MT. MORRIS — In picture perfect weather on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, 80 people, descendants and their families of George Horst Sr. (1824-1914) and his wife, Anna Margaretha Appel Horst (1828-1881), gathered at the home of John and Beth Chase (Cedar Creek Vines, northwest of Mt. Morris) for the 90th Horst Reunion.
Since the early 1930s, Horst families have convened each August with a reunion picnic at relatives' homes, village or city parks, state parks and forest preserves.
This year's reunion was held a mile and a half from where the Horsts established their homestead 162 years ago to farm and raise their four children: Anna Elizabeth Horst Diehl, Konrad and George Horst Jr., and Helena (Lena) Horst Borneman.
The day proved to be a refreshing, uplifting timeout for all. Children were entertained with a variety of lawn games.
Extended family members, separated by time or distance, had the opportunity to connect/ reconnect, celebrate family events, and create new memories. Cedar Creek Vines showcased five red and three white wines during informal wine tasting. Flavorful pulled pork sandwiches and dressing, provided by Nelson Family Farms, a fifth-generation family farm (north and west of Mt. Morris), were served in combination with a bountiful potluck of casseroles, salads, fresh garden vegetables, seasonal fruits and scrumptious homemade pies, cakes, cookies and desserts. The traditional afternoon reunion treat, ice cream, was also served.
Photos were taken. A collection of Horst memorabilia and a genealogy chart, stretching 14 feet long, were displayed. Five generations of Horsts were present. Attendees traveled from Colorado, Kansas City, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan to meet and greet their cousins. Following a brief business meeting conducted by reunion president and secretary, Dave and Cindy Link (Leaf River), awards were presented to the youngest, most cherished, and furthest traveled. Everyone was entered into drawings for a 90th Anniversary Horst Reunion quilt and table runner hand quilted and donated by Barb Johnson (Leaf River) and her daughters: Cindy Link (Leaf River), Peggy Feide (Rockford), Pam Wrasse (Baileyville), Carol Anderson (Davis Junction) and granddaughter, Madison Schelling (Oregon). Leona Nelson (Mt. Morris) presented a family history. She described the push/pull factors that brought Germans to America during the Civil War. German farms had been divided over generations to the point they were too small to make a living. Economic hardships, shortage of land, and limited political rights drove dissatisfied German immigrants from their native homes.
Family and friends in America wrote letters home encouraging others to join them in the land of opportunity. Leona asked listeners to take into account how treacherous the journey was for the entire family.
Their initial overseas journey, then several days or more of overland travel by rail and wagon, and finally homesteading brought continuous anxieties and fears, followed by decades of hardships and arduous, backbreaking work on their farm. The family lived strong religious faith: "For nothing will be impossible with God." (Luke 1:37). George Sr., his wife, and their four children were born in Sellenrod, Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany. George Sr. followed his brother and sister who had immigrated to America through Baltimore, Maryland in 1861 with their nine-year-old nephew, Konrad Horst, George Sr.'s eldest son. The family of five began their overseas emigration from the port of Bremen, Germany in June 1862. They traveled in steerage on an older cargo sailing ship with children ages 13, 7, and 2.
Overcrowded steerage allowed only a few square feet per passenger. The ship was dirty; there was little food and poor ventilation; rats and lice were the norm. The voyage required six weeks at sea to travel nearly 4,200 nautical miles.
Passengers endured rough seas from high winds and feared running out of water and food. They arrived at Castle Garden Emigrant Depot in lower Manhattan on July 19, 1862.
Their ship was moored in the bay until an immigration landing agent arrived. After a thorough review of the ship's passenger manifest, noting who had died on the trip and who was then ill, immigrants and their luggage were ferried across the bay to the Castle Garden (Kessel Garten) Emigrant Depot. All were examined by a medical officer to ascertain if any sick might have passed the health authorities at quarantine. They were taken to a waiting area, the Castle Garden Rotunda, which had a capacity of between 2,000 to 4,000. During processing, officials recorded all necessary information pertaining to each immigrant such as name, nationality, former residence and intended destination. At the depot, immigrants could safely buy railroad tickets without fear of being defrauded. Restaurants, bread stands, and washrooms were available. Immigrants could lodge at licensed Castle Garden boarding houses for periods varying from one day to several weeks.
The family came by rail to Chicago. They completed their journey either by train, most likely the Galena-Chicago Union Railroad with stops in Rockford and Freeport, or by wagon. They claimed their homestead on the present Apple Road near Coon Creek in Mt. Morris Township.
There was no government assistance for immigrants. They brought little with them. Having arrived in northern Illinois in late July, their land had not been cleared. There were no crops to harvest. The first priority was to build a log cabin; they heated with wood in a cabin without insulation. Cooperation between neighbors helped them through the first winter and beyond. The land was cleared in winter with little thought of conservation. Trees were chopped down with felling axes. A team of oxen dragged the trees into piles which were burned. Farming in America was vastly different than Germany. For the first few years they farmed at a subsistence level.
The language barrier necessitated relying on their own ethnic community for business activities, school, church, and social life. They spoke German at home with family, friends, and neighbors. They assimilated into American life at the rate they learned English. Their Lutheran religion was never neglected. Ministers were brought from Wartburg Seminary in Iowa to teach catechism students. Church services, first held in homes, then the school, and later in a church at West Grove, were conducted in German. There was no piano or organ; hymnals were scarce; hymns were led by one or two musically inclined male song leaders. George Horst Sr. was one of the founders of the German Lutheran Church at West Grove where he remained an active member until his death.
The family faithfully observed the Sabbath. After attending church each Sunday they gathered at home on Sunday afternoons to read the Bible. German family Bibles continue to pass through the generations. The regional German dialect that migrated with the Horsts was preserved in homes for over two generations.
As the Horsts became established within the Mt. Morris community, they were recognized as kind, humble, honest, hard-working, highly respected citizens. George Horst Sr.'s obituary describes him as "a man of sterling character who enjoyed a high degree of respect from all with whom he came in contact. He was a man of unusually industrious habits, and although coming to this community poor in purse, his good management and natural thrift brought him ample
competency for his declining years. He was a truly good man and a kindly-hearted neighbor." (Mt. Morris Index, Oct. 28, 1914)
Today, as one travels northwest of Mt. Morris, Horst descendants continue farming on land purchased, cleared, and farmed by their ancestors. To quote Thomas Hardy (1840-1928): "I am the family face; flesh perishes, I live on."
