Hi Armin,
I look forward to your challenge, once you've solved mine. <grin>
In 1900 Elizabeth Speier is widowed, she states she came to the USA in 1849.
In 1910 Elizabeth Speier states she came to the USA in 1853.
In 1920 Elizabeth Speier states she came to the USA in 1845 and was naturalized in 1863.
Kindest regards,
Joel
That's about right. It just wasn't that important. European peasants had no wall calendars. No one had a driver's license or a birth certificate. Parents died young and weren't around to answer "when was I born?" or "when did we come to America?"
Immigrants were welcome and did their best to fit in, grateful to be here and hard at work whether on a job no American wanted or boiling up water over a nice fire for the laundry and chopping more wood for the cookstove!
Parts of Germany experienced crop blights as bad as the Irish Famine in the 1840s. They put it all behind them, and bless them!
I have surname Otto in my family..but I think these from olden Posen..then Washington County, Illinois.