Early on in my tenure at the museum, one question that I couldn’t answer right away was, “Why Missouri?”
I could explain why the Saxon immigrants left Germany. I could explain why they settled in Perry County. But why Missouri in the first place? Why not Texas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, or any of the other places where immigrants were putting down roots in the nineteenth century?
The answer is more complicated than a single reason. Missouri offered available land, access to transportation on the Mississippi River, and a growing German population. But long before the Saxons ever set foot in America, many Germans had already been introduced to Missouri through the writings of a man named Gottfried Duden.
Born in Germany in 1789, Duden was a lawyer and scholar who traveled to the United States in 1824. After spending several years in Missouri near present-day Washington, he returned to Germany and published an account of his experiences.
His book painted a remarkably positive picture of life along the Missouri River. Duden described fertile land, abundant natural resources, and opportunities that seemed unimaginable to many Germans facing economic uncertainty at home. He compared Missouri’s climate favorably to that of Europe and suggested that ordinary people could achieve a level of prosperity difficult to attain in Germany.
The timing of Duden’s work was significant. During the early nineteenth century, population growth, economic changes, and political frustrations were causing many Germans to consider emigration. Duden’s enthusiastic descriptions gave them a specific destination to imagine.
The influence of his book was enormous. Historians often credit Duden with helping spark the first large wave of German immigration to Missouri. Thousands of Germans made the journey in the years following its publication, earning Missouri a reputation as a center of German settlement in America.
The Saxon Lutherans who settled in Perry County were motivated by concerns very different from those of many other German immigrants. Their primary reason for leaving was religious rather than economic. Yet when church leaders and emigrants considered where to establish a new home, Missouri already had an established reputation among Germans. Reports from earlier settlers and the favorable image popularized by Duden helped make Missouri an attractive choice.
In a sense, Duden served as Missouri’s first great promoter. Long before travel brochures and websites, his book introduced countless Germans to the possibilities of life in America. Among those who eventually followed that path were the Saxon immigrants whose story continues to be told here in Perry County.
Until next week! Denise Hellwege, Director