Traveling Through Time With the Shelby County Historical Society
Feature on Franz Eicher. TOPIC: IMMIGRATION, PEOPLE & PIONEERS
As told to Charles Eicher. Printed by Jim Sayre in March, 1999

PIONEER FACED LONG ROAD FROM GERMANY TO SHELBY COUNTY, OHIO
The Historical Highlights feature article in February on Henry B. Sherman, Sr. generated favorable comments from a number of our readers interested in the experiences and events shaping the lives of those who, in turn, later shaped the progress of Shelby County. The Sherman family members began their journey to a new life in McLean Township via the German port of Bremer Haven. We have found the account of the German emigration of another Shelby County resident --Daniel Eicher-- and are pleased to share it. The Eicher family took a significantly different route to their new home, embarking from the French port of Le Havre.

Daniel Eicher began his eighty-six years in Steinwendun, Kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, and ended them in Shelby County’s Franklin Township on February 21, 1903. A 500-mile walk across France and from Baltimore to Ohio preceded his varied career as a cooper (making wooden tubs or barrels), canal boat hand, and, finally, the owner-operator of a 90-acre farm on Scott Road between the Fort Loramie-Swanders and Sharp roads just southwest of Swanders.

Sherman’s was a first-hand account; this Eicher story is nearly so. It was written by Daniel Eicher’s younger brother, Franz. Franz and Daniel shared these experiences; indeed, Daniel is mentioned several times in the account. For this reason, we think the article is relevant to Shelby County history.

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Franklin Township farmer Daniel Eicher, 1816-1903, walked from Germany, through France, and from Baltimore to Shelby County, Ohio. His brother wrote a first-hand account of their life in Bavaria and their travels in Montgomery and Shelby counties.