Washington County, Illinois

reaction ensued, not in favor of the church of Rome, but in favor of a religion of feeling and good works, or of the heart and life. Disgust at the sectarian bitterness and exclusiveness which prevailed led even to an undervaluing of disputed points; thus the Pietism of Germany was generated and developed. --- But many of the more extreme Pietists carried their antipathy to the doctrinalsim and the established services of the church to a degree that alarmed the theologians of the old school, the high and dry Lutherans, or German moderates,.... The rise of Wolfian or Rationalistic Theology, the spread of that sort of skeptical anticlerical philosophy which flourished for awhile under the name of aufklärung, (enlightenment) exercised an injurious and depressing influence on Pietism; yet through all the long obstinate warfare maintained against the doctrines of the church by the Ratioinalists during the last half of the 18th, and most of the 19th century, Pietism continued to number some adherents; and it can hardly be doubted that it is to the Pietists, and not the Lutheran dogmatists , that Germany is in great measure indebted for that great revival of religious faith and feeling ..." Undoubtedly, that extends to German-Americans and German-Canadians as well. The Pietists sound to be somewhat like a very Germanic and proper forerunner to the Holiness and Charismatic Movements. Schneider notes that the combined church was most successful in Eastern Westfalia, Baden, Nassau and in the Hesses. The Pietist movement was anathema to the Old Lutherans and to the Prussian government. The government published a decree against the "subjectivistic, mystic, Pietistic movement" and its "dumpfe, trübe und ängstigende Lebansansicht" (dull, confused and frightening view of life). Wegschneider and Gesenius published arguments in favor of Pietism and Hengenstenberg published a defense of the orthodox position. These papers were widely read by clergy and laymen in Germany and America and the animosities were brought to the New World. The situation became even more complex when the Pietists and the Old Lutherans joined in opposition to the rationalist. Schneider states "the importance of the Pietistic movement can not be overlooked. The seventeenth century Pietistism of Philip Spener, August Francke and Nicholas Zinzendorf, strongly ascetic and emotional at times to the point of fanaticism, had established itself most firmly in the rural communities of Württemberg. In opposition to the rising tide of rationalism in the nineteenth century the movement had experienced a rebirth throughout Germany. Under the leadership of Professors Johann Neander at Berlin, August Tholuck and Heinrich Guericke at Halle and Johann Beck at Basel (later at Tübingen ), a Biblical and experiential theology had developed which was characterized by a dignified scholarly polemic against the tirades of current rationalism. The political excitement and the economic instability of the day awakened warm religious interests. ... Among the fruits of the movement were: the famous preachers Ludwig and Wilhelm Hofacker, whose sermons were read in pious circles for decades to come; Albert Knapp, the hymn writer; Johann Blumhardt, the preacher of faith-healing fame. ... Under the aegis of Pietism numerous inter-confessional Christian, Bible, missionary, and tract societies originated throughout Germany with the avowed purpose of stemming the tide of rationalism. ... A direct product of this development was the founding of the Basel and Barmen missionary societies, destined in later years to send missionaries to America". How this related to the American church is evident when one notes that 20 of the first 31 pastors in the Kirchenverein were from either Basel or Barmen and two others were from Halle and one from Berlin. The two most influential professors at the seminary created at Marthasville were of Pietist background and one of these (Adolph Baltzer) later

