Rosemarie Krieg Dinkel

Church Records are not available for this village. Hopefully, someday we will find these important records, to help us know more about Marienfeld. As you know, it is difficult to be VC for a village that we can't get information on. There aren't too many descendants of this village that I know of. Hopefully, more people will get in touch with me, and I can better serve this village.

MARIENTAL

Mariental Web Site

Thelma Mills

It seems that I never have too much to write about, but I have been busy working with my files, and trying to publish a web page. The web page has been published, but I have much more to add to it. Patrice Miller is helping me with the web page and I have sent her more information. 

I also have requested to be the Village Coordinator for the village of Louis, as that village is where my people first settled, then moved to Mariental (where my Dad was born). I will eventually have a web page for Louis, also.

I have received interesting information from Gerald Schmidt, and also Frank Jacobs concerning Mariental. They have been a great help and much appreciated by me. Their information will eventually be on my web page also.

I will be going to Arizona again this winter, but I will be taking a laptop along with me, so I will be able to work on my two Villages. It is so exciting to me (fairly new at this yet and still get excited about finding information on the people of my Village), and hopefully I will be able to help more families find their ancestors.

I did attend three days of the National at Lincoln, NE this year, had a great time and found more information. I received two family books concerning some of the surnames I am interested in. I am hoping to get family books for the surnames of Mariental and Louis, if written and available.

I have all of the surnames cataloged along with emails received asking for information concerning certain surnames. I had them all on the computer, but when it crashed, I lost a lot of my information, so now I also keep paper files. I don't feel like trusting the computer at the moment.

Now I will be working on new ideas and gathering more research material as I run across it. I have purchased both Volumes of the "1798 Census of the German Colonies along the Volga" by Brent Mai. They are a great reference.

I also am still trying to get a chart on the Mariental KINDERKNECHT's from Russia, but am having a delay at the present time.

I have enjoyed this year as Village Coordinator for Mariental.

MERKEL

Darrell W. Kautz

I have assembled two books regarding Merkel, with the kind courtesy of many descendants, several professional researchers, and an extensive bibliography of source material. These two volumes represent several years of research and contain several hundred photographs maps and documents, each. I even had several German and Russia archives and libraries, searched for photographs, etc..., a very expensive, and, mostly fruitless, endeavor. The appendix of these books contain information we know on Merkel born kinsman, including data from six or seven surname charts. I have not, personally kept a data base, per se, though I have collected information for such an endeavor, and would appreciate anyone interested in taking on such a task. I have an extensive collection of family materials in my archives.

IN THE SHADOW OF A BELL TOWER: A Social History of the Volga Germans from the Former Colony of Merkel, Russia: A comprehensive Story in Pictures, Maps and Documents. 1999, (316 pages) $34.90 plus $3.40 shipping and handling.

BEYOND THE GATES: A Tribute to those Uprooted Emigrants from Merkel, Russia and neighboring colonies Whose Insight Sought Freedom in Foreign Lands. A Memorial to Those Who Stayed Behind. 2000, (425 pages) $37.90 plus $3.40 shipping and handling.

I hope to have a web page within a year, and am currently gathering material for three related books, if resources to print these should become available. I have already located at least thirty pages of specific information for a third volume on Merkel. I am currently assembling a book of translated material from "Die Welt Post" newspaper. This is very specific resource material pertaining to numerous villages in the region, based, mostly, on the articles of Merkel born journalist, Alexander Bauer, (who also wrote for "Dakota Freie Presse").

Samuel D. Sinner informed me of the existence of Mr. Bauer's Neuigkeitsquelle (News Source) series that ran from December 1924 to December, 1929, ending abruptly at that time. These articles were to keep North and South American kin abreast of situations in their homeland. Very specific family information was included, not only what these individuals were doing in their home villages, but, also, who their kin were in American, and, what was going on in the social and political scene in the Volga region.

