From Baden to New York: German Forty-Eighters Political Immigration and its Influence on Industry in Rural Nineteenth Century New York

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The CRM Program at the New York State Museum was tasked with conducting a site examination of the H. Simon site prior to construction, in West Branch, NY. The site was initially documented during a phase I archaeological survey ahead of construction, based on a concentration of historic artifacts in the location labeled as a wool carding mill on nineteenth century maps. The domestic material collected indicated the occupants of the site were of a slightly higher socio-economic class typical of the rural setting. Further historic research shed light on the occupants of the site, pointing towards them potentially being political refugees belonging to a wave of immigration from the Germany following a failed democratic revolution. The archaeological and historic evidence show the Simon family were the prototypical “Forty-Eighters” who brought with them from Germany traditions of blending agriculture with other occupations such as cloth manufacturing and civic engagement.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow