by Gregory Kopp
The Catholic leaders of Cincinnati countered the demonstrators by ordering the building of barricades on the Miami and Erie Canal bridges separating the city from the “Over the Rhine” neighborhood. Stanislaus and Karolina’s cousin Heinrich were recruited by several of the Catholic leaders to help build and man the barricades. Stanislaus kissed his wife goodbye as she recalled the same scene on the eve of the Baden revolution several years before. She warned him to take care of himself and he nodded as he went out the door.
Stanislaus along with Heinrich, ran to the nearest bridge over the canal to begin building the barricades before any of the anti-Catholic marchers would reach their neighborhood. An old cannon had been found by the defenders and placed in front of the main barricade. This cannon fired a single shot over the heads of marchers as they came closer to the canal but to no avail. The Cincinnati police were outnumbered but advanced anyway to meet the demonstrators as a brawl broke out between them.
Karolina, her cousin’s wife, and their three children were huddling in the home they shared. They were all in the back bedroom of the house, afraid to even peer through the windows in case the rocks and stones being thrown by the rioters would be aimed at them.
As the crowd grew closer, Karolina heard several shots ring out and she feared for her husband’s safety. More and more shots were being heard and the rioters began chanting “Kill the Catholics!” “Down with the Papists!” Suddenly, there was a pounding on the front door of their home, and the crowd began demanding the occupants open the doors. Karolina grew more frightened and her cousin's wife began weeping and crying out for her husband. The children were also scared and hid underneath the bed in the small room.
Just as their front door began splintering from the rocks and clubs of the rioting crowd, Karolina heard a familiar voice through the back window of the small bedroom. “Karolina, hurry, gather your belongings, we must go!” She turned and saw it was her friend Johannes from Baden and he was holding the window open and beckoning for her to follow him.
Chapter Fourteen
Karolina was dumbfounded when she first saw Johannes. She continued looking at him in astonishment but recovered quickly and grabbed her children by the hand and pointed them to the window opening. Johannes helped them climb through the window opening and then jump down to the ground. Karolina gathered a small bag of warm clothing and provisions she had hidden under the bed and threw it through the window to Johannes. Her cousin’s wife was still whimpering in the corner of the room so Karolina shoved her and pointed to the open window. The woman stopped crying and helped her son through the window and quickly followed him. Lastly, Karolina squeezed through the open window just as she heard the front door fall down with a crash and shouts of “Hurrah” from the crowd echoed from the street.
She gave Johannes a big hug and then ran with her children to the closest barricade in the street where her husband was stationed. Johannes hurried after her making sure no one in the crowd was following them. When they arrived behind the safety of the barricades, Stanislaus recognized Johannes and grabbed him. “Where on earth did you come from?” He shouted at him above the din. Johannes shook his head and told him it was a long story and now they had to get somewhere safe. He pointed at a wagon at the far end of the street containing a black woman and her two children. “There, go there!” He shouted above the noise of the crowd.
Stanislaus turned and grabbed his children while Karolina gathered up the small bag of belongings. She pointed out the wagon to her cousin and his wife standing next to Stanislaus. They both shook their heads and told her that they would be staying. She thanked them for their kindness and hugged her cousin one last time. He told her to go and then ducked back down under the barricade as more rocks and stones were being thrown at them.
Karolina crouched low behind the barricade and ran to the wagon and caught up with the rest of her family. Johannes climbed into the driver’s seat and snapped the reins for the horses to go forward. He headed out of the city and yelled at the horses to go faster. The noise of the rioting crowd began to subside behind them when they reached the end of the city limits. Karolina’s two boys peered out from the blankets draped over them as the lights from the city slowly disappeared behind them.
Karolina nodded to the black woman who was soothing her two children as she climbed into the driver’s seat of the wagon next to Johannes. He turned to look at her with a smile on his face. She smiled back at him and said “Thank you for coming. You saved our lives!” He nodded and snapped the reins on the horses.
She then asked where he met the black woman and her two children. Johannes told her they were run-away slaves and how he had rescued them in New Orleans and was bringing them to her husband, Joseph, in New York City. He told her the last time the black woman heard from her husband was that he was driving a carriage for a family somewhere in the city.
Johannes explained they had planned to visit Karolina and Stanislaus for Christmas and then continue onto New York City when they happened upon the riot. He pulled the letter from the Dowager Duchess Stéphanie de Beauharnais from his vest pocket and gave it to Karolina. “Merry Christmas from the Duchess!” He said to Karolina as she looked at the envelope in wonder. She grabbed his arm and gave it a big squeeze as the wagon rolled forward.
“Johannes”, she said seriously after a few moments. “I am going to have another child, and if it is a boy we would like to name it after you”. She rubbed the bump in her abdomen and tightened the shawl around her shoulder against the cold.
Johannes grunted and stared at the horses. Meanwhile, Stanislaus asked him loudly from the back of the wagon “How did you know where to find us?”
