Location: Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States

Surnames/tags: Germania, Ks Sedgwick_County,_Kansas Sedgwick_County_Germans
The authors of the Historical Atlas of Sedgwick County Kansas described the towns of St. Mark and Germania on page 9:
"St. Mark is situated on the line between Union and Attica townships, in the midst of the German settlement. It has a large Catholic church and school buildings, a post office, a stock of general merchandise, drug store, hotel, blacksmith, shoemaker, tinsmith and carpenter shops.
Germania is a mile and a half west of St. Mark. Its population is also composed mainly of Germans. It has about an equal population, number of stores. etc., with St. Mark."
[1]
The book [2] also described, on page 16 the following patrons and businesses whose post office was Germania:
P. Gorges, Sr., from Germany, settled in the county in 1879, is a Merchant
P. Gorges, Jr., from Wisconsin, settled in the county in 1879, is a Merchant
M. Gorges, from Wisconsin, settled in the county in 1878, is a Merchant
Joseph Hilger, from Germany, settled in the county in 1872, is a Farmer and Stock Raiser
Leonard Steffens, from Germany, settled in the county in 1877, has a Prop. Boot and Shoe Store
John Mund, from Germany, settled in the county in 1876, is a Farmer and Stock Raiser
Wenzel Smarsh, from Bohemia, settled in the county in 1872, is a Farmer and Stock Raiser
M. Laggart, from Germany, settled in the county in 1873, is a Post Master and Merchant
and in the immediate area around the town is:
Math. J. Clasen, from Germany, settled in the county in 1874, is a Farmer, Stock Raiser, and Fruit Grower
Nick Gensman, from Germany, settled in the county in 1875, and is a Blacksmith, Wagonmaker, & Farmer
William McAllister, from Ohio, settled in the county in 1875, is a Farmer, Stock Raiser, and Justice of the Peace
H.F. McAllister, from Ohio, settled in the county in 1875, is a Farmer and Stock Raiser
Harvey McAllister, from Ohio, settled in the county in 1880, is a Farmer and Stock Raiser
L.S. Pryor, from Ohio, settled in the county in 1873, is a Farmer and Stock Raiser
George Johnson, from Michigan, settled in the county in 1870, is a Farmer and Stock Raiser
Nicholaus Cordell, from Germany, settled in the county in 1876, is a Farmer and Stock Raiser
P. Diefenbach, from Germany, settled in the county in 1875, is a Farmer and Stock Raiser
Joseph Helten, from Germany, settled in the county in 1876, is a Farmer and Stock Raiser
Henry Rausch, from Wisconsin, settled in the county in 1875, is a Farmer and Stock Raiser
B. Durmann, from Germany, settled in the county in 1880, is a Farmer and Stock Raiser
William M. Heusel, from Michigan, settled in the county in 1879, is a Farmer, Stock Raiser, and School Teacher
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1882 - Germania, Kansas: a small village in the SE corner of Sherman, SW corner of Union, NE corner of Garden Plain and NW corner of Attica Townships in Sedgwick County. It began around 1877. |
The post office for Germania was likely first in a home, then in a building.
According to the Kansas Historical website,[3]
here are dates that a post office was established at Germania:
Post Office / County / Established / Discontinued
Germania Sedgwick 1877-04-09 1881-03-09
Germania Sedgwick 1881-04-19 1896-11-30
1877 to 1879 - The first postmaster was Harrison Keith, appointed April 9, 1877 [4] [5]
1879 to 1881 - Mich Laggart was appointed June 12, 1879. [6] [7]
1881 to 1886 - Harrison Keith was made postmaster again on April 18, 1881. [8] [9]
1886 to 1887 - Louis Pattry was appointed postmaster April 29, 1886. [10] [11]
1887 to 1896 - Joseph Helten was appointed postmaster June 14, 1887. [12] [13]
In 1896 the Germania Post Office was closed, and they used nearby St Mark Post Office.
Saloon Keeper at the time was John Schroeder.
