Duelm, Benton Co., MN, that Dec. 1876
Dear brothers and sister-in-law,
Finally, after long hesitating, I reach for the pen to answer your two last letters. First of all, I am still very healthy and hope that this letter will find all of you, too, in the best of health.
Anyway, you thought that I was upset because of Gertrud (Roths), but that is not so. If she didn't feel like it, let her stay there. There are enough to be found here; greet her from me and tell her she should train well driving with the cows,
and also, especially, that she gets the right cowroad [....] spools to turn the spinning wheel, and
I wish her a long and healthy life with her dear Roths at Hiddingsel.
The reason of my long silence is that I still didn't
quite know what I should write about, since I still couldn't make up my mind as to what I wanted to
do with myself. I now started a store about 1/2 hour away from (Hermann) Winkelmann
(*Duelmen February 8, 1845/emigrated 1880). It is at the beginning of the village, there are now a
few houses, a catholic church and a rectory. The place is called Duelm, named by him
(Hermann) Winkelmann and Wilhelm Schulze Emting, who were pretty much the first
settler here. Wilhelm Schulze Emting (*Duelmen, January 12, 1812/ emigrated 1847) left
earlier together with Joseph Edelbrock (*Duelmen, March 23, 1826/emigrated 1847) for America
and hasn't gotten rich, yet. At first, I was willing to take on a farm, as there lies a beautiful
piece of land next to Hermann Winkelmann's farm, 80 acres big. But when I looked into it,
I found out that it could not yet be sold this fall, and so this hope of mine was gone. There is
still plenty of good land there, but I didn't take any.
Meanwhile, somebody built a house here this summer to
start a store in it, but when he was finished building it, his money ran out and he couldn't
continue, and that is what I now purchased for $475.00, shortly after I received the two letters
from you. I live there now since Monday, the 4th of this month, 1876, and am already so far that I
have my chimney smoking; and you can come and visit me sometime, I shall do my utmost to treat you.
I am not married, yet, I live all alone in the house, and I do my own cooking, and that I have so
arranged that I have variety: one day I cook sauerkraut with potatoes, the next day, I cook potatoes
with sauerkraut? Should you in your area still have some who feel very 'marriage-happy', just send
me 1/2 a dozen, so I'll choose the best one for me and send the remaining ones back. I just reserve this
right for myself: shouldn't any of them please me, I would send them all back.
I purchased my wares at St. Paul, Minnesota, which is
about 100 English miles from here on the way from here to Newburg, Wisconsin, where I used to live.
Newburg is 400 miles from St. Paul, figure about 3 miles to the hour. I carry dry goods, fabrics,
spices, and I have a pub with it. I am inviting you for next Sunday, that's when I would like to
serve free drinks for the opening, although, there won't be any dancing, there will only be beer and
whisky, because, we, too, know that it is Advent.
Now, you must not think that I am now a 'ready-made'
merchant, (as the saying goes), or will be rich right away, because every beginning is difficult. I
run the business on a small scale at first to let it grow little by little, for to go too much into
debt, that I won't do, but I hope that I shall do very well with it if I shouldn't run into
misfortune, and there, I so often recall how Doergens told me when I left, I should take some risks
in America.
Now, I will tell you how it stands with my marriage
story, as much as I still know myself. First, when I bought the place, I immediately wrote to
Wisconsin to Bernard Esselmann's stepdaughter regarding marriage. I would at that time have
been willing to travel there, to marry there and then, on the way back, purchase my merchandise.
I knew, her parents, always back then already, would have liked for me to marry her and, for sure,
also the girl herself, although, I never really got to know her very well, since I still didn't know
how it went with Gertrud (Roths), and I didn't have any idea where to go with a wife. The
answer I received was that it would be a bit far, but, if I thought it to be a good place for me to
find success, she wouldn't be against it, only, she needed some time to get her wardrobe in order.
I would wait an additional two weeks, namely until the last week before Advent, and added, that if
she thought that it might be too far away or if she otherwise didn't feel like it, she should think
about it now while it is still not too late, and I received her response: it would be too far away
from home for her and to look for someone else, so, I was done with it then, and that was all how I
cared anymore.
I went rightaway the next day to another. She is
fairly well-to-do, as I hear, should possess nearly $1000.00 (generally, girls around here don't
have any money. Who wants to get married gets nothing other than the girl, and then he has got to see that he is going to make it.) Whether or not I will still get this one, I don't know yet myself.
