IMMIGRANT FACT SHEET
GERMANS in BOSTON RESOURCE CENTER

GERMAN IMMIGRANTS in BOSTON

Oscar Handlin's classic study, Boston's Immigrants - 1790-1880 contains many statistical charts and tables showing immigrant data by ethnicity, locality, occupation, year of arrival, etc. I found the information on those charts to be very interesting - Mr. Handlin was talking about MY German ancestors (and yours as well)!

GERMANS to BOSTON (ARRIVAL BY SHIP)

YEARS
# GERMANS
1821 - 1825
58
1826 - 1830
311
1831 - 1835
253
1836 - 1840
449
1841 - 1845
301
1846 - 1850
1,385
1851 - 1855
2,653
1856 - 1860
1,198
1861 - 1865
1,287


How many Germans were there in "Greater Boston" in 1855 and 1865? Statistical analyses of the 1855 and 1865 State Censuses for Boston give the following - (persons from Holland were also included in the tally for "Germany")
LOCALITY
1855 CENSUS
BORN GERMANY
1855 CENSUS
TOTAL POP.
1865
CENSUS
BORN
GERMANY
1865
CENSUS
TOTAL
POPULATION
BOSTON
3,376
160,400
3,790
192,318
Brighton
22
2,895
43
3,854
Cambridge
251
20,473
347
29,112
Charlestown
176
21,700
242
26,399
Somerville
27
5,806
41
9,353
W.Cambridge
20
2,670
13
2,758
Brookline
31
3,737
33
5,262
Dorchester
141
8,340
125
10,717
Roxbury
1,063
18,469
1,511
28,426
W.Roxbury
44
4,812
133
6,912
Chelsea
42
10,150
71
14,403

The 1860 US Census gives the following the distribution of German-born immigrants: SUFFOLK CO. - 1,290; NORFOLK CO. - 1,159 and MIDDLESEX CO. - 629.

What did these German immigrants do for a living? The 1850 US Census yields the following information about 929 German-born residents of Boston:

OCCUPATION
# GERMANS
TOTAL/POP.
police/watchmen
1
259
clergy
5
160
teachers
13
197
physicians
13
647
actors, musicians
33
249
other professions
4
474
merchants
5
1,005
agents, sales
9
592
clerks
19
3,676
dealers/food
9
1,061
dealers/dry goods
6
166
traders, pedlars
41
1,183
other retail
17
1,146
retail workers
2
87
manufacturers
11
378
printers
5
695
bakers, confectioners
55
449
workers/heavy ind'sty
79
819
smiths
36
877
carpenters
18
2,053
masons
5
674
painters
10
790
plumbers
2
96
sawyers, carvers
4
237
maritime ind'sty
8
304
cab't mkrs, upholst'rs
18
369
polishers, varnishers
3
95
mus. inst'mnt makers
20
254
coopers
16
289
workers-prec. metals
29
411
machnsts, mechnics
22
930
workers/leather
11
286
shoemakers
49
570
hatters
8
222
tailors
41
1,547
other artisans
80
1,049
transp'n, railroads
1
136
drivers, teamsters
2
271
truckmen, cabmen
2
1,094
stevedores
3
140
master mariners
7
145
boatmen
2
127
seamen
23
1,889
hotel keepers
11
164
restaurant keepers
4
279
waiters
3
361
barbers
3
186
domestic servants
31
3,249
laborers
107
8,552
no occupation given
17
1,062
occupation unknown
6
119

Another interesting tidbit of information from Handlin's book - in 1863, there were 184 children born in Boston whose parents were both born in Germany. In 1865, there were 197.


One of the more interesting tables found in Handlin's book shows Boston marriages 1863 - 1865  arranged by birthplace of the groom and birthplace of the bride. However, "Scandinavia" is included with Germany in this table.
GROOMS BORN IN GERMANY

GROOM
BRIDE
U.S.A.
BRIDE
GrBritain
BRIDE
Ireland
BRIDE BritAmer.
BRIDE GERMANY
BRIDE
Other
BRIDE Unknown
TOTAL
GERMANY
95
11
78
15
247
12
1
459

BRIDES BORN IN GERMANY


BRIDE
GROOM
U.S.A
GROOM
Gr.Britain
GROOM
Ireland
GROOM
Brit.Amer.
GROOM
GERMANY
GROOM
Other
GROOM
Unknown
TOTAL
GERMANY
14
2
2
0
247
21
0
286

By the 1880 Census, Boston's German-born population had risen to 7,396; the total of ALL foreign-born residents was 114,796.


In 1880, what did THESE German immigrants do for a living? The US Census provides an answer.

Immigrant Arrivals at the Port of Boston (from the U.S. Tenth Census) shows the following data for persons whose "origin" was Germany:

YEAR
#GERMANS
1871
2,783
1872
2,304
1873
2,709
1874
1,392
1875
876
1876
531
1877
378
1878
151
1879
233
1880
804


ABOUT THE SOURCE OF THIS INFORMATION: I've really enjoyed reading Oscar Handlin's Boston Immigrants - 1790-1880. While the book does NOT give specific information about my ancestors, it did give me a better picture of what Boston was like when my immigrants arrived. I looked at the charts and thought, "HEY! In 1855, there were 3,376 German-born residents of Boston, and TWO of them were my Great-great-grandparents, Mathias DORR and his wife Maria Something-or-other!"


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Marge Reid--[email protected]

This page was created 11 March 1999.

copyright © 1999 - Margaret V Reid