MARIENTAL, Samara, Volga

Mariental Web Site

Thelma Mills

I am working on several projects when time permits. In between times I answer requests, etc.

One project is the gathering of the names of researchers for the villages of Mariental and Louis. I read this in one of the newsletters and I thought it was a great idea. I have them listed in a notebook; I previously had obtained the information from the CLUES Edition from AHSGR. But it needs to be updated and the e-mail addresses listed in a special place in my address book, so I can send new information to one and all in one shot.

I also have completed my information for the new web page of LOUIS, RUSSIA, and have sent it to Patrice to publish on the Internet. I am not sure when she will get it competed. I realize her time is at a premium, but I am looking forward to having that Web page on the Internet also.

During the year I have also purchased 5 more reference books for my two villages and neighboring villages - these are added to my reference library - which I do have all together now here in Arizona. For several months, I was handicapped when researching a surname, as some of my material was still in Kansas. We completed our move to Arizona (three long trips - at different times). Very nice to be settled (somewhat). It’s been a very busy year to date, travel-wise.

I have received approximately 70 + queries from people searching for information on their ancestor. I have been in touch with each and every one - some are still being researched - plus I keep them on file and get back to them at later dates - just to keep in touch. Some of these queries, I did research in-depth, and sent information on the following surnames: DELWA; SCHUNK; SALZMANN; SCHAMNE (CHAMNE); ASSELBORN; DENING (DENIG); EBERLE, and KINDERKNECHT. Some of these requests received were from Argentine - and some were from Germany and Russia. I had to use an Internet translating program in order to be able to help some of them. I found that these types of translators are not very good. I typed an answer to one of them and had it converted to German. I then had it re-translated back to me in English so I could see if what I wanted to say did in fact get said. What a disappointment it was. I have to choose different words in my sentences, so that it gets interpreted correctly - then double check till I am satisfied. Does anyone have any tips on this translation project?

I was sorry that I could not go to the AHSGR Convention this year, too much going on in my life to get there this summer. I hate to miss out on those, they are so enjoyable - especially Village Night, and I also look forward to the great guest speakers they usually have.

I also volunteered for the Soar Project, and am trying to devote at least 30 - 40 hours to it per month. I enjoy doing this and find it very interesting.

Could we have a list of the NEW Village Coordinators that have joined our group during the year. I just would like to welcome them.

MERKEL, Saratov, Volga

Darrell W. Kautz

I am currently finishing a third large book pertaining to Merkel village and its environs. It will most likely exceed 400 pages, and include very interesting new information on the village, numerous photographs and documents of Merkel emigrants, photographs recently taken of the Merkel site, more surname charts, and some translated documents.

I hope to see the six years of translated articles written by Merkel journalist Alexander Bauer from Die Welt Post published yet this year (approximately 100 pages). I have been working on his equally numerous articles from the Dakota Freie Presse. These articles, from the famine years, contain very specific information on dozens of families from numerous villages in the region, and would be of utmost interest to many members of AHSGR. I hope to include about thirty photographs of families and places mentioned in his work. Due to time constraints, I haven’t done much with the Merkel village web site this year, though future plans might include pages with more photographs taken of families in Merkel, pictures of the site as it currently appears, a map of the village, particular stories of immigrants, and any number of other scenarios. Once these projects are completed, I will probably step down from the village coordinator position to pursue other endeavors. As always, we are looking for any new information, photographs and documents pertaining to Merkel or neighboring villages. (These villages did not operate in a vacuum. Intermarriage and inter-village commerce was common. As always, I share relevant material with other coordinators.)

Many persons have contributed volumes of vital material to this research, but this year, I wish to extend a very special thanks Clarence Jake Margheim of Norwalk, California, for his tireless perseverance of research material pertaining to a number of Merkel families.

MOLOCHNA COLONY, Mennonite Villages

Hildegard Wasnick

Gnadenfeld History ~ by Carl Rempel
rempel@primenet.com

I have tried to answer any queries I received right away. Sometimes I get queries about villages that are not Mennonite villages, and I try to connect them to some other VC that may be able to help them.

I have made a contact with someone at the Odessa, Ukraine archives and have requested some information on my family from them. At the present time, I am still waiting for a response.

I have sent out two issues of my newsletter "The Molotschna Villager" and am working on a third issue. I hope to send out four by the end of the year.

MOOR, Saratov, Volga

Moor Web Site

Irma A. Waggoner, W098

Wayne Bonner

Virtually no new abstracts of church records or census returns for Balzer or Moor were received during the past year. A number of requests were sent, but no reply.

A few new surname charts were received for Moor and Balzer. This information was kindly donated to the group by the purchasers.

The Balzer Group Newsletter is still being issued, but it is getting more difficult to put together due to a lack of information. The newsletter may be put on temporary hold next year so that informative information and interesting stories can be gathered. Some old articles printed in German journals in the 1930’s have been found. These seem to contain interesting genealogical information about our German ancestors. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find a translator.

The Balzer web page is up and running and several people have contacted us because of the web site. Snail mail letters have been received. Unfortunately, of the forty or so received in the past year, only one or two had a return envelope enclosed. Nevertheless, these letters will also be answered.

We hope 2003 will be more productive.

MÜHLBERG, Saratov, Volga

See Shcherbakovka

NEU-DANZIG, Nikolaev, Kherson

Curt Renz

While there are still four months remaining in 2002 and the hope to uncover more, I have been actively going through many rolls of microfilmed newspapers in the State Historical Library of North Dakota searching for obituaries for anyone born in any of the four ancestral villages that I am the VC for. Along with ordering these microfilm through inter-library loan, I’ve also made three trips to Bismarck to spend about nine days researching in the library itself. One advantage is that the Library has all of its newspapers posted on-line with their assigned file numbers. To date, I’ve been able to glean about 130 additional obituaries for the collection. In addition, with the very generous and skillful assistance by translators, the letter collections continues to grow. These are letters written from Russia to either individuals in America or to an American German newspaper and published by that newspaper.

NEUDORF, Glueckstal, Odessa, Kherson

Gregory Dockter D112

See also Glueckstal Colonies Research Association

NEU-GLUECKSTAL, Glueckstal, Odessa, Kherson

See Glueckstal Colonies Research Association

NEU-OBERMONJOU, Samara, Volga

Kevin Rupp R311

There is not much available on this colony, except for the 1861 census list I received. Most of these colonists were from the Colony of Ober-Munjou. The 1861 census was another way to fill that gap from 1850 to those who settled in America, since there was not an 1857 census for Ober-Munjou. The list is small and contains about 32 family names.

