Thanksgiving: A Day of Gratitude

by Joseph R. Hughes

During a sermon at Plymouth Church in 1865, Pastor E.P. Powell said, “Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest people; but be careful that you do not take the day and leave out the gratitude.” Here in English Country Manor and across this great country, gratitude for our collective heritage and lineage of immigrants, should not be left out. So many of us from Churchill Road to Canterbury Road to Thames Way and Squire Lane and Yorkshire Way, and around the Clock Tower to Chaucer Lane can trace our roots to the succession of immigrants who came to this country through the port of Baltimore.

Germans formed the largest immigration group to land in Baltimore, followed by the Irish. Immigrants from Poland, Italy, Greece and elsewhere entered the United States through Baltimore.

A partnership in 1867 between the B&O Railroad and the North German Lloyd Steamship Company set sailings direct from German ports to Baltimore. The agreement initiated the construction of two new terminals for steamship lines and railroads on Locust Point. It allowed passengers to buy a single ticket in Europe that would carry them across the Atlantic and then west by train to points west including Chicago and St. Louis.

Many stayed in Baltimore to form working-class neighborhoods in Locust Point, Canton, Fells Point, Little Italy, and communities throughout the Baltimore region including Harford County.

The flag flying above Fort McHenry was the first snapshot of America for approximately 2 million people, as they sailed through Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

By 1873, immigrants disembarked in Baltimore at a rate of 18,000 per year. Passenger arrivals peaked to 40,000 newcomers annually in 1907, when 60 overloaded steamers docked on Locust Point. Baltimore was listed the No.  2 port of entry in the United States for immigrants after Ellis Island in New York.

The swell of European settlers to America lasted until the outset of World War I, when the era of mass immigration ended. In July 1914, the last steamship bearing immigrants arrived at Locust Point.

Let’s give thanks to our ancestors who boarded ships, huddled together clinging to the bags, bundles and boxes that comprised their worldly possessions. Soon-to-be Americans named Schaefer, Schmidt, Weimer, Kelly, Murphy, Nowak, Dabrowski, Sorentino, Mosca and Basso landed here with a dream and rekindled spirit.