Galka Web Site

Submitted by Merrill & Dorothy Kerbs Younkin.

There have been few requests this year for information for Galka and the surrounding area. I have had an interesting request for Galka censuses for the years of 1834, 1850, and 1857. I have tried to make some connection for obtaining this data without any success. I may be asking the wrong people.

My main interest has been doing some research of Germans from Galka who ended up in Argentina around the year 1900. There were some families who were denied entry at the Port of Galveston about that time. They ended up in communities around Entre Rios, Argentina. Some years later, these same people were permitted entry through the Port of New York, and they settled in Marion County, Kansas. I believe that some of those families still reside in Argentina but have not been able to gather more on the subject.

I have been the Village Coordinator for Galka and have acquired some good records on Galka and the surrounding communities of that area. A good portion of that information has been due to the exchange of information between other village coordinators of AHSGR.

Glückstal Colonies Research Association

Includes colonies: Bergdorf, Glückstal, Kassel, Neudorf, Grigoriopol, and Hoffnungstal

Glueckstal Web Site

Margaret Freeman F052 / L

The Glueckstal Colonies Research Association has had a good year.

GCRA has continued to sell their 800-page book published to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the founding of our group of colonies, "The Glueckstalers of New Russia and North America, A Collection of History, Genealogy and Folklore." Recipients are also pleased with the 2000 additional pages included in the two CDs included in the book. We have been pleased by the airing of our hour-long documentary, "Heaven is our Homeland: The Glueckstalers of New Russia and North America," on Public Television in the upper Midwest, the West Coast, Northern California, and in Tennessee, all of which generated more interest in the Germans from Russia and our ancestry.

We continue to purchase files from Odessa as they are offered to us. Translation is ongoing, a good part of which appears in our twice-yearly "GCRA Newsletter," currently 64 pages of news and research each year, now prepared by Dr. Velma Jesser.

The extension and refinement of the GCRA database continues with the work of Herb Tabert and it now numbers about 278,000 individuals. Gwen Pritzkau and Tom Stangl and others continue with authenticating origins in Germany for our Glueckstal inhabitants. Many of our members participate in the newly formed Prussian-Poland Regional Interest Group in the hope for information leading those ancestors who sojourned in Poland before arriving in the Glueckstal colonies. Homer Rudolf continues with plans and preparations for a book on the village of Neudorf, scheduled for publication in 2008.

Our web site, shown above, generates further interest. It is maintained and sponsored by Penny Raile. The GCRA listserve, under the auspices of the Germans from Russia Heritage Society, and under the watchful eye of Michael M. Miller, is an opportunity for sharing among members and others who are interested in news of our villages. Our email communications and web site have brought forth requests and communications from Germany, which has been a sharing situation for giving and gaining information, as with the website and listserve.

We have found one descendant from our colonies whose family came to the USA through Harbin, China with the Mennonites. To date, there are no known Glückstal descendants who first migrated to South America before coming to North America. However, there are descendants now living in Australia and the Orient, along with those now living in Germany and the various states of the former Soviet Union.

There are daily email contacts among members leading to more research and ideas for the future.

Glückstal, Glückstal, Odessa, Kherson

Glueckstal Web site

Margaret Freeman F052 / L

Glueckstal Colonies Database

See Glückstal Colonies Research Association for combined report.

Glückstal Daughter Colonies

See also Glückstal Colonies Research Association

Gnadenfeld, (Neu-Moor / Moor), Samara, Volga

Gnadenfeld Web Site

Irma A. Waggoner W098

I do not receive many requests for information from Gnadenfeld due to the small population of the colony. Information has been requested this past year on the following surnames: Yekel, Korell, Michel, Rose, and two for Wunder. I am presently working on a request by a 14-year-old boy from Buenos Aires, Argentina, wanting information on his Korell family.

I continue to collect surnames from Gnadenfeld and Moor, including ship records, declarations of intent, naturalization records, census records and obituaries.

No new surname charts have been reported as being received for Gnadenfeld/Moor. The Braun chart has been commissioned.

