THE SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF THE GERMANS
IN MARYLAND: A CHRONICLE
By ERNEST J. BECKER
Back in the eighteen-eighties, when
the Society for the History of the
Germans in Maryland was founded,
"Germanism," as a distinct element
in the community life of Baltimore,
was still a robust and vital force.
Its leaders were men who for various
reasons had emigrated to the United
States in the forties, fifties and sixties,
and who now, at middle age or past it,
held a high and sometimes dominant
place in the business and professional
life of the city. The ardent wish of
these first generation Germans was to
keep Germanism alive, to preserve its
language and traditions in the new and
at times hostile surroundings in which
it had its being. It was, to be sure, a
losing battle that they were to fight,
but in the eighteen-eighties it was still
being waged manfully and in the main
successfully. But a second, and even
a third, generation of men and women
of German stock, born here, and heirs
to American institutions and customs,
were taking its predestined place in
the community. For these men and
women the English language, some-
times side by side with German in
home, school and church, but chiefly
English elsewhere, was becoming in-
creasingly and rapidly the main in-
strument of communication, and was
destined to displace the old tongue
almost completely within the next
two decades. And with the loss of its
language, Germanism as the first
generation of Germans had known
and valued it could not survive.
In the eighteen-eighties, however,
that time had not yet come, and this
ardent wish of the oldsters to keep
their cause alive found its chief ex-
pression in the founding of charitable
institutions to take care of their in-
digent and aged, in German schools
and churches, newspapers and peri-
odicals, and above all in the creation
of innumerable societies—so many, in
fact, that it became a current saying
that wherever as many as three Ger-
mans got together they started a
society.
These societies most often took the
form of the social organizations so
dear to the German heart: singing
societies, Turnvereine, and purely so-
cial clubs like the Germania.¹ On the
cultural side, except for the musical
organizations, the output was meager
and short-lived. The one notable ex-
ception was the Society for the His-
tory of the Germans in Maryland,
which today (1952) can boast of
sixty-six years of only occasionally
interrupted activity, a record un-
equalled by any similar organization
in the country.
It was on January 5, 1886, that " a
number of Gentlemen met at the
rooms of the Maryland Historical
Society to consider the desirability
and feasibility of organizing a Society
for the History of Germans in Mary-
land." ² Among those present at this
1
Cf. Dieter Cunz, A History of the Germania Club of Baltimore City, (Baltimore, 1940); for a con-
sideration of German societies in general cf. Cunz, The Maryland Germans, (Princeton, 1948), 321 ff.
2
Minutes of the first meeting, 1886. Much of the material for this article is drawn from the
successive minutes of the Society and its Executive Committee. The early minutes are very full, frequently
including the full text of papers read, and summaries of informal addresses made by members of the
Society at its monthly meetings. Later, when the Executive Committee took over the routine business of
the Society, a summary of its proceedings during the year was presented at the Society's annual meeting
held in February of each year. The formal addresses which were made at these meetings were either
summarized in the minutes of the next year's meeting, or printed in part or in full in the successive reports,
or in special brochures. Other matter in the minutes includes reports on civic and cultural occasions in
which the Society took part, such as the Carl Schurz Memorial Celebration, the Goethe celebration, and
many others. Special pages were inserted in memory of prominent members of the Society who had died
in the preceding year, and obituary notices were printed in several of the reports.
[9]
meeting, in addition to Louis P. Hen-
nighausen, Dr. W. S. Landsberg, Pro-
fessor Charles F. Raddatz, and Ed-
ward F. Leyh—the men who had sent
out the invitation for the meeting—.
were such prominent German citizens
of Baltimore as Christian Ax, George
W. Gail, the Reverend Doctor John
G. Morris, Charles Weber, C. Moale,
the Reverend Benjamin Sadtler, Dr.
Emil Bessels, " and others." Unfortu-
nately, the minutes of this first meet-
ing fail to list " the others," and so
the roster of the founding fathers
must remain incomplete. The high
character of the rest testifies to the
solidity of the auspices under which
the new society was launched.
Dr. John G. Morris was elected
temporary chairman at the first meet-
ing, and president at the next, a posi-
tion which he continued to hold until
his death at the age of ninety-two.³
The object of the Society, as stated
by the chairman at the first meeting,
was "to collect and publish in proper
form the share which the German
settlers of Maryland have borne in
the development of the country."
That object has been held to un-
swervingly throughout the Society's
life, and never more strongly than
today.
At the second meeting on January
19, 1886, a constitution was adopted
and ordered printed "in both Eng-
lish and the German languages."
Among the signers were such out-
standing people as the Reverend
Henry Scheib, pastor of Zion Church,
Dr. John C. Hemmeter, Dr. Edward
Deichmann, principal of the boys'
school founded by him,
4
Dr. Louis H.
Steiner, librarian of the Enoch Pratt
Free Library, Basil Sellers, teacher,
and of course the founders of the
Society. The Society made its first
public appearance August 16, 1886
when the DeKalb monument in An-
napolis was unveiled. Jean DeKalb,
a general in the Revolutionary War,
was a German by birth. Since he had
led Maryland troops in the battle of
Camden (1780) his official monu-
ment was erected in the Maryland
capital. On this occasion the Society
for the first time stepped before the
public.
5
In the years that followed, the
Society met religiously once a month,
except in the three hot summer
months. A library of several hundred
books and pamphlets was collected to
form the foundation for the large col-
lection now housed in the Enoch
Pratt Free Library in Baltimore.
6
The first invited speaker to address
the Society was Dr. Louis H. Steiner,
who spoke on the early German set-
tlers in Frederick County. The cus-
tom of inviting distinguished scholars
in the field was thus established, and
has been followed by the Society to
the present time.