NEU-SARATA, Bessarabia

Jan Stangl S707

I have had no requests this past year about any of my tiny villages.

I do not have a newsletter.

I do continue to add information that I find in EWZ records pertaining to my villages. Maury Gauer is a great help in entering materials that pertains to Nesselrode/Birsula area.

NEU-SCHILLING I & II, Samara, Volga

Schilling Web Site

Gary Martens M405

Status Report for Alt-Schilling, Schilling, Konstantinovka, Neu-Schilling I and Neu-Schilling II

There is a fairly continuous flow of queries about families from Schilling, and it’s daughter colonies, which I answer the best I can with the Schilling database and other resources. Several sets of census records have been received in the past year, and one surname chart for the DAMM family, all of which are being added to the Schilling database.

There are 3 or 4 charts on order, but none have been received in the past year that I’m aware of. One of the reasons may be that the Alt-Schilling church books need repair, and they may not be allowed to use them at this time. The cost to get the Schilling books repaired is about $150. The church books for Schilling, Konstantinovka, Neu-Schilling I and Neu-Schilling II are supposedly in the possession of the people at the Engels archive, although nobody has yet received a chart that shows information from those villages.

If your interested in seeing a picture of one of the summer homes of the Laginkoski (Lagin Rapids) Imperial Fishing Lodge used by Czar Alexander III in the late 1800’s, they can be found on the Shilling web site.

My complete online collection of pictures of Finland can be seen by starting here:

http://www.wathenadesigns.com/Finland/

Note that some German-Russians left Russian through the Finnish port of Hanko.

NEU-STRAUB, Saratov, Volga

Neu-Straub Web Site

Lillian Larwigt

Neu-Straub seems to be so isolated in research that I am not able to find any new information concerning this village. I have received several email’s from others who are also researching Neu-Straub and am trying to list all who are interested. I shall shortly email an answer to all who have contacted me giving them all the information I have. My family names are Keil and Heintz. I attended a reunion in Russell, KS this summer who were mostly Hinintz, but I have found this name could also be Heintz and the Keil families in attendance did not have any information to give me.

A person researching the name Straub from Neu-Straub may give me a clue to research that name also. I have reason to believe that my grandmother Sophie Heintz Keil, had a sister who married a Straub. I will report on that if any more information is available

NEU-YAGODNAYA, Samara, Volga

Neu-Yagodnaya Web Site

Laurin Wilhelm W022

See SCHÖNDORF below for the combined report.

NORKA, Saratov, Volga

Norka Web Site

Robert Benson B504

Jerry Krieger K175, Newsletter

Joanne Kreiger K254, Charts & Norka Database

The Norka Newsletter is now in its seventh year of publication. It was orignated by John and Marcella Wark in 1996, and has been published by Jerry Krieger since 1998.

The newsletter is published four times a year. Subscription rate is $10 per year ($16 Canadian). Circulation remains at about 260-270 copies per issues.

Much of the newsletter is dependent on reader submissions. These include charts showing descent from original Norka settlers, plus an exchange of queries and research tips. The newsletter is now in the process of publishing articles about "ethnic neighborhoods" which saw large influxes of immigrants from Norka in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. These include the Albina district in Portland, Oregon, and the Globeville district in Denver. An article on the North Bottoms and South Bottoms of Lincoln, Nebraska, is now in preparation.

Thanks to the generosity of Steve Schreiber, the Norka Newsletter now has its own web page.

OBERDORF, Saratov, Volga

Oberdorf Web Site

Teri Helzer H491

The activity of the past year has been less than the prior two years. I have continued to add surnames to the Oberdorf list of known residents. We currently have 202 known surnames on the list, and in excess of 1000 given names associated with those surnames.

Email activity was slightly less than the prior year. I had 114 incoming emails regarding Oberdorf research, and I generated 96 emails to Oberdorf researchers in the past year. The difference in the number of incoming versus outgoing is attributed to, in some cases, two incoming emails were answered with one email, or some incoming emails were simply expressions of thanks for helping. In other words, all inquiries were responded to. All responses to inquiries were copied to the appropriate Oberdorf researchers that are researching the same surname. I maintain a surname contact list for the purpose of putting new researchers in contact with existing researchers to enable them to network and share to the benefit of all. All incoming and outgoing email was published on the private Oberdorf web site to be used as an additional research tool, in addition to serving as an archival tool for Oberdorf research documents.

We have added several new researchers to the Oberdorf Email List. We currently have 57 researchers on our email list.

Additionally, the Oberdorf website has been updated to reflect the addition of surnames and photos of Oberdorf families.

In the absence of census data beyond 1857 and the missing Oberdorf/Rosenberg Parish church records, many researchers are unable to trace their ancestors back to the mother colonies, or in many cases, other lower Volga villages from which they came. We continue to hold out hope that the church records will be found some day.

OBER-MONJOU, Samara, Volga

Ober-Monjou Web Site

Kevin Rupp R311

This has been a good year in working with this colony. With the help of a friend, I have been able to finance the project of getting the complete 1850 census from that colony. Unfortunately, the 1857 census is not available. I have had a number of requests for this colony and have been able to help those people to make connections. I have not had any people come to me with any stories, though, which would really be interesting!  I continue to acquire church record information to help make those uncertain connections.

The web page has also been updated recently.

ORLOVSKOE, Samara, Volga

Carol J. Nesewich

INQUIRIES

This year brought one inquiry from a woman in Russia seeking the descendants of her grandmother’s sister, Maria Herlinger. Maria immigrated to America before 1917 and corresponded with her Russian relatives until this contact broke off in the 1930’s. We cannot be of too much help to the requester because unfortunately she has only limited information.

ACQUISITIONS

We have acquired translations of the four "Famine Letters" written in 1922 from Orlovskoe, which were published in DIE WELT-POST, Omaha, Nebraska. The first three, similar in content, were written to a representative of the Volga Relief Society and signed by the Church Council. These men sent their thanks for donations received, which helped alleviate the suffering of the starving villagers. The names Andreas Reusch and Johannes Krüger appeared on all three letters. Other council members were Christian Bär, David Gerlinger, Gottlieb Götz, Christian Laer, Andreas Reiner, A. Wolf and Johann Wolf.

