Questions about Cleveland

 



What inspired you to write The Last of the Blacksmiths?

 

My family has rare old letters dating back to 1841, written by Cleveland blacksmiths and wagon-makers that date back to 1841 when they first arrived in Ohio. I used them as a jumping-off point. The letters tell of infant deaths, of starting a wagon business, of shops burning and a wagon-maker losing his leg. They were discovered a few years ago in an attic in Germany. We couldn’t read them at first – they were in Old German Script (a precursor to Sütterlin). But my German cousin Angela Weber helped me. There were two brothers in the mid-nineteenth century. One migrated to America – I’m descended from him, Michael Harm. The older brother, Philipp Harm, remained in the Palatinate – my cousin Angela is descended from him. We’re fifth generation descendants. As Angela and I translated the old letters, it turned into a kind of game of clue– who were these people? How were they related to us? From the voices in the letters, I heard their story emerging.



So the book is based on a true story?

It is. I was even able to look up these blacksmiths and wagon-makers in old Cleveland city directories. I also found them in census records, and on immigrant ship manifests. Genealogists locate ancestors in records all the time, but the letters offered so much more — a window into the German immigrant experience in Cleveland. These men were salt-of-the-earth types who worked hard, and they had dreams too – many came seeking freedom from oppressive European monarchies, so they were excited about having the vote, a free press, and fewer restrictions in the artisan guild system. By the end of the 19th century, though, the machine age had shifted their entire way of life.



What was Cleveland like in the nineteenth century?

Just after the canals were completed in the 1830s, Cleveland’s population, was essentially one-third English, one-third Irish, and one-third German. The Last of the Blacksmiths opens before the Civil War, when the wealthiest Clevelanders lived not on Euclid Avenue, but on Prospect Avenue in Greek Revival-style mansions. For the most part, these “nabobs” were the English, the Connecticut Yankees.

The Last of the Blacksmiths focuses on the German immigrant population. Germans in Cleveland began arriving in significant numbers during the building of the canal system in the 1820s and 1830s. These Germans were conservative farmers looking for a fresh start. After 1848 and the failed revolution for democracy in Europe, a new class of German immigrant arrived, political exiles—48ers they were nicknamed –lawyers and professors and journalists. Many had rebelled against the monarchies and were forced to flee when their demands for a constitutional government failed. Others had simply given up on the oppressive monarchy rule and came in search of freedom. These men were passionate about Thomas Paine, about democracy and abolition. These newly arrived Germans founded German newspapers and singing and physical fitness societies. They also formed German schools and churches. The new Republican Party, with its emphasis on a reduced time period for immigrants to gain citizenship, was especially attractive.



In your book, your protagonist suffers anti-German discrimination. Tell us more.

In those days anti-immigrant sentiment was mainly directed against the Germans and the Irish. In his day, Benjamin Franklin complained that, what with so many German speakers coming to the colonies, it seemed to him the national language might become German. He was not happy about it, and others shared his opinion. A “Nativist” movement arose in the mid-1800s. The “Nativists” were Western Europeans — already naturalized citizens, of course — whose mottow was: “America for the Americans.” I find the motto specially ironic, given the true indigenous Native Americans. Anyhow, the Nativists were working hard to enact legislation that would prevent immigrants from voting or holding office or becoming citizens for 21 years after arrival in the U.S.

Also, many “Puritan” British U.S. citizens in those days believed strongly in temperance. This contingent reviled the German practice of beer and wine drinking, especially on Sundays. For the Germans, on the other hand, beer making and wine imports were central to their economy. There were hard feelings on both sides.



Were you surprised by anything you found out during your research?

I also couldn’t find any mention of my family in the 19th-century Cleveland newspapers. I was puzzled by this until I came across my great-great grandmother’s scrap book, which included newspaper articles written in German. Then I realized the stories about my German side of the family would be in the German newspapers. This phenomena must continue today – for instance, in my hometown of Seattle there’s a Korean language newspaper and a Chinese language newspaper and so on – English-speakers don’t really follow or report on the news of those communities.

Cleveland’s streets were all numbered starting in 1906, so I couldn’t find Seneca Street and Willson Road for instance. At the map room in the Cleveland Public Library I was able to find old addresses mentioned in the letters. It turned out Seneca Street — where Michael Harm did his blacksmith apprenticeship — is present-day W. 3rd Street – it runs right through the heart of downtown, a block away from Public Square. Champlain Street, where Harm’s first carriage business stood, is where Cleveland’s signature Tower City now stands.

It seems as if the 20th century – with Germany’s role in the World Wars — effectively buried much of the German immigrant story of the nineteenth century. The whole country had a negative reaction to Germans starting in WWI. In some places, it became unlawful to speak German in public. In some instances my ancestors even changed their names to sound less German. No doubt they got rid of many things related to their German heritage. Writing the book, I realized German immigrants brought quite positive influences to the U.S. in the 19 century – better farming methods, a passion for music and opera, and they played a significant role in the election of Abraham Lincoln. It’s a privilege to unbury some of that more romantic, visionary past.

Back to top…