An Elementary Tutorial
on German-Russian History:
an Enhanced (Black Sea German) Time Line

by Gayla Gray, Valerie Ingram,
Elaine Morrison, and Dale Wahl

The following information is collected both for the beginning
and for the advanced Black Sea German-Russian researcher.
Your comments and/or questions are invited.

In the 1970s, in the United States and Canada, the two organizations known today as "German-Russian organizations"(1) were formed. Even in those early years some serious scholarly works were being published.

There are 6 basic books we will use as central to this discussion of the history of the Black Sea German-Russian people. These six books are available today at our GRHS bookstore:

We should note that these same books are often available via the public library inter-library loan system (ILL), and that most are also available within the LDS film or microfiche collections.

Prior to discussing the history of the Black Sea German people, it is helpful to glimpse these great books via each table of contents as follows:

from Catherine to Khrushchev
Adam Giesinger, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Copyright © 1974

Chapter Page
1 Seventeen Sixty-Three 1
2 New Homes on the Volga 9
3 Russian Expansion Westward and Southward 23
4 Germans to New Russia 29
5 Colonists, Not Peasants 45
6 Land Hunger 57
7 The Empire They Built 81
8 German Servants of the Tsars 139
9 The Protestant Majority 155
10 The Mennonite Commonwealth 183
11 The Diocese of Tiraspol 201
12 Broken Promises Spark Emigration 223
13 Before the Storm 235
14 War and Revolution 247
15 Communist Paradise 275
16 Liquidation of the Colonies 299
17 Survivors in Russia 315
18 Relatives Overseas 337

* * *

The Emigration from Germany to Russia
in the Years 1763 to 1862
Karl Stumpp, Tübingen, Germany
Copyright © 1978

PART I
Chapter Page
1 History and Causes of Emigration 15
2 Family and Ancestral Research 40
3 List of Places of Emigration 48
4 List of Mother Colonies 66
5 Emigration to Hungary and on to South Russia 102
6 Emigration to Poland, Prussia, Mecklenburg, Silesia and on to
South Russia, Especially to Bessarabia 		106
7 Alphabetical Index of the Emigrants From Germany to Russia 117

PART II
Chapter Page
A. Revision Lists 499
A1. Immigration Lists 958
B. Passport Lists 973
C. List of the Mother Colonies 1015

* * *

Homesteaders on the Steppe
The Odyssey of a Pioneering People
Joseph Height
Copyright © 1975

Chapter Page
1 The Call of New Russia 1
2 The Franconian Migration 13
3 The Swabian Expedition of 1817 24
4 Diaries of the Danube Journey 40
5 Impressions of the Pioneers 49
6 Homesteading on the Steppe 59
7 The Identity of the Pioneer Settlers 77
8 Pioneer Personalities and Events 97
9 A Visit to the Colonies in 1838 117
10 Adventure in Agriculture 133
11 The Community Chronicles of 1848 148
12 The Glückstal Chronicles of 1848 186
13 The Beresan Chronicles of 1848 207
14 The Administration of the Colonies 227
15 The German Dorf on the Steppe 234
16 The Church in the Colonies 245
17 The Village School 253
18 Mother Tongue and Mother Wit 267
19 The Tradition of the Folk Song 280
20 Folk Festivals and Customs 297
21 The Growth of the Daughter Colonies 313
22 The Quest of New Land 321
23 The Flourishing of Liebental 330
24 Glückstal's Golden Years 347
25 The Beresan Blossoming 355
26 Hoffnungstal in Flower 361
27 The Blight of Bolshevism 368
28 Under the Tyranny of Power 376
29 Victims and Witnesses 392
30 The Fateful Flight to Freedom 403
31 Pioneers in the Dispersion 419

* * *

Paradise on the Steppe
Joseph S. Height
Copyright © 1972

Chapter Page
1 The Call of Novija Russija 1
2 Exodus from Elsaß 23
3 The Trek to the Black Sea 37
4 The Kutschurgan Settlement 53
5 The Beresan Settlement 71
6 Adventure in Agriculture 86
7 The Administration of the Colonies 101
8 Episodes in the Pioneer Era 106
9 The Look and Life of the Steppe Village119
10 Aspects of Colonist Character 132
11 Mother Tongue and Mother Wit 148
12 The Tradition of the Folk Song 160
13 The Round of Folk Festivals 175
14 Customs of Christmas and Easter 186
15 The Colonist Wedding 197
16 The Ways of the Village School 209
17 The Church in the Colonies 219
18 The New Landseekers 237
19 The Flourishing of Liebental 247
20 The Kutschurgan Climax 263
21 The Beresan Blossoming 291
22 The Blight of Bolshevism 322
23 Under Soviet Serfdom 333
24 Victims, Victors, and Witnesses 349
25 The Trek of Tribulation 370
26 Pioneers of the Diaspora 391

* * *

Russian-German Settlements
in the United States
Richard Sallet
Translated by LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer
Copyright © 1974

Chapter Page
1 The Participation of the German Groups in Russia in the
Russian-German Settlements of America 		19
2 The Evangelical Black Sea Germans 21
3 The Catholic Black Sea Germans 35
4 The Evangelical Volga Germans 42
5 The Catholic Volga Germans 58
6 Emigration and Immigration. The Dates of the First Settlements.
Russian-German Names. 		63
7 Colonizers, Customs and Life 79
8 Churches, Newspapers, Politics, Clubs89
9 World War. Years of Distress in the Old Homeland100
10 Americanization 106

* * *

The Black Sea Germans
in the Dakotas
George Rath
Copyright © 1977

Part I
South Dakota


Chapter Page
1 The Origin of the Black Sea Germans 1
2 Short Cultural Review 22
3 Emigration of the Odessa Group 30
4 The Real Emigration Begins 52
5 Enroute to the Dakotas 67
6 Settlements in the Southern Part of South Dakota 86
7 Settlements in the Central Part of South Dakota 101
8 Settlements in Northern South Dakota 104
9 Settlements in Western South Dakota126
10 The Economic Situation 133
11 The Work of the Lutheran Churches in South Dakota 141
12 The Work of the Reformed Church,
The Work of the United Church of Christ		166
13 The Work of the United Methodist Church193

Part II
South Dakota

Chapter Page
1 Conditions and Settlements in Eastern North Dakota 203
2 Further Settlements 221
3 Further Settlements 233
4 Conditions and Settlements in Western North Dakota 247
5 Further Settlements 262
6 The Work of the Lutheran Churches in North Dakota 273
7 The Work of the Reformed Church 287
8 The Work of the United Methodist Church 296
9 The Work of the Catholic Church Among the Black Sea Germans in North Dakota309

Part III
Religious and Cultural Aspects

Chapter Page
1 Denominations, Pietism, Changes, Administration, School, Colleges 321
2 Publications of Germans from Russia and Germany in South and North Dakota 333
3 Religious Literature of American Denominations Read by Black Sea Germans 347
4 Fate of the Black Sea Germans During the First World War 350

* * *

The Founding of the Colonies

In the earlier decades, before the major waves of German emigration from the German states to the Volga region and the Black Sea area, there was some German presence around two of the major cities of Russia.

