It began with two things. First, reading blog posts from people visiting Ellis Island and feeling emotional imagining the moment their grandparents first stepped off the boat onto American soil. Second, reading Grandma Online and realizing one of my ancestors first arrived in New York City. I, me, a Canadian prairie girl, could have an Ellis Island moment!
I held this quietly in my imagination until Andrew suggested earlier this year that we return to NYC for a little visit. He asked if there was anything I wanted to do while we were there. Yes, I told him. I want to see where my ancestor landed.
So who was this ancestor of mine?
His name was Jakob Janzen (GMOL# 20750) and he was born in 1822 in Kronswiede, Chortitza, South Russia (now Ukraine). I am descended from his first wife, Katharina Kop, who died in 1848, after just six years of marriage. He then married Maria Waldner, and I believe that maybe this was when he became a Hutterite. But I don’t really know. I’ve written about him before, in 2018, based on what I had gleaned from a well-researched family book (see link below, I’m having trouble pasting it here right now).
So. I mentioned that people with their Ellis-Island-moments were thinking of their grandparents in those moments. Not so with me. 1876 was mighty early in terms of grandparents. We’re talking my 4G-grandparent at this point. 1876 was also mighty early in terms of construction projects. This was long before Ellis Island. So where did my great-great-great-great-grandfather step off the boat in New York City in 1876?
Castle Garden.
A round stone fortress in the sea, with a walkway to Manhatten. This was where newcomers were processed, before Ellis Island.
In the years following Jakob’s arrival in NYC, Castle Garden, and the city itself, changed a lot. Compare the two pictures above. The first would’ve been closer to what it was like when Jakob’s ship arrived. The other image shows the Brooklyn Bridge is suddenly there. Yeah. The Brooklyn Bridge was under construction when my great-great-great-great-grandfather arrived in the United States (a task that took many years… and many lives). He may have seen the construction underway. Perhaps his ship, the S.S. Gellert, passed through that way. That kind of blows me away, it feels so cinematic in my mind, I get a little big strangely emotional. It was a long time ago. A lot of big things were happening in the world, a lot of them were very bad. And in its midst, at age 54, he stepped from one continent to another.
But before you start thinking of a lone Hutterite in 1870s New York, let’s not get carried away. I looked at ship list. It was a ship full of Hutterites. He arrived with his community. They had a plan. They went to settle in Freeman, South Dakota. I wonder what that journey was like.
Also fun fact, his eldest son, whom I’m descended from, was left behind in South Russia. He found a different way to the United States. But I’ll get to that another time.
When Andrew told me that Jakob had arrived at Castle Garden, I was very captured by the name. Taking two pretty things and putting them together. But really it was a fortress.
There are several plaques on this monument. The largest says: “Castle Clinton National Monument. Last of a series of forts which, from the Dutch settlement of 1624, guarded lower Manhattan, this structure was built by the United States in the years 1808 to 1811. It was first called ‘West Battery’ and was one of the important defenses of New York Harbor during the War of 1812 period. Named in honor of Gov. DeWitt Clinton in 1815, in that year it was made Headquarters, U.S. Third Military District. From 1816 to 1820 Gen. Winfield Scott was in command. The Headquarters was removed from Castle Clinton to Governors Island in 1820.”
The structure was renamed Castle Garden in 1824, and served as a theatre until 1855. It was an immigrant depot from 1855 until 1890 (as I’ve been saying). And an aquarium from 1890 until 1941, gaining national monument status in 1950, and reverting to the name Castle Clinton at this time.
Today it pretty much just serves as the ticket booth for the Ellis Island Ferry. No joke. The booth is in the middle of this circular castley structure:
There was a never-ending stream of people rushing to that booth the whole time. But we had no interest. Because I’m very self-focused and was here to chase my own personal history, which meant simply exploring this overlooked national monument. I was already at the place I wanted to see.
We went through a little old door, into the “museum” portion of the structure. There is no cost to do this. And we had it all to ourselves.
Inside, it tells the story of this place, much of which directly speaks to the experience of my ancestor who arrived in New York.
“Thousands of European immigrants arrived daily at Castle Garden.”
“The immigrants registered at Castle Garden and exchanged money, bought railroad tickets, and looked for housing and employment.” (I’m guessing Jakob Janzen and his Hutterite community simply bought railroad tickets and got out of here.)
I wonder if there were any scammers attempting to scam the newly-arrived Hutterites. This was interesting to me because of the parallel I draw to today — I had just seen people selling fake tickets to Ellis Island, trying to stop families from entering Castle Clinton and approaching the actual booth. It’s a whole big thing. Some things never change, eh?
Instead of rushing to the ticket booth, we explored as much of Castle Clinton/Garden as we could. Like this pile of stones. What was here? It seems like it predates the aquarium period.
It’s a little difficult to really appreciate and connect with the past when there are people streaming past to buy touristy tickety things, and scammers running around. But when I looked up, I could catch a glimpse.
More on this part of my family history (which is likely yours too — aren’t we all related?):