German-Russian Settlements in Ellis County, Kansas
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7·1 rlARYARC COLLEGE LIBRARY Reur1otell t'rum K~n~.us lli:stvtlcul Collccti(•l1S.. Yo1. Xl. Uf· CHARLES Ell.IOT1 P~RKINrD .. • l ............ :-~M • GERMAN-RUSSIAN SETTLEMENTS IN ELLIS COUNTY, KANSAS. Written by tho Jkv. FRANCIS S. LAINO, 0. M. Cap.. 1 for the Kanau State H'16torionl Soc:iety. ATHARINE II of Russia is known in history as an energetic ruler, who C endeavored to improve her land and people. One means she employed with success for this purpose was to invite colonists to Russia. A summary invitation of thls nature was issued December 4, 1762. The following year, July 22, 176!, a more detailed statement followed. Article 6, section l, of REv. ADOLPH WIBBERT, PETF.R LElirER. lo!U>IJOR, K.ur. 0$hkosb, Wis. Only survivor of the explorers of 1874. The firat .Priest in the Colonie.. this so-called "manifest," guaranteed to all such foreigners forming colo nies in hitherto unsettled districts of Russia free exercise of religion, allow ini them to build chnrches and hell towers, but no monasteries, to have priests. etc. These colouists should for thirty years he free from all taxes, levies and land service;! thE'y were further exempted from military duty NoTB 1.-Bom Februnry 6. 1880. in Cumberland. Md.; made clasoioalatudi.,.ln Berman. Pa.: entered the Cap11cblo Order J'uly, 1&97; •tudfec! philosophy and theology in Cwnberland, Mel.. waa ordained Jane. 1903; since January. 1904. has been teachlnsr in monastel'J' at Victoria. Kan. NOTE z.-Artiele 6. seetion 2: the manlf""t of Catbs.rioell. was r<!printec! at Bayg, Kan .. in 1882.. from a copy l;t'cured in ~nver of an immigrant fJ. Sehb•er): from this print the detail~ T~inl the manifest are taken. The manifest ie a1eo printed in Bauer. Coachkbte der deutachen Anaiec!ler an der Wolga. pp. 10 16. ' Harvard University - Collection Development Department, Widener Library, HCL / Laing, Francis S. German-Russian settlements in Ellis County, Kansas. [Topeka, Kan. ? : s.n., 1910?]. 2 Kamw~ Stal c H i::;torical Sncid!f. for an indefinite period.! In the same year Capt. J. G. von Kotzer, as im perial commissary, assisted by Messr•. F'lorentin and Pdanu, all Germans by birth, were sent to Frankfurt to invite Germans to settle in Russia. They succeeded in inducing some 8000 families (about 25,000 persons) from ' Hessia, Saxony, Alsatia, Baden, Wuertemberg, Bavaria. Tyrol, Switzerland• and the Palatinate' to emigrate. As rendezvous Rosslau • near Dessau on I the Elbe was designated. From this place the colonist~~ proceeded to and embarked at Hamburg.7 Landing in Kronstadt they proceeded to Oranien baum, where they were met and welcomed by Catharine II. Ailer a brief stay they continued their journey to Moskau and Petrowski. where they wintered. In the spring of 1764 they moved southward toward Saratow, settling on both sides of the Wolga, some as far south as the Black Sea. a OthE'r colonists followed till 1768. One hundred and four colonies were founded, 69 on the so-called meadow (eastern) and 45 on the so-called moun tain (western) side of the Wolga,o at a cost to the government of 6,899,813 rubles.'" I The homes of the settlers in Ellis county were: Katharinenstadt ( popu larly called Baronsk, because founded in 1765 by Baron de Beauregard), Boregard (founded 1766), Obermonjour (founded 1766), Zug (Gattung, founded 1767), Luzern (Roemler, founded 1767), Schoenchen (Paninskoje, founded 1767), Solothurn (Wittmann, founded 1767), all lying on the east bank of the Wolga, north of Saratow; Rohleder (Ra;;katy, founded 1766). Graf (Kruto I gorowka, founded 1764), Herzog (Susly, founded 1764), 1\fariental (Pfannen stiel or Tonkoschurowka, founded 17661, Louis (Otrogowka. founded 1766), .) lying north and south of the great Karamann, which flows from the south into the Wolga west of KatharinensLadt; Liebenthal (founded 1859 from the other colonies), south of the great Karamann; Neu-Obermonjour (founded 1859), 10 weret 11 south of Liebenthal, Marien burg (founded 1860), 68 werst northeast of Liebenthal. AII these colonies were on the meadow side. On the mountain side lay Kamenka (founded 1764), 110 werst southwest of Saratow, Pfeifer (Gniluska, founded 1766), 7 werst southwest of Kamenka, Rothamelu (Pamnatnaja, founded 1767), about 25 weret northwest of Ka menka, Semenowka (founded 1766), 15 werst southwest of Pfeifer. NOTB 3.-Artlele 6, """tion 7: The exoression employed. "na vyak." !tad several meanlo~rs: an indefinite period. 100, 600 yeaTS. fore:ver {B. Brunprdt, J. Schaefer): tradition interprets it to mean 100 yean. NOT& 4.-Scbaab In SL JoiM!ph'o Blatt. vol. XXI. n, 41. NoTtl 6.-Wciu, J. B .. Weltgeochiehte. vol. XU, 4th ed. (Gru. 1899), p. 460, 461. NOTE 6.