Peter Westerhaus is my second great grandfather that immigrated to America during 1847.
Peter was born on his parents’ farm, located at #18, Lenzinghausen, Herford, Westphalia, Prussia. He was christened 23 Mar 1828 at St. Martin Lutheran Church in Spenge, Herford, Westphalia, Prussia. Church records show he was the 54th birth registered, and time of birth was 7 pm.
Peter Heinrich Korfhage birth record - St Martin Lutheran Church
Column two listed his given name as Peter Heinrich. Column three listed his birthdate as 17 March. Column four listed his time of birth as 7 pm. Column five listed him as born in wedlock. Column six listed his father as Johann Heinrich Korfhage, owner of farm #18. Column seven listed his mother as Anna Maria Ilsabein Brandt.
As an infant, Peter moved with his family to the Westerhaus farm #14, located across from the Korfhage farm #18, in Lenzinghausen, Herford, Westphalia, Prussia during 1829. After Peter's family moved to the Westerhaus farm #14, the family gradually changed their last name from Korfhage to Westerhaus, in keeping with the name of the farm they had purchased. Peter's father, Johann Heinrich Korfhage, died 23 September 1835, on the Westerhaus farm #14, which he had purchased five years earlier when Peter was seven years old.
Peter immigrated to America with his mother, Anna Maria Brandt Korfhage and three sisters, Catharina Ilsabein, Anna Catharina, and Anna Ilsabein during 1847. This was documented in the Herford District Departure Records. Both the names, Westerhaus and Korfhage, were referenced in these records.
Herford District Departure Record of Anna Maria Korfhage and Children
They most likely would have traveled with a group of families from the Spenge area. They were part of a mass migration from Prussia to America, as noted in the Departure Records.
The family traveled over land, to Herford, 10 miles east of Lenzinghausen. In Herford, boarded a small barge, and traveled 15 miles up the Werre River to Bad Oeynhausen. In Bad Oeynhausen, they boarded a barge of the same size on the larger Weser River and traveled north for 155 miles, arriving in Bremerhaven. Along the way, they worked for a few days or weeks to help pay for the expense of the barge trip to Bremerhaven.
The family boarded a sail ship for America, following the path of the Johann Heinrich Uphaus family, very close friends from Lenzinghausen. No passenger list has been found, but it is assumed from Westerhouse family stories passed down from generation to generation, that they followed the Uphaus family. Documentation has been found indicating the Uphaus family arrived in New Orleans during December of 1847 after sailing for 6 weeks.
Once arrived in New Orleans, they stayed only a short time before boarding a Mississippi River barge and traveling north to St. Louis, Missouri. Boat records were not required at this time in America, and no records have been found.
Once in St. Louis, the family would have stayed through the winter before taking a Missouri River barge west to Lexington, Lafayette, Missouri. Peter Westerhaus would then stay in Lexington, while his mother and his sisters would join his brother, Caspar Westerhaus, in Freedom, a German community 25 miles southeast of Lexington.
Missouri River at Lexington, Lafayette, Missouri - 1869
In Lexington, Peter gradually changed the spelling of his last name from Westerhaus to Westerhouse, and dropped his middle name, Heinrich.
Peter purchased property on 16 Jan 1852, for $250. It was located at 317 3rd Street (824 Highland Avenue) in the First Addition section of Lexington. The property was located across from a lumber yard. The lumber yard would have supplied Peter with material for building wooden barrels as a cooper. Peter's home was a two-story log building, based upon information from an 1885 Sanborn Fire Insurance map. The first floor was used for his cooperage business, and he lived on the second floor. The property was on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River. This was a busy area of the Lexington business district. Along one side was Commerce Street, which declined sharply to the Missouri River. Wagons of goods traveled up and down Commerce Street to be loaded and unloaded onto steam ships. Along 3rd Street were Pro-Confederate Antebellum homes overlooking the bluff. 3rd Street also served as the route for the Santa Fe Trail through Lexington, on which many wagons of goods and settlers traveled west.
Partial map of Lexington, Lafayette, Missouri - 1869
Before marriage, Anna Holtcamp immigrated with her father, Herman Heinrich Holtcamp and her brother, John Holtcamp and her sister, Mary Elizabeth Holtcamp during 1845. The family departed from Bremen, Prussia and arriving at New Orleans, Louisiana.
Peter married Anna Maria Holtcamp on 19 Apr 1853, in Lexington, Lafayette, Missouri, according to the marriage record found at the Lafayette County Courthouse.
Marriage Record of Peter Westerhouse and Anna Holtcamp
Peter and Anna purchased the following properties after marriage:
19 Jun 1854, for $300; 318 3rd Street (820 Highland Avenue)
27 Sep 1858, for $275; 319 3rd Street (816 Highland Avenue)
19 Jan 1859, for $75; 8 Commerce Street
31 Dec 1859, for $175; Poplar Street, north of Delaware Street
31 Dec 1859, for Unknown amount; Cedar Street, north of Delaware Street
3 Dec 1860, for $800; 3rd and Plum Streets (324 Highland Avenue)
8 Dec 1860, for $45; 2nd Street, west of Plum Street
While in Lexington the following children were born:
Henry Westerhouse, was born on 21 Aug 1854
Mary Anna Westerhouse, was born on 28 Sep 1856
Amelia Westerhouse, was born on 1858
Emma Westerhouse, was born on 2 Jun 1861
Edward Westerhouse, was born on 22 Sep 1862
Peter was naturalized as a United States Citizen 20 Nov 1855 in Lexington, Lafayette, Missouri, based upon a Lafayette County Courthouse Naturalization Document.
