new find

Was out to the folks' house a couple of days ago. Dad had some papers to show me, something we have been seeking for a very long time. My great-grandparents on my mother's side emigrated from Germany, arriving in Wisconsin around 1885. I have an oak kitchen table which was one of their first purchases here in the States as they were setting up their household in their new country. My parents gave it to me for my birthday a few years ago, and it's one of my treasured possessions (I'm kinda weird about family heirlooms. I'd rather have a beatup rocking chair that's been in the family for a hundred years than a new La-Z-boy ANY day). Anyway, that's all we really knew about them. My mother describes her grandparents as somewhat close-mouthed, never discussing Germany. Family lore has it that Great-Grandpa Christoph had to leave Germany because he killed a man, but nobody really knows. All we knew is that they corresponded with relatives in Berlin during WW2, and lost contact with them after the War. I had always wondered if, knowing the family story about leaving Germany the way he did, my great-grandfather may have changed his name upon arriving in this country. Maybe that's why we could never find their name on any ship's records or immigration lists. We never knew exactly when they left, when they got here, or HOW they got here. We know now. This is a jpeg of a list of immigrants arriving at New York ( not through Ellis Island, which didn't open for business until 1892) on July 25th, 1885. The Stelter family, which included Christoph, wife Elina (known as Lena), and children Emma and Ernst; departed from the port of Stettin, Germany (now a part of Poland, and I'm not even going to *try* to spell the name!) on the ship "Katie". No, my grandfather Otto is not listed there, as he was born a year or two after their arrival in 'sconsin. Got 'em.