Old Latvians of Wisconsin

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, a Latvian farm colony developed in Lincoln County, Wisconsin, USA. It was founded by Latvian emigrants from the Kurzeme and Kaunas governorates of the Russian Empire, who had recently migrated to the United States. It was one of the oldest and largest Latvian colonies in the USA.

Why did they leave their homeland? What did they hope to find in their new home? Land? Freedom? How do their descendants understand their history and feel a connection to Latvia? Is it possible to draw parallels between the history of these early migrants and events in Latvia today?

The goal of this website is to introduce the story of the Lincoln Latvian colony to wider Latvian society, where it takes its place in the greater story of Latvian migration, but to also give descendants of Lincoln Latvians the opportunity to learn more about their history and connect to their family roots in Latvia. Here one can learn about the history of the colony, explore the stories of specific families, read excerpts from old newspapers, church books and census information, as well as view land maps and historical photographs.

While the descendants of the Lincoln Latvians mostly no longer live in the area, many still maintain contacts with each other and every so often organize reunions in Lincoln County. The last such reunion was in April of 2013, when “Latvians Abroad – Museum and Research Centre” researcher Antra Celmiņa and historian Andris Straumanis visited Lincoln.