Coming to America

On May 4, 1893, the S.S. Stuttgart arrived at the Port of Baltimore from Bremen, Germany.  Among its passengers were John Joseph Haeb, Sr., his wife Susanna, who was seven months pregnant, and their five children, John Jr. (age 14), Gertrude (age 12), Matthew (age 10), Joseph (age 8) and Theodore (age 5). The Haeb family's final destination was Elkhart, Indiana, where relatives had settled sometime earlier.

When we hear about our ancestors immigration from Europe, we may immediately think of Ellis Island, but there were many ports of entry on the East Coast.  Baltimore had an advantage over New York because it was the closest port to the Midwest, and with the advent of railroads and canals, it was the fastest route to major cities in Ohio and Illinois.  By 1893, the railroad was well-established in Elkhart, making me think that it may have been the family's mode of transportation from Baltimore to their new home.  How they got to Elkhart after they disembarked in Baltimore was one of those questions that floated around in my mind until recently.

Upon their arrival in Elkhart, the family settled at 215 St. Joe Street.  On July 10, 1893, Peter Joseph was born.

Above is a list of Immigrants Arriving at the Port of Baltimore on the S.S. Stuttgart on May 4, 1893.  The Haeb family begins on line 31 at the bottom of the page.  At the time of immigration, John Sr. was a mason and brought $115 in cash with him.

This above document is a NY Passenger List from May 2, 1893, which also lists the Haebs (Hab).  I found it somewhat confusing because Ancestry.com lists the ship name as German.  (The first page of the document was partially destroyed.)  However I did find the arrival of the Stuttgart on May 2, 1893 in the Morton-Allan Directory of European Passenger Arrivals at the Port of New York, 1890-1930.  Other oddities on this document are, [1] Although John Sr. and Susanna are listed with their correct ages, none of the ages of the children are correct, [2] Matthew is listed as Martha, a female.  

This chest is one of 6 pieces of baggage the family brought with them and listed on the NY Passenger List

This note was found in the chest.  It was the piece of information that directed me away from searching the Ellis Island database.  Also, after unsuccessfully searching the Port of Baltimore database for Haeb, I finally realized I needed to search for Hab.  I'm not sure who wrote the note, or when.  It appears to be, in part, a transcription of the passenger list, where Matthew was listed as Matthias.  At first I thought it was part of their immigration papers, however, I now know that Pottawattomi Drive was Water Street at least until 1930 and that the family didn't move there until the 1920s.