Now, back to Esselmann. Three days later already, I
received two letters, that I should please still come, I should not be angry, she regretted to have
made a mistake and felt remorseful. In these letters, however, the girl seemed to be a bit dishonest
with me, because I knew it couldn't be like the way she wrote, the lies were not finely enough
invented. The one letter the girl wrote herself, the other one was written by the girl and
Gertrud Esselmann née Huenck, together. Gertrud Esselmann would have loved to have
things the way they were before again and maybe thought to do me a favor thinking that I was hurt
and being upset over it, though, that was not the case. But when the girl seemed to me so naive and
simple just three days later again, I got angry. She should have given it more thought sooner
before she wrote it to me. I responded to Gertrud Esselmann: "First acted and afterwards
thought - has caused many a great sorrow," and that I was already looking for another lady, and
to give her my regards, and she shouldn't have done such a dumb thing. I couldn't help her, because
if she didn't know any better if she wanted me, I would consider it best that we would not get
together. Now, I know, she's got a lot of trouble at home. She wrote last week once more, I should
PLEASE come and get her, she wanted to become my loving spouse, I should not put the disgrace upon
her which she had caused me, she were crying through the nights so that the bed was often awfully
wet, she had already been to the station to meet me, yet, I hadn't come. Oh, please come, please
come, everyone knew that you were going to come for me and now you are not coming, if you don't
come, then nobody else will get me, either, and more of the kind was expressed. On that, I only
replied again that I couldn't come anymore to get her, since I had my goods in my store and couldn't
get away anymore, I wasn't married yet, and furthermore, I couldn't say what God then would do.
Also, Clemens Hesker (*Duelmen) is still alive.
I saw him and spoke with him when I was in St. Paul. I found out here that he was in St. Paul, and
I looked him up. I recognized him immediately, but he didn't know me, not even after I told him who
I was. He is still single and works at the St. Paul Saloon (Pub) as a barn farmhand. The first
thing he told me was that he had never written home to Germany, yet, and wasn't going to, either.
He didn't ask me how things were at home, not even about his siblings until I finally started
talking abut them, and when I told him about one or the other happening since after he left home,
he always laughed about it. And then it seemed to me as if it not at all mattered to him. I wasn't
able to have a very pleasant conversation with him. I asked what actually he thought he was going
to do, the time being right for him, as well. He answered, he didn't know it yet, and I think, if
he doesn't know it by now, he will hardly gain more knowledge about it.
I was three days in St. Paul and visited with him
four times. The letters his brother Heinrich (Hesler) wrote he had duly received. He had them
at Winkelmanns. He seems odder to me now than in the past, or I didn't know him so well earlier.
Give my regards to the families Hesler and Schultebein, and let them know how Clemens (Hesler)
is doing.
Dear brother, you would like to know the cost for
cattle, a cow costs $25.00 to $30.00, and pregnant cows are rarely for sale, they rather fatten them
up and sell them to the butchers, the pound @ 5 to 6 cents. If one wants to sell a cow at market,
it is the trend here to bring the calf along, and if one wants to fatten a calf, that takes little
effort here, he just lets the calf keep suckling the cow. Horses are more expensive and ordinarily
sell in pairs, and a good team goes for $350.00 to $400.00 or more.
The word Esq. at the address means nothing more than
'well-born', it is an English word and spells Esquire. Mr. means as much as Herr, spelled master
or mister.
I changed my name, too, now. From now on, I write
Clemens Huenck, because Diekaemper is not even our name, that is such an old German custom.
I also have to tell you that we have snow since the 21st of last month, and it is now pretty cold.
I also haven't told you, yet, that I was pretty lucky since a year ago with raffles. In Wisconsin,
I won three large maps, an accordion, 1/2 dozen tea spoons, a fine cup, 3 pair of earrings and pins
(Vorstecknadeln), an English lecture book at about the size of the 'large reader', and a magnifying
glass which enlarges pictures, and now, there was a raffle of various items here for the benefit of
our church, and I won a nice bed cover (blanket) worth about $6.00 to $7.00, a large man's shawl,
a lady's hat and a violin. Now, I have enough musical instruments, if only I could play.
Now I have to come to a close. Edelbrock sends his
regards to his brother. I only live 12 miles from him and see him often, as I have to fetch my
wares at the St. Cloud railroad station. Gerhard Heinrich Winkelmann with his wife and
daughter are still quite well and send their regards.
Greet from me all my relatives and friends, and ask
Marschall, Specht and Binger if the foto I sent them wasn't so worthy that they couldn't respond to
me. Then let them return same to me, I'll pay the postage. If Struffers wrote back to me, I don't
know, don't believe so, either. Anyway, I have written letters to so many already who don't write
back.
It may better to write to nobody anymore but home,
because from you, I do get regular responses to my letters. For this time, you have to excuse my
lengthy silence. Now, you have anyway the equivalent of two long letters. Please, write back again
soon and as much news as I wrote with this letter. Or might Bernard come here near spring to tell
me everything in person? I think, he'd be very smart to come here, for here, with the money he has,
he can be his own farmer. To try that at home might be very difficult. I never advised him to go
to Wisconsin, as the land is too expensive there. But here, it is cheap. Here, where I am and the
Winkelmanns, you can get plenty of land and cheap. And since I now live here, you would right away
find the best reception. Greet Schwaag from me, I will write to him eventually. I have still a lot
to do to get everything in order. Now, I have to drink a little glass of beer and then, it's bed
time.
With my very best regards to all of you,
your brother and brother-in-law
Clemens Hünck.
Dear Franziska, how are you and little William, from you
I hear nothing. My address is: Clemens Hünck Esq.
Duelm Minn.
Benton Co. N. America
If we do not see us again in this World, we will see us again in Heaven.
(This is only English and does not belong in the address.)
If it cannot be read it must be guessed.
Translated courtesy of Lucia Nezelek