The fourth letter was written by David Bär to Pastor H.G. Zorn in Colorado, a contact with whom he was already corresponding. Mr. Bär apologetically wrote once more describing the hunger and terror in the village. Specifically he related that his family had endured seven different searches by the police in their home. He also lamented the fact that they had hoped for a better harvest but that hope had again been shattered. It is of interest to note that Mr. Bär’s wife Barbara (maiden name Schleuning) was from Alt-Norka and (according to them) many of the Orlovskoe church members were also from Norka. She convinced her husband to ask Pastor Zorn to help locate her relatives in America to see if they would send aid. Pastor Zorn took their letter to DIE WELT-POST and also added his own note "beseeching all…to take this opportunity to heart" and help these despairing people.

FUTURE

Requests for information are welcome as we look forward to a productive 2003.

PAULSKOYE, Samara, Volga

Paulskoye Web Site

Tim Weeder W372

Since last report, I have received extractions from the 1834 and 1850 census records for SCHERER surname which was requested by Charles Millard and myself. The work was completed by AHSGR and a Russian researcher respectively. I am still patiently waiting for information on exactly what new documents pertaining to Paulskoye were discovered two years ago.

I have received but two requests for research assistance this past year. First, I received an inquiry regarding GERK in Paulskoye who has later removed to Katherinenstadt. Second, I received a request just today while writing this report. It concerns surnames BACHMAN(N) and SCHERER who had settled in Sanilac and later Huron counties in the sugar beat "Thumb Area" of Michigan. It turns out the inquirer is probably a distant cousin through the SCHERER line---which is very exciting! The correspondence is obviously ongoing.

Finally, I have discovered a German website through one of the listservs. It is located at http://russlanddeutschegeschichte.de/Kulturarchiv/Schicksalswege/dorn.htm . It contains an autobiography and pictures of HEINRICH DORN who hailed from Paulskoye. It details (in German language) village life during communism, deportations, life in Siberia, and his immigration to Berlin, Germany. I contacted two persons here in the USA with connections to the DORN surname so they could visit the website themselves. DORN’S online autobiography is my greatest "treasure" I discovered this year.

PFEIFER, Saratov, Volga

Pfeifer Web Site

Rosemary Larson

Many requests for information of ancestors from Kamenka and Pfeifer have been answered. Requests continue to come from Argentina for Kamenka and Pfeifer as well as other villages. Most requests from Argentina are in Spanish, so the Babelfish translator is used which gives me a good idea about their inquiry. The response is in Spanish.

A First Settler List has been added to the Pfeifer web page, in addition to other updates on both sites.

This year I published ST. MARY’S PARISH FAMILY REGISTER, which contains many Volga German families, as well as families from the Bukowina [Romania] in Austria. All proceeds from the sale of this publication are given to St. Mary’s Church, Ellis, Kansas.

The first settlers in Ellis were the Irish who arrived with the construction of the railroad across the great plains in the 1870’s. By 1880 Volga Germans were employed by the Kansas [Union] Pacific Railroad. They lived near St. Mary’s Church. By 1900

Volga Germans, who were members of the parish, had settled on farms in Western Ellis County and Eastern Trego County. I wrote a parish history in 1985 and was responsible for gathering photos of the early parishioners of St. Mary’s which are a large part

of the publication for the Centennial celebration in 1986. This is available from St. Mary’s Church, Ellis, Kansas.

Check out the web sites so ably put online by Patrice Miller.

POBOCHNOYE, Saratov, Volga

Pobochnoye Web Site

Laurin Wilhelm

2002 Annual Report for Pobochnoye, an original colony founded 1772 on the Bergseite, Volga River Valley, Russia.

I still continue to receive several inquiries per month, asking about ancestors or their descendents from Pobochnoye. Pobochnoye means "step-child", "illegitimate" "second class", etc. Pobochnoye was a "stepchild" colony to nearby Yagodnaya Polyana, which was establish in 1767.

The soil was poor, rocky and hilly, i.e. not especially good farming land. In 1856-1857 half the population, some 1,150 people, left to help found the new villages of Schoendorf, Schoenfeld and Schoental, 100 miles SE and on the Wiesenseite of the Volga. These 1,150 folks are listed on the 10 Nov 1857 Pobochnoye Aussiedler List.

This List, along with a partial 1834 Pobochnoye census have been very helpful to enable me to provide information for people searching for their ancestors from Schoendorf, Schoenfeld and Schoental.

People have requested information on:

Brack, Daubert, Haas, Herdt, Litzenberger, Pope, Schlegel, Wagner, Wilhelm, Wittig, and others.

Daughter colonies: Pobochnoye had two or three "daughter colonies". They were founded when the "new lands" in the Wiesenseite were opened up in the early 1850s. They were Schonefeld and Strassendorf and Neu Schoenfeld. In the USA three "daughter colonies" were settled. This included: Galatia, KS, Otis, KS and, Longmont, CO.

During the deportation of Volga Germans in October 1941, there was no single location where the villagers were unloaded. From what I can learn, some Pobochnoye folks and Schoenfelders were dropped off somewhere around and to the south of Omsk, Siberia. Others ended up in Kazakstan.

For the coming year, I will continue to provide information to genealogical researchers, etc. I have corresponded with perhaps 20 persons in Argentina and Brazil. This will continue. People in Argentina and Brazil are looking for the long lost relatives who came to America. Unfortunately, they do not have much information and frequently do not know the ancestral village in Russia.

REINHARD(T), Samara, Volga

Margo James 

This was the first year for a coordinator of REINHARD(T). I have contacted people who are researching relatives from this village and have been collecting family charts, hoping to find common relatives. So far, I have 16 family charts and a story of immigration of a man from REINHARD(T). The surnames I have in charts are: BERG, BOLGER, DIENER, ENGEL, GOEBEL, GORR, HERMAN, MEHL, REINHARDT, SCHULZ, SCHWEIGERT, SPINDLER, and YENZ.

During the course of the year, I have received two inquiries from people looking for relatives and/or information on the village.

As far as information on the village, I have received most of it from AHSGR. I have a description of the village, the 1798 census, and a map showing the location of the village,

I also have developed a contact list for those interested in the village and have sent an e-mail about the church records restoration at the Engels archive. The Engels Archives hold church records for REINHARD(T) which are in need of restoration. I have sent money over to help with the restoration and e-mailed those interested in helping out with information to do the same. Hopefully these can be restored and we can get this information from the archives.

Goals for the next year: As REINHARD(T) is a smaller village, I do not foresee having a web site or newsletter in the near future. Over the next year, I am hoping to collect stories and photographs about the village as well as any information handed down from immigrants.

