Things always make more sense when one has more information.
I was not really certain which member of the extended Goldenstein family travelled on the same boat as Willm and Tjede Ehmen did in 1889. The Goldenstein appears to have been 14 at time of arrival and not 17, based on how the numbers are made on the other entries.
Willm Ehmen had relatives with the last name of Goldenstein and it seemed logical this person was a member of that family. Sure enough it was.
Goldenstein’s passport application (obtained at Ancestry.com in their “U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925”) from 1905 made it pretty clear. This John Goldenstein states he sailed from Bremen in the latter part of May of 1889 on board the Saale. He apparently indicated he was not certain how the name of the ship was spelled, but it turned out he was correct. Goldenstein was not certain of the date he departed. The date he gave is not inconsistent with the manifest as the manifest had an arrival date of 15 June 1889 and Goldenstein indicated he left Europe in the latter part of May of that same year.
John Goldenstein, US Passport Application, NARA microfilm M1372, issue date: 27 June 1905, passport 108006; digital image from Ancestry.com
Willm Ehmen was a first cousin to Jurgen Goldenstein (of Wrisse, Ostfriesland, Germany), John’s father. Both men were grandsons of Jurgen Ehmen Tonjes who died in Wrisse in 1850. Numerous members of Tonjes’ family came to the United States between the early 1860s and the 1890s.
Whether bringing Goldenstein back was the only purpose of the Ehmen’s trip is unknown. There probably was some other reason.
It’s fortunate Ehmen returned to visit Germany when he did. He would die in Dawson County, Nebraska, in 1890.
United States passport applications are available at FamilySearch, and at Ancestry.com.
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