Long Grove, Illinois, is German all the way except for the name, though the name was originally proposed to be Mutterscholz. The first bit of civilization in Long Grove was that it was the crossroads of two Indian paths. The first European family in the vicinity was the Ruth family in the 1840s. Shortly thereafter, residents of the town of Mutterscholz in the Alsace-Lorraine sent a scout to the New World and, whether by design or by chance, the attention focused on Illinois. We often think of the immigrants from the Alsace as Anabaptists who had fled from Switzerland and were still seeking a homeland. In this case, though, the would-be emigrants were Lutherans. Their motivations may have something to do with the instability in the area and especially the influence of the French.
Mutterscholz in Illinois quickly filled up with Germans. The language of choice was German and all private and public documents were written in German. The first public building finished was a German Lutheran Church, and the first service, in German, was held in 1848. The English neighbors even purchased a bell for the church but they drew the line at naming the village Mutterscholz.
The bell was welcome addition for, in addition to announcing worship services, it kept track of the time for daily events. It rang early for a getting-up time and called the farmers home from their fields for dinner (noon). Births, weddings, and deaths (one peal for each year of the age) were also announced.
Life was a blend of German and American ways. Christ Sauer served a normal German apprenticeship at the general store but enlisted in the Union army when the Civil War started. The town grew and had four one-room schoolhouses by 1880 and all of the businesses which make a market town and a support center. In the 1920s and 1930s the town went into a sleepy decline. Little was changed but the pace became slower and the number of residents fell. A revival began in the 1940s when some women started an antique store which was a success.
The county officials then helped by recognizing the unique characteristics of the town and requiring all future modifications conform to the style of the early 1800s (wheel chair ramps are required though). Today the town caters to tourists and the locals. Many sites and houses are still called by their original German names. Today, though, a "foreign element" has crept in.
(27 Oct 03)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.