Seventy-Five Years of German Immigration to Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri

Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri, is one of the most historically significant areas in the United States due to the longevity of its settlement, the completeness of written records available, the well-preserved artifacts, and because of its rich cultural history. The Germans began to arrive in Missouri as the United States expanded westward at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Their numbers increased significantly after Missouri became a state in 1821. By the 1830s there was a steady movement of Germans into Ste. Genevieve County after government lands were made available for settlement. This series focuses on the immigration of Germanic people into Ste. Genevieve County between 1800 and 1875, and examines their European origins, what routes they followed to get to Ste. Genevieve County, and identifies the family members who came with them. The intent is to provide a comprehensive compilation of German immigrant families in order to complement the scholarly research that has already been accomplished and to establish groundwork for future study. As a foundation for this project, the author built a database to organize the information using the Personal Ancestral File application developed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The files have grown to include over 29,000 individual records and ancestral lines that extend back into the mid-1600s. With very few exceptions, the author used original primary or secondary sources. Although elements of genealogical research are involved in this project, it is not in any way intended to be a genealogy. This study was designed using the principles of prosopography: the intent of learning about patterns of relationships and activities through the study of collective biography by collecting and analyzing statistically relevant quantities of biographical data about a well-defined group of individuals. The families are presented in two-generation biographical sketches that describe their German origins and the first American-born generation. A full-name index, a bibliography, appendices, a map of Germany before 1871, a map of Modern German States after 1990, and a map of Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri Towns and Townships add to the value of this volume.