Villages covered, to some degree, include: Merkel, Krazke, Kautz, Dietel, Norka, Messer, Kutter, Beideck, Balzer, Degott, Neu-Balzer, Neu Doenhof, Doenhof, Hussenback, Frank, Kolb, Rothammel, Seewald, etc...., as well as Kamenka and Saratov. To date, thanks to a Siberian born, Merkel kinsman, we have about one fifth of these articles translated. I have written some histories of what was going on at the time.

I intend to include several famine letters from about 1917 to 1934, pertaining to various villages, mostly, of the Dietel Parish, because these are the villages I have researched. I also have some 1920s Confirmation records for the Dietel Parish, and hope to acquire a few of Bauer's "Dakota Freie Presse" articles. Samuel Sinner is helping me to locate similar material. I am attempting to find out what happened to Mr. Bauer through the Engels and/or Saratov archives. Thirdly, I am still working on a Kautz Family book, which, due to extensive size, vast expense of publication, and limited market, may never get produced.

I do work full time, have two young children, and have many other interests, and hobbies. Although willing to give my time, I can not afford to put any more of my own money into this project, having already sunk thousands of dollars, that I will never recover, into these projects. I owe it to my family to stop this nonsense. From here on, I will only do what outside resources allow me to do. I will accept donations of time and expertise, as much as I would accept monetary supplement (I have only collected a little over $200 in donations since I started, but, am thankful for anything I receive). However, I am grateful for the translation services of Eugen Wittmann, and, for material collected, organized, and shared, by any of several dedicated researchers.

MESSER

Bob Weigand

Greetings to all other village coordinators from MESSER (UST-ZOLIKHA). I have been the VC for Messer since the Seattle Convention in 1992. This has been a slow year. The data base has 1,735 names and 637 marriages. I have updated the village history from new data received this year. This village was established on July 7, 1766 with 397 residents and in 1926 the town population consisted of 3,575 residents. The farm land allocated to this village wasn't good for farming, so this village was known for its industry. At one time there were more than 600 sarpinna (a type of cloth similar to gingham) weavers.

I have a mailing list of forty eight names for Messer of which eight do not belong to AHSGR but have submitted data for the data base. At the 2000 convention in Lincoln, we had eleven people in attendance at the village night program from Messer and Moor. I have updated a comparison of the Messer 1775 and 1798 census records in alphabetical order.

This year, I have had 2 inquiries about Messer, both by email. This was down from 11 last year. The families that were being researched were; LEHR, NAGEL, REISPICH and ROTH. I have answered all inquiries but to the people who are not members of AHSGR. I send a surname list of my data base and the Messer village history and I tell them about AHSGR and if they join I will send them the details of my data base. I never hear from them again.

MOOR

Moor Web Site

Irma A. Waggoner, W098

Wayne Bonner

Many contacts have been made this past year with Moor researchers via the Internet and snail mail. Darrell Weber visited Moor on his trip to the Volga region, providing us with photographs of the town as it is today.

A few more church and census abstracts were received from Russia. There is still not enough information to establish a separate newsletter for Moor so for now all new information will be published in the Balzer newsletter.

See also GNADENFELD report

MUELLER

Mueller Web Site

Bill Wiest

I now am happy to report that Brian Ebel, to whom I had given what information I had about getting to the site of the former village of Mueller, has returned with an excellent report. He found the place, took lots of excellent photos, and made careful observations, all of which I understand he is submitting to AHSGR and to Kathy O'Malley, editor of a village newsletter that includes Mueller.

The last query I received was from Brian Ebel of Ottawa, Ontario. I supplied some maps (three different ones) to help Mr. Ebel make his way to Mueller when he visits the Saratov area villages in September. He promised to take photos and maybe there'll finally be some to share with AHSGR. I myself, having traveled to Saratov area 4 times, have never been to Mueller (Müller) in spite of valiant attempts to get there. Always we were rained out, making the roads too muddy to drive on. Our travel agent, Mr. Douglas Grimes of MIR Corporation in Seattle had visited there once in advance of our trip in 1995. He said the former village had been completely abandoned, that what was left of past structures (including what was probably a cemetery) was sloughing off the cliff and falling into the Volga River (now a lake, with water levels much higher than was historically the case for the river).

