American Historical Society of Germans from Russia
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American Historical Society Of Germans From Russia Kongregational Gemeinden von Amerika 61. Jahrgang Yankton, S. Dak. 14. January 1943 Nr. 11 Work Paper No. 6 May 1971 (front cover of WP6) TABLE OF CONTENTS President's Letter…………………………………………………………………….1 From the Editor's Desk…………………………………………………..3 Report From Germany ..Emma S. Haynes……………………………...4 Russia Revisited ...Cornelius Krahn………………………………….15 Comments on Frank ..Fred Grosskopf ……………………………….24 St. Joseph's Colonie, Balgonie .. A. Becker…………………………...25 Migration of the First Russian-Germans to The United States ..Friedrich Mutschelnaus Edited and Translated by Sen. Theodore Wenzlaff ……………………43 Inland Empire Russia Germans ..Harm H. Schlomer…………………..53 Genealogy Section ..Gerda Walker………………………………61 About the Cover: This photograph of the Church at Frank was donated by Mrs. Rachel Amen. It appeared in a publication of the Evangelical Congregational Conference. A comment on the picture is found on page 24. AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF GERMANS FROM RUSSIA POST OFFICE BOX 1424 GREELEY. COLORADO 80631 (inside front cover of WP6) American Historical Society of Germans from Russia 1004A NINTH AVENUE - P.O. BOX 1424 TELEPHONE; 352-9467 GREEL.EY. COLORADO 00631 April 27, 1971 OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS: H. J. Amen, President Emeritus 601 D Street Lincoln, Nebraska 68502 PRESIDENT'S LETTER Dr. Karl Stumpp, Chairman Emeritus 74 Tuebingen Autenrieth Strasse 16 West Germany David J. Miller, President Dear Members of AHSGR: P.O. Box 1424 Greeley, Colorado 80631 John H. Werner, Vice-President 522 Tucson The progress we have made in membership and in Aurora, Colorado 80010 contributions to our cause is proof of the basic need and W. F. Urbach. Vice-President 9320 East Center Avenue demand for AHSGR. Nevertheless, we can only exist Apt, 2A, Windsor Gardens Denver, Colorado 80231 only if we continue to grow. Individual membership so Col. T. C. Wenzlaff, USA-Ret., Vice-President P.O. Box 26 far has been the sole source of our funds. Except for Sutton, Nebraska 68979 Mrs. Emma S. Haynes, Vice-President postage and stenographic services all services have been Hq. V Corps SJA Section APO New York 09079 donated. The time will soon come when we must have a Miss Ruth M. Amen, Vice-President full-time executive secretary with a good stenographer. 601 D Street Lincoln, Nebraska 68503 Each of us is on the membership committee. I urge you Chester G. Krieger, Secretary Major U.S.A.F., Ret. to do whatever you can. 3380 Moore Court. Wheat Ridge, Colorado 80033 John L. Long, Jr., Treasurer 1908 12th Street Greeley, Colorado 80631 Mrs. Harvey L. Weber, Asst. Treasurer 2137 21st Avenue Before AHSGR was founded there were many attempts Greeley, Colorado 80631 Mrs. Rachel Amen to form such an organization. I hope sometime one of Route 1, Box 209 Loveland, Colorado 80537 our members will research past efforts and write a paper Arthur E. Flegel 189S Oakdell Drive Menlo Park, California 94025 on it for the Work Paper. Judge Ray R. Friederich District Court Rugby, North Dakota 58368 Two existing organizations were founded in part with Prof. Adam Giesinger 645 Oxford Street Winnipeg, 9, Manitoba, Canada objectives similar to ours. An organization was started Mrs. Marie Gilbert 1410 Chester Street in Chicago by Jacob Klein, 536 Oakdale, Chicago, Aurora, Colorado 80010 Prof. Joseph S. Height Illinois, in 1926 or 1927, which published Das Wolga 1221 East Adams Drive Franklin, Indiana 46131 Journal. The organization was the United Order of Mrs. Theodore E. Heinz 1913 15th Avenue Greeley, Colorado 80631 Wolga Germans of the U.S.A., Verein der Wolga- Dr. J. Robert Lebsack 4500 19th Street Apt. 280 Deutschen von den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika. Boulder, Colorado 80302 Jerry Lehr The organization has become what is now the American 2850 Hudson Denver, Colorado 80207 Victor C. Leiker Fraternal Insurance Society which still exists. Another 126 Ocean Boulevard Atlantic Highlands, organization of Germans from Russia is the very active New Jersey 07716 John E. Pfeiffer Welfare Society of Lincoln, Nebraska. Many of our 215 North Kline Aberdeen, South Dakota 57401 present members of the Lincoln Chapter are members of Paul E. Reeb Route 2 St. Francis, Kansas 67756 the Welfare Society of Lincoln. Henry Schwebel, one of Victor A. Reisig 2238 Lake Shore Drive our present members in Chicago and a personal friend of St. Joseph, Michigan 49085 Edward Schwartzkopf Dr. Stumpp was once an officer of the Chicago 2020 Park Avenue Lincoln, Nebraska 68502 Harold Stoll organization. There was also a Volga-German Society in P.O. Box. 68 Monte Vista, Colorado 81144 Berlin. There may have been other societies. Mrs. Theodosia Urbach 9320 East Center Avenue Apt. 2A, Windsor