And to some extent the entire region of Southern Illinois and almost over and into Indiana.
Note: My town was founded by “white” folks and is still 91.73% white as of the last Census. But as I tell the story I will bold a section, where I think the smart people here will see what happened and why there is one part of Trump’s and Stephen Miller’s desired laws that pisses me off more than all the other stuff that pissed me off!
In 1821 a wealth German merchant had heard so many wonderful things about America he sold everything, put his family on a boat and sailed to New Orleans. From New Orleans up the Mississippi to St. Louis.
Although St. Louis wasn’t called the “Gateway to the West” as it is today, he felt he could set-up “shop” in St. Louis and sell goods to those coming thru town heading to …. well all points West.
As he got off the boat he was sick to his stomach. There was raw sewage in the streets. Farm animals running wild in town. Lawlessness. Nothing like the I am sure postcard Medieval town in Germany he had come from.
He made a decision. Not like in 1822 he could go to Lambert, buy a plane ticket, and go home :).
He bought horses, wagons, and all the supplies he could and he and his family started to walk East. They walked about 36 miles, to within a few miles from where I sit as I type this.
If you believe the presentation(s) at my local museum, he felt overcome by the power of God.
There were multiple streams, one you’d call a river in 95% of this nation, but when the Mississippi is in your backyard, you don’t call everything a river. Lakes. Woods and open fields of wild grass and wildflowers for as far as the eye could see in any direction.
Putting a spade into the ground, the soil was the color of tar.
My town was formed. One of the oldest in Illinois.
He then wrote back letters to his family, friends, pretty much the entire town in Germany saying he had found “God’s place on Earth” and to come now! And they did. Not to just where I live now but the entire region.
In high school in the early 80s there were two German language classes. One Spanish.
Oldest church by far in town, Methodist. Heck just up the road there is a private Methodist college that US News & World Report often ranks as one of the top 20 best values for a college education.
As a kid I can recall going to the feed store, which is also our hardware store to buy some fishing stuff and the 80+ year old folks were still speaking in German.
I can get German food, even at this exact minute, far easier (not even a competition) than a plate of pasta.
And I can’t speak to German immigrants and their family members generations later, not sure if there is some correlation, but I also live in a moderate if not liberal town in a Blue county with Red all around me for miles, heck states in any direction!
I often joke I feel like an island of Blue in a sea of Red.
And just a jab at all those Red districts around me. I have bus and rail service. A fiber optics backbone in my town. Almost a billion dollar airport. The 19th best school district in the state. A vibrate Main Street. I can never leave my town and buy pretty much everything I need outside of cloths. I pay less in property taxes then you do!
Oh …. did I mention my town has less than 10,000 residents.
I want to close this post and the loop with the section I had in bold. This “chain migration” bullshit Trump et al have made up.
We SHOULD/MUST let in direct family members. Grandparents for example. But I think also cousins and such.
Let’s say you have a PhD and you are from Nigeria. You get a Visia. Establish yourself. I want that person to be able, even if they are the only person in the family that went to college or even finished high school, to bring over their entire family/extended family.
What better host/sponsor would there be to help that 14 year-old cousin learn to speak English? Get into a community college, four year university, get a degree and become a productive member of our society? I can not think of one.
As somebody of almost 100% Scottish blood, my great grandfather saw what those German’s saw in this part of the nation, and we’ve lived here since we came here in the 1880’s.
I’ve always thought of throwing on my Kilt when my city has it’s one week long October Fest and see how that works out :)!