became synod president. His son followed Jacob Pister as synod president and Pister appears to have been preceded by a Pietist as well. I presume that Jacob Pister was also a Pietist both from his educational background and from comments made regarding his preaching and demeanor. As for Jacob Wulfmann, all we know was that he served as Pister's assistant, married his daughter and when he laid hands on Clarence Falk at his confirmation, he felt the Holy Spirit infuse his body from the top of his head to his feet.       It is interesting to note that according to Bernice Reinhardt, records exist that Johann Friederich Wilhelm Hoffmann [1] helped found the Evangelical Lutheran Church in New Minden, St.. Paul's Evangelical Church in Nashville and the Prairie Nashville Evangelical Church (the Archivist at Eden could not furnish a location for this church). The first problem lies in the fact that both Johann Friederich Wilhelm Hoffman(n), father and son were founding members of the New Minden Lutheran Church and we do not know which was involved in the founding of the other two. We do know that the husband of Caroline Böker was the younger Johann Friederich Wilhelm Hoffman [2] and that their daughter Marie Elisabeth Hoffman [3] married Christoph Heinrich Wulfmann (2) who became a pastor in the Evangelical Church.He and his parents were members of St. John's at Plum Hill, IL We also know that the sister of CHW (twice widowed) married two different Missouri Lutherans and one other who was not buried in the Lutheran Cemetery because he was not one of the elect. The question also arises whether Plum Hill Evangelical Church was a successor to Prairie Nashville Evangelical Church. Freiderich Wulfmann (1) is buried at Plum Hill. According to Gertude Wulfmann Thomason (4), her father Jacob (Cristoph Heinrich Wulfmann's son) was not sympathetic to the various schisms in the Protestant churches and felt that they could be permitted under a more reasonable (and permissive) form of synodical governance (Pietism ?). One might wonder if this attitude was not inherited from his (great)grandfather, Johann Friederich Wilhelm Hoffman(n). He clearly felt that none of the churches had a perfect picture of what God's Church was to be. It is clear that some of our relatives were not greatly hung up by which denomination was attended. One wonders if the blatant self righteousness of the pastors lead to the founding of the Evangelical churches near New Minden. They definitely come across as Westfälische Dickschädel in the writings appearing in OGOH. NFLF contains a letter from Johann Carl Wilhelm Pritzlaff (a very successful 'Old Lutheran' immigrant in Milwaukee) which states "As far as church matters go, I cannot write much that is good, for the Antichrist has also set up his See in America. But the best thing here is that everyone has the freedom to act according to his own belief. He who follows false teachings here does so of his own free will. We cannot thank God enough that He has brought us to such a country in this hour of temptation, which has struck throughout the whole world. ... But since in America there is freedom of religious belief and expression in the widest sense of the term, Christian congregations have to watch out, on the one hand, that they do not get bogged down in squabbling, and on the other hand that they do not give away the Divine rights that they have and allow the priests to set up a dominion that runs counter to the word of God, whereby they fall, becoming mere servants of men, and lose the freedom given them by Christ, according to I Cor. 7, 23." The continued interest of the Kaiser in church affairs even in the US is clearly evidenced by his presenting beautifully bound and personally inscribed copies of the Bible to selected pastors of the Kirchenverein such as Dr. Jacob Pister some time after 1900. Pister felt the relationship was sufficiently strong to justify his making a

personal plea to the Kaiser not to go to war in 1914. Even at the time of Dorothy Wulfmann's (4) marriage in the late 1920s the Kaiser's son made a trip to the US and visited with influential pastors of the Evangelical Church (he attended the wedding). He was a representative of the Ford Motor Co. Upon the death of Jacob Pister's son Jacob, who was a pastor in Chicago, the German Counsel-General represented the German Government at the funeral.

ECONOMIC CONCERNS       One of the reasons cited for the formation of New Minden was the failure of crops near Preusz-Minden during the period 1845-48 which was compounded by the failure of the linen industry. This occurred at a time when there was a very rapid increase in the importation of cotton into Europe and a strengthening of the linen industry in Scotland and Ireland. In the period 1835 to 1850 the importation of cotton into Europe doubled with almost all of supply coming from the American South. There was severe unemployment and famine in Westfalia. However, some of the Hoffmans left Europe as early as 1832 and had obviously explored the possibility of leaving earlier.       Their reasons may have been non-economic. The comments of Elisabeth Hoffman Wulfmann (2)[3] suggest that the Hoffmans spied out the land by 1833 and possibly earlier. The Wulfmanns may have moved in 1848 for economic reasons and the same holds for the Viehes in 1845. Wimmer was a very small farming community and crop failure or loss of market would have affected its residents. What is frequently forgotten is that the Irish potato crop failure and resulting famine was not limited to Ireland. The poor in Germany also depended heavily on the lowly spud and as noted below, meat was a rare part of their diets. The resulting inflation in food prices was crippling for those who had to eke out their existence. In the two years following 1845 potato prices rose 425%, wheat 300% and barley 250%. Thus the cost of starchy foods rose out-of-sight for many. (Wittke) A clue to why the Wulfmanns came to Plum Hill may lie in the fact that they were not the only ones from Wimmer to settle in Washington County. There was an Ankersheil family in residence since late 1846 or early 1847 and they were most likely an uncle, cousin and grandfather of Eleanore Wulfmann. The parents of Pastor Ernst F. Heusemann, Pastor at New Minden 1861-65 were from Wimmer, as was he. Ernst was eight years older than Friedrich Wulfmann (1), having been born in 1827. The father was a very respected land owning farmer. It would be interesting to know whether the Heusemann parents came to Washington County. In 1848 Heusemann was in Wimmer but by 1850 he was in seminary in Indiana. The Wulfmanns emigrated in 1848. Heusemann's reasons for leaving appear to be a rejection of the Evangelical Church and acceptance of the strict constructionist Old Lutheranism and perhaps economics. Cristoph Heinrich Wulfman (2) and Elisabeth Hoffman Wulfmann (2)[3] were married in 1858. Their first 3 children were officially born at New Minden but that does not preclude the possibility that they were born on a farm in the neighborhood and were associated with the Evangelical Church rather than the Lutheran. His time at seminary overlapped the ministry of Heusemann at New Minden. One can not but wonder why he rejected Lutheranism and his relationship towards Heusemann ? There is extensive material by Heusemann in the archives at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis and it might be worthwhile to examine it. The economic conditions in Westfalia even when good were rather poor in comparison to what even the poorest