7
From the very
beginning the Society counted among
its members a good number of men
3
John Gottlieb Morris, D. D., LL.D., was born in York. Pa., in 1803. His father was a native of
Württemberg. He was educated in the Classical Academy at York, at Princeton University and Dickinson
College. Trained for the ministry by the Reverend Samuel S. Schmucker at New Market, Va., he completed
his theological studies at the Gettysburg Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, Pa. In 1826 he was admitted
to the ministry by the Synod of Maryland and Virginia. He became pastor of English Lutheran Church,
Baltimore, in 1827; librarian of the Peabody Institute, Baltimore, 1860-1863. In 1863 he became pastor
of Third Church, Lutherville, Md., where he remained for six years. He was an officer in many organizations,
and died October 10, 1895.
4
For an account of the German schools in Baltimore, cf. Dieter Cunz, Maryland Germans, 208 ff. Also
Ernest J. Becker, " History of the English-German Schools in Baltimore," Society for the History of the
Germans in Maryland, Reports, XXV (1912), 13-17.
5
First Report of the Society (1887), p. 21; also Dieter Gum, "DeKalb and Maryland," Reports,
XXV (1942), 18-22.
6
The collecting of a library of books, pamphlets, newspapers and other material concerning the
Germans in Maryland was a major endeavor of the Society from its beginning. As the material grew in
volume, it was in 1905 lodged in the basement of the Hopkins Place Savings Bank, and in 1918 transferred
to the Aged Peoples' Home at 1940 West Baltimore Street, where the meetings of the Society were held
for many years. In 1935, through the courtesy of the then librarian, Dr. Joseph L. Wheeler, it was given a
permanent home in the Maryland Room of the Pratt Library. There it remains at present, and may be
consulted under library conditions. A catalog was prepared and printed in 1907, supplanting a partial list
of some years earlier. That catalogue, aside from its rather unscientific get-up, soon became obsolete, as no
continuing record was made of subsequent acquisitions. To remedy the matter, a complete card index by
author and subject has now been supplied by Professor Dieter Cunz of the University of Maryland. This
index is also stored in the Pratt Library. Its preparation was a big piece of work, for the competent doing
of which the Society should be most grateful to Dr. Cunz.
7
For a partial list of the addresses, many of which have been published in the reports, see the
appendix to this article.
[10]
who had distinguished themselves in
the field of historical research, such as
Julius Goebel, Marion Dexter Learn-
ed, Adalbert J. Volck, Louis P. Hen-
nighausen, Albert B. Faust and
others. The Society also established
contact with leading German-Ameri-
can historians outside of the state, by
inviting them to become correspond-
ing members. Anton Eickhoff (1827-
1901) and Heinrich Armin Ratter-
mann (1832-1923) were the first who
were honored by corresponding mem-
bership.
It was at the third meeting of the
Society that its first officers were
officially elected. They were:
President: REV. JOHN G. MORRIS
Vice Presidents: LOUIS P. HENNIGHAUSEN
and
CHARLES WEBER
Treasurer: EDWARD NIEMAN
Executive Committee: D®. LOUIS H. STEINER,
EDWARD
F. LEYH, HENRY BECKER, DR.
CHARLES
C. BROMBAUGH, PROFESSOR
CHARLES
F. RADDATZ.
At this meeting also, the constitution
was adopted. At the next, held on
March 16, Professor Raddatz reported
that the seal of the Society with the
motto "Ohne Hast, Ohne Rast"
8
inclosed by a wreath of ivy leaves,
the whole surrounded by the name of
the Society and the year of its or-
ganization had been adopted and pur-
chased. This seal, the work of Pro-
fessor Raddatz, has adorned the pub-
lications of the Society ever since.
There was a healthy growth in
membership in these early years of
the Society, and the names of many
of the foremost Baltimore Germans
appear on its rolls. At the close of
the second year, membership in the
Society had reached seventy-nine,
and that number varied but little one
way or the other for many years.
Attendance at the meetings was light,
rarely exceeding twenty, and often
less. But the regulars continued on
with undiminished enthusiasm, and
the meetings were invariably worth-
while. Among the names that appear
most frequently as contributors of
valuable items of interest are those of
Louis P. Hennighausen, whose store
of information regarding the Germans
in Maryland seemed inexhaustible;
Edward F. Leyh; and Dr. J. G. Mor-
ris. Many others contributed their
bits to the general fund, so that much
valuable material for the history of
the Germans in Maryland will be
found scattered through the minutes
of these meetings. The most impor-
tant are preserved in the successive
Reports.
9
During the first twenty
years the publications of the Society
were bi-lingual; in almost each of the
early volumes there was at least one
contribution in German. After 1908
all articles were written and published
in English.
At the February meeting in 1893 a
resolution was passed to hold an
annual collation in connection with
subsequent February meetings, and
the first such dinner meeting was held
on February 22, 1894, with seventy
members present. This became a
regular practice of the Society there-
after, and has since become the only
open meeting regularly held by the
Society, all routine matters being han-
dled by the Executive Committee.
10
At the meeting on February 8, 1887,
the Secretary, the Reverend Fred-
erick Ph. Hennighausen, submitted
8
" Wie das Gestirn
Ohne Hast
Aber ohne Rast
Drehe sich Jeder
Um die eigne Last." (Goethe, Zahme Xenien.)
9
Initially these Reports were issued annually, with the first number in 1887. The last "Annual
Report," the fifteenth, appeared in 1901. From that date on they appeared at irregular intervals. The
16th Report was issued in 1907, but it contains also brief statements regarding the Society's annual business
comprising Reports 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22; thus instead of being numbered merely 16, this volume ought
to be entitled: Reports 16-22. From 1907 to 1929 no Report was issued. Number 23 appeared in 1929,
No. 24 in 1939, No. 25 in 1942, No. 26 in 1945, No. 27 in 1950. Cf. "German Printing in Maryland,
1768-1950" by Felix Reichmann, Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland, Reports, XXVII
(1950), 26.