Graf, Samara, Volga

Kevin Rupp R311 / L

I finally took the time to compile the 1895 family list. I have not received much e-mail on this colony

Grimm, Saratov, Volga

Grimm Web Site

Ken Leffler L259

Grimm Mail List

The year 2005 has been a very good year for the Grimm village research group. I received 12 requests for surname data from first-time requesters. This is a fairly high number. I answered all requests that I had data for at the time.

We still have 14 surname charts on order with no firm delivery date given. I believe that date depends when the Engels archives reopens, so it could be a long way off. These charts have been on order for four years or more. Surnames on order are:

Fritzler
Groh
Schmick
Leffler
Zulauf
Wolf
Schreiner
Wittman
Schafer
Salzmann
Muth
Bohlander
Dumler

We were able to procure the 1816/1834 and 1850/1857 census revision lists for Grimm this year. They came from the archive in Volgograd and were translated for us by Brent Mai. We thank Brent for that effort. The 1816/1834 census contains 89 pages, 334 households, and 3433 individual names. The 1850/1857 census contains 113 pages, 323 households, and 4895 individual names. I have extracted the data from the 1816/1834 census and hope to complete the 1850/1857 extractions by the end of the year. I will then be able to better answer new requests and update old ones.

Harold Raehal donated two passports for the Reichel surname. I met Harold and his family at the Northern Colorado Chapter dinner meeting last month.

The Grimm village table at village night at the convention in Oklahoma City was the usual gathering of loyal researchers, including the Grohs, the Schmicks, the Marquardts, and the Wittmans. Henry Schmick distributed copies of his Grimm village CD to anyone who wanted one. Thanks Henry! Please forgive me if I forgot to mention anyone in attendance. I had a busy day on the SOAR project demonstrations in the computer room and was a little frazzled that evening.

Look for the launch of the AHSGR SOAR (Saving Our Ancestral Resources) online database late this year. It will contain data extracted from over 500,000 GR obituaries and should help all researchers find ancestral data.

Thanks for everyone's help this year and I am looking forward to 2006.

Herzog, Saratov, Volga

Roger A. Toepfer T095

Jerry Braun B489 / L

See Fischer for combined report.

Hoffnungstal, Glückstal, Odessa, Kherson

Harold Ehrman E126
Data Assistant

See Glückstal Colonies Research Association for combined report.

Holstein, Saratov, Volga

Holstein Web Site

Edith Bottsford

I am VC, again, for Holstein beginning July 2005. My database contains approximately 20,000 names. I've had several requests for information since July.

The 1834, 1850, and 1858 Holstein censuses are now being translated. My goal for the coming year is to enter the census information into my database. I am not aware of any new surname charts for Holstein.

Huck, Saratov, Volga

Huck Web Site

Dennis Zitterkopf Z005

Only limited activity and little new research related to village Huck has occurred since October 2004. The usual occurrence of inquiries from persons (usually non-members) asking about information related to their surname was received. One inquiry was received from a person in France. I usually refer such inquiries to Huck researchers with an interest in that surname after determining if I have any information in my own files. There has been a noticeable decrease in inquiries from Argentina, which is a disappointment. Prior messages were looking for information from the 1858 to 1888 period for which we have no village data. I fear that has been a contributor to the lack of new inquiries.

The Huck village database is in need of a redesign. I initially entered copies of GEDCOM data received as separate data files so I could identify who the originator was (not every submitter used a SEN identifier). As a result, I cannot merge data when I find a common name among the database, which means I'm unable to link the "tree" of families who are interconnected. Rework of the database is a goal for 2006.

No new surname charts have been reported as being received for Huck. Existing known surname charts are included as a page within the Huck web site. Translations for the existing "Letters from Hell" project continue to slowly complete but additional translation help is still needed. A new project to exhibit copies of Huck Parochial Records in the web site has been initiated.

Village Night at the Oklahoma City convention was well attended. Two new persons came to the table in addition to what has become the "regular" crowd.

