German Pioneer Letters


Ozaukee County News Articles


DOCUMENTS

GERMAN PIONEER LETTERS

Extracted from the
The Wisconsin magazine of history:
Volume 16, number 4, June, 1933
Used with permission of Wisconsin Historial Society
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org


The following introductory note was kindly supplied by Arthur R. Boerner of Milwaukee,grandson of Friederich Börner, to whom we are likewise indebted for the translationof this entire series of German pioneer letters. - EDITOR.

Friederich Hilgen, 1805-78, and William Schröder (Schroeder), 1812-82, cameto Milwaukee in 1844 from Charleston, South Carolina, and immediately set out onfoot to find a suitable location for a settlement. They walked north along the GreenBay Road in New Dublin (now Hamilton), thence to the present site of Cedarburg, whereCedar Creek flowing through a deep rock channel offered potential power for a mill.

Their first undertaking was to cut a road through the virgin forest from the GreenBay Road to the site they had chosen. They then erected a mill, a store, and somedwellings, in what is now the heart of Cedarburg. In 1855 they built the five-storygrist mill which is still in use. It is a notably fine structure of native limestone“built for the ages” by old country craftsmen.

Friederich Börner (Boerner), 1812-78, was born in Kirch Hatten, Duchy of Oldenburg,and emigrated to Charleston, South Carolina in 1837. In 1846 he traveled to Wisconsinterritory to visit his brother-in-law Hilgen and his friend Schröder. That heliked the country is evidenced by his selection of a farm, purchased the same year,and by the financial assistance which he lent to the Hilgen and Schroder enterprises.Before the year 1846 was ended, he had decided to move to Cedarburg. In 1848, hejourneyed to Oldenburg to visit his old home and win recruits for the new settlement.The following spring he moved to Cedarburg, where as a merchant and farmer he becamean active member of the community.

The letters of Hilgen and Schroder tell a typical story of community building inWisconsin territory. The vision, courage, and enterprise of the pioneer are clearlyreflected. In contrast Louisa Borner Hilgen's letters express a pathetic yearningfor feminine companions. The letters of F. Röbken and Christoper Börnerare included because they indicate the motives and conditions which brought Germansettlers to America.


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