Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/309

 HISTORY OP SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 249 erable numbers of them in New Madrid county. German settlers were found in Cape Girar- deau county in large numbers, and in some- what smaller numbers in Scott, Bollinger and Perry coimties. Of coui'se, there was a sprink- ling of foreigners in other counties, but the population, with the exception of the counties noted, was very largely American in claar- acter. It is to be noted that the presence of large numbers of Germans and other foreign settlers in Cape Girardeau and surroundmg counties was one of the things which deter- mined the action of ]Iissouri at the outbrealv of the Civil War. If it had not been for the presence of these people who were loyal to the Union, it is highly probable that the movement for secession in the state would have been suc- cessful, and Missouri would have aligned herself with the Confederate States govern- ment. The German element in the population of Southeast IMissouri is foimd largely in Perry and Cape Girardeau counties. There were a few German families in Ste. Genevieve in its early years ; the most prominent German fam- ily in Ste. Genevieve county was a family named Ziegler; there were three brothers of this name, Martin, Francis and Sebastian, who settled in the vicinity of Ste. Genevieve quite early in its history. About 1840 the German settlers came to New Offenburg and Zell ; these German families were mostly Catholics. In 1839 a colony of Germans made their home in Perry coimty. These were Luther- ans and came to America largely on account of dissatisfaction with religious teachings at home. Their leader was Martin Stephan. They came from a number of places in Ger- many and numbered more than seven himdred at the time of their sailing from Bremen. One of the five ships on which the party sailed was lost, at sea. The others arrived at New Orleans in January, 1839, and continued their travels until they reached St. Louis on February 19th of the same year and remained there until the following June. Before sail- ing from Germany the colonists had collected a common fund of more than $100,000, and after reaching St. Louis they purchased lands in the soutlieastern part of Perry coimty out of this fimd ; they secured 4,400 acres for the sum of $10,000, and most of the colonists removed to this place from St. Louis. They suffered very great hardships for a num- ber of years, as the land had to be cleared and some of it was of very little value. Be- fore they succeeded in building houses they lived in tents and log cabins and the exposure resulted in sickness and death. Stephan, who as their leader, had control of affairs, proved to be incapable and had to be depo.sed. Some- what later the land which had been held in common was distributed among the colonists and this lead to very great improvements in their condition. About 1840 another lot of colonists to the number of 75, imder the leadership of Rev. Maximilian Oertel, established themselves at Wittenberg. They were Lutherans, also, but their leader, Oertel, soon afterward retmmed to New York and there became a Catholic priest. The German settlers of Cape Girardeau county began to come to the county in 1834; the first of these were Otto Buehrman, Will,- iam Cramer and Rev. Frederick Picker. Thej' located on farms in the Big Bend. The Cramers and Picker came from Hanover and Buehrman from Brunswick. Shortly after liis arrival. Rev. Mr. Picker removed to the settlement on Whitewater and Cramer and John Anthony removed to Cape Girardeau and engaged in the manufacture of cigars.