Immigration to America of the Friedrich Kern Family

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Introduction

Kern families have been in America since one of the earliest came to Bucks County, Pennsylvania in the early 1700s. There appear to be Kern families spread along a line from Philadelphia to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Kern families can also be found in Virginia, Detroit, and St. Louis among other places. Probably one of the more famous Kerns is Edward Kern that was part of the Fremont explorations in California. He was a topographer who mapped out large parts of California. He was a descendant of the Pennsylvania Kerns. Today the county adjoining Los Angles County to the north is named after Edward Kern as Kern County. It has many features such as lakes, rivers, etc that are named as “Kern”.

In 1908 a John W. Kern from Indiana ran for US vice president on the democratic ticket. He ran alongside William Jennings Bryan from Nebraska for president.

This article is about the Kern family from Roßtal, Germany that came to the Frankenmuth, Michigan area in the mid 1800’s. I have tried for years to find connections to other Kern families in the country and have not been able to.

Previous to starting this write-up I published the History of the Johann Wilhelm Kern Family on the web. Therefore I will not repeat some of material in this write-up but rather link to the Johann Kern material. Johann Wilhelm Kern was the original Kern to come to Frankenmuth in 1852 along with his brother Peter.

Immigration

Conditions in Germany - In the 1830s and 1840s literature about America was published and emigration societies for emigration to America were formed in Germany. Germany was struggling with economic problems and wars. People were having large families where farms could no longer be economically subdivided. In a larger number of cases people became “day laborers”. This was not much different than our American slavery except they were not indentured to an owner. However, they usually lived on the premise of their employer. In 1830 the Royal Government of Bavaria made a law forbidding the marriage of poor people. This was to reduce the number of poor people because the support of the poor meant a big responsibility to the communities. Only those having a house, land property or enough funds were allowed to get married. This law was effective until 1868. But the government didn’t succeed in this effort. It is known that in many Franconian communities of the 19th century 20 to 25 percent of children were born out of wedlock. Illegitimate children born did not have the same standing with the government as legitimate children.

Franconian Immigration - In the early 1840s there was a Lutheran minister in Neuendettelsau by the name of Rev Wilhelm Löhe. Neuendettelsau is less than 10 miles from Roßtal where the Kerns lived. He learned from Lutheran pastors in America the conditions for settlement in America and the presence of the Indians. Löhe was very mission oriented and during his lifetime sent missionaries all over the world including the United States. He envisioned sending a group of lay people along with a minister to live among the Indians and to convert them to Christianity (Lutherans). The lay people were to be an example of Christian living while the pastor worked with the Indians. Simultaneously it would allow the poor Germans a chance to improve their situation and even get married. For a more complete story on the Franconian immigration click here.

In early 1845 Löhe organized his first group of people to immigrate to America. He met with them for about eight months to prepare them for the trip and settlement. During this time they determined the organization of the church which included a constitution and rules. The church and civil government was inseparable. Finally in the spring of 1845 a group of thirteen arrived in Frankenmuth. It included four couples that were married on the ship shortly after they left Germany. There were many people that already wanted to come in 1845. However, Rev Löhe thought it to be prudent for a small group to come first. There was nothing there but forest and the wilderness. Even the first winter was a great hardship to survive. The following year another 100 people came to join the original settlers. Roßtal church records indicate that the Kern family was contemplating emigrating to Frankenmuth in 1846. However, one can only speculate as to why they did not come at that time. They did have a general store that they would have to sell and try to get established in America. It would seem Frankenmuth was not ready for a store that would support a living. Also the Kerns had little children. It even appears that Mrs. Kern just had a baby before the 1846 emigration. It probably was not a good time to travel on a ship. One can see it would be much harder for a family to pull up roots compared to a single person or a couple without child.

The Immigration of Johann and Peter - As Frankenmuth grew, infrastructure was added and business were started to support the settlers. With the 1846 emigration group came two brothers by the name of Johann Matthias and Johann Georg Hubinger. They set up a flour mill and a saw mill. Eventually they also set up a grocery store. All of these businesses were vital for the beginning of Frankenmuth. The farmers needed to have their grain ground into flour for the community and the trees that were cleared for farming cut into lumber to built barns and houses.

Thus the Hubingers needed laborers to run their business. It appears that the Hubingers advertised their needs in the Roßtal area. My great-grandfather, Johann Wilhelm Kern responded to the advertisement and came to Frankenmuth in the spring of 1852 along with his brother, Peter. See the full story of Johann's Immigration. Johann had been trained as a miller in Germany and this was a great opportunity for him. By 1852 the Hubinger brothers had split and each had a flour mill. One was located on the Cass River where they built a dam on the southern part of Frankenmuth. The other mill was on the northern part of town built on the Cass River (upstream from the first mill). The second mill became know as “Star of the West” which still exists today.

