George Nielson

When Is a Leader Not the Leader? by George Nielsen

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

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The Wends at Thorndale and Noack by George Nielsen

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

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Setting the Record Straight by George Nielsen

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

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Reluctant Confederates – Wends and the Civil War

The following article first appeared in the Texas Wendish Heritage Society Newsletter beginning in July 2005 and concluding with the April 2006 issue. It was last revised on March 18, 2012.  The Wends were no strangers to war. During the Napoleonic period, just forty years before the migration to Texas, they witnessed the Battle of Bautzen fought

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