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Village Coordinator Reports 2008
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Villages G-L
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Villages M-R
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Villages S-Z
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VC Newsletter Editor Michael Frank
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2008 has been an active year for those researching
families from the Volga German colonies of Kratzke and Ährenfeld. I don't
track exact statistics of inquiries, but there have been on average two or
three each week. The website of these colonies,
http://www.berschauer.com/Genealogy/index2.html, continues to receive
50-75 hits per week.
Surnames from Kratzke include: Bender, Berschauer, Blehm,
Boxberger, Deines, Dietz, Fabrizius, Gideon, Grohs, Jäger, Knaus, Koleber,
Krug, Mai, Maier/Meier, Michaelis, Müller, Schäfer, Schneider, Schröder,
Schwien, & Templing.
There have been no new "German origins" found this year for Kratzke families.
The largest number of new contacts with researchers is
coming from Germany and Russia. Thanks to the efforts of Hugh Lichtenwald (on
the farm in South Carolina), there have been several "famine letters"
translated that are either from or mention families in Kratzke.
Passenger ship lists have been located for several immigrant families.
There has been a lot of work connecting extended families
from other colonies: Deines from Dönhof, Rosenheim, Franzosen, and Norka;
Blehm from Shcherbakovka and Dobrinka. The newly available censuses for
Dobrinka (1834, 1850, and 1857) have been very helpful in this regard.
I enjoyed seeing wonderful family and friends at the AHSGR/GRHS Conference in
Casper!
That's it for 2008.
Brent Mai
Village Coordinator for Kratzke and Ährenfeld
- Alexanderfeld, North Caucasus
-
Alexandertal (Neu-Schilling), Saratov, Volga
2008 Village Coordinator Report for Alexandertal
This year I heard from three Alexandertal descendants. I
had not heard from them before. Thanks to the work of my cousin Brent Mai, an
error in the translation of the 1857-58 census that Professor Pleve did for me
way back when, was discovered. Pleve had left out a young Kraus. That young
man later came to this country and I had been confused about who he was ever
since 1960! I created a nice little pamphlet on Alexandertal which we used at
the Casper convention. Judging how quickly it kept disappearing from our
table, it was well received.
Since I spend most of my time working on the German Origins project, I thought
it would be fun to see what could be said about the origins of the families in
the first Alexandertal census (1858). I have translations of most of the
relevant available censuses. The task is foreshortened by the fact that no
First Settlers' List that I know of has yet been found for Schilling. These
early Alexandertal lines have been traced back as far as is indicated: Beisel
(Schilling 1798), Daniel (Schilling 1775), Haas (Schilling 1798), Helzer
("Hessen"), Hoffmann (Isenburg), Koch (Darmstadt), Kraus (Thuengen Barony),
Krel and Maul (Schilling 1775), Reil (Gelnhausen?), Satler/Sattler (Isenburg),
Schmidt (Schilling 1798), Schreiber, Schulz and Sinner (Schilling 1775),
Steher (Kurpfalz), Vorster/Worster (Schilling 1775), Weinberg (Schilling
1798).
Unfortunately the Alexandertal website has not been updated in some time. I
built and updated the site using FrontPage software. My computer died and I
find that the operating system (Vista) will not run FrontPage. So far I have
found no replacement for FrontPage which is user-friendly enough for me to
use. If anyone has a good suggestion, please let me know. That is it for
2008.
Dick Kraus
Village Coordinator for Alexandertal
-
Alt-Danzig, Kirovograd
2008 Village Report for
Alt Danzig
The village of Danzig was established in 1787 near the Russian city of
Elisabethgrad in the Kirovograd district by a group of individuals who had
migrated to Russia from in and near the Prussian city of Danzig. In 1842,
the village was renamed Alt Danzig with the founding of the daughter colony
Neu Danzig.
I don't remember of any inquiries this year for families from this village.
Curt Renz
Village Coordinator for Alt Danz
- Alt-Schilling Saratov, Volga
-
Alt-Schwedendorf, Swedish Colonies, Nikolaev and Kherson
2008 Old Swedish Villages Report
Villages of Alt-Schwedendorf, Mühlhausendorf,
Schlangendorf, and Klosterdorf.
I received inquiries on family names of Buch, Meier, Rexin, Oppenlaender,
Hein, Specht within the villages and with the help of fellow researchers of
these villages have helped them to further their research.
I have also received inquiries from a university student in Ukraine who is
interested in researching the history of these villages since it is still an
unresearched topic to this day. The University of Alberta has also recently
embraced this area's unique history which can be found in English on
www.svenskbyborna.com under Canadian. Jörgen Hedman has written the
story from a Swedish viewpoint but the German experience is still the same.
These villages represent a unique diaspora that are a crossover of cultures
and, as a result, have been, by the large part, rejected, by the Swedes and
Germans alike because they do not fit into either ethnic group.
I had an inquiry about a mailing list for a newsletter but since these
colonies have not had a coordinator for so long, and the villages are so
small, and the Germans have not been resident in the villages for so many
years, there are very few inquiries.
I was mistaken about attending the German Lutheran Church in Mühlhausendorf in
2007, it was actually in Schlangendorf. There is only one German family that
lives in the village today. They were banned from returning to this area when
the German army rescued them in 1944/1945 and took them to camps in Poland.
It is very possible that the church will close in the coming years.
I have written a book about the immigration of the villagers from the Swedish
villages to North America between 1889 and 1931. It traces their genealogy
and pioneer history and can be ordered at
www.swedesincanada.net.
My great-uncle's memoirs about his life in the village from 1900-1929 is now
complete and will be posted on the Svenskbyborna-Canadian website in January
2009.
I continue to dedicate time to SOAR as my time permits.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Wright
Village Coordiator for Alt-Schwedendorf, Mühlhausendorf,
Schlangendorf and Klosterdorf
- Amilchin (Emilchin, Emilcin, Amilcin) Volhynia,
Ukraine, Russia
-
Anton, Saratov, Volga
2008 Village Report for
Anton
There were a few inquiries for Anton this year. Most of
my Anton e-mail was with German relatives in Germany.
This past June, I traveled to Germany to visit some of my ancestral villages.
Thanks to all the research by accredited genealogists in
the AHSGR organization, I was able to look up the villages where my
German-Russian ancestors lived before they migrated to Russia. This was a
very exciting experience to realize that after several hundred years, I had
returned to my "roots". Because of previous emails to relatives in Germany, I
was also able to meet my German Russian relatives from Anton and several other
villages.
I am still compiling the information I have on Anton to turn into a
manuscript, much like the one I wrote, "Kukkus, a German Village on the
Volga". In the meantime, if anyone would like to be the Anton Village
Coordinator please let Lincoln Headquarters know, as I will be resigning my
position next year to devote my time to my family history.
Betty Engel Muradian
Anton Village Coordinator
-
Balzer, Saratov, Volga
2008 Annual Report for
Balzer
This has been a productive year for the Balzer research group.
I attended the Casper Convention where many of us met for the first time and I
also met new researchers. Cathy Reilly, then recently returned from a trip to
Russia, gave a wonderful presentation of Balzer today. She and her sister
Karlene brought back many items that they had purchased or received in Balzer.
Most interesting is a set of work cards from one of the textile factories that
dates back to before the 1917 Revolution. These cards list the name of the
employee, name of employee's father and various comments made during their
time of employment.
The Isenburg church record book sold very well, considering it has a limited
realm of interest. Research into German origins expanded into the Kurpfalz
area for the first time. Initial finds were encouraging. Thanks to Dick
Kraus, an expanded talk about this topic will be presented at the 2009
convention.
Darrell Weber had 12 inquires about Balzer in 2008. In terms of projects, he
is starting with the families listed in Pleve (1767) and connecting them with
the names in Mai (1798). He then will try to connect them to the 1857 Mai
census of Balzer. We are really lucky to have all the census information for
Balzer. In some cases Darrell is working back to Germany using
Bonner's (2007) information on the villages in Germany.
Two issues of the Balzer/Moor newsletter have been sent out this year to about
60 researchers. We expect to send out one more issue before the end of the
year. There have been several hits on the website both from the United
States and abroad.
Wayne Bonner
Village Coordinator for Balzer
-
Bangert, Samara, Volga
2008 Report for the
Village of Bangert
I have received two inquires this past year for the village of Bangert. The
database continues to grow and now has over 5,000 entries. The presentation
of the German Brotherhood was given at the Casper
Convention and the people from Bangert were very much a part of this religious
movement. Copies of this home life were added to the Bangert file in Lincoln,
Nebraska.
I keep a list of all the inquiries, along with their e-mail addresses and when
an inquiry comes in for which I don't have much information, I can send along
another person's e-mail for that person to check. It works.
The Volgograd reservoir was filled from 1958 until 1961. This means that
construction began a few years earlier. The village (called Russian Zaumorye)
is located 1 or 2 kilometers away from the original position after some houses
were brought to a higher place. A big part of the original Bangert is now
under water.
The people of Bangert went to milk cows by boat. In the spring, cows were
brought to the islands, near the village, and stayed there until the end of
the season. The boat was rowed to the island in the morning and evening for
the milking.
Paul Koehler
Village Coordinator for Bangert
- Bergdorf, Glückstal, Odessa, Kherson
-
Borodino, Bessarabia
2008 Village Report for
Borodino/Bess
This year has been a difficult one for those who were
giving me information because my house has been under construction and we're
still not finished.
However, all the kind and considerate people have promised to contact me
again. There is always a large number of new additions, corrections, etc. to
be accomplished. I probably have fifty or more people waiting for me to add
their family data.
All my information is placed on my public web site. Perhaps this is why so
many people can contact me. If I can avoid it, I do not charge
anything. All of this is coming out of my pocket. Of course, if the
stock market doesn't bounce back up my pocket won't be as deep.
Take care everyone.
Judy A. Remmick-Hubert
Village Coordinator for Borodino/ Bess
-
Brunnental, Samara, Volga
2008 Village Report
for Brunnental (Brunnenthal)
This year we've had many inquiries. We heard from several Hergert families
just this past week. I also made an important discovery for a fellow from
Russia, Viktor Seibel. You might remember the story of his grandfather who
came to the United States alone, leaving his wife and children in Brunnental,
hoping that he would be able to make money and then send them over at a later
time. This never happened, and he lived alone in Washington State, while his
family lived in Russia. Viktor was searching for any information on this
grandfather, Adam Seibel. Well, just this last week I found the death record
and exactly where he was buried and passed on this long-awaited information to
Viktor Seibel in Russia!
I continue to search daily to expand my research on each family from
Brunnental. I am trying to search each of the following items to round out
the family information:
1) US Federal Census -- 1900/1910/1920/1930
2) Passenger Lists - some new info has been added!!
3) WWI Draft Registrations -- more new ones added!!
4) WWII Enlistment Records
5) Public Records
6) SSDI or other state death indexes
7) Obituaries
8) Photographs - Lots of new photos!!
9) Family stories
10) Naturalization Records
11) Burial records
12) Canadian Census Reports - 1901 & 1911 NEW INFO
13) Marriages (some certificates give parents names)
I want to say that I feel sometimes that I have "exhausted" all sources, but
then I find a brand new family that I didn't have in my growing database of
55,948 individuals. This excites me and spurs me on to "search for more
families".
PASSENGER LISTS / WWI DRAFT REGISTRATIONS
I've also put together a comprehensive report which contain the Passenger List
data by date of arrival and then also the WWI Draft Registrations for all
those from Brunnental by last name alphabetically. These two reports can be
found on our website:
1) Passenger Lists by year -
http://www.brunnental.us/brunnental/passeng.html
2) WWI Draft Registrations by last name -
http://www.brunnental.us/brunnental/ww1draftregistration.html
BRUNNENTAL LISTSERV:
We also have a listserv, where we can send an email, which goes to
everyone who has "subscribed" to the Listserv. Directions on how to join can
be found on our webpage. This is one way we are able to communicate easily
with everyone from our village who has email. One single email does it all. I
try to send out new information such as obituaries or new ship list data, or
anything else that is important to people.
