Walworth county, Wisconsin eventually became home to all of my mothers grandparents.

 

The Amborn and Kümpel (Kimball) families arrived in May of 1847:

Success has come to Anton H. Amborn, one of our worthy German citizens, who owns and operates scientifically a fine farm in Bloomfield township, because he has worked hard and has lived an honest, conservative life. He was born in Saxony, Germany, December 25, 1840, and is the son of Caspar and Louise Amborn. The parents and their two sons and two daughters came to America in 1847, direct to Wisconsin, the voyage across the ocean requiring seven weeks. They landed at Kenosha and the next day started for Walworth county, two days later finding them in Lyons township, and here they at once bought forty acres of land, and this was the family home until 1869, when the father sold out and moved to Burr Oak, LaCrosse county, and there the father and mother spent their last days. They were the parents of the following children: Anton, of this sketch; Henry, who went to LaCrosse county and died there ; Jacob lives in LaCrosse county; David and Rena are deceased; Bertha married John Storandt and they live at Burr Oak.

Anton H. Amborn remained in Walworth county, working out at farm work during- his younger days. In 1865 he bought the LaTour farm of one hundred and twenty acres in the northern part of Bloomfield township and lied there four years, then sold out and bought one hundred and twenty acres where he now lies in section 14, this township, which he has brought up to a high state of improvement and cultivation. and here he has carried on general farming and stock raising successfully, and has a pleasant home.

Mr. Amborn was married on February 26, 1867, to Martha Kimball, daughter of David and Margaret (Young) Kimball. She was born in Saxony, Germany, and came to America simultaneously with the Amborns. There were sixteen or eighteen families in all who came at that time and settled here.

Source: History of Walworth County, Wisconsin (1912), pages 954-55. By Albert Clayton Beckwith (1836-1915)

The Schultz family arrived in the United States in 1846 but lived in in Alexander in Western New York for several years. They arrived in Lyons sometime between 1850 and 1860.

Margaret Zang (b. 1858) emigrated to Walworth County sometime between 1880 and 1883.  Rosina Josephi (Schmitt) Zang (b. 1825) and daughter  Rozina Josephi Zang (b. 1863) reportedly emigrated together, probably sometime between 1884 and 1888.

View Lyons on Google Maps

 

Additional Resources:

  • The ‘History of Walworth County, Wisconsin‘ (written in 1882)
  • Town of Lyons – Walworth County Genealogical Society
  • Saint Kilian 1856 – 1981: The parish in Lyons, Wisconsin created a document detailing the history of the parish as part of their 100 year anniversary celebration in 1956. An update (which took the 1956 document and added an introduction to the front and provided some additional information at the end) was created in 1981 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the parish. I have re-typed it and converted to a HTML formatted document.
  • History of the Town of Lyons – Compiled in 1947 for the Wisconsin Centennial 1848-1948 by Hazel A. Loomis