Both towns also had saloons. During the years between 1879 and 1881 a number of articles were written in the Wichita newspapers regarding a feud between residents of the two towns, or who were at the time reported to be "residents'.
March 20, 1879:
"... St. Mark had a rousing big dance on the night of February 23 -- wound up with a fight, causing black eyes and sore lips.
" [14]
July 13, 1881:
"For years there has been a rivalry and neighborly hostility existing between the hamlets of Germania and St. Marks...This Neighborly antipathy and jealous hate, culminated last Sunday in the invasion of St. Marks by about twenty-five men from in and about Germania. They entered the hamlet early in the morning and engaged, so the St. Markites report in the most riotous and disorderly manner, knocking men down, forcibly entering the houses and stores and interrupting the services of the Catholic church...". [15]
July 26, 1881:
"The beer fights and quarrels in St Mark, Sedgwick County have up to last evening cost the county over two hundred dollars. Why don't some of our anti-prohibition friends raise a howl about the expense of this beer fight?... Moreover, this beer quarrel was on a Sunday, the day when true Americans are at Church..." [16]
And finally, in the August 3, 1881 edition of the Wichita Weekly Beacon, Joseph Hilger writes in and corrects the record:
"We publish, this week, a communication from Mr. Hilger of Germania, relative to the trouble in St. Marks, several weeks ago. The facts brought out on trial sustain Mr. Hilger's statements. None of the disturbers of the peace of St. Marks, were residents of Germania. Our article did, therefore an injustice to Germania. We got our information from Mr. Frank Dale, and, he, we suppose got his from parties seeking redress. It is simply absurd to suppose we meant to do injustice to Germania or her citizens." [17]
The correction by Joseph:
" A Correction
Germania, July 18th, 1881.
Ed. Beacon: In the issue of your paper from July 13th, you bring an article of a very grave and malicious nature against this village and neighborhood headed: "Riotous and Shameful." Now gentlemen, won't you feel pretty cheap, if you are informed that said article was almost a base lie from beginning to end. In the first place there was no disturbance of any kind in St. Marks on last Sunday by 12 o'clock, at noon, as I and many others can testify. Than did nobody from this village or even within a mile from it have any hand in the disgraceful revolt of the afternoon as is plainly shown by the names of the parties that were sent before squire Gilson. The opposition of the two villages had nothing in the world to do with the affair nor do I hold that your judgement is correct, that said affair is a disgrace to both St. Marks and the county, and especially to Germania, as the people of Germania had no more to do with it that the man in the moon. Besides there is perhaps not a neighborhood within the U.S. that has not a few men that are able to get drunk and get into a fuss. Although it was not half as bad as you pictured it, however bad enough it was, yet no houses and stores were entered and no man knocked down unless they participated in the fight. Does it look well for an editor of a county paper to fling an article as the one headed as above, at a whole neighborhood without knowing about it? Don't you think that is a disgrace too? And there is another thing that's more of a disgrace to this county, than the row at St. Marks and that is, that a man can pick a fuss with everybody and then when he comes out second best, (as is generally the case with the party that entered complaint through the County Attorney), and then go and make the county pay the expenses.
Joseph Hilger.
Joseph Hilger's farm was located in the same corner of the section as the town of Germania, section 31, Union township. Germania was likely founded just as his ownership in 1876 of the surrounding land. As one of the founding settlers in the area west of Wichita, and having grown wheat for over 15 years, Joseph Hilger was a common source of information for the local papers. In the winter of 1888, he was quoted in the Wichita Beacon on the state of the wheat crop that year.
"Germania has always raised about half the wheat in the county. This year the crop will probably be large as I do not see any probability of its being injured. The fall rains and that big snow did much good."