Americans were experiencing. In Westfalia, a meat meal, no more than once a week was common. In America letters were being sent back pointing out that one could have meat 21 times a week! Butter was a rarity in Westfalia but everyone in America took it for granted. It is interesting that Jacob Wulfmann (3)[4] often put bacon drippings on his toast and insisted that he be served butter and not margarine (during WW II). Was this a reflection of his father's situation when they lived in Wimmer ? Milk was not a rarity in Westfalia but apparently it went into making cheeses rather than butter. Meat being an infrequent occurrence, the saving of the bacon drippings could be expected. Wages tended to be almost twice what they were in Germany and about 50% more was available for savings. This, combined with the much improved diet which made it possible for even the laborer to eat like a Kolon could not help but attract people who were not that much better off than serfs coming out of the 'middle ages'.

POLITICAL CONCERNS       The French Revolution spread it's influence into the Kingdom of Hannover. In 1806 Napoleon ceded Hannover to Prussia and withdrew forming a new Kingdom of Westfalia which in 1810 absorbed all of the former Hannover. After the expulsion of the French, Hannover became a kingdom in 1814. The July 1830 French revolution extended to Hannover in 1831 at Österode and Göttingen. These were quickly suppressed but the underlying discontent remained. A modified constitution was given by the English Parliament on 23 September 1833 but upon the death of William IV in 1837, it was repudiated by his heir, Ernst August, Duke of Cumberland. Liberalization finally occurred in 1848 with a new constitution. (Queen Victoria could not inherit the rule of Hannover because of Salic Law) One can not but wonder if the continued political unrest and lack of freedom did not have some influence on the migration of the German speaking peoples from the area to N. America. The period nicely matches the migration of Hoffmanns and Wulfmanns. Duden attributed the pressure to emigrate as coming from the effects of overpopulation. He goes to great pains to explain that his definition of over population does not match that of Malthus but rather is based on the concept that a society is over populated when the state must employ coercion to maintain civil order. Consequently his ascribing emigration from Germany as being a consequence of over population is more precisely the consequence of the lack of freedom from state coercion. There was wide spread rebellion throughout Germany beginning in March 1840. In 1870 the Franco-Prussian War began and the Palatinate changed hands from France to the new German Federation. Since Jacob Pister left the Palatinate (1866) at that time, the buildup to this latter event can not be easily discounted as to contributing to his emigrating. There was rebellion beginning in March 1848 centered in the small towns surrounding Osnabrück. Wimmer fits that definition. Gus Armen Wulfman (5) notes that his grandfather (August (3)) said the Wulfmanns were political refugees. If they were involved in the 1848 revolt they may be listed in the police records. Emigration was a punishment for some of the rebels. Many of these 1848 exiles were known as the 'Latin Farmers' since they were educated and not of the farming class but had to become farmers in the New World. A petition from the village of Engter, near Osnabrück which was signed by 160 Heuerleute demanded the following: (from Kamphoefner , The Westfalians)

      The Harvard historian, Carl J. Friedrich (Ph.D. Heidelberg) observes in "The Fortyeighters": "It is a curious and perplexing feature of many European (and German) biography that the minor adjustments of personal conduct, which are involved in 'playing the game' in politics and social life, have given rise to sharp inner conflicts and tensions. There seems to be a persistent inclination for the Continental European to incapacitate himself for effective political action of a constructive kind by upholding a moral perfectionism which is perhaps epitomized in the Kant essay 'Concerning an Alleged Right to Lie', in which the view is expounded that nothing may be told but the truth. It is pretty generally admitted, at least by closer students of the practice of political parties in a democracy, that no social life among ordinary mortals could be maintained by following this maxim. Forty-eighters, like other Europeans, had a tendency to resent this fact so bitterly that when it proved tyo be unescapable, they forwith inclined either to withdraw from the dirty game of politics, or to adopt a cynical and misanthropic view."       Although this reveals much about Professor Friedrich, it also reveals an inherent weakness of the Revolutionists. If they indeed did walk away when it became obvious that some of the political types with royalist loyalties, were not idealistic republicans, then one can understand the success of the old government to retain power. I would suggest however, that truth can be relied upon if it is tempered with empathy, discretion and discernment. One simply needs to say nothing if a particular truth is totally unpalatable to the hearer. A different approach is indicated. Without dealing in truth, no meaningful discussion is possible.