NEU-STRAUB

Neu-Straub Web Site

Lillian Larwig

As village coordinator for the village of Neu-Straub (Skatowka), I have been in touch with several who also have connections with Neu-Straub. One found her relative on my Russian census. The census I have is from 1857 on the HEINTZ and KEIL name only from Neu-Straub I am willing to share information in this census.

With family charts I received from a friend, I was able to connect a NUSS family researcher with a member of his family and fill in the blank area of his family chart. The Nuss name is not from my village.

I would ask anyone who is researching names from the village of Neu-Straub to contact me so I would have that information available and hopefully make connections with other families.

Using the Family Tree Maker, I have compiled a KEIL-HEINTZ-DICK history book. At a summer family reunion of persons from these three families, I talked about the information I already had and asked if anyone was interested in a book if I had it printed. Fifty people asked for a book.

That was thrilling but what was even more interesting, it was the third and fourth generation of the original German-Russians who showed the most interest. I had five extra copies printed and they were sold before I got the books back from the printer. The book has 193 pages with the German-Russian history dating back to Catherine the Great - why our families left Russia and why they came to Oklahoma - history of the church these original homesteaders became charter members of - photo's of these first families - stories from family members of 'what grandma told me' and some photo's of the following generations.

Neu-Straub researchers, keep in touch as we strive to help each other.

NEU-YAGODNAYA

See Schoendorf

NIEDER-MONJOU

Nieder-Monjou Web Site

Carolyn & John Gorr

The most exciting news regarding Nieder-Monjou research, during this past year, is the photo of the village church and surrounding houses received from Steven Grau of TX who is doing ANSCHUTZ/ANSCHUETZ family research. This photo was hanging on the wall of David E. ANSCHUTZ' house in Kansas. David immigrated in 1923. The photo comes to us courtesy of Mike Grau. Steven Grau (brother to Mike) has on order the ANSCHUTZ family genealogy.

No real break through in information gathering regarding the village during the year 2000. However, we did get an email query from a man in South Africa whose ancestors went there in the 1880s. He told me there are Ger-Rus in South Africa but not in large consentrated areas that he knows about. Also received a query from Australia searching the STEINPREIS surname. The person making the query said his Steinpreis is the only one in the Australian phone books. Without email and the Internet we would probably not get these queries from overseas.

UK query re GEBAUER surname. Nieder-Monjou homepage is now linked to a site that lists all GEBAUERs in the world.

No one from Nieder-Monjou showed up at Village Night during AHSGR Convention 2000 at Lincoln. The 2001 convention will be in Denver, CO - let's see some of you Nieder-Monjou folks from KS & CO at the 2001 convention, please.

OBERDORF

Oberdorf Web Site

Teri Helzer

The following delineates the achievements of Oberdorf in the past year:

1. Obtained 1857-58 Census data for the following Oberdorf families: DAUBERT, GRAUBERGER, MEIER, SCHIMPF, SCHMER, ASMUS, FRITZLER, STEHLE, SHAFER, and SCHNEIDER
2. Expanded the Oberdorf web presence by translating the Oberdorf site to Spanish with the assistance of Elena Mercedes Vega and her husband, Jorge.
3. Enhanced the Oberdorf web site with additional pages: 1857-58 Census, Migration, Ships, Surname Contacts, Gedlist Data, and Reminiscences.
4. Added approximately 20 additional names to the Oberdorf research email list.
5. In collaboration with Richard McGregor, VC Rosenberg, initiated the Rosenberg Parish database. Heide Langenbeck is performing input.
6. Established a Village File for Oberdorf at AHSGR headquarters.
7. Published all Oberdorf correspondence on a private web site, and provided confirmed Oberdorf researchers access to the correspondence.

My goals for Oberdorf are:

- Continue to collect Oberdorf data and make that data available to Oberdorf researchers. The Rosenberg Parish database will be a key element in this endeavor, since there was much movement of the families in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Since the parish records have not been located, it is necessary to use all the family data collected by the village coordinators to link the families and hopefully create that final link back to the 1857-58 Census.