-Scbaab. I. e. n. 85 : The manifest (in 1766) mentions Rooslau as rendezvous. A. Schneider ( Hiotoris<oh-politio<:he Blaetter. vol. CXV. p. 418) deaia-natea as such Re~rembul'&'. NoT£ 7.-Sehaab, t e. n. 41: This agrees wlth tradition ..s known to B. Brungardt: aeeord inll to A. Schneider (I. e.) they embarked al Luebeek. NoTe 8.-A. Schneider, 1. e.; othero wintered "' Tor!lcbok, Twer, Ka&troma nnd Kolomna (Bauer, p. 20}. NOTE 9. -Schaab, I. c. n. 41: Th.,.. numbers differ slightly from those jpven in n. ~5 and 48. A. Walter (10a},jpvoa tho number o! colonieo u 163. NOTE 10.-Seb.a.ab. I. e. n. 4~: Jn all. 100.000 Germans emigrated to Rusala: others em~rated from France, Poland and Sweden ( Wei•"- Welureschichte. I. e.}. NOT.£11.-WenL ~ 3000 feet. NoTII12.-These details are t.aken for the ma&t part from Deutscher Volkskalender. Odessa. 1909. and Volkafreundkalender. Sanatow. 1910. A map of the c:olonieo (printed at Saratow, 1910) waa kindly lent. by Joe. LinDenberger. The German oar:nee of the colonies are tbOd.e of the tint Harvard University - Collection Development Department, Widener Library, HCL / Laing, Francis S. German-Russian settlements in Ellis County, Kansas. [Topeka, Kan. ? : s.n., 1910?]. - - ·--------------.-~------- ( Gerrnan-Rus1::ian Settlements in Ellii! County. 3 I • KlCHOLAS A~D CATHARINE DREILING. f''int settlers of HerZQJC. 1876. The immediate cause of the emigration was the military law of January 13, 1874, 13 which subjected aU colonists to military service. Factors in its introduction had been jealousy of the Russian nei~hbors, owing particularly to the drain in the Crimean war, lack of caution on the part of the colonists, who had been led to sign a document inimical to their libertyY The colo nists were averse to military service, because, during the six years, it was almost impossible for Catholic soldiers to fulfill even their Easter duty of receiving the sacraments: only members of the Greek church could rise to an officer's rank; treatment left much to be desired.•• In June, 1871, an edict had limited the period of exemption from military service to ten years, with the provision that. as to furnishing recruits, the Vorateber (equivalent to mayor). aa Rothamel, or of the Vorat~her of 1774, up to which timf' the name had changed with Vorateher. the lhen prev•ili:ng name1 becoming fixed by u.t:aae o£ the eomptoir officials CSehaab. L e. n. 43); or of the first settler or of t.be village in Germany from whtch the settlers came (A Scltneidcr. I. c.)· the RuMian nam"" date from Febru&rY.12. 1768. when they were sanetioncd by thtl' Rusttia:n govemmeot at requelrt: of the Saratow comptoir (Scltnab, 1. e. n. •1). NOTE lS.-Th.is date Is given In Brockhaus. Konvert!&tlOM lexleon. IS ed .. ''ol. XIV (!886). p. 29. NOTI: H.-•. g .. in Katharinenatadt. June 4. 1871. (A. Walter. llb). NOTE 15.-A. Walter. 134. Harvard University - Collection Development Department, Widener Library, HCL / Laing, Francis S. German-Russian settlements in Ellis County, Kansas. [Topeka, Kan. ? : s.n., 1910?]. 4 Kansas State Historical Society. laws ruling colonists should continue in force only till the publication of a general law on military duty. 10 In this period of ten years colonists might emigrate to other countries without forfeiture of any property. This was not generally known. It was emphasized in a peculiar way during a term of court al Novousensk. Balthasar Brungardt, one of the jurors who had been schreiber (~ecretary) of Herzog for nine years. and who;e attention had been called to the paragraph in the colonialo~taw (law book) by a mirovoj (secretary). entered into a bet With a Mr. Krafr, who denied the liberty to emtgrate, both leaving the dectsion to the procuror (state's at torney) on the morrow. In the presence of s<>veral hundred colonists the procurer affirmed the right of emigrating. It was largely this occurrence which led to a meeting of about 3000 colo nists at Herzog in the spring of 1874. Balthasar Brungardt was one of the speakers. His knowledge of the geographical subject be had drawn from a geography imported from Germany. and from Professor Stelling, who taught history and g<Jograrhy in the seminar (college) at Saratow during Brungardt's college day~. 1860-'64, being at the same time official of the comptoir. Stelling was born on the Pacific (his father. a nattve of Cour land, washed gold in California). and delighted to speak of America. In his discourse Mr. Brungardt spoke of Brazil and ~ebraska as desirable places for new homes, giving preference to tht> latter place because colder. A ref;Uit of this meeting was the election of five delega.te'l, who, at the expense of their respective communities, were to investigate Nebraska, with a view of settling there. 1 · The delegates were B. Brungardt (Herzog), Peter Leiker (Obermonjour), Jacob Ritter (Luzem).