Ora Labora is and educational and research site dedicated to the recognition of the German Colony. Our goal is to provide verifiable and primary source information on the formation, operation and demise of the colony. In addition to its educational purpose we are striving to gain the required funding and recognition from the State of Michigan to provide a historical marker near the site of Ora Labora on Wild Fowl Bay in Huron County, Michigan.

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ December 2nd, 1898. Pigeon, Michigan. Leiprrandt Brothers To J. S. Duss.

2021-05-26 15:35

December 2nd, 1898. Pigeon, Michigan. Leiprrandt Brothers to J. S. Duss.[English letter; Letter is on letterhead from the Leipprandt Brothers store]. Pigeon Mich. Dec. 2 1898. J. S. Du… Read More

Plans For An Ora Labora Memorial In 1931

2019-10-02 17:28

A story in the December 11, 1931 issue of the Cass City Chronicle outlined a plan to place a memorial near the site of the colony in Bay Port. to the best of our knowledge this m… Read More

Family Names Noted In Ora Labora Meeting Minutes

2018-12-28 15:15

The following 56 names were mentioned in the general business meeting minutes for Ora Labora. Typically they were noted with given credit for an item or labor or payment. The list is not exh… Read More

Biography Of Jacob Kolb

2018-10-19 09:13

Colony General Store and Bread OvenJacob Kolb was the colony’s storekeeper. He was conscripted to the Union Army in 1864 and returned to Ora Labora in 1866. During a struggle for contr… Read More

Biography Of Of Eduard & Herman Goeschel

2018-05-02 19:07

The Backwoodsmen of Ora Labora Eduard was born 8 Apr 1838. Herman was born in 1837. They immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1854 at ages 16 and 17 respectively. In 1862, the you… Read More

Biography Of John J. Froebe

2018-04-29 23:18

John J. Froebe was born in 1823 in Saxony in Germany. He was a miller and emigrated to the United States when he was eighteen years of age. First residing in Quincy Illinois… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ December 24th, 1864

2018-04-29 10:35

December 24th, 1864. Bay City, Michigan. Emil Baur to Baker and Henrici Bay City. Dec. 24th, 1864. Mess. Baker and Henrici, Economy, PA Dear Friends, Tonight I am sitting all alone in the ro… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ December 15th, 1864

2018-04-29 10:33

December 15th, 1864. Ora Labora. Emil Baur to Baker and Henrici. Ora Labora Dec. 15/64 Mess. Baker & Henrici: Honored Friends! Filled with an ardent desire of expectation of a charitable… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ November 30th, 1864

2018-04-29 10:28

November 30th, 1864. Ora Labora. Emil Baur to Baker and Henrici Ora Labora 30 Nov. 1864 Mess. Baker & Henrici Economy, PA Honored Friends! My last letter from the 2nd of this month you w… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ November 2nd, 1864

2018-04-29 10:25

November 2nd, 1864. Ora Labora. Emil Baur to Baker and Henrici Ora Labora. Nov. 2, 1864. Mess. Baker & Henrici Honored Friends, Your tender, loving writings from Detroit, care of D. Pres… Read More

Letters To Ora Labora â€“ October 18th, 1864

2018-04-29 10:23

October 18th, 1864. Economy. Baker & Henrici to Emil Baur Economy, Oct. 15, 1864 Mr. Emil Baur, With true concern we understand from your letter of the 11th of this month that you have s… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ September 6th, 1864

2018-04-29 10:18

September 6th, 1864. Ora Labora. Emil Baur et al to Baker and Henrici Ora Labora 6 Sept., 1864 Mess. Baker & Henrici., Trustees of Economy Worthiest friends! From a bad illness, which th… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ June 1st, 1864

2018-04-29 10:16

June 1st, 1864. Ora Labora. Emil Baur to Baker and Henrici Ora Labora. June 1, 1864. Mess. Baker and Henrici Economy, PA Dear Friends, During the last business trip I found your draft of $5… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ April 30th, 1864

2018-04-29 10:14

April 30th, 1864. Economy, Pa. Baker and Henrici to C. K. Robinson Economy. April 30, 1864. C.K. Robinson, Esq. East Saginaw, Mich. Dear Sir Your favor of 25th inst is received and contents… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ April 25th, 1864

2018-04-29 10:10

April 25th, 1864. East Saginaw, Michigan. C.K. Robinson to Baker and Henrici East Saginaw, Mich. April 25th, 1864 R.L. Baker & J. Henrici. Gentlemen, I have drawn the mortgage to secure… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ April 10, 1864

2018-04-29 10:07

April 10, 1864. Ora Labora. Emil Baur to Baker and Henrici Ora Labora April 10, 1864 Mess. R. L. Baker & Jacob Henrici. Honored Friends! My greeting in the name of the Lord. Your worth… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ February 19th, 1864

