Eyth Tidbits

After knowing practically nothing about this line of the family 2 years ago, my Eyth or Eith family information has grown to almost 150 pages. From my research I have learned that Marcus Eyth, his wife and 9 of their 10 children plus a son-in-law came to the States in 1839 aboard the ship Ville De Lyon that departed from La Havre, France. They would arrive in New York on July 13, 1839.

Passage on the ship Ville De Lyon would last between 21 to 37 days, the ship having made 22 successful trips in its lifetime. This particular ship seemed to have had more than its share of bad luck having been struck by lightening twice and eventually sunk off the coast of France in 1845. Grandfather Marcus’ trip seems to have been an uneventful one.

Also on board that ship was a man named Jacob Waltz. More on his history is located on a web site called the “Lure of the Lost Dutchman Mine.”  From this web site I started gaining some insight into why Marcus and his large family, half of which were 18 years of age or older, had come to the States.

Laws in Germany forbid men from marrying until they had the land and ability to provide for a wife and family. Men had to receive the Title of Establishment, which would allow a man to own land, which would enable him to have a house and then marry. In the 1820s the laws were changed from a 10 term of labor to “At the Landowner’s Discression,” men could then end up working a lifetime as a laborer before ever earning the right to marry. This would continue from 1830 to 1860.

The family would settle in Butler township until 1850 and then move to Centreville, Pennsylvania. Marcus was a photographer, his craft was the creation of ambrotypes and daguerreotypes, his son Francis would carry on his father’s craft when Marcus became the proprietor of the Eyth house in Centreville, Pennsylvania in 1861.

The Eyth hotel was originally built by John Cross in the 1830s and run by a succession of different people until 1850 when the Eyth’s would run the hotel. The Eyth hotel in Centreville (now Slippery Rock, legend has it that the name was changed because in the early 1890’s army troops slipped in the creek after attempting to capture local Indians) would remain in operation, passing through the proprietorship of various family members until the death of the youngest son Francis in 1916. The hotel would remain in Eyth family except for a brief period of time in 1861-1862 when it was sold to William S. Boyd & Bro.

Martin Eyth, son of Jacob, would be the proprietor of the Haggarty House in Butler from about 1847 to 1851. The Eyth’s would also go into the mercantile business.

Jordan Eyth, returned to Germany for his older brother, Roman, about 1847. They boarded the Carolina in La Havre and arrived in New York City on June 1, 1847.

Also included on that ships manifest are two names that sound familiar but whom I can’t place. Traveling with the brothers are Sav Eith and Hermina Stehle. The Stehle family are related to the Eith’s through their sister Teresa, who married Egidius Stehle. Sav Eith is the same age as Roman but doesn’t reappear in any of the documentation showing the rest of the family.

Marcus’ ten children would give him 77 grandchildren; most of them were born prior to his death.