Germans in the Civil War: The Letters They Wrote Home

3. Wesslau Family

Wesslau 59 age of thirty-three, after having complained about poor health and throat problems, he died of typhoid fever, like his brother Alexander before him. His widow and daughter visited the family in Germany at least twice, in 1868 and 1869.22 22. Emile Dupré (after the death of his mother) to his sister(s), May 5, 1865, November 11, 1865 (quotation), January 28, 1866, March 12, 1866, NABS; Robert Schultze, New York, to Dr. A. Bloom (Dupré’s brother-in-law—with the news of Emile Dupré’s death), September 29, 1866, NABS; entries in guest book Heinrich von Eynern, Rüdesheim, NABS. 3. Wesslau Family The cabinetmaker Julius Wesslau, the Protestant son of a carpenter in Jüterbog, some fifty miles south of Berlin, emigrated in 1850, at the age of twenty-three. By 1853 he had opened a workshop in New York, and in 1856 he was running it together with his brother Karl, who was three years older. They soon specialized in making furniture, were apparently very successful, and employed more and more workers. In 1858 two younger sisters, Emilie and Marie, arrived in the United States and married German American craftsmen; four more brothers and sisters remained in Germany.1 julius and lisette wesslau [Ne]w York, December 26, 1860 Dear parents, We received your last letters and read the contents with great interest [6 ll.: family]. As for us, we are all well [4 ll.: birth of a son].The business and political situation here in America, however, is less positive, and we have been hit very badly[. . . .] For a long time now there’s been a big fight about slavery: in the South, where it is too hot for the white race of men to work, for centuries now the people have been buying black Negroes, and they grow cotton so extensively on their plantations that they now constitute the world market source note: The biography of the Wesslau brothers gives no indication of more than an elementary education, but that seems to have been quite solid. It would be difficult to pinpoint differences in their command of the language. They handle a large vocabulary well, make few spelling mistakes, and write in a lively, animated fashion. Even their handwriting is much alike— neat and regular, indicating that they had considerable practice in writing, presumably in their business. What appear to be serious lapses in grammar are in fact the results of putting the local (southern Brandenburg) dialect into writing. The Wesslau ladies write very similarly, though their spelling is a little weaker. Not included here are the letters in the series from before 1860 (two), as well as a letter dated June 4, 1864. 1. CD New York 1853/54; letters by Julius and Karl Wesslau, 1860–62, NABS. 60 Wesslau in cotton. In the northern states slavery is seen as unjust, and they abolished it more than 50 years ago, and they don’t want it to spread to the new, unsettled territories in America [5 ll.: eighteen states in the North, fifteen slave states in the South; Congress and the president]. For many years the presidents were of the southern party, but this fall the candidate of the northern states won. Now the southern states are claiming that their property and their lives are in danger, and they have cut themselves off from the Union. The effect this has had on business here can’t be put into a few words, but business all over the country has collapsed. The South always bought its industrial goods from the North, and we can’t continue to exist without them [4 ll.: the southern states refuse to pay bills, are preparing for war]. The North would have been well advised to stay out of things that are none of its business, and everyone in business hopes things will be settled, but now the ball has started to roll, and no one knows what will happen. It would be a real shame, though, if a country like this, which has no equal in the world in terms of wealth and riches, should be destroyed because of the willfulness of its politicians [4 ll.: European powers would be pleased]. In my opinion, too much freedom isn’t always a good thing. It would be better for America if they had a set, more well regulated government with more protection of private property, where all the civil servants can’t stu...