A Bold Journey of Faith
During the autumn and winter of 1846-1847, Pastor Wilhelm Löhe of Neuendettelsau, Bavaria announced that it was his intention to establish a new colony in America. A number of Franconian citizens applied for the privilege of joining this expedition. Among them was Georg Adam Kipfmüller of Frickenfelden and his young family.
In all there were about 60 men, women and children who were determined to go to the new world. Before sailing, the new pioneers were apprised of the fact that certain securities were selling in America at 62½¢ and 65¢ on the dollar that could then be used at face value to buy land. Accordingly the following sent a total of about 6,000 guilders ($2,400) to Pastor Crämer in Frankenmuth for the purchase of land.
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With the commitment of their worldly resources, the pioneers were eager to begin their journey. They intended to take the ship Hermine, which was scheduled to sail on April 18, 1847 from Bremerhaven. The expedition was then divided into two groups. The first group left Nürnberg on Palm Sunday, March 27, and contained the following members: J.P. Schlenk and bride; Adam Wißmüller, wife and two children; George Wißmüller and wife; Michael Huber, wife and two children. Later, aboard ship, the following also decided to go with this first group to Frankentrost: Christian Frisch and wife; Conrad Munker, wife and daughter; Ludwig Reinbold, wife and three children; and widow Jäckel. The first evening was spent in Kulmbach where they met Pastor Johann H.P. Gräbner. On Thursday of Holy Week they reached Hannover and on Good Friday, Bremen. In Bremen they remained for eight days at the “Black Horse Inn.” On the Sunday after Easter they came to Bremerhaven, hoping the the “Hermine” would be ready to sail on April 18. When the ship did not appear at the scheduled time, they took another ship, the “Creole,” instead.
The second group of colonists consisted of the pastoral candidate Johann P.H. Gräbner; Adam Schnell, his wife and five children; Michael Blümlein, his wife and one child; Frederick Billmeier, his wife and one child; Michael Wiedemann and his wife; George Hetzner and his bride; Adam Kipfmüller, his wife and five children; Henry Rank and bride (marriage ceremony was performed on board ship by Pastor Dulitz); L. Buchinger and bride (also married on board ship); and Christine Heinlein and her child. This second group waited for the ship “Hermine” and set out to sea on April 21 or 22, 1847 under the command of Captain Volkmann. With them were Pastor Dulitz who conducted daily devotions and Sunday services, and missionary Baierlein, who was to do mission work among the Indians of the Saginaw Valley. The colonists were billeted on the middle deck. After a voyage of 40 days the “Hermine” docked in New York on June 1, 1847. The immigrants remained in New York only one night because they were able to take their luggage directly from the “Hermine,” a sailing vessel, to a steamer plying the Hudson, which brought them to Albany in about ten hours. From Albany they took the train to Buffalo and from Buffalo a steamship across lake Erie to Detroit, arriving on June 6. They left Detroit on June 8, proceeding cross country to Frankenmuth. Women and children rode in farm wagons that they had rented while the men traveled beside them on foot. On the third day they came to Pine Run. While the rest of the colonists remained there for the night, Candidate Gräbner, Missionary Bierlein and two young men -- Fischaber and Bierlein -- pressed on until they reached Frankenmuth at dusk on June 10. On the following day the rest of the group arrived and were received into the homes of the members of St. Lorenz. Although this second group had left later, they arrived in Frankenmuth 14 days earlier than the first group because of a much shorter ocean voyage.
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At Frankenmuth the colonists found hospitality and a home until they had purchased their own land and erected their own cabins in Frankentrost. According to instructions from Pastor Löhe, Frankentrost was to be no less than six miles (10 kilometers) from Frankenmuth. A surveyor was hired who recommended that they settle the land about seven miles to the northwest of Frankenmuth and about the same distance from Saginaw. This included half of Section 29, the whole of Section 30 and 31, and half of Section 32 in Blumfield Township. Two creeks ran through the land which could serve as a useful drain in the lowlands. Accepting the recommendation, John Schlenk and Candidate Flessa were sent to Marshall to the government land office to purchase the land. This was done on July 22, 1847, the price being 77¢ per acre.
