Only thieves and murderers emigrate to America” was what people said about emigrants in the middle of the 19th century. This is not true of the Eisendrath family but indirectly it was a theft that made Nathan Eisendrath decide to leave Dorsten, a small town in Westphalia.
Nathan Eisendrath was born on 7 January 1823 in Dorsten. He was the eighth child of Julia and Samson Nathan Eisendrath. For some years he attended the Petrinum Secondary School for Boys in Dorsten and then he learnt the profession of merchant at his father’s family business. At a young age he borrowed money form his parents and together with a partner he founded his own firm. The partnership did not last long; after just a short time the partner, whose name was Bettinger, deceived him and fled with 3.000 marks. He was not found. Nathan suffered financial losses and great economic problems. He was unable to repay his parents the money he had borrowed. In 1848 after disagreements with his father Nathan took the boat from Rotterdam to emigrate to New York.

This website allocates stories from a widely spread family, emigrated in th 19th century from Dorsten/Germany to the USA. A research group in Dorsten, linked to the Jewish Museum of Westphalia, is collecting the traces of this family. Till now our mosaic of Eisendrath stories remains fragmentary; we hope to supplement it within the next years. - If You can contribute anything to our research, please contact us!

Nathan Eisendrath’s “Oath of Allgiance” to the USA
(With friendly permission of www.ancestry.de)

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