A Noble Groom (Michigan Brides #2)(106)
Annalisa turned in Carl’s arms and reached her hand to his cheek.
His eyes glistened, the deep emotions in his soul reflected there.
“He’s right,” she said softly. “You’re a good man.”
Carl dipped his head lower. “Living here, being with you and the girls, facing the hardships—all of it has shaped me into a better man.”
She smiled and tilted her face up, offering him her lips and the promise of a lifetime of love.
They would face many more hardships in the days to come. They wouldn’t be perfect and neither would their marriage.
But they could still live happily ever after . . . together.
Author’s Note
In the mid-1800s, hundreds of thousands of Germans immigrated to America. While there were a variety of reasons for the mass immigration, many of the Germans left to escape the oppressive social system that existed in their homeland. The division of the people into classes was left over from the feudal system of the Middle Ages in which the nobility ruled the serfs. As Germany struggled to move into modern times, the lingering effect of such class differences was a seedbed for oppression, poverty, and abuse.
The German community in A Noble Groom immigrated from Saxony Germany to Sanilac County, Michigan, and formed Colonial Saxonia. As miners, they had originally intended to settle in the Upper Peninsula and mine there, but due to reports on the severity of the weather in the northern parts of Michigan, they decided to settle instead farther south, in Forestville.
The land around Forestville in the Thumb of Michigan had once been a former logging community and was being parceled off and sold in forty-acre tracts to potential farmers. The land was covered with a tangle of dead trees, stumps, and fast-growing brush. The soil was rich for farming but would take an incredible amount of hard work to clear and make suitable for the kind of farming that would support the families.
Spurred on by the prospect of owning their own land and becoming prosperous—something they could never have in the Old Country—the German immigrants began the arduous task of clearing the land for farming. At first, only a few of them could afford horses or oxen or farm machinery. If there were roads, they were indeed as horrible as what I’ve described. Winters were dreaded. When navigation on Lake Huron ended due to the ice, the settlements were left to fend for themselves. Supplies in stores dwindled quickly, and settlers had to learn to be resourceful with the little they had until spring.
While I took some liberty with the dates and details of this particular German community for the sake of my story, it was my hope to bring to life the essence of an immigrant community, the rigors of farming, and the struggles of the early settlers. They really did have to plow among the stumps, clear their land by burning the slashings, and face the unethical and discriminatory practices of people who viewed Germans as “dirty.” They faced incredible hardship and illness, including a typhoid fever outbreak in 1881.
Most devastating of all was the Great Fire of 1881. By September of that year, no penetrating rain had fallen for almost two months. Streams had dried up, the vegetation of the fields and woods had become tinder, and the earth was parched. Even under such dry conditions, some farmers still resorted to the common practice of burning their land to clear it.
The area became a dangerous tinderbox.
When a major weather front moved through the area, bringing with it violent winds, the fires fanned into a raging inferno. Witnesses reported that in some places the fire marched in a great wall of flames, sometimes one hundred feet high. It moved across Michigan’s Thumb area in four hours, burning and destroying everything in its path until finally it reached Lake Huron and burned itself out.
Hundreds of cattle, sheep, and hogs lay dead along the roads. Few trees and buildings were left standing. Nearly three hundred people died, and thousands were injured and left homeless. Some hid in wells and survived, while others suffocated and perished. Some buried themselves in fields or took refuge in root cellars or in rivers. Those closest to Lake Huron sought refuge in the cool waters of the lake and found themselves standing next to wild animals.
As news of the devastating fire reached Clara Barton, she organized her Red Cross to bring relief to the area. Previously the organization had been used mainly in times of war. But Barton had a vision for using the Red Cross during peacetime as a vehicle for getting relief to people during times of major disaster, whether natural or man-made. The Michigan fire of 1881 provided an opportunity for her to broaden the scope of the Red Cross, which helped it become the organization we know and love today.
As you close the pages of this book, I pray you will find the story of the immigrants inspiring as you persevere through the challenges in your life. May their courage give you fresh determination and hope.
And most of all, may you know God does indeed care for you. Even when He seems busy with more important matters, I hope you’ll have a new awakening of His nearness, especially during your darkest moments of pain.