John (also known as Johann) was the first of his siblings to immigrate to the United States, leaving Germany in 1869 at 19 years old. According to my grandfather, "Hannover, the German state in which Einste was located, was annexed by Prussia in 1864 and 1866. This annexation stimulated immigration to the United States as Prussia had just introduced universal compulsory military service." It is not unlikely that this is one of the reasons John emigrated when he did, given the government could enlist his services in the army at any time. A copy of his autobiography, supplied by his gradson Arthur Oelkers (John chose not to use the h in "Oehlkers") Schott, tells us that John landed in New York and travelled to Chicago, Memphis, and Mississippi before settling in New Orleans. He was one of many German immigrants who found work in the growing beer industry of New Orleans during the latter half of the 19th century.
All of the above are pictures from Jack Sullivan's blog post.
In 2017, a blog post was made by a Jack Sullivan, a writer with a blog titled "Those Pre-Pro Whiskey Men!". This post was titled "Oelkers Barrel House & Sounds of New Orleans". Without knowing it, Sullivan had granted us some extremely valuable insight into the life of our long passed family member. Click to see some excerpts from the post, which highlight John's acceptance of the black community during a very important era of jazz culture.
Although New Orleans was known for its tolerance, Oelkers ran the kind of saloon that was anathema to many in the city. The New Orleans Times-Picayune in a page one story on Thursday, September 27, 1883, informed its readers that: “John H. Oelkers, the keeper of a negro barrel house …is a young German, who sells whisky to negroes at his barrel house.” Put plainly Oelkers’ place served African Americans when many other saloons would not and at a time when such trade in parts of the South could result in fines and even jail time.
Oelkers would not have stood high in New Orleans society, even as permissive as was the city’s reputation. The barrel house was considered a low rung on the drinking ladder and his saloon, serving as it did the black populace, would have placed him at the bottom...Even if Oelkers’ business was not building mansions for his family, it was contributing to the music scene. The vigorous and unpolished sounds coming from such saloons was making its mark on New Orleans. Pounded out on a piano the music was characterized by an accented two-beat rhythm and became known as “barrelhouse” jazz.