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William Benitz | Page last modified: |
The primary reason why Wilhelm emigrated is very likely because his father, Anton Böniz, had died, on 25th February, 1833. The family cooperage went to Wilhelm’s older brother Thad; the younger brothers, including Wilhelm, were probably each given some funds and pushed out into the world to fend for themselves.
In none of his letters to his brother Thad does Wilhelm state exactly why he left Endingen. At best, we can only speculate on the reasons. Here are some that could have influenced his decision in 1833 to leave for the New World:
Whatever the reasons for his leaving, Wilhelm left as many did without the required official permission. He and his brother Johan (John) apparently invested their funds in passages to New York.
Johann Bennitz and Wilhelm Bennitz, natives of Baden, ages 21 and 18 respectively, were passengers on the ship Utica that sailed from Le Havre, France, to New York City, U.S.A., arriving on December 2, 1833. The names, ages, and country of birth match those of Wilhelm (William) and his older brother Johann (John). It is too much of a coincidence to believe it is not them.
Assuming it was them, their ship, the Utica, would have departed Le Havre on about October 20th. They probably left Endingen during September, 1833.
The alternatinve, that William sailed directly from Europe to the coast of Mexico-Texas, seems unlikely. Immigrants to Texas before him had first sailed across the Atlantic to ports on the east coast of the U.S., where they then boarded a second ship that took them around Florida to the Gulf Coast.
John is not mentioned in the family records, but other records include a John Benitz in Pittsburgh. Brother Anton Benitz, in his letter of May 6, 1852 to their eldest brother Thaddeaus announcing he had found William, ends with “As for the rest, Xaver and Nany are, as far as I know, healthy and doing well.” He makes no mention of John, which suggests John’s fate was known to the family by 1852. (Spreculation: It is possible John may have accompanied William to Texas but drowned during the ship-wreck that William survived. If, after serving in the Texian army, William visited Anton in Pittsbugh, he surely would have told Anton of John's drowning.)
William’s first years in the New World, 1834 to 1841, are mostly a mystery to us. We have exciting family lore but few verifiable facts about him. As a young man, he most likely worked for daily wages, leaving little in the way of a written record of his passing (e.g. business transactions, legal records). Per his letters to his brother Thadaeus in Germany, written 20 years later (June, 1853, and March, 1855), he did not have it easy but said his adventures were many and their "description would not fit into six volumes". He promised to write an account of his adventures; if he ever did, it is currently missing.
We lose track of his whereaboust after his arrival in New York. It is difficult to guess what he did or where he went for his options were many. We present the two which seem the most plausible to us. Note that hurricanes on the Texas coast most often occur between August and October, particularly in October.
1) Heavily influenced by the glowing letters of Johann Friedrich Ernst, he immediately boarded a ship for Texas (much as Ernst had). If so, Wilhelm probably arrived off the coast of Mexico-Texas no earlier than February, 1834; however, his shipwreck most likely occurred in late summer of 1834. [Passenger lists of ships leaving New York in the early 1800s have not yet been made available on line (assuming they exist).]
2) He accompanied his brother Johan to Pittsburgh where many Germans were settling. Growing restless, Wilhelm either returned to the east coast or travelled down the Ohio & Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. In either case, he boarded a ship for Texas that was shipwrecked upon the Mexico-Texas coast in late summer of 1835.
Research notes: We discovered William’s arrival in New York quite by accident, in December 2016. We hope to find his tracks now that we know where to look!!
© Peter Benitz (Benitz Family)