The Immigration of Mother and Children - After the father, Friedrich, of Johann and Peter died in 1860 in Roßtal, the family sold the store and all came to the Frankenmuth area. It consisted of the mother, Maria (Winkler), six children, and one grandchild. A consideration for Anna Maria Kern to come may have been that two of her sisters were already in Frankenmuth and Frankentrost. They were the Lotters and Hubers. Of course another motivation was that things were pretty bad in Germany as described earlier in this article and her two sons were already here and fairly successful.

Barbara was confirmed early so she could leave with her family for America. Normally she would have been confirmed on Pentecost Day but instead was confirmed 10 days early on Ascension Day on May 9, 1861. It is understood the family left the next day for America. The ship left Bremen, Germany. The family had a treacherous 8 week voyage to America and sailed on the ship “The Clara”. It was reported that 17 icebergs were seen along the way. (Click here to view the ship "Clara" manifest.) They arrived in New York on July 15, 1861. Their ages at the time of their arrival were: Kunigunda, 31; Michael, 20; Ursula, 17; Friedrich, 15; Barbara, 13; and Margaret 9. Grandchild, Maria was 4 years old.

Settlement

Johann and Peter - The first Kerns came in 1852 with Johann Wilhelm Kern and Peter Kern arriving in Frankenmuth. See fuller story. Johann bought the first 40 acres in 1854 and an adjoining 40 acres in 1855 in Frankenmuth. The Indian reservation land was going for $2.50 an acre and the non-reservation land at $1.25. Johann’s purchases were both reservation and non-reservation land. Land was cheap. To illustrate, a laborer could make one dollar a day at a good job. Thus for non-reservation land one would have to work 100 days or about five months to pay for 80 acres of land. Today the same land is worth $3000 acre. Thus at $150 a day as a laborer one would have to work 1600 days or six to seven years for the same 80 acres. None of the calculations account for living expenses or taxes. In relative terms of land cost to day’s labor, the price of farm land is worth about 16 times more today then in 1850s. The point is that this virgin land was cheap and available. This was vastly different from the situation in Germany where land was not available and many people were living near poverty.

Rest of the Family - By the time the rest of the Kerns came in 1861, Frankenmuth had seen the first arrivals 16 years before and the Richville arrivals 10 years earlier. Not much is known where they went when they arrived. However, it appears they settled in Richville. Several events can be looked at to substantiate their settlement in Richville. Peter Kern already was in Richville while Johann Wilhelm was in Frankenmuth. Shortly after their arrival, Maria was employed for about a year as a housekeeper in the new parsonage of the recently widowed Pastor George Bernthal. Also, two months after arrival Kunigunda got married to Johann Lorenz Heinlein on September 18, 1861 in Richville. Three others settled in Richville. They are: Ursula married a Schnell from Frankentrost and settled in Richville, and Friedrich settled next to Peter. Barbara married an Abraham from Frankentrost and settled there while Margaret married an Arndt from Saginaw and settled there. An area map shows the approximate location of each. For a description of the land and area history click here.

Adjustment for the Kerns - When one contemplates the eight Kern children one must remember that they were raised as “city kids” considering they lived in the middle of town with their parents owning a store. They come to America and seven out of the eight lived on a farm. It must have been quite a learning experience for them to learn the agricultural aspects. In the early days farming was one of the most available ways of making a living. When the first settlers came in 1845 there only were forests and Indians. All of the trades and business had yet to be established. As seen later below most of the male Kern children did not enjoy the farm and some did not do well. They focused their energies in other areas.

German Language

German Language in the Frankenmuth Area - Frankenmuth and the area had been a relatively closed community in perhaps the first 100 years. This is up to World War II. There were two requirements to be a part of the community. One was that one had to belong to the Lutheran Church. The second one was that one had to speak German.

However, German is not one language. With all of the small kingdoms in the medieval Germany many dialects were spoken. The first attempt at a unified German language was when Martin Luther translated the bible from Latin to German. Yes, there today is the unified High German (standard) language but even today the dialects are still spoken in informal gatherings. When I was in Roßtal, Germany in 2008 and visited with a group of men they corrected the High German that I attempted to speak to the local Frankish dialect. Interestingly to me I noticed that my relatives from Richville talked a slightly different dialect than us in Frankenmuth. In particular, as an example, the Richville people rolled their “Rs” more than in Frankenmuth. So even with the different settlements there was a difference in language.