10
The early meetings of the Society were held in the rooms of the Maryland Historical Society. Later,
they were transferred to the rooms of the Germania Club, and still later to the Aged Peoples Home. At
present (1952) the annual meetings are held in a hotel or restaurant, while the Executive Committee meetings
are held wherever it happens to be convenient.
[11]
the Society's first Report, which was
a model of its kind. Tribute should
be paid to Pastor Hennighausen, who
remained the Society's secretary for
twenty years, and whose full and
beautifully written minutes form the
chief source of information regarding
the Society's early activities. The
first Report covers ten folio pages.
Fifty copies of it were printed for
circulation.
For the next two decades or so the
Society continued in the even tenor
of its way with little change in pur-
pose, procedure, or size. Dr. Morris,
who had been the Society's President
since its foundation, died on October
10, 1895, and Dr. Benjamin Sadtler
was elected to fill out Dr. Morris'
unexpired term. The officers elected
on February 22, 1896, in addition to
Dr. Sadtler as president, Pastor
Henry Scheib, first vice-president;
Louis P. Hennighausen, second vice-
president; and Robert M. Rother,
treasurer. Mr. Rother, president of
the Hopkins Place Savings Bank, was
to remain treasurer until his death in
1930.
The closing years of the century
saw the publication of the first major
work of the Society, Herrmann Schu-
richt's History of the German Ele-
ment in Virginia, published between
1897 and 1900 in the Reports XI,
XII, XIII, and XIV of the Society.
11
Dr. Sadtler died on April 28, 1901;
and in the same year the Society lost
one of its most active members since
its founding, Edward F. Leyh, the
able editor of the Deutsche Corre-
spondent. Mr. Louis P. Hennig-
hausen, also a charter member of the
Society, and closely associated with
many German organizations, suc-
ceeded Dr. Sadtler as president, and
held the position until 1907, when he
resigned because of the pressure of
other interests. He was, however, re-
instated in 1912, and remained as
president until his death in 1917. In
the interim between Mr. Hennig-
hausen's two terms of office, the posi-
tion of president was held by the
writer of this sketch.
From the turn of the century
through the years of the first World
War, and for some years after, mem-
bership in the Society was at a low
ebb. Many of the old members died
or resigned, and new members were
few. The attendance at the monthly
meetings dwindled to a few loyal
retainers who kept the torch from
going out. Even at the annual colla-
tion meetings the attendance was
small. On February 21, 1911, for in-
stance, the Society celebrated its
twenty-fifth anniversary in the rooms
of the Germania Club. The speaker
was a distinguished Baltimorean of
German descent: Dr.Albert B. Faust
of Cornell University, the author of
the prize-winning work on The Ger-
man Element in the United States.
12
Only eight members beside the offi-
cers turned out on that important
occasion.
During the years of the First World
War the Society continued to hold its
regular meetings, but its activities
were, as was to be expected, largely in
abeyance during that period and for
some years thereafter.
13
As was also
to be expected, the sympathies of the
members were, at least until the ac-
tive entry of the United States into
the war, rather out-spokenly pro-
German. There were some, however,
who felt differently, and as a result
there was a considerable number of
resignations.
14
Mr. George Prechtel
was president during this period
(1918-1929) and kept the Society on
its feet.
Presently, however, things began to
11
For information on H. Schuricht cf. Dieter Cunz, " Schuricht's Virginia-German Weekly," American-
German Review, XVIII (1951), i, 14-16.
12
Professor Faust again addressed the Society at its annual meeting in February, 1946, when his
subject was " German American Historical Societies—their Achievements and Limitations." He died on
February 8, 1951.
13
For an account of the attitude of the German-Americans before and during World War I cf. Dieter
Cunz, The Maryland Germans, Chap. X. The minutes of October, 1914, have this entry: "The Secretary
was instructed to collect Pro-German contributions to the letter columns of the Evening Sun, and all other
contributions written by members of the Society."
14
At the April, 1925 meeting, the secretary reported a membership of nineteen, and added hopefully
"the membership is holding its own."
[12]
look up again. In 1926 sixteen new
members were elected, including Mr.
Henry L. Mencken, and Professor
William Kurrelmeyer of the Johns
Hopkins University. At the annual
meeting in 1927 nineteen were present
at the dinner. At that meeting the
treasurer reported a cash balance of
$1,238.56 and the ownership of a
thousand dollar government bond.
One of the remarkable things about
the Society is that it was never in
financial difficulties.
Thirty-one members attended the
annual dinner meeting in 1931. These
dinners had for some years past been
"complimentary," that is, the Society
footed the bill; and it is perhaps in-
teresting to record that this meeting,
held at Miller Brothers' Restaurant,
cost the Society $102. The annual
meeting in 1932, held at the Emerson
Hotel, was noteworthy in that, for
the first and last time ladies were in-
vited as guests of the Society. The
question of admitting women to mem-
bership came to the fore at the 1936
meeting. The matter was finally re-
ferred to the Executive Committee,
where it died.
15
In May, 1931, Colonel Prechtel
died at the age of eighty-eight, and
Mr. Thomas F. Hisky was elected to
succeed him. In these years the
Society lost three other of its most
valued members: Pastor Julius K.
Hofmann of Zion Church, Professor
Hans Froelicher of Goucher College,
and Dr. John C. Hemmeter of the
University of Maryland.
It is chiefly from the year 1934 that
the renewed activity of the Society
may be dated. At a meeting of the
Executive Committee on April 18th
of that year the matter of the settle-
ment of the $10,000 bequest to the
Society by Mr. Ferdinand A. J.
Meyer, a former member of the
Society, was the main business. Mr.
