Letters from America

By P. Thompson

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake served as a magnet for many European immigrants skilled in the building trades. One such immigrant family, the Ritters, came to the San Francisco Bay area via Galveston, Texas, in search of employment. They settled in the East Bay and hoped to work, raise their children, and grow prosperous.

In a series of letters written over several years to their relatives in Germany, Ludwig and Greta Ritter expressed their dreams, doubts, prejudices, and frustrations. Letters from America chronicles their experiences in California and exposes the growing conflict between husband and wife as they struggle to survive in the midst of nearly constant turmoil.

Through honest and sometimes painful details, these letters reveal how the couple began to drift apart, a rift that ultimately originated from a clash of cultures. While Ludwig reveled in the American way of life and its challenges, Greta longed for the comfort of her German ethnicity and the safety it provided. It proved to be a wedge that would eventually consume them.

From Texas in 1906 to California in 1920, Letters from America spans one familys turbulent immigrant experience and the price they paid for the American dream.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: May 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781475984309

P. Thompson

The author is a second-generation American and a lifelong resident of California.

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LETTERS FROM AMERICA

Copyright © 2013 P. Thompson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-8428-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-8429-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-8430-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013906165

iUniverse rev. date: 4/30/2013

Contents

Preface

Family Tree

Map of Journey

Prologue

(Ruth’s letter dated September 13, 1956, to Joseph and Family)

Part I: Arrival

Ludwig’s and Greta’s Letter to Relatives in Germany; dated July 26, 1906; from ship enroute to America

Part II: Struggle For Survival

Part III: A New Life

Epilogue

(Postscript to Ruth’s letter dated September 13,1956, to Joseph and Family)

Index Of Letters

Preface

The usual story of immigrants is that they leave their native land to seek a better life someplace else—in this narrative, the United States. The newcomers usually achieve a measure of success and become American citizens. In this story of a German couple and their children, a lack of unity developed between the pair during the course of their settling in America. Life was neither pleasant nor successful for one of the couple. For the other, the new country presented an exciting challenge and test of strength and endurance. The contrasts in attitudes and outlooks presented by the two makes for an engaging story.

The book barely falls into the classification of fiction. A trove of letters, written by a German couple to their relatives in Germany during the early decades of the 20th century comprise the narrative. The only changes made to the letters are the names of all the actual persons mentioned in them, and the language (from the original German to English) by a translator whose first language was German.

The story involves Ludwig Karl Ritter and his wife, Greta Adele, who arrived in America in 1906. The Ritters sent letters to their relatives in Germany over a period of about twenty years. These letters were saved by the German relatives and returned to Ludwig Ritter’s second wife, Ruth, after the two world wars.

The Ritters’ hope was to become rich. Greta came from a genteel family. Ludwig’s family was poor. He had been trained as a cabinet maker and carpenter. He met and married Greta while serving as an imperial guard for Kaiser Wilhelm. After the birth of their third child the Ritters decided to leave Germany so that Ludwig could work in the United States. San Francisco was being rebuilt and many carpenters were needed. His goal was to work in San Francisco, rebuilding what had been destroyed by the 1906 earthquake. With financial help from their families they sailed to Galveston, Texas. From there they traveled by train to Alameda, California, a town about ten miles from San Francisco.

The couple’s sojourn in America began pleasantly enough. They met other Germans, sent their children to school, followed German customs. Ludwig had no difficulty finding well-paying work in San Francisco. A rift between the two began to develop. The father eagerly studied English as did the children. The mother vowed to learn also, but never continued studying and insisted that the family communicate with her German. The family was increasing in size. Greta now had many more household responsibilities, causing her to feel frustrated and isolated while Ludwig felt a growing sense of freedom.

The Ritters’ desire for land took them to the San Joaguin Valley. There they bought land, established orchards, raised livestock and poultry, but the personal costs of acquisition were great. Now there were twelve children, overwhelming work, crop failures, serious illnesses, as well as anti-German sentiment.

Adversity strengthened Ludwig but not Greta. He made friends and continued to learn more about farming. Greta still spoke only German. Her greatest wish was to return to Germany, to the security of her family with the children in tow. She continued to write letters; he did not. Loneliness conquered her, while expanding self-confidence liberated him. Lonely and exhausted, she died. Ludwig soldiered on. Later he met a new partner, Ruth. They moved to Southern California, leaving the ranch to one of the sons.

This brief synopsis does not do justice to the thoughts and emotions expressed in the letters. The shifts in the minds of the writers can be easily followed. The divergent directions that Ludwig and Greta pursued constitute the tension in the story. Their often harsh experiences contribute to the drama to their lives.