[18]
In November of 1881, "two violators of the liquor laws were arrested in Germania... and both pleaded guilty of selling beer". [19]
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A listing of business references at Germania in the Historical Atlas of Sedgwick County, Kansas |
Due to competition from neighboring towns, specifically St. Mark and the Catholic church, school, and multiple thriving businesses, Germania never grew beyond a few structures. The town of Germania, Kansas was vacated in 1893.[21]
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Article in The Saturday Evening Kansas Commoner, August 24, 1893: Germania Kansas vacate petition |
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1905 - Germania, Kansas: In 1893 the town was ordered to be vacated, the lots were sold and so by 1905 the plat maps show no sign of the town. |
Sources
- ↑ John P. Edwards, Historical Atlas of Sedgwick County, Kansas (Philadelphia, PA: 1882) page 9, from the Kansas Historical Society website (https://www.kansasmemory.org/item/224001/page/9)
- ↑ John P. Edwards, Historical Atlas of Sedgwick County, Kansas (Philadelphia, PA: 1882) page 16, from the Kansas Historical Society website (https://www.kansasmemory.org/item/224001/page/14)
- ↑ Kansas Historical website (https://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/placename:Germania/county:/begyr:/endyr:/submit:SEARCH)
- ↑ National Archives Catalog, Postmaster Appointments for Sedgwick County, Kansas, page 4 (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/78742170?objectPage=4)
- ↑ The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kansas) Thursday, January 22, 1914 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/64426058/?match=1&clipping_id=133397589)
- ↑ National Archives Catalog, Postmaster Appointments for Sedgwick County, Kansas, page 4 (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/78742170?objectPage=4)
- ↑ The Wichita Herald (Wichita, Kansas) Saturday, June 21, 1879 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/517847940/?match=1&clipping_id=133395257)
- ↑ National Archives Catalog, Postmaster Appointments for Sedgwick County, Kansas, page 4 (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/78742170?objectPage=6)
- ↑ The Wichita Tribune (Wichita, Kansas) Friday, May 27, 1881 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/526836381/?match=1&clipping_id=133396889)
- ↑ National Archives Catalog, Postmaster Appointments for Sedgwick County, Kansas, page 4 (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/78742170?objectPage=6)
- ↑ Emporia Daily News (Emporia, Kansas) Monday, May 03, 1886 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/221670837/?match=1&clipping_id=134818631)
- ↑ National Archives Catalog, Postmaster Appointments for Sedgwick County, Kansas, page 4 (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/78742170?objectPage=6) and page 9 (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/78742170?objectPage=9)
- ↑ The Lawrence Weekly Journal (Lawrence, Kansas) Thursday, June 23, 1887 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/365723233/?match=1&clipping_id=134818728)
- ↑ The Weekly Eagle, (Wichita, Ks.) Thursday, March 20, 1879 (https://kansashistoricalopencontent.newspapers.com/image/70787088/?terms=Germania&match=1)
- ↑ The Wichita Weekly Beacon, (Wichita, Ks) Wednesday, July 13, 1881 (https://kansashistoricalopencontent.newspapers.com/image/416430504/?terms=Germania&match=1)
- ↑ The Wichita Daily Times, Tuesday, July 26, 1881 (https://kansashistoricalopencontent.newspapers.com/image/375493304/?terms=Dale%20St%20Mark&match=1)
- ↑ The Wichita Weekly Beacon, (Wichita, Ks) Wednesday, August 1881, page 3 (https://kansashistoricalopencontent.newspapers.com/image/416431304/?terms=Hilger&match=1)
- ↑ The Wichita Beacon (Wichita, Ks) Saturday, December 22, 1888 (https://kansashistoricalopencontent.newspapers.com/image/383503341/?terms=Hilger&match=1)
- ↑ The Spirit of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas) Wednesday, November 02, 1881 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/489412963/?match=1&clipping_id=134818401)
- ↑ John P. Edwards, Historical Atlas of Sedgwick County, Kansas (Philadelphia, PA: 1882) page 13, from the Kansas Historical Society website (https://www.kansasmemory.org/item/224001/page/11)
- ↑ The Saturday Evening Kansas Commoner, (Wichita, Kansas) Thursday August 24, 1893, page 8 (https://kansashistoricalopencontent.newspapers.com/image/382923039/?terms=Germania&match=1)
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