an area in west-central Ohio settled from 1832 on by emigrants from northwest Germany, of these up to 60% are from Oldenburger Münsterland. (about 2000 emigrants came from there) The other emigrants are mostly from the Westphalen Münsterland and from Osnabrücker Hannover. There is also a representative group from Baden, Bavaria, and Alsatia, and few other places.

Specifically, the "Ohio Münsterland" comprises the followingfour townships and villages:

1)  Minster (originally Stallostown, then Münster) (in Plattdüütsk it was pronounced Mönster)  in Jackson Township, Auglaize County. Minster was founded by the "Oldenburger Pilgervater" Franz Joseph Stallo of Damme in 1832.
2)  Fort Loramie (originally Berlin) (in Plattdüütsk - Ba'leen) in McLean Township, Shelby County.
3)  Maria Stein (originally Sankt Johann then Saint John) (in Plattdüütsk - Sünte Jann) in Marion Township, Mercer County. There are a number of smaller villages in this township).
4)  Saint Henry (originally Sankt Heinrich) (in Plattdüütsk - (Sünte Hinirch) in Granville Township in Mercer County. St. Henry was founded in 1837 by Bernard Heinrich Römer and his brothers from Damme.

Father David Hoying
1509 Cranberry Road
Saint Henry, Ohio 45883-9750
Tel: 419-925-4776
e-mail: stfranc@bright.net (St. Francis)

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Additional Information:

 This is an area about 150km north of Cincinnati. The towns he mentioned are all on the Ohio map and are very close to each other. One other near by town is New Bremen. As he states in his message the towns changed their names. This occurred during World War I when many anti-Germen groups made an effort to eliminate references to Germany. We have several streets in our area which changed names during that period.

Lou Marx, Cincinnati, Ohio
e-mail: marx@cinbelt.com