I worked there about two months and had brought my wages to $6.00 per week, then the foreman left the place and Mr. Ladd installed another foreman, and when he went around the shop to introduce his foreman to the hands, he seemed to be surprised to find me there as he claimed he did not know anything about me being there, and as business had become very stagnant, he made me stop work.

Now I was without employment and for the first time in my life I began to think what it meant to depend on my daily labor, and times become worse every day, Banks and Business Houses burst up, Shops were closed, and a very large number of men were thrown out of employment and a terrible financial crisis came over the whole country. Something I had never experienced before.

When I become melancholy about it my brother said "never mind, help a little at home and your board shall cost you nothing." He had steady employment and made good wages all winter but I was out of employment for 8 months.

When spring came I was looking every day for work but could not find any until finally I found a job with a gardening farmer six miles from Boston who raised vegetables for the Boston Market, here the work was hard and very long hours, about 16 hours per day and very rough boarding. After two months I told my brother of it and he advised me to leave the place, he thought that I could get work in Boston again. I left my farmer again and went to Boston and soon found a job as Varnisher in a piano shop, but I worked one week, worked the second week and got not my pay so I found to my surprise that the business was to close up, the third week I quit work (it is no use to work without pay for it) by threatening to sue and finally got my pay but then was not wanted anymore.

So out of employment again and I must say that my patriotism for America was cooled off considerable. Now after a while I found a place as apprentice with a cigar maker and tried to become a cigarmaker but after some time as I earned hardly anything my brother asked me to see some cigars which I make and he thought they were pretty good, so he said, quit work, I will buy tobacco and you will make cigars at home. So we did, and I kept busy early and late and made cigars and my brother sold them for a while but finally our customers would not have anymore, they complained the cigars were not good, so I quit again and went around and looked for a job as cigarmaker and I find a place in Buyolston Street by Hinkey Brothers, a cigarman's factory. Now I first found what was to matter with my cigars. I had not been instructed right from the beginning. My work was poor! Mr. Hinkey gave me some instructions and after awhile I got to be all right. He paid me by the thousand and after awhile I made about $5 to $6 per week.

During this time a girl came from Germany and landed in New York City. A girl from my native home, she had been somewhat of a playmate to me when we were children, and when we grow up in the run of time, I had formed an acquaintance with her. Anyway I thought a good deal of her, so I went to New York to see her and took her with me to Boston where I found a place for her in a family as a servant girl. Her name was Catharina Elisabeth Ungemach. Her parents were close neighbors to my parents in our old home.