2018-04-29 00:53

February 19th, 1864. Ora Labora. Emil Baur to Baker and Henrici Ora Labora Feb. 19, ‘64 Worthiest Friends! The day before yesterday I returned home at 10 degrees below zero. While unde… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ February 15th, 1864

2018-04-29 00:51

February 15th, 1864. East Saginaw, Michigan. Emil Baur to Baker and Henrici. East Saginaw Feb. 15, 1864 Mess. Baker & Henrici Worthiest Friends! Your dear lines of the 9th of this month… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ February 13th, 1864

2018-04-28 12:08

February 13th, 1864. East Saginaw, Mich. C. K. Robinson to Baker and Henrici. East Saginaw. Feby. 13th, 1864 Messrs Baker & Henrici Gentlemen: Enclosed I send you the Bond & mortgage… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ January 26th, 1864

2018-04-28 12:02

January 26th, 1864. East Saginaw, Michigan. Emil Baur to Baker and Henrici. East Saginaw Jan. 26, 1864 Mess. Baker & Henrici Worthy Friends: May God the Lord be with you and yours with r… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ November 28, 1863

2018-04-27 12:14

November 28th, 1863. Detroit, Mich. Emil Baur to Baker and Henrici. Detroit. Nov. 28, 1863. Mess. Baker & Henrici. Worthiest Friends! Being in possession of your friendly writing, date… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ November 19, 1863

2018-04-27 12:12

November 19th, 1863. East Saginaw, Mich.. Emil Baur to Baker and Henrici. East Saginaw Nov. 19, 1863 Mess. Baker & Henrici Honored Friends, Allow me to ask you to send your favorable… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ November 13, 1863

2018-04-27 12:10

November 13th, 1863. Ora Labora. Louis Faul et al to Baker and Henrici. Ora Labor November 13/ 63 Messers Baker & Henrici Economy. Worthy Friends! Your letter of the 31st of last month… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ October 1863

2018-04-27 12:06

October 31st, 1863. Economy, Pa. Baker and Henrici to Emil Baur et al. Economy Oct. 31, 1863 Messers Emil Baur, Louis Faul, Ferdinand Mueller, John J. Froebe, Johann Wagner, and Nikolaus H… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ June 1863

2018-04-27 12:04

June 1863. Economy, Pa. Jacob Henrici and R.L. Baker to Emil Baur. Economy [June 1863] Worthy Friend, Your letter from the 8th of this month, in which you describe your project and inquire… Read More

Letters From Ora Labora â€“ December 15, 1862

2018-04-27 12:01

December 15th, 1862. Lansing, Mich. Samuel S. Lacey to Emil Baur [Letter is on letterhead from the State Land Office of Michigan] Lansing Dec. 15th, 1862 Revd. Emil Baur Dear Sir, I have g… Read More

Ora Labora Colony Group Shot

2016-12-29 17:24

Inscription on the back reads ” Member’s of the Ora et Labora Community, Wildfowl Bay Michigan. Circa 1865. From the Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Read More

Ora Labora Sketch From Researcher 1970

2016-12-23 17:32

This is a graphic of a possible representation of the Ora Labora German Colony overlaid on a map showing roads has they existed in 1970today. Note that much of the colony is situated away fr… Read More

Ora Labora: Lost Town In Michigan

2016-12-16 01:52

Another compilation is that of Alan Naldrett’s 2015 Lost Towns of Eastern Michigan. Comments of various researchers on this book place its value just above a tabloid story but f… Read More

Excerpt -A Huron Community Experiment

2016-12-14 10:18

From “Pioneer History of Huron County” – 1922 by Florence McKinnon Gwinn, Caseville, Michigan. Some researchers consider this work the starting point into furth… Read More

Ora Labora Litho Detail

2016-11-09 19:21

Select areas of the 1865 Lithograph zoomed in for interest and clarity. The German colony was located just north of Bay Port and a bit back in the woods. As you can see from the select &nbsp&hell…Read More

Ora Labora Lithograph 1865

2016-11-09 18:18

Ora Labora, Michigan, lithograph by Ehrgott, Forbriger & Co. after image by H. Roedel dated 20 January 1865. Note the wide main road going from what is today’s Sand (or T… Read More

PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY A COMMUNITY EXPERIMENT

2016-10-22 09:01

The following is an excerpt from a common historical document that has been scanned and re-published numerous times on the Internet. I took this poor quality scan and cleaned it up to be sui… Read More

1875 Land Plat

2016-10-11 17:01

This land plat from 1875 shows the land owned by Emil Baur Read More

Introducing Ora-Labora.org

2016-10-11 15:13

ThumbWind-Mercantile has purchased the ora-labora.org domain name. This will be utilized to establish a research and educational site in which to discuss and offer primary source research on… Read More

Emil Baur Land Grant Records

2016-10-10 00:35

The following records have been located denoting Emil Baur has a holding the following land grants: Name Section, Township, Range, Acreage LO Code, Document #, Signed Date BAUR EMIL 30… Read More

Ora Labora - Pray & Work Blog

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