Nicholas & Maria Crider (Edna's Great-Grandparents)

The first Crider of whom we have record of is Nicholas Crider and his wife Maria Stober Crider. (Edna's Great-Grandparents)  They were natives of Switzerland, land of the Alps and there they were married.  Nicholas, who was a weaver by trade, immigrated to the United States in 1846.  He and his wife settled in Ohio.  They cleared 40 acres of land, erected a log house and other buildings and lived there for 10 years.  At the end of that period, they moved to Iowa and living on 160 acres of government ground which Nicholas had purchased in Poweshik County (encompasses Brooklyn, Malcolm, Grinnel etc) in 1856.  Again, he erected primitive structures made of logs that were to be found on the majority of the homesteads of that period, placing his land under cultivation gradually as he cleared it.  (probably used mostly Black Walnut tress, an excellent and abundant tree in South Eastern Iowa at the time)

{The first official white settlement in Iowa began in June 1833, in the Black Hawk Purchase. Most of Iowa's first white settlers came from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, Kentucky, and Virginia. The great majority of newcomers came in family units. Most families had resided in at least one additional state between the time they left their state of birth and the time they arrived in Iowa. Sometimes families had relocated three or four times before they reached Iowa. At the same time, not all settlers remained here; many soon moved on to the Dakotas or other areas in the Great Plains. } http://publications.iowa.gov/135/1/history/7-1.html Here, Nicholas resided until his death at the age of 77.  He was a democrat in politics, considering the principles of that part to more closely resemble the governmental policy of his native land.  The family was Lutheran Switzerland and Ohio, but united with the Moravian Church.  {The Moravian Church is over five centuries old. 'The name Moravian identifies the fact that this historic church had its origin in ancient Bohemia and Moravia in what is the present-day Czech Republic'. This makes sense as southeastern Iowa is a heavily Czech area.  'Moravians support collegial experiences with children of God in other Christian churches, and carefully avoid all disputes, respecting opinions and ceremonies peculiar to one or another Church. We recognize that through the grace of Christ different denominations have received many gifts and that the Church of Christ may be enriched by these many and varied contributions. It is our desire that we may learn from one another and rejoice together in the riches of the love of Christ and the manifold wisdom of God. We welcome every step that brings us nearer the goal of unity in Him. In this fellowship we cooperate with other churches in the support of public charities or Christian enterprises, which have a just claim upon us as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Their basic motto is In accepting other creeds of the Christian Church (such as the Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed, the Augsburg Confession) and in its practice, the Moravian Church has always stood by its motto: "In essentials, unity; in non essentials, liberty; and in all things, love." ' http://www.moravian.org/ From what I have found, they are in line with the Unitarian Church, maybe not so liberal, but very tolerant}