Immigrant Ancestors: The Schiltz Family Arrives in 1845

The packet ship Princeton, about 1848. The Westminster on which the Schiltz family sailed may have looked similar to this.

I've discovered evidence of the arrival of another set of my immigrant ancestors—the Schiltz family. The family is listed on a ship manifest as passengers on the Westminster which arrived in New York on 11 July 1845.¹

 

The New York Daily Herald noted the arrival of the Westminster in its 12 June 1845 edition.2

My lineage to the family is through my paternal grandmother, Mary Josephine Baker. Peter Schiltz and Anna Maria Calteaux are my 4x great-grandparents.³

Ship manifests were created at the port of departure for the benefit of customs officials in the destination. It listed all passengers, crew, and cargo to ensure that what was placed on the ship at the port of departure was still present or accounted for at the destination port.⁴

The Schiltz (Shields) family listed on the Westminster's manifest.

The manifest lists the family—here listed as "Shields"—among some 175 passengers onboard. The family consisted of:

• Peter Shields, age 48, farmer
  
• Ann Mary Shields, age 49
• Michael Shields, age 13
• Barbara Shields, age 11
• Nicholas Shields, age 9
• Tedor (Theodore) Shields, age 6
• John Shields, infant
  

The manifest recorded the passenger's name, age, sex, and occupation. It asked "The country to which they (the family) severally belong," to which "Belgium" was answered. As to "The county in which they intend to become inhabitants," the answer was "United States." A last column carried the chilling heading, "Died on the voyage." Fortunately there were no marks in that column for this voyage.

The Westminster was a packet ship, a medium-sized boat designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th centuries and featured regularly scheduled service. The ad below ran in The Chelmsford Chronicle and notes the late June 1845 departure of the Westminster, under H.R. Hovey, who also captained the ship when the Schiltz family sailed.⁵

The Westminster can be traced in London and New York newspapers which published daily maritime reports of ships coming and going from various ports, as well as their destinations. Westminster was one of many packet ships that traveled regularly between London and New York. From these reports it appears the ship took on passengers and cargo while at the St. Katharine's Docks in London, sailed down the Thames to Gravesend, Deal, then on to Portsmouth before crossing the North Atlantic to New York.⁶

On 1 June 1845 Lloyd's Weekly London Newspaper reported the arrival of a group of Belgians from Antwerp which must have included my Schiltz ancestors.⁷

Belgian immigrants made up 42% of the passengers on the Westminster during that voyage—75 of the 175 on board. All of them traveled in the steerage part of the ship, the cheapest way for immigrants to travel during that time. The above advertisement for the Westminster boasted that "the steerages are very superior, being upwards of seven feet in height." 

The spaces were hardly comfortable though. Passengers lived in close quarters, and slept in bunks with just feet between them. Fresh air was available by going above deck, weather permitting. (For an interesting account of what it was like to travel as a steerage passenger, visit Norwegian Heritage's "Steerage Passengers - Emigrant Between Decks" at http://www.norwayheritage.com/steerage.htm.)⁸

After their long journey from Antwerp to London to New York, the Schiltz family settled in Sheldon, Wyoming, New York, where they joined many other Belgian and German immigrants to the area. Eventually, daughter Barbara married Peter Joseph Becker, and began the Baker line which immigrated later to Canada. Their grandson Edward brought the Baker line to Cleveland in 1910.⁹

Until next time...

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© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2024. All rights reserved.

IMAGE: Duncan McFarlane, Princeton packet ship, 1848; image, Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Princeton_ship.jpg); citing the Mariner's Museum and Park, Newport News, Virginia. In the public domain.

NOTES

All websites accessed 27 February 2024 unless otherwise noted. 

¹ "New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island," 1820-1957, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7488/images/NYM237_58-0771), family of Peter Shields arriving New York on ship Westminster, 11 July 1845.

² "Passengers Arrived," The New York Herald, 12 July 1845, p. 4, col. 3; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/329341852/), packet ship Westminster.

3 Peter Schiltz profile LYHL-2GZ, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LYHL-2GZ), view tree results.

⁴ Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest_(transportation), "Manifest," last updated 26 August 2023, at 03:13 (UTC). 

⁵ Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packet_boat), "Packet boat."
 last updated 3 October 2023, at 02:49 (UTC). Also: "Regular Line of Packets," The Chelmsford Chronicle (Essex, England), 6 June 1845, p. 4, col. 5; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/787982253/). Also: "New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island," 1820-1957, Ancestry, Westminster manifest. 

⁶ "Odds and Ends," Lloyd's Weekly London Newspaper, 1 June 1845, p. 11, col. 4, emigration; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/390335364/). Also: "From the List of May 9th," The Evening Post (New York), 2 June 1845, p. 1, col. 9, Gravesend; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/39626507/); Also: The Morning Post (London),p. 7, col. 1, Deal, June 1st; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/402152226/). Also: "Packets to Arrive," The New York Herald, 30 June 1845, p. 6, col. 2; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/329340525/).

⁷ "Odds and Ends," Lloyd's Weekly London Newspaper, 1 June 1845, p. 11, col. 4, emigration; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/390335364/).

⁸ "New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island," 1820-1957, Ancestry, passengers indicating Belgian origin. Also: "Regular Line of Packets," The Chelmsford Chronicle (Essex, England), 6 June 1845, p. 4, col. 5. 

⁹ For 1850 residence: 1850 U. S. Census, Wyoming, New York, population schedule, Sheldon, p. 34 (penned), line 34, dwelling/ family 304, household of Peter Shield; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8054/images/4181069_00043 : accessed 27 February 2024); citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 616, Washington, D.C. For marriage: St. Cecilia Catholic Church, Sheldon, Wyoming, New York, marriages, np, Josephus Beker and Barbara Shilz, 29 April 1856; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4R-59GZ-Q : accessed 14 December 2023); citing parish records, Sheldon. For immigration to Canada: 1871 Census of Canada, Province of Ontario, District 21 Lincoln, Nominal return of the living, Sub-District: Village of Port Dalhousie, p. 52, line 20, dwelling 193, family 200, Joseph Beckey household; database and images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1578/images/4396294_00479 : accessed 17 November 2023); citing Library and Archives Canada, RG31-C-1, Ottawa, Ontario. The family is not found in a search of the 1870 U.S. Census of New York State. For Edward Baker's date of immigration: U.S. District Court, Eastern Division, Northern District, Cleveland, Ohio, Declaration of Intention 27152, Edward Joseph Baker, 9 July 1910; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C39P-8QQ7-W : accessed 14 September 2023); citing National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.