My personal coup for the year occurred during a visit to Germany in May. I met an 88 year-old distant cousin who was born in Huck and suffered through the 1941 evacuation and hardships that followed. The meeting included spending the day with her family who have returned to Germany with her from Russia. Mere words cannot describe the joy of that event. I also received from her a lengthy letter detailing her experiences after the 1941 evacuation. If you have read Gulag, a History by Anne Appelbaum, you would readily see how her letter parallels the events in the book. Since that time I've received additional correspondence from her describing Huck prior to 1941. I plan to add the Huck description material to our web page but it has been suggested I submit the post 1941 letter as a candidate article for the Journal.

Hussenbach, Gashon, Samara, Volga

Hussenbach Web Site

Paul Lais

I have no new information about Hussenbach (Gaschonn) that has not already been written and reported in the discontinued Hussenbach (Review), or in surname charts, which I have been privileged to keep in my personal inventory.

This year I have had an inquiry from a lady, 36 years of age, who was born in Kazakhstan and whose parents were from Hussenbach (Gaschon). She has been seeking information about the colony, and I have been sharing what information I have with her.

Hussenbach, Linevo Ozero, Saratov, Volga

Hussenbach Web Site

Louise Potter P051 / L

Linevo is located on the Bergseite of the Volga in the Province of Saratov.

I am attempting to help several people with their genealogy, some of them non-members. One of the most interesting inquiries Paul Lais and I have received this year is from Natalia Behrend from Germany. She hopes to learn more about her SCHETZEL ancestors. Natalia says her mother was born in Hussenbach, Gaschon. Her parents were exiled in 1941. Natalia was born in Kazakhstan in 1969. I have a copy of the Schetzel chart but I can't connect her to the chart due to the more recent dates.

I have had two inquiries regarding the Schneidmiller name. One is the family of Johannes Jacob Schneidmiller, born March 12, 1857 at Yerlon, Russia. That village name is not familiar to me however someone in that family said it was the original name for Hussenbach, which I cannot verify. Perhaps someone knows where it is located. Any help will be appreciated.

Two Hussenbach charts have been received this year. Delbert and Gloria Schmidt ordered BENZEL. The other is STEIGLITZ. I have ordered two Hussenbach censuses from Brent Mai that he is in the process of translating.

I average about one inquiry per month. The database is growing bit by bit. Some of the surnames I have been helping research are Propp, Benzel, Schwartz, Yost, Frees/Fries, and Adolph.

Johannesdorf, Karlsruhe, North Caucasus

Bonnie J. Anderson

Combined Report for Villages: Johannesdorf and Karlsruhe / Dowsunskoje - North Caucasus; Katharinefeld - S. Caucasus.

Research and information collection on these villages occurs in conjunction with the Caucasus Germans project for AHSGR/GRHS, which includes approximately 125 villages throughout the North/South Caucasus. Arthur Flegel is my research colleague/co-coordinator on this project.

Milo Bauder, a major contributor whose primary Caucasus interest is Elizabethtal (southwest of Tbilisi, Georgia), presented a documentary, "The Germans of Georgia", for first-time U.S. viewing at the GRHS convention in Pierre, SD. Produced by a filmmaker in Tbilisi, Georgia, Milo obtained the film there during his family history research trip in 2003. He obtained the film rights, had the film converted, audio translated and subtitled in English. It is a wonderful film that showcases a beautiful country, the German architecture in Tbilisi, history of the German colonies, and interviews of deportation survivors who returned to Georgia.

The translation of a book on the Germans in Georgia, another project of Milo's, was made available this past year through the AHSGR and GRHS bookstores. This book has now been translated from Georgian to German and to English. It also contains some archive information.

Three weeks ago I received my first document page from the Stavropol archives. This has taken me four years of research and nurturing to arrive at this point. It is from an 1882 list of school students in Johannesdorf, North Caucasus. A double bonus: among all the familiar names, my Schilling great-grandfather was listed…the first documentation in any form from Russia that has come to light on any member of my family!

A monograph I obtained from Russia specifically about the German villages in the North Caucasus is currently being translated to English. My second translation project this year is a series of letters written from Karlsruhe (North Caucasus) in the early 1900's that I found in issues of the German-American newspaper "Der Staats-Anzeiger".

