Help With My Mother's Family

[Von Braun]

I know quite a bit about my father's mother's English family. I have traced it back almost two thousand years with the help of computerized records, and family hard copy records which go back approximately three hundred years.

I now want to fill in my mother's half of my pedigree. I only know names going back to my great-grandparents side on this half of my family. Here are the basic facts:

1) So far as my mother knows, all branches have German names
(the surnames that I know of are Krause, Schultz, Schwantes, and Matter)
2) All branches were central Wisconsin dairy farmers after coming from Germany
3) Presumably all branches came straight to Wisconsin, from Germany, in the mid-19th century

Does anyone know if these surnames, the occupation of dairy farming, and the mid-19th century migration to the midwestern U.S. are indicative of origin from any specific part(s) of Germany and/or any other interesting information?

[Von Braun]

4) All branches were Lutheran.

I have heard that, roughly speaking, northern Germany = Lutheran and southern Germany = Catholic. This would seem to indicate a northern German origin for my family.

On the other hand, though, my mother and her parent's photographs have been looked at and the few people who looked at them had this to say, mother = Dinaric, maternal grandfather = Dinaric, maternal grandmother = Alpine, all three with some Nordish influence due to eye and hair pigment. This would seem to indicate mainly a southern German origin for my family.

Does anyone have insight into my first post and this apparent conflict?

[Hesse]

I have heard that, roughly speaking, northern Germany = Lutheran and southern Germany = Catholic. This would seem to indicate a northern German origin for my family.

Yes and no. As a rule, yes but not always, for example my ancestors from Northern Germany were all catholic for several generations. Also there are in Northwestern Germany areas which are/were predominately catholic such as the one my ancestors were from.

However, since my Northwest German ancestors were catholic, could this possibly indicate a southern German origin for my family further back?

On the other hand, though, my mother and her parent's photographs have been looked at and the few people who looked at them had this to say, mother = Dinaric, maternal grandfather = Dinaric, maternal grandmother = Alpine, all three with some Nordish influence due to eye and hair pigment. This would seem to indicate mainly a southern German origin for my family.

Hair pigmentation of my family also seems to point to Bavarian rather than the fair haired Germans of the north unless we were dark haired catholics from Prussia.