We are trying to add new obituaries as we find them, and
we post those on our listserv, so anyone who is interested in this information
should JOIN our listserv:
Send an email to:
RUS-SAMARA-BRUNNENTAL-L-request@rootsweb.com with the
word "subscribe" (without the quotes) on the subject line.
Or check out our website at:
http://www.brunnental.us/brunnental/
You can also browse through the past postings to the Brunnental LISTSERV
on Rootsweb, so it's a great place to make contacts and get the village name
out there:
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/RUS-SAMARA-BRUNNENTAL/
NEW RECORDS:
I've discovered a wonderful collection online for records in
Washington State and have been working daily to extract marriages,
naturalizations, deaths, etc. The address is:
http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/
These records often give parents’ names or other valuable information. This
has come in handy while researching the Adlers, Linkers, Beckers, Gutwigs,
Hartungs, Brehms, Seibels, Bretthauers, Ehlenbergers, and others. Remember
that many marriages from Oregon took place in Vancouver, Clark County,
Washington. Many marriages can be found at this site, which cover both
states.
THANKS TO OTHER VCs:
I want to also thank all of the village coordinators who have shared new
records or helped me with my research for Brunnental. I email often with
Doris Evans, VC for Frank, Russia and also shared records with Michael Frank,
the VC from Kautz Russia.
I appreciate the spirit of sharing that continues in AHSGR!
Sherrie (Gettman) Stahl
Village Coordinator for Brunnental
-
Many of you are probably not too familiar with the
village of Chasselois (aka Chaisel or Schasselwa). Here is a short history of
this Village which was destroyed in 1771.
Among the Volga German villages established along the Big and Little Karaman
rivers on the wiesenseite of the Volga, the village of Chasselois was a
neighboring village to Mariental, and Louis, among others. These villages
were being established in and about the year 1767. This land – the Volga
Steppes, had been the land where the Kirghis were always able to freely roam
and move their herds of cattle and horses around the country in their nomadic
lifestyle. When they found these strangers inhabiting their
land, with permanent structures to live in, they, with their strong sense of
possession, did not hesitate to challenge them by raiding their villages,
pillaging, raping, kidnapping, and destroying everything in sight. They felt
they had to destroy these people for their own survival. They discovered that
these strangers had (by their standards) a wealth of desirable goods such as
tools, implements, wagons, firearms, utensils, clothing, leather goods,
scissors , cutlery, needles, books, buttons, and many other items that the
Kirghiz had never seen. They knew they could seize these treasures, and also
kidnap the many men, women, and children who would bring the highest prices in
the eastern slave markets. In
August, 1771, Kirghiz raiding parties struck Chasselois and Louis, the two
farthest inland, while most of their inhabitants were in the fields harvesting
severely reduced crops shriveled by another summer of
drought.
Louis had been settled by only 50 families, but the
Chasselois population figure had not yet been recorded. Information about
this raid is meager except that it was executed by no more than 50 or 60
riders. Chasselois was totally destroyed in this raid (according to one
report) and the inhabitants
who escaped capture found refuge in nearby Louis, Mariental and neighboring
colonies.
I have actually had communications on Chasselois during this year. One
communication was from my cousin who found two other Schoenberger"s (Matthias,
and Peter) which I didn't have on my list. It is always interesting to hear
from someone whose ancestors were living in Chasselois at one time.
Thelma Mills
VC for Mariental, Louis, Chasselois
-
I have received and answered six to eight inquiries about
the village. I sent a 20-page history of the village to Ray Heinle and he
made a booklet and copies which he placed on the Volga table at the
convention. Any leftover copies were taken back by Headquarters. I wish to
thank Ray and Sharon White for taking the time and energy to help me by
sending material and names of the people of the village. I have 700-800 names
and am still adding data to the files.
Leroy Nikolaisen
Dinkel Village Coordinator
-
Dobrinka, Saratov, Volga
2008 Annual Report for
Dobrinka
The 1834, 1850 and 1857 census data has been added to the Dobrinka database
which now has records for about 9000 people, 2700 familes and 37,000 data
entries. I am in the process of auditing the census entries, adding
additional family number information, and adding information for people who
moved from Dobrinka to other colonies in 1852 and 1857.
The Dobrinka Mailing list has been fairly active this past year, with over 75
messages sent to the mailing list. Besides numerous queries from the US,
there have also been queries from Germany, Argentina and Russia.
I received pictures of the current village of Dobrinka from someone in Russia,
and they have been added to the Dobrinka web site. Dobrinka is part of the
Lower Volga Village Project. I maintain the website for that project.
Gary Martens
Dobrinka Village Coordinator
-
Dönhof, Saratov, Volga
2008 Report for Donhof/Doenhof/Donhoff
I have had several surname requests for Donhof for 2008 and am working on
research for some of the requests at the present time. I am continuing to
update the obituary file and to compile family and history information on
Donhof. This includes updating family information for Donhof surnames, as
well as having those related surnames from other villages that married into
Donhof families.
I have added the 1834 and 1857 census records for Donhof to my files.
We are continuing to research and add data for the original Peace Lutheran
Church building that we now own and have had service with members from the
current Peace Lutheran church in our old building. More services may be
planned for the coming year. This church building is the original building
built by German/Russian settlers in 1906 in the Sterling, Colorado area and
was the first German speaking church in Sterling. I have copies of the
original church records and have an
ongoing project of translating them into book form. Though this is not a
specific Donhof project, it does involve many German/Russian immigrants from
several villages in Russia. Northeastern Colorado has many descendants from
these original immigrants.
Karen Kaiser
Co-Cordinator for Donhof
-
Dreispitz, Saratov, Volga
2008 Report for
Dreispitz
Dreispitz is a colony located in the Saratov Province, in
the district of Kamyshin, on the Bergseite, along the Dobrinka River. It
is 150 versta from Saratov, 30 from Kamyshin, 15 from the main road to
Astrakhan, 5 from Holstein, 11 from Dobrinka, and 6 from the dock.
This has been a busy year for Dreispitz researchers. Numerous inquiries have
been received from several states, namely Germany, Argentina, and Canada. I
was able to furnish information or direct them to other sources.
Families researched for Dreispitz are: Deal, Diel,
Heinze, Herbel, Keller, Klein, Kraft, Langhofer, Meier, Schwemmer, Steinert,
Steinle, Vogel, Weber, Nusz and others. The Dreispitz Census for 1834,
1850, and 1858, were great in connecting the families, many of which are
related within the village. I suggested they purchase all or part of the
Driespitz Census.
Inquiries were received from researchers that, unknown to
them, were related to me. They were from both the Heinze and the Steinle
sides of my family, and were very surprised when I told them that we were
cousins. This resulted in exchanging many emails, letters, and pictures. We
all benefited.
I was elated, as well as several other researchers, to
purchase the recent translated Census for Dobrinka for the years 1834, 1850,
and 1857. Thank you to the Lower Volga Village Project, Prof. and Mrs. Brent
Mai, and Peter Schantz. Many of the families in Dreispitz lived in Dobrinka
before moving on to Dreispitz.
I am making more and more connections with the Heinze family. Some time ago I
had purchased the Heinze Census from Teresa Helzer, VC for Oberdorf. From the
Dobrinka Census I was able to connect the families. The first Heinze Family
arrived in the colony of Dobrinka on June 9, 1764. Some of the Heinze's
remained in Dobrinka. Two sons of Johannes Georg Heinze moved to Oberdorf in
1852. Other Heinze families moved to Dreispitz. This is based on the
contents of the 1798 Census.
Approximately 600 obituaries collected between December
and May were added to the Lower Volga Village Project, and furnished to the
SOAR project. Approximately another 800 obituaries have been accumulated,
and will be added to these projects by January 1, 2009.
I did not attend the International Convention in Casper,
Wyoming. However, I did furnish information and pamphlets for Dreispitz to
Village Coordinator Ron Burkett, who prepared a display for the Lower Volga
Colonies. I have been told that he did an excellent job.
An index was prepared of the family Households of Dreispitz
in the 1798 Census. It has been placed in the Village Coordinator File. I
also included in the file a list of the materials that I have in my own files.
I continue my volunteer work in the library for the AHSGR
Golden Wheat Chapter. I also volunteer one Tuesday afternoon a month in the
Midwest Historical and Genealogical Library. I attended a Seminar pertaining
to Heritage Quest, a research tool, free to all Kansas residents. I also
attended another Seminar for a resource guide in German Gothic handwriting,
the old German type and handwriting, the old German alphabet, script, and the
Sutterlin alphabet, which is useful in reading German church records,
obituaries, and newspaper articles.
My plans are to continue the connections with the Heinze
Family and with the Steinle Family. The 2008 year has been so busy helping
researchers that I have not been able to work on my own genealogy. There are
many connections yet to be made.
Rachel E. Smith
Village Coordinator for Dreispitz
and Chairman of the LowerVolga Obituary Project
- Eigenfeld, North Caucasus
-
Erlenbach, Saratov, Volga
2008 Village Report
for Erlenbach
The Erlenbach website has been on-line for nearly one
year now, and during that time I've received quite a few queries. Because of
the close proximity with Oberdorf and Unterdorf and the movement of people
between these villages, many of the same surnames are found in all three of
these villages. Teri Helzer has often shared her Oberdorf queries with me,
and I find myself sharing my Erlenbach queries with her because of the surname
overlap and because she is always helpful.
Not all of my inquiries were about Erlenbach or its families. I was, however,
able to redirect those people to other Village Coordinators or other websites
and resources.
Heide Becker Langenbeck
Erlenbach Village Co-coordinator
- Fischer, Saratov, Volga
-
Friedensdorf
2008 Villiage Report for
Friedensdorf
Friedensdorf was one of the many small villages located within the greater
Mennonite settlements known as the Molochna/Molotoschna colony, so named for
the proximity to the Molochna (milk) River in what is the present day
Ukraine. (It also happens to be the village from which I trace my
ancestors.) From the modern-day reports and pictures I have seen, there is
little that now remains of this village.
I have
had no inquiries and have received no new information this past year.
John
Scott Niessen
Friedensdorf Village Coordinator
- Friedrichsfeld, North Caucasus
-
Galka
2008 Annual Report for the Village of Galka
The Village of Galka has very little activity. I have
had two queries in the past 12 months.
Gary Martens and I have worked together on birth records from the Volgograd
Archives to answer questions on the Bernhardt line in Galka post 1857. We
are trying to sort out the Bernhardt line in Argentina.
Gary Schneider
Galka Village Coordinator
-
Glückstal Colonies Research Association
Glückstal Colonies
Village Report - 2008
Researching the villages of Glückstal, Neudorf, Bergdorf and Kassel and their
daughter colonies in South Russia
This has been another exciting year for the Glückstal Colonies Research
Association. During the joint convention in Casper of the Germans from
Russia, we presented "The Glückstal of New Russia, the Soviet Union, and North
America." We celebrated with a book signing on two consecutive days. The
book has been well received, and is available from AHSGR, GRHS, GRHC and from
GCRA.
Since this is our ninth book, we continue to learn about deadlines and other
production requirements. Our 2008 book, of 768 pages, details wide-ranging
research of the Black Sea region beyond the Glückstal Colonies, discusses time
spent in Poland and Hungary en route to the Glückstal Colonies, gives an
extensive list of those arrested and shot during the terror years of 1937-38,
and includes a discussion of the routes taken to Russia based on available
documentary evidence. Several stories of the trek and subsequent banishment
were translated and included, as well as the enforced service of one of our
people by the Communists, two biographies from the South Dakota Archives,
memories of special ancestors like grandmothers, and a story of a quilt that
made it back to Eureka, South Dakota, after being found in a dumpster in a
neighboring state. The DVD included with the book has updated points of
origin, all the post 1885 church records that have been purchased by GCRA to
date, more EWZ records, associated GEDCOMS of family research, and much more.