The small stream of contacts continued this past year, with three unusual ones coming to me recently:

1. A French woman living in Guyana, concerning Katharinenfeld, South Caucasus. This woman's family has a fascinating history, also tied into church mission work in the Black Sea area and the Caucasus, and she's writing a book on her family history in French.

2. A researcher from East Sussex, England, concerning Karlsruhe, North Caucasus. (Karlsruhe, a large village, or Dowsunskoje/Dowsun, was east of Stavropol; also part of a four-village cluster.)

3. The third was Dr. Yilmaz Kuskay, the newly appointed Honorary Consul of the German Fed. Rep. in Erzurum, Turkey. He is very interested in the German villages that were located near Kars (eastern Turkey). He interviewed the Germans living there now and sent me photos identifying them, as well as photos of the painted German inscriptions and decoration inside what was the old church. He plans to write an article on these villages and families, and we may do that jointly. He had found little documentation; I gave him what I had and also steered him to the director of the Georgian archives in Tbilisi, where I knew the Kars colonies were mentioned in their holdings list. Dr. Kuskay is making arrangements to obtain that information through a friend in Tbilisi. Another channel is opening in discovering the Caucasus Germans' history.

Johannestal, Berezan, Odessa, Kherson

Johannestal Web Site

Ray Heinle H446

I have not had as many queries for help this past year, perhaps averaging one every other month. Fortunately, many of the queries were on well-known families for whom I have good data.

This summer I had a wonderful visit with my distant cousin, Carolyn Diede, who was born in Johannestal. She showed me her extensive picture collection and loaned me a number of them to take home to scan. I have posted some of those pictures on the Johannestal Webpage linked above which I updated a number of times.

I have been doing level 2 translations on some of the marriage data for Worms-Johannestal parish which has been coming in from the Nikolaev, Ukraine archives. Oh, how I wish we had image data coming in from the Volga archives of the quality of the data we are getting from Ukraine, instead of the tiny window of data not sourced that we get! We now have so much data that we (the BDO Regional Interest Group) have adjusted course from translating all of the data, to indexing it.

Josefstal / Schwabe Khutor, Saratov, Volga

Josefstal Web Site

Edward R. Gerk G054

There have not been many requests for information in 2005. My cousin in Germany has slowly been contacting new arrivals from Russia with ties to Josefstal/Volga. We then try to get background on the family and copies of any old photos they might have.

I slowly continue to receive files from the Josefstal village fond out of Russia. I now have all the birth, death and marriage info for 1907 to 1916. Also, I have found most of the draft records for the village. These are great because they link to the 1858 village census through the family number. The name of the male is listed with the number of the family from 1858. In many of the years, the name of the father is provided (and age if still alive), along with the ages and names of the males in the household. In many cases, the files also list the males who have left the village and where they went, in these cases either America or Argentina.

I'm also collecting the various decision books of the village, which are great because many of the males had to sign their names to the various documents.

The database is slowly coming together based on the families we can link from the 1858 census and the early 1900's, through the draft records.

Other than that, the village was very small, so we don't get a lot of requests for information.

All copies of documents are sent to AHSGR.

Kamenka, Saratov, Volga

Kamenka Web Site

Rosemary Larson L033 / L

This has been a busy year. I have translated four censuses beginning early this year and have compiled and published three censuses. Translating from the Russian Cyrillic is a challenge and I like challenges. All in all, I translated 7, 295 names. These censuses are available.

The Kamenka census for the year 1834 contains 1,308 souls and the 1850 census numbers 2,219. It was somewhat difficult to read since the copies were quite light.

The 1850 census has the surnames of the spouses as well. Both censuses are indexed by the revision [census] number, and the 1850 Kamenka census has a separate index for the spouses.

Many inquiries have been received, especially from Argentina. All have been answered and I am becoming more knowledgeable about our South American cousins. Members of the Northeast Kansas Chapter have been helpful in responding to requests about residents of Topeka, Kansas.

According to a report, Arthur Flegel challenged members to write the history of their town where they grew up. I did this in 1985 when St. Mary's Catholic Church in Ellis, Kansas celebrated the Centennial of the parish in 1986. Being distant from the parish at this time, I made many trips to Ellis, collecting pictures of early parishioners, getting microfilm copies of the local paper for the history of the early years, checking church records, and having the photos copied in Wichita, Kansas. Copies of the St. Mary's Centennial publication are available.

