Newspaper Archives

As you already know, many German-Russian immigrants settled in Colorado. If you are one of the many who have ancestors who settled there, this site is the one for you. It covers 147 Colorado newspapers from 1859- 1923. I can't tell you how surprized I was once I did some searching. I found one article about my uncles that made me cry, one that made me proud, and one that made me laugh. It is amazing what reporters got away with in the early 1900's. Check out this site:

http://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/

Try This Site

I promised at the last meeting that I'd try out some new sites and let you know what I thought about them. Here is one that I liked and had some success on:

www.findagrave.com

I actually found my grandfather's grave on this site. If you are lucky like I was, it will even have a picture of the headstone. If it doesn't have a headstone picture, you can make a request for it and a photographer will be sent out to take one and add to the page. The section and plot number is also given. I have never visited my grandfather's grave, but now I will. It is awesome!

September Meeting

This is just a reminder about the next Intermountain Chapter AHSGR meeting:

September 12, 2009
Retirement Community Clubhouse
3040 Homecrest Street
West Valley City, Utah

The board will meet at noon, with the general meeting at 1:00 P.M. Bring an idea for the 2011 Convention theme. We are looking for new members, so if you haven't joined our chapter, please come and join us!

August Meeting

The most recent meeting of the Intermountain Chapter of AHSGR was held Saturday, August 15, 2009. During the meeting members reviewed the by-laws for the chapter and shared publications and other resources which have been useful in their research. Much discussion was held concerning the opportunity to host the 2011 National AHSGR Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. Many volunteers will be needed, and it is hoped that membership will grow in the coming months.

Holy Cross Church, Pfeifer, Kansas

Just to give you some background on the last posting, I wanted to share this picture. It doesn't show the church in great detail, but you can certainly gain a feel for its beauty. The story behind it is really quite amazing. I loved it because it showed the faith of the Germans from Russia. In 1875 the first group of Germans left their home in Pfeifer, Russia, and eventually arrived in Kansas the following year. Before a church was built, the people erected a huge cross where they gathered on Sunday to worship. In 1879 their first church was built and was simpler in architecture than this one. The current church was completed in 1891. The people had contibuted to its construction with donations of wheat that was sold as well as labor by parishoners who were stone-masons and carpenters.

Just a note- the Holy Cross Church was was named one of the "8 Wonders of Kansas Architecture" by the Kansas Sampler Foundation in 2008. Donations for the restoration of the church are appreciated:
Holy Cross Charities
1606 Sarratov
Pfeifer, KS 67660

Letters from Russia

In the recently published newsletter of AHSGR a letter found in the Ellis County News, Hays, Kansas, was printed. The letter from Pfeifer, Russia, to Joe Stramel in Pfeifer, Kansas, described the conditions in Russia in 1921. On a visit to Pfeifer, Kansas, I picked up a small publication on the history of their beautiful Holy Cross Church. I found the bottom picture in that publication. I'm not sure if it is the same Joe Stramel, but found the picture interesting. I took the top picture of the small post office which gives you a more complete idea of the setting. The post office was closed at the end of 2008.

More Great Websites

It is just amazing what the online resources are for us. In April, I made a list of links for some generic sites that might be helpful in your search. Be sure and refer back to them. I'm adding some more resources from Suzanne, some are more specific to the German-Russian search. Try them out!

http://www.angelfire.com/ks/gerrus/index.html

http://www.lowervolga.org/

http://www.lowervolga.org/Obituaries/old/obituaries.htm

www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/ethnic.html

www.images.google.com/hosted/life

http://www.search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#start

www.odessa3.org

www.archives.ca

www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/passenger/index-e.html

www.ahsgr.org

www.rootsweb.com

www.feefhs.org

www.library.ndsu.edu/grhc

www.sggee.org

http://www.cu-Portland.edu/giving/success/librarylive.cfm

http://www.archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/ger-volga

FAMILY HISTORY EXPO

Just google family history expo to get all of the details, but here are the basics:
Family History Expo
Sandy, Utah
August 28- 29, 2009
It looks to me like there are several sessions on German research. Registration is $68 and is non-refundable. Check it out!