REINWALD, Samara, Volga

Susie Weber Hess

The largest contribution that was made in this last year was for the village of Krasnojar. My cousin George Valko (a VELLER relative by my grandmother) has completed and published 3 volumes of THE VOLGA GERMANS Krasnoyar (aka Krasnojar), Chicago, Everywhere.

Volume 1 – THEIR STORIES, THEIR WORDS – A compendium of history and family was completed Oct 2001.

Volume 2 – THEIR STORIES, THEIR WORDS - FRANZ / FRANTZ FAMILY was completed January 2002.

Volume 3 – THEIR STORY, THEIR WORDS VELLER / FELLER FAMILY was completed August 2002.

All of these books contain translated personal letters from numerous sources and countries in addition to family charts. For more information about these publications refer to WWW.GEORGEVALKO.COM.

I am waiting for a WEBER chart from the village of Krasnojar. It will be interesting to see what connections the Weber family has to the other charts already obtained. The Weber family was very well known in the Jefferson Park area of Chicago and members of Calvary Church.

I am half way done transferring the data from the 1910 Sheboygan census relating to the Germans from Russia into an Excel spreadsheet.

ROSENBERG (Umet), Saratov, Volga

Rosenberg Web Site

Dr. Richard McGregor M236

I began my report for 2000-1 with the statement that it had been a quiet year, but regrettably this last has been even quieter. Having reached Newsletter No 9 I found, as I know other VCs have, that the information relating to the ancestral village was no longer forthcoming in sufficient quantity to make a viable newsletter. So, reluctantly, I discontinued printing a paper Newsletter and with the help of Teri Helzer, put all previous Newsletters on the web page, which now contains a large resource for village researchers. The intention is to put all new material which researchers allow onto the web page. This will not include genealogies however which I hold and which I share with personal inquirers only. This is to protect the information for use only by genuine inquirers. At the end of each year, or thereabouts, I will list all the new material added during the year just past.

I realize that web access is not possible for everyone so I have offered to send a version of this update on paper, or on disc for computer to those who request it. At present I have had just one such request. So much for the more negative aspects of the year.

I have referred, in a previous report, to the great variety of pictorial and written resources now available on the web page. This has been much appreciated by those researchers who have stopped by. We are all concerned at the possibility that the storage space which is currently free may not remain so for very much longer, and we would ask the Society to look into this - if storage space begins to cost it will be too difficult for some VCs to afford to pay. Paying for Newsletter postage without society help was getting expensive (100 dollars for each posting from England where I live); it would be a problem if web storage went the same way.

One of the problems for a village like Rosenberg is that being a daughter colony formed in the 1850s, it effectively only had a 90 year history of fully Russian German occupation, and as well as that, many of those who emigrated did so between 1898 and 1914. The deportation of the Volga Germans after 1942 and Stalin’s purges from 1938 onward decimated the number of male settlers. As a result, though there may be families in Russia today of Russian German extraction, they are less aware of their cultural roots.

In practice then we are dealing with only a relatively small group of families who, for the most part, lived in the village from 1852 to 1914. Rosenberg is therefore only a second level ancestral village, if you like, and most people want to be able to go back to the original village of settlement. The material on the web page is designed to help researchers do just that, with the help of the Russian censuses which can research up to 1857. As well as the books which Dr. Pleve is currently producing, the 1798 (and some 1775) censuses published by the Society are invaluable in helping to locate ancestral villages, and from there it is possible to go back into Germany (or wherever the family came from originally).

As I have indicated before there are a few families for whom a great deal is known. These are principally the KUXHAUS, MARTIN, MANNWEILER, MAJOR, SEIFERT, ZIEGLER families, but there is also information on KOCH, SCHWARTZKOPF, BUXMANN and others available.

ROSENHEIM, Samara, Volga

Randi Bolyard

My husband and I have returned from Rosenheim and Enders and brought back some current information. Walking was quite treacherous, but it turned out to be worth it. Everyone in the villages was quite friendly, and we were directed to the people who were either Volga German or those who would know something about the Germans who lived there.

Physical description

Both villages are in disrepair. Some German houses still exist. Everyone has outhouses. We were told that the villages were in much better condition when the Germans were in the villages.

There were no streets or sidewalks. Everything was a big mud puddle, combined with dung. There were geese and other animals running in the street.

We were fortunate enough to be invited into one of the houses in Enders. It was very nice inside, with crystal glasses in the cabinet, several rooms and a kitchen. They have well water and in the kitchen there was an interesting water fixture that appears to work like some of our soap dispensers: push up on the little nozzle and water comes out. This family had a nice farm in back of their house with pigs (very stinky!), a vineyard, apple and pear trees, watermelons, tomatoes, peppers, dill, and food grown for the livestock.

The church is still in Rosenheim. It is in ruins and there are no services there. I do not know whether the German cemetery still exists.

The church is gone in Enders. No cemetery exists.

Data collected

I gathered data on the following surnames:

Deckert	Enders	Krause
Dietzel	Funk	Rusch
Dotz	Henneberg	Schneider
Ehlert	Horst

If anyone is researching these surnames, they should contact me for further information.

Pictures

I took as many pictures as I could of the people and the places. I plan to publish them on a web site as soon as possible.

Other information

One of the good things about going on a tour is that you get to meet other people who are working on the same types of things. I made a potential contact that will be able to get additional data for the villages.

People in the villages are aware of the outside world through watching television. They asked us about 9/11, social security in the U.S., and what our lives were like. As we were leaving Enders, an elderly Russian couple came out with a watermelon and said they were sorry for our losses on 9/11. It was very moving.

ROTHAMMEL, Saratov, Volga

Nicholas & Barbara Bretz B296

Joe Gertge, Data Base Coordinator

Kathy Jones, ROTHAMMELLIST

2002 is proving to be another exciting year for Rothammelers. Surname charts have been received for the surnames Basgal, Bieber, and Lechmann. The following charts should be arriving within the next few months: APPELHANZ, DISTEL, FRANK, GERTJE, HARTMANN, KLOBERDANZ, LAUER, MATZA, and WEINGARDT. ARTZER and KAISER charts from Seewald have also been ordered.

The Russian census project is ongoing. We now have census data for the years 1811, 1816, 1834, 1850, and 1858 for the following surnames: APPELHANZ, BASGAL, BIEBER, DISTEL, FISCHER, FRANK, GERTJE, HARTMANN, KLOBERDANZ, KRAEMER, KRESS, LAUER, LECHMANN, MATZA, MAURER, MILDENBERGER, NAB, ROTHAMMEL, WEINGARDT, and WOHN. Also in our collection are Bauer, HOCHNADEL, and SCHAMBER from Schuck, ARTZER from Seewald, and SCHAMBER from Degott. We have compiled "Possible Connections" for each of the above surnames by compiling the Original Settlers List, the 1798 Census from AHSGR, and the other census data. If Rothammelers wish access to this data, please contact us and we will send you a file for your surname. We only ask that you make a contribution to the Rothammel Fund so we can order census records for other surnames.