FamilyTree_V1.tif

Family Tree

Map_V1.tif

Map of Journey

Prologue

September 13, 1956

Dear Joseph and Family,

At the funeral last month you asked about the letters which your mother and father had sent to their relatives in Germany. The letters were written during their first years here in America. When we talked, I told you that your father had gotten from the relatives in Germany a box of photos with the letters a few months before he died.

Your father wanted to rewrite all the letters in English so that you kids could read them and know and remember how life was here in California before your mother died.

Well, here are the letters. Your father rewrote all of his own letters in English. Your mother wrote many more letters. I’ve rewritten her letters in English for you. I hope you can read them. I’ve done the best I can. You know, I have lived here longer than Ludwig, but still my English is not so good as is his. Irma wants the originals, so I’m sending them to her. You said that you didn’t want the photos, so I gave them to Hans, Dieter, and the ones who wanted them.

Love,

Ruth

PART I: ARRIVAL

Ten hours out of Baltimore

July 26, 1906, at 9:00 p.m.

(or 2:30 p.m. in Middle

European Time)

My Loved Ones at Home!

True to our promise, I shall give you a detailed description of our journey at sea, as follows.

As of today, all of us are still healthy and sprightly and, God willing, we hope to survive the very hot week which is still ahead of us, because the trip from Baltimore to Galveston is supposed to be especially hot. Well, on Friday morning at 4:00 a.m., our ship’s anchor was pulled up and we were towed backwards out of the harbor. An hour later we were in the Weser River and went by little fishing villages at half-speed. We reached the lighthouse Rotensand [North Sea island near Helgoland] about noon, and that was when the seasickness caught up with us. I went up on deck and walked by a Russian or Pole or whichever nationality he might have been and I saw him vomit overboard and lose everything he had in his stomach. It was, needless to say, a horrible sight with a terrible smell, and I also started vomiting right away, and again an hour later. Greta also became sick and little Reinhold started vomiting in the evening. We went to bed that night, and that was our first day at sea.

On Saturday, we got up at seven o’clock in the morning. The sea was quiet and our seasickness had passed. Morning coffee was served which tasted very well, and everything had been cleaned up. That’s how it will be every day during our journey; while we are asleep, the crew has to work so that everything is nice and clean again the next morning. We cannot complain about our food and drink; everything is good and in ample quantities. But I would not advise anyone to travel in the lower deck because it’s a terrible sight what is going on there. And who knows what is going on in other places where we usually don’t go and where one person is lying right next to another person in large sleeping areas. I would not want to do that.

It is shortly before noon now and we are passing along the English coastline. We can see cities and villages on the hills and also fields and forests. The coastline is very steep and one can see the white chalk cliffs. We cannot see the port city of Southampton, but instead we can see the port city of Dover. An English warship is anchored there. In the afternoon we came by some more cities and villages, and at 5:00 a.m. we saw the last European land, which is the tip of the English island. [This is probably Penzance or Land’s End, England.] We left the Channel and went out into the open sea or ocean.

The weather has not changed much and up on deck it is quite rough and one must hang on to one’s hat or else it will fly away. We can also see some sailboats on the ocean and it is now 11 o’clock by Middle European Time. We also passed a very large steamer which was headed toward a European port. We went to bed then and that was the end of the second day on board, and all is well.

On Sunday morning we got up at 7:30 a.m. and the sea was very rough. Many people got seasick again and started vomiting. About 11:00 a.m. the steamer Vaderland of the Red Star Line of Antwerp passed us. It is headed for New York. The ocean became even rougher and Greta and I became seasick and had to vomit. Little Reinhold also vomited once, and that is how Sunday finally came to an end.

On Monday morning the sea calmed down and we felt better. The sun came out and showed its full face. The air was quite pleasant, but it was still somewhat windy. Schweinefisch [probably porpoises] swam along our ship and sprang out of the water in a large arc and dived into another wave. These fish look like a pig and are about 40 feet long.

And so the journey goes without stopping and we make about 300 sea miles per day. Today is the 26th of July. The air is getting warmer. Last night the large ship Princess Alice, which was in Bremerhaven when we were there too, passed by our ship and is headed for New York. We are slowly heading in a southward direction and will pass by New York and head for Baltimore. Passed the Newfoundland tip where we saw several fishing boats. There are more and more boats about and this afternoon an English freighter crossed our course, and later, an American freighter. There are also quite a few sailboats about and we saw some with one, two, three, four, or even five masts.

At six o’clock we had our first sight of American land, and everyone on board is very happy. In about 12 hours, we will be in Baltimore where about 1,000 passengers will leave the boat. About 400 will stay on board and go on to Galveston. Shortly after we saw the first American land, a pilot came on board and we trust that he will bring us safely to Baltimore. We are supposed to stay two days in Baltimore and I will try to see if it is possible to go on land. We were told that only American citizens are allowed to leave the boat and, of course, the 1,000 who are headed for Baltimore, and that all others will have to remain on board. But there is an old shipmaster on board who told me to keep quiet and he will try to get me off the ship.