Since 1985, I have compiled and published the "St. Mary's Parish Family Register".

The City of Ellis began to exist when the Kansas Pacific Railroad, now Union Pacific, began to extend west from Kansas City, laying track towards Colorado in 1870. The Irish were the first to arrive followed by the Germans who began to arrive from Russia in 1876. In 1887, the Bukowina Germans began to settle in and around Ellis. This publication is available.

Karlsruhe, Burlatzki, Caucasus

Bonnie J. Anderson

See Johannesdorf for combined report.

Kassel, Glückstal, Odessa, Kherson

Randal Boschee B395

See Glückstal Colonies Research Association for combined report.

Katharinenfeld, Luxemburg, South Caucasus

Bonnie J. Anderson

See Johannesdorf for combined report.

Katharinenstadt, Samara, Volga

Katharinenstadt Web Site

Raynona Bohrer B444 L

We made it to the Oklahoma City convention and village night. We met many friends and had a good time. During village night, no one showed up for our town. This past year we received from Kevin Rupp the census of 1873 for Katharinenstadt. We have not had any inquires. I was not able to get to the Kansas roundup this year due to the high price of gas.

Kautz, Saratov, Volga

Kautz Web Site

D. Michael Frank F244

In 2005, I had about fifty requests for information. Seven were interested in the Kautz village surnames but were found to be unrelated to Kautz. The remainder included requests for Kautz information, requests for copies of surname charts, or requests for the "Unsere Leute von Kautz" Compact Disk. All were acknowledged. Most obtained the information they were seeking. Some requests were for information I didn't yet have. More research will be needed on those.

For each requestor, whether or not the CD or chart information is purchased, I find their position in the database and send back relevant genealogy reports in PDF format, if possible. Many are surprised about how much information has been accumulated. Virtually all requests come in the form of e-mail.

Obituary information has been into the Kautz database with information gathered from the GV listserv and private correspondence. The current number of individuals in the Kautz database is 22,476. This includes 7614 marriages and 141,753 text records. I use Family Treemaker 2005.

I attended the AHSGR convention in Oklahoma City. Village night was fairly quiet at our table, with two individuals requesting information. I volunteered to assume the role of AHSGR Newsletter Editor, requesting annual reports of Village Coordinators, receiving them, editing for content, clarity and punctuation, and forwarding to Teri Helzer for publication online at AHSGR.org.

I donated funds to Brent Mai to acquire and translate the 1857 Kautz village census. I also donated money for the 1834 and 1857 census for Dietel, to be applied to that village or another of his choosing. The 1834 Kautz census has not yet been found, but we are hopeful it will turn up within several years. I have been checking the Kautz census against the Kautz database and updating my information. It is a family-by-family process, detailed and tedious, but fruitful.

My full-time job has kept me from accomplishing more. I still wish to get the 19 Kautz surname charts into separate GEDCOM files and complete the next volume of Unsere Leute von Kautz on CD this next year. Despite additional projects at work, I should have more time in the next year to devote to completing some of the tasks that are important.

Köhler, Saratov, Volga

Joe Gareis G265

Nicholas & Barbara Bretz B296

We obtained census listings for Koehler with counts as of 1834, 1850, and 1857. Thanks to Ted Gerk for translating these from Russian and compiling the lists. Copies of the census were sold and funds accumulated for future purchases, such as Church records.

We received a surname chart on the Gareis family. Others available are Bauer, Bretz, Klein, Klug, Leinecker, Reichenborn/Reigenborn, and Ruhl.

Konstantinovka, Samara, Volga

Konstantinovka Web Site

Gary Martens M405

See Schilling for combined report.

Krasnoyar, Samara, Volga

Susie Weber Hess H339

Combined report for Krasnoyar and Reinwald.

With the villages of Krasnojar and Reinwald there are few inquiries, where other villages have a large group of people to draw from. I work full time and do not have the luxury of attending conventions and meetings like many others who are retired. I maintain my membership with AHSGR, the Northern Illinois chapter, (my family is from the Jefferson Park area of Chicago) and the Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter.  (Many of my relatives have connections to the Sheboygan Wisconsin area as well as Saginaw Michigan.)