Our next project is to enter each surname chart into its own database, then merge them into a single surname chart database. Joe Gertge, who is our database coordinator, will then combine them with the larger Rothammel database he is compiling. If you haven’t sent your family file to Joe, please do so by contacting Joe at the email address above. We then hope to be able to tell how Rothammelers are related to other Rothammelers.

Kathy Jones is responsible for the ROTHAMMELLIST which is a free private LIST. We now have nearly 100 members on the LIST. It is a good place to ask questions and share information. If you are interested in joining the list, please contact Kathy at the email address above.

This year Sally Caskey and Bernice Williams were successful in publishing ROTHAMMEL ON THE VOLGA, TRANSLATION OF CHRONICLE BY THERESIA DAEHN. Dr. Timothy J. Kloberdanz and Rosalinda (Appelhans) Kloberdanz aided in editing and added Explanatory Notes. The booklet is available for $10 plus postage and handling.

Steve Drescher completed a booklet, CHURCH RECORDS 1676--1798, ST. LAMBETUS, BECHTHEIM, RHEINHESSEN, APPELHANS. It contains extracts and translations of Church Records of the Appelhans and Allied Families. It is available for those with Appelhans connections.

We are also considering becoming the Seewald Village Coordinators. Seewald currently has no VC, and the two villages are closely related.

SCHILLING, Samara, Volga
SCHILLING, Saratov, Volga

Schilling Web Site

Gary Martens M405

NEGenWeb Lincoln County Coordinator - http://lincoln.wathenadesigns.com/ 

Status Report for Alt-Schilling, Schilling, Konstantinovka, Neu-Schilling I and Neu-Schilling II

There is a fairly continuous flow of queries about families from Schilling, and it’s daughter colonies, which I answer the best I can with the Schilling database and other resources. Several sets of census records have been received in the past year, and one surname chart for the Damm family, all of which are being added to the Schilling database.

There are 3 or 4 charts on order, but none have been received in the past year that I’m aware of. One of the reasons may be that the Alt-Schilling church books need repair, and they may not be allowed to use them at this time. The cost to get the Schilling books repaired is about $150. The church books for Schilling, Konstantinovka, Neu-Schilling I and Neu-Schilling II are supposedly in the possession of the people at the Engels archive, although nobody has yet received a chart that shows information from those villages.

If your interested in seeing a picture of one of the summer homes of the Laginkoski (Lagin Rapids) Imperial Fishing Lodge used by Czar Alexander III in the late 1800’s, they can be found on the Shilling web site.

My complete online collection of pictures of Finland can be seen by starting here:

http://www.wathenadesigns.com/Finland/

Note that some German-Russians left Russian through the Finnish port of Hanko.

SCHÖNCHEN, (Paninskaya) Samara, Volga

Schoenchen Web Site

Terri Dann

Denise Grau

Terri and Denise took over as Village Coordinators in February of 2002. Bertha Haas, the previous VC for Schönchen, retired from the VC position and is preparing for a three-year missionary to Tanzania, Africa. We wish her well.

To date we have not received any inquiries. We’d love to hear from any researchers of Schönchen or Schönchen families! If you have been in contact with Bertha in the past, please do let us know. Bertha’s Schönchen records are in storage and are inaccessible.

We are developing a Schönchen web site and hope to have it ready soon. We are compiling a list of researchers and hope to contact them when the web site is online. We’ve started an obituary and photograph collection, and will make this information available on-line. Please contact us if you have obituaries or photographs you are willing to share.

Denise attended the national convention in Des Moines. No Schönchen researchers attended village night.

We are unaware of any surname charts for Schönchen families.

Terri traveled to Russia this summer with other Volga Germans whose families settled in Western Kansas. A few days were spent in Moscow and Samara, but most of the time was spent in the Saratov area. They visited the Volga German Museum in Marx (Katherinenstadt) and the villages of Liebental, Mariental, Obermonjou, Wittman and Zug, Urbach and the remains of Schönchen, Russia (which is only two tombstones today). The city of Saratov is still very proud of their German architecture and the Volga river is quite beautiful. The last four days of the trip were spent in Germany in areas surrounding Frankfurt. Terri hopes to travel to Germany and France next year to spend more time in the villages from which some Volga Germans migrated to Russia.

SCHÖNDORF, Samara, Volga

Schoendorf Web Site

Lauirn Wilhelm

Annual Report for the Upper Jeruslan German Villages on the Wiesenseite of the Volga River Valley, Russia. This includes: Schoendorf, Schoenfeld, Schoental, Neu Jagodnaya and Strassendorf.

I still receive several requests each week regarding the people and descendants of these villages. Often I can find some information in my several census, correspondence files, or off the top of my head. Requests come from USA, Germany, and increasingly from South America, particularly Argentina.

My focus during 2001 to 2002 has been corresponding with folks, particularly regarding:

• Schoendorf

Felker, Hefrman, Rudy, Rothermel

• Schoenfeld

Brack, Funk, Krutsch, Liphart, Ochs, Wagner, Wilhelm

• Schoental

Hergert, Kromm, Neufeld, Rupp, Schierman, Weigand

• Neu Jagodnaya

Fuchs, Hergert, Weigaand, Weitz

• Strassendorf

Ott, Popp, Rudi, Schlegel, Schneider

SOUTH AMERICA

My focus during the past year has been to search for "unsere Leute" in Argentina and Brazil. There are a great many of Germans from Russia there. For the most part, they know the name and when their ancestor arrived in S.A. Sometimes they know the ancestral village name in Russia. Usually they speak only Spanish in Argentina and only Portuguese in Brazil. Sometimes they know some German. I can correspond in English, German and Spanish. Erica Neumann in Porto Alegre, Brazil has been very gracious to translate for me into and out of Portuguese. I have corresponded in:

• Argentina

Heffel, Herdt, Kloberdanz, Kloster, Koehler, Martin, Plattner, Schoenfeld, Wagner, Wilhelm, Zorn

• Brazil

Herdt, Schwab, Wagner, and others.

