Today, the standard of living in Germany is much like our own. Immigration has virtually ceased. The years of conflict are beginning to fade from living memory. The people of those communities would also like to know more about the descendants of those who left Germany in hopes of finding something better. They certainly must wonderhow our lives are different from theirs as a result.
During this sesquicentennial year for Huntersville, Oldenburg, Penntown, and Batesville area residents can research their own immigrant origins and try to make contacts with churches, families, and towns back in Germany and elsewhere. The celebration this year is not limited to a particular group, but it is a celebration of, and for, the entire Batesville-Oldenburg-Penntown-Huntersville vicinity.
Furthermore, the groups which left Damme, Venne and Heiligenfelde did not just come to Oldenburg, Huntersville and Adams Church. Protestant families from the vicinity of Venne also settled in Jackson and Bartholomew counties as examinatin of church books at Borcher's, Sauer's, and Wite Creek Lutheran Churches near Seymour and Columbus will reveal. Catholic families from the Damme vicinity not only settled Oldenburg, Indiana, but also Minster, Ohio.
Much more research is needed, not only into the origins of northern and southern Germans who came to this area, but also into the origins of the early English, New Englanders, and Pennsylvanians who came here over 150 years ago, and the settlers of Irish descent who have continued to arrive from the south and elsewhere. Your county's historical society can often help you get started.
The Batesville Public Library is seeking materials for its family History section. Persently, the library has family histories of the Sarringhaus, Selke, Hickman, Bauman, and Kassens families, among others. Each of these histories adds to our understanding of the origins of Batesville area families.
There is a vast quanity of old letters, obituaries and remembrance cards in this vicinity, often found in attics, family Bibles, and "places for safe-keeping". They need to be copied, translated and made available to others. The Batesville Public Library is the logical repository for copies of these materials, family trees and written histories of families in Laughery, Adams, and Ray townships , as well as the surrounding area. Your contribution of copies of these materrials to the library is encouraged.
The celebrations of the sesquicentennials of Oldenburg on July 2,3, and 4, and Huntersville on July 24, 25, and 26, are important milestones. It is hoped that in the future more visits and exchanges will take place both here and abroard. Some members of Huntersville church will be joining others from Jackson and Barthlolomew counties in making the trip to Venne for their 900th anniversary celebration on August 20-23.
Through these events and activities the long lost ties with the ancestral origins of the Batesville area communities will gradually be re-established.
If you would like more information about the immigration, please write to David S. Dreyer, 5725 Winston Drive, Indianapolis, Indiana 46226.