From The Roots Up: A Family Narrative

This is an engaging chronicle of young Jacob Schott who left his community of Mainz, Germany to join colonists accepting the invitation of Catherine the Great to settle in Russia. Unmarried, Jacob meets Anna on the grueling journey from Oranienbaum to the Volga and they ultimately build a life together in Grimm on the Volga. Their strong characters and willingness to work and to create allowed them to establish a good life in a new land. Some 144 years later, Jacob’s descendants strike out for America and settle in Colorado. The same inherited spirit of courage and perseverance characterize Friedrich and Amalia as they leave Russia and begin farming and rearing their large family. Their youngest daughter, Helen, meets a young man from Nebraska and with World War II looming, they begin a long-distance courtship that blends the ideals of her German from Russia heritage and his learnings of poverty and family dedication, a result of the Great Depression and the war years.

Some 258 years after Jacob’s journey to Russia, the descendants of Jacob and Anna live in the spirit of ingenuity and competency that are hallmarks of their heritage. This inspiring story reflects the vitality of inherited values.