The first notable emigration of Germans to Russia occurred during the rule of Ivan the Terrible between 1533 and 1584. These were German military officers, technicians and craftsman, merchants and scholars who were invited to help build the early city of Moscow itself. Thus a German colony was formed outside the city walls of Moscow, and a German suburb did indeed exist there until World War I.(2)

During the rule of Peter the Great between 1672 and 1725, a large number of German families arrived in the city of Petersburg.(3)

Then, in the 1763 to 1764 time frame, yet another major wave of Germans answered the call of Czarina Catherine II.(4) The settlement of the Volga area occurred during this early chapter of the German-Russian history.(5)

A few years after the settling of the Volga Germans, Jekaterinoslaw and some scattered colonies in the northern part of the Black Sea area were founded. Some, but not all, that were founded prior to 1804 are represented here.

1779

1780

1781

1786

1789

1790

1792

1797

1802

1803

When Czar Alexander I, the grandson of Catherine II, assumed the imperial throne in 1801, he also found the need his grandmother had experienced, i.e. the need to develop new territory, this time in three provinces in the south of Russia: Cherson, Nikolajew and Taruida.

Alexander I of Russia was the nephew of King Frederick I of Germany who highly favored Russian emigration. Because of royal intermarriages, this imperial linkage between the German and Russian kingdoms was favorable to recruiting in Germany, much as Catherine II had done before him.(6)

Successful recruiting to bring Germans from southwest Germany began during the summer of 1803.

As his grandmother had done forty years earlier, Alexander I published a manifesto in February of 1804 in which he invited foreigners, in particular Germans, to come and settle the virgin steppes of the "New Russia."

Privileges of the Colonists that
Settled in the Southern Provinces of
The Russian Emporium

  1. Freedom of religion in all ways.
  2. Ten years freedom of taxes and other such obligations.
  3. After the ten free years, they will be equally subjected as the other Russians of the Empire, with the exception that they are not subject to provide quarters for soldiers except when they are marching through.
  4. They are free from recruitment as well as civil service; however, they are at liberty to enter services for the highest crown, but it will not free them from having to repay the debt to the crown.
  5. Each settler will receive an advance here in the country and is to repay that within ten years after the ten free years expire.
  6. Each family may bring their goods (furniture) free of toll, and also may bring with them goods for resale, total value not to exceed 300 rubles.
  7. The tradesmen may enter legal contracts and guilds. Each may do his trade throughout the Russian Empire.
  8. All the suffering has ended in the Russian Emporia State due to the generosity of His Majesty, the Russian Emperor.
  9. Each family receives usable acreage of 30 to 80 dessiatines free to their use from the Highest Crown. Each family can use the land without payment to the Highest Crown. The tax each family has to pay after the ten free years is, next to police affairs, the basic tax, a yearly amount of 15 to 20 kopecks per dessiatine. A dessiatine is about a yoch or morgen by German measurement. A kopeck is a little less than a kreutzer.
  10. Those who want to leave The Russian Emporium to go back to their homeland will have to pay the debts to the crown and a three year tax for the use of land.

Signed in Lauingen, 20 April 1804
Russian Emporia
Colony Transportation Department

Signature unreadable

as translated by Elli Wise 1996
(German data provided via Ralph Ruff)

Alexander I desired and pursued a practiced policy which required that only those who were capable agriculturists and artisans would be admitted in order that he could use them as models. One circular can be found on page 3 of Height's Homesteaders and Paradise books.(7)(8)

The czar sweetened up the offer of his grandmother's manifesto by promising each family 30-60 hectares of land, considerably more than Catherine II had offered earlier.(9)

The three prime points of these manifestos provided: (10)

We now see that these enticements did not always occur as earlier promised. The first remained in place, more or less, until the era of the communist controls. The freedom from taxes turned out to be, more or less, a no-interest loan that was expected to be paid back after a certain time had elapsed. And the third one was changed by laws that were adapted in the 1860s and 1870s.

On page 36 of Giesinger's book,(11) we note that 400 families arrived in South Russia during 1803; more than 800 families in 1804; 250 families in 1805; a lull of only 60 families in 1806 and 130 families in 1807.

During the years of 1808 to 1810, about 2,000 families arrived in South Russia.

Although some of the villages were settled earlier, the Berislaw group, a small cluster of Swedish and German villages, was settled around 1805-1806. These colonies suffered greatly during the first years of their existence because of great drought, locusts and various epidemics. Their numbers during this period were reduced greatly, taking many years to recover from these effects.(12)

Sorting out the history of Krim, Crimea, Taurida and Taurien is very difficult as it becomes hard to understand how, over time, they all fit together geographically speaking.(13) We can see on pages 95 and 98 of the Stumpp book (14) that the early villages are listed, and we can study the map, but it does not clear up that history.

When Alexander I decided to settle the Crimea with farmers and develop it economically, the decisions stirred up those people already living there. Many of the Tartars left who were not willing to live under a "Christian" ruler, and they emigrated to Turkey.

A "must read" for anyone interested in Crimea and Taurien, is on pages 9 through 12 of the Rath book.(15)

Jekaterinoslaw, also known as Ekaterinoslaw and Dnjepropetrowsk, is to the far north of the Black Sea but was considered part of the Black Sea German settlement.(16) We can see the many earlier villages of the Jekaterinoslaw listed with notes on pages 93 and 94 of the Stumpp book.(17)

We should note that of the Jekaterinoslaw, there were two groups of villages that are worthy to study: the Chortitza(18) and the Planer or Mariupol(19) both of which date back to the very early years of the Black Sea German history.

In the Stumpp book,(20) on pages 88 through 99, we can see many early villages founded during these early years by our German-Russian ancestors. The following list is representative, but not complete, of these earlier settlements:

1804

1805

1806

1808

1809

1810

We should take a moment here to focus on a few thoughts relative to the names of villages and their founding dates. The precise dates or years that refer to the founding of some of these villages can easily become confusing.

