Emma and her children, Amanda, Emma , Hugo, Amelia, Augusta and Lena, embarked by this ship, the SS Weser, in 1881. Their accommodations were in steerage. Emma almost immediately became ill. Thirteen-year-old Amanda had to care for the children. The crossing was rough and took three weeks. John Adam met them at the dock in New York.



Life as the wife of a Kansas farmer was very different fromt he life Emma had lived in Germany. Her days were filled with hard work.

Baby Lena died of diptheria, Annie died from a rattlesnake bite at 8 years old. Emma died in childbirth March 13, 1886. She was 36 years old.