Meyer had died in November, 1933,
and as one of many gifts to German
organizations, had bequeathed the
sum to the Society in his will. "Cer-
tain German legatees "—so state the
minutes of the meeting—" had filed a
caveat to his last will and testament,
and finally most of the interested
persons named as beneficiaries in the
said will, as well as the Safe Deposit
and Trust Company, trustee, as well
as Messrs. George Weems Williams
and Charles M. Howard, attorneys
for the American beneficiaries, had
advised the following compromise,
upon the basis of which the caveat
would be withdrawn . . . : That ap-
proximately 24 per cent of the incre-
ment representing the increase of the
bequest as made in the last Meyer
testament over the bequest made in
the earlier . . . testament, ($5000) be
contributed along with the matching
identical contributions on the part of
all American beneficiaries. . . . The
Society would (thus) contribute 24
per cent, or nearly 24 per cent, of
$5000. Messrs. Scholtz and Hisky
(the legal advisers of the Executive
Committee) advised accepting the
provisions of the compromise, as most
of the other institutions and persons
who were beneficiaries under the will,
had done. Dr. Kurrelmeyer moved
that the compromise be accepted and
the motion was unanimously carried."
This splendid gift, carefully in-
vested and administered, made possi-
ble the resumption of the publication
of the Reports, and in more recent
years the preparation and completion
of the Society's most ambitious pro-
ject, the history of the Maryland Ger-
mans by Professor Dieter Cunz of the
University of Maryland. At the 1936
meeting of the Executive Committee
the treasurer, Mr. Conrad Rabbe,
"emphasized the fact that the So-
ciety was in a very strong financial
15
Mr. Charles H. Miegel, for many years the secretary of the Society, had a way of writing up his
minutes in a lively style. His comment on the discussion about admitting the ladies was that there ensued
"a hubbub of animated discussion," The matter cropped up again at the annual meeting in 1941, when-—
again to quote Mr. Miegel—"Mr. Scholtz stated, by throwing out a feeler, as it were, that the time might
be nigh when we should have to imitate the example set by ... the Maryland Historical Society, by
considering the advisability of female membership in this hitherto exclusively masculine group. As this
feeler was greeted with a non-commital silence, Judge Saylor diplomatically made the motion to adjourn."
For the record, it should be stated that one woman, Mrs. Louisa Schenkel, was elected to membership in
1908. There is no record of any other woman member.
[13]
condition." The final settlement of
the Meyer bequest added the sum of
$6700 to the Society's treasury, while
cash in bank amounted to another
$2005.
From this time on, the membership
grew steadily and the annual meet-
ings were largely attended; while the
Executive Committee, under the gui-
dance of Mr. Karl A. M. Scholtz,
gave freely of its time and thought to
the Society's affairs.
In 1937 Professor William Kurrel-
meyer of Johns Hopkins University
became president, succeeding Mr.
Hisky, who died in that year. Dr.
Kurrelmeyer served until 1951, when
he retired and was succeeded by the
present incumbent Mr. Robert Lee
Slingluff, Jr.
Throughout the second World War
the Society attended strictly to its
own business, avoiding all contro-
versial discussion, observing consci-
entiously whatever slight restrictions
were imposed upon it by the neces-
sities of the conflict, and placidly
proceeding upon its established way.
This was in rather striking contrast
to the attitude of much of the mem-
bership during the first World War
when, as has been stated, the major-
ity feeling was pro-German. The
reasons for that change in opinion,
which was basic rather than merely
assumed, are not far to seek; as a
result the Society was able to pursue
its plans without interference or in-
terruption.
Foremost among these plans was
a proposed history of the Germans
in Maryland. The compiling of such
a history under the auspices of the
Society was first suggested at a
meeting of the Society in December,
1909. Mr. Louis P. Hennighausen,
the president, was asked to become
editor-in-chief of the projected pub-
lication, and complied with the re-
quest. A circular letter to the mem-
bers of the Society, and to other pos-
sible contributors of material for the
work, was sent out in 1910. In 1911
the editor reported that he had re-
ceived much valuable material, and
had made some progress in the work.
In 1913, however, he asked for the
help of a "historian," as the volume
of material received had become too
unwieldly for him to handle alone.
His request was referred to the Ex-
ecutive Committee, and Dr. Jo-
hannes Mattern, then secretary of
the Society, accepted their invita-
tion to undertake the job of prepar-
ing the editor's "collected manu-
script notes" for publication. At
the March meeting in 1913 the
editor "read the first chapter of his
history," and in later meetings
added to it. But the work proceeded
in fits and starts, and its completion
seemed doubtful. Efforts were made
to keep the project alive by an offer
of prizes for original work in the
field. In 1916, three years later, a
prize of $350 was offered to students
of the Johns Hopkins University for
the best "original essays on the Ger-
man Element in Maryland." Noth-
ing came of that, apparently, possi-
bly because of war conditions which
practically put a stop to the Society's
activities for a decade. In 1925,
however, "a resolution was passed
ordering the Chairman of the Execu-
tive Committee and the Secretary
to see President Goodnow of the
Johns Hopkins University in order
that he might recommend someone to
write a History of the Germans in
Maryland," But nothing came of
that either, as is hardly surprising,
and so the project was dropped, al-
though references to it crop up occa-
sionally during the next ten years or
so. In 1935, for instance, the Execu-
tive Committee announced "a pro-
ject ... to offer prizes to high school
students throughout the state for
theses (sic) ... on German History
in Maryland." Of course there were
no takers, if, indeed, the offer was
ever really made. But it goes to show
that the project was still under con-
sideration by at least some of the
most stalwart members of the Society,
and in the end their faith in its ful-
fillment was to be justified.
The revival of the plan to sponsor
[14]
the long-delayed history had its in-
ception at the 1939 annual meeting,
when the Executive Committee, in
its report, made a proposal, put in
the form of a motion by Professor A.
E. Zucker of the University of Mary-
land, "to the effect that a fellowship
of the value of $500 be established
by the Society for the term of one
year; the said fellowship to be held
by a graduate student versed in the
German and English tongues, who
should . . . write a thesis or mono-
graph on some topic of German-
American history in Maryland." The
motion, amended to the effect that
the Executive Committee should give
it further consideration, was passed,
and President Kurrelmeyer instructed
the Committee to act upon the pro-
ject and to make "suitable recom-
mendations and arrangements . . ."