After corresponding for a year with Erica Neumann, we were able to help her come to visit the USA. She visited Disneyworld in Florida, San Antonio, TX, southern Missouri and Des Moines, IA for the AHSGR Convention. She gave an excellent talk about her family’s escape from the Soviet Union in the 1930s, via Harbin, China, and their subsequent settlement and adjustment to life in primitive Brazil. Erica has helped many AHSGR members to look for long lost relatives.

SCHÖNFELD, Samara, Volga

Schoenfeld Web Site

Laurin Wilhelm W022

See SCHÖNDORF above for the combined report.

SCHÖNTAL, Samara, Volga

Schoental Web Site

Laurin Wilhelm W022

See SCHÖNDORF above for the combined report.

SCHULZ, Samara, Volga

Fred Zitzer Z043

SCHWAB, Saratov, Volga

Schwab Web Site

Rolene Eichman Kiesling

There have been very few queries this year for the Village of Schwab. Perhaps less queries than I can remember since I took over as V.C. Eva Mitchell ordered the Revision Lists for 1816, 1834, 1850 and the 1858 censuses for the Fischer surname, and I, Rolene Kiesling, ordered the Revision

Lists for the same years for the Eichman surname. Both of those were published in the May 2002 issue of the Lower Volga Villages Sheet. I have taken on the task of publishing that newsletter from Kathy O’Malley, who is trying to devote more time to linking people from the various villages and databases.

Also, I spent some time collecting some World War I draft registration records from western Kansas, and compiling them into a database, in an effort to see if that would help the overall research cause. The draft registration records do contain helpful data, but of course, to do them all is a gigantic task. I only did the Kansas counties of Logan and Russell and will probably include that data in the next newsletter.

SCHWED, Samara, Volga

Schwed Web Site

Carolyn & John Gorr

We’ve had 38 queries during 2002. Most queries were for our village of Schwed. Other queries we received were from people who asked about research in Germany as well as Volhynian and Polish Russia. We were able to direct these people to the appropriate people or websites. We also get queries regarding Germans from Russia who settled in Chicago. From the research we’ve done regarding Chicago we can usually give them some 1910 and 1920 census information.

We are working on publishing a history with photos and stories from people who grew up in Schwed, Volga Russia. We don’t have a price for this item as yet. If you are interested in purchasing a copy please contact us at the address or email posted above. Proceeds will be used to acquire Schwed census information from Russia.

We are still waiting for the HOPPE and WIEGEL family genealogies from the Russian researchers. It’s almost three years since they were commissioned. If these are families you have an interest in, please let us know and we will put you in co ntact with the people who have requested these family charts. Our Schwed database was submitted to Frank McLean who is in charge of cleaning up the AHSGR surname/family group sheet database.

Village Night at 2002 convention had a poor showing. Our table includes the villages of Enders, Reinwald, Rosenheim, Stahl am Karaman, Nieder-Monjou and Schwed.

SHCHERBAKOVKA (Muehlberg), Saratov, Volga

Shcherbakovka Web Site

Janet Flickinger

In Oct. of 2001, Anneva Schoenhals Sander of Seiling, OK was able to get photocopies of the records of Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Shattuck, OK. The church was established in about 1904 and is still open for business in 2001 (but has dwindled to a very small number). I extracted those records and entered them in Micro Excel. The index from the 75^th anniversary booklet that was printed in 1979 was compared. There are more people in the index than in the records, even though the pages are consecutive. There is a notation at the top of the first page that seems to imply that the list was made up in 1937 of those that were current members and then others were added through the years (so the charter members and early members that were deceased were not included).

In late Nov-Dec, 2001, I joined a project started by Gene Jenkins to extract some of the 1920 US Federal Census of areas highly populated by Ger-Rus. I offered to do Marion Co, KS. I extracted almost 3000 individuals from the following towns / townships: Antelope, Caitlin, Center, Clark, Clear Creek, Doyle, Durham, East Branch, Fairplay, Florence, Gale, Lehigh, Lincolnville, Lost Springs, Moose and Ramona. Tampa/Blaine Twp, Risley/Hillsboro and Logan Twp were too dark to read. The whole roll was dark & so a lot of the names are guesses considering the "up & down strokes" of letters. This extraction only covers about half of Marion Co (E.D. #65 though #75). Germans from Russia heavily populated the county. Towns/townships still on the roll but not extracted at this time: Liberty, Marion, Menno, Summit, Burn City, Milton, Peabody, Risley, West Branch, Goessel, Wilson and Aulene. I was surprised to see that Liberty includes an Industrial School and Hygiene House and West Branch had a Bethesda Hospital.

This got me enthused and I ordered the CD for Russell Co., KS and extracted the Ger-Rus for my own use. Then when the 1930 census became available, I ordered the CD for both Russell Co., KS and Ellis Co., OK. At this time, rather then extract the data in a separate publication, I have taken the 46 pages of census for the town of Russell and added those birth dates and marriage dates and connected children to bring my Russell database in FTM to a current total of 37,685 individuals. As time permits, I will do the same with those that lived in rural Russell Co. also. It was very exciting to see that the 1930 census had a new feature concerning "place of birth". The following is quoted from "additional information" under 1930 Census Index found on ancestry.com....

Due to boundary modifications in Europe resulting from World War I, some individuals were uncertain about how to identify their national origin. Enumerators were instructed to spell out the name of the city, state, province, or region of respondents who declared that they or their parents had been born in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Russia, or Turkey. They were to try to establish the country in which the birthplace now lay. Interpretation of the birthplace varied from one enumerator to another. Some failed to identify specific birthplaces within those named countries, and others provided an exact birthplace in countries not designated in the instructions. For the 1930, distinction was made between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, and also between Canada-French and Canada-English.

Unfortunately, all enumerators did not follow these instructions, but I took a quick look at Culbertson, Hitchcock Co., NE and they did ! For example, instead of listing the place of birth as Russia, this enumerator wrote "Russia-Brunnental" or "Russia-Weinsenmuller". This could be a real big BINGO!

There were lots of other contacts. Most of these were just people who had seen my Web Pages and were looking for advice on general genealogy research. Then there were others who thought I was a sucker and would do their research for them, if they just gave me a name and a country of immigration! If I live to be 100, I won’t get all the Ger-Rus research done that I want to do.

