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- afayette (LA) Daily Advertiser, August 26, 1997
Germans among early settlers
By Jim Bradshaw
German people were among the first permanent settlers to come to colonial Louisiana, most of them coming during the 1720's to establish themselves at Cote des Allemands, the German Coast, in what is today St. James and St. Charles parishes. The sons and daughters of some of these early families would one day come to Acadiana, but these are not the families that make up the substantial Germans community in Acadia parish.
New waves of German immigration came to Louisiana in the 19th century. These were quite different from the 18th century German settlers who had settled on the Mississippi River. The later immigrants were, for the most part, middle class, and often left Germany because of repressive political conditions, or because they believed they would find better economic opportunities in Louisiana.
The advent of the industrial Revolution, particularly in the northern and western German states, cause the lower middle class to seek a new area to continue their traditional ways of work and of life. By 1839 a German-language newspaper had been established in New Orleans and it was followed by numerous others. The Deutsche Zeitung was founded in 1847, and continued publication until well into the 20th century. A German Protestant Church was built in 1830, to be followed by a German Catholic Church, and in 1840 both Lutheran and Methodist congregations built churches in New Orleans. By 1860 over half the total population of New Orleans was made up of Germans. Many of them retained their language and culture into the 20th century.
The settlement of a German community at Robert's Cove developed indirectly out of the German community in New Orleans. Father Peter Leonhard Thevis, pastor of Holy Trinity German Catholic Church in New Orleans, convinced relatives and friends from his native land to emigrate to Louisiana. The advance guard of the immigrants consisted of Father Thevis' brother Peter Joseph Thevis, his nephew John Gerhard Thevis (son of Jacob Thevis), and a friend, Hermann Joseph Grein. They met Father Thevis in New Orleans, who arranged for them to meet with Anton Frey, a real estate developer with investments at Robert s Cove, near Rayne.
On Jan. 13, 1880, Father Thevis, John Gerhard Thevis and Hermann Grein visited the Robert's Cove site. It wasn't easy to get to. The rail line wasn't finished and the roads were still mostly headland paths. The party of Germans went from New Orleans by steamboat to Washington, then by cart to Opelousas and from there to Prudhomme City, then by foot from there to Robert's Cove.
After looking over the land, the two Thevis relatives returned with the priest to New Orleans and spent the rest of 1880 and early 1881 working in a brewery. In early 1881, Grein returned to Germany to bring over the first settlers: the fiancee of Peter Joseph Thevis and, he hoped, a bride for himself. He returned in March 1881 with nine immigrants: Joseph and Josepha Vondenstein and their five children; Johanna Piepers (Thevis fiancee); August Leonards; but unfortunately no bride for himself. He would remain a bachelor until he died.
The first families emigrated to Robert Cove in 1881 from the westernmost part of Germany, an area bordered on three sides by the Netherlands, near the German city of Geilenkirchen bei Aachen. Fifteen families and seven single men would follow the original vanguard, and, by the end of 1882, there were 79 Germans established at Robert's Cove.
The Opelousas Courier took note of the arrival of the German settlers, reporting on Jan. 7, 1882:
"... about 70 Germans, men, women, and children, stopped at Rayne Station about six weeks ago looking for homes. Mr. J. D. Bernard, than whom a more hospitable man does not live in Louisiana, the leading merchant of Rayne, and Mr. Numa Chachere, also a whole-souled young gentleman, took the immigrants in charge and provided for their immediate needs. They soon found land for them, about four miles from Rayne at Robert's Cove, adjacent to Hoffman's Bridge on Bayou Plaquemine. They purchased 600 acres of land, including a large portion of woodland. Chachere reports them as industrious and thrifty farmers with money enough to make themselves comfortable homes after paying for the land. They are setting up a sawmill and will saw all lumber needed for houses and barns. They are pious Catholics and have a German priest to visit the Rayne church every two weeks for their spiritual benefit."
Several families purchased land, ranging from 50 to nearly 400 acres each. Some families came to this country with enough money to pay cash for their farms. Others made down payments and expected to earn the balance from the land. The names of these early families, and those who came in the succeeding years were Gossen, Olinger, Habetz, Ohlenforst, Zaunbrecher, Carmer, Thevis, Berken, Heinen, Meyer, Reiners, Spaetgens, Leonards, Theunessen, Schneider, Wirtz, Grein, Hensgens, Schlicher, Scheufens, Gielen, Schoffhausen. Many of their descendants live at Roberts Cove today.
There was little more immigration from Germany to Louisiana after the first two years of settlement at Robert's Cove, but those who had took care of growth. By 1900 more than 70 children had been born in Robert's Cove.
Naturally, the Germans wanted to establish their own church and school. Several efforts were made. Father Aegidius Hennemann had been sent from Munich to the United States to locate a new home for a Benedictine monastery which feared that the German government might expel the entire order, as it had done to the Jesuit order earlier. He met Father Thevis in New Orleans, who told him about Robert's Cove. Father Hennemann bought land there in 1883 and established both a church and school. He intended to move the monastery to Robert's Cove, but the Bavarian government had successfully protected the order from expulsion. Neither the church nor the school survived the year.
In 1885, however, a permanent church was legacy incorporated as St. Leo's Parish, on land donated by Anton Frey. A German-language school was opened during the same year, and continued until the outbreak of World War I, when the state legislature passed several anti-German laws. One, in particular, forbade the teaching of German in public or private schools. German-language instruction resumed after the war but ended finally in 1927.
This article is copyrighted © by the Lafayette (LA) Daily Advertiser and is used with permission. This web site was originated through a grant awarded to Carencro High School (Joel Hilbun/Bobbi Marino, Grant Administrators) by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education from the Louisiana Quality Education Support Fund - 8(g).
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