Pursuant to these instructions the
Committee on March 29, 1939, on
motion unanimously passed, agreed
that "Dr. Zucker's plan for a $500
fellowship ... for the year 1939-40
be adopted, (and) that the fellowship
be granted to a graduate student at
the University of Maryland. . . . (and)
that the research shall be directed to-
ward the compilation of source mate-
rial on German backgrounds in Balti-
more and Maryland."
At the November meeting of the
Committee in the same year, Profes-
sor Zucker presented Dr. Dieter Cunz
(now Professor of German at the
"University of Maryland), the recipi-
ent of the fellowship, who made a
report on the progress already made
on the work. The fellowship grants
were renewed annually until 1942;
and on November 22, 1948 the book,
The Maryland Germans, by Dieter
Cunz, was published by the Prince-
ton University Press, with the "aid
of the Society for the History of the
Germans in Maryland."
Only scant justice can be done this
scholarly work in this article, nor does
its scope permit of a full review of the
book. That has been done by many
others with full appreciation of its
thorough coverage of the field, and of
the painstaking research and the fine
organization of the mass of material
that had to be collected, appraised
and condensed into a well-coordinated
whole. The book is of great value not
only to the research student in its
field, but to anyone interested in the
stirring story of the struggle through
storm and stress of the Maryland
Germans from colonial times to the
present, and their final winning of the
honored place they hold today in the
many phases of the American way
of life. The work may well be con-
sidered the culmination of the Soci-
ety's endeavors through the sixty-six
years of its existence, and a lasting
tribute to the scholarship of the
author. The fact that Dr. Cunz came
to Baltimore a stranger not so many
years ago, and found it possible to
acquaint himself so completely with
the history of his adopted home; that
he was able to master in so short a
time and so completely a language
not his own, and could attain within
a few years a high position in the
institution which he serves, all testify
to his great industry and thorough
scholarly attainments. The Society
may congratulate itself upon having
grasped the opportunity to assist in
the creation of a fine and definitive
piece of work.
16
The Society in 1939 resumed publi-
cation of Reports, a practice which
had been suspended for ten years.
The Report (No. XXIV) was par-
ticularly valuable because of the com-
plete list of the Society's publications
to that time. It contains also a ne-
crology, with portraits of prominent
members who had died in the preced-
ing years. The year also marks the
beginning of a new period of activity
for the Society. At the 1940 meeting
a further grant of $1000 was appro-
priated for "further research and
ground work" for Dr. Cunz's history,
16
The book has had excellent notices, extracts from some of which are printed in the Twenty-seventh
Report of the Society. The late Dr. Albert B. Faust, the chief authority on the German element in the
United States, called the book "one of the classics in German-American literature."
[15]
the sum to be for one year, beginning
July 1, 1940. Dr. Cunz had begun
serious work on his book, and re-
ported on his progress at that and
subsequent meetings.
The death of Karl A.M. Scholtz on
December 5, 1941, was a great loss to
the Society, as it was to many other
German organizations with which he
was associated. A sympathetic review
of Mr. Scholtz's activities, written by
Mr. Lewis Kurtz, was published in
the Twenty-fifth (1942) Report of
the Society, together with a portrait
as frontispiece. Mr. Scholtz had been
the chairman of the Society's Execu-
tive Committee continuously for
thirty years (1912-1941).
An open meeting, the first to be
held by the Society for general atten-
dance, was staged at the Baltimore
Municipal Museum on Monday, May
25, 1942. It was a successful affair
which might to advantage be re-
peated. The ladies added much to
the tone of the affair. It once more
brought to the fore the question of
admitting women to membership
which, as before stated, was brought
up and discussed at several meetings,
but never passed on—just why, no-
body seems to know. At this writing,
however, the dinner meetings are still
strictly stag.
In October, 1944, Mr. Charles H.
Miegel, the genial secretary of the
Society and its Executive Committee
since 1934, resigned, and Professor
Dieter Cunz was elected in his place.
The activities of the Society in the
past decade may be briefly sum-
marized. Four Reports have been
published since the resumption of
publication in 1939. The membership
of the Society, which was fifty-two in
1940, had grown to seventy-three in
1950; the attendance at the annual
meetings has been gratifying, and the
speakers deservedly well received.
Chief among these speakers was Pro-
fessor Albert B. Faust of Cornell Uni-
versity, whose address, entitled "Ger-
man-American Historical Societies,—
their Achievements and Limitations,"
was delivered at the sixtieth anni-
versary meeting, 1946, and is pub-
lished in the present Report. The
Twenty-seventh Report was dedi-
cated to him "on the occasion of his
80th birthday, April 20, 1950."
The activities of the Executive
Committee have been centered chiefly
about the publication The Maryland
Germans, the issuing of Reports, the
meetings, and such other routine
matters as called for their attention.
No review of the Society's activi-
ties during recent years would be
complete without a special acknowl-
edgment of the invaluable work of
Professor Dieter Cunz in his dual
capacity of secretary, and editor of
the Reports since 1942. Dr. Cunz, by
training and inclination, is unusually
well qualified to supervise the literary
output of the Society and to keep it
going. His several monographs, chips
from his workshop while preparing
The Maryland Germans, and his fre-
quent contributions to the Reports,
are a further tribute to his industry
and scholarship.
At the meeting in February 1950
the Constitution and By-Laws, un-
changed for more than half a century,
were revised and adjusted to present-
day conditions. A new roster of cor-
responding members was compiled
which includes a number of American
scholars outside of Maryland who
made a name for themselves in Ger-
man-American historical research.