When you get this letter, we will have reached our destination, or perhaps not quite yet, because we will leave Baltimore on Saturday afternoon, and the journey to Galveston will be another five or six days. Depending on what time we arrive there, maybe in the morning or late afternoon, we might have to stay there an extra day. And the train trip will take about four or five days, so that is about 14 days all together. We trust that you will have our letter by then. As soon as we have reached our final destination, we will write to you right away.

There are more people besides us going to San Francisco; there is a young wife with her four-year-old son and her brother. Her husband left for San Francisco already in March and arrived a few days before the big earthquake. He had to help clean away the rubble and worked an 8-hour day, for which he earned 10 Marks and his meals. Now he is working as a carpenter and is earning 90 Marks per week even though he actually learned to be a furniture-maker. We heard that it is supposed to be very difficult to find an apartment, and I guess we will have to look and try to find one outside the city center. But more about that later on.

How and when did you return from your trip? [Some of Greta’s brothers and sisters accompanied the Ritter family to Bremen, where the Ritters boarded ship for voyage to America.] I bet you were half dead when you finally got back home again. I will come to a close now because it is very late already and everybody on board is asleep. It is roughly 5 o’clock Middle European Time, and that is 11 or 11:30 p.m. our time here.

My Loved Ones:

I am going to add something to this letter since it hasn’t been turned in yet. We are still lying in the port of Baltimore. It is a very nice port city. Barbara Springer told us that her sisters are living there, but even if we knew their address, we still couldn’t go on land. We have been here one full day and all day long we can hear the elevators (loading booms) which transfer all the luggage and loads onto the dock. It is supposed to take two full days until they are finished transferring everything onto land; for instance, iron and salts as fertilizer, and many sacks of grain.

We can see many beautiful ships in the harbor, ships of all kinds and makes; for instance, motor steamers and many pretty sailboats. The workers who are unloading our boat are mostly black of face. Apples, pears, and bananas are ripe here already, and people bring big baskets on board and sell six for 10 cents, which is about 10 pfennigs in German money. Our ship is lying still in the harbor and nothing is going on, and so I must wait until we have arrived at our destination before I can tell you more.

We are hoping and praying that God will guide us through the big heat which is ahead of us on our trip to Galveston, and that we may arrive safely at our destination.

We are sending our best regards to all of you -father, mother, parents-in-law, and sisters and brothers.

Ludwig, Greta and children

P.S. Little Irma is suffering so much from the measles. Give our regards to friends and their families and let them read this letter.

[Greta wrote the following addition to this letter.]

My Loved Ones:

I have lost my full cheeks completely; I only hope we will stay well. The doctor has granted me some extra milk because I have to nurse the child. This information is only for you and everybody home in our family.

You wanted me to tell you a true story, and I will do so and tell you about what we experienced on our trip in the lower deck. There were about 40 Germans, and among them the young people who are going with us to San Francisco. They are very nice people as Ludwig said so himself. But we were suffering the torments of hell, especially the children. One sleeps above the other one, and the room where the children sleep is permeated with the smell of Poles, Russians, and Slovacs, and it is almost impossible to give you a description of that. During the first five days we heard nothing but vomiting. One person threw up on the back of the one ahead of him. Those were the same people we had seen in Bremen in the dormitory there. Now they were in the same quarters with us, and the stink was simply horrible, and we could hardly eat anything.

The meals were lousy —about the same food that you are feeding to your pigs. Now, since we are lying in the harbor and so many people have left the ship, the food is a little better. In the morning they gave us rice boiled in water and some boiled milk; and that was better than many other things. In the evening, we were given fried herring. I have become weak and miserable, and so has the young woman from Saxony. Her brother, who is a butcher, helps in the kitchen and gets much better food there, and sometimes he brings a little to us. Sometimes the meat we are getting stinks already, and we are throwing it overboard. They feed us barley soup, lentil soup, bean soup, and sauerkraut without any strength in it and as thin as soup. The coffee we get is made of barley and chicory and it is sweetened with sacharin. I drink water instead.

Everybody is supposed to come up on deck in the morning to wash and fix the hair, but with children that just isn’t possible because they don’t get up that early. At 7:00 a.m., they serve coffee and a miserable bread soup, really a miserable meal, and for that, Ludwig and I are supposed to pay 10 Marks to those rascals who serve us, bring the meal to us, and wash the dishes which consist of tin bowls. The other people have to go and get their own meals. We are getting three meals per day, and it is almost impossible to eat. We are about ten Germans who get their meals brought to them, and we are all served in a small cubicle like a stall, but anybody can look in through the openings and exits, and every few minutes we have to throw someone out. A glass of beer costs 25 pfennigs on board, but it is too salty for my taste, but we are not supposed to buy food and drinks any other place but on the ship. Even when we pay extra, we hardly get anything for our money.