The "GCRA Team" is pleased to make so much information available to the GR
community. Please see our website for further information on all our
publications and purchasing details.
The group continues to publish the "GCRA Newsletter" twice annually, with 64
pages of research information and news available to our members. The
newsletter has now been published for twenty-one years, a total of 42 issues.
The GCRA team met during the convention and made plans for further projects
and articles. There was much research, as in 2004, that could not be
completed in time to meet the publication deadlines. There are many original
documents that still need to be purchased, and research waiting to be
completed and shared with our members and the Germans from Russia community.
The group meeting during the convention was a give-and-take discussion for the
participants and ran overtime.
Our GCRA Listserve is available to members of the group and is managed by
Michael Miller at North Dakota State University.
Submitted by Margaret Freeman and Homer Rudolf
-
Gnadenfeld, (Neu-Moor/Moor), Samara, Volga
2008
Village Report for Gnadenfeld
Gnadenfeld, (Russian name Kirovskoye), a small "daughter"
colony, was located in the Samara Province, on the weisenseite (meadow side)
of the Volga, Quadrant E-5, Map #6 (Stumpp). It was in the District of
Krasny-Kut.
I am awaiting the 1857 census for Moor, hoping it will list the names of
families who moved from Moor to Gnadenfeld in 1855 when Gnadenfeld was
organized.
Due to its small population, I do not receive many inquiries. This past year
I assisted one person researching a Gnadenfeld family, one person researching
a Gnadenflur family, and several people seeking information on families from
the "mother" colony of Moor, (Russian name Klyuchi). I am hoping the 1857
census for Moor will bridge the gap between family records of these
researchers and the census records going back to the settlement date of Moor.
I continue to collect surnames from Gnadenfeld and the "mother" colony of
Moor, including ship records, Declarations of Intent, naturalization records,
census records and obituaries.
Irma A. Waggoner
Village Coordinator for Gnadenfeld
- Graf, Samara, Volga
-
Güldendorf, Grossliebental, Odessa, Kherson
2008 Village Report for Güldendorf
The village of Güldendorf was established in 1829 near
the Russian city of Odessa in the Odessa district by families from three
villages that had experienced serious water shortages.
I've had several inquiries this year for families from this village.
Curt Renz
Güldendorf Village Coordinator
-
Hoffnungstal, Akkerman, Bessarabia
2008 Village
Report for Hoffnungstal, Bessarabia
The village of Hoffnungstal was established in 1842 in
Bessarabia by a number of families who had been expelled from the private
estate of Karlstal near the Russian city of Odessa. Within about 5 years
additional families from various villages in the Odessa district also moved to
Hoffnungstal.
I've had several inquiries this year for families from this village.
Curt Renz
Hoffnungstal, Bessarabia Village Coordinator
-
Holstein, Saratov, Volga
2008 Village Report
for Holstein
Most Holstein correspondence in 2008 was from previous contacts requesting
copies of the 1834, 1850 and 1858 Holstein census. Copies of the original
census will soon be placed in the Holstein village file at AHSGR. One contact
attended the 2008 convention which rekindled her interest in her
family history.
Church records (1800-1849) for Holstein are now being
translated and computerized. I hope to have them ready for distribution by
the summer of 2009. Information will be posted on the Holstein website when
they are available.
Edith Bottsford
Holstein Village Coordinator
-
Huck, Saratov, Volga
Huck 2008 Village Report
One of the pleasures of being a village coordinator is helping researchers
"find one another" when they have a common interest in one or more surnames
from the village. This year was no exception and I know that I helped several
people learn of a new (even if distant) familial contact.
The major news this year for the village was the arrival and completion of the
translation for the 1834 and 1857 village census records. After waiting for
three years for them to be received, Brent Mai did the translation. Those
records are now available from AHSGR and I plan to enter the data into the
Huck database.
I was fortunate this year to receive and be able to share information and
pictures with other Huck researchers about several cemeteries in Entre Rios,
Argentina. The pictures were of grave markers with Huck surnames. The
gentleman who I corresponded with is a member of an organization 'Germans
from Volga Descendants' who is working hard and seriously to discover and
preserve the heritage and history of several Huck surnames in that area.
Another correspondent from Argentina was focused on surnames Schultheis and
Mueller. I and others provided what information we had.
A student at the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC) asked for material
to help with his senior research report about the forced famine that affected
the Volga and other regions. I told him about the ‘Letters from Hell’
translations that are available on the Huck Website and offered to send copies
of the translation work being done by Hugh Lichtenwald for other Letters from
Hell (he didn't request any more). He also planned to address the terror of
Lenin and Stalin during the periods before the revolution 1921-24, 1932-1933
as well as the forced removal from the villages during WWII with the use of
the NKVD and other secret security organizations. This seemed like a large
topic but I offered to help to the extent I could by sending references and
material I had available. He said he would send me a copy of the finished
report but unfortunately it hasn't yet arrived.
Dennis Zitterkopf
Huck Village Coordinator
-
Husaren, Saratov, Volga
2008 Husaren Report
Alexander Rollhauser has received four inquires regarding the Rolheiser family
and one regarding the Kisser family. So far he was able to
provide information for two of the families. He has three more inquires about
Rolheiser but he is not sure where they lived.
Alexander has made Inquires about Rolheiser and Schoenfeld families at the
Archives in both Engel and Saratov and he has numerous records from them.
They include births, deaths and marriages from 1814 to 1917.
We now have the new census information for 1834 and 1857 from Brent Mai.
I purchased from Igor Pleve, census information for Schiefelbein, Dukart,
Dietz and Kamlowski.
I have had five requests from the same people with whom I have been working
for several years.
In another note, I had Waldamer Kiesner, from Germany, working at my store for
two months. What a great experience this was. My great-great-grandmother was
a Kisner, so this was cool. Waldamer’s grandfather was born in Pfeifer,
Russia where my family was from.
Sheri Rose
Northeastern Kansas Chapter AHSGR President
Pfeifer Researcher
Husaren Coordinator
- Hussenbach, Linevo Ozero, Saratov, Volga
-
Village of Johannestal, Beresan, Odessa
I continue to maintain the Johannestal website and have been getting a query
or two per month, mostly because of the website. I have a rather large
database of Johanestal descendants that was developed by a colleague of mine
and that has been most useful in answering family history questions.
I remain active in the BDO (Beresan District Odessa) RIG for the GRHS and hope
to begin more translation of archive material soon.
Ray Heinle
Village Coordinator for Johannestal
-
Josefstal / Schwabe Khutor, Saratov, Volga
2008 Village Coordinator Report for Josefstal
There is
not much new to report. My cousin and I have been working on a history of
Josefstal. We are hopeful it will be published in 2009. The original edition
will be in German.
While I get many hits on the Josefstal web site, it does not translate into
actual contacts. That is slow, with most folks who have ties to Josefstal now
living in Germany.
The extensive Soviet-era documents I obtained from the archive include some
that have a little genealogical value. The bulk of the documents, however,
give a tiring explanation on how potatoes are to be harvested.
One fascinating document gives the actual order for the Catholic Church in
Josefstal to be torn down, the wood recycled and used to build a club house in
the neighboring village of Oberdorf.
Ted Gerk
Village Coordinator for Josefstal
-
Jost, Samara, Volga
2008 Annual Village Report
for Jost
The good news for Jost this year is the acquisition of Jost Census Records for
1815/1834 and 1850/1857, as well as Stier birth records 1795-1820 and
1834-1864. I am just beginning the process of adding all this new information
to the database to see where the branches lead, which often take me to other
Kanton Kukkus villages.
With the aid of my newly added Jost mailing list, RUS-SAMARA-JOST, and the
Jost website, have received a lot of
inquiries this year, including several new contacts, newly-found relatives
(which is always a treat), and continuing contact with others. All have
contributed valuable information for the village database adding flesh to
bland statistics. Many have sent photos, which have been added to the
website. Together, weʼve been able to
make some exciting discoveries. I continue to hear from Jost descendants in
Germany and continue to be amazed by the number of Volga connections these
repatriated German citizens maintain in both Germany and Russia.
Unfortunately, only one Jost descendant attended the AHSGR/GRHS joint
convention in Casper, Wyoming. But, having the opportunity to become better
acquainted with other Kanton Kukkus coordinators made it more than
worthwhile. I look forward to the 2009 AHSGR Convention in Medicine Hat,
Alberta.
Beth Mueller-Rohn Davenport
Jost (Popovkina) Village Coordinator
-
Kamenka is a Volga colony situated 73 miles from Saratov
near the Ilawla River. There are over 300 populated places with the name
Kamenka in Russia.
According to the ANNOTATED INVENTORY OF CASES OF THE SARATOV KONTORA OF
FOREIGN SETTLERS, Volume 2, which is in process for publication by AHSGR,
the first Kamenka parochial church built is noted in an entry made 13 October
1797. The second church was built of wood in 1832 and burned down in 1890.
What remains of St. Mary's Catholic Church today in Kamenka was built in 1907.
The church still standing is in very poor condition. The steeple was struck
by lightning in recent years and burned. The roof has fallen in. Our artist
friend, Mike Boss, has painted some beautiful pictures of the Kamenka
windmills, frescos of the interior of the St. Mary's Church, a village view
showing the church nestled in the center of the village and a train chugging
by the Kamenka village.
Kamenka church records begin in 1797 and continue to 1867. Early St. Mary's
Church records also contain the baptism, marriage and death records for
Pfeifer [Gniluschka], Husaren [Yelschanka], and Hildman [Panovka]. These
records should be available from the Saratov archives.
Many inquiries continue to come from Argentina. I have found where my
Great-grandfather Jacob Wiesner's sister lived in Colony Hinoyo, one of the
first colonies settled by the Volga Germans in Argentina. Katarina
[Catalina] married Leonardo Schwindt before they left Kamenka. In the 1850
Kamenka census I found that my Great-grandfather had two additional sisters,
Agnes and Susanna. I believe that Agnes also went to Argentina but I do not
know who she married.
Following the Patriotic War of 1812 many of the soldiers from Napoleon's Army
remained in the Volga area. Only one of these lived in Kamenka, Tomas
Schmucker. He appears in the 1834 Kamenka census.
Rosemary Larson
Village Coordinator for Kamenka
- Kassel, Glückstal, Odessa, Kherson
-
Kautz, Saratov, Volga
2008 Kautz Report
This year has been a good year for research.
I processed 34 Kautz-related obituaries from the Volga-German Listserv and
from friends and family. I was in contact with 53 Kautz-descended families
since the last report was filed. Included was new information, dissemination
of my information, current and past obituaries, Pleve charts sent, customized
charts and reports sent, CD's sent. There were thirteen requests for
information which turned out to be unrelated to Kautz. I forwarded four non-Kautz
requests to other village coordinators.
A lot of time was spent revising a large report for the Kautz CD which now
includes all the names in the Kautz database, currently numbering 23,724
individuals. For each person the report includes name, sex, birthdate (birthyear
if living), birthplace, father, mother, marriage date, spouse, deathdate and
death place.
A "Unsere Leute von Kautz" CD was distributed to 43 individuals during the
year. It reflects the ten paper volumes which my aunt Elaine Frank Davison
produced during her lifetime. It also contains Volume 9 which I developed.
Included in Volume 9 are photos of present-day ruins of Kautz and all Kautz
surname charts from Dr. Pleve. The CD has been made available free of charge
to those with a proven lineage to those who lived in Kautz and most likely
were related to the first Kautz settlers.
