martin Luther's wife was a nun before she was Mrs. M, I have read.
I am not aware of congregations in Germanic peoples immigrating in
groups to a large extent. If I can get it finished I will be posting
soon a history of my families and it is somewhat unique in that in areas
of South east Wisconsin, we saw in the early 1840's intense immigrations
of Pommerns, in particular and Brandenbergers in An area of
Washington/Ozaukee County near Milwaukee, and then a little further out,
in Dodge County, near Lebanon township, then Theresa, and Mayville area,
Town of herman etc. In some of these areas the populations were also
90ercent Pommern/Brandedbergers, that came with the opening of
government land for land grants. In check a 1947 Plat of the town of
Theresa and I would estimate the surnames of the original immigrants are
still close to 80 percent of the 1840's.
These communities, were differently and definitively based on the the
church being not only the spiritual center but also the social center
and to a high degree the church members trading etc. was a large part of
the economic base of the area.
In 1950's it was still common for as many as 15 congregations of
Lutherans in Dodge County Wisconsin to conduct a weekly or a bi-weekly
church service in German. As late as the late 1920'a German was the
primary language in the parochial schools of the area. AN example was
my mother born in 1921, did not learn to speak English until 6th grade
when the state of Wisconsin mandated english as the primary language in
all schools.
My great Grandmother who was a Zimmermann descendant, never learned to
speak English, passing on in 1953 and born in this country. These areas
were and to some degree still are tight in their Various"Germanic
hertiages, with not only religion, but tradition as well. If You can
imagine in suburban Milwaukee their are several radio stations that
broadcast exclusive old time music formats(Polka, waltz, etc. as the
Germans, Slavs, Polish still flow that in the older generations.)
Even the younger generations follow the music, just go to the Dodge
County, Wisconsin fair and see the turn out for the Polka bands that
play daily.
In summary, the religious heritage and the influence on many of the
folks of Germanic roots in Southeast Wisconsin (until the 1950's) was
not unlike what you would see in the tight knit community that is
manifested today in the Amish society.
Very few marriages outside the faith, to do so was caused for family
upheaval, German spoke as the primary language in many households,
though they knew English. Today the German accents is still present in
many in the land OF dis, dat and doughs.
Awfwiedersein
Rob Bowe
Donna D Seidel wrote:
Thank you for the postings on
Catholic and Lutheran immigration
history.
And Martin Luther's wife- my how interesting.
Never occurred to me....
Perhaps members of congregations
immigrated in chuch groups?
Please continue to add these reminders
of our pasts :-)
Sometimes I get too focused on one
individual.
Donna Seidel with Zimmerman on
both sides of the family
The Swiss Christian Zimmerman family
that came to Kansas in the 1880s from the
old country
The Other Zimmermans who wound up
in Dekalb County Indiana- I know nothing
about these folks yet
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