PRUSSIAN MILITARISM       The advent of increased Prussian militarism combined with universal military service provided the necessary shove for young men to leave for N. America. Opposition rose steadily after Prussia gained hegemony over much of what would become the modern state of Germany. There clearly was support for pacifism within the Evangelical Church and this was a major factor in emigration during the last half of the 19th Century. Our ancestor Rev. Dr. Jacob Pistor (2) is supposed to have left the Rhine-Pfalz as a consequence of his stand against conscription. BR lists a few instances of similar concerns driving later Hoffmann relations. The actual numbers are probable far greater than one would surmise from the known reports coming down 120-160 years later. We do know that in 1848, the year the Wulfmanns left Wimmer, there was a war fought between the Danes and Prussia and the Minden area was potentially on the route of Prussian troops coming from West Germany to fight the Danes. The tendency for troops to live off of the land would be an obvious incentive to go elsewhere. Whether this was a consideration here, is an unknown.

CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS       The relationship between parent and child was somewhat different from that existing today. The fathers word was law and he definitely was a patriarch. Wives were often, by modern standards, abused. Daughters were frequently sent out to work for others and all of their income until they were 18 belonged to the parents. With sons the limit was 21. Thus

the refusal of the parents of Kaspar Viehe and those of Christoph Heinrich Wulfmann to allow them to pursue the ministry was not uncommon. A child's livelihood or career was a parental decision which might not take into considerations the desires of the child. Marriage was the same way. Many a maid ended up marrying a spouse a gainst her will. Thus we see in Caroline Böker, Cristoph Heinrich Wulfmann and Kaspar Viehe evidences of the 'Westfälische Dickschädel' spirit. Women were often very much in the dark regarding their husbands income. Carl Viehe noted that his mother never knew what her pastor husband made. That patriarchy continued down to the present times is evidenced by the fact that my father-in-law was offended that I had not asked him for his daughter's hand in marriage. Children very clearly were expected to be seen and not heard. They most definitely were not a part of family councils on what was going to be done and how money was going to be allocated.

NEW MINDEN and Plum Hill, Illinois       New Minden was originally known as the North Prairie and is located in Washington County Illinois, an area which was once prairie. It lies about 1 hours drive east of St.. Louis Missouri, just north of I 64 at the juncture of Illinois State Roads 127 and 161. It had numerous English speaking settlers before the Germans arrived. It was clearly not founded by German speaking people from the Preusz Minden area of the Königreich Hannover but rather overrun by them. The prairies went along a general N-S axis and would be as much as 25 miles wide between patches of woods which might be anywhere from a mile to 5 miles in width. Knowing that, one can see that the same general type of topography still exists in the area. The creeks being the major feature amongst the woods. Originally the prairie grasses were so tall that a man on the back of a horse would occasionally have difficulty seeing over the grass. Children were known to have gotten lost in the deep grasses. (Source, "Centennial History of the State of Illinois", a WPA Project) Illinois was a prosperous and rapidly growing state at the time New Minden was settled. The population in 1840 was 476,183 and in 1850 was 851,470 with only 707 paupers. Over one half of that population was foreign born with Germans and Irish being the predominant nationalities. (LUK) The 1850 US Census for Washington County reveals that there were more people with American backgrounds than German (although some of the Americans may have had German born parents). The majority of the surnames were not obviously German, however the census taker clearly Anglicized names when he did not know the spelling, and probably even when he did. The name Wulf was entered as Wolf; Marie became Mary; Frederich became Fred; and, Heinrich became Henry. Eleanore was recorded as Mary.       Just 7 miles south of New Minden lies the town of Nashville Illinois (at the intersections of state roads 127 and 15). Plum Hill lies about 7 miles west of Nashville on highway 15. The towns of Breese and Carlyle are also very near New Minden and feature in the ministries of Christoph Heinrich Wulfmann (2) and Breese in that of Kaspar Viehe (1).       The original Hoffman(n) farms were located between what would become Nashville and New Minden. However Johann Friederich Wilhem Hoffmann [1] also bought the land which later became the land for St.. John's Kirche which is in New Minden. Johann

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