio Louisiana Indiana Mississippi
21 stars	July 4, 1819 to July 3, 1820	Illinois
23 stars	July 4, 1820 to July 3, 1822	Alabama Maine
24 stars	July 4, 1822 to July 3, 1836	Missouri	John Adam and Maria Eva Schumm Schickell, 1834, Kassel, Bavaria, to Tiffin, Ohio, via ship Johannes Bremen to Baltimore, with children Veronica, Mary Augusta, Amalia, and Peter then Grand Rapids, Michigan Patrick and Bridget Biggins, Drumgill, County Cavan, Ireland, in the 1820s to Ontario, Canada then Lockport, Illinois Daniel McDonald and Eliza Young, before 1836, Ireland to Whitehall, New York then southern Wisconsin
25 stars	July 4, 1836 to July 3, 1837	Arkansas
26 stars	July 4, 1837 to July 3, 1845	Michigan	John Schmitt, 1838, Kassel, Bavaria, to Tiffin, Ohio. Was a 49-er at Mathenias Creek, California, from 1849 to 1851 then Grand Rapids, Michigan James and Bridget McNally, sometime before 1841, Ireland to Albany, New York then Chicago, Illinois Franz Berles, 1844, Dorlar, Westphalia, Prussia, to Detroit, Michigan, via bark Sophie Bremen to Baltimore then Grand Rapids, Michigan
27 stars	July 4, 1845 to July 3, 1846	Florida	John and Anna Maria Spiekermann Green, 1846, Schoenholthausen, Westphalia, Prussia, to Detroit, Michigan, via ship Philadelphia Antwerp to Castle Garden, with children Mary Regina, Dina, Elizabeth, and John then Grand Rapids, Michigan
28 stars	July 4, 1846 to July 3, 1847	Texas
29 stars	July 4, 1847 to July 3, 1848	Iowa
30 stars	July 4, 1848 to July 3, 1851	Wisconsin	Charles and Marie Hauser, 1849, Rottweil, Wuerttemberg, to Detroit, Michigan, with son Hubert and five other children, via ship Judah Touro LeHavre to Castle Garden then Grand Rapids, Michigan Dominick and Anne Walsh Foy, 1849, Derreennascooba, County Mayo, Ireland, to Nunda, New York, with son John then Chicago, Illinois. John was present at the Golden Spike Ceremony at Promontory Point, Utah, in 1869 Thomas Foy, 1850, Derreennascooba, County Mayo, Ireland, to Chicago, Illinois. Granddaughter Frances Foy painted a 15-foot mural in 1938 entitled "Advent of the Pioneers, 1851" that now hangs in the Chicago Loop Post Office. Next to it is her husband Gustaf Dalstrom's "Great Indian Council, Chicago 1833" Mary Higgins, 1851, from Ireland to Chicago
31 stars	July 4, 1851 to July 3, 1858	California	John and Catherine Grady Flannery and James and Mary Murray Flannery, 1852, Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland to Baltimore, Maryland, with daughter Bridget, via ship Wm. Patten Liverpool to Baltimore then to southern Wisconsin George Casper Starke, tailor, 1854, Switzerland to Chicago, Illinois, via Bremen, Germany, and Castle Garden, New York, via ship New York Packet. Maria Alleman Wittenmeier, 1853, Herbetswil, Solothurn, Switzerland, to Chicago, Illinois, with daughters Kathryn and Emma Theresa Fassnacht, 1853, Koenigheim, Baden, to Grand Rapids, Michigan, via ship Fanny Antwerp to Castle Garden, with brother Richard Fassnacht William Koch, 1853, Andelfingen, Wuerttemberg, to Grand Rapids, Michigan
32 stars	July 4, 1858 to July 3, 1859	Minnesota
33 stars	July 4, 1859 to July 3, 1861	Oregon
34 stars	July 4, 1861 to July 3, 1863	Kansas	Margaret Foy, 1863, Derreennascooba, County Mayo, Ireland, to Chicago, Illinois, via ship Arkwright Liverpool to Castle Garden, which served immigrants from 1855 to 1890
35 stars	July 4, 1863 to July 3, 1865	West Virginia
36 stars	July 4, 1865 to July 3, 1867	Nevada	James Kenny, 1865, Ireland to Chicago, Illinois, with older sister Ellen
37 stars	July 4, 1867 to July 3, 1877	Nebraska	Mary Hartigan, 1867, Ireland to Chicago, Illinois William Peter Drueke, 1871, Niederhelden, Westphalia, Prussia, to East Harlem in New York City, via steamship Thuringia Hamburg to Castle Garden, with sister Anna Sophia and her fiancee Frederick William Wurzburg then Grand Rapids, Michigan Thomas and Bridget Foy O'Malley, 1871, Derreennascooba to Chicago, Illinois, with children Michael, Thomas, John, Margaret, Anne, Catherine, and Mary Theresa Knoche Berles, 1874, Dorlar, Westphalia, Prussia, to Grand Rapids, Michigan, via steamship Neckar Bremen to Castle Garden, with son Anthony, his wife, Wilhelmina, their children Theresa, Elizabeth, and Joseph
38 stars	July 4, 1877 to July 3, 1890	Colorado	Edward and Catherine Higgins Carroll, 1880, Ballyneety, County Limerick, Ireland, to Chicago, Illinois, via steamship Parthia Queenstown (Cobh) to Castle Garden, with children Thomas, John, Patrick, David, James, Mary, and Anna Alexander F. Zugelder, 1888, K nigheim, Baden, to Grand Rapids, Michigan, via steamship Toronto Liverpool to Quebec City
43 stars	July 4, 1890 to July 3, 1891	North Dakota South Dakota Montana, Washington Idaho
44 stars	July 4, 1891 to July 3, 1896	Wyoming
45 stars	July 4, 1896 to July 3, 1908	Utah
46 stars	July 4, 1908 to July 3, 1912	Oklahoma
48 stars	July 4, 1912 to July 3, 1959	New Mexico Arozona
49 stars	July 4, 1959 to July 3, 1960	Alaska
50 stars	July 4, 1960 to present	Hawaii

Castle Garden, 1855 to 1890

Castle Garden (also known as Fort Clinton and Castle Clinton) is a restored circular sandstone fort within Battery Park at the southern end of Manhattan in New York City. Built from 1808 to 1811, it was the first American immigration station, predating Ellis Island. More than 7.5 million people arrived in the United States at Fort Clinton between 1855 and 1890. Over its active life, it has also functioned as a beer garden, exhibition hall, theater, and public aquarium.

Castle Garden was the first immigration depot in the U.S. At the center of the fort was the waiting area, known as the rotunda. The immigrant registration depot included a quadrangle of desks arranged around this waiting area, as well as restrooms flanking the main entrance. The waiting area also had wooden benches.

Before being processed at Castle Garden, immigrants underwent medical inspections at the Marine Hospital on Staten Island, where ill immigrants were quarantined. Those who passed their medical inspection boarded a steamship, which traveled to a dock along the northern side of Castle Garden; the dock faced away from Battery Park, preventing immigrants from entering Manhattan before they had been processed. Immigrants were inspected a second time before entering the fort. Inside the depot, a New York state emigration clerk registered each immigrant and directed them to another desk, where a second clerk advised each immigrant about their destination. Each of the immigrants then received a bottle of bathwater and returned to the dock, where their baggage was collected. The New York Central Railroad and the New York and Erie Railroad sold train tickets at Castle Garden as well.

See: Castle Clinton and Castle Garden Emigrant Depot.