Emigration From Russia to Washington State

Germans From Russia and the Settlement in the State of Washington, USA

Schmoll, Betty L. "Germans From Russia and the Settlement in the State of Washington, USA." Unsere Zeitung Newsletter 25, no. 3, May/June 2000.

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Migration from Germany to Russia

Altogether more than 100,000 Germans migrated to Russia from 1763 1871: 27,000 settled in 104 Volga River colonies; 500,00 in 200 colonies by the Black Sea and 28,000 started 139 villages in Volhynia west of Kiev. Two powerful impacts started the migration. One was the despair of the Seven Years War, the other a dazzling offer of free land.

There was utter poverty after the Seven Years War. Germany was weak; it did not have a central government. It was a patchwork of 75 principalities, 51 imperial cities and 1,475 areas ruled by knights. Subjects were serfs.

Now Czarina Catharine II, a former German princess, offered a glittering proposal of privileges and free land. By her Manifesto of July 22, 1763, the settlers were promised payment of traveling expenses, freedom of religion, freedom from taxes for 30 years, exemption forever from military service, continuance of the native culture and language, internal self government and free homestead land.

The Manifesto elicited a wide response, from 1763 1767 more than 6,000 families (27,000 people), mostly from Hesse and Rhineland, immigrated to the Volga. Later (1812 1842) others from South Germany settled along the Black Sea. Then (1816 1881) more Germans settled in Volhynia

The Volga Germans, the first immigrants, boarded Russian vessels at Lubeck, Germany and sailed the Baltic Sea to St. Petersburg. From St. Petersburg, they took two routes to Saratov, Russia ... one by land, the other mostly by river. Winter overtook them, and they were quartered with local Russians. In the spring, as the ice vegan to melt, they set out again for Saratov. Here each family received 80 acres, a wagon, plow, horses and tools. They were then dispersed to areas in the half savage Volga region where they built sod houses for their first cold winter in Russia.

Colonists in Russia
(1763 1871)

In their new land they faced a multitude of hardships. Crop failures tended to follow year after year, until the colonists became acclimated and learned how to cope with the land, the Russians and the marauders.

During the first 10 years capable ministers from Germany and Switzerland came to the settlements and taught economic as well as religious principles. Churches were built and the young were taught to read and write German, in the land of the Slav and Mongol tribesmen.

By 1800 the colonies began to blossom and became the agricultural pacesetters of Russia. Now they were efficient farmers and cattle breeders. Gradually, windmills and steam driven mills for grain and weaving were built, and dye works came into existence.

Eventually unease settled in. The Czar talked of taking away their rights of selfgovernment. On June 4, 1871 Czar Alexander 11 repealed all privileges, making it compulsory for German youth to be conscripted into the Russian Army. This was the final blow and families began looking toward America, because of glowing promises of emissaries for the American railroads who were sent to Russia to offer jobs and homestead lands in the United States.

Colonists left Russia

Slowly at first the Germans left Russia. The first group came to the Dakotas in 1872, then more to Nebraska in 1873, and the migration to America continued for the next 40 years. By 1920, nearly 300,000 Germans from Russia came to America. Of these 19,000 settled in Nebraska, 16,000 in Colorado, and 11,000 in Washington and Oregon. Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, Central California, Montana, Ohio, and the Dakotas, also had populations of these Germans. About 7,000 settled in South America; Canada claimed about the same number.

Those remaining in Russia were to suffer loss of homes, dispersion, purges and famine under Bolshevik and Communist rule. In 1941, when Hitler invaded Russia, Stalin put an end to the whole German settlement. Some were executed, the rest were moved eastward to Siberia. Their villages were taken over by the Russians; churches became community halls, and farm lands became communal.

Since the fall of Communism, the Germans have been allowed to return to their villages, however few have done so. The younger generations have intermarried with Russians and remained in Siberia or moved to larger cities for better job opportunities. Many of those who have retained their German culture and customs are moving back to Germany after enduring months and years of red tape in connection with immigration.

Russian Germans in Washington State

In 1882 a group of 16 Russian German families arrived in Washington Territory. The immigrants traveled by train from North Platte, NE to Ogden, Utah where they formed a
wagon train of 40 wagons and followed the Oregon Trail to Walla Walla, arriving in late summer of 1882. Surnames of those families making the trek were: Amen, Bastrom, Bauer, Dewald, Kranzler, Kembel, Kiehn, Michel, Miller, Oestreich, Rosenoff, Shaefer, Schoessler, Thiel, Wagner and Wolsborn.

