In 1880 Gustav Koerner (1809-96), one-time Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois and confidant of Abraham Lincoln, published a comprehensive history of Germans in America entitled "Das deutsche Element in den Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika, 1818-48." Dr. Don Heinrich Tolzmann has here translated and edited selected chapters from Koerner covering the states of Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana and adding extensive references to additional sources. This marks the second volume adapted by Dr. Tolzmann from the Koerner opus; "The German Element in the North East: Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and New England" was published in 2010.