I have been curious about emigration patterns of emigrants from the Ortenau to places in the Midwest. While immigration societies and writers like Duden were important, most studies say that families from the same villages in Europe tended to move to the same places in the United States because of letters and encouragement from other family members or other persons from their villages who had already emigrated to these places. I am seeing some evidence of this in my family research and I am wondering if this pattern is true for other emigrants from the Ortenau. Here is what I have observed about my family's settlement in the United States: 1. Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana. My Hirsch ancestors immigrated from Mahlberg and landed at NYC in November 1847, and then almost immediately went to Madison on the Ohio River in Jefferson County, Indiana, where they purchased land in February, 1848. While Madison was a booming town at the time and had the first railroad in Indiana connecting the Ohio River with the interior of Indiana, I have always wondered why they chose to go to Madison, Indiana and whether there were other family members or families from Mahlberg who emigrated to Jefferson County, Indiana. My Fehr/Keller ancestors from Oberschopfheim also ended up in Madison, Indiana, and my great grandparents, Jacob Hirsch and Ludgarda Fehr, were married there in 1855. Same question -- why did the Fehr/Keller family go to Madison, Indiana? Were there other family members or families from Oberschopfheim who had also emigrated there? Looking through the 1850 Federal Census for Jefferson County (which identifies a number of persons as being from Baden), I am pretty sure that the Josef and Maria A. Elble family, who immigrated from Oberschopfheim in 1847, are residents of Jefferson County in 1850. Wendelin tells me that Joseph Elble's wife was Maria Anna Spitzmüller. The mother of my great, great grandmother, Ludgarda (Fehr nee Keller) Schneider, who immigrated with seven children in 1854 from Oberschopfheim after the death of her second husband, was also a Spitzmüller. This family connection may explain why she and her family ended up in Madison, Indiana, by the time of her daughter's marriage in 1855. 2. Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri. After their marriage in 1855, members of both the Hirsch and Fehr families moved to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on the Mississippi River, but then in 1861, they moved to Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri. From what I have read, Cape Girardeau County was settled primarily by Germans from Hannover and Braunschweig, but that there was a large concentration of Germans from Baden in Ste. Genevieve County who settled in and around the towns of Zell, New Offenburg and Weingarten. I know that other families from Niederschopfheim, Oberschopfheim and Diersburg, such as the Samson and Feist families, also settled in this area for a time, and one of the Fehr girls, Helena, married Killian Samson. 3. Alton, Madison County, Illinois. The Hirsch family moved back to Cape Girardeau after the Civil War, but members of the Fehr Family (who had come from Oberschopfheim) moved to Alton, Madison County, Illinois. At http://www.iltrails.org/madison/index.html<about:blank>, one can find a list of the 1882 Patrons of Alton, which includes the following: Bruch, Victor: Alderman, b. Baden, Ger., came to Mad. Co. 1855. Walter, Thekla: Wife of John F. Hoffmeister, b. Oberschopfheim, Ba. Co. Ger., came to Mad. Co. 1852. Kohler, Franz: Fruit distillery & vineyard, b. Oberschopfheim Baden, Ger., came to Mad. Co. 1852. Einsele, Eleonora: Wife of Franz Kohler, b. Oberschopfheim Baden, Ger., came to Mad. Co. 1854. Pfaff, Valentine: Dealer in stoves & tinware, b. Niederschopfheim, Ger., came to Mad. Co. 1858. Schaub, Charley: Stock dealer & butcher, b. Niederschopfheim, Ger., came to Mad. Co. 1854. Schlageter, Beda: Turner, mfg. of parasols, umbrellas, etc. b. Oberschopfheim, Baden, came to Mad. Co. 1853. I know that later a John and Frank Gissler also emigrated from Oberschopfheim to Alton, and John Gissler was a pall bearer at the funeral of Kunigunde Fehr, the wife of Joseph Fehr and daughter of Valentine Pfaff. Looking at the above, it does appear that there is a pattern of persons from the same villages in Germany moving to the same places in the United States. Obviously many emigrants were attracted to the large cities along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers such as St. Louis, Louisville and Cincinnati which provided much better opportunities for work, but I'd be curious if others of you had ancestors who emigrated to the three areas above and what other towns in the United States tended to attract emigrants from the Ortenau. Mike Hirsch