After wintering in Walla Walla, some of the settlers moved on to Ritzville in the spring of 1883. By 1891 all the original members of the wagon train had moved to Ritzville. An annual reunion of the descendants of the wagon train is held in Ritzville on Memorial Day weekend each year. A horse drawn wagon and plaque in metal, sculpted by Lamar Thiel, have been placed near the old train depot in Ritzville as a memorial to the wagon train families.

Many more settlers came to Washington State... from the Volga colonies (1881, Liebental colonies (1890), Beresan Colonies (1891), Bessarabia (1892), the Volynian Swiss Mennonite colonies (1899), the Chortiza Mennonite colonies (1902), the Gluckstal colonies (1909) and the Hutterite colonies (1958). They came halfway around the world to find a better life.

While railroads and spurs were being built, town sites of Russian German settler sprang up... Odessa, Ritzville, Harrington, Marcellus, Packard, Krupp, Wilson Creek, Batum, Schrag, Endicott, Colfax, Lind and many more. The railroads needed the farmers and the farmers needed the railroads; thus with cooperation between the two, farming became beg business.

Just as the Germans had planted and prospered in the loamy soil of the Russian steppes in the 1800's, so 200 years later their descendants are the majority of farmers in Eastern Washington today.

There were also settlements in Western Washington, mainly Tacoma, Seattle, Bellingham, Ferndale, Dryad, Ridgefield, and Vancouver. The Germans in these towns found employment with the railroads, in lumber and sawmills and in factories.

The story of the AGSGR

A group of 42 descendants of Germans from Russia, interested in preserving their heritage, met in Denver, Co. on Sept. 8, 1968. After numerous meetings, the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia was formally incorporated on Dec. 20, 1968.

The early organizers were soon to find that there would be an overwhelming response to AHSGR. The first chapter was formed in Lincoln, NE in 1970 with over 100 charter members. New chapters soon began forming throughout the United States and Canada. Today there are 60 chapters in the United States, eight of them in the state of Washington.

Research and publishing are a major part of the AHSGR's work. The Society was formed primarily to record the history of its people, as records were not available from Russia
under the Communists. Members born in Russia and family memories were the main sources of information.

At the fall of Communism researchers quickly began to communicate with archives in Russia, and exchange was established... funds from the Americans to Russia, and records (as they were located) from the researchers in Russia to America. RAGAS (RussianAmerican Genealogical Archive Service) was established in 1992 and is a non profit organization registered with the Moscow Ministry of Justice. Many reports and records have been received through this service. Also there are individual researchers who have been sanctioned by the AHSGR, and many members have received family tree charts tracing their German Russian families back to their origins in Germany.

The AHSGR Heritage Center

In June of 1983 the AHSGR formally dedicated a new headquarters building at 631 D St., Lincoln, NE. 68502 1199. This building provides space for thousands of genealogical records as well as office and display space. This genealogical library houses the most extensive collection of Russian German information in the world. Records are continuously arriving from Russia, being translated from German or Russian by the Heritage Center, the Nebraska Historical Society and the University of Nebraska.

Property adjacent to the Heritage Center has been purchased, and a museum developed, including a restored summer kitchen, a chapel, and other buildings. Free tours are conducted daily. The location is in the heart of the South Bottoms, a preserved historical district where many of the Germans resided when they arrived from Russia.

The AHSGR and the Heritage Center have been created and perpetuated to assure that the history and culture of the Germans from Russia will be permanently preserved.

Other Russian German Societies

Germans from Russia Heritage Society (GRHS) 1008 East Central, Bismarck, No. Dakota 58501 (Black Sea Germans)

Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe (SGGEE) PO Box 72074, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2V 5119 (Volhynian & Polish)

Mennonite Heritage Center PO Box 393, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3C 2116

Sources for this history of the Germans from Russia are from information and articles

Paper compiled by Betty L. Schmoll, Seattle, Washington May 2000

Wilhelm Schmidt and Mary Mueller

This is a summary of what I know about my Great Uncle Wilhelm and his wife Mary Mueller.

My Grandfather Herman Schmidt had two brothers, Wilhelm and August.  All three were born in Bessarabia.  Wilhelm was born in 1888, and died in 1931. He married Mary Mueller in Spokane, Washington on February 29. 1910.  Mary was born on November 28, 1894 in Volhynia, Bessarabia.  She died on December 13, 1981 in Chilliwack, British Columbia at the age of 87.