- Attract and encourage new Oberdorf researchers to share their data.

OBER-MONJOU

Ober-Monjou Web Site

Kevin Rupp

I continue to receive census information from the different Volga German colonies from Russia, but I am trying to center mostly on the colony of Ober-monjou. During the past year I have added the family names of SP…TTER, STECKLEIN, DOERFLER, UNREIN, as well as some marriage and birth confirmations. There is a group of us working together so that we do not duplicate our research from Russia which helps in cutting down on expenses. The most exciting news recently, is my contact with an older couple from Russia who were originally from Obermonjou and sent to Siberia. I have received a photo of the catholic church from them which was destroyed in the 30's. A friend of mine did a tape interview of this couple. My hope is to translate these tapes and possibly have an article in the journal. This may be a small step but this couple mentions the names of EXNER, LEIKER, KLAUS and DECHANT all common family names here in Hays, Kansas.

I really must say that this area is really blessed with people who are willing to share what they have found on their families.

PAULSKOYE

Paulskoye Web Site

Timothy C. Weeder W372

I received only one inquiry from within the United States this past year, but several inquiries from abroad from individuals who now reside in Germany. I continue to collect as much historical and genealogical information that I can about Paulskoye and her former inhabitants.

I would like to report that AHSGR possesses the 1834 Village Census (8th Revision) which is not listed anywhere for purchase. This census has not been translated from Russian into English, but for a fee AHSGR will translate specific surnames.

I would like to also document that I have a RAGAS chart for the surname JOST (YOST). Interested persons can contact me for specific inquiries.

The Paulskoye website continues to provide a basic orientation to visitors and attracts viewers from around the world. Incidentally, the web site was updated this past year.

Finally, next year I am planning a second visit to Russia, including the former village of Paulskoye (known as Pavlovka today).

PFEIFER

Pfeifer Web Site

Rosemary Larson

Thanks to Patrice Miller a homepage was accomplished during the year for the village of PFEIFER.

Photos were made of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi and interesting items are detailed.

The 1798 census surnames are shown; emigres to the State of Kansas and South America and a history of the village has been posted. Inquiries are responded to in a timely manner.

POBOCHNOYE

See Schoendorf

REINWALD

Susie Weber Hess

Most of the year has been spent scanning all my paper files, (pictures, letters, maps, documents and whatever else) onto disk so they can be stored in less space. Several letters in my possession dated back several years and the letter writers are now deceased. Some of the descendants of these people have now expressed interest and have become involved with AHSGR. A lot of the letters shared unique information and stories. They have been forwarded to the appropriate family members, who gratefully appreciated receiving the letters. Numerous hours have been spent loading about 1000 obituaries from the Chicago area. I have spent hours providing information to my cousin George Valko who continually receives letters from Germany and Russia. The letter writers are Volga Germans that have now resettled in Germany or are living in Russia and have broken the lines of non-communication that has existed for too many long years. I have spent many hours working with new contacts collecting information and encouraging them to become an active part of AHSGR.

Projects for this next year include working more with others and computerizing the data from Fred Zitzers extractions of the 1910 census of Germans from Russia that settled in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

ROHRBACH

Rosemarie Krieg Dinkel

In Denver we have a Black Sea Interest Group, that meets once a month. Half of us are from the Rohrbach/Worms area. As Village Coordinator for Rohrbach, I try to take any new material that is available to these meeting. With so much information on the Internet, there isn't as much snail mail going on regarding the descendants of this village. At one time, I would receive three to four inquiries a month. Of course those were the days I was the only VC for Rohrbach.

ROSENBERG

Rosenberg Web Site

Richard McGregor

This has been a quiet year again although with the wonderful help of Teri Helzer the website for the village is now up and running. It can be accessed from the AHSGR site through the Volga Villages link, or directly on the URL listed above.