The highlight of my year was to be able to attend a Frank family reunion in
Laurel, Montana in August, 2008, in honor of Jake Frank. It was known as the
"Frank Roundup". He passed away November 9, 2008 at the age of 93 and left a
legacy of hard work, determination, leadership, and friendship…a good role
model for many Americans. There were many from near and far who were able to
attend. I met many people in person with whom I had been corresponding for
months. Present was Linda Kathrine Yost Berg. She and I compared notes on
Jake's family and we were able to help each other bring Jake's family
information up to date. She distributed the final results to those who
attended. As it turns out, my grandfather, Johann Conrad Frank, used to
travel via train to Laurel/Billings from Walla Walla to visit Jake and his
family. Jacob spoke fondly of those visits.
My friend and collaborator from Yakima, Barbara Balzer Drake (1943-2008), was
an AHSGR fixture and loyal member for many years. Her positive attitude and
zest for life was reflected every time we met. I will miss her.
I am researching microfilm for two Kautz village surnames and will notify
those interested of my findings.
Again this year, I am the AHSGR reports editor for Village Coordinator
reports. I want to commend the Village Coordinators who have taken the time
to explain the progress of their work on their villages. I am proud to be
associated with them.
Michael Frank
Village Coordinator for Kautz
-
Kind
2008 Village Report for Kind
After I joined AHSGR this fall, I realized what a
distressingly small amount of information was available for my father’s
ancestral village of Kind. So I set out to do something about that.
Information on passenger arrivals is readily available on
the Internet for free or at Ancestry.com, so an Excel file of arrivals from
Kind (Baskakovka in Russian) was assembled. Even though I attended a Lutheran
church in Port Huron, Michigan with many members who came directly from Kind
in 1912 or 1913, it was a surprise to discover that most immigrants first went
to nearby McGregor, Michigan to harvest sugar beets, then came to the “Big
City” of Port Huron.
A trip to the Family History Center in Salt Lake City led
to location of a census for 1857 for Kind and many of the surrounding villages
and towns. The census for Kind will be translated from Russian soon and a copy
placed in the AHSGR library. There were also censuses for 1834 and 1850 for
villages in that area. The Family History Center also has microfilm reels of
military recruits, which I didn’t have a chance to look at in depth.
The 1857 census filled in a 75-year gap in my genealogy
from the 1798 census which covers all of the Volga-Germans to the birth of my
great-grandfather in 1873.
A trip to Port Huron is under consideration, since it
was a port of entry by ship and for those who came first to the Maritime
Provinces of Canada and continued their journey by rail to Michigan. The local
library and county clerk also have some great information for those who want
to learn more about their ancestors from Kind. A more broadly based project to
track Volga-Germans in southeastern Michigan is also being mulled – compared
to other areas of the U.S. where GRs settled, the story of Michigan’s GRs has
scarcely been told.
Bill Pickelhaupt
Kind Village Coordinator
-
Klosterdorf, Swedish Colonies, Nikolaev and Kherson
2008 Old Swedish Villages Report
Villages of Alt-Schwedendorf, Mühlhausendorf,
Schlangendorf, and Klosterdorf.
I received inquiries on family names of Buch, Meier, Rexin, Oppenlaender,
Hein, Specht within the villages and with the help of fellow researchers of
these villages have helped them to further their research.
I have also received inquiries from a university student in Ukraine who is
interested in researching the history of these villages since it is still an
unresearched topic to this day. The University of Alberta has also recently
embraced this area's unique history which can be found in English on
www.svenskbyborna.com under Canadian. Jörgen Hedman has written the
story from a Swedish viewpoint but the German experience is still the same.
These villages represent a unique diaspora that are a crossover of cultures
and, as a result, have been, by the large part, rejected, by the Swedes and
Germans alike because they do not fit into either ethnic group.
I had an inquiry about a mailing list for a newsletter but since these
colonies have not had a coordinator for so long, and the villages are so
small, and the Germans have not been resident in the villages for so many
years, there are very few inquiries.
I was mistaken about attending the German Lutheran Church in Mühlhausendorf in
2007, it was actually in Schlangendorf. There is only one German family that
lives in the village today. They were banned from returning to this area when
the German army rescued them in 1944/1945 and took them to camps in Poland.
It is very possible that the church will close in the coming years.
I have written a book about the immigration of the villagers from the Swedish
villages to North America between 1889 and 1931. It traces their genealogy
and pioneer history and can be ordered at
www.swedesincanada.net.
My great-uncle's memoirs about his life in the village from 1900-1929 is now
complete and will be posted on the Svenskbyborna-Canadian website in January
2009.
I continue to dedicate time to SOAR as my time permits.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Wright
Village Coordiator for Alt-Schwedendorf, Mühlhausendorf,
Schlangendorf and Klosterdorf
- Köhler, Saratov, Volga\
-
Kolb, Saratov, Volga
2008 Village Report for
Kolb
This past year has brought more inquiries than in
previous years. I have been able to help most of the researchers.
The most exciting thing that has happened recently is receiving records from
Russia. In these records I have found many missing links in my family lines.
I have been looking for 30 years for this information.
Records received are:
KOLB marriages 1-Jan 1845 to 30 Dec 1907
KOLB deaths 31 Dec 1887 to 26 Dec 1887
KOLB births 1873-1918
Health problems have prevented me from attending conventions for several
years.
In the future I would like to have a website for Kolb. Don't know quite how
to go about this at present.
Thelma Koch Sprenger
KOLB Village Coordinator
- Konstantinovka, Samara, Volga
-
Krasnojar
2008 Village Report for Krasnojar
In the last year I have received no queries about this village. I have been
collecting obituaries and information from Newspaper Archives, Ancestry and
the Ger-Rus list and that has helped me to add more detailed information to
those in my database. I did not have the luxury to attend the convention. I
work 35 hours a week and live in Wisconsin. Paid vacation time from work is
used to visit my grandchildren who live in Florida. I only get to see them
twice a year. Genealogy is my passion and hobby. I will continue to update
my files and am willing to work with anyone who contacts me.
Susie Weber Hess
Village Coordinator for Krasnojar
-
Kratzke, Saratov, Volga
2008 Village Report for
Kratzke & Ährenfeld
2008 has been an active year for those researching
families from the Volga German colonies of Kratzke and Ährenfeld. I don't
track exact statistics of inquiries, but there have been on average two or
three each week. The website of these colonies,
http://www.berschauer.com/Genealogy/index2.html, continues to receive
50-75 hits per week.
Surnames from Kratzke include: Bender, Berschauer, Blehm,
Boxberger, Deines, Dietz, Fabrizius, Gideon, Grohs, Jäger, Knaus, Koleber,
Krug, Mai, Maier/Meier, Michaelis, Müller, Schäfer, Schneider, Schröder,
Schwien, & Templing.
There have been no new "German origins" found this year for Kratzke families.
The largest number of new contacts with researchers is
coming from Germany and Russia. Thanks to the efforts of Hugh Lichtenwald (on
the farm in South Carolina), there have been several "famine letters"
translated that are either from or mention families in Kratzke.
Passenger ship lists have been located for several immigrant families.
There has been a lot of work connecting extended families
from other colonies: Deines from Dönhof, Rosenheim, Franzosen, and Norka;
Blehm from Shcherbakovka and Dobrinka. The newly available censuses for
Dobrinka (1834, 1850, and 1857) have been very helpful in this regard.
I enjoyed seeing wonderful family and friends at the AHSGR/GRHS Conference in
Casper!
That's it for 2008.
Brent Mai
Village Coordinator for Kratzke and Ährenfeld
- Kronental, North Caucasus
-
Kukkus, Samara, Volga
2008 Village Report for
Kukkus
The Kukkus database now contains about 10,400 names. The
requests for 2008 have been for the names of Isheim, Reifschneider,
Hergenrader, and Krum. The correspondents have given me information to put
into the file. Most of this information I already had, but it helped me link
some families that were not previously linked. I put in some information sent
by a new member whose
family name is Wiederkehr, the Kukkus name Ebel being already in the database.
I will be the new Kukkus village coordinator as Betty Muradian has resigned
this position. I will probably be working with Rick Herzog's Kukkus Families
website. I still need to get some particulars on the site and what can and
cannot be posted there.
I have researched some names on rootsweb and ancestry for census and family
connections. Also, I have researched some Social Security Death Index
records. Several years ago, I took pictures of the cemeteries of Wyuka in
Lincoln, Nebraska, Au Gres, Michigan and Fresno, California of known Kukkus
names. I have Descendancy charts for Krumm, Lehman, Heinrich and part of a
Weigandt chart.
I have some pictures of Wenings, Germany and Lengfeld, Germany. Betty sent me
a few pictures of Kukkus. I will be acquiring her Kukkus files in February.
Eleanor Sissell
Village Coordinator for Kukkus
- Kulm, Bessarabia
-
Lauwe, Saratov, Volga
2008 Village Coordinator¹s Report
Village of Lauwe, Saratov, Volga
In early 2008 I took over as the village coordinator for the village of Lauwe,
my predecessor, friend, and cousin, Bernice Geringer Madden having passed away
somewhat earlier. After several failed attempts at getting Bernice’s Lauwe
papers I managed to sort out a complete set of Bernice¹s newsletters, the
“Lauwe Lampe”. I also retrieved some of the village records from AHSGR
headquarters.
In February I put up a Lauwe web page and scanned in all of the old Lampe
articles and placed them there. I contacted Brent Mai and with a little seed
money and publicity from me, Brent has secured, translated, and published an
English version of the 1834 Census of Lauwe.
Ray Heinle
Village Coordinator for Lauwe
- Leichtling, Saratov, Volga
- Lillienfeld, North Caucasus
.
-
Louis, Samara, Volga
2008 Village Report for
Louis
I
have only had about five or six inquiries concerning Louis, Russia. I always
try to answer these as soon as possible, which is sometimes not until I get
back to Arizona in order to check through my reference material.
I did receive some great pictures of Louis from Viktor Pink from Germany. I
published these in one of my newsletters. I love getting these pictures of
the villages. My newsletter is one of my favorite tasks as a Village
Coordinator. I look forward to publishing it four times a year, and I do
always forward a copy to AHSGR for my folder. This year (and part of last
year) I have begun a feature about "So We Will Know Them" with a photo and a
biography, plus any article they have gathered together for publication
concerning their ancestors. These are really great to read and to see what
they look like so as to become familiar with our members and searchers.
Thelma Mills
Village Coordinator for Louis, Russia
-
Luzern, Samara, Volga
2008 Village Report
for Luzern
Luzern is one of the Northern Volga Catholic Colonies. I have not received
any e-mails concerning this colony, but I was able to obtain church records.
These included baptism records from 1892-1900 and 1912-1916. This is not
complete by any means.
Kevin Rupp
Luzern Village Coordinator
-
Mariental, Samara, Volga
2008 Village Report for Mariental
Most of the
inquiries received are for the Village of Mariental. There are always many
for this village, so I travel with my reference material for Mariental. I'd
like to bring my material for all three of my villages, but it's like the
German saying "You can't have everything, where is the room for it!"
I am still very busy, working almost full time on my book on my parents and
their Mariental and Herzog ancestors. I am hoping to get it completed this
year, but time is again getting away from me.
I have become acquainted with another Kinderknecht (whose ancestors were from
Mariental) and actually had a visit from him and his wife. What a nice visit
we had. It was great to fill in that family in my Family Tree Maker. I also
heard from Adolf Exner (a Weigel relative) living in Bavaria concerning the
Weigel lineage I have on my web page. My poor web page is like an orphan
anymore. My granddaughter cannot update it anymore, as she has two full time
jobs, and I am unable to update it myself. So it will stay the same until I
get my book finished, then I will take a class again and re-learn how to add
all of the items that I have in my file, waiting to be inserted. I then will
also have all of my Newsletters on the web page.
My assistant, my daughter, Theresa, is working for the State of Kansas this
year, so we both have our hands full, but are trying to always follow through
with any inquiries. She was taking a class on web pages until she was called
to her position with the State. So it goes!