Mike, (with a question for Rose) Your question is excellent! There seems to be a constant believe that one family followed another from one town in Europe to another town in America and it probably happened but it is so difficult to prove. Whenever I have tried to figure out some pattern, I have usually ended up with the idea that the German family searched for a town where they could feel at home....where the German language was accepted so the elders could communicate without the fear of learning a new language but where the younger family members could learn English and be assimilated into being Americans as quickly as possible for a better future for them. Now whether that town was a town where a relative or neighbor had settled, whether that town was touted to them by some American agent, whether that town was known as a result of a newspaper article or word of mouth, I don't know. The closest I have seen in print was not about families from Baden but those of the Danzig lowlands in the eastern area of Prussia. The history of the Catholic Church of St Michael the Archangel of Cleveland, Ohio includes the paragraph: "Throughout 1882, more and more people arrived in Cleveland from Germany. Of the Catholic families arriving, many came from West Prussia, Kreisen Marienburg and Danzig. A great many of them settled on the southwest side of the city." I cite this paragraph as my mother's parents were within this group of emigrants and in searching the Church Registers of their home town in the Danzig lands, surname by surname stuck out so noticeably that it would appear that families, that neighborhoods, that towns almost migrated en masse from those German towns to the shadow of the spire of the Church of St Michael. Whether one family came first, whether several families came together, we may never know but over a period of several years, those towns in Germany had their populations move to Cleveland. Mike, may I ask if I could offer any aid in a statistical attempt to determine something about our ancestors. I admit that I have insulted every statistician I have ever know by suggesting that they could take the same data and force it, slew it to come up with any of a number of contrary results but if we all, on this List, offered our ancestral emigrant, his year of emigration, his town from which he emigration, the port of arrival and his ultimate home in North America, we might determine some hint of pattern. In my case, it would be the family of Landolin Sauer, who emigrated in 1853, through the port of New York and settled in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. I have no idea why he settled in Ohio. Family stories stated that his Mill had burned to the ground, that his family was no longer financial stable and that the Town had shipped this Sauer family to America and my guess was that he run out of money when he reached Ohio and there he stayed. Public Notices within the Großherzoglichen Badischen Anzeigeblatt confirm the town payment of passage so the rest of the family story may be true. I added the year of emigration to the line for statistical purposes because the year was important as it might have affected the final location for our ancestors. Prior to the American War of the Revolution, most, if not all, ships arrived at the Port of Philadelphia. Philadelphia was the largest city in population in the Colonies and its harbor was most important. Depending on the source, Philadelphia by the 1770s was, in population, the fourth largest town in the British Empire (behind London, Bristol and Dublin), the third largest town in the British Empire (behind London and Calcutta) or the second largest town in the British Empire (behind only London). At any rate, it was important, emigrants would land at Philadelphia and probably settle in Pennyslvania or in a Colony to the north or south of Pennsylvania. After the War of the Revolution, other U S ports began to receive more emigrants. Boston, New York, Baltimore, Charleston and New Orleans had their growth. Baltimore, in particular, was important with the establishment of the National Road (U S Route 40, today). The Road was slow in developing after its 1806 approval but by 1818 it had reached the Ohio River and the migrant