- Special Sections NEW KNOXVILLE — During the early 1830s,
emigrants from Ladbergen, Germany, settled in New Knoxville, an
area that promised hope to families in Germany that did not have
the economic opportunities America provided. On June 30, 1836,
27-year-old James Knox Lytle drew up a map of the land he had
purchased in Washington Township, which was comprised of 102
lots. The town was named Knoxville, after Lytle’s mother’s
family, although it did not receive a name until the 1840s.
Wilhelm and Elisabeth Fledderjohann Kuckhermann emigrated from
Ladbergen and wrote back to Germany, praising the opportunities
they had found in New Knoxville. They were soon joined by the
Lutterbecks, Meckstroths and Fledderjohanns, also from
Ladbergen, who bought land in the area. The village was heavily
German and was tri-lingual for a century, most speaking Platt,
or low German, high German and English. New Knoxville Historical
Society Trustee Myron Fledderjohann explained that Platt was the
working language, while high G