Some families in this vicinity, like the descendants of Rev. Daniel Palmer, an early Bapist minister, can trace their ancestors back to New England immigrants who were buried in this country before the first Germans came over 300 years ago. The tapestry of immigration to this area is rich in history and culture.
The lack of a sense of place has long contributed to American rootlessness. In today's media culture, a sense of place is becoming a thing of the past. For example, most of the forefathers of the people in this area did not sail into New York harbor under the Statue of liberty. It didn't exist when they came over, and more likely they came through the ports of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, and New Orleans. These events have been forgotten and need to be rediscovered to help people relate not only to their own unique past, but to the Statue of Liberty as well.
The Statue of Liberty is a symbol, but it is a symbol which many Americans have difficulty relating to because the immigration of their ancestors is no longer a part of their sense of who they are. Unfortunately, most immigrant groups have not been very successful in preserving their diverse ethnic origins and traditions in this country.
Citizens of the United States have long been familiar with the history of the English speaking peoples. Recently, we have been made more aware of the history of other ethnic groups. The television series "Roots" was such a powerful tale because it uncovered a family history which had been so deeply buried by American culture.
The German heritage is also deeply buried owing to two World Wars with Germany, the domination of the English language, and the necessity of emphasizing the English and French origins of the polical ideas in this country. Consequently, despite a huge German immigration, many people of German descent are not particularly aware of their German origins and heritage.
This lack of awareness is particularly true of the heritage of northern Germany where many of the families of the Batesville vicinity originated. The Germany most frequently portrayed for tourists is the Black Forest in Baden, the Alpine regions of Bavaria, and the Rhine with its castles.
Much of the work in identifying the north German culture in Indiana has just begun. One such example is "Brought, Borrowed, or Bought" by Gary Stanton, a folklorist who wrote his doctoral dissertation on the material culture brought from Germany to Ray and Butler township in Franklin County. Copies are in the Batesville and Brookville Public Libraries.
County and local histories for the most part negledted to record precise origins. For many years those origins were obvious and well known. Later they were ignored or forgotten. Today regional origins may be found in the census or sometimes in county histories and atlases. However, specific villages can usually be found only in church records, family papers and histories, U.S. immigration and naturalization records, or by long and difficult searches through emigration records in Germany.