To the great joy of Löhe in Germany, the colonists of Frankentrost did not scatter their houses on farms as in Frankenmuth but built them in a straight row like a German “Weiler.” A main street ran from east to west and the cabins were built about two rods from this road on the north and south side. (The parcels numbered 1-14 were on the north side of the road; those numbered 15-25 on the south side, being numbered from east to west. G. Adam Kipfmüller’s parcel of 120 acres was number 4, on the east end of the colony and to the north of the road.) The close close arrangement of the houses made it necessary for the individual farms to be a mile long. Church, School and parsonage were in the center of the colony (parcels # 7 & 21). 56 acres were set aside for church property, and 40 acres for the parsonage. To pay for these 96 acres, each settler was to contribute the price of every twentieth acre that her possessed.
The following describes the parcels by owner and amount of land:
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During June, July, August, September, and part of October the wives and children of the Frankentrosters remained in the hospitable homes of Frankenmuth, but by the end of October the clearing of the forests and the erection of cabins had proceeded so far that the whole colony could move to its new location.
The months that followed were filled with hardships. There were many cases of fever because of the swampy country. The log huts of the colonists were rude and bare; the floors were simply hard-packed clay. Instead of stoves, most of the settlers had fireplaces made of wood and line with clay. Chairs, tables, beds, and other household articles were almost all homemade. The little money that they originally had was soon spent, and the Frankentrosters found it necessary to work in saw mills to earn a living. Sometimes they would alternately spend a month on their farms and a month in a mill. The chief article of food at that time was cornmeal. Store-bills could be used in the purchase of most articles but usually only “hard cash” could buy flour, and there was very little “hard cash” in those days.
The nearest home was six miles away, and the road to Frankenmuth was often overgrown with underbrush. Purchases had to be made in Saginaw or Flint, and frequently it was all but impossible to get through to those towns. If anyone did make the trip to Saginaw, the other colonists would place so many orders with him that he would look like a beast of burden on his return home. More often than not, this was Pastor Gräbner himself for he was very dependable and therefore the colonists like to entrust their orders to him. Gräbner always made a written list or orders so that his memory would not deceive him. Heavy burdens of flour were often carried many miles by the villagers. There was always danger of getting lost in the forest, especially if night overtook the traveler. When someone was lost, horns would be blown and guns fired. Upon one occasion Dr. Koch, a physician in Frankenmuth, answered a sick call in Frankentrost. It was almost dark when he started back to Frankenmuth. In the darkness he lost his way and wandered about in the forest for three nights and two days before he stumbled upon the Bridgeport Road. Nevertheless the colonists amid all tribulations did not lose faith and courage. One of them told Pastor Gräbner: “Pastor, sometimes we have bread and no potatoes, and some times we have potatoes and no bread; but we do have God’s Word by which we are refreshed and strengthened.”
The first year at Frankentrost was interesting and difficult. Wild animals including wolves and bears roamed the forests around the colony. Indians frequently stopped at the village; an old medicine man was a frequent visitor at the parsonage. During the first year the people built a road to Frankenmuth, surveyed a road through the village, built cabins, cleared about 100 acres of timber. In the spring of 1848 the Frankentrosters planted their first acres of corn, potatoes, wheat, and vegetables. The crops looked promising at first but dried up later because of a drought; the wheat was attacked by mildew so that there was nothing but chaff and straw. Flour had to be bought with money from Flint, and there was precious little money in Frankentrost. Fortunately, prices were reasonable in those days; Tailor M. Huber writes in his letter of July, 1847: “Black bread I have not seen since I’ve been here. Coffee is drunk twice a day. A pound of meat costs four to five cents. I bought a brown cow for $14.50. Back home that cow would cost me 60 gulden.” (about twice as much, for a gulden or guilder was worth about 40¢).
The congregational records show that infant mortality was high in the first years of the colony. Many young parents had to carry their newborn sons and daughters to an early grave. In December of 1852 Leonard Buchinger lost his life when a tree fell on him while cutting lumber. Yet there were also lighter moments. The first wedding in the log-cabin church occurred on May 14, 1848, when John Michael Huber, son of Michael Huber, was united in marriage with Anna Margaret Edelmann, daughter of J.G. Edelmann. How old were these settlers who shared joys and sorrows? Among the “younger set” were Pastor Gräbner, Fred Billmeier, G. Wißmüller, Conrad Munker, Leonard Buchinger, who were all about 28 years old at the time they settled in Frankentrost. Others were older: Michael Blümlein about 37; G. Adam Kipfmüller about 40; J.G. Edelmann about 43; Adam Schnell about 48; Michael Wiedermann about 49.
Link: Autobiographical Writing of Pastor Gräbner
The above information was gleaned and/or borrowed from:
Frankentrost 1847-1947,
the centennial anniversary booklet of
Immanuel Lutheran Church in Frankentrost,
written by Henry C. Miller.
