Ethnicity and Its Influence

I have been reading a couple of publications that hint at some interesting ideas.  Minnesota 13 Stearns County’s ‘Wet’ Wild Prohibition Days by Elaine Davis and “An Analysis of the Ethnic Distribution of Settlers to Sherburne County In 1880,” a master’s thesis by Banette R. Kritzky both provide some interesting information about Stearns and Sherburne Counties.  These two works suggest that ethnicity and the immigrant population of the counties has a significant impact on the developing character of the county.

Although this is not a particularly new idea, the application to Sherburne County is interesting to me.

A large portion of the early settlers of Sherburne County were migrants from New England and New York.  Their Puritan work ethic had a noteworthy influence on the county.  I am still working to document the full extent of their influence, but it appears that these early settlers from New England became the political and business leaders of the county.  Understanding these leaders and their belief system is important to understanding the character of Sherburne County as it developed.