Church, school, and business was conducted in German. Certainly; social functions of home life, visitations, and other gatherings German was spoken. In formal settings like the conduct of church services and the teaching of German was conducted in the standard (High) German. Informal activities such as social conversations were conducted in the Franconian dialect

Study of the Frankenmuth Area Dialect - As I grew up I was led to believe that the Frankenmuth people talked the Bayerisch (Bavarian) dialect. However, as I discovered in the last year, that is not true. The Frankenmuth people talk in a Frankish dialect. There are even variations in the Frankish dialect. There have been at least two books published on the Frankenmuth Franconian dialect. The first is a scholastic book that documents the Frankenmuth dialect and analysis it in relation to the dialects in Franconia and the standard (High) German language. It’s called “Michigan German in Frankenmuth: Variation And Change In An East Franconian Dialect.”1 The work was done by Dr. Renate Born. At the time she was a professor at the University of Michigan. She was born in Germany and lived in the 1960’s in Munich. Her field of expertise is the study of the evolution of the standard German language. In the book there is a map of variations in dialect. For a good share of the people we would be considered as part of the Nürnberg region. The book talks about the Frankenmuth German as an “East Franconian Dialect.

In 1995 another book was published that is called “Des Frankenmuda Gwaff – Frankenmuth’s Unique Dialect.”2 This documents the dialect in Frankenmuth and illustrates the usage of the words. Both of the books include a dictionary of words. The second book was put together by the Siem G’scheit Club. The club’s objectives are to promote and enjoy the Frankenmuth Heritage.

The Family

Introduction – There were eight Kern siblings along with their mother and a grandchild that from Germany. From earlier discussion all eight children were “city kids” from a place where there were great economic and political difficulties. However, they all appeared to have a much better life in America than they ever could have had in Germany. Seven purchased farms and the youngest married a person that had a masonry contractor business. However, their success should be tempered that they probably did experience hardships at times. Today there are probably between 4000 and 5000 descendants from the original Kern family that immigrated. The largest concentration of Kerns live in Saginaw and Tuscola, Michigan Counties. The following describes what is known about them. About some we know more than others. They are listed in their birth order.

Mother Kern (Anna Maria Winkler) – Born August 23, 1809 in Roßtal, Germany. Married Friedrich Wilhelm Kern in Roßtal on August 18, 1833. Died in Richville on July 21, 1887. She is referred to as “Mother Kern” since she was the mother of all her children that came to the Frankenmuth area. As mentioned earlier, she settled in Richville which is considered part of the Frankenmuth area and is where half (four) of her children settled. Two of her children settled in Frankenmuth while one settled in each of Frankentrost and Saginaw. She was 52 when she came to Richville.

Maria Winkler Kern is known to at one time have kept house for Rev. Bernthal of St. Michaels Lutheran Church in Richville. Later she is found in the Frankenmuth Township 1870 census. Maria's occupation was listed as a housekeeper on this document. The census indicates that Maria was a resident at the George L. & Anna M. Meyer home (both were 77 years old in 1870). The Meyer's owned 12 acres and the house was located at the Northeast corner of Frank and Junction Roads. This is about one half mile south of where here son, Johann Wilhelm Kern lived. This is an interesting fact. The Meyer’s purchased the south forty acres for Johann Wilhelm Kern in an unusual transaction. See the “Farm Settlement” in the History of Johann Wilhelm Kern for information about the transaction. It again begs the question if there was a special relationship between the Meyers and the Kerns.

Kunigunda (Heinlein) – Born May 10, 1830 in Roßtal, Germany. Married Johann Lorenz Heinlein in Richville on September 18, 1861. She died April 8, 1906 in Richville. They lived on a farm in Richville. Kunigunda brought her child, Maria, with her to Richville that was born in Roßtal, Germany. Then Kunigunda with Johann Lorenz had seven more children. As far as is known they were successful farmers in Richville.

Johann Wilhelm – Born October 23, 1833 in Roßtal, Germany. He married Maria Sabina Enselberger on November 22, 1854 in Frankenmuth. After her death he married Anna Margaretha Auer on September 6, 1871 in Frankenmuth. He died March 29, 1902 in Frankenmuth. He had 12 children. Johann worked for the Hubinger flour mill and saw mill. This appeared to be his primary income. He did not have much interest in the farm that he owned.

It is understood that Johann had epilepsy and occasionally had seizures. Also according to my grandfather his father, Johann, was mean and abusive. My grandfather told the story that his father would destroy toys out of meanness that his children built.

