Hi to all, Looking for info. My immigrant ancestor (gr-grandfather) came from Bavaria to Milw. WI in 1874. He settled in Milwaukee after marrying a Barbara BACHHUBER, who was born in Dodge Co., WI...approx 50 mi north of Milwaukee. In my research on this German line, I keep bumping into people who moved to South Dakota in the 1880's/1890's. One family moved to SD and stayed; another moved there for a while, and then came back to WI. Now I've discovered a person who was born in SD in about 1882, and a few years later, her family moved to Milwaukee. Can anyone enlighten me about this moving back and forth between WI and SD? Was it just part of the "westward expansion?" I wonder why they didn't seem to go to Minnesota or Iowa or ND, but seemed to prefer SD. Thanks for any input, Beth STEINBERG ARNOTT

I am not sure why your family went to Milwaukee but I do know that part of my family landed in ND. The RR recruited people to move along the tracks in the Dakotas to populate the area. Each town was settled by a particular group. German, Sweds etc. In some cases some Germans landed in the Swed towns or the Norwegians ended up in German towns and so on. This created a lot of home sickness...this coupled with the fact that where they had come from was nothing like SD or ND. The RR ran ads in the old countried that said..."The Datokas...where the sun goes in winter". This was true. There are a lot of sunny days in N&S D..however, they are cold sunny days. My family came from Bohemia right along the Bavarian border. The Bohmerwaldt. Very forested and hilly countryside. When they landed in Grand Forks they were home sick from the start. The family was large and there were two sisters that were married and living in Milwaukee. Milwaukee was very German and most everyone spoke German Great Grandma had died in Bohemia in 1891 just before the family emigrated to the US. In the spring of 1893 there was a bad flood. A100 years flood, like the one they had a few years ago. The family lived on RR land right along the Red River of the North. The house flooded and Great Grandpa caught pneumonia and died. They figured it best to move back to Milwaukee. They packed Great Grandpa up on the RR and shipped him off to Milwaukee with the younger kids. Of the children only the oldest son was married. He said that he would fulfill the obligation to the RR for the homestead and after that, move back to Milwaukee. 113 years later, that family is still in ND. but they continue to move to Minneapolis and Milwaukee as the kids get older. You must also remember that this was flat country and the indians were still a bit mad at the settlers. Milwaukee was an up and coming city with lots of opportunities. That's one reason. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave or Beth Arnott" <dsarnott@execpc.com> To: <BAVARIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2005 9:54 PM Subject: [BAVARIA] South Dakota Question > Hi to all, > > Looking for info. My immigrant ancestor (gr-grandfather) came from > Bavaria to Milw. WI in 1874. He settled in Milwaukee after marrying a > Barbara BACHHUBER, who was born in Dodge Co., WI...approx 50 mi north of > Milwaukee. > > In my research on this German line, I keep bumping into people who moved > to South Dakota in the 1880's/1890's. One family moved to SD and stayed; > another moved there for a while, and then came back to WI. Now I've > discovered a person who was born in SD in about 1882, and a few years > later, her family moved to Milwaukee. > > Can anyone enlighten me about this moving back and forth between WI and > SD? Was it just part of the "westward expansion?" I wonder why they > didn't seem to go to Minnesota or Iowa or ND, but seemed to prefer SD. > > Thanks for any input, Beth STEINBERG ARNOTT > > > ==== BAVARIA Mailing List ==== > Have you consider the volunteering of transcribing parish records to be > added to WorldGenWeb Archives for others to research? > Contact mailto:dsam@sampubco.com?subject=transcribing_records >

That Dakota Territory was formed in 1861 - the states were not formed out of it until 1889. In order to obtain a farm of up to 160 acres almost without cost, an applicant was required to reside on the claim for not less than five years and to cultivate the land. To qualify a homesteader had to be age 21 and a citizen or to have taken out his first papers for citizenship. Soldiers and sailors were permitted to deduct the length of their military duty, up to four years, from the residency requirement. At any time after the first six-months of the five-year settlement period the homesteader could commute his claim to a cash sale. Cash, military bounty warrants or agricultural college script could be used. The Act offered 160 acres of land (80 acres within the railroad grant areas) free to any head of family or person over 21 years of age who was a citizen of the United States or who had filed a declaration of intent to become a citizen in exchange for simply residing on the land for five years and improving it. Quarter sections of land were distributed free, provided the property was lived on and worked for five years. There was also an option to purchase the land after six months of residency for $1.25 per acre. Originally, the Homestead Act applied to surveyed land, but in 1880 it was extended to include unsurveyed laSo to see them come back to the midwest was not unusual at all. They've earned their money and can lived in a more civilized area (for the most part) back in the midwest. Margaret