This toy truck belonged to my great grandfather, Harvey William Wilkening.  His family immigrated from Kurhessen, Germany in the early 1900s.  His family left Germany to avoid war and get more land.  They missed their ship that they planned to take.  This was lucky because the ship was lost and never heard from again.  The ship that took them was very overcrowded with 275 passengers, with a ship built for 200.  This truck was given to him when they arrived in New York.  He and his family went through Ellis Island, along with many other European immigrants.  They then took a journey to Chicago.  They decided the land was "too swampy" so they stopped in Sarah's Grove, which later became Timbercrest, Illinois.  The family bought land there and three generations were born there.  This truck was passed down to my grandfather, and it now belongs to my father.  This is important to my family because it has a long history. 

– Molly W.

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more