Henry Curt Brunnworth (Conrad Heinrich Brunwort)

• General Notes
  • As a young boy, he took care of the younger children in the family as both of his parents worked in a factory for a few pennies a day.  As he could see no future for him there, he decided to come to America, and in November, 1850, left by himself to begin the journey.  He had a long and stormy voyage, as it took six weeks to get through the North Sea, and a total of thirteen weeks before he landed in New Orleans, Louisana.  From there, he took the boat upriver to St. Louis, Missouri, and by the time he landed, he was without money.
    
    He took a job as a farmhad with William Hadley, who owned a farm in the "American Bottoms", near the bluffs where I-70 ad Route 157 meet.  He know no English, could not communicate, and went to bed hungry at times.  This is how he described his life during this period;
    
    "I did not know a word of the English language and it would be hard for the young people of this day to conceive of a man too bashful to get enough to eat when it was set before him, yet such was the case with me.  At the first place that I worked, the lady of the house set the eatables upon the table and it was up to the members of the large household gathered around the board to reach and help themselves.  I was that bashful and scared, that for me to reach forth my hands and help myself required more courage than i could summon and I always lef the table hungry.  I was so hungary that I often went to the corn crib and gathered ears of corn and concealed them in my pockets, until I reached the fields and would munch them until it took the edge off of my hunger.  When my employer finally learned the fact of the case, he came to me and said, 'Brunnworth, Yas means yes in English.  Always say yes, and we will see that things are passed to you and that you get enough to eat.' "
    
    One year high water caused the Hadley's to move, and he then took a job with Jacob Barnsback as a farmhand.

Henry's family