Coming Soon

Dear cousins,

This letter is an invitation to all the descendants of Moab and Anna Shank Showalter . . .

Showalter Generations in America Jacob to Moab . . .

On Saturday Evening November 25, 2017

Includes a 4:00 opening of the brand new one-day-only Showalter Museum

Plus a 5:30 pm Virginia supper, catered – no need to bring any food, just $15 for the meal and expenses . . .

.At the Fellowship Center of Marion Mennonite Church.

Reservations are needed.  Also, I would like to collect the money ahead of time so that I have one less detail on the day.  You may send payment to me at 136 Clayton Ave., Waynesboro, PA  17268.  $15 per person.

Three years ago I presented “European Origins of the Showalter Family”.   This year’s presentation continues the progress of our ancestors after arriving in America up through around the year 1900. If you missed out on the last presentation, or if you want to review it, go to showalterhistory.com to read it or google “Showalter History You Tube“ to watch it.    

To make your reservation, or if you have any questions or comments, please click here  or email me at linden@showalterhistory.com.  Or call me at 717-377-7300. 

Please pass this invitation around to others in your family who might be interested.  All are welcome!

Blessings,

Linden Showalter

Strengelbach

The dörfli (or small village) of Strengelbach consisted of 18 families, who farmed the surrounding fields.  These level fields were on the flood plain of the Wigger river, which frequently flooded with rain and snowmelt from the Alps Mountains to the south.  Too much flooding ruined the crops and made the soil hard.  And too much effort was spent on draining these fields and breaking up the hard soil.  In this regard, Strengelbach stood in sharp contrast to its neighbor Zofingen across the Wigger River.  Zofingen had two walls and a moat, while Strengelbach had neither wall nor moat.  The people of Zofingen lived in relative security, while those in Strengelbach were vulnerable to the robbers who lived in the nearby forests.  Strengelbach was struggling on the floodplain, while Zofingen had the sunnier location and the better land.  Zofingen was settled first and Strengelbach later.  Even when the Wigger River was channelized (the Swiss say “corrected”) around the year 1500, Strengelbach remained a small village of economically-challenged farm families.  So the Schowalters may have had some economic incentive to move elsewhere.