“ A few moments before crossing the far-famed
battle field of Montmirail, I met a cart rather
strangely laden; it was drawn by a horse and an ass
and contained pans, kettles, old trunks, straw-bot-
tomed chairs, with a heap of old furniture. In front,
in a sort of basket, were three children, almost in a
state of nudity; behind, in another, were several hens.
The driver wore a blouse, was walking, and carried
a child on his back. A few steps from him was a
woman. They were all hastening toward Montmi-
rail, as if the great battle of 1814 were on the eve of
being fought.
	I was informed, however, that this was not a
removal; it was an expatriation. It was not to Mont-
mirail they were going --- it was to America. They
were not flying to the sound of the trumpet of war ---
they were hurrying from misery and starvation. In a 
word, it was a family of poor Alsatian peasants who 
were emigrating. They could not obtain a living in
their native land, but had been promised one in Ohio.”
---From VICTOR HUGO’S "The Rhine."
				

				
	To my Alsatian grandparents, paternal and maternal, who
were among the pioneers of Perry County, and who may have 
been the ones seen by Victor Hugo, this volume is respect-
fully dedicated.