I wish to thank Denise and Michael Grau for the wonderful and numerous
pictures of Mariental. I will feature them in a future newsletter. Their
trip to the Village of Mariental must have been a tremendous experience.
I like the new plan of receiving a family tree chart from a new member who has
joined our Association. I think I only have received three this past year but
they are most welcome. That is one of the plus's we Village Coordinators
have. I know that everyone is supposed to submit a family tree when they
join, so I would like to be able to receive one for my Village Book. That's
almost asking too much for all of the Mariental, Louis, and Chasselois members
already in the system, but I will work on it.
Thelma Mills
Village Coordinator for Mariental
- Markosowka, North Caucasus
- Molochna Colony Mennonite Villages
-
Moor, Saratov, Volga
MOOR COLONY ANNUAL REPORT 2008
This has been a productive year for the Moor group.
I attended the Casper Convention where many of us met for the first time and I
also met new researchers.
Discovered at the Family History Center in Salt Lake City was a 1:100,000
scale map of the Volga district printed in 1935. This depicts all of the
Volga German settlements then still in existence. Although the script is in
Cyrillic, the village names are the German names.
The Isenburg church record book sold very well, considering it has a limited
realm of interest. Research into German origins expanded into the Kurpfalz
area for the first time. Initial finds were encouraging. Thanks to Dick Kraus
an expanded talk on researching in Germany will be presented at the 2009
convention.
Two issues of the Balzer/Moor newsletter have been sent out this year to about
60 researchers. We expect to send out one more issue before the end of the
year.
Please see Irma Waggoner's report on Gnadenfeld, which also deals with the
Moor Colony.
Wayne Bonner
-
Mühlhausendorf, Swedish Colonies, Nikolaev and Kherson
2008 Old Swedish Villages Report
Villages of Alt-Schwedendorf,
Mühlhausendorf, Schlangendorf, and Klosterdorf.
I received inquiries on family names of Buch, Meier, Rexin, Oppenlaender,
Hein, Specht within the villages and with the help of fellow researchers of
these villages have helped them to further their research.
I have also received inquiries from a university student in Ukraine who is
interested in researching the history of these villages since it is still an
unresearched topic to this day. The University of Alberta has also recently
embraced this area's unique history which can be found in English on
www.svenskbyborna.com under Canadian. Jörgen Hedman has written the
story from a Swedish viewpoint but the German experience is still the same.
These villages represent a unique diaspora that are a crossover of cultures
and, as a result, have been, by the large part, rejected, by the Swedes and
Germans alike because they do not fit into either ethnic group.
I had an inquiry about a mailing list for a newsletter but since these
colonies have not had a coordinator for so long, and the villages are so
small, and the Germans have not been resident in the villages for so many
years, there are very few inquiries.
I was mistaken about attending the German Lutheran Church in Mühlhausendorf in
2007, it was actually in Schlangendorf. There is only one German family that
lives in the village today. They were banned from returning to this area when
the German army rescued them in 1944/1945 and took them to camps in Poland.
It is very possible that the church will close in the coming years.
I have written a book about the immigration of the villagers from the Swedish
villages to North America between 1889 and 1931. It traces their genealogy
and pioneer history and can be ordered at
www.swedesincanada.net.
My great-uncle's memoirs about his life in the village from 1900-1929 is now
complete and will be posted on the Svenskbyborna-Canadian website in January
2009.
I continue to dedicate time to SOAR as my time permits.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Wright
Village Coordiator for Alt-Schwedendorf, Mühlhausendorf,
Schlangendorf and Klosterdorf
-
The village of Neu
Danzig was established in 1842 near the Russian city of Nikolajew in the
Nikolajew district by a number of individuals from the village of Alt
Danzig. In addition, a number of families joined the village from Worms,
Rohrbach, and München in the next few years.
I've had several inquiries this year for families from this village.
Curt Renz
Neu Danzig Village Coordinator
- Neudorf, Glückstal, Odessa, South Russia
-
Neu Moor, Saratov, Volga
2008 Village Coordinator Report for Neu-Moor
Neu-Moor (Russian name Pogranichnyy), was a "grand-daughter" colony, formed in
the 1920's by people living in the "mother" colony of Moor. It was located in
the Balzer District on the Bergseite (west or hilly side) of the Volga River,
and was approximately 30 - 40 miles from the mother colony of Moor.
Very little information is available on Neu-Moor. So far there has been only
one person seeking information on this colony.
Irma A. Waggoner
Village Coordinator for Neu-Moor
- Neu-OberMonjou, Samara, Volga, Russia
- Neu-Schilling I and II, Samara, Volga
- Neu-Straub, Saratov, Volga
-
Neu-Yagodnaya, Samara, Volga
2008 Village Report for New Yagodnaya
New Yagodnaya (Neu
Jagodnaya) was located 65 miles ESE of Saratov or 100 miles ESE of its mother
colony Yagodnaya Polyana. It was founded in 1855.
I received no inquiries this year regarding this village.
Laurin Wilhelm
V.C. for Pobochnoye, Schoendorf, Schoenfeld, Schoental, New Yagodnaya and
Strassendorf.
-
Nieder-Monjou, Samara, Volga
2008 Report for Nieder-Monjou
During the past year we received seven queries concerning the following
Nieder-Monjou surnames: Anschutz, Herber, Hilgenberg, Bisterfeldt/Biesterfeld,
Schneider, Steinpreis/Steinepreis and Stoppel.
We were pleased to be able to reunite a family from Russia, now living in
Germany, with relatives in the United States.
We have also added an example of the Nieder-Monjou German dialect to the
Nieder-Monjou web site.
Michael Grau and Steven Grau
Village Coordinators for Nieder-Monjou
-
North Caucasus
2008 Village Report for North Caucasus
As VC for the North Caucasus, not to be confused with the
Trans or South Caucasus communities, we are dealing with a region of at least
120 individual villages of varying sizes which are reflections of all the
original German settlements throughout Russia. This is an area of a unique
history that remains
obscure because thus far we have been unable to acquire church or civil
records which would help identify and connect the population with that of
their Volga, Black Sea, Volhynian, Bessarabian, Chernigov or other origins.
Worthy of great admiration are the excellently organized VC programs of the
Volga Colonies and the GCRA, which have been accomplished through much hard
work and in the case of the Volga, the advent of Igor and Ludmila Pleve whose
now famous charts have produced such a core of meaningful information.
Unfortunately, our North Caucasus Research Association--a title adopted for
the recent Casper Convention--lacks the manpower to accumulate all the
information that does exist somewhere in one form or another. As a 91 year
old, it is questionable how much longer our Lord will provide me with the
energy required to maintain the research levels established thus far, making
younger blood
most welcome.
It is obvious that a great interest in the genealogy as well as history of the
villages does exist for I continually receive requests for information for
which unfortunately critical facts are often lacking, but I gladly share
whatever data may identify with the query. A couple of months ago, two women,
sisters, one from Phoenix and the other San Diego spent two days exploring my
records. They are now AHSGR members greatly satisfied at what they were able
to learn about their grandfather and great grandfather of Kronental (Nemetzki
Chaginskoe) in the North Caucasus. Another lady with her son and aunt has
arranged to come from McPherson, Kansas, for a similar research experience in
early
December of this year.
My plea is for help in locating the archives that contain these invaluable
church and possibly civil records as well as people with a willingness
to become physically involved with a project that will require concerted
effort but offers great satisfaction as a reward.
Respectully sbmitted,
Arthur E. Flegel
-
Oberdorf research has been slow this year. The researchers that have been
able to connect their families in the past to the Oberdorf 1858 Census have
moved on to the mother colonies and the associated census records prior to
1858 in the mother colonies. There have been a few new researchers in 2008,
but unless they were able to connect to the 1858 census, they are unable to
make connections because of the missing church records. There are hopes that
the missing church records may be in the Saratov archives.
Teri Helzer
Village Coordinator for Oberdorf
-
Ober-Monjou, Samara, Volga
2008 Village Report for Obermunjou
This has been a good year for the colony of Obermunjou. I have not had many
e-mails from people wanting information, but the ones I did receive were very
productive and willing to share information.
I received photos from the Schneider and Exner families that lived in
Obermunjou.
This has been a good year for obtaining records, these include:
Marriages: 1839, 1840, 1858
1874-1911 (Complete)
Baptisms: 1821-1826, 1827-1835, 1849-1918
(Not complete records, only certain families)
Deaths: (not complete)
1850-1876
1890 - 1906
1907-1918
For a number of years the Obermunjou and Katharinenstadt parishes were
together and shared Church books so there is a crossover of many of these
families.
Kevin Rupp
Obermunjou Village Coordinator
www.volgagerman.net
-
Odessa
2008 Report for Odessa
Shortly before volunteering to be coordinator for the city of Odessa, I
completed stage one of the St. Paul's Lutheran church, Odessa web pages, which
reside on the Germans From Russia Heritage Collection website, under the
direction of Michael Miller at North Dakota State University:
http://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/history_culture/history/stpaul/index.html
The church was the heart of the German community in Odessa, as the majority of
Germans in Odessa were Lutheran. My goal for the St. Paul web pages is to
build as complete a picture of the historical church and its congregation as
possible, from its beginnings in 1803 until 1937, when it was forcibly
closed down by the communist regime, and to leverage the power of the Internet
to connect with descendants of the community across the world.
In the few months since I started as coordinator for the City of Odessa, I
have had inquiries from just two people; however, none of the names they were
seeking was listed in the Odessa City Names PAF database (as of 30 June 2008).
As a result, I decided to compile a separate list of names from the following
sources:
Bienemann, Friedrich. *Geschichte der evangelisch-lutherischen Gemeinde zu
Odessa.* Odessa: Schultze, 1890.
Schnurr, Joseph. *Die Kirchen und das religiöse Leben der Rußlanddeutschen.
**Evangelischer Teil. *2nd rev. ed. Stuttgart: AER Verlag, Landsmannschaft der
Deutschen aus Russland, 1978.
W.H. "Odessa und die deutschen Kolonisten." *Heimatbuch der Deutschen aus
Russland. *(1956): 21-39.
The names on this new list consist mostly of people associated with St. Paul's
Lutheran church, Odessa, including (but not limited to) clergy, music
directors, school teachers and administrators, pupils, and business people.
As opportunity allows, I will continue to add names to the list from other
sources, and check them in the PAF database.
Ella M. Melik
Village Coordinator for Odessa
-
Old Swedish Villages
2008 Old Swedish Villages Report
Villages of Alt-Schwedendorf, Mühlhausendorf,
Schlangendorf, and Klosterdorf.
I received inquiries on family names of Buch, Meier, Rexin, Oppenlaender,
Hein, Specht within the villages and with the help of fellow researchers of
these villages have helped them to further their research.
I have also received inquiries from a university student in Ukraine who is
interested in researching the history of these villages since it is still an
unresearched topic to this day. The University of Alberta has also recently
embraced this area's unique history which can be found in English on
www.svenskbyborna.com under Canadian. Jörgen Hedman has written the
story from a Swedish viewpoint but the German experience is still the same.
These villages represent a unique diaspora that are a crossover of cultures
and, as a result, have been, by the large part, rejected, by the Swedes and
Germans alike because they do not fit into either ethnic group.
I had an inquiry about a mailing list for a newsletter but since these
colonies have not had a coordinator for so long, and the villages are so
small, and the Germans have not been resident in the villages for so many
years, there are very few inquiries.
I was mistaken about attending the German Lutheran Church in Mühlhausendorf in
2007, it was actually in Schlangendorf. There is only one German family that
lives in the village today. They were banned from returning to this area when
the German army rescued them in 1944/1945 and took them to camps in Poland.
It is very possible that the church will close in the coming years.
I have written a book about the immigration of the villagers from the Swedish
villages to North America between 1889 and 1931. It traces their genealogy
and pioneer history and can be ordered at
www.swedesincanada.net.