Willhelm emigrated from Bessarabia to Quebec, Canada on August 21, 1907 on the ship Montezuma, which departed from Antwerp, Belgium with the destination shown as Winnipeg. Manitoba.  He had stayed behind in Bessarabia after brothers Herman and August left for Canada.  However, per the family story, he left after his father Ludwig remarried.  Apparently he didn't get along with the new wife.  Living conditions were also getting worse, with the German "boys" being drafted into the Russia Army and priviledges that had been granted to the German settlers were rescinded.  Many young Germans escaped (or legally emigrated) to avoid fighting in the Russian Army.

Wilhelm (William or Bill) changed his name to Bill Smith when he applied for a homestead in Canada.  Because of ill feelings toward the German immigrants, others pushed ahead in line, and thus had the opportunity of selecting better farmland.  It was not uncommon for German immigrants to make this change to avoid discrimination.  His brother August did the same thing.

Wilhelm initially immigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and he found employment working for a woodlot owned by George Mueller.  George and his wife Margaret Siefried had several children, and Mary was the oldest and thus had the responsibility of raising her younger siblings.  She clearly resented having this as her job, and when Wilhelm suggested eloping, she took him up on his offer, and they took the train to Spokane, Washington.  They stayed in the Spokane area for two years, with Wilhelm working in a foundry, and Mary working in a laundry.

They then moved to the Queen Mary district in Canada.  They arrived on October 31, 1912 and found everything frozen.  They build a pole frame building with straw as insulation and lived there until spring, when they built a log house, and later a larger house on their homestead.  This homestead was apparently in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, Canada since this is shown as Mary's residence in 1916.

Their daughter Frieda Martha Smith was born on August 27, 1914 in Biggar, Saskatchewan, Canada. (1914-2004)

Their son William August (Bill) was born on August 8, 1919 in Biggar, Saskatchewan, Canada. (1919-1988)

Their daughter Alice Margaret (Toots) was born on  November 23, 1923 in Biggar, Saskatchewan, Canada. (1923-2004)

Wilhelm (Bill Smith) passed away on September 21, 1931 in Biggar, Saskatchewan, Canada at the age of 43.  They had been married for 21 years.  Bill had been seriously injured in a farming accident, when cultivating with a horse.  The horse was spooked and ran away with Bill hanging on to the reins, and in front of the cultivator.  He was pulled under the cultivator, and suffered injuries that eventually contributed to his death from pneumonia.

Mary then married Daniel Leroy (Roy) Meyers (1888-1973) on November 23, 1943, and they had two children together.  Her husband Roy Meyers passed away on October 11, 1973 in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada at the age or 85.  They had been married 29 years.

George Mueller and Margaret Siefert Story

Grandpa George Mueller and Grandma Margaret (Seifried) married  in Volhynia, Russia on Dec. 26, 1890 when grandma was 15. They left Russia  in Feb., 1899 and arrived in Dresdon, North Dakota in April, 1899. From there (1900) they moved to Libau, Manitoba and in 1910 to Birmingham (near Melville). 1911 found them on a farm 3 miles south of Lemberg where Grandpa died (Jan 10, 1933) at the age of 66. Grandma died in Melville in 1970 at the age of 96 .

Volhynia, located in the northwest of present-day Ukraine, borders Belarus in the north, the Carpathian Mountains in the south, and Poland in the west. It was ruled by Poland until the late 18th century, when Poland was partitioned by the Prussian, Austrian, and Russian Empires. After the partition, Volhynia was a gubernia, or province, of the Russian Empire until 1919, when the western part of Volhynia once again became part of Poland. In 1945 the entire area of the Volhynia Gubernia was absorbed into the Soviet Union, Most of what was the Volhynia is now in Ukraine, with a small part of northern Volhynia in Belarus. Its capital was Zhitomir.

In Volhynia, early German settlement was sporadic. The first permanent settlement by colonists, mostly from Pomerania, came in 1816 but significant migration into Volhynia did not occur until the 1830s.

The migration to Volhynia was initiated under vastly different circumstances than the migration to other parts of the Russian empire. Polish landlords who had retained land after the Russian occupation were looking for qualified farmers to develop and farm their land. No special privileges were extended to these immigrants except for those which could be provided by the local nobility. It was the shortage of land in their old homes that drove most of the Germans into this region, but some immigration was also motivated by religion.

