German Twp

History of German Township

Source: History of St. Joseph County, Indiana
Hon. John V. Hadley, Editor in Chief.
Chas. C. Chapman & Co.,
Chiago 1880 

There is a peculiar, instinctive characteristic of man which seems to lead him, as it were unconsciously and imperceptibly, in the footsteps of progress and direct him to locate in that part of an unsettled country which is destined to become in the near future a country the most highly civilized, the most beautiful and fertile. It is probably to be attributed to this innate feature of finite man that German was among the earliest settled townships in St. Joseph county. Taken as a whole, there can surely be no more desirable locality in the county in which to live than German township. Here everything exists in abundance, and the country is richly embellished with all the beauties of nature; and, all in all, it seems to be one grand and lovely combination Of nature and art in which the former largely predominates; for, civilize the country all you may, improve it all you can, and then bring to bear upon it the inventions wrought out by all the skill and ingenuity of man; then compare its condition with what it was in its early, pristine state, when the timbered land was inhabited by the red man, and the prairies were covered with tall and waving grass, interspersed here and there with wild flowers which sent forth their sweet 'perfume as a presentiment of the coming future, yes, do all this, strain your imagination to conceive and comprehend all these, and you will find the two conditions almost incomparable, with the present one gradually fading away like the rays of the setting sun. But no commendatory prelude can do justice to the history of German township; plain facts must be presented.