2
CENTENNIAL STORY
These people had so little money that they could not afford the more expensive prairie land and the oak openings that lay west and northwest of Racine and Milwaukee toward Waukesha and Whitewater and beyond. They had to be content with land that was covered solidly with hardwood forest and could be had for the going price of $1.25 an acre. This was the land that lay close to Lake Michigan all the way from Milwaukee to Manitowoc. They had no money, but they were not afraid of hard work, and they had determination. After the hardships and sickness and hunger during the three months' voyage over the Atlantic, followed by the long, slow journey up the Hudson river and then over the Great Lakes to Sheboygan or Milwaukee, they were glad to strike off into the woods and face whatever awaited them there. This was home. Those who had friends or relatives with whom they could spend a few days or weeks until they provided a shelter of sorts for themselves were the lucky ones. One group that immediately upon arrival headed eagerly into the woods west of Sheboygan built shelters of boughs, hoping that the rains would hold off. But they did not. The newcomers were most concerned about keeping their bedding from being soaked and managed that by rolling it into as small a bundle as possible and sitting on it till the rain stopped. That was a minor embarrassment. The really hard work of clearing the land for the planting of grain and potatoes was yet to come. Although not much money was needed, the new settlers could not exist entirely without it and managed to acquire a few precious dollars by cutting firewood for city dwellers, by wielding pick and shovel on the railroad, or by hewing shingles out of oak or white pine blocks. Although they had not expected a paradise, life did prove to be a great deal harder than they had expected. And yet there is very little evidence of discouragement among them. It was obvious that if they worked hard, the land would reward them, and reward them it did.
A Dearth of Pastors To appreciate the great need of pastors among the thousands of Germans who were coming into \Visconsin by 1850 and in the years following, it must be remembered that there were very few settled communities in the state by that time. Outside of the somewhat larger concentrations of immigrants in Racine, Mil-