 By 1860, there were only about 5,000 Volhynian Germans in 35 small villages. Then, with the abolition of serfdom in 1861 and the failed Polish Insurrection of 1863, Germans began to flood into this area. By 1871, there were over 28,000 and by the turn of the century, over 200,000 lived in Volhynia. Most of them had come from Poland, with a minority moving there from Wuerttemberg, Pomerania, East Prussia, Silesia, and Galicia.

In the late stages of the 19th century, conditions for the Volhynian Germans became progressively worse as they lost more and more of their freedoms and privileges that they had been granted. From 1870 on, thousands emigrated to North America.

The Reich and Kison Families

The Reich and Kison Families

                                                                                        9/30/2019

Both sides of my mother Alma Schmidt’s Family were Germans who had settled in Bessarabia after they were invited to come and farm by Catherine the Great, Czarina of Russia in the early 1800’s.

The Kison side of the family settled in Kulm, Bessarabia.

The Reich (Rich) side of the family settled in Elft, or Neu Elft where Reinhold Reich was born on November 16, 1883 to Christian Reich and Maria Elizabeth Hirschkorn.  Christian Reich was born on February 16, 1849 in Alt Elft, Bessarabia.  Christian’s father was Samuel Reich, born on July 25, 1807 in Germany.  Samuel died in 1854 in Alt Elft, Bessarabia.  His mother was Maria Hamann (1798-1845).

Samuel Reich’s father was Gottlieb Reich (born in February 16, 1794 in Tornova, Poland), and his mother was Louisa Gutsch (1806-1843). Gottlieb had a second marriage to Christine Jaess.

Reinhold emigrated to America at the age of 17 from Antwerp, Belgium on the SS Zeeland on October 12, 1901, arriving at Ellis Island, New York on October 22, 1901.  His origin is shown as Eigenheim, Bessarabia.  His final destination was shown on papers as Ritzville, Washington.

Reinhold must have spent some time in Ritzville, but is later shown as a boarder in Spokane, employed with Express Wagon.  His name is shown as Rinard Rich, age 26.  He married Bertha Kison on December 14, 1911 at the age of 28, in the Salem Church in Ralston, Washington.  Ralston was a small farm town south of Ritzville.  The Salem church was eventually destroyed, but the attached cemetery still exists and is being maintained.  One of the members prepared a record of the Salem Church, with membership and events listed.    I have a copy of that record (a booklet).

Reinhold’s brother Johannes came to visit him from Canada while he was in Ritzville.  He showed in the Canadian Border Crossing document at Eastwood, Idaho, that he was going to visit his “bro” Rinard in Ritzville.  Through a contact in Canada with his granddaughter, I found out that Christian Reich was father to both.  Prior to that I didn’t know who his father was.  Reinhold had two brothers, both lived in Canada.

After moving to Spokane, Reinhold worked as a truck driver, and owned a truck which he used in a moving business.  However, the moving business was being dominated by big companies, and they resented his competition in their business.  That may have led to a confrontation that led to his death, listed as a “suicide” in a fall from the bridge over the Spokane River.

He had also dabbled in gold mining, and had bought some mining equipment, and probably mining stock which did not produce income, and caused hardship for the family.

Bertha Kison was born on October 18, 1893 in Ritzville to Friedrich Kison and Rosina Radke.  The Kison Family was one of the founders of Eigenheim, Bessarabia.  They had moved from Kulm in about 1861, the year in which Eigenheim was founded.  Emelia (or Amelia) was born in 1889 and Simon was born in 1890 in Eigenheim.  Emelia was 4 and Simon was 3 when the family emigrated to Ritzville, Washington in 1893.  Bertha was the oldest born in the US in Ritzville in 1893.  Her brother Gustav was born in Ralston, Washington when Bertha was 2 years old.  Then came Maria in 1897, Daniel in 1903, and Alvina in 1903.  Maria died in 1901 at just 4 years of age.  There was an epidemic of cholera in the area about that time, and many died of the disease.  The sad tale is recorded at the Salem Cemetery on the tombstones still existing.

After marrying Reinhold and moving to Spokane, times were difficult and family income inadequate.  For many years Bertha worked in a restaurant, doing scullery work, and later cleaned homes for the wealthy.  After Reinhold died, she was the only breadwinner, and supported the family which included Alma, Rosemarie, and Elmer.  The home that they lived in at E. 1303 12^th Avenue is still existing in Spokane, and was my birthplace, in the front bedroom. The family doctor came to the house in those days.

