Part 1 - Aloysius Walter; Chapter 3 - Arrival in America

Arrival in America

On September 17, 1838, our ancestor Alois' Walter arrived in New York harbor aboard the ship 'Charles Carroll' from the port of Le Havre, France. Alois is the first in our Walter line to make the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a better life.

It is uncertain whether Alois was planning to stay in New York or head somewhere else upon his arrival in 1838. The first record in the U.S. that was found of his existence was in Buffalo, Erie County, New York. It is for the baptism of his first born son Bernard on July 18, 1840 at St. Louis Catholic Church. Future Canadian records (census and death) verify that Bernard was born in Buffalo on that date.

Other Ancestry.com family trees indicate that Alois and Regina (Meyer) were married in Buffalo, Erie County, New York on January 26, 1840. I have been unable to substantiate the validity of this event. A search of the microfilmed records from the Latter Day Saints for St. Louis Catholic Church does not contain a record of their marriage on this date, or any other time in 1839 or 1840. 

Since Alois appears to have traveled alone to the United States, it is likely that he and Regina met in Buffalo, married and began a family. 

Often times, people sailing from Europe already had extended family members in the United States. It is uncertain as to whether this was the case for Alois. He arrived prior to 1850, which is the first U.S. Census in which they would list the names of every person living in a household. There are other Walter families living in Buffalo, so he might very well have been living with one of them from 1838 - 1840, but the census does not provide this information. I was not able to find him listed as the 'head of household' in the 1840 U.S. Census - and, unfortunately, only the names of the 'head of household' is listed.

A possible reason why Alois headed to Buffalo upon his arrival most likely is due to the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825. "The Erie Canal made it easy for new immigrants, arriving in New York harbor, to reach newly available and inexpensive farmland in Western New York and other regions further west. The Erie Canal brought a great influx of German-speaking families into Erie County." 6

Source: Times Union Newspaper

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6 http://www.smithancestry.com/surnames/immfams.htm