While life under the Electoral overlords brought little else but a scant livelihood in farming for the overwhelming majority of the people in Mehren, in the 19th century, there was an economic upswing during which Mehren grew into a prosperous market centre with a brewery, a tannery, many inns, craft businesses and shops. For broad sectors of the population, though, the new wealth brought no relief from the great need for a livelihood, and thus, between the years 1842 and 1890, no fewer than 364 people from Mehren emigrated to the United States.