Email From Gary Aden to Gary Aden
Email Dated 8/12/2001 

     I ponder the mentality of Heye Aden, my 2nd great grandfather,
circa 1860's as he watched his oldest sons, John and Eilt, board a
vessel for America. Later, Mimke would follow his brothers. How much
political or economic pressure would it take for yours truly to uproot
his family for the uncertain promise of better times in the New World?
Wouldn't a few years conscripted in the army for your sons be superior
to chancing illness or death at sea or trying to start over in a new
land? Did some other factor figure in to the decision to emigrate? We
shall never know from Heye himself or his son, Mimke, for they left no
first hand account. 

      Near the Verrazzano statue in Battery Park was Castle Garden. I
would expect some kind of museum or memorial of some kind to Castle
Garden.  Only the entries of Heye, his wife, Cente, three daughters,
Etta, Antje, and Trintze plus two sons, Habbo and Heie can be documented
as occurring at Castle Garden. It is likely that most or all of the
principal immigrants in this pedigree line also came through Castle
Garden including John, Eilt, Mimke, and the Wilts family, but there is
no evidence to support any conclusions. Heye and his family shared a
relatively uneventful voyage to America, but Mimke, a stowaway, spent
five weeks crossing in a sailing vessel. I am starting to feel a sense
of awe as I realize I am walking in the path of my forefathers. I won't
wax polemically about how the times coincided with Joseph Conrad's
writings romanticized Youth challenging the forces of uncertainty and
Nature knowing  victory was only temporary was necessary to  validate
one's rite of passage into adulthood. To do so would somehow detract
from the courage it must have taken to leave Prussia and their former
lives behind. 

      From New York, I follow my itinerary to Benson, Illinois where I
honor my 2nd great grandfather's memory at his gravesite. The
preparatory details of this visit and the background on my visit to
Battery Park are summarized in the applicable and pertinent pages to
follow. I will muse while noting the prosperity of present day Benson
that the Aden family would have been well-advised to stay put rather
than trailblazing west to Nebraska!

      From Illinois, I will leapfrog to Philadelphia to initiate my site
visits relevant to the Lauer, Mechling, and Hunsucker progenitors. All
the while, I will be trying to figure out how to work in a visit to
Valley Forge and later to Yorktown just to rule out the possibility that
William Allen was not at either of those battles as L.P. Allen has
reported.

      Gary Carl Aden 8/10/2001