Historical notes have sometimes reflected different dates for some of these villages. The reasons for this are beyond the scope of the intent of this paper, but we need to be aware that this might occur, and not be surprised when it does.

Let us consider one example, however: what if the new village was approved by the government in the early winter of 1818, but it was spring before the new families could actually start the building and organizing of their village? What date would you record as the founding date if you were the first village historian?

In a few instances, over the years, the village name may have been used for more than one village in one geographic area.

We also know that there were a few villages that disappeared during the early years because of water problems and similar situations, only to be rebuilt a few years later in a different location. Waterloo in Odessa is one such example. In some instances, when a village disappeared for some reason, it was not re-founded somewhere else.

These occurrences, along with changing of village names over a period of time and the renaming of some villages, is something that a new or seasoned researcher must expect to encounter. There will appear many instances where the village names are confusing, and it will not always be easy to sort out the history concerning a particular village. One such instance is in the Odessa area where the village of Berlin and Neu Berlin were one and the same.

So, when researching the names and founding dates of these villages, we must take good notes and keep an open mind.

Now back to the weaving together of the early history for our German villages in the Black Sea area, also known as "South Russia."

The early villages of the Odessa area are worthy of special consideration as we have a significant portion of our GRHS membership with interest in these ancestral villages.

As defined by Stumpp (21) starting on page 88, we can see the "Gebiets" (Districts) of Odessa as follows, with the early villages in these districts grouped as follows:

Grossliebental District

Alexanderhilf, Franzfeld, Freudental, Grossliebental, Güldendorf, Helenental, Josefstal, Kleinliebental, Lustdorf, Mariental, Neuburg, Neu Freudental and Peterstal

Glückstal District

Bergdorf, Glückstal, Kassel, Neudorf, Grigoriopol and Hoffnungstal

Kutschurgan District

Baden, Elsaß, Kandel, Mannheim, Selz, and Straßburg

Beresan District

Johannestal, Karlsruhe, Katharinental, Landau, München, Rastatt, Rohrbach, Speyer, Sulz, Waterloo, and Worms

(The villages of Güldendorf, Helenental, Hoffnungstal, and Neu Freudental are perhaps out of place on Stumpp's lists)

The villages listed above for the Districts of Grossliebental(22) and Beresan(23) were a mixture of Evangelical Lutheran and Roman Catholic faiths. The Kutschurgan villages(24) were of the Roman Catholic faith while the Glückstal colonies(25) were essentially of the Lutheran faith. We should note that in later years Reformed churches were established in Worms, Neudorf and the city of Odessa.

We should discuss another aspect of religion in the villages. While a village may have been thought of as adhering to a particular faith, not every family or person in the village was of that faith. For example, a small village in Bessarabia that was considered to be Lutheran had some Mennonite, some Catholic and some Separatist folks, but the majority and the village church were Lutheran.

In some instances, where the village may have been more like a small city with stores and government or parish administrative offices, there may have been residents of other faiths, including Jewish and Russian and/or Ukrainian Orthodox.

We have been told over the years that the people of different faiths did not mix nor marry. However, if one takes the time to study the old "Welfare Records" or the church records that are available, we must conclude that this was not the full truth of the matter. A good exercise for anyone who might doubt this would be to review the St. Petersburg annual Evangelical Lutheran parish reports for the period after the Crimean war. There we can note the various religions of those being married. Again, as we research our German-Russian history, we must keep an open mind.

This brings us to subjects that we must consider: the terms of "mother colony" and "daughter colonies," and an understanding of the relationship of the village to the parish and government.

A mother colony is normally one of the earlier original colonies such as those listed above as having been founded between 1804 and 1810.

With time, and the growing population of a village, it became desirable for the families of a village to help spread the village roots to new land. In some districts of the Odessa area, that extra land was not always available within the district itself, so the new daughter colony would have been started in another district (government). This then resulted in the founding families of some daughter colonies being in a new district as well as a new parish. We see some of the daughter colonies of the Grossliebental District actually being in the Beresan District. Examples are the villages of Neu Freudental and Helenental.

At the end of the 1850s and early 1860s, the sons who could not expect to gain a portion of the land within their own community left their villages and founded these daughter colonies. Often the fathers would provide a couple of horses and a cow, as well as a wagon and plow, and a start of seed grain and basic implements. These new, young farmers who ventured forth often joined forces and thus were able to lease land or, in some cases, purchase land outright. This spreading and quest of the new lands is very important to understanding our ancestors' history in the Black Sea and it is highly recommended that further reading on this subject be pursued.(26)

Güldendorf is a good example of a village that over time was changed from one parish to another. Many of the original families of Güldendorf were of the first Waterloo, and as time moved forward, the village was in parishes of the Beresan District and the parish of the city of Odessa.

Again, as we study all of this we must keep an open mind as the facts can be very confusing if we allow them to be.

Then on to the next years of the founding of German villages and subsequent emigration to the New World:

1811

1812

1813

1814

1815

1816

The years of 1814 to 1816 saw the coming into existence of the first German villages of Bessarabia. (27) In November of 1813, Alexander I published another invitation similar to that of 1804 as was discussed above.(28) This invitation contained 21 points. The most significant of these were:

The invitation to settle in Bessarabia was heard in Germany and Poland, and they came by three primary routes:(29)

We can note that these first Bessarabian villages were mostly of the Evangelical Lutheran faith. However, in about 1821 or 1822, the village of Krasna became a Roman Catholic village, and the Lutherans from that village were transferred to Katzbach.

The emigration from Poland(30) has made it very difficult to follow the trails of many of our Bessarabian ancestors because many (probably the majority) of the records only reflect "Poland", "Prussia", "Lemberg" or "Posen" or other similar general information. The members of GRHS continue to spend great energy into building data so these trails can better be defined, as many of those who came from Poland and Prussia were earlier families of Germany.

1817

By 1818, the number of the German colonies in South Russia had grown in number to more than one hundred scattered across the Black Sea region.(31)

In 1818, the government created a special organization called the "Board of Social Welfare." Today we normally refer to it as the "Welfare Committee."

The Welfare Committee was to administer over the colonists according to the separate colonial laws. They were to look after their interests, and also to their obligations towards the host government.

We can find throughout the many historical works of our German Russian ancestors that the Welfare Committee was deeply involved in our peoples lives, much more than many of us realized for many years. A student of this history must read Rath (32) and Giesinger(33) to gain basic insight into the work of the Welfare Committee.