My great-uncle's memoirs about his life in the village from 1900-1929 is now
complete and will be posted on the Svenskbyborna-Canadian website in January
2009.
I continue to dedicate time to SOAR as my time permits.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Wright
Village Coordiator for Alt-Schwedendorf, Mühlhausendorf,
Schlangendorf and Klosterdorf
- Orlovskoye, Samara, Volga
- Paulskoye, Samara, Volga
2008 Village Coordinator Report for Paulskoye
I am pleased to report that this has been a good year! The most exciting
discovery is that both the 1850 and the 1857 census revisions for Paulskaya
have been microfilmed and are available for rental from the LDS Church. We
have Willima Pickelhaupt to thank for this discovery. He and I had
previously corresponded about colonist connections between Paulskoye and his
ancestral village of Kind, the DORTMAN surname and anything he could learn
about his PICKELHAUPT family. Roll #2362213 contains the 1850 Paulskaya
census. The 1857 census can be found on rolls #2373694, #2373695, and #2373696
---it is unknown at this time which specific roll has Paulskaya village on
it. The documents are,
of course, in old Russian.
I was contacted by a Daniel Kazimirow of Buenos Aires, Argentina. His
grandfather Johannes MERKEL (b. 1886) first settled in Punta Alta, Buenos
Aires in 1913, and then removed to Villa Alba, La Pampa, and later
Urdinarrain, Entre Rios. This is my first case of a Paulskoyer settling
in Argentina! Other family names include ALBACH, RIFLING, and FRIEBUS.
Family data and photos were obtained.
I continued to correspond with family researchers from previous years. First,
I further assisted a Canadian researcher regarding surname BOXHORN. Second,
anniversary and gravestones) concerning a BACHMAN family in Michigan.
A couple of researchers contacted me in search of their villages of
origin because their surnames of interest were the same as those found in
Paulskoye. Although it turned out their ancestors were not from Paulskoye, I
worked with them to pinpoint likely villages of origin and refer them to other
village
coordinators.
Finally, although I did not attend this year's joint AHSGR/GRHS Conference I
did compile a village handout for those who attended and had an interest in
Paulskoye.
Respectfully submitted,
Tim Weeder
AHSGR VC, Paulskoye
-
Pfeifer, Saratov, Volga
2008 Village Report for Pfeifer
PFEIFER [Gnilushka]
Village is located near Kamenka.
According to the Annotated Inventory of Cases of the Saratov Kontora of
Foreign Settlers, Volume 2, covering the time period 1723 to 1868,
there is an interesting entry about my ancestor, Johannes Wiesner. The entry,
dated 6 April 1799, states that the "economics of colonist Boehm of Pfeifer"
were transferred to Johannes Wiesner of Kamenka.
An entry about the orphans of Adam Kisner and his son Johann Adam is dated 16
October 1831.
This Inventory is in process for publication by AHSGR. The Russian copy of
this book consists of 480 pages. Translation is being done now. Funds are
needed to complete the publication of this interesting book. There are over
100 entries for the village of Pfeifer alone.
Another entry with the date of 16 July 1835 states that
my ancestor, Johann Adam Kisner, moved from Pfeifer to Kamenka.
A few years ago there was a request by a Matt Bigelow on the Volga Listserve.
He was asking if anyone could direct him to someone in Argentina because he
was interested in doing research on the Volga German communities. I contacted
Gerardo Waimann with whom I had e-mail exchanges for several years, and sent
him a copy of the request. Gerardo wrote to Matt and arrangements were made
for the visit. This year of 2008 Matt Bigelow wrote about his trip to
Argentina and it may be read at this website: http://www.brueggemancenter.org/brueggeman-fellows/fall-2005/matt-bigelow.
Then click on "Read Matt's Essay".
Rosemary Larson
Pfeifer Village Coordinator
-
Pobochnoye, Saratov, Volga
2008 Village Report for Pobochnoye
Pobochnoye (Nebendorf)
was founded in the spring of 1773, 40 miles NW of Saratov by a group of 29
families, mostly Reformed, from Darmstadt, Germany. In the fall of 1772 they
were led by a Pastor Johann Heinrich Fuchs. As the years passed by,
the villagers gradually became Lutheran.
An account of the settling of the village was printed in 2006 in the Omsk,
Siberia newspaper. It was apparently written by Dr. Pleve and others. It is
a six-page typed account of the hardships en route from Darmstadt to St.
Petersburg to Saratov. My cousin Alelxander Wilhelm of Speyer, Germany
translated it from Russian to German. I translated it from German into
English.
Several efforts have been made this year to locate descendents of Pobochnoye
folks now living in Germany. Cousin Alexander Wilhelm located an Olga
(Wilhelm) Hammer. Using the 1857 Pobochnoye census we found that her
great-grandfather Friedrich Wilhelm born 1852 and my great-grandfather
Friedrich Wilhelm born 1853 were both born in Pobochnoye and were first or
second cousins. They were small boys when their families made the 100 mile
trek to the southeast to help found a daughter
colony Schoenfeld. More census research is needed.
Another "Wilhelm" cousin, Kenny Stugart, visited the Saratov Archive in June
and obtained genealogical information on our villagers. Cousin Alex Wilhelm
was able to learn from the Saratov Archive that his grandfather Peter Wilhelm
was born in Pobochnoye in 1889.
The highlight of the year in the Pobochnoye arena was the fact that Cousin
Alex Wilhelm and his wife Valentina were able to attend the Casper
Convention. They enjoyed visiting the displays, attending the lectures and
most of all, meeting other German-Russian people. After returning to Speyer,
Germany they received many calls and visitors about their trip to America.
I received some 50 inquiries about people and historical information from
folks in Argentina, Brazil and Germany, as well as the USA. Having the
various censuses was very helpful for answering the inquiries.
Laurin P. Wilhelm
V.C. for Pobochnoye, Schoendorf, Schoenfeld, Schoental, New Yagodnaya and
Strassendorf
-
Polish Volhynia
Polish Volhynia 2008 Report
As of October 2008, I have been Village Coordinator for Polish Volhynia for
one year and it has been a learning experience for me. Leona Janke has been
very helpful in getting me started and nurturing me along as a Village
Coordinator. Although there was no Heritage Hall display for Volhynia at the
Joint Convention in Casper, a group of six met together informally on Village
night. Two were experienced and shared information about their families. One
of the participants needed help finding the village of her ancestors, and two
others had hit a brick wall in their genealogy. I brought resource books and
maps for Polish Volhynia but found that resources from other parts of Volhynia
were also needed. I have begun to put together a list of library resources
found in Lincoln, Nebraska. Recent sad news is
that Ewald Wuschke, a long time Volhynian genealogist has passed away. He was
publisher of the "Wandering Volhynians" Magazine. Our thoughts and prayers go
out to his son.
Mabel Kiessling
Polish Volhynia Village Coordinator
- Reinhard(t), Samara, Volga
-
Reinwald
2008 Village Report for Reinwald
During the last year I have received no queries about this village. I have
been collecting obituaries and information from Newspaper Archives, Ancestry
and the Ger-Rus list and that has helped me to add more detailed information
to those in my database. I did not have the luxury to attend the convention.
I work 35 hours a week and live in Wisconsin. Paid vacation time from work is
used to visit my grandchildren who live in Florida. I only get to see them
twice a year. Genealogy is my passion and hobby. I will continue to update
my files and am willing to work with anyone who contacts me.
Susie Weber Hess
Reinwald Village Coordinator
-
Rohleder, Samara, Volga
2008 Village Report for Rohleder
There has not been many e-mails regarding this colony which is located in the
northern part of the Volga.
I ordered a Glassmann chart for a friend from Dr. PLeve many moons ago and we
still wait for that chart.
Church Records that I have obtained this year include:
Marriages:
1840 (complete) includes families from Herzog, Graf
1882 (not compete)
1887 (not complete)
1896 (not complete)
1897 (not complete)
Kevin Rupp
Rohleder Village Coordinator
-
Rohrbach
2008 Village Report for Rohrbach
Since I am new to the job, the only thing I have been
able to complete is to provide AHSGR with detailed descriptions of life in
Rohrbach and information on the original settlers and settlement. They were
taken from my recently completed book “The German Russians”.
Jim Griess
Village Coordinator for Rohrbach
-
Rosenberg / Umet, Saratov, Volga
VC report for Rosenberg - 2008
As has become the norm this has been quite a quiet year. I have dealt with 13
queries concerning families in the village of Rosenberg. This may partly
reflect the fact that as a daughter colony which was only founded in the
1850s, there was much less time for the development of larger family groups
than in the mother colonies. The website for the village continues to be
visited on a regular basis, recording 300 page views in the 30 days up to the
writing of this report. The files which attract most attention are Manweiler,
Ziegler, Dahlinger, Kuxhaus(en), Seifert, the history page and Rosenberg
immigrants through Ellis Island, the surnames list and the Rosenberg map.
Almost all pages show hits though comparatively few people utilise the
message board or the e-mail link to contact.
The 13 enquiries were almost all from people who could not find an immediate
link to the various well-documented family lines. This is usually because it
is through a female marriage that they cannot link into the male lines. Only
rarely do researchers have any substantive information, I find, and in the
past year I have only received information of any depth on Kuxhausen, Schmunk
and Sterkel families. Other enquiries have been on Dietz, Ziegler (2
enquirers), Schneider, Reizenstein (2 enquirers), Fischer, Wittman, Seifert,
Hilderman and Maier (this last though a village name was not from Rosenberg).
Professor Richard McGregor
University of Cumbria
Halton near Lancaster, UK
Rosenberg Village Coordinator
- Rosenfeld, North Caucasus
- Rothammel, Saratov, Volga
-
Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen V.C. 2008 Annual Report
Introduction
Schaffhausen was one of the original 106 or so "Mother
Colonies” established between 1764 and
1772 along the Volga River near
Saratov.
The colonists were assigned to settlements according to their religion and
Schaffhausen is listed as a Lutheran colony.
Schaffhausen was founded on 13
August 1767 and was among a group of 13 colonies established in the
vicinity of the Little Karaman River situated inland from the eastern bank of
the Volga. Due to poor soil conditions Schaffhausen and another 7 colonies
were relocated to the northern stretch of the eastern Volga riverbank in
1770. Schaffhausen was the northernmost of these original Volga river
colonies.
Enquiries
During the past year I have been in correspondence with
one other Schaffhausen descendant, who is a member of AHSGR. There have been
no other enquiries.
On a more personal note I was able to identify a branch
of my family (origin Schaffhausen) in Russia. I managed to contact a sole
female still living in Russia and was informed that the rest of the family had
emigrated to Germany in 1990. Although I have not been able to contact them
it was heartening to know that a branch of the family had survived the
travails faced by Volga Germans.
Tasks completed
A village handout was submitted for display at the 2008
AHSGR Convention.
I have purchased all available census data and, after
resolving spelling variations, have a database of about 60 family surnames.
Identified future needs
The lack of enquiries was somewhat disappointing and
indicates I need to increase publicity, perhaps by creating a web page.
I have identified a need to acquire more recent census
data, at least from the latter part of the
19th century, to assist
the construction of a more complete and contemporary village list. Initial
enquiries have not been successful in obtaining relevant data.
I am contemplating making enquiries among the German
community in Australia to try to stimulate interest among any GR descendants
living here.
I am happy to continue in the role of Schaffhausen VC
role and feel that now is the time to make a concerted effort to acquire and
collate as much data on villages as possible and preserve it at AHSGR.
This will enable future generations to know and preserve
their heritage.
Regards,
Jim Parsonage
Schaffhausen Village Coordinator
Brisbane, Australia
- Schilling, Samara, Volga
- Schilling, Saratov, Volga
-
Schlangendorf, Swedish Colonies, Nikolaev and Kherson
2008 Old Swedish Villages Report
Villages of Alt-Schwedendorf,
Mühlhausendorf, Schlangendorf, and Klosterdorf.