After seven years as a widow, Bertha married Emanuel Siewert on July 18, 1946 when she was 52 years old.  Emanuel was a widower and had three teenage children.  Bertha took on the job of raising the three teenagers.  The son died in a swimming accident at about 16 years of age.  The two daughters maintained contact with Bertha after Emanuel died on December 4, 1955 at the age of 58.  They had been married for 9 years.  It was interesting to find out that there was a Siewert already in the family tree, so they may have been distant cousins.

Bertha sold the Siewert house a few years after he died, since it was much too big for her to live in alone.  She bought another home in Spokane where we celebrated many Christmas dinners.  Later she sold that house and moved in to a duplex which Ben Schmidt had built in the Spokane Valley.  She had her own half of the duplex adjoining Alma and Ben so they could make sure she was properly looked after.  They typically had their evening meals together, and went to church together in Spokane.

As a side note, the church they attended was originally the German Baptist Church in Spokane on Arthur Street.  Many Germans from Russia were members there.  After the change from the German language to English, her brother Simon preached to those preferring German sermons in the basement of the church.  That church still exists, but is no longer in use since it had a stone foundation which was not considered safe.  The members of the church moved to a new building in Spokane (Terrace Heights Baptist Church) which they had constructed.  Her son Elmer laid the brick for the building. 

Bessarabia History

Records for my family on both sides show that they came from Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Bessarabia, and other names for the same place.  The confusion arises because the area was very much in flux as to who was in control at the particular time that the record was made.  Other than that, they all tie back into Germany, where they originated at an unknown date.

This article was copied from a source which I did not record, but gives a historical, accurate record of how the Germans, and particularly my family settled in Bessarabia.
Quote:
German colonization of Bessarabia began in 1812 when Russia acquired this territory from the Ottoman Empire.  Tsar Alexander I issued an invitation to Germans--mainly in the Duchy of Warsaw--to settle in this comparatively empty region.  These Germans had migrated there from several German states--especially Prussia, Wurttemberg and Baden--to colonize the Prussian districts after the first partition of Poland.  When theses regions became part of the Duchy of Warsaw and were suppressed by the state and fell into misery and hunger, many of the Germans were willing to follow the Tsar's call.  Germans from southwestern Germany, particularly Wurttemberg, also responded to the invitation.  That region was seriously depressed because of the Napoleonic Wars and suffered under arbitrary rule of the princes, high taxation, religious quarrels, and many failed harvests.  The Tsar promised the settlers--as Catherine the Great had done before in 1763--free land (65 hectares), exemption from military service, and religious freedom.  (It is important to note that Catherine the Great was herself of German descent.)

Between 1814 and 1842 about 9,000 Germans migrated to Bessarabia and founded 25 mother colonies on about 150,000 hectares of land given to them by the state.  Because of their high birth rate, the number of colonists increased to 25,000 by 1842, leading to a sharp increase in demand for new land.  As it became available, daughter colonies were established. In this manner, more than 150 communities were set up in 125 years of German Settlement in Bessarabia.  Between 1861 and 1919 the German population of Bessarabia rose from 33,000 to 79,000, accounting for three percent of the total.  The highest concentration of Germans was found in the Akkerman Kreis where they represented more that 16% of the population.

But some colonists left Bessarabia again.  Large numbers emigrated in 1874 when the exemption from military service was lifted. (Until 1939, altogether 19,000 Bessarabians would emigrate, of whom 11,320 would go to North America--most of them in 1902--and another 2,000 to South America.)

Although relations between the Germans and Russians in Bessarabia were generally good, pressure from the nationalist and Pan-Slavist movements led to a continuous decline in the number of privileges that the German colonists had been granted.  The situation deteriorated even  more with the outbreak of the First World War.  German schools were closed, and German services and newspapers were prohibited.  They lost much of their land and were threatened with mass evacuation to Siberia.  However, the severe winter and the Revolution of 1917 kept them from this fate.

