Pequegnat family

At this point in my blog I should mention the main characters in my book, "Great-Grandma's Trunk."  The story is based upon the life of Emma Pequegnat.  She left a hand written note to her children, which gives a brief outline of her birth, her marriage to Frederick Schultheiss, and the names of her children.  The first paragraph is as follows:

     "I was born in Switzerland the 28 April 1861.  My father's name was Amie Pequegnat.  Mother was Adelaide.  Mother died when I was two years old, her sister, Aunt Pauline took me and she was my Mother.(She and) Uncle Frank were both good to me.  When I was 8 years old  they came to the United States to live.  I have been here ever since."

As Emma stated in her little autobiography, her father, Amie Pequegnat, gave his little two-year old daughter to his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Frank and Pauline Pequegnat.  The Pequegnat genealogy is confusing, because distant cousins married.  Adelaide (Emma's mother) and Pauline's maiden names were Pequegnat, as well as Pauline's husband, Frank (Francois, Franz).

Frank Pequegnat was a Swiss watchmaker.  He emigrated to America a little over a year before his wife in order to secure a job with the Elgin National Watch Company, located in Elgin, Illinois.   Pauline followed, accompanied by her brother, Adolphe, her sister, Melanie, eight-year old Emma, and Pauline's young son. They traveled from Loveresse, Switzerland to the port of Hamburg, Germany.  Their ship, the Westphalia,
departed April 29, 1869.

So, the first part of the book centers upon Emma, Frank, Pauline, Adolphe, and Melanie.  Some family background is mentioned, along with the fears and apprehension they must have endured as they left their life-long homes and set out for an alien country with foreign speaking people.  I am sure that they were also well aware of the dangers of crossing the wide Atlantic, and had fear of the unknown.

To be continued.