The country Luxembourg, Europe from which they came is almost totally Catholic. These settlers hailed from Grand Duchy Proper, from what is left of the Grand Duchy after three partitions, chiefly the province of Luxembourg in Belgium. From these the townships of Belgium and Belgium Station on the Lake Shore Road took their names.
Settlers who hailed from Grand Duchy Proper settled in Port Washington, Lake Church, Fredonia, Dacada, Holy Cross and Belgium. although three and four generations removed from the founders, the old country dialect is still preserved in it's purity. In stores, banks and on the street you can hear the Luxembourg dialect still spoken.
The settlers gave nicknames to people referring to their character or occupation. For example "River Schmidt", he lived near the river. "Plaster John", "Black Jake" was a blacksmith, "Cannon Mueller", served in the artillery, "Big Nick", "Big Weiland". There is a dictionary compiled of 1000 nick names in 1908 by N. E. Becker.
The land in Luxembourg was wooded and stoney. It took a lot of hard work to clear the land. They cut trees and dynamited the big stones to make the land tillable. The family would go out to the fields and pick stones. They would divide their land with stones they picked from the fields, and make stone fences. The fences would serve as property lines, and also would keep the cattle on their property.
When the families arrived in this country they were reluctant to pre-emp more than 40 acres of land. That seemed such a large farm compared to the crowded plots they tilled for wealthier landlords in old Luxembourg. It was beyond their wildest dreams to contemplate more intensive holdings. After they cleared some land, they built a log house, barn, and chicken coop, and several other small buildings.
In the winter they usually killed five to six hogs, and a steer. They would make Musz-Treipen sausage. It is a sort of blood sausage mixture of pork (cheek of pig and shoulder) cabbage, and blood. The meat and cabbage were cooked, and then ground and mixed with blood and seasoning, and put into casings. After the mixture was put into casings, about a foot long, it was tied and put into boiling water to be cooked. After it was boiled it was cooled and kept in a cool place, usually the basement, because there weren't any freezers or refrigerators. To serve, you fry the sausage until it is heated thru. This was a treat for Christmas breakfast, and many other mornings. By the way, it was usually eaten for breakfast with fried potatoes.
The hams were salted down, and later smoked. The pork chops were baked and stored in a five or ten gallon crock. The chops were placed in the crock, and the fat was poured over them until they were completely covered. This preserved the chops. Whenever we wanted the chops, we would take them out of the lard, than recover with fat to preserve the remaining chops.
The beef was baked, then cubed, and put in jars, and steamed and sealed. Whenever we had beef we made the gravy by browning flour and adding water and seasoning.The lard was rendered and stored in half or one gallon crocks. The lard was used for baking.
This butchering and putting away of the meat took about a week. Smoking the hams took a couple of weeks. They also made Sulze from pig hocks. The pig hocks were cleaned and cooked until tender. Then the meat was taken off the bones. The meat was either cubed or ground, and seasoned, and recooked in the liquid previously cooked. The meat was placed in a dish and chilled. It is served with vinegar, this is optional.
From the beginning of February until Ash Wednesday, was the season called Fuesicht. It was a time for parties, neighbors and family got together. They would have a sort of Mardi Gras. They would have a masquerade dance, and would not unmask until someone identified them. The last one unmasked was the winner, and usually won a summer sausage or small ham. The masqueraders were called "Fuesboken" (a Luxembourg word). The big party was usually the Tuesday night before Ash Wednesday.
In the spring the women would make laundry soap. It was made from all the leftover fat from cooking. It was made from lye and fat. The lye and fat were cooked in a large kettle, usually outside. After it was cooked it was poured into a wooden box lined with white cloth, covered to keep the soap warm and placed near the wood stove. When the soap was set, which took a couple of days, it was cut into bars and stored in a dry place. The soap was used for laundry and scrubbing floors.A store bought soap "Lenox" was used for bathing.
In those years there were no ready made clothes in the store, except for men's suits. Woman's and children's clothes all had to be sewn by hand. There were very few sewing machines. Baptismal gowns and wedding gowns were also sewn by hand.
In those days there were only four or five dances a year, unless a new barn was built, then they would hold a square dance in the new barn. People came to the dances with their carriages.
Written by Loretta Spies