The Welfare Committee of the Black Sea area was designed for the colonists of Bessarabia, Kherson, Jekaterinoslaw, and Taurien. This included not only the German people, but also the Jewish and Bulgarian people. In the 1850s, of the 217 colonies administered by the Welfare Committee, 205 of them were German. The duration of the Welfare Committee in the Black Sea area was from 1818 to 1871.

The documentation of the administration of these colonies during this period is found in the State Archives, City of Odessa, in Fond 6 and Fond 252.(34)

1819

1820

1821

1822

1823

1824

By 1824, there were 209 German villages in the Black Sea area; the number of families are estimated as being a little over 9,000 with a population of about 50,000.(35)

1825

1826

1828

A milestone worthy of our note occurred in 1828: it was the founding of the first Black Sea German daughter colony. Less than two and a half decades after the original settlement, forty-three landless families from Freudental founded a new settlement seventy-five versts north of the city of Odessa.(36) (37) The village was first called "Klein Freudental" but later was known as "Neu Freudental."

1829

The first house of Neu Freudental was completed in 1829. The houses were all built according to a plan prescribed by the Welfare Committee.(38)

1830

A major cholera plague occurred in 1830.(39)

1832

The population of the city of Odessa increased from about 60,000 in 1832 to 604,223 in 1939.(40) The city had great need to establish itself as a seaport on the Black Sea, and even today the port thrives.

1833

Major crop failures occurred in 1833.(41)

1834

1835

1836

1837

1838

The original families of Helenental came from Grossliebental (one family), Peterstal (eighteen families), Freudental (two families), Worms (one family), Güldendorf (one family) and Bergdorf (two families). In all, there were twenty-five families founding the new daughter colony, totaling forty-five males and forty-four females. In the 1 March 1858 census, we find that the village had grown to 126 males and 119 females: over 100% increase during the first twenty years.(42)

1839

1840

1841

1842

1843

1845

1846

1847

1848

State Councillor E. von Hahn held the position of president of the Welfare Committee of German Settlers in South Russia (Fürsorgekomitee der Ausländischen Ansiedler in Süd-Russland). Gemeindeberichte (Community Reports) were submitted to the Welfare Committee in accordance with a circular letter dated 8 January 1848 sent by Councillor E. von Hahn to all the mayors and school teachers enjoining them to undertake the writing of an historical account of the founding and development of the existing colonies. Giesinger(43) reports that in 1848, there were 203 villages in the Black Sea Region.

Some of these histories were published over the next few years in a German Odessa newspaper, Unterhaltungsblatt für deutsche Ansiedler im südlichen Russland. It is thought that this was Hahn's original intent. However, in 1854, with the majority still unpublished, the newspaper stopped carrying them. They then lay forgotten in the archives of the former Supervisory Office in Odessa for about five decades.

Konrad Keller,(44) a Catholic priest, is credited for discovering this valuable historical material early in the twentieth century. Keller used these histories in his two volumes , with Volume 1 being published in 1905 and Volume 2 in 1914. We should take special note that Keller's work does not contain these histories verbatim as written in 1848, but they are included with material obtained from other sources as part of his work.

In 1904, Pastor Jakob Stach used these histories in his book, The German Colonies in South Russia, and later edited a large number of these Gemeindeberichte for publication in German newspapers in the Black Sea Region.

In 1926 and 1927, Dr. Georg Leibbrandt and a Catholic Priest, Dr. Josef A. Malinowsky, published fifty-nine of these Gemeindeberichte in Germany.

In 1941, Margarete Woltner published 114 of the Gemeindeberichte. Eight of these were previously unpublished while the other 106 were reprinted from Russian German periodicals, many of which had been edited by Stach.

With the work of Leibbrandt, Malinowsky and Woltner, we can account for about 173 of the original 203 villages histories. When we also consider the reports of seventeen other colonies that Keller used in his work, we can account for about 190 of the 203 village histories.

Some of these histories contained in Leibbrandt's work have been published in English. On page 149 of Homesteaders on the Steppe, Height(45) reports that all nineteen of those in Odessa were Lutheran, and that he included all of them in the book, although only sixteen of the nineteen appear.

Some English-translated Gemeindeberichte have been filmed by the LDS, and some have been re-translated and published in the GRHS Heritage Review. We knew of only one other report that had been translated into English when we started the GRHS Clearing House project (to eventually share these histories in our Odessa Digital Library). A goal of this project has been to search out copies of those Gemeindeberichte that have been translated into English, and also to go forward with volunteers to translate as many more as possible.

During these efforts it has become obvious that the original work was written in different styles and with different intents. To translate these works can be difficult because of some of the authors' methods of reporting the history. Some are nearly impossible for an American-thinking German-fluent person to translate. Searching for other 1848 histories and translating them is an ongoing project of the GRHS Clearing House.

A major crop failure occurred in 1848.(46)

1849

Johann Ludwig Bette, 28, of Johannestal/Odessa emigrated to the USA with a small party and settled in Ohio.(47) While Rath indicates that this party was from Johannestal, Sallet indicates that there may have been people from Rohrbach and Worms as well as the city of Odessa among this group.(48) (49)

It appears to be in agreement that at least a portion of them first settled on Kelley's Island on Lake Erie, near Sandusky, where they engaged themselves as wine growers.

1851

1852

1853

1854

1855

1856

The Crimean War (1853 - 1856) temporarily entirely halted the growth and expansion of the German Russian communities in the Black Sea area. It brought a severe economic depression to the entire area. Effects of this war on our people is well detailed in Giesinger's book (50) on page 68.

