Why? Why did my distant relatives come to America? I’ve pieced together the Who and the When and also the How. Through genealogical websites, librairies, and church records I’ve managed to sketch a fairly accurate account of my great-grandfather Paul Hilbig’s journey to America beginning with his birth in Prussia in 1870, his family’s immigration in 1874 and their settling in Petoskey, Michigan. But Why? Leaving Germany in the late 19th century would have been an arduous journey to make, especially with a young family.

Considering the political and economic climate of Germany in the late 1800s, it’s not surprising that many families made the decision to leave for what they hoped would be a more prosperous, and safe future elsewhere. On 16 July 1870, the French parliament voted to declare war on Prussia; France invaded German territory on 2 August. In the final days of the war, with German victory all but assured, the German states proclaimed their union as the German Empire under the Prussian king Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck. With the notable exceptions of Austria and German Switzerland, the vast majority of German-speakers were united under a nation-state for the first time. Following an armistice with France, the Treaty of Frankfurt was signed on 10 May 1871. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Prussian_War)

Meanwhile, back in Michigan, immigrants were being actively recruited from Northern Europe and especially Germany to help settle the area. Michigan was rich in mining, logging, and agricultural resources, but poor in human resources. Beginning in 1845, Michigan established an Office of Foreign Emigration in New York and published a pamphlet which promoted the virtues of the state. Between 1860 and 1900, more than 700,000 immigrants came to Michigan, and nearly 400,000 of these new arrivals were born in foreign countries.

In 1869, the governor of Michigan appointed a Commissioner of Emigration to reside in Germany “. . . for the purpose of encouraging immigration to Michigan from German States and other countries of Europe.” (A Brief History of Michigan)

The agent, Max H. Allardt, was posted to Germany from 1870-1875 where he published a periodical and a pamphlet extolling the wonders of Michigan. Allardt was born in Germany in 1829, immigrating with his family to the US in 1833. He studied law in Cleveland, and before being appointed Commissioner, had published the Daily Review newspaper in 1861. Immigration efforts proved to be very successful and the program was closed in 1885. By 1890 an estimated 2.8 million German-born immigrants lived in the United States with a majority of the German-born living in the United States located in the “German triangle,” whose three points were Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and St. Louis.

The 1880 census lists the occupation of my great-grandfather’s stepfather as farmer. Later occupations are listed as carpenter or cabinet maker, skills he would have picked up living among the German immigrants in northern Michigan. My great-grandfather’s occupation was also listed as carpenter, the family evidently having given up on farming perhaps when they moved closer into the town of Petoskey. Whether farmer or carpenter, they exhibited skills that would have been essential in the early development of northern Michigan, at that time abundant in natural resources but lacking in manpower to develop the area. A summer of research along the Hilbig Heritage Tour has essentially answered the Who What Where When and Why questions of my ancestry. But I’m sure there are still more discoveries to be made!

You can read the first blog post about this family search on my blog here: Coming to America

Photos from Michigan’s Thumb, by U.H. Schmidt