German
Germans in Arkansas can be traced back to the 1830s. Christmas trees - a novelty in most areas - were found in the homes of Northwest Arkansans during the 1830s. Families charged 10 cents admission for those who came to look upon this new feature in Christmas celebration. Communities such as Little Rock and Arkansas Post could boast of several German families.
Jesse Hinderliter, a man of German descent, began what is now Little Rock's oldest building, the Hinderliter Grog Shop, as a log structure in 1826. It was his home and business, where he lived with his wife and two slaves until his death in 1834. The Hinderliter Grog Shop is on the tour of historic homes at the Historic Arkansas Museum.
Many Germans served in the Union Army during the Civil War and were stationed in Arkansas. After the Civil War, when Southern states began to target foreign immigration, many Germans arrived in the state. They came to Arkansas for religious freedom, economic security, and were enticed to move by railroad companies and local newspapers. The German Immigration Aid Society of Little Rock worked hard to bring Germans to Arkansas through propaganda. They extolled the virtues of the rich soils, raw materials and mineral wealth of Arkansas.
Between the 1870s and the 1890s, German immigration to the Arkansas River Valley between Little Rock and Fort Smith occurred in large numbers. Stuttgart, Althiemer, Engelburg, Imboden, Ulm and the Roman Catholic missions of Subiaco in Logan County, Fort Smith, Jonesboro and Pocahontas had German settlers.
For the most part, the Germans were well-received in Arkansas. "Industrious, hearty, sober, thrifty, intelligent, peaceful" were only a few words that appeared in newspapers during the 1870s to describe these new citizens of Arkansas. They were desirable employees and considered good citizens in the years following the Civil War. They spoke native German and English, attended Lutheran, Jewish and Catholic services in their communities and maintained a stout devotion to the military and social interests of their mother country.
Just because they were good citizens, however, the Germans did not lose their national identity. Exuberant parties with drinking, toasting and dancing were common and were often opposed by more conservative citizens of Arkansas. One German attempted to explain this attachment to Old World customs in the Arkansas Gazette in 1871, "We Germans…[with] these notions we have brought with us to this continent with out ennobling music and soul-cheering song, and we will cherish and stand by them…These pleasures we will not allow ourselves to be robbed of."
Other communities and counties associated with German settlement include settlements in Logan County, Helena, Little Rock, Arkadelphia, Carlisle, Lonoke, Wheatley, Weiner, Jonesboro, Newport, Knoble and families in Van Buren County.