"Johann (John) was encouraged to emigrate by the letters of Johann Fuchs to his family and friends. John received his passport on 5/13/1841 from the Civil Magistrate in Koblenz, and he and his family sailed from LeHavre on 6/28/1841 to the port of New York on the ship Louis Phillippe, arriving on 8/9/1841. The family headed to Buffalo, where they boarded another boat to take them across Lake Erie to Detroit, Michigan. They arrived at the German settlement of Westphalia Twp., Clinton Co., Michigan on September 12, 1841, having been encouraged to come by John's brother, Nikolaus, who arrived in May, 1841. John settled on 26.3 acres in Sec. 9, Westphalia, Clinton, Michigan, on the north side of Kloeckner Creek. The stream served as their source of fresh water. An Indian camp was located along the stream towards the back of this original homestead.

"By the time of the 1850 census, John had purchased an additional 39 acres from Hubert Klein, on the south side of Kloeckner Creek. The value of his land at that time was $500. The 1850 census spells the surname as "Pool", possibly spelling the name phonetically.

"On 9/10/1856, John became a naturalized citizen at the Circuit Court in Ionia Co. John was the first person buried in the present day St. Mary's Cemetery, Westphalia, Clinton, Michigan. The family history "Pohl: From One Small Acorn..." has copies of deeds and Johann Peter's will in the appendix."
--Author unknown; provided by Diane Kaye Schafer, August, 2000.