After Bessarabia had become part of Rumania in 1918, the liquidation and expropriation laws were repealed.  Although the colonists received their land back, the German Schools were allowed to reopen, and church services could be offered in German, many of the concessions were once more withdrawn.  The following two decades would, however, be characterized by considerable economic prosperity and cultural development as the Bessarabians tried to retain their German heritage and to be loyal Rumanian citizens at the same time.  At the end of the 1930's they were even allowed to establish church schools again.  In the 1930's, 2.8% of the population of Bessarabia was German.  There was an active cultural life among the Bessarabian Germans: In 1940, 61 villages had German libraries, the teachers' organization and the Hochshulverband with its collection of books, and their were five German bookstores.

In 1940, Bessarabia and northern Bukovina were occupied by Soviet troops.  Against the background of the Hitler-Stalin-Pact, it was agreed to resettle the more than 93,000 Bessarabian Germans to
the Reich.  They were allowed to take along food, furniture and agricultural implements, but were not compensated for their homes and whatever wealth they had accumulated.  They wound up primarily in camps in Saxony, Franconia, Bavaria, the Sudentenland, and Austria.

After  difficult times in the resettlement camps, the great majority of the Bessarabians was resettled on farms in the Warthe-Gau and  West Prussia in 1941/1942 from which their Polish owners had recently been expelled.  Many Bessarabians were aware of the fact that they had displaced another ethnic group  for their own advantage, but did not ask many questions.

In January 1945, Russian troops advanced on the regions where the Bessarabia Germans had been settled, and while trying the flee, the Germans suffered tremendous losses.  Those who made it came to Mecklenburg, Brandenburg, Saxony, Lower Saxony, and Holstein.  Others were deported to the Caucasus and to Siberia.
UNQUOTE

Those who were deported to Siberia were sent in cattle cars in the middle of winter with snow and freezing conditions which they were not prepare for.  Many froze to death or died because of the severe conditions.  Those that survived were unloaded in Siberia with no provisions made for where they were to live or how they were to survive.

Search for Ludwig Schmidt

I need some help in finding what happened to my Great Great Grandfather Ludwig Schmidt born February 28, 1862 in Nataliendorf, Zhytomir, Ukraine.

Ludwig married Helene Mueller on January 10, 1882 in Heimtal Parish, Zhytomir  Volhynia, Ukraine. She was born in 1859 and died very young in 1892.  Her death left Ludwig with three young boys to raise.  Herman (7 years old), Wilhelm (4 years old) and August (3 years old). According to Wilhelm (Bill Smith) as reported by his daughter, Ludwig remarried, probably in part to have a new mother for the three boys.  I suspect that the new wife provided Ludwig with at least another son and a daughter.  I have a picture that I believe shows the three sons from Helene, plus a daughter and a son.  Unfortunately, the picture is not labelled to identify the new wife or the two children.

Wilhelm (Bill Smith) apparently did not emigrate to Canada with Herman and August, but he did leave later and went to Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, Canada.  He married Mary Mueller on February 28, 1910 in Spokane, Washington.  While in the Winnipeg area, he worked for Mary's father in a wood lot, where Mary was tasked with raising her young brothers and sisters.  Bill and Mary eloped and went by train to Spokane, Washington where they were married.  They later moved back to Canada and settled in Bigger, Saskatchewan.

Bill's daughter told me that he had left because he could not get along with Ludwig's new wife.  This is the only confirmation I have that Ludwig remarried, but I seriously need to find out who the new wife was.  That would help me find out if Ludwig also emigrated, or if he stayed behind in the Ukraine.  I hope that he did emigrate, because conditions got really bad in the years before WWI, and even worse after WWI was over.

I have found two Ludwig Schmidt's that have birthdates close to February 28, 1862, but do not match exactly.  One was in Alberta, Canada, and another in North Dakota, USA. If I can get some corroborating data, that may help me determine if Ludwig emigrated to either Canada or the United States, and perhaps locate the other family lines of the half-brother and half-sister, and perhaps more of Ludwig's children.

I have no remembrance of Herman mentioning any contact with Ludwig after he and his brother's left the Ukraine for Canada.  However, those were different times and communications were at best difficult.  I do remember that after WWII, Herman and Mary sent care packages to people in Europe.  This continued for some time until the requests for help included items like nylons and luxuries that made it appear that their basic needs were being provided.  Herman was not wealthy, being a crop farmer, growing vegetables and other crops which he took to the farmer's markets in Spokane, Washington as his sole source of income.  Since the requests included nylons, could the person receiving the help have been his young sister? or the second wife?  I have a vague memory of hearing that there was a sister that was married in the Ukraine and did not emigrate.

