S.S. Switzerland arrival

The Herald of Truth (see further here), a Mennonite newspaper published between 1864 and 1908, when it was folded into another periodical, provided news about Mennonites across the the United States and Canada. (The first Mennonites came to the U.S. circa 1683 and settled in Pennsylvania.) It also noted, from time to time, the arrival of new emigrants from other parts of the world, including Russia.

So it is that the July 1879 issue (the Herald of Truth was a monthly at that time) included a short article entitled “Arrival from Russia,” quoted in its entirety below, that should be of interest to this group of Bullers.

The Red Star Line Steamer “Switzerland” from Antwerp, arrived at Philadelphia, June 24th, with 726 Mennonites from South Russia, under the leaders, Franz Toews, Cornelius Regier, Julius Friesen, Jacob Neufeld and David Hiebert.

They were landed on the afternoon of the 24th, and on the afternoon of the 25th they were forwarded over the Pennsylvania Railroad by special train, to their respective desinations.

64 families, numbering 354 souls, Nebraska
42     "                 "         260     "     Kansas
14     "                 "           77     "     Minnesota
  7     "                 "           35     "     Dakota

During their stay at Philadelphia, they had the advice and adtendence of the Mennonite Executive Aid Committee of Pennsylvania, of whom were present Brother Amos Herr, Gabriel Baer, H. K. Godshall, and Albert E. Funk, who had also as the representatives of the American Mennonites paid the fare of twenty of the new arrivals from Antwerp to their destination in the West.

Brother D. Gaddert from Kansas, also met the new arrivals on their landing, and in a very effective way assisted the committee, helping and advising the newly arrived brethren cheerfully and untiringly.

The Red Star Line and its General Agents, Messrs Peter Wright & Sons, and the Pennsylvania Railroad and its Agent, Mr. Francis Funk, again earned the acknowledgement of the committee and the newly arrived brethren, thus recommending themselves to the continuing favors of the Mennonites in America and in Russia. (reproduced in Hiebert 1974, 358, 363)

Of course, Peter P, Sarah, and family—not to mention the rest of Sarah’s extended family—were on that particular ship. More questions come to mind:

• Did the Johann Siebert family travel as their own group, or were they part of an even larger group emigrating to the same area?
• How many of the Nebraska group initially settled in Henderson? How many of the Johann Siebert group?
• Where did the Pennsylvania Railroad line end, and what railway did the Henderson contingent take from that point on?
• Did agents of the second railway accompany the parties to their destinations? More important, did they broker sales of railroad land to the new immigrants?

Perhaps someday we will find answers to all these questions. For now it is sufficient to know that our ancestors’ arrival on this land did not go unnoticed. We know when and where and with whom they began their new life in America.

Source

Hiebert, Clarence. 1974. Brothers in Deed to Brothers in Need: A Scrapbook about Mennonite Immigrants from Russia, 1870–1885. Newton, KS: Faith and Life Press.