Johannes turned to him, laughed and pointed at Karolina. “Your wife was kind enough to leave some breadcrumbs for me and the Duchess to follow.” And he slapped the horse’s reins. Stanislaus shook his head not comprehending his meaning and sat next to his sons on the floor of the wagon.
As they traveled further and further from the city of Cincinnati, the passengers in the wagon became quieter and all one could hear was the labored breathing of the horses and the wagon’s wheels rolling on the frozen dirt road. As dawn broke over the countryside, Johannes spoke up. “Where are we going now?” He said to no one in particular. Karolina turned to look at her husband and spoke loudly. “West, to a town called Delphos!” Stanislaus smiled.
Afterword
During the research for the Kopp Chronicles, I discovered my great great grandparent’s first child born in America was named Johannes, apparently after a family friend. The friendship between Johannes, Stanislaus, and Karolina endured across two continents, a revolution, an occupation and perilous journeys over land and sea to a small town in northwest Ohio called Delphos. Ultimately, this is where their first American child was baptized.
This book continues the saga of An Immigrant American and A Trace of Royalty describing a family’s struggle to succeed in building a home in the new world. During their remarkable lifetimes, Stanislaus, Karolina, and their many friends encountered historical figures and events that would not only affect them but also the destiny of a new nation. These figures and events are the basis of the Kopp Chronicles.
Appendix One – Napoleon III, Empress Eugénie in 19th Century Paris
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, Napoleon III, declared Emperor of the Second French Empire on December 2, 1852.
Portrait of Napoleon III (1808-1873)
By Franz Xaver Winterhalter
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Franz Xaver Winterhalter Napoleon III.jpg
Empress Eugénie de Montijo married Emperor Napoleon III on January 30, 1853.
Portrait of the Empress Eugénie (1826-1920)
By Pierre Désiré Guillemet or Antar Teofil Kwiatkovski
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eugénie; keizerin der Fransen (2).jpg/
An engraving depicting the official declaration of the Second Empire, at the Hôtel de Ville, on Decem
ber 2, 1852.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Proclamation de l'Empire, à l'Hôtel de ville, le 2 décembre 1852.jpg
Modern Paris as it appeared in 1850. The Tuileries, the Louvre and the Rue de Rivoli, and a view from the Tuileries Gardens.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
By Charles Fichot
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paris moderne. Les Tuileries, le Louvre, et la rue de Rivoli, vue prise du Jardin des Tuileries.jpg/
A Carabinier de la Garde, part of the heavy brigade of the Imperial Guard Cavalry Division under Napoleon III.
Carabinier de la Garde impériale, Second Empire
By Édouard Detaille
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carabinier de la Garde impériale.jpg
Appendix Two – Antebellum New Orleans, Louisiana
The Port and City of New Orleans in 1858.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Persac New Orleans Riverfront 1858.jpg
An example of a sugar cane plantation main house located south of Napoleonville, Louisiana as it appears today.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madewood house.jpg
Appendix Three – The Western Reserve and Cleveland, Ohio
William “Doc” Rockefeller Sr. born on November 12, 1810. He moved his family to Strongsville, Ohio a suburb of Cleveland in 1853.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bill Rockefeller.jpg/
The Cleveland Union Depot completed in 1853 on the shores of Lake Erie.
Source: http://www.west2k.com/ohpix/clevelandfirstunion.jpg
Appendix Four – Cincinnati, Ohio, an American boomtown
A photograph of the “Over the Rhine” neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio circa 1914. The Miami and Erie Canal in the city was drained in 1920.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Over-the-rhine-canal.jpg
Archbishop (later Cardinal) Bedini during his 1853 visit to the United States as an emissary of Pope Pius IX.
Daguerreotype of Cardinal Bedini to United States in 1853 (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, USA)
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Foto Cardinal Bedini1853.jpg
The New York Daily Tribune December 27, 1853, article describing the bloody riots in Cincinnati.
Source: The Library of Congress/Chronicling America/New-York daily tribune, December 27, 1853
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Also by Gregory Kopp
Chroniques de Kopp
Un Immigrant Américain
Une Trace de la Royauté
Le Voyage à Delphos
Crónicas de Kopp
Un Inmigrante Américano
Un Rastro De La Realeza
El Viaje a Delphos
Kopp Chronicles
An Immigrant American
A Trace of Royalty
The Journey to Delphos
Kopp Chroniken
Ein Immigrant Amerikaner
Eine Spur Von Königshaus
Die Reise nach Delphos
Watch for more at Gregory Kopp’s site.
About the Author
Gregory Kopp is a graduate of Northwestern University and a Principal Consultant for Kopp Company, a privately held firm specializing in Human Capital, Enterprise Performance and Media & Entertainment Consulting. Gregory is also a Talent Ambassador for The Walt Disney Company.
Read more at Gregory Kopp’s site.
