|
GERMAN SETTLEMENTS ON THE EASTERN SHORE
OF MARYLAND
By ARTHUR L. DAVIS
Just what part Germans played in
the early colonization of the Eastern
Shore of Maryland extending from the
Susquehanna River around the head
of the Bay south, to the Pocomoke
River is difficult to ascertain. Re-
search in the field is greatly compli-
cated by the fact that many German
names were mutilated beyond all
recognition. To add to the confu-
sion, Germans were often called
"Dutch," or Bohemians, or Hessians,
or Palatines, but seldom Germans.
Nevertheless, enough German names
are found to warrant the assumption
that several German families must
have settled on the Eastern Shore
during this early Colonial period, most
of these being, however, indentured
servants.
Undoubtedly the most important
of all these early colonists was Au-
gustin Herman.¹ The Bohemian
River, Bohemia Manor, and numer-
ous signs along the main roads in
Cecil County recall to the modern
traveler the significance of this man
in the early history of Maryland.
Brief mention should be made here
of the Labadists, for their little colony
on Bohemia Manor at the end of the
17th century represents the first set-
tlement within the present limits of
the State of Maryland which con-
tained a considerable number of Ger-
mans. The Labadists were Christian
communists, followers of Jean de La-
badie. The leaders of this religious
sect in America were Sluyter (Vorst-
mann) and Danker (Schilders), who
were sent by the mother colony in
Westfriesland to find a suitable place
for a colony in America. Upon land-
ing in New Amsterdam, these two
leaders met Ephraim Herrman, son
of Augustin, who became a convert
and who invited them to settle upon
his father's estate. This they did in
1683. At one time there were 100
members of his sect living in the
colony, who engaged mainly in the
planting of tobacco and corn. The
community was short lived, however,
for by 1698 only nine male members
remained.
From this brief sketch of the early
German settlers, one can assume that,
during the 17th century, Germans
had not migrated to Maryland in any
great numbers. During the 18th
century, although there was a steady
influx of Germans into Maryland
from both the mother country and
from Pennsylvania, most of the im-
migrants settled in Western Mary-
land and in Baltimore. Most of these
Germans, who founded the agricul-
tural wealth of the colony, came from
the Rhineland and Neckar Valley and
there was certainly nothing in the
topography of the Eastern Shore
which would remind them of the vine-
clad hills of the fatherland.
Furthermore, the fact that the
Eastern Shore lies off the beaten
path, separated by the Chesapeake
Bay from Washington, Annapolis, and
Baltimore, probably discouraged im-
migration to this section. The Ger-
mans who settled in America in the
18th century were mostly farmers
who purchased or were granted small
tracts of land and sold their produce
in the cities. The early English im-
migrants, on the other hand, who set-
tled on the Eastern Shore, owned
large estates, the main crop being to-
bacco. It was not until the 19th
1
Only brief mention of Herrman and the Labadist settlement in Cecil County will be made here, since
copious material on this interesting subject is accessible to the interested reader.
[23]
century, when more varied crops, such
as fruits, wheat, corn, and tomatoes,
became common, that this part of
Maryland began to attract the Ger-
man immigrant. Thus the Eastern
Shore of Maryland escaped the rush
of immigration in the 18th century,
which accounts, perhaps, for the fact
that in this section there resides a
more homogeneous population than
in any other part of the United States.
The German settlements which one
finds today on the Eastern Shore are
of more recent date, most of them
having been founded at the end of
the 19th century by farmers from
the Middle West. These farmers had
left the fatherland, partly because of
their desire to escape military service,
partly because of the widely adver-
tised reputation of cheap farmland in
America. They had been given gove-
ernment tracts in Iowa and Nebraska,
but after several years of residence
here had become disappointed with
the meager results of their farming,
industrious and efficient as it had
been. Invited by friends or informed
by advertisements in German papers
of the advantages of farming on the
Eastern Shore, they had moved to
this section. Thus near Easton in
Talbot County there are several fami-
lies who moved from Iowa about
1895. They came originally from
northern Germany and still speak
their Low German dialects. A few
miles from Easton one finds the little
settlement of Cordova, consisting
mostly of Germans who moved to this
district from Nebraska. There are
enough Germans here to support a
Luthern Church in which a German
service is conducted once monthly.
