Person:Jurgen Schnoor (1)

More on the Schnoor family: Jurgen Jacob came to the US in 1852, when he was 15 with his parents and siblings. They arrived in New Orleans on November 18, 1852, travelling on the Bamberg Bark Copernicus. The Schnoor (or Schnur) family were from "Hulstein" according to his sister Maggie's obituary; that would be in what today is the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, the most northern state. They would have spoken "Low German" (Plattdeutsch, similar to what the Amish speak today and related to Dutch-notice their Dutch-sounding names.) Schleswig-Holstein is at the base of Jutland, the penninsula that sticks into the North Sea. The rest of the penninsula is Denmark. Historically, Schleswig and Holstein were independent states or were part of Denmark, but had a large German-speaking population. At the time they left, there was a war between Denmark and Prussia over Schleswig. Holstein was allied with Prussia. The wars were ongoing as Bismark attempted to unify the German states; it was, I'm sure, a good time to leave.

The voyage must have been bad. Disease, especially typhoid, was rampant on those ships. According to family stories, their little daughter Wiebke died on the voyage. They went to Wisconsin, where daughter Fredericka was born, and from there to Peoria.