The website contains history, photos and data - quite a bit of material is available there. Family data is not on the site but there is a message board and an email connection through which Rosenberg descendants can contact me for information.

One Newsletter has been sent out during this period, and another is in progress - mainly collections of emails and letters from folk with Rosenberg connections. I am hoping that the next Newsletter will be accessible from the website. Also in progress is a database of those born in Rosenberg which is being compiled by Heide Langenbeck along the lines of the one already completed by Teri Helzer for Oberdorf.

As always I would be delighted to hear from anyone with connections to the village.

ROSENTAL, CRIMEA

Judy Klee

Rosental VC Newsletter 2000
Rosental Greetings,
A first year volunteer here, with an original settlement of sixty-one families, according to Karl Stumpp's census. The group had set out for Hungary, five families from Wurttenburg and fifty-six from Baden, all Catholics, who instead went to Rosental, Crimea. Question: Was Rosental named after one of the settlers or was it named after the wild roses in the area?

Glad I went to Heritage Fest-2000 May 5 & 6 in Los Angeles. The work of the Village Coordinators who spoke was inspiring. Detailed histories, years of research and many surname data bases of 20,000+ names, (the Rosental Village surname data base consisted of one surname before the Klee contribution of 50 additional, but some of those were from surrounding villages). I enjoyed meeting Ken Leffler, who has given this "newbie" online help learning the ropes.

Later on that same month Aubrey Marttheller generously offered to share his Rosental files. It was then I realized I NEEDED a new computer, for I was lacking a genealogy program and every down or up load I made had to be directed to my daughter in Arizona, then sent to me by snail mail. So the purchase was made, with the addition of a genealogy application.

Shared success this year: Note first that the following excerpt is from a letter shared by Charles Klee. He is the son of the letter's author Michael Klee (now 96) who was born in the village of Less, Crimea. Michael is the second son of Joseph Klee born 1875 in Rosental, Crimea and his wife Sophia Schroeder (b. 1877 in Krontal, Crimea).

An excerpt from the 1971 letter,
"Sept. 27, 1910 Joseph KLEE and Sophia SCHROEDER (and family) started the long journey to America, the first ride was on a wagon from a small village called Ivermbei, to Simpheropol. There we stayed over night, early next morning We all got on a train, for the first time. This train took us to the Baltic Sea, about a 3 day train ride. We landed at some seaport, there and again we had to stay there for a few days, till a ship could take us on our journey. We got on a small Russian ship and this took us to Hull, England. Then we had a train ride that took us to Liverpool, England. We stayed there for 9 days till another ship picked us up and then we were on our way to the good U.S.A. It took 9 days to see land again (ship's manifest records show they left Liverpool, England 29 Oct 1910 on the SS. Megantic and arrived 6 Nov 1910 in Quebec, Canada). We got on a train in Chicago and a few days later we got to Hebron, North Dakota Nov. 9, 1910. Next morning Uncle Mike Schroeder (Sophia Schroeder's brother) picked us up with a wagon & took us to his home, there we stayed till March 14, 1911. By that time Joseph Klee, had taken up a Homestead, Pat. No 650679, and had built a 14'x16' shanty on it, for the family of 7 to live in."

Shared ideas: Web site, Ships of your immigrant ancestors and links to the ships' histories. http://www.kinshipsprints.com/ .
And to all, Good Hunting.

ROTHAMMEL

Nicholas and Barbara Bretz

We have just become the new Rothammel Village Coordinators due to the resignation of Bernice Williams. We aren’t as knowledgeable about the village as Bernie but will do our best to learn and help others in their research. We wish to thank Bernie for having served us for so many years. Her dedication in collecting information and passing it on to us is certainly appreciated.

One of our goals is to enter all the Rothammel information into a database so that we have that information readily available. It will be interesting to discover how the many families are intertwined through marriage. We would appreciate receiving each member’s Rothammel data to complete this project.

Rosi and Tim Kloberdanz have offered to begin a Rothammel Web Page, and Kathy Jones has offered to set up a Rothammel LISTSERV. We will be working on those items within the next few months.

