Ludwig Emil Franz reached New York aboard the
Rhaetia out of Hamburg, Germany on August 5th, 1885. His name is listed in the ship
manifest (#142 | age: 22 | country: Germany | province: Prussia | city: Tilsit | occupation: Farmer). See also:
GermanImmigrants1880s.com.
The SS Rhaetia was a transatlantic passenger ship on the Hamburg-American line. She was built in 1882 by Reiherstiegwerft, Hamburg, Germany and was 350.1 feet long and 42.6 feet wide and weighed 3,467 tons. The steamship had a speed of 12 knots and was powered by compound engines that delivered 2000 I.H.P. to a single screw. The steel-hulled ship had three masts (the foremast rigged for sail), and one funnel. She had accommodations for 96 first class and 1100 third class passengers and a crew of 90. She was launched on November 23, 1882 and sailed from Hamburg on her maiden voyage to Havre and New York on April 4, 1883. The SS Rhaetia commenced her last voyage on this service on November 4, 1894 and in 1895 was taken by Harland & Wolff (shipbuilders) in part payment for the new ship Pennsylvania. She was then bought by J. H. Bögel of Hamburg and in 1898 was sold to the US Navy and renamed Cassius. In 1900, she became a US army transport and was renamed Sumner. On December 11, 1916 she was wrecked on Barnegat Shoals, NJ. (source)
Tilsit is the old name of Sovetsk. Before its annexion by the URSS in 1946, it was in Oriental Prussia. (see www.tilsit.com)
Ludwig Franz and his wife Margaret are mentioned in successive editions (1892 to 1922) of the
Des Moines City Directory.
L. E. Franz was the first typesetter of the
Iowa Volksblatt (
source). He was a member of the
Des Moines typographical Union No. 118 (
source). In 1895 he bought a grocery store in Des Moines (
source).
The Iowa Volksblatt served the community of Postville, Iowa, for many years. There was a large influx of German people in this area who could not read or write the English language but most of them could read or write German. They discussed the subject of a German newspaper with their pastor, Rev. J. Gass. In 1891 Rev. Gass began the publication of the Iowa Volksblatt. In 1895 he transferred the management of the paper to his printers, Henry Brechler and Guxtav Dietsch of Milwaukee, Wis. By this time the paper was well established. Mr. Dietsch bought his partners share in 1897 and conducted the paper alone until 1908 when he sold his plant and office building to Paul Ronneburger and Sam Hoesly of Monroe, Wis. (source).
1862 - 1927 (65 years)
[1] 
. Marie Henrietta FRANZ, b. 18 May 1892, Des Moines, Polk, Iowa 
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