John Hildesheim Diary Translation
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JOHN HILDESHEIM’S NOTES [Translated and annotated by Mark Hill] [EDUCATION AND EARLY YEARS 1845-64] [I was] born on April 9, 1845, in Hamburg. I went to school with Joh[ann] Roeloff, left that [school], under Ro[eloff’s] successor Dr. Friedrich Dörr on March 1, 1859. The same day, I was accepted as a trainee with N.H. Bernhard & Co., Hamburg. I became a clerk On January 1, 1862, with a salary of 500 p[fennig] courant.1 I traveled on June 3, 1862, on a pleasure trip to England through Hartlepool to Manchester, Nottingham, [and] London (Sydenham), for the [Great] Exhibition. Then I traveled back through Nottingham (I visited Matlock), and Hull, to Hamburg. July 1, 1862. On September 4, 1862, I left Hamburg and joined Dagron & Co. Paris as a clerk, with 150 francs p[er] month. For this [Dagron’s] house, I went on October 21, 1863, to Gex, near Geneva, where I remained until December 31 of the same year.2 From January 1 to May 15, 1864, I stayed in Paris (salary 3000 francs), and traveled then through Cologne to Solingen, and, three days later, to Hamburg for the wedding of my sister Caroline.3 1 The mark courant was currency in use in Hamburg and neighboring cities at that time. 2 Dagron was an early photographer who was known for producing microscopic lenses (the “Stanhope” lens). Dagron's lens factory was located in Gex, Switzerland. 3 Caroline married the banker, author and journalist Gustav Tuch. He advocated for German unification and founded Jewish community organizations. [TRAVEL TO CUBA AND MEXICO 1864-65] On June 2, 1864, I left Hamburg and traveled through Grimsby to Birmingham, and there, on the 5th, joined in the business of Herr Leopold Cohen with a salary of £120.4 I traveled with A[dolph] C[ohen] in August to Manchester and Liverpool. On November 2, 1864, I traveled for this house [of Cohen] through Southampton and St. Thomas by [the] Seine and [the] Trent 5 to Havana, where I arrived on November 24. (£50. Everything free.) From February 1-12, 1865, I visited the following cities of the island Cuba: Matanzas (Caves of Bellamar), Bembu, Cardenas, Sagua, Villaclara, Cienfuegos, [and] Trinidad, and returned through Batabanó to Havana. I left Havana on February 24 (by [the] Eyder), and on the 28th arrived at Veracruz, where I stayed until March 23, and then, by diligence6 through Paso del Macho, Cordoba, Orizaba, and Pueblo, reached Mexico’s capital city on March 27. On May 17, 1865, I left Mexico and arrived again on the 28th in Havana ([on the] Walcott via Veracruz and Sisal), where I stayed 3 days. [I went to New York] by [the] Barcelona.7 From June 4th to 10th, I remained in New York and arrived by [the] Baltimore on June 23 in Birmingham through Queenstown and Liverpool. I visited Nottingham on the 25th. I traveled to Hamburg on the 27th, and went through Grimsby and Manchester on July 18 to Birmingham again. I visited my brother Hermann in Birmingham on August 6, 1865. 4 Brothers Leopold Louis Cohen and Adolph Cohen were uncles of John's wife, Pauline Meyer. Leopold was an export merchant and Adolph a jeweler. Pauline's grandmother Jette "Jessie" (Warburg) Cohen lived in Birmingham with Adolph's family. 5 The Trent, from St. Thomas & Puerto Rico, arrived in Havana on Nov. 26, 1864 (cubagenweb.com). 6 A type of stagecoach. 7 US Immigration records John Hildesheim, 17, arriving on the Havana in New York on June 5, 1865. (Before I started on my trip to Cuba, I visited Nottingham, and received a visit from Julius and Eduard [in] 1864.) In Havana I met with Hermann on January 9. He stayed one week, then returned through Nassau and the U.S. to Europe.8 On August 12, 1865, I left Birmingham for Paris, I went there together with Papa and Julius. [1865: EMPLOYMENT BY LIPMAN & CO.] I left Paris on August 25 and met that evening with Lipman9 and his family as well as Hermann in London. [On the] 26th in Sydenham. [On the] 27th in Richmond and Hampton Court. On the 28th I went to Nottingham. On the 31st, back in Birmingham, I chose from the four offers made to me [by] Lipman & Co. Dundee10 as the one most profitable for me (£250, everything free, ¼ share). On September 2 in Blairgowrie I met David and his family. I went on the 11th to Belfast, and arrived again on the 18th through Glasgow in Dundee. October 14 I went to Hamburg via Edinburgh and Leith, [and] returned [on] October 29, 1865, to Dundee. 