While at headquarters recently, we noticed that census information for some later years had been placed in the village file. They were donated by Shirley Arendt and Kathy Jones. Included are the Applehanz, Lauer, and Kloberdanz surnames.

The following Surname Charts have been ordered by members: APPELHANS, BASGAL, BIEBER, FRANK, GERTIE, KAISER, LECHMAN, and MATZA. The last communication from Russia stated that they would begin working on the village of Rothammel in November of 2000.

SCHOENDORF, SCHOENFELD, SCHOENTAL, NEW YAGODNAYA, STRASSENDORF and POBOCHNOYE

Strassendorf Web Site

Laurin Wilhlem

2000 Village Coordinator Report

1. Research and correspondence is down for these villages, all once located some 65 miles SE of Saratov. Older descendents are less able to correspond; many have died. Younger descendents seem not very interested in researching their family history.
2. I have corresponded with GerRus descendents in Argentina and Brazil this year, with minimum success. Few people there speak English or German; my Spanish is limited. I found one lady in Entre Rios Province, Argentina, who claimed to be a descendent of Schoenfeld folks.
3. In June 1999 we brought from Nuremberg, Germany to San Antonio, TX, Otto Felker to visit his aunt (dad's sister) and uncle George and Elizabeth (Felker) Popp in Hoisington, KS. They came to Kansas in 1913. We also visited his first cousin in Denver. We visited an elderly lady in Albuquerque. Her parents were born in Schoendorf and Strassendorf. Otto was born in Schoendorf in 1926 and deported to Kazakhstan in 1941. He was forced to work in the coal mines near Chelyabinsk, Siberia for 50 years. He got to Nuremberg c. 1995. Otto has helped to locate some other Germans from Russia, now living in Germany.
4. Research in Saratov: Since some of the church books "had been found", including Pobochnoye, a request was made in March to get copies of those pages listing the births of three of my Wagner uncles and an aunt, born in 1886, 1888, 1890 and 1892, but nothing has sent yet-(in five months).
5. Research in Lincoln: A request to look up my great grandfather (George) Philipp Wagner in the Pobochnoye 1834 and 1857 censuses was made in early July. No research information yet.
6. We are looking forward to the 2001 Convention in Denver. We hope to renew old acquaintances and make new ones. We hope to advance in our family research and grow in the knowledge of our heritage.

SCHOENCHEN

Schoenchen Web Site

Bertha Haas

There will be no report for Schoenchen this year, except that Schoenchen, KS will be celebrating its 125th anniversary July 22, 2001. If all goes as planned, Bishop Werth of Siberia, whose parents resided in Schoenchen, Russia, will attend.

SCHWAB

Schwab Web Site

Rolene Eichman Kiesling

This is one of the smaller villages with less activity or interest than most. It is included in the Lower Volga Villages Sheet published by Kathy O'Malley. I also have ancestry from Shcherbakovka; Kathy and I are in frequent contact.

I am still working on a database which consists of material received from Lincoln, the 1798 census and data from my own personal correspondence file. It has not yet been submitted to Lincoln, as I am in the process of "polishing" it so that it meets their specifications.

I have answered all queries, some of which, by necessity I have referred to others. Many people send queries, when they do not know the village. For example, they think that since their surname is Schwab, that they might be from the village of Schwab, which of course, is not always true.

I am the contact person and a source of information for the web site listed above. I did not create it nor do I maintain it.

SCHWED [Zvonarevka]

Schwed Web Site

Carolyn & John Gorr

Lots of activity with the Schweders this past year. My Schweder email list numbers 35 and we've been operating for about two year. Although we are diverse in the surnames we research, most of our members have ALTERGOTT connections. We thought the arrival of the ALTERGOTT surname search by Russian researchers would clear up many mysteries. Well, it did clear up many mysteries but, it has managed to provide many new mysteries to solve.

Schwed surname charts on order: HOPPE and WIEGEL.

