Hi everyone, My g grandfather, Jacob Zuber, was one of those French/Germans who settled in the northern part of Vanderburg County about 1856. He was born in Lorraine (Alsace Lorraine), according to legend, came as a stowaway, married in PA and came to the midwest. If the Germans came to Phildelphia, they would travel to Pittsburgh and go down the Ohio. There were several stops where they liked to settle--Cincinnati, Louisville, KY, Dubois County, IN, and the west side of Evansville. If they came to Dubois Co., they stopped at Troy, IN, and walked the Kundek Trail from Troy, going through Fulda, Ferdinand, and Jasper. (I live in Dubois County). And yes, these Germans were related. Often whole families would immigrate together. There was officially no united Germany until the latter 1800's. You were from Hanover, Bavaria, etc. That part of Europe was hit hard with wars, famines, and when people left their communities, there were often very few left in the community. The French and English who had settled Indiana first often would leave when these "foreigners" came. And the land was plentiful with woods which these Germans were familiar with. Many of the Germans were skilled as wood workers. Years ago, in Dubois County, when churchches would have summer picnics, busloads of people from Louisville would come and visit relatives for the day. In 1840, Father Josef Kundek came to this county, bought up quite a bit of land specifically for a German settlement. And advertisements were sent back to the German areas telling how great the land was. And the town of Ferdinand was named for one of the emperors living during Kundek's time. No doubt, the emperor contributed money to the cause. So the Germans came in droves looking for a better life. Hope this helps shed some light. Helen Zuber Keusch Snooping in the ZUBER, GOODART, LAND, EDWARDS, CRABTREE, BENNETT, GOODWIN, CHAPMAN, EAKINS, FORD, SANDEFUR, MELTON, WALCUP, HANDLEY, EZELL, and THOMASSON family lines ----Original Message----- From: Neva Elaine Muehlenbein <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Friday, March 03, 2000 10:12 PM Subject: [INPOSEY] Germans >Does anyone know why so many Germans settled in Posey and Vanderburgh Counties? Did they know each other before they came to the U.S.? >Neva > > >==== INPOSEY Mailing List ==== >This INPOSEY list is currently available for adoption! >Interested in becoming the list manager? Go here: >http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/clusters/adoptcounty.html > > >============================== >Free Web space. ANY amount. ANY subject. >RootsWeb's Freepages put you in touch with millions. >http://cgi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/acctform.cgi > >