I received inquiries on family names of Buch, Meier, Rexin, Oppenlaender,
Hein, Specht within the villages and with the help of fellow researchers of
these villages have helped them to further their research.
I have also received inquiries from a university student in Ukraine who is
interested in researching the history of these villages since it is still an
unresearched topic to this day. The University of Alberta has also recently
embraced this area's unique history which can be found in English on
www.svenskbyborna.com under Canadian. Jörgen Hedman has written the
story from a Swedish viewpoint but the German experience is still the same.
These villages represent a unique diaspora that are a crossover of cultures
and, as a result, have been, by the large part, rejected, by the Swedes and
Germans alike because they do not fit into either ethnic group.
I had an inquiry about a mailing list for a newsletter but since these
colonies have not had a coordinator for so long, and the villages are so
small, and the Germans have not been resident in the villages for so many
years, there are very few inquiries.
I was mistaken about attending the German Lutheran Church in Mühlhausendorf in
2007, it was actually in Schlangendorf. There is only one German family that
lives in the village today. They were banned from returning to this area when
the German army rescued them in 1944/1945 and took them to camps in Poland.
It is very possible that the church will close in the coming years.
I have written a book about the immigration of the villagers from the Swedish
villages to North America between 1889 and 1931. It traces their genealogy
and pioneer history and can be ordered at
www.swedesincanada.net.
My great-uncle's memoirs about his life in the village from 1900-1929 is now
complete and will be posted on the Svenskbyborna-Canadian website in January
2009.
I continue to dedicate time to SOAR as my time permits.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Wright
Village Coordiator for Alt-Schwedendorf, Mühlhausendorf,
Schlangendorf and Klosterdorf
-
Schönchen, Samara, Volga
2008 Report for Schoenchen
The village of Schoenchen,
Russia was a Roman Catholic colony located near the Karshinaya Brook that
flows on the Weinseite. Distance from the colony to Saratov was 80 versta, 25
to Volsk, 4 to Wittman, and 2 to Zug. The village no longer exists.
We receive a minimum of inquiries from descendents of the village, but we
continue to hope that our website will generate more interest in the future.
This year a couple of new ship passenger lists were added to our website based
on these inquiries.
Denise Grau and Terri Dann
Village Coordinators for Schoenchen
-
Schöndorf, Samara, Volga
2008 Village Report for Schoendorf
We had about five inquiries about the people of Schoendorf this year.
Laurin Wilhelm
V.C. for Pobochnoye, Sconedorf, Schoenfeld, Schoental, New Yagodnaya,
Strassendorf
-
Schönfeld, Samara, Volga
2008 Village Report for Schoenfeld
Schoenfeld was founded in 1856 some 65 miles ESE of Saratov, or 100 miles ESE
of the mother village Pobochnoye.
I had about 10-12 inquiries about folks or historical information about
Schoenfeld.
Laurin P. Wilhelm
V.C. for Pobochnoye, Schoenndorf, Schoenfeld, Schoental, New Yagodnaya and
Strassendorf.
-
Schöntal, Samara, Volga
2008 Village Report for Schoental
Schoental (Pretty
Valley) was located some 65 miles ESE of Saratov or 100 miles ESE of its
mother villages Pobochnoye and Yagodnaya Polyana.
I received one inquiry about the Fuchs family that lived in Schoental and
moved to Otis, Kansas circa 1910.
Laurin Wilhelm
V.C. for Pobochnoye, Schoendorf, Schoenfeld, Schoental, New Yagodnaya and
Strassendorf.
-
Schuck, Saratov, Volga
2008 Annual Report for the Village of Schuck
We have had three requests for help with surnames this year. We provided all
the information that we have. We never had a response from the people asking
for help, so we have no way of knowing if our information was useful.
Lola Stattelman
Schuck Village Coordinator
-
Schulz
2008 Annual Village Report for Schulz
In the last year I have received several queries for the Gross, Weber and
Zitzer families associated with the village of Schulz (on the Karaman River).
Research data was prepared and provided to the researcher along with a village
map. I also have been collecting obituaries from our local newspaper for the
last 20 years. This has been made into a database for the greater Sheboygan,
Wisconsin area.
Village Coordinator handouts were prepared for the 2008 International
Convention and sent to Randi Bolyard to be included in the display for the
Northern Volga Villages table. This material consisted of a Village history,
available Schulz records, and excerpts from two book projects that I have been
working on. The first one is titled "Our Ancestral Home - Jacob Zitzer" and
the other is called "Over the Washline". It contains antidotes about various
villagers on the Village map. It brings life to the map.
I have contacted Brent Mai about the 1834 and 1850/57 censuses. He told me
that something from the village of Neu-Schulz was possibly available. I have
to finalize a request form for him for the translation of these village
censuses. It might also be for the mother colony of Schulz.
Genealogy is but one of my hobbies. I continue to update my files and am
willing to work with those who contact me.
Fred Zitzer
Schulz Village Coordinator
-
Schwab, Saratov, Volga
2008 Village Report for Schwab
The Village of Schwab
is one of the smaller villages with very little activity.
I have had five queries in the last twelve months and two of them were from
previous correspondents.
I still edit the newsletter for the Lower Volga Villages.
Rolene Eichman Kiesling
Schwab Village Coordinator
- Seewald, Saratov, Volga
-
Shcherbakovka, Saratov, Volga
2008 Village Report for Shcherbakovka
I am the village
coordinator for the village of Shcherbakovka (also known as Tscherbakowka).
Shcherbakovka is part of the Lower Volga Village group
and so more information can be found on our website that Gary Martens
oversees.
I had the opportunity to purchase the Lutheran Church
records from our village (1809-1867) and have found tons of information in
them. I spent about nine months, full time, this year extracting those
records. I set up a new database in Family Tree Maker that includes only
first-source information. I started with the 1798 census, then when they
became available, I added the 1834, 1850 and 1857 censuses. I then merged all
the individuals from the Pleve charts that have been received from our
village. Finally, I entered all the births (really the baptisms), marriages
and deaths that I found in the church records. I am very proud that this has
turned out to be a database that ties a lot of families together. That
database includes 7307 individuals and 1448 marriages.
In going through the church records line by line, I have
also found 259 additions or corrections to the Pleve charts for our village.
If any of you have purchased these charts, please email me and I will be happy
to send you the list of additions & corrections for your chart. The surnames
and number of corrections/additions are:
Becker, 10;
Dalinger, 3; Ehrlich, 47; Haffner 19; Hanschu, 10; Kraft, 9;
Laubhan, 12; Meier #418 chart, 61; Oblander, 10; Reisig,
12; Steinert, 3; Stricker, 8; Wasenmuller, 21;
Winter, 16; and Zwetzig, 18.
I am researching Laubhan, Wassenbiller, Meier, Nuss,
Hanschu and Haffner from Shcherbakovka, Saratov, Russia, and Batt and Baum
from Frank, Saratov and Brunnenthal, Samara, Russia.
Janet Laubhan Flickinger
Village Coordinator for Shcherbakovka
- Solodyri, Volynsk, Volhynia U
-
Stahl am Tarlyk, Samara, Volga
2008 Village Report for Stahl am Tarlyk
I have
received three inquiries for the people of the village of Stahl am Tarlyk.
There are over 8,000 entries in the Stahl am Tarlyk database and it continues
to grow. The 1834 census has helped in some inquiries.
A copy of this annual report is sent along to people who have made inquires to
this village and this, sometimes, generates some interest and inquires.
The presentation of the German Brotherhood was given at the Casper Convention
and a copy of this religious home life was entered into the Stahl am Tarlyk
files in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The Volgograd reservoir was filled from 1958 until 1961. This means that
construction began a few years earlier. The village is now located to a higher
place and the original Stahl am Tarlyk is under water. Pictures taken a few
years ago show little advancement with this village.
Paul Koehler
Village Coordinator for Stahl am Tarlyk
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Strassendorf, Samara, Volga
2008 Village Report for Strassendorf
Strassendorf was
located about 100 miles SE of Saratov.
I received no inquiries about this village this year.
Laurin Wilhelm
V.C. for Pobochnoye, Schoendorf, Schoenfeld, Schoental, New Yagodnaya, and
Strassendorf
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Straub, Samara, Volga
2008 Straub Report
I have had the following inquiries for
Straub this year: Metzler (2), Schwabenland.
I have asked Brent Mai (who has been
able to obtain lots of census records from Russia) for help in getting any
Straub census the Engels archive can find.
I continue getting copies of obituaries
of people who were born in Straub. I now have 250.
Bob Lembke visited Straub in May 2007.
He gave me copies of pictures he took while he was in the village. I am using
these pictures in my Straub newsletter.
I received Doos genealogy information
from Bill Doos whose ancestors were from Straub. I also received some
Schwabenland family Straub census information from Beth Davenport, Jost VC,
who has a Schwabenland ancestor from Straub.
I have found EWZ records (World War II
German war records) of 32 Straub families. It took 5 months to find them as
all the microfilm is not at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
Most of it I needed was in the vault and had to be ordered. The FHL microfilm
numbers are different than the ones listed for the National Archives on the
Odessa 3 website. I searched by phonetic German to find the records. The FHL
only has microfilm for two of the three records: the basic card index (Einwandererkartei)
and the family form (Stämblatter). The FHL does not have the basic
application forms (Andräge) on microfilm. The EWZ files often have information
on three generations (if the person who gave the information knew who their
ancestors were). I have EWZ records for the following Straub families: Batz,
Baude, Bopp, Doos (2), Gerhardt, Henkel, Isheim, Karle (3), Maul, Metzler (2),
Öhlenschlager, Ries, Roth, Rudolf (2), Schafer (2), Scharton, Scherer,
Schmidt, Schuetz, Straub (4), Will, Winter (2).
I hope to compile the EWZ records in a
book. I have sent copies of the EWZ records to 2 families whose ancestors are
in these records: Doos, now living in Russia, and Metzler, now living in
Germany. The Doos family member was born in 1933 and was listed on his
mother's record. He wasn't old enough to have one of his own. I have been
told he was very excited to get his mother's record (with a picture) and his
grandmother's (also with a picture) from 1944.
Sharon White
Straub Village Coordinator
- Swedish Colonies, Nikolaev and Kherson
- Volhynia
Polish Volhynia 2008 Report
As of October 2008, I have been Village Coordinator for Polish Volhynia for
one year and it has been a learning experience for me. Leona Janke has been
very helpful in getting me started and nurturing me along as a Village
Coordinator. Although there was no Heritage Hall display for Volhynia at the
Joint Convention in Casper, a group of six met together informally on Village
night. Two were experienced and shared information about their families. One
of the participants needed help finding the village of her ancestors, and two
others had hit a brick wall in their genealogy. I brought resource books and
maps for Polish Volhynia but found that resources from other parts of Volhynia
were also needed. I have begun to put together a list of library resources
found in Lincoln, Nebraska. Recent sad news is
that Ewald Wuschke, a long time Volhynian genealogist has passed away. He was
publisher of the "Wandering Volhynians" Magazine. Our thoughts and prayers go
out to his son.
Mabel Kiessling
Polish Volhynia Village Coordinator
-
2008 Village Coordinator Report for Walter and Walter Khutor
Jean A. Roth and Mary Mills, Village Coordinators
Walter is one of the original 104 "mother colonies" in the Volga located west
of Saratov. It is in the Canton of Frank. Its daughter colony, Walter Khutor,
was located across the Medveditza River to the north. Little remains in
Walter but Walter Khutor is still a thriving Russian community.
Mary Mills and I have been busy this year on a variety of projects. Our
Walter web site is active and continues to add new material. We had a village
display at the 2008 Convention and we hope to be able to attend the 2009
Convention in Medicine Hat.
Mary maintains our database which has over 35,000 entries and answers
requests. I have been working on the Village history and origins in Germany.