1857

1858

In 1858, with the founding of the daughter colony of Neusatz, the largest of the daughter colonies in the Odessa area was established. A list of the Lutheran-Evangelical daughter colonies in the Odessa area can be found on page 320 of Height's Homesteader book.(51)

1859

1860

By about 1860, the Black Sea German population had tripled from that of 1825 to about 150,000.(52)

1861

1862

1863

1864

1865

1866

1867

1868

The Founding of Neufall, Bessarabia


Translated by Elli Wise, Neufall Village Coordinator
DAI film T81 624, frames 5420917 - 5420923
Contract
Akkermann, 30 August 1868

I, at the end undersigned citizen of Reval, Andreas Adam Hellberg, and proxy of her Highness, the Princess Kotschubei, born Countess Benkendorf, as filed in the ______ district court on 27 June 1860 sub No. 75 confirm the contract with the colonists of the Akkerman District:

From the Colony Teplitz: Friedrich Bender, Konrad Weidenbach, Gottlieb Krämer, Andreas Krämer, Gottlieb Schuh, Johannes Fälchle, Georg Schmauder, Leopolt Stäub and Simon Kurz.
From the colony Dennewitz: Michael Freitag, Martin Jörke
From the colony Beresina: Andreas Fregin with colleagues to have this contract finalized under the following conditions:

  1. I, Hellberg, have handed over the parcel of land assigned by the Princess Kotschubei to the above named colonists. It is in the Akkermann District in the Province of Bessarabia, consisting of 2,230 dessiatines including any establishments, all wells and a windmill located within the below defined borders and for lease for twelve years. Namely calculated from 23 October 1868 to 23 October 1880 for the founding of a colony with the name "Neufall."

    In the east this land borders a furrow passing through the Budak Plantation, beginning at the dam to the orchard, then to the woods and to the estate of owner Mosarowitsch. On the other side, beginning with the farm of the Budak Economy, to the land parcels of the Princess Kotschubei, which she leases to the inhabitants of the Budak villages Kleinbalabanka, Kajabei and Adamowka.

    Princess Kotschubei keeps three hundred dessiatines during the first years of the existence of this contract until 23 October 1869, namely the land between the new koscharen [sheep pens], the land of the Budak proprietor and the land in the Budak valley. The therein located new koscharen [sheep pens] and trees are available to them for herding cattle, horses and sheep. It is established under No. 2 in this contract with the conditions and a lease payment in the amount of 600 rubles and a fee of 15 rubles.

  2. We, the above named colonists, commit ourselves to each pay to the princess during the first six years 1 ruble, 75 kopecks annually for use of the land and after six years each year the amount of 2 rubles, 25 kopecks for each dessjatin semi-annually in advance. Namely to pay the first half on 23 October and the second half on 23 April.

  3. We colonists commit ourselves until the end of this contract to take care of all the basic fees in connection with the leased land willingly. Also to annually deposit 5 kopecks per dessiatine payable to Princess Kotschubei at each pay period for fees and lease.

  4. We colonists are bound during the first four years of the lease by this contract to build thirty-two houses, each measuring 7 Faden, 2 Arschin long; 4 Faden and 4 Arschin wide. In one half of the loft to make two rooms for foot baths painted with oil paint. In the middle, an add-on for a kitchen and in the other half, a room made of stone or trampled dirt. The building made of trampled dirt is to have a stone foundation in the height of one Arschin. The outer walls have to be covered with wood slats for support. The Princess Kotschubei gives each colonist the right to take down the sheep pens in the Budak and use the materials to build the houses. All other necessary materials are to be acquired at our own expense. The colonists also are obliged to plant no less than forty trees per house at their own expense and to take care of them.

  5. The colonists do not have the right to open a tavern in Neufall nor are they permitted to allow themselves to do so in another colony.

  6. The colonists are committed per enclosed description to properly maintain those items received from the estate owner, as well as colonist established household goods, buildings and the planted trees under No. 4 above. At expiration of the contract to submit all to Princess Kotschubei in same properly maintained condition in accordance to the terms without any compensation, with the exception of any mills they built to which they have the right to disassemble and take with them, should they leave Neufall.

    The rooms with the appropriate floors are to be furnished nicely and the colonists are committed to keep them clean. During the summertime, when the people visit the beaches at the liman and at the ocean, the bathing rooms are to be leased to such persons under a special agreement between them and the colonists.

  7. Because of such conditions, the colonists have the right to use the land they lease for farming, grazing and sheep raising, to plant vineyards and orchards as well as to construct other technical facilities, i.e. arts and crafts shops. They can use the income of such for their own well being and need not report it to the estate owner. However, only with her permission can they hand over this leased land to other persons to benefit.

    During the last four years of this contract, the above mentioned colonists do not have the right to use more than 1250 dessiatines of land for seeding. The rest of the land has to be returned to the estate owner as four-year fallow (land). If they farmed more land, they are obligated to pay 4 rubles for each dessiatine to Princess Kotschubei.

  8. The colonists are permitted to farm and seed land from 15 August to the beginning of the term of this contract. They, or persons they have authorized to use the land, are obliged to the princess to report the income of the used leased land as of 15 August. If, however, more land is to be leased out, the above colonists have first choice up to 23 October 1879 to lease under the same conditions.

  9. Princess Kotschubei reserves the right to leave her supply of hay and straw on the leased out land until such is used up by her. Also to leave the sheep pens which are marked "New" and an iron repository in the village yard, until such are unassembled and removed.

  10. The colonists are obliged to not let any cattle, horse or pig onto the other half of the Budak plantation. Should that happen there will be a penalty of 1 ruble per each cattle, horse or pig.

  11. Half of all expenses incurred have to be paid by both parties involved at finalizing of the contract.

  12. For completion and punctuality of all conditions in this contract each colonist is responsible for all, and all are responsible for each colonist to pay the lease moneys on the agreed date. Should that not be the case, Princess Kotschubei reserves the right to remove them without any excuse and retain their goods until all the losses incurred are paid in full.

  13. The colonists are obliged to give Princess Kotschubei a deposit of 400 rubles at the time of signing of this contract. This money can be subtracted from the payment due on 23 October. Should the colonists become lewd until such time, the Princess Kotschubei keeps such deposit and has the right to dissolve the contract.

  14. Should there be bad harvests during the first ten years of the lease, God forbid, the colonists will only have to make half of a payment during such years, and the other half is to be paid semi annually during the period of two years in addition to the regular lease payment.

  15. This contract is to be kept respectful and unalterable. The original will be with Princess Kotschubei and a true copy with the colonists on which the term and signatures will be on the first page.

In authority as proxy for Princess Sophia Alexandrowana Kotschubei to this contract have the following affirmation:

Citizen of Reval, Andreas Adam Hellberg.
With permission of the colony authorities, the colonists of Colony Teplitz: Friedrich Bender, Konrad Weidenbach, Gottlieb Krämer, Andreas Krämer, Gottlieb Schuh, Johannes Fälchle, Georg Schmauder, Leopolt Stäub and Simon Kurz.
Colony Dennewitz: Michael Freitag, Martin Jörke.
Colony Beresina: Andreas Fregin.
Russian Translation of these names: Peisach Lewit.
At request, to sign for Gottlieb Krämer from Colony Teplitz and Martin Jörke from Dennewitz, who cannot write: Akkermann citizen, David Kersner.