8 Hermannʼs return trip via the U.S. took place during the American Civil War, when southern ports were blockaded. [The Library of Congress has a manuscript list of Confederate ships arriving and departing Nassau and Bermuda maintained by the US Consul 1861-1865: Handbook of manuscripts in the Library of Congress, Library of Congress. Manuscript Division, Van Arsdale Brown Turner, John Clement Fitzpatrick, Emily Burns Mitchell, Gaillard Hunt http://books.google.com/books? id=UIwDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA73&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U3zvGPh89CvpVK3CHpdTiR1GuXH pA&ci=64%2C613%2C855%2C276&edge=0 ] 9 Isaac Lipman was the brother of Therese Lipman, Johnʼs mother. He was the owner of Lipman & Co., a trading firm that had offices in Dundee and Hamburg and, eventually, Glasgow, Manchester, and Belfast. He was also a partner in the Hamburg firm of Lipman & Wulff. 10 John and his brothers David and Hermann all were employed by, or partners of Isaac Lipmanʼs firm. The firm exported jute products such as burlap bags internationally. David was associated with Lipman & Co. Dundee, John with the Glasgow business, and Hermann with Dundee. In 1892, Lipman & Co., then owned by Isaac Lipmanʼs son Ernest Lipman, Hermann Hildesheim, and Edward Friedländer, failed and litigation ensued. (New York Security and Trust Company v. Ernest Lipman and others, Supreme Court of the State of New York, General Term-First Department Case on Appeal (1895) Google e-book.) [1865-1868: TRAVEL IN SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, NORTH AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN] [BRAZIL 1865-66] [I went on] November 6 to London, from there on the 8th to Southampton. On the 9th I left Southampton on [the] steamer Douro. On the 12th of November we were in Tajo near Lisbon, on the 16th passed Tenerife, on the 20th, St. Vincent. On the 27th, we arrived at Pernambuco, where I stayed until the 15th of December. The Panana brought me on the 20th to Maranhão, after touching on the Parahiba harbor, Rio Grande do Norte, and Céara. I spent Christmas 1865 on the quinta11 “San Lazaro“ at Maranhão. [On] the 31st of December and New Year's Day I was in Remedio. On January 12, 1866, I left Maranhão and arrived in Pará. On the 24th, I left Pará, toured Maranhão, Natal, Parahiba, Céara, Pernambuco, [and] Abaceio, and was on February 7 in Bahia (by [the] Tocantino. On [the] 20th, I went by [the] Kepler to Rio, where I arrived on February 24. On March 7, I left Rio by [the] Brasil. On the 10th, I was on Santa Catarina. On the 13th, I arrived in Rio Grande do Sol, then left that place on the Gerente on the 27th. [URUGUAY, ARGENTINA, CHILE 1866] On the 28th, I was in Montevideo [until] April 4th. I arrived in Buenos Aires on the Rio Paraná on the 5th. On the 17th, I went on [the] Icihu to Rosario. On the 18th-24th in Rosario. “"24th Arequito [Argentina] "25th 3 Cruces [Tres Cruces, Montevideo, Uruguay] "26th Tortural ([they] danced) "27th Rio Cuarto [Cordoba, Argentina] 11 Ranch. "28th Achiras [Cordoba, Argentina] "29th Rio Quinto [Cordoba, Argentina] "30th Desaguadero [Mendoza, Argentina] May 1. "San Luis [Argentina] "2."Santa Rosa [Mendoza, Argentina] "3. "Mendoza [Argentina]. On May 4, 1866, [I started] from M[endoza] to Valparaiso, where I arrived on the 13th through Coquimbito los Andes [Chile] and Llaillay [Chile]. On May 27 by railroad to Santiago (Recoleta), and back [to Valparaiso] on June 1. PERU 1866 On June 3, 1866, by [the] Limeña through Coquimbo and Caldera, Chile; Cobija, Bolivia; Iquique and Arica [Chile], to Tacna [Peru] on the 9th. On the 18th, to Iquique on the Ecuador, where I arrived on the 19th. On the 23rd by [the Ecuador] to Pisagua. On the 27th to Arica and Tacna. On [July] 1st from A[rica] on the Payta to Islay, where I arrived on the 2nd. On the 3rd, to Arequipa by mule. On the 9th, from Islay on the Guayaquil to Callao and Lima,12 where I arrived on the 12th. [July 27-31] national holiday celebration. [page 7] 12 He had a photograph made in Lima. On August 11 I left Lima on the Talca and arrived in Huanchaco on the 14th. On horse through Trujillo (four-day stop), I arrived on the 19th in Facala (Hacienda of Luis Albrecht13); on the 22nd, back in Huanchaco. Between Lima and H[uanchaco] I saw the various garrisoned harbors of Huasco, Supe, Samanco, Culebras, Santas, etc.; between H[uanchaco] and Paita, where on the 25th I arrived on the Santiago, Pimentel and San José and Pimentel. [Pimentel and San José are both near Huanchaco.] On August 26 I arrived in Guayaquil on the Favorita, which I left again on September 12. [To] Tumbes on [the] Peruano. CENTRAL AMERICA On the 16th, on [the] Limena from Payta to Panama, where I arrived on the 21st, and left Panama on the Parkersburgh on the 25th; and, after touching on the Punta Arrenas harbor (Costa Rica); Realejo and Corinto (Nicaragua); La Union, Libertad and Agajutla (San Salvador), on October 4 arrived in San Jose de Guatemala; [and] at 5:00 in the evening I arrived by diligence14 via Esquintla in the capital city.