Prussian Settlement in Mina Corners Explored
Michelle Henry, a member of the CCHS board of trustees, was the guest speaker at the Chautauqua County Genealogical Society’s September meeting.
The program focus was on the German settlers of Mina Corners in the town of Mina. Mina Corners was settled in the 1840s by several families from Prussia, now Germany, who later established a German Lutheran Church in the 1850s.
Henry’s research into the Mina Prussians is ongoing, with the goal of finding connections between the families who settled there.
In the 1830s and ‘40s, the Kingdom of Prussia stretched across Germany and included parts of Poland, Russia, and Austria. The Prussian king created a state church and made it illegal for Lutherans and Calvinists to practice their own religions. Children were required to attend state schools that taught the new state religion. Anyone who did not earn a certificate from a state school was unable to gain employment. Church leaders who secretly held Lutheran or Calvinist services were imprisoned for years.
Many Lutherans felt that the economic and religious restrictions were too great and chose to leave their country. Citizens had to request permission from the king to emigrate. Several families left Prussia In the 1830s and emigrated to Australia, the U.S., and Russia. Letters sent home from these early emigrants encouraged fellow Prussians to follow them. Many were enticed by the prospect of being able to own land, choose a profession, and practice their religion of choice.
In 1842 and 1843, several families arrived at Barcelona Harbor after traveling from New York City to Buffalo. At Barcelona, a young cooper named Wolfe, who was also German, suggested that Mina had good farmland which looked like the rolling hills of their home country. The families that first arrived at Mina Corners included the Thomi, Ackerman, and Roders (Rater).
Families continued to leave Prussia and settle in Mina, including the Boch (Buck), Pfeiffer, Schleichner, Shum, Smiths, and others. By 1856 there were enough Prussian families to establish their own German Lutheran Church, with a minister shared with the Dutch Reformed Church in Clymer.
The journey from Prussia to the U.S. took many weeks, first travelling to a seaport (typically Hamburg or Bremen), and then approximately six weeks to cross the ocean. Conditions on the ships were difficult, with the very young and very old often dying onboard and being buried at sea.
Prussians who made the difficult decision to leave their home country did so knowing that they would most likely never return, and that they may have to leave some loved ones behind. The Prussian government did not allow adopted children, illegitimate children, or young men of military age to leave with their families. Elderly parents who chose to stay were left behind with no children to support or assist them as they aged.
