Philip, Katherine, Carl (Charles), and Jeannette Doerr traveled from the duchy of Nassau, Germany, to New York in March 1851. They soon moved to Vermont, where Katherine Doerr died in 1852. In 1855 the rest of the family relocated to Fort Madison, Iowa, where Philip and Charles built railroad bridges. Charles later became an attorney and served in the Iowa state legislature.
The Ocean Queen was a 1,200 ton passenger ship owned by Griswold, Morgan, & Co. She, along with Captain C.B. Smith and 123 passengers and crew, was lost in the ice off the Isle of Wight in February 1856.
From the description of Ocean Queen ship's contract for Philip Doerr, 1851. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 496815553
