Book Description

A single farm outside of Frohna, Missouri, affords the opportunity to examine in detail the broad historical roots of one immigrant group-German-and the unique family trees of two representative families-Kaempfe and Koenig-through their ancestors' journeys from Europe to the United States; their acclimation to the New World in St. Louis, southeastern Missouri, and the farmlands of eastern Illinois; their expansion across the land and throughout the decades; and their slow but steady assimilation and loss of Old World ethnic identity. Biographies of the generation born from 1900 to 1930, the children of Theodor Kaempfe and Lina Koenig, complete this saga of two immigrant families traveling and taking root in new American soil. The story of the Kaempfe farm-and all the people who came and went, those who enjoyed the fruits of its soil and who grew and thrived there-that story represents real American history at its best. Also included are ancestry and descendants charts with numerous surnames: Bachmann, Burfeind, Degenhardt, Etzel, Fadler, Gemeinhardt, Hacker, Haertling, Hennecke, Hoffstetter. Hoock, Kaempfe, Koenig, Leuteritz, Lippisch, Mangels, Meyer, Meyr, Monti, Oswald, Palisch, Passmore, Reuhle, Reuschel, Reuster, Ringler, Ryan, Schade, Stueve, Tute, and Unger, among others.