had a shorter route to reach inland waterways. By 1850 Vandalia in Illinois was the terminus of the National Road. (Railroads eventually killed most of the value of the National Road.) New York City as a port of arrival was certainly enhanced by the growth of the city but the October 1825 opening of the Erie Canal, from Albany to Lake Erie did help the emigrants from that port work their way to the west of the then United States. ROSE, here I wonder if your knowledge about families from Baden who settled near Buffalo in New York or New Berlin (Waterloo) in Ontario would not be of excellent value on this overall question. Prior to the American War of the Rebellion (Civil War), many emigrants from Baden probably ended up at the port of New Orleans where they could use the waterways of the Mississippi, the Missouri and the Ohio to reach a "German town" in our English speaking country. LeHavre to New Orleans before the War was an important waterway. Cotton from the south to Europe and the easiest cargo to find for the return trip to New Orleans was a human cargo. This slowed to a trickle, though, as a result of the war and the slow return of the Southern economy. By the time after the War, New York City had risen to the most important of the seaports. Cargos unladed at New York City had the best distribution possible in railroads. The early railways of the New York Central, the Erie Railway and the Nickle Plate (New York, Chicago and St Louis) eventually took their passengers from New York to Buffalo, to Erie, to Cleveland, to Chicago, to St Louis with opportunities to go to Cincinnati, Milwaukee and other cities with large Germanic populations. (And, after the Golden Spike to anywhere from coast to coast in North America.) Certainly, there must have been some back-home letters telling cousin Franz to come to America and to a particular town for good farm land but unless some of us are lucky enough to have old family treasures, maybe your question and the idea of trying to figure out some statistics might be out only clues. Mike, unless some of those families used the National Road to the Ohio River and on to the Mississippi or from New Orleans and its waterways to reach Indiana or Missouri, these thoughts may be of the wrong time period for your question but I do wonder if some of those possible westward routes might not have been used. If we have a bunch of comments from our List Members, we may have some good ideas. djweber [email protected]

In reply to your question as to how and when my German emigrant family arrived in America I lend you this information as we have it documented. The Fetz Family that I descended from Joseph Fetz, his wife Maria Anna Schappage and there three children, Theresia, Joseph and Karl came from Loh, Oberkirch, Baden. They were listed as farmers on the ships List of the General Hamilton that sailed from Havre, now Le Havre in 1831. Arriving in New York City on Aug. 25, 1831. This family somehow made their way to Louisville , Ky. by 1833. Probably, but without documentation to prove it, down the Ohio River to Louisville which at that time was a large shipping port to the western region of the United States. The eldest child, a daughter, Theresia married a man that sailed on the same vessel with the Fetz Family by the name of Anton Werner. Anton Werner traveled with three of his siblings and what was believed to be a cousin on the General Jackson to America. Upon arrival in America Anton Werner changed his name to Anthony Warner. For what reason no one knows. Maria Theresia Fetz and Anthong Warner were married in New Albany, Indiana across the river from Louisville, Ky. in 1833. By 1835 Anthony and Theresia moved to Nashville Tennessee with a son that had been born earlier. In 1836 Joseph and Maria Anna Fetz were operating a Coffee House and Boarding House along with there son Karl Fetz. (Louisville City Directory). In 1837 Joseph Fetz, Sr. while living in Louisville, purchased two 40 acre parcels of land in Greenville, Township, Floyd County, Indiana. (Floyd County Land Records) There is no evidence that this Fetz's moved to Indiana at this time because in 1838-39 the Louisville City Directory lists Joseph and Maria Ann Fetz as operating a Coffee House and Boarding House along with there son Karl on the east side of 5th street between Main and Water streets. In those times a coffee house was a forerunner of a family owned or corner grocery store. In 1842 Joseph and Maria Anna deed the two parcels of land in Greenville Township and their