Accomplishments in the last year are: 

1. I have received the Weber Chart for the village of Krasnojar. (Note it only took four years) 

2. I have worked extensively with Jon Hardt on a Hardt family history that he is trying to produce. His family is not from Krasnojar or Reinwald but somehow I have connections with some of his relatives. 

3. I have worked with Jerry Zitzman and gave him ideas about becoming a VC. I suggested a genealogy program, shared some files and now he is the VC for Reinhardt. 

4. I have the Mueller chart from Krasnojar and in one day received two requests for information. One was a member and one was not. By looking at the information from both, I managed to make connections and now these two people who are 4th cousins have been reunited. 

5. My cousin George Valko has made contact with some of my grandfather Weber's relatives from Krasnojar who are now living in Germany. We are waiting for responses from them to tell us about their side of the family and their stories on how they went from Krasnojar, to Siberia, then to Germany. 

6. I have received numerous obituaries from an unnamed source in Sheboygan and have been adding that information into my database of over 60,000 people.

7. I received an email from a man whose last name was Reinwald. He has no German-Russian ties that can be determined, but he was curious about the history of the village of Reinwald. General information about the history of the village was sent to him. He was delighted to know that there was actually a town that had the same name as he. 

8. The most important project I have finally completed is cleaning out paper work and scanning all my paper files to CD's, except for large charts that are too large to scan, and indexing all the information. Everything that is scanned is saved to a second set of CD's that are stored in my safety deposit box as well as a CD of my index with a paper copy and the programs that are used. I cannot stress how important it is that people do this. Backups must be done often, at least once a week if you are active in adding information. 

a. If your computer dies for any reason, there will be backups of all your data. Programs can be re-installed but data cannot be re-installed without backups. 

b. A second set of backups should be stored in some place other than on your property. If there is a fire in your home all those papers and data disks would be destroyed in a flash. 

c. If the information is stored on CD, it is easy to send via email or print hard copies if needed or restored to a new computer.

Kratzke, Saratov, Volga

Kratzke Web Site

Ethel Lock L026 / L

Brent Mai M160 / L

Report from Ethel Lock:

This has been a good year for receiving requests for information about Kratzke village.

The first was from a Dietz in London, England, requesting data on his line. The family came to England from Germany and stayed in London instead of moving on. He thought the wife might be expecting a child.

The second wanted to know the name of the ship his ancestors used to come to America but didn't have the right dates, judging by age given.

I had about a dozen requests asking if their ancestors' names were on the Dietz chart from Kratzke. Most of them did give names and dates and others could not go back that far in age on their people. The last one was the ancestor of her great-great-grandmother Dietz who was born in Pennsylvania in 1827 and married there and had three children, oldest one born there, second child born in Iowa and last child born in Ohio. She didn't give death date but the ancestor lives in Maryland. I am still working on this one. The surname charts have been a big help to researchers including all the census records now arriving in America.

AHSGR should have a small booklet on life in Kratzke, which I wrote quite a few years ago. I should add to it in this next year with census, surnames, and individual family charts.

Kronental, North Caucasus

Arthur E. Flegel F010 / L

See Alexanderfeld, North Caucasus for combined report.

Kruglik, Zaslav, Volhynia U

See Dermanke for combined report.

Kukkus, Samara, Volga

Betty Muradian M005 / L

Eleanor Sissell S329 / L

Report submitted by Eleanor Sissell.

The Kukkus Village database has 10,206 individuals listed. The most common surnames included are:

Backer/Becker/Baker Baum Beltz Bell/Boll Betz Bitter Busek/Busick/Buzick Debus Dinges Dittenber/Dittenbir Eirich/Erich/Irick/Eurick Erlich Felsing Flack/Foch Freehling/Friling/Fruehling/Fruhling Gehringer/Geringer/Gerringer/Goeringer Grassmick Heinrich Heirstein/Herstein/Hierstien Heizenrader Helmuth Hergenrader Hermann Herzog Horg/Horch/Horsch

Isheim Johannes Krum/Krumm Lehman Markus Maser Metzger Nein Ohlberg Reifschneider Reitz Rosenthal/Rosental Rube Rudolph Salwasser Schaefer/Schaffer Scheidt Schengel Schlegel Sinner Wacker Weber Weigand/Weigandt/Wjiegand.