Unfortunately, Walter is missing critical census records for the mid-19th
century but we have hope for the future. Due to the efforts of Frank VC,
Doris Evans, we are finally obtaining a mass of records for the village that
were in the Volgograd Archives. They are in the midst of being translated and
once they arrive we will figure out how to make them available. We still need
substantial sums of money donated from Walter people to pay for them.
Dr. Brent Mai from Center of Volga German Studies at Concordia University in
Portland has also obtained material for a number of villages, including
Walter, which he is translating. Our Council of Northwest Chapters (CNC) is
helping to support his activities although much more money is needed.
We are also working on a photo archive for the Village. Tanja Schell from
Germany and a professional photographer have recently traveled to Walter and
have taken extraordinary pictures, some of which have been posted on the web
site. We are working on obtaining more. Some pictures recently
obtained include old pictures taken in Walter that have survived the 1941
relocation to Eastern Russia. While there, they noted a large fire that went
through the village grassland and hit the cemetery. The Church is still
standing and for the first time we have interior shots.
We just obtained over 20 letters from Jim Klippert which were sent between the
Klippert family members during the 1920's and 1930's from Walter that describe
the famine and people who lived in Walter at that time.
Jean A. Roth
Seattle, WA
-
Walter Khutor, Saratov, Volga
2008 Village
Coordinator Report for Walter and Walter Khutor
Jean A. Roth and Mary Mills, Village Coordinators
Walter is one of the original 104 "mother colonies" in the Volga located west
of Saratov. It is in the Canton of Frank. Its daughter colony, Walter Khutor,
was located across the Medveditza River to the north. Little remains in
Walter but Walter Khutor is still a thriving Russian community.
Mary Mills and I have been busy this year on a variety of projects. Our
Walter web site is active and continues to add new material. We had a village
display at the 2008 Convention and we hope to be able to attend the 2009
Convention in Medicine Hat.
Mary maintains our database which has over 35,000 entries and answers
requests. I have been working on the Village history and origins in Germany.
Unfortunately, Walter is missing critical census records for the mid-19th
century but we have hope for the future. Due to the efforts of Frank VC,
Doris Evans, we are finally obtaining a mass of records for the village that
were in the Volgograd Archives. They are in the midst of being translated and
once they arrive we will figure out how to make them available. We still need
substantial sums of money donated from Walter people to pay for them.
Dr. Brent Mai from Center of Volga German Studies at Concordia University in
Portland has also obtained material for a number of villages, including
Walter, which he is translating. Our Council of Northwest Chapters (CNC) is
helping to support his activities although much more money is needed.
We are also working on a photo archive for the Village. Tanja Schell from
Germany and a professional photographer have recently traveled to Walter and
have taken extraordinary pictures, some of which have been posted on the web
site. We are working on obtaining more. Some pictures recently
obtained include old pictures taken in Walter that have survived the 1941
relocation to Eastern Russia. While there, they noted a large fire that went
through the village grassland and hit the cemetery. The Church is still
standing and for the first time we have interior shots.
We just obtained over 20 letters from Jim Klippert which were sent between the
Klippert family members during the 1920's and 1930's from Walter that describe
the famine and people who lived in Walter at that time.
Jean A. Roth
Seattle, WA
-
Warenburg, Samara, Volga
2008 VC Report - Warenburg
I have had inquiries about these
Warenburg families this year: Bier, Kinzel (2), Kramer, Krikau, Lorenz, Roth,
Schmall, Simon, Stumpf, Valentin, and Yost.
I continue to find obituaries of people
who were born in Warenburg. I now have 368.
Jake Leisle let me borrow copies of his
8 hours of interviews with Marie Leisle Doering, who was born in Warenburg in
1926. I have made copies for myself and will transcribe the interviews. I
will use the information in future issues of the Warenburg newsletters. Marie
had vivid memories of her childhood in Warenburg, life in Alexanderwohl, and
life in Germany during WWII after being captured by the Germans while escaping
from Russia. Marie lived through some hard times and shared her stories.
The most important genealogy news is
that the 1834 Warenburg census is now available. You can buy a copy from
Brent Mai. The cost is $50 which includes shipping. I have asked Brent for
help in getting the 1858 Warenburg census.
Bob Lembke visited Warenburg in May
2007. He gave me copies of pictures he took in the village. I am using the
pictures in my Warenburg newsletters.
I have found EWZ records (World War II
German war records) of 87 families from Warenburg. It took 5 months to find
the microfilm reels at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Not all
of the microfilm is at the FHL--most of the microfilm I needed was in the
vault and had to be ordered. The FHL microfilm numbers are different than the
ones listed on the Odessa 3 list. The Odessa 3 list has the microfilm numbers
and page number for EWZ files that are at the National Archives. I searched
the FHL microfilm by phonetic German to find the records. The FHL only has
two of the three EWZ records on microfilm: the basic card index (Einwandererkartei)
and the family form (Stämblatter). The FHL does not have the basic
application form (Andräge). The EWZ files often have information on three
generations of the family. I have an EWZ record for a number of the following
Warenburg families: Andrejas, Arndt (2), Arnst, Becker (4), Bier, Brem, Brott,
Diener (4), Eisner (7), Freund, Funkner (2), Gebert, Gerhardt, Göbel,
Grassmück, Hartwig (2), Hoppe, Konstanz (3), Kraft, Kramer (2), Krutsch,
Lehmann, Leisle (4), Leonhardt, Lindt, Lorenz, Klein, Kreüter, Meisner, Majer,
Molko, Nickel (2), Michel, Mueller (4), Pfeifer, Schmall (2), Schmidt (2),
Schmunk, Schneider, Schönmeier, Shütz (5), Schwengel, Seibert, Simon (2),
Stumpf (3), Trippel, Usinger, Valtin, Wagenleitner (3). In the future, I hope
to compile these records in a book.
Sharon White
Warenburg Village Coordinator
-
Wiesenmüller, Samara, Volga
2008 VC Annual Report for the Village of Wiesenmueller, Samara, Russia
Upon checking my VC message folder I find that from November 2007 to this date
I have a total of 225 messages. Not all were directly concerned with
Wiesenmueller. Some were queries for other villages where the VC was not
responsive.
Betty Ashley, also a Village Coordinator for Wiesenmueller, sent me boxes of
her paper files in November 2007 and I spent a month putting the information
into a Wiesenmueller database and combined her information with data I had on
hand myself. The database now contains 6,887 persons related to the
Wiesenmueller first settlers. I am currently searching SOAR surname by surname
for Wiesenmueller folk to add to the database.
This year I was able to obtain Marriage Lists for 1894 and 1895 for the
village and I published them on the GR List and Sue Kottwitz posted them on
the Jeruslan Nachrichten Website. This generated a number of queries.
I was further able to obtain the 1913 Birth/Baptismal records for
Wiesenmueller. This list was also published on the GR List and Sue Kottwitz
posted it to the Jeruslan Nachrichten Website. This again generated a number
of queries.
I am unable to purchase any further data because I've gotten everything that
the Volgograd Archive had on Wiesenmueller. There are yet many years of data
concerning Wiesenmueller in the Saratov and Engels Archives but like food in
the Famine Years, cost prohibits any purchase.
I have made no effort to ascertain whether those queries were from AHSGR
members or non-members. I am satisfied that anyone using the GR listservice is
well aware of AHSGR and does not need any further urging to join the
organization.
Sue Kottwitz and Betty Ashley are both alive and well and still working on
genealogy. I would urge folks to look at the Jeruslan Nachrichten Website.
Sue Kottwitz has overhauled it and added much new information. Hopefully,
she'll be able to post some of the families in the Wiesenmueller database to
the website.
I continue to maintain contact with some "Late Returnees" in Germany. Their
attitudes are the same found here...only a few are interested in their
genealogy. I get excited when I find a distant relative whose family managed
to survive through all the hardships in Russia. It is a "puzzlement" to me
that the same excitement is not universally shared by all GR folk.
Hugh Lichtenwald
Wiesenmueller Village Coordinator
-
Wittman (Soloturn), Samara, Volga
2008 Village Report for Wittmann
I have not received many e-mails on this colony.
This colony is situated in the Northern Volga area with many of the other
Catholic colonies and shares the parish of Schoenchen. The church records
that I received from Wittmann are listed below. Since this colony was part of
the Schoenchen Parish I'm also listing the church records that I received from
Schoenchen because they overlap.
Marriages:
1840 (Schoenchen) complete
1858 (Schoenchen) complete
1887 (Schoenchen) not complete
1896 (Schoenchen) not complete
1897 (Schoenchen) not complete
Kevin Rupp
Wittmann Village Coordinator
-
Worms
2008 Village Report for Worms
Since I am new to the
job the only thing I have been able to complete is to provide AHSGR with
detailed descriptions of life in Worms and information on the original
settlers and settlement. They were taken from my recently completed book “The
German Russians”.
Jim Griess
Village Coordinator for Worms
-
Yagodnaya Polyana is located about 40 miles northwest of
Saratov. It is served by three village co-coordinators: Kris Ball, Elizabeth
Meyer, and Patrice Miller.
In 2008 we continued to see a steady stream of inquiries which we attended to
as quickly as we could. Kris Ball attended the AHSGR/GRHS joint convention in
Casper, Wyoming. In lieu of a formal Village Night, one of our villagers
found a nice empty room and around 15 descendants from Yagodnaya Polyana and
her daughter and granddaughter villages shared information, pictures,
memories, and homemade German rye bread. Laurin Wilhelm, VC from Pobotchnaya
and other daughter villages, baked the rye bread himself. He also brought to
the convention his cousin, Alexander Wilhelm and his wife who live in Speyer,
Germany. Alexander and his family were deported to the Ukraine in the 1940's,
and he enjoyed meeting distant relatives in the United States. Kenny Stugart
shared stories and pictures of his 2008 visit to YP and Saratov. Donna Jones
also made a trip to Yagodnaya Polyana in May, 2008 and brought pictures to
show us. One special speaker at the convention was Pastor Alexander
Scheierman from Saratov, Russia. Pastor Scheierman's family was from
Yagodnaya Polyana, and he gave two presentations about his ministry in Russia
and about the church the Lutheran Church which is under construction in
Saratov.
Two issues of Usu Leut, the village newsletter, were published this year.
They included heartbreaking letters from villagers in Yagodnaya Polyana asking
for help from families in the US during the Russian famine years. These were
translated for us by Hugh Lichtenwald, and we are grateful for his help! They
were a reminder of the troubles that many of our ancestors had to endure
during those hard times in Russia.
We hope to have at least one Village Coordinator at the 2009 AHSGR Convention
in Medicine Hat, Canada. Many YP descendants immigrated to Calgary in the
last century and still live in the area, so Yagodnaya Polyana will undoubtedly
be well-represented at the convention. Next year in Usu Leut, we will publish
some valuable transcriptions of conversations that Richard Scheuerman sent us
from interviews with people who lived in Yagodnaya Polyana. As the years fly
by, we encourage everyone to talk with older family members and write down
memories they have. When those family members are gone, the memories should
not end with them. We are happy to receive those stories and to preserve them
for future generations.
Kris Ball
Village Co-Coordinator for Yagodnaya Polyana
-
Zug (Gattung), Samara, Volga
2008 Village Report for Zug
I have received only a few e-mails from people wanting information on the
colony of Zug which is part of the Northern Volga Catholic Colonies. The
contacts that did come in were people willing to share information. Some had
some old photographs from the colony of families who lived there at the time.
These families were Stecklein and Lattigan.
I did receive some church records from this village as well this year. Some
records were complete and some were not.
They include:
Baptism records from 1880-1882.
Marriages records (complete) 1897
Marriage records (not complete) 1887
I currently keep a data base of all my colonies and it now contains 84,620
names.
Kevin Rupp
Zug Village Coordinator
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