This year we received two queries from USA folks who are related to the GORR surname. One from NE the other from KS. The KS query turned out to be a direct relation to an Aussiedler cousin that we correspond with so we put them in touch with one another. Our Aussiedler GORR said, never in his wildest dreams did he ever think his father's half sister would be found after 65 years. He did not know Sophia GORRs married name and neither did I until Curt Hanneman of Olathe, KS saw our Schwed/GORR website and made his query. These are the stories that bring joy to a village coordinator's heart.

The Nebraska query is still hanging as we cannot find a link to our GORR surname chart even though we know that our GORR had a cousin Fred in Scottsbluff, NE. More research is needed here.

Elder stories . . .
We received a taped interview of Dora CHRIST GERLINGER (1895-1990) from her daughter, Lila. In the interview Dora talks about the Schwed in which she grew up as a child. She gives nice details of everyday life in the village at the turn of the century. Dora emigrated to Chicago at age 17 where she joined her married sister. We also rediscovered the story of Henry HOPPE (1897-1977) which was translated by Ann Kraus Smith in June of 1983. His memories include the spring thaws that raised the Bolshoi-Karaman River washing out the footbridge to neighboring Stahl each year and the bareback horse racing enjoyed by the young men of the village.

We published and delivered the information we have collected during 1998-1999 to AHSGR HQ, June 2000. It is a spiral bound book (about an inch thick) and is in the Village File cabinet at Lincoln for easy access to interested researchers of Schwed.

We had about 20 people at our table on Village Night at the AHSGR Convention 2000 in Lincoln. Good information was shared within this group.

SHCHERBAKOVKA

Janet Flickinger

See Lower Volga Villages

SOLODYRI

Richard Benertt

Once again, as usual, I have been doing virtually nothing about my village of Solodyri in the past year. Sorry. Other projects have taken precedence.

SUSANNENTAL

Susannental Web Site

Kerry S. Thompson

Mail list:
To subscribe send an email message to 
RUS-SUSANNENTAL-L-request@rootsweb.com
In the body of the message write the word - subscribe.

I have just completed my 1st year as village coordinator. During this year I have:

1. Published 2 newsletters
2. Entered the names of 2,341 individuals born before 1960 into our genealogical data base.
3. Collected names and addresses of 50 people who are descendents of the village in the states of Michigan, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Texas, Missouri, Oregon, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida, Oklahoma, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and Washington.
4. Contacted Russian researchers as to records available for the village - 1st settlers list, 1798 Census, 1835 Census are available.
5. Purchased the 1798 Census.
6. Put together a data base of ship lists which includes 38 families who immigrated from Susannental.
7. Located a village map listing heads of households for the village in the early 1900s.
8. Organized a data base for research of the Russian Germans in: a) Big Horn County, Wyoming, b) Stillwater & Yellowstone Counties in Montana and Sanilac
9. Began a resource file of documents relating to our immigrant ancestors containing copies of a) naturalization papers; b) ship lists; c) birth records; d) death records; d) death certificates and obituaries; e) bible records; f) life stories; g) pictures.
10. Developed a web site and the beginnings of it online.
11. Requested a listserve to allow residents to communicate with each other.

It has been a great year and I have received wonderful help and information from so many of Susannental's descendants!

YAGODNAYA POLYANA

Yagodnaya Polyana Web Site

Co-Coordinators:
Kris Ball & Elizabeth Meyer

Database Coordinator:
Patrice Miller

Kris Ball attended the convention and we had about 15 YP descendants at our table. Kris & Patrice worked this year to collect YP obits from Fresno and Lincoln and estimate we have most of those obits copied. We hope to create a cross-index for those names. One of our YP people, Kenny Stuckart, went back to Yagodnaya this year.  He has put some new pictures on the site and recalls the adventure he had. He made contact with a relative, Victor Stuckart, who lives in Saratov. The 2 of them went back to YP together and visited the grave of Victor's mother, one of the few German graves which is marked. Victor's family was deported to Kazakhstan and returned to YP. Victor works at the German Consulate in Saratov, located on the third floor of the Volga Hotel. Through Kenny's selfless efforts, money was raised to provide a computer to the Engels archive. Victor delivered it and Mrs. Yerina was thrilled! We are proud of our YP generous descendants!