Other similar settlements are near
Preston in Caroline County and Vi-
enna in Dorchester County. (The
villages of Vienna and Berlin were
not German settlements originally
and the names have nothing to do
with the European cities of like
names. According to unofficial sources
of tradition, the name Vienna is de-
rived from the name of the Emperor
of the Naticoke Indians, Vinnacoka-
simmon, who negotiated a treaty of
peace with the Lord Proprietary
somewhere near the present site of
the village. The name Berlin is ap-
parently derived from Burleigh's
Inn, a station centrally located in
Worcester County where horses were
changed in stage-coach days. Here a
town arose, which assumed the name
of the plantation. In time this was
abbreviated into "Berlin.") There are
German Lutheran churches also in
Chestertown in Kent County and in
Salisbury and Wicomoco County.
A brief description of the German
settlement in Preston will give a bet-
ter idea of these farming communities
on the Eastern Shore.
Preston, a small town in Caroline
County, eleven miles south of Easton,
is the home of one of the largest Ger-
man settlements on the Eastern
Shore. The town, however, is of
rather recent origin and the original
settlers were not German. It was
founded about 1846 and was first
called Snow Hill, the name being
changed to Preston in 1856, in honor
of a prominent Baltimore lawyer.
It was not until after 1890 that
German families began to settle here.
Some of these early German settlers
came directly from Germany, but the
majority moved from other parts of
the United States. In either case
they came to this particular neigh-
borhood because they had friends or
relatives already residing there who
had become successful farmers. By
the end of the century enough Ger-
mans had settled here to support a
Lutheran Church and, a few years
later, a parochial school. The church
is still flourishing, owning about two
acres of land, upon which are located
the school house built in 1902 and the
original church dedicated in 1901.
The school was the first public school
in Preston and continued to instruct
the children of the village until 1917
when it was closed. The Lutheran
minister taught English, German,
geography, history, mathematics, and
[24]
religion, the classes in religion and
German being conducted in the native
tongue.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church
was organized in 1897, Pastor G.
Thomas being the first minister. In
the same year Rev. Thomas was
obliged to resign because of poor
health. He was followed by F. P.
Wilhelm who preached until 1899,
when he was succeeded by R. W.
Huebsch (1899-1909). The latter is
perhaps more widely known because
of the publication, in collaboration
with R. F. Smith, of a very excellent
German Grammar, Progressive Les-
sons in German (1911). The present
pastor, Louis Geiger, has had a long
and successful pastorate, the church
having at the present time a total
membership of 347, consisting almost
entirely of members of German ex-
traction. Some of the original set-
tlers, who came directly from Ger-
many, are still active members. Rev.
Geiger
is himself of German extrac-
tion. Both his maternal and paternal
grandparents were born in Germany
and migrated to this country about
1855. He speaks German fluently and
each month conducts two services in
the German language.
The charter members of this con-
gregation, twelve of whom are still
living, were as follows:
George Fuchs
Heinrich Nagel
August Marquart
Theodor Schülke
Wilhelm Engle
Gottlieb Plutshak
Ernst Glenwinkel
Wilhelm Krueger
Johann Rieck
August Gadow
Franz Gadow
Wilhelm Kriger
Edward Plutschak
Charles Ruf
Gustav Rieck
Wilhelm Rieck
Ferdinand Gadow
Edward Dietrich
John Bridegroom
Louis Haverkamp
J. Peter Seemann
Philip Jungmann
August Schülke
Johann Jungmann
Hugo Kleinwachter
Charles Kreiger
Carl Desselberger
Konrad Schmück
(This list offers a very interesting ex-
ample of the mutation of names,
Krueger, Kriger, and Kreiger all being
members of the same family.)
The reasons for the migration of
these Germans are diverse and, in
many cases, difficult to establish. Sev-
eral came from Pomerania; a few mi-
grated from Saxony. A very strik-
ing fact is that several came from a
German settlement in Russia along
the Volga, Jagodnaja Poljana. In
most of these cases the migrations
were due apparently to the urgent in-
vitation of friends and relatives al-
ready living in the United States.
Sometimes the boats, arriving from
Germany, were met at the piers in
Baltimore by agents of Land Offices.
Farmland on the Eastern Shore was
at that time very badly run down
and could, therefore, be purchased
very cheaply. This, together with
the possibilities for diversified crops,
appealed to the Germans who had a
reputation as good farmers.