Shcherbakovka addendum submitted by Kathy O'Malley

This might be called a "success story" but I’m not sure since the time involved is so long, but here goes: In a letter translated from German to English: of 17 October 2000 from Reinhold Rupp of Landau, Germany to Prof. Miller of the Ger-Rus List, information on an Alexander Reisig family in America is requested. Since there was no e mail address, I sent a letter the following month, requesting additional information on the family which had ties to Shcherbakovka and had settled in Russell, Kansas. On 30 Nov 2000, I had an e-mail from Ralf Kuliszewski on behalf of Mr. Rupp which included specific names and dates of the family and some descendants. I e-mailed this to Janet Flickinger to see if she could locate a current address. This she did with some help from a friend who knew the family. I e-mailed the name address and phone number of Molly Ryan Bieshaar to Ralf.

Apparently Mr. Rupp phoned the number and talked in German, which Molly could not understand, but she recognized the name, and realized who it was. Then he hung up. Later he apparently had his daughter, who speaks English, phone again.

Sometime in May 2002, Faye Schantz, who is also from Russell, e mailed Molly Bieshaar to ask if she might be interested in the Reisig Family tree Chart. Molly apparently received the e-mail in Germany where she was visiting her Reisig relatives. When she returned the end of May, she wrote Faye, and said in part:

"Now the family we met in Berlin was Dorothea Reisig (89) my grandfather’s [Alex Reisig 1890-1981] youngest sister and the only sibling still alive. She was born after my grandfather came to America. She lives with her daughter Valentina and her husband Nikolai Konjaev. They are from Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Mariann Rupp gave me the spelling Kasachstan.

"The Rupp family that I met are Reinhold, Viktoria and Marianna. Viktoria has a daughter Elena that remains in Omsk with her two children, Maxim and Viktoria. She will never be able to live in Germany because when Viktoria moved she lost her German identity. Viktoria is the daughter of Martha a sister of Alex’s and was born in 1910. She was taken by the Russians in 1941 when Viktoria was 1 and a half and never seen again. Viktoria lived with an Aunt Paulina until she was 8. She was then placed in an orphanage until she was 18. Aunt Paulina is the aunt my mother [Ada Reisig 1919-1984] corresponded with."

The point of this story is that persistence paid off for Mr. Rupp. There are plans for additional visits between these families. We hope to hear more as time goes on.

STAHL AM TARLYK, Samara, Volga

Paul Koehler

There has been 12 inquires about families from Stahl am Tarlyk, which I have answered the best I can with the Stahl database. The database has 6,757 individuals. I keep adding to this database as I receive information.

I have recently received pictures of where the village of Stahl was originally. A few of the original houses were moved after the dam was built and the area was flooded. The pictures show a house that was moved, a house that was built around 1950 and a German/Russian family with a lady looking for ancestors by the name of Filbert. If any one has information about the Filbert families from Stahl, I do have this lady's address and would have to write to her in the Russian language.

Diana Bell, of Fresno, California, continues to publish the der Stahler newsletter two times each year. We are always looking for information for this newsletter.

STRASSENDORF, Samara, Volga

Strassendorf Web Site

Laurin Wilhelm W022

See SCHÖNDORF above for the combined report.

SUSANNENTAL, (Winkelmann), Samara, Volga

Susannental Web Site

Kerry S. Thompson

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

The VC for Susannental has been inactive due to illness, so the work for Susannental has slowed to a grinding stop from January to June, but I am beginning to pick up steam and hope to get caught up answering inquiries and requests this month. Members of the village are being requested to join in the search for obituaries for village members, and as these are located, they will be posted on our list serve address. Research continues from church records in Kemel, Germany for the Schmidt families ancestors. Census information from the 1816 and 1834 records are on order. A twice yearly newsletter continues to be produced. Back issues are available and contain family histories, ship record information, village history, census information, recipes, and etc. The data base contains thousands of names and information is available on request for specific surnames. I also have some information on families from Meinhard and Kind. I have information on R/G families from Big Horn County, Wyoming and have done some research on the R/G families in Sanilac County, Michigan.

TARUTINO, Akkerman, Bessarabia

Arthur E. Flegel

As coordinator for the Bessarabian communities of Kulm, Leipzig and Tarutino, I can report that currently I have nearly 27,000 names with associated documentation for each listing in the final stages of editing. Hopefully no other interruptions will appear to prevent its completion for printing before the year-end.

During this period, I have received many requests for information from the extensive records that have been accumulated, resulting in up-dated data being submitted by numerous individuals, as well as requiring pains-taking double-checking on my part. Everyone who has contributed pertinent material will be identified within the "notes’" in the up-coming book.

Similarly, for the fact that the following are heavily connected with the Bessarabian communities, I am making an effort to gather data on the villages: Alexanderfeld, Eigenfeld, Rosenfeld, Lilienfeld, Markosovka, Gnadau, Kronental, Friedrichsfeld and Marienbrunn all associated with the Kuban River settlements in the North Caucasus. I have received requests for research help on several of these, but am trying to keep my efforts at a minimum until the above-mentioned Kulm; Leipzig and Tarutino work is completed.

In conjunction with Bonnie Anderson, I am assisting in gathering information for all Caucasus Germans both the earlier Trans-Caucasus settlements and the later North Caucasus developments. This promises to eventually become a major contribution to the extended research effort of Germans in Russia.

VAKARSKII Khutor, Glueckstal, Odessa, Kherson

See also Glueckstal Colonies Research Association

WIESENMÜLLER, Samara, Volga

Lower Jersulan River Colonies ~Wiesenmueller Web Site

Betty Ashley A028

Because of the fragile health of my husband for the past several years I have not been able to work much on this project. Sadly Charles passed away on August 19^th of this year.

I have requested to down-size the scope of the project - I would prefer to concentrate on the three parish villages of Wiesenmueller, Gnadenthau, and Friedenberg.

My fellow-coordinator who resigned from the job several years ago, has, however, added much material to our website. She is involved with her own time-consuming business and is planning to move from southern Virginia back to her home state of Missouri in the near future.

Lower Jerusulan River Colonies:

With the excuses now stated, I can only say that my interest in my mother’s ancestral villages has not diminished. I will continue to answer any questions received from others (they have been few and far between of late). I plan to contact Russian researchers to inquire of any new materials that might have found concerning our project in Russia.

I should mention that we have sent copies of Jeruslan Nachrichten publications (for sale) to Kathy O’Malley (Lower Volga Colonies) and Central California Chapter, AHSGR. Also, recently, I have sent many records of Lower Jeruslan families who migrated from KRATZKE and DIETEL to Brent Mai to coordinate with his records.

WINKELMANN, Samara, Volga

See Susannental

WITTMANN (Soloturn), Samara, Volga 

Kevin Rupp R311

This colony has only the 1816 and 1834 census available. I continue to get requests for this colony of Wittmann (Soloturn), but since the 1850 census and the 1857 census are not available, it makes the connecting a little more challenging! But for now, I continue to collect census information for this colony as I can.

