Iowa Ethnic Groups

United StatesIowaIowa Ethnic Groups

Many tribes and bands of Indians lived or traveled through "the beautiful land" of Iowa. A timeline is available at Iowa History detailing the eventual turn over of land from the Indians to settlers. Between 1833 and 1851 after a series of treaties extinguished Indian claims to the land, the first permanent white settlements were made in eastern Iowa. Reservations, agencies and the half breed contract are all discussed in the Iowa Indians page.

French
French explorers were the first white men to settle in Iowa. They were there when France ceded the land to Spain. Once they settled on mining more French Canadians immigrated to the area.

German
Keokuk, Burlington, Muscatine, Davenport, Lyons, and Dubuque were destination settlements for Germans.

Amana Colonies
In 1841 the German Government was getting extremely intolerant of the Inspirationist congregations so they sent a group of 4 men to America to find them new homes. They settled first in close to Buffalo, New York in a community they called Ebenezer. Needing a more secluded area, they eventually settled in the fertile land of Iowa along the Iowa river, Amana  Colonies  In 1855 the first village, Amana, was laid set up. Six more villages had been established by 1863.

Amish
The Amish or sometimes known as Mennonite Amish, originally came from three countries, the Palatinate region of Germany, Alsace now in France, and German speaking Switzerland. This group of Amish and Mennonite immigrants came to Pennsylvania with the Palatine groups in the 18th century. They spoke Pennsylvania German commonly known as Pennsylvania Dutch.

Jewish
Between 1848 and 1878 nearly 1000 Jewish settlers immigrated to communities along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Their talents as cobblers, milliners, grocers, tailors, teachers, doctors and lawyers were welcomed to this new frontier. This Jewish population were mostly from Germany, immigrating to escape anti-Semitism from their native land. After 1900 the Jewish grew in population due to the influx from Eastern Europe, mainly Russia and the America's East Coast.

Websites

 * German Immigrants in Western Iowa Protestant Church Records
 * German Immigrants in NE Iowa Protestant Church Records
 * Germans of Iowa FHL Microfilm number for this book is #1036447
 * Iowa Ethnic Groups
 * Largest ethnic groups in Iowa