296 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences , Arts and Letters. 
neighborhood of Chestnut street, but the majority went to the farms. 
Kirchhayn, Washington county, and Lebanon, Dodge county, were 
chosen for settlement. Lebanon was chosen by the advice of their 
countrymen, J. Grunhagen, one of the earlier immigrants to Milwau¬ 
kee, probably for its situation on the Rock River. Seventy-eight fami¬ 
lies settled here in the years 1843 and 1844. These were the people from 
Stettin and Brandenburg, while those from the Baltic lands settled at 
Kirchhayn. 
Rev. Kinderman became the pastor of the Kirchhayn people, while 
at times he held services for the Lebanon community. For a 
year or two the settlers in Washington county suffered great pri¬ 
vations; their land was heavily wooded and it took time to make it pro¬ 
ductive. Lebanon was more open and easier to cultivate. “ Within 
fifteen years,” says Mr. Blumenfeld, of Watertown, “the country be¬ 
came a garden, and to-day it surpasses most towns in its high state of 
cultivation.” Both the communities by their industry and thrift, have 
been successful. There has been a marvelous change in the condition 
of these people from that of poor farm laborers, in most cases, to that of 
independent proprietors, almost all well-to-do farmers. 
Between 1850 and 1860, a number of the early setlers went from Frei- 
stadt, Cedarburg and Kirchhayn, to Sherman, Sheboygan county, and 
Cooperstown, Manitowoc county. Land was cheap and plenty in the 
northern counties and there again they formed prosperous settlements. 
The large Pomeranian and North German element in Wisconsin is un- 
j 
doubtedly due in great measure to the early emigration of the Old 
Lutherans to the state. Through their reports to friends and relatives in 
the Fatherland, many have since followed them and either joined the 
original communities or spread out into adjoining towns and counties. 
Moreover, in 1853, Capt. von Rohr and Rev. Grabau made an extended 
tour through Germany, especially through North Germany, and by their 
conversations and reports about the success of their countrymen in 
Wisconsin caused the majority of the Lutherans to settle in this state. 
Emigration from the northern countries had scarcely begun at that period 
but since 1870, Pomerania, Prussia and the adjoining countries have 
furnished the greater part of the German emigration, of which Wis¬ 
consin has received a large share. 
But these early settlers were not only the first body of German im¬ 
migrants to Wisconsin; they were also the beginning of the Lutheran 
church in the state. 
Freed from state support and government restraint the Lutheran 
church has grown marvelously in this country. One indication of its 
growth is its large membership;* another indication is the variety of 
creeds that have developed, shown by the large number of synods of 
* According to Prof. Ernst there are 200,000 Lutherans in Wisconsin. 