As the database coordinator for Yagodnaya Polyana, Patrice Miller worked with descendants of the village to help them collect information from Russia, make contact with other researchers and build their family trees. This year, from Russia, three electronic descendant trees were built for the surnames of FUCHS, LAUTENSCHLAGER and YUNGMAN /JUNGMANN (1767-1857). Also the 1857 census was acquired for VOELKER / VOLKER / FELKER and KONSCHU / KONSCHUH. Electronic or printed copies can be obtained from Patrice with a $10-$20 donation to purchased additional census extracts.

It was also discovered during the year that the 1880 Neu-Yagodnaya (a daughter colony of Yagodnaya Polyana) census extracts are available. The following surnames, followed by the number of households (which often have multiple generations) were in that census: Arndt, Appel-6, Asmus-2, Bart-2, Baum, Befus-6, Benner-5, Blok-2, Diesing, Dippel, Fischer-3, Fuchs-3, Gagwald, Gerlitz-2, Gler-2, Gorr, Goetz-2, Gross, Hartmann-4, Herdt, Hergert-12, Holstein-7, Jungmann / Yungman-2, Kaiser-3, Kleweno-6, Koch-11, Konschu, Koppel, Kromm-2, Lauterschleger-3, Leinweber, Lesser, Litzenberger-3, Luft-3, Machleid-4, Morasch-2, Mosebach, Meiber, Mueller-2, Neubert-3, Okel, Ott, Pfafenroth, Repp-3, Rudy, Ruhl, Rupp, Schaad-2, Schaefer, Scheuermann-6, Schneider-6, Schneidmueller, Schreiner-3, Schuchart-7, Schweizer, Spanenberger, Staitz, Stang-3, Stanius, Streier, Voelker / Felker-7, Weibert-2, Weigant, Weitz, Wuertz, Zentner, Ziergibel-3.

Samuel Litzenberger also published "The Family Story of Adam Litzenberger and Marie Elizabeth Gorr." Copies of this lovely book can be purchased from Marsha Williams, PO Box 63, Lyons, CO 80540 email: sdywlms@rmi.net for $37.95 postpaid.

During the year, the LUST surname was thoroughly researched as well as PFAFFENROTH/POFFENROTH of Calgary and some descendants of both surnames can be traced back to the original immigrants to YP. A portion of a church book for Yagodnaya Polyana was found which included only births from 1904-1912. The information includes the full name of both parents, full name of the child and birth date. Extracts of these church record has been done for MORASCH, HELM and HAHNEMANN. We have repeatedly asked if other church books have been found for the village, but so far nothing else has been located so there is still no information between 1857-1904. Apparently hundreds of Volga church books have been returned to the Engels archives and we are still hopeful that other church records for Yagodnaya Polyana will be found someday.

William Schierman, long-time editor of "Usu Leut," the newsletter of the YP people, delivered yet another issue in 2000. He has been slowed down by health concerns, but has recovered nicely and a second issue will likely be delivered later this year. Bill and Marian's email address in Fort Collins, CO is bilmarscheirman@juno.com. Bill & Marian will be at the AHSGR Convention in Denver next year.

Elizabeth was unable to attend the convention in Lincoln this year because of other commitments. She has spent some time responding to individual requests for information and translating documents. She's located a LEINWEBER relative for an elderly pensioner from Yagodnaya Polyana who now lives in Germany. All of her relatives were lost and she is delighted to have made this contact. Elizabeth has spoken at a couple of events explaining the general history of the Volga Germans and the response her remarks has always been: "We had no idea..." She's supporting Professor Eugene Miller's efforts to document in film the current status of the Germans who remain in Russia and she knows his work will bear fruit. She hopes to get to the convention next year and meanwhile, will continue research. Elizabeth can be reached at ElizMeyer@aol.com.