Special mentioning should be made
of the banquet and meeting held on
February 20, 1952. For the first time
in the history of the Society the
members met outside of Baltimore:
in the Government House in Anna-
polis. Governor Theodore R. McKel-
din who joined the Society in 1943
had kindly extended an invitation to
his fellow members to meet in the
beautiful old mansion in the State
capital. It was an appropriate meet-
ing place since sixty-six years ago the
Society had made its first public ap-
pearance when the DeKalb monument
in the State Circle was dedicated.
The meeting was attended by a
[16]
record breaking number of members
and guests.
The future of the Society has never
been brighter than it is today. There
is every reason to believe that it will
continue its work many more years to
come, "ohne Hast, ohne Rast."
SEAL OF THE SOCIETY
ADOPTED 1886
APPENDIX
SPEAKERS AT THE ANNUAL MEETINGS OF THE SOCIETY
1930-1952
1930
Dr. John C. Hemmeter; "Dr. Charles
Frederick Wiesenthal'
1931
(None)
1932
(None)
1933
Dr. Raphael Semmes: "Notes on Balti-
more History "
1934
Rev. Fritz O. Evers: " Pastor Scheib's
Educational Journal"
Prof. A. E. Zucker: "Carl Heinrich
Schnauffer"
1935
Prof. A. E. Zucker: " Reinhold Solger "
1936
Prof. Paul G. Gleis: " Catholic German
Missionaries in Early Maryland His-
tory"
1937
(None)
1938
(None)
1939
(None)
1940
Rev. Amos J. Traver: " History of the
Lutheran Church in Frederick"
1941
Prof. Dieter Cunz: "The Maryland
Germans in the Civil War "
1942
Dr. Arthur D. Graeff: " The Germans
in the Revolutionary War"
1943
Prof. Ralph C. Wood: "Folk Ways of
the Pennsylvania Germans "
1944
Prof. Richard H. Shryock: "The His-
torical Significance of the Pennsyl-
vania Germans"
1945
Prof. Frank Freidel: "Francis Lieber,
A German Scholar in the United
States "
1946
Prof. Albert B. Faust: "German-
American Historical Societies—Their
Achievements and their Limitations "
1947
Prof. Eitel W. Dobert: "The United
Nations Program of the Forty-eighters
in America "
1948
Prof. A. E. Zucker: " The Spirit of the
Forty-eighters "
1949
George L. Radcliffe: "The German
Element in Maryland History"
1950
Dr. Henry J. Kellermann: " The Politi-
cal and Cultural Status of Germany
Today"
1951
Prof. Dieter Cunz: "The German
Americans—Immigration and Integra-
tion"
1952
President Richard D.Weigle: "St. John's
College in Historical Perspective"
[17]
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF THE
GERMANS IN MARYLAND
1886-1952
PRESIDENTS
REV
. JOHN GOTTLIEB MORRIS..........
1886-1895
REV
. BENJAMIN SADTLER
.................1896-1900
LOUIS P. HENNIGHAUSEN.................1901-1906
DR
. ERNEST J. BECKER.....................1907-1911
LOUIS P. HENNIGHAUSEN
................1912-1917
GEORGE PRECHTEL
............................1918-1929
THOMAS FOLEY HISKY
.....................1930-1936
PROF
. WILLIAM KURRELMEYER........1987-1951
ROBERT LEE SLINGLUFF
, JR..............1951-
F1RST VICE-PRESIDENTS
LOUIS P. HENNIGHAUSEN.................1886-1895
REV
. HENRY SCHEIB..........................1896-1897
LOUIS P. HENNIGHAUSEN.................1897-1900
GEORGE
W. GAIL
..............................1901-1905
PROF
. OTTO FUCHS
..........................1906-1907
PROF
. HENRY WOOD
........................1907-1908
GEORGE PRECHTEL
.............................1909-1911
Ds. ERNEST J. BECKER
.....................1911-1917
HENRY
G. HILKEN
............................1918-1937
J. GEORGE MOHLHENRICH..................1938-1940
PROF
.
A. E. ZUCKER.........................1940-
SECOND VICE-PRESIDENTS
CHARLES WEBER
, JR.........................1886-1887
PHILIP AUGUST ALBRECHT
................1888-1889
PHOF
. OTTO FUCHS
..........................1889-1890
REV
. HENRY SCHEIB.........................1891-1895
LOUIS P. HENNIGHAUSEN
.................1896-1897
EDWARD
F. LEYH..............................1897-1901
PROF
. OTTO FUCHS...........................1902-1905
PROF
. HENRY WOOD.........................1906-1907
REV
. FR. PH. HENNIGHAUSEN
..........1907-1911
GEORGE PRECHTEL
............................1912-1917
LOUIS
C. SCHNEIDEREITH...................1918-1922
C. OTTO SCHOENRICH......................
1923-1929
THEODORE
G. KRUG...........................1930-1937
LEWIS KURTZ
....................................1938-1951
PROF
. ARNO C. SCHIROKAUER...........1961-
TREASURERS
EDWARD NIEMANN
.............................1886-1888
ROBERT
M. ROTHER
........................
1889-1929
CONRAD
C. RABBE............................
1930-1937
CHARLES
F. STEIN, JR
......................
1938-
SECRETARIES
REV
. FR. PH. HENNINGHAUSEN........
1886-1905
J. LEONARD HOFFMAN.....................
1905-1911
J. KONRAD UHLIG............................
1911-1913
DR
. JOHANNES MATTERN.................
1913-1917
ANDREW
H. METTEE
........................
1918-1933
CHARLES
H. MIEGEL
........................
1934-1944
DR
. DIETER CUNZ............................
1944-
CHAIRMEN OF EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE
DR
. LEWIS H. STEINER....................1886-1891
EDWARD
F. LEYH............................1892-1893
CHARLES
F. RADDATZ
.......................1893-1901
REV
. EDWARD HUBER.......................1901-1906
LOUIS P. HENNIGHAUSEN ................1907-1911
KARL
A. M. SCHOLTZ........................1912-1941
CARL
L. NITZE..................................1942-1949
R. LEE SLINGLUFF, JR.......................1949-1951
LEWIS KURTZ
....................................1951-
MEMBERS OF EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE
HEINRICH BECKER
............................
