Dakota Dirksens
Scroll to the bottom for maps locating this township in South Dakota. GRANDMA links require membership for access.
An
alphabetical List of the Brotherfield Mennonite immigrant men whose data is found on BLM land records, the 1880 and 1885 census, the original Brotherfield Mennonite Brethren church records and many related books and genealogies.
Library of Congress railroad maps include the Yankton to Brotherfield area in 1874 and 1876. The first (1873) German Russian immigrant in Turner County was Crimean Daniel Unruh whose large purchased settlement is shown above the TU of TURNER on this 1879 map. Brotherfield is easily located on this County Plat Map from the front page of an 1883 Parker, SD newspaper called The New Era.
The earliest (ca 1880) Plat Map (Turner County Courthouse) is named "Brothersfield". Curious about what trails the immigrants followed before roads were graded, I drew arrows from name to name as they were recorded by the 1880 census taker and linked each section to a 2003 satellite photo on this altered Brothersfield Plat. The spelling of Brothersfield changes on this 1893 Plat also at the Parker, SD Courthouse. This 1909 Brotherfield Plat is from the collection of Robert G Guenther. Finally, here is a recent topo/road map of the larger area.
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