Ambrose Oschwald

[2] The German revolutions of 1848–49 persuaded Oschwald to make plans to start a religious colony in America.

The first settlers in the Oschwald group numbered 113 and came to the United States from the Black Forest region of Baden, Germany.

[3] In late August 1854, Father Oschwald sent six men to locate the land he had purchased, and they took a boat on Lake Michigan from Milwaukee to Manitowoc, the county seat.

Oschwald followed on September 1, with more men, and the group began working to clear the land and build log houses.

Like a monastery, members of the colony would gather there daily to pray the Divine Office in their native German.

The settlers began going by the name "The Association" and agreed to share everything in common and work without pay, in imitation of the lives of the first Christians as depicted in the Acts of the Apostles.

In preparation for the great move, Oschwald had studied medicine at the University of Munich, thus he served as both the spiritual guide and healer of bodies for the community.