part of the ownership over to their two sons Joseph and Karl. They then moved to Nashville Tenn. where their daughter and son-in-law Anthony Warner had moved earlier. In 1843 Joseph and Maria Anna bought property in Nashville consisting of a lot that fronted College Street. The Nashville City Directory shows Joseph Fetz as operating a family grocery at that location in 1855-1857. By 1858 the property on College street was deed over to Joseph and Maria's daughter and son-in-law and they moved back to Indiana where they bought property from their son Karl who had moved the Coffee House in Louisville to New Albany, Indiana only a year earlier. However their stay in Indiana was brief. After the death of their son Karl in 1859 his widow Elizabeth (Wertz) Fetz obtained the property back on a court order dated Dec 02,1959. Before the end of the year Joseph and Maria Anna were living in Covington, Ky. Maria bought a piece of property in Kenton County, Ky. on Sept. 01, 1864. Joseph Fetz Sr. died in Covington , Ky. on May 21, 1868. His body was taken back to Nashville and buried in the Warner plot at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville. Mary sold the property in Covington in July of 1868 and move to Nashville to live with her daughter Theresia and son-in-law. Maria Anna Fetz died March 05, 1871 in her daughters home and was buried with her husband Joseph. Joseph Fetz and his wife Maria Anna were well traveled after coming to live in America. But in each place that they lived was a large group of German immigrants. Louisville Ky., Nashville, Tenn., Covington, Ky. directly across the river from Cincinnati, Oh. were all large German populations. Perhaps this family had a hard time finding a place like they were use to living in Oberkirch. The children seen to settle down more than the parents. Theresia spent her entire life in America with exception of the first couple of years, in Nashville, Tenn. with her large family. Joseph went to farming in Greenville Township, Indiana and died on his farm at the age of 76 years. Karl, from whom I was a descendant, died early in life at the age of 44 years, but lived primarily in Indiana and Louisville once he arrived in America. Tony Fetz

Mike, The site you suggested in your e-mail below, http://www.iltrails.org/madison/index.html<about:blank, does not seem to work. Any suggestions? I did try cutting and pasting it, and cut out the ending "carrot" symbol. I might add that you are so right about emigrants coming over in groups, drawing other emigrants to the same area. Six of my great, great grandparents emigrated to Ste. Genevieve County. The other two had a son, my great grandfather, who emigrated to the same area. Two of the six were married and had 4 children when immigrating around 1851. They lived in Ste. Genevieve for awhile, then they and one son moved to Madison County, Illinois, and are buried there. Their daughter, however, stayed in Ste. Genevieve and married the above mentioned great grandfather. All seven, except the two that were married, were from different towns around Offenburg. They were: Bahr - Ortenau - emg. 1846 Jokerst - Böhlsbach - emg. 1842 Gegg - Hofweier - emg. 1834 Ketterer - Ebersweier - emg. 1851 - moved to Madison Co. Fritsch - Riedle - emg. ? by 1863 Fischer - Windschläg - emg. 1881 I might add that my great grandfather, Andreas Fischer, has two ship records that fit his exact description, the first in 1880 and the second in 1881 when census indicates he immigrated. So I'm wondering if he didn't visit the U.S. the year prior, and then decided to return permanently. Carol Rogers -----Original Message----- From: Mike Hirsch [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2005 9:03 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Ortenau] Emigration Patterns from the Villages of the Ortenau I have been curious about emigration patterns of emigrants from the Ortenau to places in the Midwest. While immigration societies and writers like Duden were important, most studies say that families from the same villages in Europe tended to move to the same places in the United States because of letters and encouragement from other family members or other persons from their villages who had already emigrated to these places. I am seeing some evidence of this in my family research and I am wondering if this pattern is true for other emigrants from the Ortenau. Here is what I have observed about my family's settlement in the United States: 1. Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana. My Hirsch ancestors immigrated from Mahlberg and landed at NYC in November 1847, and then almost immediately went to Madison on the Ohio River in Jefferson County, Indiana, where they purchased land in February, 1848. While Madison was a booming town at the time and had the first railroad in Indiana connecting the Ohio River with the interior of Indiana, I have always wondered why they chose to go to Madison, Indiana and whether there were other family members or families from Mahlberg who emigrated to Jefferson County, Indiana. My Fehr/Keller ancestors from Oberschopfheim also ended up in Madison, Indiana, and my great grandparents, Jacob Hirsch and Ludgarda Fehr, were married there in 1855. Same question -- why did the Fehr/Keller family go to Madison, Indiana? Were there other family members or families from Oberschopfheim who had also emigrated there? Looking through the 1850 Federal Census for Jefferson County (which identifies a number of persons as being from Baden), I am pretty sure that the Josef and Maria A. Elble family, who immigrated from Oberschopfheim in 1847, are residents of Jefferson County in 1850. Wendelin tells me that Joseph Elble's wife was Maria Anna Spitzmüller. The mother of my great, great grandmother, Ludgarda (Fehr nee Keller) Schneider, who immigrated with seven children in 1854 from Oberschopfheim after the death of her second husband, was also a Spitzmüller. This family connection may explain why she and her family ended up in Madison, Indiana, by the time of her daughter's marriage in 1855. 2. Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri. After their marriage in 1855, members of both the Hirsch and Fehr families moved to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on the Mississippi River, but then in 1861, they moved to Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri. From what I have read, Cape Girardeau County was settled primarily by Germans from Hannover and Braunschweig, but that there was a large concentration of Germans from Baden in Ste. Genevieve County who settled in and around the towns of Zell, New Offenburg and Weingarten. I know that other families from Niederschopfheim, Oberschopfheim and Diersburg, such as the Samson and Feist families, also settled in this area for a time, and one of the Fehr girls, Helena, married Killian Samson. 3. Alton, Madison County, Illinois. The Hirsch family moved back to Cape Girardeau after the Civil War, but members of the Fehr Family (who had come from Oberschopfheim) moved to Alton, Madison County, Illinois. At http://www.iltrails.org/madison/index.html<about:blank>, one can find a list of the 1882 Patrons of Alton, which includes the following: Bruch, Victor: Alderman, b. Baden, Ger., came to Mad. Co. 1855. Walter, Thekla: Wife of John F. Hoffmeister, b. Oberschopfheim, Ba. Co. Ger., came to Mad. Co. 1852. Kohler, Franz: Fruit distillery & vineyard, b. Oberschopfheim Baden, Ger., came to Mad. Co. 1852. Einsele, Eleonora: Wife of Franz Kohler, b. Oberschopfheim Baden, Ger., came to Mad. Co. 1854. Pfaff, Valentine: Dealer in stoves & tinware, b. Niederschopfheim, Ger., came to Mad. Co. 1858. Schaub, Charley: Stock dealer & butcher, b. Niederschopfheim, Ger., came to Mad. Co. 1854. Schlageter, Beda: Turner, mfg. of parasols, umbrellas, etc. b. Oberschopfheim, Baden, came to Mad. Co. 1853. I know that later a John and Frank Gissler also emigrated from Oberschopfheim to Alton, and John Gissler was a pall bearer at the funeral of Kunigunde Fehr, the wife of Joseph Fehr and daughter of Valentine Pfaff. Looking at the above, it does appear that there is a pattern of persons from the same villages in Germany moving to the same places in the United States. Obviously many emigrants were attracted to the large cities along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers such as St. Louis, Louisville and Cincinnati which provided much better opportunities for work, but I'd be curious if others of you had ancestors who emigrated to the three areas above and what other towns in the United States tended to attract emigrants from the Ortenau. Mike Hirsch ==== DEU-BAD-ORTENAU Mailing List ==== Pre Napoleonic maps of B-W which include the lands of the Ortenau: < http://www.hoeckmann.de/deutschland/bwsued.htm > < http://www.pantel-web.de/bw_mirror/history/bwmaps/bw_316.jpg >. ============================== Jumpstart your genealogy with OneWorldTree. Search not only for ancestors, but entire generations. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13972/rd.ashx