Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1896-11-25
DUNKARDS IN DAKOTA.
A Unique Class of People Find
Comfortable Homes in the
Great PrairieS.

The counties of Eddy and Foster, in
North Dakota, possess a particular inter-
est from. the fact that they have become,
| during the past two years, a great field
for settlement by colonies of Dunkards,
who came from Indiana, Illinois, Ohio
and other states to make new homes
upon the North Dakota prairies. The
Dunkards are nearly all farmers, and
very good farmers. too. They pay their
debts promptly and seldom have recourse
to the processes of law. They do not,
as a rule, take part in politics, but they
usually vote at national elections where
the questions at issue are such as inter-
est them profoundly.
The movement for settlement OF
large colonies of these excellent people
in North Dakota originated with the
railroad companies operating lines in
that state. 1T was taken up with inter-
est in a number of large Dunkard COM
munities, and delegates were sent out to
examine the land and report upon it's fer
| tlllty, upon the climate, and upon the
transportation and school facilities. The
favorable reports of these delegates led
a large number of families to sell out
their farms and migrate to the new lands
| of the Northwest. They in turn sent
| back good accounts to their relative and
neighbors, and the result was a still larg
| err movement of colonization.
The Dunkards found in North Dakota
! all the advantage of cheap lands which
belongs to q new country, and. at the
same time, the many advantages of rail
ways. towns, schools, churches and roads
| which belong to a region of long-estab-
! 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
/ mi q
! the small cost of the land-office fees re-
! quired by the homestead law. Undoubt-
! eddy the success Of the settlements of
these people, already established and
prosperous. will lead to further move
ment of their co-religionists the ensuing
| Dakota are giving a cordial welcome to
! the Dunkards. They recognize their
value as citizens of the new common
wealth. They are honest, Industrious
and thrifty. They build good houses
and cultivate their lands carefully They
! 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 n memorable occasion that
| called these sturdy settlers together in
! Darlington, North Dakota, on the 9th
! Of September, 1896. Scarce half year
/ had elapsed since 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 they had been six months of prog
ress. Homes had been built, broad
| fields placed under vation, and. side
! by side with theae evidences of material
| prosperity was the prompt construction
of a church-wherein they might assem-
| BILE to return humble but devout thanks
giving to the God they worshi i!.e5:
church about which they gathered and
| in which they reverently assembled.
| stood as sign before heaven and unto
men. 1t was token of faith-of faith
out there on the great Dakota prairies-
| the faith of a people who desired moth
| 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 as the
country can afford them all q good living,
and then, when it becomes too narrow for
them, they swarm. and the younger gen.
| Grafton makes a new beginning in some
less thickly-populated locality. This
| swarming process is now in full blast in
and other states even further east, and
! of the lands of promise selected for flu
| 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
past This is not an evidence that North
| Dakota is better state than those to the
| immediate east of it's borders, but it has
more available land open for settlement
under such conditions as render it de-
sirable 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
considerable impetus owing to the fact
that it has the additional boon of rail-
road competition, while in no other re-
! spect does it come behind the most ia
vored portions Of the state. The soil
of course is practically the same, and
mate is naturally in favor of the more
southern loca ton, while in the matter
of land available for settlement it is
easily in the Iead, having as much gov
eminent 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 2 large tract of railroad
land in the Northern Pacific indemnity
belt, afforded that company the oppor-
tunity for which it was looking, to take
hand in this business, and it at 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 given
locality, 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 cBaptists said
to have been founded at Schwarzenau,
in Westphalia, by Alexander Mack in
1708. The name is derived from their
They were driven from Germany in
1719-29, and crossed the ocean and set
tied in Pennsylvania-su subsequently in1
Ohio, Indiana, Maryland, Virginia and
other states. Properly speaking, they