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At least one of my branches was from Baden and they came over to America in the early 1850s follwing the 1848 revolution in Germany. Sure enough, they fit right in with where most Germans were coming from at the time according to this map. Baden is in southwest Germany.
18th Century Germans were probably from more northern states though, as the north of Germany is more Protestant and only protestants were legally able to immigrate to America prior to the American Revolution.
The same goes for the 19th and early 20th century Germans. One only needs to see where the majority of Lutheran churches are.
Prussia was also a majority Lutheran state along Lower Saxony and other north German states. There was a heavier Catholic presence in the south and along the Rhine
My German ancestors were a little unusual because they came to the US in the late 17th century, for the most part. They came from near Munich, in Bavaria. One of them married an English woman, I believe. They Anglicized the spelling of the last name.
Some others came from near Zurich, Switzerland around the end of the 17th century as well. This is an interesting story because they changed their name from a Germanic/Jewish last name to an English last name - the direct translation of it in fact.
Both different sets of them moved to Pennsylvania.
Last edited by KathrynAragon; 10-22-2013 at 11:36 AM..
The grain belt of US and Canada is heavily populated by descendents of German farmers that had farmed in Russia during Catherine the Great's time.
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