1886-1887
DR
. CHARLES C. BOMBAUGH............
1886-1887
PROF
. OTTO FUCHS..........................
1886-1904
EDWARD
F. LETH..............................
1886-1900
DR
. LEWIS H. STEINER.....................
1886-1891
CHARLES
F. RADDATZ.......................
1886-1901
DR
. JULIUS GOEBEL..........................
1888-1889
ERNEST HOEN
...................................
1888-190S
GEORGE
W. GAIL..............................
1891-1900
PROF
. MARION D. LEARNED
.............
1892-1893
REV
. EDWARD HUBER
......................
1896-1906
FREDERICK
J. MAYER........................
1901-1906
PROF
. HENRY WOOD
........................
1901-1905
J. LEONARD HOFFMAN.....................
1905-1911
DANIEL
A. KLEIN............................
1905-1906
PHILIP AUGUST ALBRECHT
................1906-1909
LOUIS C. SCHNEIDEREITH
................1906-1922
LOUIS P. HENNIGHAUSEN
................1907-1911
KARL
A. M. SCHOLTZ
.......................1907-1941
FREDERICK
W. FELDNER
...................1907-1909
PROF
. ANDREW J. PIETSCH
...............1910-1914
DANIEL
A. KLEIN
............................1910-1917
C. OTTO SCHOENRICH.......................1912-1917
HEINRICH RUHSTRAT
........................1918-1925
DR
. JOHANNES MATTERN
.................1918-1924
REV
. JULIUS HOFMANN...................1923-1928
HANS VON MAREES
...........................1923-1924
JOHN TJARKS
...................................1924-1925
C. WILLIAM: SCHNEIDEREITH............1925-1926
PROF
. WILLIAM KURRELMEYER........1926-1937
ANDREW
H. METTEE.........................1926-1929
J. GEORGE MOHLHENRICH
.................1926-1938
LEWIS KURTZ
...................................1926-1938
DR
. HANS FROELICHER.....................1929-1930
PROF
. JOHN C. HEMMETER..............1930-1931
CHARLES
F. STEIN, JR.....................1936-1938
CARL
W. PRIOR................................1937-1939
REV
. JOHN G. HACKER, S. J...............1938-1946
DR
. ERNEST J. BECKER.....................1939-1949
R. LEE SLINGLUFF, JR.......................1939-1951
REV. FRITZ O. EVERS
.....................1942-
WALTER
E. BEUCHELT
.......................1944-1951
HERBERT
W. SCHAEFER
.....................1949-1951
REV
. EDWARD F. ENGELBERT.............1949-
PROF
. AUGUSTUS J. PRAHL
................1951-
WILLIAM
T. SNYDER, JR....................1951-
LEWIS KURTZ
....................................1951-
[18]
ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN PREVIOUS REPORTS OF THE SOCIETY
The Roman numeral indicates number of
the Report, the numeral in parenthesis gives
the date of publication.
Basil Sollers, "Jonathan Hager, the Founder
of Hagerstown," II (1888).
Louis P. Hennighausen, " The Redemptioners
and the German Society of Maryland,"
ibid.
Henry Scheib, "The Zion Church of the City
of Baltimore," ibid.
Louis P. Hennighausen, "Johann Lederer's
Book of Travels," III (1889).
Col. v. Stamp, " Die Protestanten-Klöster der
Siebentäger in Pennsylvanien," ibid.
Louis P. Hennighausen, " Die Revolte der
Deutschen gegen die Regierung von Mary-
land," ibid.
Louis P. Hennighausen, "The First German
Settlement in North America," IV (1890).
Francis B. Mayer, "Memoranda in Reference
to Early German Emigration to Mary-
land," V (1891).
Marion D. Learned, "Gottlieb Mittelbergers
Reise nach Pennsylvanien," ibid.
Louis P. Hennighausen, " Early Western Set-
tlements," ibid.
Louis P. Hennighausen, "The German Day in
Baltimore, 1890," ibid.
Louis P. Hennighausen, "Die ersten deu-
tschen Sekten in Amerika," ibid, and VI,
Louis P. Hennighausen, "Early German Set-
tlements in Western Maryland," VI (1892).
C. F. Raddatz, " German-American Families in
Maryland," ibid.
Marion D. Learned, "Die Anfänge der deut-
schen Kultur in Amerika," ibid.
Edward F. Leyh, " Baltimores Deutsch-Ameri-
kaner in Handel und Industrie," ibid.
Louis P. Hennighausen, "The first German
Immigrants to North America," VII
(1893).
A. E. Schade, "Denkschrift über Henry L.
Yesler," ibid.
Louis P. Hennighausen, "Reminiscences of the
Political Life of the German-Americans in
Baltimore, 1850-1860," ibid, and XI/XII.
John G. Morris; "The German in Baltimore,"
VIII-X, (1896).
Eduard Huber, "Pastor Joseph Rieger, ein
Pionier der deutschen evangelischen
Kirche," ibid.
Louis P. Hennighausen, "General Washington
and the German-Americans," ibid.
John G. Morris, "Christopher Saur and his
First German Bible," ibid.
Marion D. Learned, "The German-American
Turner Lyric," ibid.
Herrmann Schuricht, "History of the Ger-
man Element in Virginia," XI/XII
(1898) and XIII/XIV (1900).
J. A. Weishaar, "The German Element in
Maryland up to the Year 1700," XV
(1901).
Louis P. Hennighausen, "Abraham Lincoln or
Linkhorn," ibid.
Otto Schoenrich, " Als Deutsche in Venezuela
regierten," XVI/XXII (1907).
Louis P. Hennighausen, "The Germans in the
Defense of Baltimore in the War of 1812
to 1814," ibid.
