Germania is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

located in the town of Shields, Marquette County,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, United States.

History

The land which would become Germania was ceded by the indigenous

Menominee The Menominee ( ; meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recognized tribe of Na ...

to the American government in 1848, and it was opened for settlement in 1849. The Germania Colony was founded in 1860 by followers of Benjamin Hall, a Massachusetts businessman and preacher inspired by William Miller's teachings. Hall, from Groton, Massachusetts, had left the Groton Congregational Church due to his

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

views in 1839. In the 1840s, a group of Millerites under Hall's leadership, who called themselves "The Community", founded a commune in Groton and prepared for the

Second Coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christianity, Christian and Islam, Islamic belief that Jesus, Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his Ascension of Jesus, ascension to Heaven (Christianity), Heav ...

. Nearby to The Community in Groton were several other similar communes: Fruitlands, Brook Farm, and Hopedale, as well as

Shakers The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, are a Millenarianism, millenarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian sect founded in England and then organized in the Unit ...

. Following the Great Disappointment in 1844, Hall's followers continued to believe in the imminent return of Jesus; they lived communally and advocated against slavery and exploitation of workers. In 1857, Hall married Henrietta Peirce, a prominent member of The Community who owned land in Germania. Desiring physical separation from society, they migrated west and established a new commune on Peirce's land. Benjamin Hall bought more land in Germania and established the "Germania Company", which came to be called "The Colony". The Community built a large central building (the "Big House") for worship and to house unmarried community members, as well as a school, roads, and farmsteads. They worshipped together daily, but did not seek new members or align with any other Christian group. A more formal church was built in 1875, probably served by an itinerant preacher. Hall died in 1879, and the commune declined, but existed into the 1890s.

Notable people

* Clarence V. Peirce, state senator and dairy farmer, was the son of Henrietta Peirce Hall and was raised in The Community

History

Notable people

References

Bibliography

Further reading