More Information

CORRECTION: The next meeting for our chapter will be held August 15, 2009, at the the home of Carol Harless and Shawnette Malan. Officers will meet at noon and the general meeting will start at 1:00 P.M. The address is 10001 Hook Dr., South Jordan.
Bring a book of geneological interest to share with the group. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Latest Updates

I'm sending out an apology for not updating sooner, but I'm having a fantastic summer and have been out of state for a couple of weeks. Thanks to the members and others who have contributed to the new information which I am now posting. Some of you have already received this as emails, but it will probably be helpful to have it all in one spot for reference. We continue to recruit new members, so hopefully someone will come across this blog and become interested in our chapter. Also, I'm sending out get well wishes to our chapter president, Carol Harless, who is recovering from an injury.


Below is a site for a video from the individual presentations made during the German-Russian conference at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, June 27, 2009. It is historic footage from a Volga German village made for Mr. Biel of Chicago, Illinois, during his visit to the area where he grew up. I found it fascinating.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of4S2SLpfJs

Check related videos at that site for Prof. Timothy Kloberdanz on what is correct- German-Russian or Russian-German. I also found very interesting related videos dealing with why Russia's ethnic Germans choose to stay in Russia and the problems that ethnic Germans from Russia are having when they return to Germany. It gives you an insight into how they are now living. For some reason I was unable to get these to link directly from the blog.


From Ted Gerk, via the Ger-Volga mail list:

I've digitized an old book I obtained from Russia:
Kamyshinskaia operatsiia desiatoi Krasnoi Armii. Iiul' 1919 goda. S3 skhemami na otdel'nykh.
Kliuev, L 1928

It deals with the civil war and fighting between the Red and White Forces near Kamyshin and the Volga German colonies in that area. Also there is a battle map of various campaigns in Russia. They are featured at my Josefstal blog located at:
http://www.josefstal.org/

Feel free to use the material as you see fit.

Information from Suzanne Heinitz-Dodge

Ger-Volga @Rootsweb.com is a mailing list to help you communicate with others who have similar interests: in our case it would be researching our Volga German ancestors. Nearly every day someone will post something that is useful, interesting, and usually helpful. This list is always filled with interesting and sometimes painful things that our ancestors were forced to endure. Luckily, for most of us, our particular ancestors made it to America before some of this suffering took place; but they all left other family members behind, at least for a while. Don't we want to know what happened to our aunts, uncles, cousins, etc? To subscribe to the list, send an email to Ger-Volga-D-request@rootsweb.com Do not put anything in the subject line. In the message box of the email, type subscribe, that is all. You will be sent a confirmation, and instructions how to send emails to the list. Cheers!

A Wonderful Picture

This wonderful picture of her Great-grand Aunt was contributed by Suzanne Heinitz-Dodge.

Marie Katharine (Heinitz) Keil
born 1822
Mueller, Russia

May 30th Meeting

On Saturday the Intermountain Chapter of AHSGR held their May meeting. Goals and objectives of the chapter were discussed as well as the need to increase membership. Members briefly shared a story about their ancestors. As a culminating activity, a potluck lunch with several authentic German dishes was enjoyed by all. Spread the word about our new AHSGR chapter and bring someone new to the next meeting. Please check the updates on member resources and the village list.


Posted by Annette at 6:49 PM

More Pictures

Just a reminder that if you have pictures you'd like to share, I can post them. These pictures of my great-grandparents are quite spotted, but are still a treasure to me. They are Johann Ludwig Klamm and Anna Maria Constanz, from Warenburg, Russia. If you click on the pictures they will enlarge.

Next Chapter Meeting

For any of you who might have missed getting the email about our next chapter meeting on May 30th, here is the link to the map where our next meeting will be held:

West ValleyCity, UTLink:<http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=map+of+West+Valley+City,+Utah&ie=UTF8&split=0&gl=us&ei=Q6YISuLtI4-ctgOlzKHqCA&ll=40.701529,-111.943731&spn=0.011599,0.019312&z=16>

The clubhouse is located at 3040 Homecrest Street, situated inside the AmericanHeritage Retirement Community ( a mobile park). The easiest way to access it, is to enter on Homecrest from 3100 South. The clubhouse is on the West side of the street. If you have any questions, contact Suzanne H. Dodge by email.