A Three-Year Odyssey
At age 33, Mendes decided to retire from banking and start a new adventure - traveling the world. Mendes traveled for three years, exploring much of Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East. An unmarried man of means, he had an opportunity not available to many. Mendes wrote to his brothers just prior to his departure, anticipating a pleasant voyage.
New York, NY - October 15, 1829
“No. 1 on the list and have the best berth– a state room to myself.”
Mendes set sail on the ship Caledonia from New York on October 16, 1829, reaching the Irish coast on November 5, and finally arriving in Liverpool, England, on Saturday, November 7, 1829.
Off the coast of Ireland - November 5, 1829 - in a letter to his mother
“When we made land this morning it not quite completed 20 days from the time we left the wharf in the steam boat at New York...we may say from land to land in less than 19 days…”
Travel visas for Italy, Greece, and Russia for Mendes Cohen, courtesy of Maryland Historical Society.
An American Packet Ship Leaving Liverpool. Ballou’s Pictorial, March 10, 1855.