Some other villages listed in the database are:

Anton  Balzer  Bangert  Beideck  Blumenthal  Dinkel  Donhof  Frank  Grimm  Huck  Hussenbach  Jost Kolb

Laub Lauwe Messer Norka Scherbakovka Schilling Stahl Straub Tarlykowka Walter Warrenburg

I have received at least one request for information per month. Most of the names requested were Krum(m), Weigandt, Johannes, Reitz, and Sinner. I traveled to Fresno a couple of times to help people at the Library/Museum there.

I have surname charts for Krumm, Baum, Heinrich, Lehman, and Weigandt. I have some maps also.

Last year I traveled to Germany and found the village of Lengfeld from which the Maser family originated. I have information on this family back into Switzerland in the 1600s. I also visited the village of Wenings where the Krum(m) families originated. I have not extended this family back. Both these villages have church records on microfilm at the LDS family history library in Salt Lake City, Utah. These films may be ordered at your local LDS family history center. They are written in German, so you will have to personally decipher or have someone go with you who can read German script. At the Bundestreffen gathering, I met a lady from Kukkus looking for her Hermann family, a Mr. Bohn looking for family from Dehler, and a lady looking for relatives in Argentina by the name of Kern.

I have done some research on census records in Lincoln, Nebraska, Au Gres, Michigan, and Fresno, California. I have the Rocky Ford, Colorado Church books, the German newspaper books from the Central Washington chapter, and the Sedwick County, Colorado history, Volume 2. My favorite web sites are Familysearch.org, Ancestry.com and Rootsweb.com.

Kulm, Bessarabia

Arthur E. Flegel F010 / L

See Alexanderfeld, North Caucasus for combined report.

Laub, Samara, Volga

Donita ('Dodie') Reich Rotherham

There has not been a lot of activity this past year. I have mainly been trying to collect information on Laub and Laub families as I have very little information in the Laub database. I have also published several 'Laub Links' newsletters.

Currently there are only 14 people signed up for the newsletter and only one contributes information on a regular basis. I am considering publishing only once a year, rather than three times per year unless more information becomes available.

Working closely with my friend in Russia I have been able to obtain several family charts and have one in research at this time. These charts have not been entered into the database.

I have obtained some birth and baptism records from the research center in Engels. The records are for Laub and Jost and have not been translated.

About a year ago I responded to a gentleman in Germany who was seeking information about Laub. He had advertised in the Landsmannschaft Magazine and was trying to prove his family had migrated from Germany to Russia in order to get his children out of Russia. He later wrote to tell me his children were unable to pass the most basic of German language skills test and therefore were not able to leave Russia. I did have his family in the original settler's list and sent him the information. I also contacted a family in my database with the same name and encouraged them to write. I have not heard if they made contact. The surname is Vorath / Forath.

During the past year there have been only two or three inquiries about Laub. Guess it would help to have a web site but don't see that for a few years.

I attended my first AHSGR convention this year in Oklahoma City and found it to be a great experience. The sessions I attended were excellent and I had a great time putting names and faces together. The research room and the bookstore were my favorite places to hang out. I could have spent the entire week in those two rooms. I hope everyone takes the opportunity to attend a national convention.

Lauwe / Laube, Samara, Volga

Helen Bernice Madden M363 / L

My activity as the Village Coordinator for the Volga village of Lauwe has been minimal this past year. I am experiencing health problems, which have slowed my involvement with AHSGR-related work.

Since there has been very limited interest shown by individuals connected to Lauwe, I stopped publishing my village newsletter in 2001. This past year produced approximately 10 inquiries that relate to the surnames of BITTER, GOERINGER, GRASMICK, KECK, PRINZ, RUBE and STIGLITZ. Three others proved not to be connected to Lauwe.