WORMS, Berezan, Odessa, Kherson

YAGODNAYA POLYANA, Saratov, Volga

Yagodnaya Polyana Web Site
Weitz web site

Co-Coordinators:

Kris Ballt

Elizabeth Meyer

Patrice Miller Database Coordinator

It is with an extremely heavy heart that we report the passing of the original VC of Yagodnaya Polyana, Bill Scheirman in February. Bill dedicated so much of his time, money, and energy to serving descendants from YP and he is irreplaceable. He was our mentor and our role model and we will strive to live up to his example. We are sure he is happy to be reunited with his ancestors in Heaven, and undoubtedly he’s still working on tracing his family tree. He will be greatly missed by many.

Kris Ball has made one trip to visit Bill’s widow, Marian, and they have been sorting through the massive amount of correspondence and research on YP that Bill diligently collected over many years. It will probably take 2 or 3 more trips to transfer the files over. Our plan is to collect the data in a central location for now, and to digitize as much as possible, for future preservation. Kris has been answering queries through the year, from people around the country.

The two VCs, Kris Ball and Elizabeth Meyer, and our wonderful village database collector, Patrice Miller, have had a fruitful year, and much of that is due to help from our village people. Ken Stugart, a descendant from Yagodnaya Polyana made his third trip to Russia this summer. Besides visiting his Stugart/Stuckert relatives in Saratov, he also visited the Saratov and Samara Archives. He brought money from the "Friends of the Volga Archives" for the restoration of many German Volga books. When a census or church book becomes too fragile to handle and needs restoration, the book is sealed and can no longer be researched. The funds that Ken delivered to the archives will restore many German Volga books so they will become available again for research. While he was there he had the opportunity to find what new genealogy books were available for our village. Birth / baptism church records are now available for the years 1904 - 1917. When they were originally discovered we were told they went to 1912 but now they go to 1917.

Also a very small 1897 "census" was found. It was disappointing in that only about 50 families were contained in the record. It was better than nothing but quite a disappointment after we thought another complete census was found. Ken is confident that books for Yagodnaya Polyana will continue to be discovered in the archives. You can read a summary of his trip that he posted to the German Volga mail list at:

http://newsarch.rootsweb.com/th/read/GER-VOLGA/2002-07/1025621120

During the year Patrice Miller has continued to expand on a ship list index of individuals from Yagodnaya Polyana who came to America (Canada & the USA). This index now has 2,770 individuals included in passenger ship lists. The majority of the people listed came from the German Volga village of Yagodnaya Polyana, Russia or one of its daughter colonies, Schontal (Schoenthal) or Neu-Yagodnaya. A few of the individuals listed came from the nearby colony of Pobochnoye or one of its daughter colonies. Added to the index are now hundreds of scanned images of the actual ship lists. The index along with the ship list scans will be available in October 2002 on CD. The cost will be about $5.00. Paper copies of just the index will be available later for about $15.00. Contact Patrice directly to acquire copies.

Indexes to US censuses for many places where our ancestors settled are now available on the web. These include Whitman county, WA, Oshkosh, WI, Pine Island /Little York, NY, Boulder county, CO and Walla Walla county, WA have been added to the German Volga Web site. The censuses can be found at:

http://webbitt.com/volga/usa-census.html

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, 2 electronic descendant trees (1767-1857) were built for the surnames of Blumschein / Blumenshine and Leinweber. Electronic (gedcom) or printed copies can be obtained from Patrice Miller with a $10-$20 donation to reimburse the person who ordered the information or to purchased additional census extracts. Patrice is happy to help anyone acquire basic census information on their surnames from Russia fairly inexpensively if that information has not already been acquired.

As a recap, over the years information on 27 surnames from Yagodnaya Polyana has been collected from Russia. Lovely hand drawn descendant charts have been acquired by various individuals over the years. These descendant charts of individual surnames start in 1767 and include descendants up to 1857. These charts are available for the following surnames: Gorr, Hahnemann / Hannenman, Hergert, Kleweno / Kleveno, Litzenberger, Morasch, Schmick / Schmuck and Weitz. In addition, information on the following surnames was acquired from Russia. While these are not the lovely charts, the same basic information is included. Those surnames are: Befus / Bafus, Benner, Blumschein / Blumenshine, Dippel, Fuchs / Fox, Kniss, Koch / Cook, Konschu / Konschuh, Kromm / Krom, Lautenschlager, Leinweber, Luft, Machleit / Machleit / Machleidt/ Machlied, Pfaffenroth / Poffenroth / Paffenroth, Repp, Schad / Schadt, Voelker / Felker, Yungmann / Youngman. Contact Patrice Miller for further information.

Patrice is also happy to assist researchers from Yagodnaya Polyana with research on their ancestors in Canada and the USA also. She has various church rosters, border crossing records, censuses, naturalization indexes, and ship lists.

During the past year, Elizabeth Meyer responded to several queries, and helped people in Germany and America translate documents and communicate with each other. At her local Golden Gate Chapter, she presented a program based on her interviews with Yagaders who now live in Germany. She also traveled to Little York to interview older members of the community there. At the Calif ornia Convention hosted by the Golden Gate Chapter, she was responsible for the food served at the large gathering. She did a presentation on the community of Little York and introduced Mr. Alexander Pfaffenrot, visting from Germany, who spoke about his project to establish an orphanage in Omsk through the organization, Christen Helfen Kinder. She is working with both Kris and Patrice to take over publication of the village newsletter after the death of the longtime devoted editor, William Scheirman. During the coming year, she expects to spend time preparing articles for future newsletters.

Due to Bill’s failing health, a newsletter was not available for the past two years. Patrice, Elizabeth and Kris are working hard to get an edition of Usu Leut out in September or October 2002. We will be on a regular schedule in 2003, with 2 issues per year, and have adjusted the subscriptions to reflect the missing issues.

We look forward to the Yakima convention in 2003, and hope to see many others from YP at our table at Village Night. We expect a good turnout, as many YP descendants settled in the Endicott, WA area.

ZUG (GATTUNG), Samara, Volga

Kevin Rupp R311

Zug (Gattung) colony only has the 1816 and 1834 census available. I get requests about this colony, but have to rely on the cookbooks in order to make the later year connections. I don’t receive as many requests about this colony compared to the other colonies. I continue to collect census information.

I hope in the near future to compile a web site for this colony.