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You are right, it's more precise to refer to "German speaking" people.
Most of the German immigration to America occurred long before 1871 when Germany was unified.
I was always told that the Palatinate region where my ancestors came from in 1750 was the primary source of immigrants. I know that the regional dialect is the ancestor of Pennsylvania Dutch, and is quite distinct from Standard German.
Rhineland-Palatinate today is one of 16 states in Germany and has only 4 million people. Saarland has 1 million, and Baden-Württemberg has just under 11 million. The entire population of Germany is over 80 million. But most of the German immigrants in America came from these regions.
I forget where I read it, but I did read once that there were so many German immigrants in Missouri at one time that it almost became a German speaking state. I'm from MO and I'm half German but a lot of our ancestors also went to Texas.
That's true! I've heard the same thing! I have a Missouri branch on my German side. We could be related!
I think that the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod might have been founded by some of these Germans.
Not positive. Any information?
When the railroads built into the east central Arkansas prairie, they recruited German immigrants to settle and farm the railroad land grant property. It is said the Germans were brought in "by the train load", and that area still has lots of descendants of those immigrants.
Looking to see if anybody knows where most 18th/19th/20th century German immigrants came from(which German state). If you have a link to any numbers or studies that would be great!
I've generally heard/found that it was somewhat spread out, with a slightly larger number coming from SW(Baden-Wurttemberg). Just trying to see if anybody knows, TIA.
Interesting. I know my ancestors came from the Baden-Wurttemberg area in the 1720's and settled in Berks county and later moved to Schuylkill Co. PA and spoke "Pennsylvania Dutch" upto and including my Dad's Generation
I've had a lot of success finding 16th, 17th and 18th century ancestors in my Wuerttemberg lines in these three Family Search searchable online databases:
There are gaps in the records in the villages I was looking at, particularly during the 30 Years War. I have probable ancestors going back to the 1550s but it can never be proven for certain because there are no parish records from about 1618 to about 1650. My guess is that the Lutheran ministers were killed and/or the churches were burned down.
There were several German "colonies" in Missouri. The German Lutheran settlements in Perry County were the originators of the Missouri Synod which quickly spread to Germans in St. Louis. Hermann Missouri, on the Missouri River was an elaborate colonizing effort with Hermann being the main town and several satellite communities set up as supporting towns.
Wow, so many helpful items -thanks for everyone's links Have some reading to do
My father's side identify as "German American". My grandmother's grandfather came recently (1890's) to Connecticut. She still has his immigration papers, but no town is listed. She says it's Rhineland area.
Grampa (deceased), always the proudest "German", came from Philadelphia. Penn has always been heavy with German ancestry. But when I did preliminary searches on his genealogy, I was surprised to find that his grandparents, who came to Philadelphia in the 1870's, were not from Germany, but from Alsace-Lorianne, France.
Apparently this area of France had changed hands between Germany and France a few times over the years...At least I was told by my cousin (have not researched anything yet). The parents of this man from Alsace-Lorianne (who bears the family surname) came from Germany, but he and his wife, are listed as French speaking on the few documents found.
Strangely, my in-laws have one line that came from Alsace-Lorraine, too...but ~150 years earlier, entered through the Carolinas and eventually settled in Louisiana. They appear to have identified as French. Oral History suggests they were Huguenots and were tossed out of town.
edit: Sorry not to have anything to add for the OP- Just wanted to really thank everyone for the links
Grampa (deceased), always the proudest "German", came from Philadelphia. Penn has always been heavy with German ancestry. But when I did preliminary searches on his genealogy, I was surprised to find that his grandparents, who came to Philadelphia in the 1870's, were not from Germany, but from Alsace-Lorianne, France.
Apparently this area of France had changed hands between Germany and France a few times over the years...
Some of my ancestors came in 1750, and were joined by others that came in 1886.
Since Alsace Lorraine went to Germany in 1871 and back to France in 1919, there were a lot of immigrants after 1871.
You must have missed that class in school. Alsace Lorraine and the Saar coalfields have been contested for centuries. The warfare is much of the reason so many immigrants came from the area. If you call them French or German is largely academic. They are the reason Pennsylvania Dutch is so distant from Standard German.
That's true! I've heard the same thing! I have a Missouri branch on my German side. We could be related!
I think that the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod might have been founded by some of these Germans.
Not positive. Any information?
Yes Sheena, we probably are lol. About the Lutheran Synod, I can't answer since Dad's family was based in KC and never went to church that I know of and we never knew them as well, but I know they were more recent immigrants. Mom's family was based in SEMO and on that side we are Anabaptists, which for those who are unfamiliar is the branch that contains Amish, Mennonites, and Brethren denominations. I suspect that these German ancestors came over in the 1700's to get away from the religious discrimination they were suffering in Germany at that time and there were a lot of religious wars going on at that time--you know, "Let's be Catholic, no, let's be Protestant." Seems crazy to us here in the US but in those days it was bad.
Also, the Anabaptists were unpopular in Germany b/c they favored "believer's baptism," which just meant that they thought you should be old enough to make your own decision about it, and folks who believed in infant baptism were appalled that they would endanger their own child's soul in that way and drove them out. They made a pitstop in the Netherlands b/c it was more tolerant at that time, but there simply wasn't enough room in such a small country so they came here. Mom did a lot of genealogy but I don't have exact dates for that.
Another interesting thing about some of the Anabaptists in MO, specifically the Church of the Brethren, is that they got into a bit of a religious riot of their own in the 1800's over the doctrine of universalism, which basically says that everyone will get to heaven eventually. It caused so much of a stir here that the COB has never quite recovered though is still going. The denomination also had one of the first woman preachers, Sarah Righter Major, and here's a good (short) article about her:
Quote:
There’s a story I like about a woman who was born in Germantown in 1808. She was a member of the Church of the Brethren, a Christian sect founded 300 years ago in Germany that has deep roots in northwest Philadelphia. In the custom of her faith, she dressed in dark, plain clothes and wore a black bonnet to church. As the sermon began, she would untie the strings, take the bonnet off, and hand it to her husband.
She was the one giving the sermon.
Sarah Righter Major was the first female preacher that the Church of the Brethren ever had, and according to historic accounts – even those from grudging male contemporaries - her sermons packed the building everywhere she went. She’s also my great-great-great grandmother.
Today's Parade Magazine has a rural scene on its cover with the caption; "BEND IN THE ROAD. - Outside Grand Island, Neb., settled in 1850s by German immigrants. The small city's demographics have changed rapidly in recent years"
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-thanks for everyone's links
Have some reading to do
