1987 marks the 150 ^th anniversary of important events for Batesville, Oldenburg, and Penntown. For Batesville, it is the 150^th anniversary of the founding of Huntersville Evangelical Protestant Church (United Church of Christ). The founding of this church marks the beginning of the community around which the Town of Huntersville was platted in 1841. Huntersville is the oldest part of present day Batesville.

For Oldenburg. 1987 is the 150^th anniversary of Holy Family Catholic Church and the platting of the Town of Oldenburg. For Penntown it is the150^th anniversary of the platting of what was then called "Pennsylvaniaburg", the first town in Adams Township "parent" of the town of "Sunman".

However, the history of these Batesville area communities did not begin just 150 years ago in southeastern Indiana. This year marks the sesquicentennial of their Indiana history, but the history of some of these communities is six to eight times older than their history in Indiana. For example the Town of Venne, Germany, from which many of the early settlers of Hutersville came, will celebrate its 900^th anniverary this year. That history had been forgotten in this country, but now it is being rediscovered.

Many of the ancestors of Batesville area citizens were first Christianized about 1200 years ago. Much of the religion, diet, culture and values of Batesville area communities originated centuries before the immigrants came to this country. Yet none of the extensive histories written about this part of Indiana has provided more than a glimpse about where these communities came from, what they brought to this country, and the major events that affected their development. That is the purpose of publishing this new history.

Much of the settlement of the Batesville vicinity can be traced back to three areas in northern Germany which were not very far from each other. Huntersville to Venne, Engter, Bramsche and surrounding communities just north of Osnabrueck in the Kingdom of Hannover, Oldenburg to Damme Parish about ten miles further north in the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, and many German settlers in Adams and Laughery townships to Heilgenfelde Parish about forth-five miles further northeast in Kingdom of Hanover just south of Bremen.

However, the settlement of this area was not exclusively by north Germans. Pennsylvaniaburg was named because many of its early settlers of English ancestry came from Pennsylvania. Penntown was soon heavily settled by south Germans, particularly from Baden and the Bavarian Paltinate. South German settlement was even greater east of Penntown in Northwestern Dearborn County.

The entire area around Batesville has long been proud of its German heritage, yet much of this heritage and history has been ignored or forgotten, particularly in the last 50 years. Some families in the communities around Batesville still have 3^rd and 4^th cousins living in the boyhood homes of their great and great-great grandfathers who left Germany 120 to 150 years ago, but few are aware of each other's existence.