The decline of American fertility on a national scale is a well-known and well-documented phenomenon, but little is known about fertility decline at the community level. Are immigrant groups really different or are they affected by the same factors and respond to them in the same manner as native-born populations? This essay investigates the fertility and nuptiality experience of the Wends of Serbin, Texas using age-specific fertility rates, total marital fertility rates, the index of family limitation, age at last birth, birth intervals and age at first marriage for both males and females. The Wends are shown to have experienced fertility decline in the same magnitude as the rest of the country though they begin and end at higher levels.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndertonD.BeanL.L.. 1985. “Birth Spacing and Fertility Limitation: A Behavioral Analysis of a Nineteenth Century Population.” Demography22:169–184.
2.
BashW.H.1955. “Differential Fertility in Madison County, New York, 1865.” Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly33:161–168.
3.
BashW.H.1963. “Changing Birth Rates in America, New York State 1840–1875.” Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly41:161–182.
4.
BlasigA.J.1951. The Frontier Experience of the Wends of Lee County, Texas. Unpublished Master's Thesis, University of Texas.
5.
BoatlerJ.F.1980. The Genetic Demography of a Rural Polish Immigrant Community in Texas. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Texas at Austin.
6.
ByersE.1982. “Fertility Transition in a New England Commercial Center. Nantucket, Massachusetts, 1680–1840.” Journal of Interdisciplinary History13:17–40.
7.
CaldwellL.M.1961. Texas Wends: Their First Half Century. Salado: Anson Jones Press.
8.
CoaleA.J.TrussellT.J.. 1974. “Model Fertility Schedules: Variation in the Age Structure of Childbearing in Human Populations.” Population Index40:185–258.
9.
CoaleA.J.ZelnickM.. 1963. New Estimates of Fertility and Population in the United States. A Study of Annual White Births from 1855 to 1960 and of Completeness of Enumeration in the Censuses from 1880 to 1960. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
10.
EngerrandG.C.M.1935. The So-Called Wends of Germany and Their Colonies in Texas and Australia. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Texas at Austin.
11.
EricksenJ.EricksenE.HostetlerJ.HuntingtonG.. 1979. “Fertility Patterns and Trends Among the Old Order Amish.” Population Studies33:255–276.
12.
FleuryM.HenryL.. 1965. Noveau Manuel de Depouillementet d' Exploitation de l'Etat Civil Ancien. Paris: INED.
13.
FliessK.H.1986. The Historical and Genetic Demography of the Wends of Serbin, Texas, 1854 to 1920. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Texas at Austin.
14.
ForsterC.TuckerG.S.L.. 1972. Economic Opportunity and White American Fertility Rates. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
15.
GadboisD.1987. Fertility in Fredricksburg. pp. 79–92 in Fredricksburg, Texas: Reconstructing an Historical Community, edited by GutmannM.P.FliessK.H.. University of Texas at Austin. Plan II Honors Program.
16.
GuestA.M.1981. Social Structure and U.S. Fertility Differentials in 1900. Demography18(4):465–485.
17.
GuestA.M.1982. Fertility Variation Among the U.S. Foreign Stock Population in 1900. International Migration Review16,(3):577–594.
18.
HainesM.R.1977. Fertility, Marriage and Occupation in the Pennsylvania Anthracite Region, 1850–1880. Journal of Family History2(1):28–55.
19.
HainesM.R.1980. Fertility and Marriage in a 19th Century Industrial City: Philadelphia, 1850–1900. Journal of Economic History11(1):151–158.
20.
HajnalJ.1965. European Marriage Patterns in Historical Perspective. pp. 101–143 in Population in History, edited by GlassD.V.EversleyD.E.C.. London: Edward Arnold.
KnodelJ.1977. “Family Limitation and the Fertility Transition: Evidence From the Age Patterns of Fertility in Europe and Asia.” Population Studies31:219–249.
26.
KnodelJ.1978. “Natural Fertility in Pre-industrial Germany.” Population Studies32:481–510.
27.
KnodelJ.1983. Natural Fertility: Age Patterns, Levels, and Trends. pp. 61–102 in Determinants of Fertility in Developing Countries: A Summary of Knowledge, edited by BulataoR.LeeR.D.. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
28.
LeboutteR.AlterG.GutmannM.. 1986. Analysis of Reconstituted Families: A Pack-age of SAS Programs. Historical Methods20(1):29–34.
29.
LeboutteR.AlterG.GutmannM.. Forthcoming. Analysis of Reconstituted Families: A Package of SAS Programs. Population Research Papers, Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin.
30.
OkunB.1958. Trends in Birth Rates in the United States Since 1870. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
31.
PalmoreJ.A.GardnerR.W.. 1983. Measuring Mortality, Fertility, and Natural Increase. Honolulu: East-West Population Institute, East-West Center.
32.
SandersonW.C.1979. “Quantitative Aspects of Marriage, Fertility and Family Limitation in 19th Century America: Another Application of the Coale Specifications.” Demography16(3): 339–358.
33.
SkolnickM.BeanL.MayD.ArbanV., K. De Nevers, and P. Cartwright. 1978. “Mormon Demographic History I: Nuptiality and Fertility of Once-married Couples.” Population Studies32:5–19.
34.
SternM.J.1987. Society and Family Strategy, Erie County, New York, 1850–1920. Albany: State University of New York Press.
35.
The Teinert Book. 1964. Karl and John (Johann) Teinert and Descendents.
36.
ThompsonW.S.WhelptonP.K.. 1933. Population Trends in the United States. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
37.
T'IenY.H. 1959. “A Demographic Aspect of Interstate Variations in American Fertility.” Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly37:49–59.
38.
TolnayS.E.1981. Trends in Total Marital Fertility for Black Americans, 1886–1899. Demography18(4):443–461.
39.
TolnayS.E.GrahamS.N.GuestA.M.. 1982. “Own-child Estimates of U.S. White Fertility, 1886–1899.” Historical Methods15(3): 127–138.
40.
TolnayS.E.GuestA.M.. 1984. “American Family Building Strategies in 1900: Stopping or Spacing.” Demography21:9–18.
41.
Van De WalleE.KnodelJ.. 1980. Europe's Fertility Transition: New Evidence and Lessons for Today's Developing World. Population Bulletin34(6):1–45.
42.
WrightP.PirieP.. 1984. A False Fertility Transition: The Case of American Blacks. Honolulu: Papers of the East West Institute, No. 90.
43.
YasubaY.1962. Birth Rates of the White Population in the United States, 1800–1860: An Economic Study. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