Most of 7,000-plus names in my database are derived from the surname chart for Goeringer and collateral data collected from charts relating to Lauwe from other villages. Colorado church books and immigration records as well as petitions for naturalization have been a great help. I look forward to any other charts that may come to us from other Lauwe researchers. I appreciate any help that is offered.

Leichtling, Saratov, Volga

Leichtling Web Site

Darryl W. Boyd B238

Work on behalf of Leichtling village seemed to have slowed this last year. There were only six inquiries. I was able to link two researchers together. Both are working on the same lineage.

The Leichtling database was updated only twice. However, the first settlers of Leichtling were added to this database, which added many new names and families. They are in the form of Family Group Sheets and Pedigree Charts. This database contains names of people who were born in, or lived in Leichtling, and is accessible on the web site.

The number of people in the "Ships Passengers List" of people leaving Leichtling was also expanded.

Leipzig, Bessarabia

Arthur E. Flegel F010 / L

See Alexanderfeld, North Caucasus for combined report.

Lillienfeld, North Caucasus

Arthur E. Flegel F010 / L

See Alexanderfeld, North Caucasus for combined report.

Louis, Samara, Volga

Louis Web Site

Thelma Mills M357

Combined report for Louis and Mariental.

I love reading the Village Coordinator Reports from the other Village Coordinators. There are great things going on. I, however, have had a bad health year and my activities were somewhat limited for much of it. I am doing much better now. I did get to go to the AHSGR Convention in Oklahoma City this year. It was one of the most fun conventions for me because my daughter joined me, and she was my assistant while doing my presentation of "Grandmother's Aprons" during the Folklore session. I am a great apron collector, and enjoy this Volga-German Folklore hobby. You have to have some fun along with all the work. By the way, my daughter, Theresa Sheaffer joined AHSGR. She has been to several conventions with me and finally decided to join all the great people in this Association. I've been working on my brothers and sisters but they aren't too interested yet.

During village night, I was the only VC to show up at the table assigned to several villages in my Volga area. I did have a couple of visitors from another village, but no one from mine. I finally went back to my room, as I wasn't feeling the best. Therefore, if there were visitors later, I apologize for leaving early.

I have had tons of inquiries concerning some of the Mariental, Louis, and Chasselois surnames. I have a relative in Hawaii who is heavily into research and we correspond almost daily about some of the names.

Since we spent so many months away from home this summer, I didn't have too many of my reference materials with me, but I kept in touch with all the other inquiries and have answered most of them since I returned home. The people were quite patient with me. We hadn't planned on spending the whole summer on the road. All of our five children have computers, so I could check my mail daily. I kept all inquiries in a folder in my e-mailbox entitled "keep till I get home".

I did publish two newsletters the month of October, one for July, and the other for September. Last May I had started the story I received from Allan Salzmann on his trip to Russia and it continued through these latest two newsletters. I found it most interesting, and I do thank Allan for this story and photos. I still would like to visit Mariental, Russia, one of these days.

I also would like to add the Village of Chasselois to my list of villages, even though it was destroyed, with most all of the immigrants moving to Mariental, and Louis. I will try to gather more material concerning this village and attempt to add it to my web page.

I should be able to accomplish much more in the year ahead. I have several projects I am working on. Most are for Mariental & Louis, but one is a book on my lineage. I especially want to get it finished next year. I also want to get everything organized a little better so that my children know where everything should go and who to contact, in case I leave this earth. Once you get so close to "leaving", it makes you stop and consider all of these things. Just a word about that subject is important, as I feel the work must go on no matter what. I saw this gravestone one day while we were "Jeeping" up on a mountaintop in Colorado. It said, "As you are now, so once was I, as I am now, you soon shall be, so prepare yourself to follow me". I think it was the grave of a seventeen-year-old girl. It was raining very hard that day and we still had to come off the mountaintop! I thought of that little journey last February and March. It's quite interesting when you find these sorts of things while rumbling around in the mountains. We used to live at Loveland, Colorado, and spent many hours up in the mountains.

Welcome and good luck to Michael Frank as he takes over the position of the "VC Reports Editor" for the Yearly Village Coordinator newsletters.