Louis P. Hennighausen, "Der Bildhauer Wil-
liam Henry Rinehart," ibid.
Albert B. Faust, "Undercurrents of German
Influence in Maryland," XXIII (1929).
George Prechtel, "Saint Paul's Lutheran
Church of Arcadia, Baltimore County,"
ibid.
A. E. Zucker, "Reinhold Solger," XXIV
(1939).
A. E. Zucker, "Carl Heinrich Schnauffer," ibid.
Charles F. Stein, " Pioneer Days in America,
as Experienced by Leopold Stein, Anno
1833," ibid.
E. F. Engelbert, "The Missouri Synod," ibid.
Fritz O. Evers, " Allgemeine Deutsche Schul-
zeitung, 1839-1840," ibid.
A. E. Zucker, "Natural Selection and Ger-
man-Americans," XXV (1942).
Ernest J. Becker, "History of the English-
German Schools in Baltimore," ibid.
Dieter Cunz, "DeKalb and Maryland," ibid.
Arthur L. Davis, "German Settlements on
the Eastern Shore of Maryland," ibid.
Charles H. Miegel, "What's in a Street
Name?" ibid.
Dieter Cunz, "Contributions of the German
Element to the Growth of the University
of Maryland," XXVI (1945).
Augustus J. Prahl, "History of the German
Gymnastic Movement of Baltimore," ibid.
E. F. Engelbert, " Martini Lutheran Church in
Baltimore," ibid.
Paul G. Gleis, "German Catholic Missionaries
in Maryland During the Eighteenth Cen-
tury," ibid.
Charles R. Gellner, "Ecclesiastical History of
the Catholic Germans in Maryland," ibid.
Felix Reichmann, "German Printing in Mary-
land, A Check List 1768-1950," XXVII
(1950).
Stanley N. Werbow, "Goethe Celebrations in
Maryland 1949," ibid.
[19]
NECROLOGY
Numerals indicate number of Reports. * indicate portrait.
*
Christian Ax, 4
Philip A. Albrecht, 23
*
Frederick Bauernschmidt, 24
William Bauernschmidt, 24
Herman Becker, 24
Emil Bessels, 4
Victor G. Bloede, 24
Karl Blumhardt, 4
Charles E. Brack, 24
George A. Buchheister, 24
Emil Budnitz, 26
Hermann Collitz, 24
Arthur H. Deute, 27
George F. Dederer, 27
Christian Deetjen, 25
Louis P. Dietrich, 23
John J. Dobler, 23
Ida S. Dohme, 24
Louis Dohme, 23
Louise C. DuBrau, 26
Herman L. Ebeling, 27
Albert B. Faust, 28
Frederick W. Feldner, 23
Edward L. Felgner, 16
*
Otto Fuchs, 16
*
George W. Gail, 16
Edgar H. Gans, 23
Jacob Gminder, 23
John F. Gontrum, 23
John G. Hacker, 27
*Paul Haupt, 23
Albert L. Heil, 28
J. Gustav Helmich, 24
John C. Hemmeter, 24
Frederick H. Hennighausen, 27
Frederick Ph. Hennighausen, 23
*
Louis P. Hennighausen, 23
Charles Hilgenberg, 13
*
Henry G. Hilken, 24
*
Thomas F. Hisky, 24
Ernest Hoen, 7
Henry W. Hofferbert, 24
Louis Hoffman, 23
*
Julius K. Hofmann, 23
Charles C. Homer, 23
*Eduard Huber, 16
A. Walter Kraus, 26
Theodore F. Krug, 24
Wilhelm Knabe, 4
Wilhelm Landsberg, 4
John P. Lauber, 24
Henry Lauts, 16
Gerhard Leimbach, 24
Edward F. Leyh, 15
Christopher Lipps, 6
Ferdinand Mathieu, 4
*
William H. Meese, 24
Carl F. Meislahn, 24
Charles H. A. Meyer, 24
*
Ferdinand A. J. Meyer, 24
Michael Meyer, 24
*
Andrew F. Mettee, 24
J. George Mohlhenrich, 25
John C. Muth, 24
Eberhard Niemann, 16
*
Richard Ortmann, 24
Katherine Pfaff, 24
William G. Polack, 28
Frederick Polmyer, 6
William A. Potthast, 24
*
George Prechtel, 24
Carl W. Prior, 26
John F. Pruess, 28
*
Conrad C. Rabbe, 24
Frederick Raine, 7
*
Charles F. Raddatz, 23
Wilhelm Rapp, 16
J. Fred Requardt, 16
*
August Roeder, 24
*
Robert M. Rother, 24
John Ruhrah, 24
Henry Rustrat, 24
Alwin J. Ruperti, 24
Benjamin Sadtler, 15
Henry Scheib, 13
*
Ernst Schmeisser, 23
Wilhelm Schnauffer, 4
*
Charles Wm. Schneidereith, 16
Louis C. Schneidereith, 23
Louis Schneider, 6
Carl Otto Schoenrich, 24
*
Karl A. M. Scholtz, 25
Heinrich A. Schroeder, 10
Hans Schuler, 28
C. F. Emil Schultz, 23
Alexander H. Schultz, 16
*
Hermann Schuricht, 13
Gustavus Seyfarth, 4
Joseph A. Shriver, 6
Frederick J. Singley, 28
John H. Smith, 6
Adolph Staib, 13
Theodore A. Steinmuller, 24
John L. Thomas, 8
John G. Tjarks, 26
*
August F. Trappe, 24
Henry Vees, 13
Ludwig Vogtmann, 4
*
Heinrich G. Von Heine, 24
Hermann Von Kapff, 6
George A. Von Lingen, 16
George L. Wagner, 24
Frederick Walpert, 13
Louis T. Weis, 23
Max F. W. Weissenborn, 24
George L. Wellington, 23
Morris Wiener, 23
Henry Wood, 23
Alfons von Wyscecki, 27
[20]
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