Stallostown - Minster

Stallostown - Minster. Established ~ September 28, 1832. , Once this land we now call Minster was all a virgin forest with many swamps where Indians and traders traveled on the wilderness trail. After the Treaty of Greenville was signed in 1795 and the Indians left, this land became known as U. S. Congress land. Ohio was established in 1803 and needed inhabitants. Settlers in the interior land of Ohio had no means of transportation, making the sale price very reasonable per acre., Franz Joseph Stallo and a group of German immigrants in Cincinnati were eager to purchase land and find a better life by establishing a new settlement. After surveying several areas, the present-day site was chosen. On September 1, 1832 a stock company was formed in Cincinnati to purchase land in Mercer and Shelby Counties. Stallo was designated as the man to carry out the conditions of furnishing money, purchasing the land, and laying out the town., On September 28, 1832 Stallo and a group of men, beckman, feldman, surmann, cordesmann and rohenkohl made their way to the federal land office in Piqua where 1,200 acres were purchased at the price of $1.25 per acre. 640 of these acres were for the formation of a town., Stallo drew the town plat. It was laid out in a square with eleven north/south streets and seven east/west streets consisting of 144 lots. some land was reserved for the use of churches, market place, court house, government, school, etc. By lottery, each stock holder drew their plot number from Stallo's hat. The land sold for $8.50 per plot consisting of 10 lots, an amount poor German immigrants could barely afford., In the fall of 1832 the Stallo group left the blacksmith shop of Von Seggern on Woodward Street in Cincinnati, in a procession for the canal boat dock with banners and a sign displaying the words "Colonie of Stallostown." Three sons of Surmann who were musicians led the group. The entourage was met at the Main Street Bridge by a large group of people wishing them farewell. The colonists proceeded to Dayton by canal boat and then on to Piqua by wagon. They left Piqua very early in the morning, after a layover of one day, and arrived at Stallostown late in the afternoon. Since there were no houses, the men lived in wagons while two log cabins were constructed, while the women and children stayed in a few neighboring cabins in the area., The first settlers to arrive in Stallostown in the fall of 1832 with Stallo and his two sons were: , Gerhard Surmann Family . Joseph Cordesmann . Tauke Family . Kemper . Feldman Family . Rohenkohl Family . Bernard Busse . H. Boeckmann . Beckmann Family . Bramlage Family . Heinrich Quartmann Family . Friedrich Gerwers Family . Friedrich Sommer . J. Busse, They soon began cutting out the town from virgin forest and draining the swamps to find fertile soil by 53 people. Making their new home in this newly adopted country. By the spring of 1833, Stallostown was inhabited., Of the original 144 shareholders and the plot shares which they drew in April of 1833 in Cincinnati, only 50% of these shareholders ever arrived in Stallostown., Our fore-fathers brought with them their faith, families and friends from the Oldenburg and Hannover region. Their customs and low-German language were used for many generations and are still evident today. , Can we imagine their struggles and hardships? With hope, faith, determination and great work ethic they succeeded, and each generation since has strived to make Minster all that it is today...., Ref: Pilgrims All and Centennial of Minster/2017mo