The year was 1841. Here in America, John Tyler was the President of the United States, the first of any Vice Presidents to take office after the death of a President. William Henry Harrison had become ill and died after a month in office. President Harrison died April 4, 1841. He had been presented as a candidate who was a simple frontier Indian fighter, living in a log cabin and drinking cider. He and his family lived in a log cabin 300 yards away from the Ohio River at a location west of Cincinnati, now called North Bend. Harrison built grist and cider mills. He farmed and laid out the town of Cleves, naming it for his father-in-law. In his early years Harrison had successfully fought off an Indian attack on the Tippecanoe River. His Inaugural address in February 1841 was edited by Daniel Webster. Harrison, the ninth President, was the first President to die in office.

The tenth President, John Tyler, was nominated Vice President in 1840 with the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too”. Some of us old timers remember this from our history lessons. President Tyler and the Whig Congress enacted the “Log Cabin Act”. The bill enabled a settler to claim 160 acres of land before it was offered publicly for sale, and later pay $1.25 an acre for it. I cannot confirm that any of our family acquired their land here in Kentucky under this act.

In Europe, Pope Gregory XVI was entering the final years of his papacy. He had struggled with the rebellion within the church and had suffered anxieties for the Faith and the Universal Church. He was to die five years later in 1846.

On July 9, 1841 the Ship, Ville De Lyon, arrived in the harbor of New York. It had sailed from Havre on a date yet to be discovered. The ships list of passengers, records the names, age, sex, occupation, province, village and destination. It is sad for us genealogists to discover that in most records, the village is listed unknown. Among this ship’s passengers who arrived that day was the Peter Steffen family of 21 members. In the heat of that summer day they arrived in America after having crossed France and the Atlantic Ocean. A new journey still remained to arrive at the landing of Cincinnati.

Although the city destination for Peter’s family was not recorded in Germany, many emigrants listed their destination as Cincinnati.

The original ship’s record is difficult to decipher. I have inserted the center column names to reflect the interpretation of a printed record of German families arriving in America. The right column reflects the possessions of the 21 members of the Steffen family. It lists what we think is 3 chests and 1 gun. I wonder where that gun might be now!



We must give credit to those who have added so much time and research to record information to make our search easier to discover. So many locations for research are available to us today through web sites, LDS documents and library resources. One such source is a series of books that list some of the names transcribed from the original ship’s list of passengers. The Steffen family is shown here in those books.



I have found no record of how Peter and his family traveled from New York to Cincinnati or when they arrived. Many German immigrants arrived by steam boat down the Ohio River.

Some time that same year of 1841, while proceeding down river, 250 German immigrants lost their lives in the harbor of Cincinnati aboard the steamer, Moselle. The steamer’s boilers exploded when the Captain held back steam to release at an opportune time to show the boat’s great power as he passed Cincinnati. Fifteen minutes after the explosion the boat sank. How sad that must have been for families arriving from a long journey with new hopes of finding a better life! Survivors would certainly question if it was all worth it.

The accident and number of lives lost, indicates how many German immigrants were coming down the river into the Cincinnati area.

When they arrived at the port of Cincinnati the first sight was probably not too different than this photo of 1830.



Twenty one members of the Steffen Family have arrived in Cincinnati. It has been a long journey, but still they must find land to establish their new home.

CHAPTER TWO Correction

It seems my research source concerning the Moselle steam boat is incorrect.

New research shows the Moselle sank in 1838. The following was written by well known Campbell County Historian – Genealogist, Jim Reis

Moselle-between 5 and 6 pm on April 25, 1838, the steamer Moselle with Captain Perin on the bridge, left Cincinnati for St. Louis.  Between 150 and 200 people were aboard.  According to the Cincinnati Daily Evening Post, "the rafts and neighboring shores and streets were covered with people, many of whom were drawn by curiosity, others to take farewell of their departing friends and relatives." The steamer still was within view when it was rocked by a tremendous blast. "We never before saw such an illustration of the power of steam.  A part of one of the boilers was thrown more than 1000 feet and crushed the pavement where it fell," the reporter wrote.  Two weeks later the casualty list showed 62 people dead, 16 seriously injured, 52 missing and more than 90 people uninjured.

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Another source

• Name: MOSELLE
  
• Type: Sidewheel, wooden hull packet.
• Size: 150 tons
• Launched: 1838, Apr., Cincinnati, Oh.
• Destroyed: 1838, Apr. 25: 3 of her 4 boilers exploded at landing just above docks at Cincinnati, after 2nd run to St Louis. (160 persons lost)
• Area: Ohio R.
• Captain; 1838, Apr. 25, Perin, 4. an attentive, courtious young man of probably not over 28 years of age.
• Above information from Tall Stacks On Line
• Comments: 4. 1838, Apr. Portsmouth, Oh.-Cincinnati, Oh. time, 00/07/55
• St. Louis - Cincinnati-St. Louis, 02/16/00
• Made run Louisville - Cincinnati 1837