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 translation of this entire series of German pioneer letters. - EDITOR.
Friederich Hilgen, 1805-78, and William Schröder (Schroeder), 1812-82, came to Milwaukee in 1844 from Charleston, South Carolina, and immediately set out on foot to find a suitable location for a settlement. They walked north along the Green Bay Road in New Dublin (now Hamilton), thence to the present site of Cedarburg, where Cedar 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 Green Bay Road to the site they had chosen. They then erected a mill, a store, and some dwellings, in what is now the heart of Cedarburg. In 1855 they built the five-story grist 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 Wisconsin territory to visit his brother-in-law Hilgen and his friend Schröder. That he liked 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, he journeyed 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 became an active member of the community.
The letters of Hilgen and Schroder tell a typical story of community building in Wisconsin territory. The vision, courage, and enterprise of the pioneer are clearly reflected. In contrast Louisa Borner Hilgen's letters express a pathetic yearning for feminine companions. The letters of F. Röbken and Christoper Börner are included because they indicate the motives and conditions which brought German settlers to America.
To read the letters and see a portrait of Friederich Boerner, please click on the following:
http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/u?/wmh,28544
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