Naturalization Document of Peter Westerhouse
Lexington and Freedom, Missouri, were the sites of many skirmishes during the Civil War. Many people lost their real estate holdings, personal properties, and lives. German immigrants, including the Peter Westerhaus family, were anti-slave advocates living in a pro-slave state. They supported the Union Army and its beliefs. Living near the Missouri River port in Lexington, Peter and his family interacted daily with pro-slave owners and their slaves.
Peter was strongly against slavery and joined the Missouri Home Guard Infantry, 14th Regiment, Company E, in Lexington, Lafayette, Missouri, on 6 Jul 1861, for a three-year period. His Missouri Home Guard unit supported the Union Army, but received little income, equipment, or training. His unit was composed mostly of German non-English speaking immigrants with the purpose of supporting anti-slave advocates in the community.
The Battle of Lexington began on 18 Sep 1861, near Peter's property in the Anderson Addition. The citizens were cheering the Confederate troops as they approached Lexington, hoping the Confederate Army would regain control from the Union Army. In the Battle of Lexington, there were 15,000 Confederate troops and 3,500 Union troops, including Peter Westerhaus and his Missouri Home Guard unit. Confederate troops used hemp bales as shields and pushed the bales forward as they advanced toward the Union troops for their final charge on 20 Sep 1861. The Union troops surrendered with very few casualties at noon on 20 Sep 1861.
Peter Westerhouse was wounded and taken prisoner during the Battle of Lexington. Wounded troops were taken to the Anderson House which served as a Union Hospital. However, no medical records have ever been found for Peter.
Peter, along with 3,000 other captured Union troops, were released at 2 pm, 20 Sep 1861, after they all had listened to a speech by pro-Confederate Missouri Governor, Claiborne Jackson. The troops were paroled by Confederate General Sterling Price after they had taken an oath not to fight again and to leave the area. General Price told troops if they were caught fighting again, they would be executed. Peter and other Home Guard troops walked home through crowds of cheering pro-slavery townspeople. As he was walking back to his home at the corner of Broadway Avenue and 3rd Street, Peter must have felt disappointment as to how the battle had ended. He would have been welcomed by his wife and their four children, so excited to see he was safely home. This may have been the moment Peter and Anna began to consider moving their family to the free-slave state of Kansas.
Peter was mustered out of the Missouri Home Guard 19 Oct 1861, in St. Louis, Missouri. His muster roll indicated he had been wounded and taken prisoner at Lexington and afterwards, released on oath. He was originally mustered in for a three-year period, but only served 3 months before being mustered out.
The Hawkins Taylor Commission authorized the Missouri Home Guard troops to receive a payment for their military service. Peter received $54.65 for his 3 months and 13 days of service in the Missouri Home Guard. He collected this 30 Jun 1864.
Muster Roll of Peter Westerhouse
Hawkins Taylor Commission Pension Card of Peter Westerhouse
The family started making final plans for a move to Kansas and to homestead 160 acres there. These must have been both exciting and scary times, leaving the security of having a home, income, friends, and family, for the unknown in Kansas. Peter would leave his cooperage business behind and learn the skill of farming.
Peter and Anna sold all the Lexington properties to Henry Sandler 2 Jan 1863. The Lafayette County Courthouse property deeds revealed that Peter and Anna were able to collect a total of $6520 for their properties.
On a Feb morning in 1863, Peter and Anna were packing in preparation for their move to Kansas. Two escaped slaves came to their doorstep asking for a place to hide. Peter and Anna took them in and offered passage to Kansas.
The two Negroes, Betty and Abe, had escaped earlier from their owner, Mrs. Catherina Cavanaugh, and had been hiding in homes around the Lexington area. They were trying to leave the area and get to a free-slave state. Only 4 or 5 hours after Betty and Abe had arrived at Peter's home, Sheriff Jacob Price knocked on the door, demanding to be let in to search for the escaped slaves. Neither Peter nor Anna spoke English, so it must have been difficult for them to communicate with the sheriff. It was not long before the sheriff was able to find Betty and Abe and take them away. The sheriff then came back to the Westerhaus home to question Peter. He charged Peter with 'attempting to entice and decoy away slaves from Missouri to Kansas'. Peter offered the sheriff money and explained that he was not aware he was doing something wrong. The sheriff did not accept the money, but Peter was charged with "bribery".
Peter could continue his trip to Kansas, if he would promise to be present at his trial which had been set for 5 Mar 1863, at the Lafayette County Courthouse in Lexington, Missouri.
The Peter Westerhouse family most likely would have left Lexington, Lafayette, Missouri for Kansas during Feb of 1863. Families traveling west from Lexington, would have traveled on the Santa Fe Trail to Independence, Missouri, in a horse-drawn wagon. From Independence, they may have taken the Oregon Trail, which passed through Eudora, Douglas, Kansas. Based upon Westerhouse family stories, they settled in Eudora, Douglas, Kansas, on a plot of land, 3 miles south of town at 2375 North 800th Road. This section of Eudora was commonly referred to as the Captain Creek area. A property deed dated 11 May 1854 was found at the Douglas County Courthouse. It revealed that this property had been granted to Paschal Fish and his Shawnee Indian tribe by a treaty between Shawnee Indians and the United States government. This treaty was signed by President James Buchanan 10 May 1854. No homestead applications have been found for Peter and Anna.
*More To Come on this story next week*
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