The understanding is that after his first wife died “he sent for another wife” in Germany. The story goes the woman asked Johann where his house was as they were getting closer to the farm on her arrival. He finally pointed to a building (house) which had stumps leaning against the house. It appears the house did not appear as was described in the letters she received from Johann. Later according to Lorenz from the first wife described their step-mother as being mean. It was followed by “she even spanked me on her wedding day!”

On July 5, 1884 the boys were shooting off fire crackers near the house to continue celebrating the 4th of July. The house was in bad shape and still had stumps and straw around the house to keep it warm. A spark from the firecrackers started a fire near the house that completely destroyed the house. The boys said that they were glad that it burned down because it was a cold and dilapidated house. By fall a house was built on the same site for about $900. The house still stands today.

A more complete story about Johann Wilhelm Kern and his family can be found here.

Peter – Born May 1, 1836 in Roßtal, Germany. He married Ann Katharina Zeilinger on August 26, 1860 in Richville. After the death of his first wife in 1863 he married Christiana Abraham on April 30, 1865. After the death of his second wife he married Margaretha Barbara Bernthal in about 1913 in Richville. He died on November 19, 1919 in Richville.

Peter bought a forty acre tract in Richville for $260 in 1860. Peter had one child with the first wife. With the second wife he had eight boys and four girls - one of a set of twins died at birth. All reports indicate Peter was not a dedicated or competent farmer. He appears to have been a frustrated individual that had to make a living. He learned Hebrew from newspapers given him by itinerant peddlers that periodically passed through the area. He liked to discuss religion with them. Peter played a clarinet in the Frankenhilf Brass Band. While all children were not home at any one time it still must have been a struggle to feed and clothe them. None of the children became farmers which for those days suggest a situation less than stimulating. Wife Barbara Christina died at age 68. Barbara Christiana was a sister to George Abraham who later married Peter’s sister Barbara Kern in 1865. When he married Margaretha Barbara Bernthal she was 57 while he was 77.

Meister (Michael) – Born January 24, 1841 in Roßtal, Germany. He married Kunigunda Margaretha Ranzenberger on July 12, 1863 in Frankenmuth. He died in 1898 in Frankenmuth. He was called “Meister” which in German means “Master” referring to Michael being a “master mason” by trade. Many of his male children became masons, plasterers, wallpaper hangers, and painters. Meister also owned a farm in Frankenmuth that was “kitty corner” on the northeast from Johann Wilhelm Kern’s farm. None of his children became farmers.

Ursula (Schnell) – Born November 16, 1843 in Roßtal, Germany. She married Leonhardt Schnell on February 7, 1864 in Frankentrost. She died on October 23, 1919 in Richville. The Schnells lived in Frankentrost for a short time and then bought a farm in Richville. Although the Schnell family was one of the first families to settle in Frankentrost which included Leonhardt’s parents and siblings, the majority of Schnells currently live in Richville. They stem from Leonhardt and Ursula.

Friedrich (Fred) – Born February 24, 1846 in Roßtal, Germany. He married Katharina Hartman on August 15, 1872 in Frankentrost. He died on January 9, 1912. They lived and owned a farm in Richville. Fred and his brother, Peter, had neighboring farms in Richville. Fred played a cornet in the Frankenhilf Brass Band. One notable thing about Fred is that he had a son by the name of Leonard Kern. Leonard went to Alaska during the gold rush there and was killed by a mine blast at Mine Centre in 1926.

Barbara (Abraham) – Born March 23, 1848 in Roßtal, Germany. She married George Abraham on July 8, 1865 in Frankentrost. She died on July 26, 1930 in Frankentrost. Barbara and George are known for their large family. They had eighteen children. There was a set of twins. All of the children lived into adulthood. The youngest to die was 50 years of age. Five children did not marry. They owned a farm in Frankentrost.

Anna Maria Margaretha (Arndt) – Born June 12, 1852 in Roßtal, Germany. She Married Franz A. Arndt on September 1, 1878 in Richville. She died on June 17, 1948 in Saginaw. Her husband was mason contractor in Saginaw, Michigan. They had two sons. The family is known for their longevity. Both lived to be almost 96 years of age. Their son Otto lived to be over 100 years of age. Anna Maria Margaretha tells about seeing noblemen in Germany coming and going from their large estates.

References

Renate Born. Michigan German In Frankenmuth: Variation And Change In An East Franconian Dialect. Columbia, SC: Camdem House 1994.
Siem G’scheit Club. Des Frankenmuda Gwaff – Frankenmuth’s Unique Dialect. Frankenmuth: Self Published, 1995.

Last Updated: August 21, 2010

A New Beginning for the Friedrich Kern Family
by Wally Kern

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