Summary Information
John O. Kroehnke Diaries
1848-1885
Milwaukee Mss 107
0.4 c.f. (2 archives boxes)
UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Four diaries of a farmer-painter who emigrated from Schleswig-Holstein and settled in the Wisconsin communities of New Holstein and Sheboygan. The diaries, which are written in old German script, are supplemented by a complete translation of the first volume (1848-1850) into modern German and English, and by notes on the other three volumes. Although the diaries reveal little about family life, they extensively discuss his journey to Wisconsin via New York City and the Erie Canal, the process of homesteading in the wilderness, economic conditions (especially during the Civil War), and ethnic assimilation and community life. Because Kroehnke was a relatively well-educated man, his diary is also of note for linguists and paleographers.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00107 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Farmer-painter John O. Kroehnke was born in Schleswig-Holstein on September 2, 1810. Because the only information about Kroehnke comes from the four diaries in the collection, which begin with the year 1848, very little is known about the first 38 years of his life. Indirect references suggest that he may have had a background as a merchant or a seaman, and he appears to have been more affluent than the people with whom he immigrated. It is also known that he married about 1832 (although his wife's name is never mentioned in the diaries) and that he had four children by his first wife. The diaries also fail to indicate if the political motivation that lay behind the immigrant wave of 1848 also prompted Kroehnke's departure. It is unlikely that politics was the determining factor, for, as the diaries make clear, after 1848 economics rather than politics was his primary concern.
Kroehnke departed from the city of Marne in March 1848 and arrived in New York City on May 11. From there he arranged transportation via the Erie Canal and Great Lakes steamer to Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Soon after his arrival he filed on 360 acres near Lake Winnebago (Calumet City). Kroehnke remained on this farm at least until 1850. The next ten years are undocumented by diaries, and in 1861 when the coverage resumed he was a painter living in Sheboygan. Prior to this move Kroehnke's first wife died. In Sheboygan he married his second wife, Gretchen, and fathered six more children, of whom four survived to adulthood.
The years 1866 to 1870 are similarly undocumented in the collection. The year 1871, however, found him returned to the New Holstein area where he continued to work as a painter and settled on a 120-acre farm. Information about his life is also missing for the period 1876-1881. When the coverage resumed in 1881 he had become too old to maintain steady employment, although he continued to pursue his interest in painting and music. He appears to have lived off interest made from making private loans. The date of John Kroehnke's death is unknown.
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of four personal diaries of what was originally a set of at least eight volumes. The four surviving volumes (I, IV, VI, and VIII) cover 37 years of John Kroehnke's life. However, because of the missing volumes there are considerable gaps in what is known about the diarist's life.
The original volumes were written in old German script. After presentation to the Historical Society in 1955, the first volume was translated into modern German and brief notes were prepared on the other three volumes. Later an English translation of Diary I was prepared.
Coverage of the collection begins with the first days of his emigration from his German homeland, and it ends with the domestic affairs of his later years as a resident of New Holstein township in Calumet County, Wisconsin. Although Kroehnke writes very little about his family, the diaries are valuable as a very detailed exposition of many topics of interest to researchers studying immigration history. Among the topics well documented are his journey across the Atlantic and via the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes to Wisconsin, the process of homesteading in the wilderness, farming practices, community life, and general labor and economic conditions. Kroehnke's discussion of the Civil War, for example, focuses largely on the war's economic impact.
John Kroehnke appears to have been a well educated and cultured man, and his journals contain many reference to his painting, music, and attendance at local theaters. As a result the spelling, syntax, word-idea representation, and writing may be of interest to linguists and paleographers.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by William E. Slagg, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, July 1, 1955.
Processed by Randal Sivertson and Carolyn J. Mattern, 1987.
Contents List
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Diary I, 1848-1850
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Diary IV, 1861-1865
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Diary VI, 1871-1875
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Diary VII, 1881-1885
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Modern German translation of Diary I and processors' notes
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Box
2
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English translation of Diary I
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