The article appeared in the January 2011 Newsletter of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society of Serbin, Texas. (www.texaswendish.org) While Wendish farmers in Europe lived in little villages and walked to their fields, Wends in Texas built houses on the lands they cultivated. As long as the farms were located near the Serbin church, traveling to […]
Warda by George Nielsen Read More »
This article appeared in the April 2011 Newsletter of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society of Serbin, Texas. (www.texaswendish.org) 1971. That was the year. The “afterglow” of the World’s Fair of 1968 was still alive. After all, people from all over the world had been to San Antonio, Texas. They experienced its ambiance … and still
Of Beginnings and Other Stuff by Dave Goeke Read More »
This article appeared in the April 2011 Newsletter of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society of Serbin, Texas. (www.texaswendish.org) On September 4, 1854, when the main body of Wendish migrants boarded the train at Bautzen, they did so without their pastor, Johann Kilian. Because someone lodged a charge against Kilian for inciting a person to emigrate,
Two Routes to Liverpool by George Nielsen Read More »
This article appeared in the January 2012 Newsletter of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society of Serbin, Texas. (www.texaswendish.org) When the Kilians departed for the journey to Texas they left behind the graves of three infant children in the church cemetery at Weigersdorf. Nathanael Martin, Tabitha Lydia, and Theresia Helena all died in infancy. Only two-year-old
Johann Kilian as Father by George Nielsen Read More »
This article appeared in the October 2012 Newsletter of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society of Serbin, Texas. (www.wendishresearch.org) The optimism of the Wends as they left their European homeland for a new home in Texas was soon tem pered by the recurrent deaths within their group. The first death took place in Hamburg on September
Death on the Irish Sea by George Nielsen Read More »
This article appeared in the January 2004 Newsletter of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society of Serbin, Texas. (www.texaswendish.org) An appropriate question to ask at the beginning of this 150th anniversary year of the 1854 migration is the issue of leadership. It is one thing to take your family and join a few other families, as
When Is a Leader Not the Leader? by George Nielsen Read More »
This article appeared in the April 2008 newsletter of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society of Serbin, Texas. (www.texaswendish.org) The Wendish road to Thorndale first led to Hochkirch, or Noack, as it is called today. The distance separating the two communities is about 9 miles. On September 21, 1871, 7 years before Thorndale even existed, Peter
The Wends at Thorndale and Noack by George Nielsen Read More »
Theis article appeared in the October 2010 issue of the Newsletter of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society of Serbin, Texas. (www.texaswendish.org) Accounts of Wendish migration to Texas refer to two Wendish groups that preceded the landing of the Ben Nevis in 1854. The first group included the Seydler and Helas families that migrated in 1849
Setting the Record Straight by George Nielsen Read More »
This is a paper which Dr. Wukasch delivered at the 2006 South Central Modern Language Association conference in Dallas in 2006. Terms like state, nation, ethnic group, language, and dialect defy simple definition. Although most of us probably have a working definition of these concepts, the problem lies in applying them in specific instances. When I say that
