Ronald Collins

The Klingler and Walbolt Family Histories Ronald Collins

Families struggle, intertwine and flourish. Often doing all three at the same time. This is the story how three immigrant families decided to come to North America, their struggles to survive in a foreign land, and how they intertwined and flourished. The Klingler and Walbolt families, while predominantly German, also had roots in the United Kingdom and Ireland. German, English and Irish immigrants worked as farmers and domestic servants. As the country moved from an agricultural to an industrial economy in the latter half of the 19th century, they laid railway tracks, build canals and worked in factories. They worked in the textile industry and in coal mines. They helped produce iron and steel, and worked on gas, electricity, and water projects. They became doctors, lawyers and business people. These immigrant families helped to settle and grow this country. They had an impact on where they lived; at the same time, by uprooting themselves from their home countries, they profoundly changed their own lives. Contains the families of: Taylor, Schei, Weatherwax, Burrell, Hardesty, Foster, Busby, Brown, Kamerling, Lahr and Crosby.