For example, there is the interest-
ing case of August Gadow, who came
to America in 1891. A brother of
August was working on the estate of
a Dr. Trümmel, located at Wye
Heights near Longwoods. Dr. Trum-
mel was so pleased with the efficient
work of Herr Gadow that he re-
quested him to write to his brother
in Germany inviting him to join his
relative in America. August remained
at Wye Heights for five years, moving
then in 1896 to Preston, where he still
resides.
Several Germans came from the
Middle West, mostly Illinois, Kansas,
Ohio, and Nebraska. These farmers
were attracted by advertisements ap-
pearing in German papers (notably
"Der Lutheraner," a German
Lutheran paper published in St.
Louis), praising the cheap farms, di-
versity of crops, and healthful climate
of the Eastern Shore. Excerpts from
a booklet published in Baltimore in
1908 will probably give a good idea
of these alluring invitations to greener
pastures.
. . . There are many farmers in the northern
or northwestern States, remote from markets
and suffering from the severities of an incli-
ment climate, who would be glad to sell their
property and make their homes in Maryland
where all the conditions are favorable. It
seems almost incredible to the farmer upon
lands selling at $100 an acre that there should
be good and fertile, well improved farms within
ten or twenty miles of the capital of the
United States to be had at from one-fifth to
[25]
one-half the price of prairie lands in Iowa.
Maryland's invitation to agricultural immi-
grants with some capital, is sincere and allur-
ing. She offers good lands easily improved at
very low prices. The products of these lands
are within easy reach of railroads or steam-
boats, or both. . . .
All classes of farmers can find locations in
the State suitable for the class of agriculture
to which they may be accustomed. ... In
nearly all of the counties corn is abundantly
produced as well as wheat. Some of the finest
and most productive wheat lands in the coun-
try are found in the central and western coun-
ties and on the Eastern Shore. . . . The
lower counties of the Eastern Shore also grow
vast quantities of small fruit. ... In most
of the counties grass can be produced and
cattle and sheep successfully grazed. . . .
What adds vastly to the attraction of these
farms in Maryland is the fact that they are in
a State distinguished for the maintenance of
good order, for the excellence of its colleges
and libraries. ... To buy a farm and settle
down in Maryland is not like going into a new
country. Every farm has its farm buildings
and fences and the new settler will find well
disposed, hospitable and kind neighbors close
to him. ...
The climate of southern and eastern Mary-
land is mild and equable and healthful. The
winters are not severe and the summers not
excessively hot, the cold of winter and heat of
summer being moderated by the proximity of
the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay.
. . . The salt waters afford to the enterprising
citizen an abundance of the most delicious food
and if he is inclined to be a sportsman he can
add wild ducks and other birds to his bill of
fare. ("The State of Maryland, a description
of its Lands, Products, and Industries," com-
piled by T. J. C. Williams for the Board of
Public Works, 1908, Baltimore. The Sun Job
Printing Office.)
A rather interesting side-light is the
case of a few Germans who had come
from Kansas upon the urgent invita-
tion of the Lutheran minister of
Vienna, who apparently was con-
nected with some farm development
swindle. Upon arrival, they were dis-
appointed with the possibilities of
successful farming in marshy land
and accordingly moved north to
Caroline County.
In conclusion, it is reasonably safe
to assume that Germans began to set-
tle on the Eastern Shore by 1680.
Subsequently they moved southward
into the lower counties, either as set-
tlers or indentured servants. How-
ever, aside from the settlement on Bo-
hemia Manor, there was no important
emigration of Germans to the Eastern
Shore during the Colonial period.
Occasional mention is made of indi-
vidual Germans who settled on the
Eastern Shore during this earlier per-
iod, but apparently they were of
little importance, for one does not
come across their names again. At
the present time (1942), there are
sizable settlements of Germans at
Cordova, near Easton, and at Pres-
ton, near Denton. As far as it has
been possible to determine, these set-
tlements were founded in the late
nineteenth century by German farm-
ers, who came here from the Middle
West, particularly from Iowa and
Nebraska. The German farmer, here
as elsewhere, enjoys the reputation of
being honest, thrifty, efficient, and in-
dustrious. In all cases he has beeen
welcomed by the community and has
helped improve the conditions of the
places where he has settled.
[26]
|