Ludwig was the son of Georg Schmidt and Eleanor Kols.  Georg was born on February 7. 1842 in Guldendorf, Odessa, Russia.  I believe, but cannot confirm that Georg was the son of Georg Schmidt, born about 1820.  (Approximate-No Data).  There was a Georg Schmidt that went to Volhynia from Plock/Dutchty of Warsaw, Poland in 1813.  He is included in a list of Emigrants from Poland, Duchy of Warsaw between 1813 and 1866. He travelled with Andreas, Christian, Gottlieb, Johann and Michael Schmidt.

A Georg Schmidt is also included in "Emigrants List of the Volga Germans" Mostly from Hesse and the area of the Upper Rhine, in the period 1763-1769, and from West Prussia to the area of Samara in the time period 1859-1865. This list is published by Karl Stumpp, a well known researcher and writer about the German Emigration to Bessarabia.

Early History of the Schmidt-Tobert-Reich-Kison Family

This blog has been prepared to provide a format for the Schmidt-Tobert-Reich-Kison family to share and exchange information on the history of this family.

All four families, including my Paternal and Maternal lines go back to Bessarabia, now Ukraine and eventually to Winnepeg, Canada or Washington State in the USA.  All four are originally German, and at some point in family history emigrated to Bessarabia to take advantage of the Czarina's (Katherina the Great) offer of free farmland.  Some groups that migrated to Bessarabia from Germany even were aided in travel expense, and seeds, and other aid to get established and get started farming.

The Germans were promised a lot of freedoms as part of the arrangement.  They were to be able to essentially govern themselves with no taxes, their own schools, churches, language, and a promise not to have their men required to fight in the Czarina's army.  All of these promises were later broken, and as a result many, including at least one of each of my families, left the area to go to Canada or the USA.  Several, including my grandfather and uncles from the Schmidt family escaped to avoid army duty.

My Paternal Grandfather Herman Schmidt was born in 1885 in Zhytomir, Volhynia, Bessarabia.  As a teenager, he tried to escape several times but was sent back,  until he and his brother August were able to successfully escape in about 1908 using the passports of two German men who had been killed while  in the Russian Army.  They were given the passports by the mother of the two men. His brother Wilhelm left later.  All three originally went to Winnipeg, Canada.

My Paternal Grandmother Mary Tobert was born in Poland in 1891, and emigrated to Winnipeg, Canada  with her mother and her step father with her family.  Herman and Mary were married in 1910 in Winnipeg, Canada.  Her father Heinrich Tobert died somewhat mysteriously while working on the railroad in Poland.  He was working with a road crew, perhaps building a railroad bridge.  He never returned home, and noone wanted to talk about what had happened.  Mary's mother remarried to man named Richter, and emigrated to Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada with her children, all using the Richter name.

My Maternal grandfather Reinhold Reich also was born in Bessarabia, in Alt Elft in 1883.  He emigrated to Ritzville, Washington, USA, arriving in Ellis Island, New York in 1901.  He moved from there to Spokane, Washington, and was living there in 1910.  He married Bertha Kison in the Salem Church, Ralston, Washington in 1911.  Salem is just south of Ritzville, Washington.

My Maternal Grandmother Bertha Kison was born in Ritzville, Washington in 1893 to Fridreich Kison who had earlier immigrated from Bessarabia.  Friedrich Kison was born in Kulm, Akkerman, Bessarabia.  His family was among the first settlers in Eigenheim, Bessarabia, after leaving Kulm in 1861.  Friedrich Kison was among the first settlers in the Ritzville, Salem, Ralston, Washington area.

I have two family  trees in Ancestry.com, one with the broader scope, including the family of my first wife Sandra Pearson, my second wife Jane Eller, plus the history of aunts and uncles by marriage.  I also have a similar earlier tree in on MyHeritage.com, but I am not currently updating that tree to avoid dual membership costs, and I find Ancestry.com much easier to use, along with being able to document the data I enter for greater accuracy.  The second tree in Ancestry.com is more limited in scope to only include the closer relatives.  I try to keep both of the Ancestry.com trees updated with the same information.

If you are a member of Ancestry.com you will be able to find these trees when you do searches in the Family Trees area.

I will be attempting to add more information on the individuals in the tree to tell some of the background stories and to discuss information that I am seeking on some of the individuals where I need more information.

You can contact me by email at grschmidt38@yahoo.com

George Schmidt, Concord, California, USA