In Lee Hilgeford’s biography it is mentioned that his family spoke Low German and learned English at school. Low German was more it’s own language rather than a dialect. It was the Anglo-Saxon German that arrived in England in the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. * When Low German speaking immigrants came to America and heard English, they couldn’t believe anyone could speak such bad Low German. To them English was very familiar and not being pronounced correctly. Speaking Low German was not the same as being low class. It was chiefly a geographical designation. Low German was the language of the northern lowlands. It is the true Anglo-Saxon German.