Gardens I wish to give you a thumb-nail sketch of how AHSGR Denver, Colorado 80231 Mrs. Gerda S. Walker 1840 So. Utica came about. By accident in 1966 I learned Denver, Colorado 80219 Mrs. Albert W. Wardin 807 S. W. Troy Street Portland, Oregon 97219 (WP6, p.1) of the opportunity of going to Russia with the Citizens Exchange Corps of New York City. Mrs. Miller and I spent three weeks in the USSR, attended thirteen half-day seminars and visited Moscow, Sochi and Leningrad. We were not permitted to go to the areas of the origin of our people. We took many pictures on the trip and showed them at St. Paul's Congregational Church at Greeley, Colorado. There we met Mr. and Mrs. John H. Werner, John has worked on the history of Germans from Russia since the early 1930's. He learned of Bill Urbach’s book, "Our Parents Were Russian-Germans" (on which he was assisted by his wife, Theodosia), by finding a copy of it on a business trip in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. John and I met with the Urbachs. Bill Urbach, a retired YMCA executive, lived in Windsor Gardens. We all agreed to form a society. Bill Urbach prodded us to have a meeting at the Urbach apartment. As I remember it, the first meeting included the Werners, the Urbachs, my wife Lydia’s sister, Katie Dietz, and her husband, Henry, and ourselves. We set up an Adhoc Committee which included Col. Wenzlaff. Through my office, we mimeographed some material and mailed it to friends. I wrote Professor Joseph S. Height, the translator of Dr. Karl Stumpp’s book on Germans from Russia. He sent me a list of prospects. That list was circulated. I believe we had a second meeting at which Chester Krieger and his wife attended. Finally, the Adhoc Committee, consisting of Werners, Urbachs, Millers, Dietzes and the Kriegers set up the Windsor Gardens, Denver, Colorado, meeting of September 8, 1968. At the Greeley, Colorado, meeting October 6, 1968, the general membership voted to incorporate and named the organization. The certificate of incorporation was issued by the Secretary of State, State of Colorado, on December 20, 1968. PLEASE SEND IN YOUR CONVENTION REGISTRATION. Our Convention Chairman, Ruth M. Amen, needs your convention registration badly. Even though you have relatives in Lincoln with whom you are going to stay, Ruth must have your convention registration fee and the registration for the Stumpp dinner. The capacity of the dining room at the Villager Inn is 300. If we run over 300, we must move the dinner to the Corn Husker. The move must be by May 15, 1971. Send in your convention registration direct to Miss Ruth M. Amen, 601 D Street, Lincoln, Nebraska 68502. Send in your motel, hotel reservations direct to the hotel, but be sure to use AHSGR registration blanks. Otherwise, you will be charged the increased rate. The quoted rate holds only for AHSGR members. WORK SHOP VOLUNTEERS. Send in your names and your work shop requests. Don’t miss the Lincoln Convention. I shall look forward to seeing you there. Cordially yours, (signed) .2. David J.Miller, President (WP6, p.2) From the editor’s desk …….. This issue of the Work Paper has a distinct Canadian emphasis, with two articles taken from publications of the area, and the back cover map, prepared by Dr. Karl Stumpp. The Society, being International, would like to bring our members closer together, by reporting the experiences of our group in their settlements in all parts of the Americas. The feature article is a pictorial report of a trip to Russia, with the kindness of the editors of Mennonite Life. The trip was made through their travel service. Such a trip is an unforgettable experience. Any of the members of our Society who have made such a trip are invited to share their experiences with us, and those planning such a trip should contact the Mennonite travel planners for assistance. Work Paper #3 carried the first of the articles taken from Die Deutschen Kolonien in Cherson und Bessabien, Georg Leibbrandt, published by Ausland und Heimat Verslags- Aktiengesellschaft, 1926, Stuttgart. This first article was on Glueckstal, and was taken from page 52 on, while the second article, appearing in Work Paper #4, on Lichtenstal, began on page 131. Others in the series will be printed as space permits. We hope someday to be able to offer translations for all of the villages in the book. Dr. Leibbrandt has also called our attention to three books of interest to Society members: German Rule in Russia 1941-1945, by Alexander Dallin, London, MacMillan, and Co. 1957, 695 pages Deutsche Herrsshaft in Russland, von Alexander Dallin, Dusseldorf, Droste Verlag 1957, 695 pages. So Hat Es Sich Zugetragen, von Otto Brautigam, Wurzburg, Holner Verlag. This is no longer on the market, but a letter to Dr. Leibbrandt at 53 Bonn-Ippendorf, Birkenweg 16, Germany, will enlist his aid in securing a copy for a cost of about 25 DM or $7.00.