All the people who are traveling in the lower deck are complaining, crying, and moaning. We are still living on the smoked meat. It is no use at all to complain. When the officers come around on their inspection routes and take a look at our stables, they say that Germans should not travel in the lower decks. They say the lower decks are just fine for the rougher folks who don’t mind at all.

If you could have seen what vomiting happened during the first days of our trip when everybody felt sick! All the rougher folks, including their children, just laid themselves down on the deck in the sunshine. It is simply impossible to describe. If I could, I would write a small book about it and have it printed. The children are very troublesome. They always have to vomit and they are getting diarrhea from the good food.

But don’t you worry about us. We thank you again very much for your big help, and we thank you for the meat you have given us which comes as such a benefit to us now.

Greta

August 19, 1906

Alameda, California

My Loved Ones in Nordkirchen -All of You !

Because it is Sunday and the third Sunday in America, it is already two weeks since we have been here and arrived from Galveston.

After traveling from Baltimore to Galveston by ship, we took a train to Houston at 5:00 p.m. In Houston we had a stay of five hours, and then, at 12 midnight, we left for San Antonio. We arrived there at 7:00 a.m. and after two hours, at 9:00 a.m., left again, headed for California. In the night, between Houston and San Antonio, it was discovered that we had only one railway ticket, and we had to pay again for one person for the trip from Galveston to San Antonio. This cost $6.30 or 25 Marks and 20 pfennigs in German money. In San Antonio, I had to get another ticket to San Francisco and that cost another $40, or 160 Marks in German. We will probably get reimbursed this $46.30 next Sunday, because as you know, the whole trip was prepaid in Bremen.

What happened was when we left the ship in Galveston, we received one train ticket and instead of a second ticket, we received a coupon, and for this coupon, we were supposed to get a second train ticket at the railway station. But, I guess partly through my fault and possibly through the fault of the officials, this was not done. The officials were not supposed to let us go on the train with only one ticket. But that’s how it is here in the United States. In Germany, one official stands with three people and watches them. Well, in short, I had to pay or else we had to get off the train.

On Monday morning at 9:00 a.m., we went from San Antonio over El Paso towards San Francisco. In El Paso we had a two-hour stop, and then without much further delay, we left for Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, we arrived Wednesday morning, at 7:00 a.m.; it is only a day’s trip from San Francisco. Around 9:00 a.m. we left Los Angeles on the train to San Francisco. We rode the train all night, and about 6 a. m., Thursday morning, the train stopped for one hour on the open track because during the night two freight trains ran into each other. All of the tracks had to be cleared and that is why we arrived on Thursday, August 9th, at 11 a. m. in San Francisco amid all the rubble there.

First of all, we got rid of our luggage and began a search for a fairly decent lodging, as a room or hotel is too expensive and would cost at least $3, or 12 Marks a night. Then we had something very good to eat because the lunch, which it is called here, or other kind of breakfast, you eat with forks. This is what they eat here at noon and the real dinner is only eaten at night about 5:00 p.m. After we had groomed ourselves, we took a ferryboat across the Bay. The Pacific Ocean flows into San Francisco Bay, which is a deep protected harbor. The whole harbor is so big; I think there is no bigger harbor like it in the whole world.

We went to Oakland and there we found an apartment for $1 a day; it is only one room and we are renting it. The board and everything else we have to pay and take care of ourselves.

On Friday morning, I went and looked for another apartment in Oakland, but I had no success. Then, at 10 a.m., I went to Alameda and there, after I searched almost a whole day with the help of some Germans and an agent, I finally located a very pretty apartment. It consists of two rooms and a bathroom, and costs $15 per month, which is roughly 60 Marks. The apartment is inside a large house which belongs to a very rich financier. He is a merchant in San Francisco, where his shop was burned down during the earthquake. He had rented this house but now lives there with his wife who happens to be German, and, just imagine, she is from Bremerhaven! They have been married for one year. So actually, two families occupy this house. The house is not very tall; in fact, you could call it a very fine villa. It is built in the style like all the houses here, and that means it is made completely of wood.

By Monday, I was already working and have worked four days per week. I earn $4.50/day or 18-19 Marks/day. There is no working here on Saturday afternoons and people only work 8-hour days. Actually, it is very good earnings for a beginner. We heard from another German who’s been here since last February and who’s a carpenter that he earns $4 per day, and I got $4.50 right away. After all, I don’t even speak English yet. If I get better in my language, then I can work as a so called overseer or foreman and can earn $9