To verify that this contract is undersigned in German by the mentioned colonists and translated into Russian, signed for the illiterate colonist Gottlieb Krämer and Martin Jörke by Akkerman citizen David Kersner, the Akkerman City Police Administration applied signature and seal on 30 August 1868. The original is undersigned by City Registrar Krischanowsky and Secretary Fadulow.(MN)

City of Akkermann on 1 September 1868 acknowledges that this contract has been duly reported and is logged in the Journal under No. 168. The same is duly undersigned by the above mentioned thirteen persons and that for the two illiterate colonists Gottlieb Krämer and Martin Jörke was signed on their behalf by David Kersner. Also that it was duly undersigned by Reval citizen Andreas Adam Hellberg as proxy and that I received 264 rubles, 60 kopecks for the city fund. Certified as Akkermann broker and notary: K. Dykobuw. (MN)

To certify that this copy of the contract and the contents therein are true and are entered in the journal under No. 168, word for word matching the original and undersigned personally by both parties, I hereby undersign and apply the seal. Akkermann, September 1, 1868, Akkermann broker and notary: K. Dukowitsch. (SG)

I verify that I received the security deposit of 400 rubles on 31 Aug 1868 as delegate of Princess Kotschubei: Andreas Adam Hellberg.

* * *

Between 1869 and 1873, the Kronau-Orloff (53) group of villages came into existence. This group was concentrated along the Inguletz River west of Nikopol and 115 miles north of Cherson. These were Evangelical and Catholic villages (daughter colonies from the Prischib) as well as Mennonite (daughter colonies of the Molotschna). There were seventeen Mennonite and eleven Lutheran and Catholic villages here during the early period.

Around 1879, there was a major exodus of the younger families of the Kronau-Orloff villages to the North Caucasus. Again, about 1907-1908, some of the younger Mennonite families went to Siberia to settle in the district of Barnaul. The history of the brutal treatment of these families who went to Siberia is one of the sad chapters of our German Russian history.(54)

1869

1870

1871

1872

In June 1871, a Ukase by Alexander II defined that in ten years the freedom from Russia military service would end as the German colonists had enjoyed since they first came to the Black Sea area.(55) This act, and others to follow, were key events in the history of our ancestors in the Black Sea area.

In 1872, the first German colonists (56) migrated to USA and in 1873, fifty five families from Rohrbach and Worms emigrated to the Sutton, Nebraska area.(57) (58)

1873

In June 1873, an even larger group of about 400 people left from Rohrbach and Worms. A small group from Bessarabia were to join with this group in the vicinity Columbus, Nebraska.(59) Families from Rohrbach and Johannestal also went to Lesterville, Dakota Territory and to Sutton, Nebraska.(60) Also in 1873, individual families from Rastadt emigrated to America.(61)

1874

The year of 1874 saw the expansion and settling of the Black Sea German Russians in Dakota Territory. Families from Kassel settled in the areas of Menno and Freeman in the southern part of the Territory. People from the Crimea area also began to arrive.(62) Families from Hoffnungstal [Odessa] arrived at Hampton, Nebraska and Menno, Dakota Territory. (63)

1875

In 1875, several Catholic families from Zürichtal in Crimea, who together with Evangelical colonists, first emigrated to Yankton, Dakota Territory and later went on to nearby Freeman.(64)

1876

In 1876, people from the colonies of Alt Danzig and Neu Danzig arrived in Dakota Territory near Avon.

1877

In 1877, about twenty families arrived in Dakota Territory in the area of Tripp.(65)

1878

In 1878, families from Kulm and Alt Posttal, Bessarabia moved into the area southwest of Parkston in Dakota Territory.

1879

1880

In 1880, the Lutheran families of the Black Sea Germans were settling in Dakota Territory north of Delmont and at the northern border of Hutchinson County.(66)

1881

1882

In 1882, there were colonists from Straßburg, Selz and Baden at Scotland, Dakota Territory.(67)
Later, in 1885, some of these settlers moved on to Ipswich, Dakota Territory.(68)

1883

In 1883, several families from München and Rastatt were at Sutton, Nebraska,(69) and by 1890, some had moved on to Albion, Nebraska.(70)

1884

In 1884, colonists from Glückstal settled in the area north of Hosmer, Dakota Territory, and people from Neudorf and Hoffnungstal settled in the community around Eureka, Dakota Territory.(71) Farther to the north, to what is now North Dakota, we see settlers moving to near Jewell.(72) (73) Families from Straßburg and Selz went to Zeeland, Dakota Territory. (74)

A group who had first migrated to Canada near Winnipeg, from the Rumanian Dobrudscha villages, relocated in March of 1884 to the area of Melville and then on to Carrington, and finally settled on homesteads near Cathay in present day Wells County.(75)

Families from Hoffnungstal (Odessa) arrived at Hays Center, Nebraska and Ashley and Wishek, Dakota Territory.(76)

1885

In the spring of 1885, seven of the Johannestal families that had first stopped at Menno moved on and settled in the Hebron area of Dakota Territory. Also, some Johannestal people arrived in Roscoe, Dakota Territory.(77) (78)

In 1885, we see significant numbers of Catholic families moving into the area around Ipswich, Dakota Territory. Many of these settlers came from Klein Liebental. (79) (80)

In the summer, families from Selz came to the vicinity of present-day Hague, ND.(81)

Also in the spring of 1885, four unmarried sons of Speier left their homeland to avoid military service under the new laws. They first went to Menno where they bought their provisions and then traveled to the Hebron area with seven Johannestal families before settling at Glen Ullin, Dakota Territory.(82) (83)

That year found a large wave of folks arriving in the USA: from Bergtal and Glückstal to Leola, Dakota Territory; from Rohrbach and Worms to Greenway and Artas, Dakota Territory; from the Glückstal colonies to Ashley and Wishek, Dakota Territory; from Hoffnungstal (Odessa) and Neudorf to St. Frances, Kansas and to McCook, Nebraska and from Kassel and Glückstal to Zeeland, Dakota Territory.(84)

Families from Selz and Elsaß went to Hague, Dakota Territory in 1885. (85)

1886

In 1886, the first settlers came to Lehr, Dakota Territory. Some of the earlier settlers from Kulm, Bessarabia moved to Kulm in present-day North Dakota.(86)

The first families from the Crimea, mostly from Friedenstal and Kronental, settled in Mercer County, Dakota Territory.(87) A small number of settlers from Leipzig, Bessarabia homesteaded south of Glen Ullin, Dakota Territory.(88)

