Excerpt from Washington County, Wisconsin, Vol. 1: Past and Present

About five years ago I published a little German volume of sketches, mostly of a historical nature, on Washington county, Wis consin, titled 'gedenkblatter zur Besiedelung von Washington County, Wisconsin.' The work found a most hearty welcome among the foremost German scholars of the state. It was much more than I dared to expect for a book that had but a casual origin. The work at the time was pointed to as a model for other counties to follow. The collection of sketches first appeared as a serial article in the 'beobachter, ' a weekly paper published at West Bend, Wis., the pro prietors of which ventured to publish the book. The present work is essentially a translation of that book into English, done by me. Several chapters have been enlarged, others rearranged, or brought up to date, one is entirely new, while other things, especially the poetry of the first edition, have been omitted, for I was content to write a readable English prose. It was the desire to make the work available to English readers, that prompted me to translate it. History is likened to memory. A people who do not know their own history are like a man who has lost his memory. This should hold good also with reference to county history. The material of the sketches has been collected during the fourteen years in which I have held a Ger man editorship in the county. It came from many sources, from old chronicles, old newspaper files, bulletins published by the state and the federal government, speeches on olden times, which I have listened to, recollections of old settlers with whom I became acquainted, and my own observations during all these years. If the reader will con sider that the book was written in the few weary leisure hours that the wrestle with the fate of German newspaperdom in this country left, he will perhaps look kindly on the shortcomings of the work.

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