My great-great grandparents, Margaret Mans and John Peter Ney, immigrated to the United States from Luxembourg with their parents in 1853 and 1867, respectively. Both families settled in Belgium Township, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, which is where Margaret and John Peter married in 1876. For nearly all of their lives they resided in Ozaukee County, except for a brief sojourn in nearby Sheboygan County. John Peter was a farmer, teacher and possibly an insurance agent, and probably just about anything else he could think of in order to support his and Margaret's eleven children who survived infancy.
In many ways, they were not a remarkable family, just two hard-working, God-fearing people who did their best to raise a large family, with the resources available to them, like so many others. They are, however, representative of Luxembourg immigrants to America who continued to farm, communicate and worship in much the same manner they had in their mother country.
I set out to explore what a large Luxembourg-American family, headed by two immigrants experienced in the nineteenth century. It has since turned into much more. The culture of Luxembourg, while unique and distinct, has been suppressed by hundreds of years of foreign rule and in many respects Catholicism has taken on the role of cultural identity for Luxembourg-Americans. I felt it was important to understand the history of the country in order to better to understand its people.
At the time of this writing it is known through plat maps and census records that John Peter Ney purchased several pieces of land in Ozaukee and Sheboygan Counties. The county land records have not been microfilmed for the entire time period needed and exact dates of purchase and sale for his property are currently being researched. Federal census and birth records contradict family tradition that the Ney family resided in Holy Cross exclusively and the land records for both Ozaukee and Sheboygan Counties may clarify this.
I have always been interested in genealogy - even before I ever knew the meaning of the word - as a child poring through a suitcase of old photographs at my grandmother's house every time I visited. My interest in my Luxembourg roots was further whetted when I visited Wisconsin for the first time in 1992.
The information on the following pages was obtained from a variety of sources. Any errors, omissions or incorrect conclusions are entirely my own. In Luxembourg civil documents a woman is referred to by her maiden name throughout her life and I have adopted that practice in this document.
I would like to especially thank my dearest aunt, Barbara Ney Leimback, for her patience, encouragement and most of all her immeasurable assistance throughout this project. Credit for the completion of this project belongs entirely to her!
Lisa Oberg
17 October 1998
Seattle, WA