Children of immigrant family positively influenced several communities

March 9, 2024 at 4:00 a.m.

by Jeremy Amick

Courtesy/Verna Menteer Christ Engelbrecht is pictured with his wife, Bertha, and their children, from left, Kunnie, Arthur and Frieda. Christ was one of seven children born to Michael and Margaretha Engelbrecht, both Bavarians who immigrated to the U.S. in 1853 and settled in Cole County. Like his father, Christ farmed near the Osage Bluff community.
Courtesy/Verna Menteer Christ Engelbrecht is pictured with his wife, Bertha, and their children, from left, Kunnie, Arthur and Frieda. Christ was one of seven children born to Michael and Margaretha Engelbrecht, both Bavarians who immigrated to the U.S. in 1853 and settled in Cole County. Like his father, Christ farmed near the Osage Bluff community.

A chronology shared by the Library of Congress regarding the German immigration to the United States notes, "Nearly one million Germans immigrated to America in (the 1850s), one of the peak periods of German immigration; in 1854 alone, 215,000 Germans arrived in this country."

Many