SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF THE GERMANS IN MARYLAND Twenty-fourth Report 1939 BALTIMORE, MARYLAND Dear Sir: What we are today, we owe to our fore- bears of yester-year and the long years before. This thought is expressed some- what generally in the patriotic song: Was ich bin und was ich habe, Dank ich dir mein Vaterland! This, we can truly say, without dero- gation of the esteem and love we bear our land; the land wherein we live, where we have risen to competence and wherein we occupy a place of equality according to our merit and ability. Poor indeed is the man who denies his race and its inheritance. Like the mule he has neither pride of past nor hope of future. Honest men hold him in un- speakable contempt; he moves among them ill at ease and out of place. He lacks caste, is a pariah—a thing unclean. Pride of ancestry, pride in the work and the quality of those of one's blood and one's race, is commendable in men wherever found. It is this feeling of pride that holds men together, that causes them to cherish and record the deeds, the valor and the achievements of their race, their kind and their kin. This essentially human attribute of sharing in the glory and the past great- ness of one's own people led to the formation of the Society For the History of the Germans in Maryland. This was in the year 1886; among the founders were Louis P. Hennighausen, Edward F. Leyh, Charles F. Raddatz, Dr. John G. Morriss, Pastor Frederick Ph. Hennighausen, Pastor Henry Scheib, Carl Weber, Jr., Edward Niemann, Dr. Louis P. Steiner, Henry Becker, Dr. Charles L. Bombaugh, Christian Ax, William Knabe, George William Gail, Henry G. Hilken, Ernest Hoen and Basil Sollers. The Society's purposes are to collect and preserve material for the history of the influence of the German element in the growth and development of the American Nation with particular reference to the State of Maryland. In pursuance hereof the Society has, from time to time, published essays and monographs; among such— Jonathan Hager, Founder of Hagers- town Augustine   Hermann   of   Bohemia Manor The Redemptioners Early German Immigration in Mary- land German-American Families in Mary- land The Germans in Baltimore German-American Turner Lyric The German Element in Maryland The German Element in Virginia The great war enforced a period of passivity upon the work of the Society. Many of its older members passed away. Today its membership numbers half a hundred, these are animated with an earnest desire to continue and enlarge its work. Believing that you too may be inter- ested in seeking out and perpetuating the knowledge of the part that those of Ger- man blood have meritoriously played in the making of Maryland, we take the liberty of inviting your co-operation by becoming a member. The dues are merely five dollars a year and such entitle you to all publications which may be issued by the Society, and also includes attendance upon the annual dinner — a congenial meeting of the members. Trusting that we may have the pleasure of a favorable response to our invitation to become a member, we are very respectfully, EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE, 334 St. Paul Street, Baltimore, Md. AN INVITATION TO MEMBERSHIP IN THE SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF THE GERMANS IN MARYLAND SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF THE GERMANS IN MARYLAND Twenty-fourth Report BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 1939 Vorfahren ihr! Verklärt, im Glanz der Sonne steht Die Heimat, die im Wolkenschatten Ihr liesset. Von ihrer Vollkraft lebt das Erdrund, Und ihre Söhne führt Uralt Germanenlos Zum fernsten Strand. Vorfahren, seid gesegnet Uns, die wir ernten Die frühe Aussaat Der unverdrossen schweigenden Mühsal! Ihr wandeltet Wald und Wüste, Bezwangt den Fels und den Strom, Die Höhen, die Tiefen erschloss euch Kühnhoffende Tatkraft. Doch freundlich des Lebens Ernste Das heitre Spiel der Kunst gesellend, Vereintet Anmut ihr der Würde. Und sonnenvollen Auges Und liederfrohen Herzens In herrlichem Beruf den Völkern brachtet ihr Der Arbeit Weihe und der Ruhe. Und neu erstand, Von eurer Art verschont, die Erde. Doch über allem süss Klang euch der Freiheit Ruf: Die blutend ihr warbet, Die kämpfend ihr starbet, Vorfahren, euch preist der Gesang! —J. Hofmann. An Die  Vorfahren "In   Appreciation   of  a   life-long Friendship and in Honor of the Memory  of  Ferdinand  Meyer,   a faithful member of Zion Church, a generous benefactor of charity, this window was given  by R. Walter Graham, 1938." The window was designed and executed by THE FOERTSCH-LETTAU ART GLASS STUDIOS OF BALTIMORE FERDINAND A. J. MEYER Dedicated to the Memory of Ferdinand Meyer whose generous bequest to the Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland has made this book possible