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| Format | Book Whole |
|---|---|
| Author, Monographic | Noegel, Scott Bryon |
| Title, Monographic | Piety and Freethinkers on Wisconsin’s Frontier: The Life and Work of Carl Renatus Wilhelm Erbe, with an English Translation of Erbe’s German Sacramental Register, 1851-1886 |
| Place of Publication | Sheboygan Falls, Wis. |
| Publisher | Sheboygan County Historical Research Center |
| Date of Publication | 2018 |
| Extent of Work | 265 pages : illustrations (some color), portraits. + 1 DVD-ROM (4 3/4 in.) |
| OCLC | 1126662483 |
| Abstract | Examines the life and work of the itinerant preacher Carl Renatus Wilhelm Erbe and the communities he served. From 1851 to his death in 1887, Erbe--who was unaffiliated with any church--travelled mostly on foot to serve several pioneering communities in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin; communities that were largely connected to the Freethinker movement. The Freethinker (German "Freidenker") movement espoused a religious philosophy that emphasized improvement of life in this world rather than preparation for heaven. Known in some circles as the Free Church, its included the likes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Friedrich Schiller, Jules Verne, and more radically, Thomas Paine. The movement became especially influential in Wisconsin starting in the early 1850s when the movement’s leader Eduard Schröter founded the German Free Congregation (“Deutsche Freie Gemeinde”) in Milwaukee and began preaching reformist ideas through his newspaper, Der Humanist. This book provides a brief biography of Erbe and discusses the beliefs and presence of the Free Church movement in early Wisconsin, with special attention to Sheboygan County, including an examination of why the early histories of Sheboygan County make no mention of the Free Church movement. The bulk of the work consists of the author's English translation of Erbe’s German register of baptisms, confirmands, marriages, and deaths. The register, which was microfilmed in the 1970s, was misidentified because it was jumbled out of chronological order long before it was photographed. In this book the register's correct order is restored. An index of family names concludes the work. |
| Notes | Includes a compact disk containing digitally enhanced photographs (in jpg format) of the original German sacramental register. --- Donated by the author. |
| Call Number | MKI F 587 .S5 N64 2018 |
| MKI Terms | Freethinkers/ Sheboygan (Wis.)/ Erbe, Carl Renatus Wilhelm/ 19th century/ Wisconsin -- Sheboygan County/ Registers/ Marriage records/ Baptism records/ Death notices |