During the years of 1886 to 1888, several families from Klein Liebental, Mariental, Josefstal and Franzfeld settled at Wathena, Kansas, just across the river from St. Joseph, Missouri.(89) (90) Families from Elsaß came to Hague, Dakota Territory, and to the Placidus community.(91)

In 1886, families from Josefstal and Mariental came to settle in Balgonie, Saskatchewan.(92)

1887

Several families from Worms came into the region of New Salem, Dakota Territory in May of 1887.(93) (94) Also in 1887, we find families from Neu Karlsruhe settling south of Antelope, Dakota Territory.(95) (96) Families from Waterloo and Glückstal arrived in St. Frances, Kansas.(97)

1888

In 1888, at Hague, Dakota Territory, the Parish of St. Plazidus was established. (98)

In 1888 and 1889, the first families from Speier were settling northeast of Mott, Dakota Territory. They founded the Parish of St. Plazidus there.(99) Then, more Speier families arrived to settle northwest of Mott and Mandan, Dakota Territory.(100)

1889

In 1889, Dakota Territory was divided into North Dakota and South Dakota.

Black Sea Germans settled in the vicinity of Linton, ND while families from Neu Freudental settled west of there.(101) (102)

Families from Speier settled at Mandan.(103) Families from Hoffnungstal [Odessa] arrived at Elgin, ND and in Burlington (at the "Settlement") near Bethune, CO.(104)

Families from Grossliebental arrived at St. Frances, KS (105) and families from Straßburg came to settle in Strasburg, ND (106)

1890

In 1890, the first families from Krasna, Bessarabia arrived, settling north of Strasburg, ND (107). More Catholic families began to arrive in Bismarck, ND. Soon there were about 90 families there.(108) Height reflects these settlers in Bismarck as "Bersaner".(109)

Families from Rohrbach arrived at Onaka and Dallas, SD and Odessa and Ritzville, WA.(110) Families from Worms arrived at Wichita Falls, TX and from Neudorf and Rohrbach at St Frances, KS.(111)

1891

The first immigrants from Karlsruhe and Landau came to Richardton, ND in 1891. In the same year, other families from the Beresan District arrived at Dickenson, ND.(112) (113)

Emigrants from Klein Liebental and Mariental came to Corpus Christi, TX. At the same time, families from Franzfeld and Blumenfeld were settling at Brenham, TX, and two years later resettled at Plantersville, TX.(114) (115)

Families from Kassel arrived in Streeter, ND, and those from Worms went to Eugene, OR.(116)

Kutschurgan families arrived at Vibank, Saskatchewan. (117)

1892

In 1892, several families, who had first come to the Eureka, SD area from Selz, Kandel and Mannheim, moved onto the areas of Harvey and Selz, ND.(118) (119)

1893

In 1893, families from Katharinental and Karlsruhe established a settlement at St. Joseph, south of Glen Ullin, ND.(120) (121)

Families from Neudorf arrived at Reliance, SD(122) and families from Franzfeld and Blumenfeld arrived at Plantersville, TX.(123)

1894

In 1894, families from Güldendorf arrived at St Frances, KS.(124)

1895

1896

In 1896, families from Johannestal arrived at Underwood and Mott, ND.(125)

1897

1898

In 1898, families from Selz arrived in the area of Devils Lake, ND and settled west of there.(126) (127)

1899

1900

1900 saw many families arriving from the Odessa Catholic villages: from Mannheim, Selz and Kandel to Towner, Karlsruhe and Sedan, ND; from Selz, Straßburg and Kandel to Collyer, KS and from the Kutschurgan villages to Sedley, Saskatchewan.(128)

1901

1902

1903

In 1903, families from Rohrbach arrived at Krupp and Marin, ND.(129)

Beresan Catholic families arrived in Saskatchewan at Maryland and Odessa.(130) Franzfeld families arrived at Holdfast, Claybank and Allan, Saskatchewan.(131)

1904

1905

Kutschurgan families arrived at Revenue, Saskatchewan [Selz community] in 1905.(132)

1906

Kutschurgan families settled at Tramping Lake, St Franziskus Mission, Salvador and Crosby ND [via Estevan, Saskatchewan] in 1906. (133)

1907

In 1907, Kutschurgan and Beresan families arrived at Prelate, Mendham and Fox Valley in Saskatchewan.(134)

1908

1909

In 1909, families from Glückstal arrived at Isabel and Timber Lake, SD and Fallon, Mt.(135)

1910

In 1910, families from the Kutschurgan colonies and Crimea settled in Scott, Macklin and Primate, Saskatchewan. (136)

1911

1912

1913

1914

1916

1919

1920

In the 1920 census of the United States, there were 116,535 people who were reflected as having been born in Russia and who spoke German as their basic language. In this same census, there were 186,997 persons who were born in America, whose parents were born in Russia, and who spoke German as their basic language.(137)

If almost 75 years ago, there were over 303,000 persons in this country with this heritage, and if we consider a generation as being every 20 years, we can see that there are in excess of three generations who greatly magnified the German-Russian numbers in this country.(138)

It should be noted that Schock felt that Sallet's numbers for 1920 were conservative.(139)

1921

1922

1923

1924

1925

1926

1927

1928

1929

1930

1934

* * *

Before the 2nd World War, the land holdings of the Black Sea Germans were more than 11 million acres.(140)

During World War II, the Bessarabian Germans were trekked out and resettled in Germany, along with some of the Germans who lived in the western part of present Ukraine. Those east of the Dnieper River were driven out of their villages and were dispersed to the winds (many to Siberia and Central Asia).(141) A must read for this period is Giesinger's book.(142)

Before and during World War II, the Germans had organized into many entities, with often overlapping functions and authority. While we will not be able to get into this organizational understanding, we will share a little insight and also understand a few of the key people who were involved in creating the German-Russian history and records.

We have a film collection at the GRHS library in Bismarck, ND. One set of films with which the Bessarabian and Dobrudscha researcher must become familiar is the "Koblenz" series of questionnaires. These are being indexed and the files are being shared in the Odessa Digital Library.

In the BDC (Berlin Document Center) files, maintained by the United States Government at the National Archives, there are various films that are referred to as "DAI" and "EWZ" files. The explanation of these records is beyond the scope of our focus here, but anyone interested needs to understand that we have major indexing efforts underway for both of these types of records. These indexed files are also shared in the Odessa Digital Library.

* * *

________________

  1. These two organizations today are referred to as AHSGR and GRHS. The latter (Germans from Russia Heritage Society) is the organization of the Black Sea German Russians, formerly called North Dakota Historical Society of Germans from Russia.
  2. These German families had their own churches, schools, a hospital and their own German language newspaper. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 9.
  3. Ibid, 9. Here the number of Germans grew to about 50,000 persons while at Moscow it was about 20,000.
  4. Ibid, 9, 10.
  5. The history of our German-Russian ancestors often refers to this as being the first migration of Germans to Russia. But as noted, there were already significant numbers of German families in Moscow and Petersburg before the third wave migrated to the Volga area.
  6. Adolph Schock, In Quest of Free Land.
  7. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe.
  8. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe.
  9. George Rath, The Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas, 2.
  10. Ibid., 1.
  11. Adam Giesinger, from Catherine to Khrushchev,.
  12. George Rath, The Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas,, 6.
  13. Ibid., 9.
  14. Karl Stumpp, The Emigration from Germany to Russia in the Years 1763 to 1862.
  15. George Rath, The Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas.
  16. Karl Stumpp, The Emigration from Germany to Russia in the Years 1763 to 1862, page 5.
  17. Ibid.
  18. George Rath, The Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas, 12.
  19. Ibid., 13.
  20. Karl Stumpp, The Emigration from Germany to Russia in the Years 1763 to 1862.
  21. Ibid.
  22. George Rath, The Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas, 4. (This should be considered must reading for those of the Grossliebental District.)
  23. Ibid., 5.
  24. The Kutschurgan villages were along the Kutschurgan River, a tributary of the Dniester River. In later years, two daughter colonies were added: Georgental and Johannestal. (George Rath, The Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas, 4)
  25. Originally the villages of this group were of the Grossliebental District, but in 1813 the Beresan District was formed west of the Beresan River with an area of 56,000 hectares. (George Rath, The Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas, 4).
  26. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 321.
  27. George Rath, The Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas, 7, 8.
  28. Karl Stumpp, The Emigration from Germany to Russia in the Years 1763 to 1862, 107.
  29. George Rath, The Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas, 8.
  30. Karl Stumpp, The Emigration from Germany to Russia in the Years 1763 to 1862, 107.
  31. Adam Giesinger, from Catherine to Khrushchev, 51.
  32. George Rath, The Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas, 22.
  33. Adam Giesinger, from Catherine to Khrushchev, 51.
  34. Since 1996, GRHS has been working on bringing copies from this Archive, these two fonds in particular.
  35. George Rath, The Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas, 23.
  36. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 313.
  37. The families involved, and the initial history, was found in one of the Welfare Committee records and subsequently published in the Heritage Review, 27-3, page 23. It should be noted that these families coming from the Grossliebental District ended up in the Beresan District. These original families were able to purchase about 7,200 acres of fertile steppeland from the landlord named Marine. The 1848 history of Neu Freudental is found in Height's Homestead book, page 313, and a second translation in the 1848 village histories on Odessa Digital Library.
  38. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 313.
  39. Adolph Schock, In Quest of Free Land, 37.
  40. Ibid, 30.
  41. Ibid, 37
  42. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 315.
  43. Adam Giesinger, from Catherine to Khrushchev.
  44. Conrad Keller, The German Colonies in South Russia.
  45. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe.
  46. Adolph Schock, In Quest of Free Land, 37.
  47. George Rath, The Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas, 43, 394-398. (This history has also been well documented in the GRHS Heritage Reviews.)
  48. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 21. Sallet describes their arrival as "about the year 1847-1848," whereas Rath writes that they left 1 July 1849 and that the journey took 103 days.
  49. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  50. Adam Giesinger, from Catherine to Khrushchev.
  51. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 319.
  52. According to A. Mergenthaler, HBR 1956, 84-89, in 1859 the German population in the Black Sea area was 143,733, whereas in 1825 it had been 51,014.
  53. George Rath, The Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas, 5
  54. Ibid., 6
  55. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 22.
  56. In late summer of 1872, four families of Johannestal sold their crops while still in the field, and in September left for America. A few weeks later, 35 more families from Johannestal, Worms, Rohrbach and other villages set out on that same journey. They met up in Sandusky, Ohio in December of that year.
  57. A great view of this history has been published in the BDO (Beresan District Odessa) newsletters.
  58. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  59. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 22,24.
  60. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  61. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 35.
  62. Ibid., 24.
  63. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  64. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 35.
  65. Ibid., 24.
  66. Ibid., 24.
  67. Ibid., 35.
  68. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe,, 246.
  69. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 35.
  70. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  71. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 25.
  72. Ibid., 26.
  73. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  74. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  75. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 27.
  76. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  77. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 27.
  78. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  79. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 35.
  80. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  81. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 36.
  82. Ibid., 39.
  83. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  84. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  85. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  86. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 26.
  87. Ibid., 27.
  88. Ibid., 27.
  89. Ibid., 40.
  90. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  91. Ibid., 246.
  92. Ibid., 246.
  93. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 27.
  94. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  95. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 39.
  96. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  97. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  98. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 36.
  99. Ibid., 39
  100. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  101. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 26.
  102. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  103. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 36.
  104. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  105. Ibid., 324.
  106. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  107. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 36.
  108. Ibid., 39.
  109. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  110. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  111. Ibid., 324.
  112. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 39.
  113. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  114. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 40.
  115. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  116. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  117. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 36.
  118. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  119. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 39.
  120. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  121. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  122. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  123. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  124. Ibid., 324.
  125. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 38.
  126. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  127. Ibid., 246.
  128. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  129. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  130. Ibid., 246.
  131. Ibid., 246.
  132. Ibid., 246.
  133. Ibid., 246.
  134. Joseph S. Height, Homesteaders on the Steppe, 324.
  135. Joseph S. Height, Paradise on the Steppe, 246.
  136. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 17.
  137. Many people have tried to estimate how many German-Russian descendants there are in North America today. It would probably be in the millions. This would be a good subject for study by a college level student.
  138. Adolph Schock, In Quest of Free Land, 101.
  139. Richard Sallet, Russian German Settlements in the United States, trans. LaVern J. Rippley and Armand Bauer, 4. This can be compared to the 2.7 million acres under ownership by the Volga Germans. The reasoning for this difference in land ownership can be better understood by reviewing page 3 along with page 4.
  140. George Rath, The Black Sea Germans in the Dakotas, 28.
  141. Adam Giesinger, from Catherine to Khrushchev, 299.
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