Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1896-11-23
DUNKARDS IN DAKOTA.
A Unique Class Of People Find
Comfortable Homes in the
Great Prairies.

l. lie COuullSS VI 14OdS CIV Ste'~+t 80
North Dakota. possess a particular inter-
est from the fact that they have become.
during the past tive years, great nett
for settlement by colonies Of Dnnkaras'
who came from Indiana. ILLINOIS,, ONO
and other states 10 make new homes
upon the North Dakota prairies ne
Dunkards are nearly all farmers. ana
very good farmers. too. They pay their
debts promptly and seldom have recourse
to the processes of Law. lheT 90 NOT
as rule. take part IN politics, buf ,heE
usually vote at national electors Whefr
the questions at issue are such as lafcr-
est them profoundly.
The movement for settlement OF
large colonies of these excellent people
in North Dakota originated with inc
railroad companies operating l2nS III
that state. 1t was taken mp WITH inter-
est in number of large Dunkaul coai-
munities, and delegates were sent out ~
examine the land and report upon its ter
tility upon the climate. and upon the
transportation and school facilities. NJ
favorable reports of these delegates led
a large number of families to sell ol1f
their farms and migrate to the new lands
of the Northwest. They in tHrn sent
back good accounts to their relatives and
ncighbors. and the result was still larg-
err movement of colonization.
The Dunkards found in North DaenTf
belongs ito new country. and. IT the
same time, the many advantages Of rail
ways. towns. schools, churches anu roadS
which belong to region OF lon@-estan-
lished settlement. They were NOT slow
to see the opportunity afforded them FOR
opening farms on good prairieland that
could be bought for So to So an acre and
in many localities could be obtained from
the United States government at only
the small cost of the land-oftlce fees re-
IL. loo flnI7{ ny
cdly the success of the settlements Of
these people. already established and
prosperous. will lead to 2 further move
ment Of their co-reiigionists the ensuing
enring and summer. The neople OF North
Dakota are giving 2 cordial welcome to
the Dunkards. They recognize tnelF
value as citizens of tho new common
wealth. They are honest, industrious
and thrifty. They build good houses
and cultivate their lands carefully They
know how to take care of cattle and
sheep. They know the economic value
of gardens of vegetables and small
fruits They conscientiously pay their
debts, go to church every Sunday. and
send their children to school. They
have, in fact, all the good qualities of the
best class of agricultural settlers.
1t was q memorable occasion that
called these sturdy settlers together in
Darlington. North Dakota, on the 9th
of September. 1896. Scarce half a year
had elapsed since a hundred or more
families. comprising about 500 souls. left
their old homes in Eastern states to set
tie on the fertile lands which lie contigu-
Gus to the Northern Pacific railway in
the counties of Foster, Eddy and Wells.
But thew had been six months Of prog
ress Homes had been built, broad
fields placed under cultivation, and, side
by side with these evidences of material
prosperity was the prompt construction
of n 0hT1roh-uU hnrpJl thnU p1IUht
BILE to return humble but deyout thanks
giving to the God they worshiped.
Beautiful in it's verv simplicity. the little
church about which they. gathered and
in which they reverently assembled,
stood as sign before heaven and unto
men. It was token of faith-of faith
out there on the great Dakota prairies--
the faith of a people who desired Moth
ing better than to earn their bread by
the sweat of their brows and to live at
peace with the whole world.
In one respect at least Dunkards re-
semble bees. viz: They coloniZe TO-
gether and stay together as long rs the
country can afford them al a good living,
end then, when it becomes too narrow for
them they swarm and the younger gem
GRAFTON makes a new beginning in some
less thickly-populated locality. This
swarming process is now in full blast in
many parts of Illinois. Indiana, Ohio
and other states even further east. and
of the lands of promise selected for fu-
ture operations, none seems to be meet
ing with greater favor than North Da-
kota. as is witnessed by the steady
stream that has been fltering through
st. Paul in that direction for some time
nast. This is not an evidence that North
Dakota is better state than those to the
immediate east of its borders, but it has
more available land open for settlement
under such conditions as render tia de-
sirablc place for new colony.
At first the stream went north to the
free government land around Devils lake
and that region, but latterly the tide has
turned further to the south. and the
country where the Northern Pacific and
the 500 intersect has been receiving q
considerable impetus owing to the fact
that it has the additional boon of rail-
road competition. while in no other re-
vored portions of the state The soil
of course is practically the same, and
whatever difference there may be i'll cli-
mate is naturally in favor of the more
southern location, while IN the matter
of land available for settlement it is
easily in the lead, having as much gov
ernment land open for settlement, and
as many farms awaiting tenants on the
temperament plan as any other part of
North Dakota, while the recent placing
on the market of a large tract of railroad
land in the Northern Pacific indemnity
belt. afforded that company the oppor-
tunity for which it was looking, to take a
hand in this business, and tat once en-
braced this chance by setting aside three
townships of land for the exclusive use
of the brethren, and further than this
the offer was made that when a certain
number of families settled in a given
locality, a donation of $500 would be
made towards the erection of church
of their own belief The soil has proved
more fertile than anything they had ever
dreamed of, the ease with which farming
is carried on has almost taken their
breath away, and the climate so abso-
lutely pure and free from all traces of
malaria, has given new zest to living.
The term "Dunkard' is applied to a
sect of German American Baptists said
to have been founded at Schwarzenau,
in Westphalia, by Alexander, Mack in
17OS The name is derived from their
manner of baptisnl-by trine immersion.
They were driven from Germany in
1859, and crossed the ocean and set
tied in Pennsylvania-subseq in
Ohio, Indiana, Maryland. Virginia and
other states Properly speaking, they