The Germans from Russia find a home on the Great Plains
Written and published by Jerry Krieger in the "Norka Newsletter", Winter 2010
By 1870 practically all the land in the United States which was then considered fit for settlement had been taken by homesteaders, while the Great Plains west of the Missouri-Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas-were largely uninhabited. There was a nation-wide opinion that agriculture could not flourish in the so-called "Great American Desert".
To encourage newcomers to the
settle there, Nebraska formed a
State Board of Immigration that
launched an extensive advertising campaign. Pamphlets were
distributed in a number of
European languages-Norwegian,
Swedish, Danish and Czech. Ads
were purchased in newspapers
throughout Europe.
Contrary to what you would
expect, the railroads came to this
area before it was settled. So it
was in their interest to promote
immigration. In a lavish campaign
these lines carried on a long
lasting campaign whose motto
was "Land for the Landless."
In Nebraska the two leading
railroads were the Union Pacific
and the Burlington and Missouri.
These lines had received grants of
land which were worthless unless
newcomers could be persuaded to
settle there. For several years the
Burlington maintained an office in
New York City to encourage new
arrivals to go west to the Great
Plains, as well as immigration
agencies in Europe.
Meanwhile in Russia the Czar introduced universal compulsory military service. Although this was the immediate cause of our ancestors' desire to migrate it was not the only factor. Back of it was the feeling that the government had broken its contract with them. They feared that their freedom of religion, their self government, and their free schools would be jeopardized.
No Germans in Russia lived more shut off from the
outside world than Norka and the other Volga
German colonies. As a result the significance of
changes in their legal status was slow to dawn on
them. When it did, they were outraged. Five
villages - Balzer, Dietel, Messer and Kolb, as well
as Norka, joined in sending a deputation to
America in 1874 to explore the far-away land in
search of a new home.
The deputation of two men from each colony
consisted of several farmers, a cloth dryer, and a
school teacher. Johannes Nolde and Johannes
Krieger were those chosen for Norka. Receiving
the permission of the Russian governor, the party
journeyed together to New York where they met a
German Lutheran missionary stationed at Castle
Garden, the disembarking point at that time. From
there they proceeded to Ohio and Iowa where they
visited friends. Then, upon the advice of the
missionary, they traveled to Kansas City to search
for land.
On their return to the colonies, their report was
not unanimous. The farmers had not been impressed with the soil, which was sandy, and they
were put off by the lack of population. The school
teacher on the other hand saw in the new land
great opportunities for his countrymen and
advised emigration. But other forces were at work
inspiring faith in the enterprise.
In 1875, a small party of Germans from Norka,
seven families and two single men, had come to
the United States and settled in Ohio where they
worked-for two years at ditch digging and other
tasks among the farm community. At the same
time they were on the lookout for land and
decided on Sutton, Nebraska, which was already
home to several immigrants from the Volga area.
Letters were sent to relatives in Russia, urging
them to emigrate.
Eighty-five families, mostly from Norka, gathered
at Saratov and journeyed to Bremen, from which
they sailed the Atlantic and landed in New York
July 7, 1876. Many of these made their way to the
Sutton area, including the Pauly, Sinner, Yost,
Nagel and Dorr families.
In June, 1878 an entire car load including 27
families arrived in Sutton. Johannes Nolde, one of
the leaders of the 1874-1875 scouting party, was in
this group, in addition to the Klaus, Sinner,
Kneis, Traut, and Kleiber families.
Sutton was just one of the many destinations in
the Great Plains to which our ancestors flocked in
the later years of the nineteenth and early years of
the twentieth century. Their descendants can still
be found in Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas,
Wyoming and Colorado.
Sources: "The Czar's Germans" by Hattie Plum Williams, and "The German-Russians Those Who Came to Sutton" by James Reuben Griess.
The Earliest Volga Germans in Sutton, Nebraska
Written by General Mission Pastor, John Hoelzer, and extracted from the Illustrierter Kirchenbote Kalender, 1927
On June 11, 1878, 11 o'clock at night, 27 families comprising an entire trainload, arrived in Sutton. They were: John Nolde (the previously designated representative from Norka to America), Adam Bauer, Nikolaus Sauer, Heinrich Spahn, Johannes Eusel, Hanpeter Jost, Konrad Koch, Philipp and Jacob Hamburger, Johannes Ross (the old father), Konrad Deines, Adam Deines, Heinrich Schleiger, Johannes Ross, Adam Hein, Johannes Burbach, Johannes and Georg Jost, Heinrich Reusbich and Heinrich Pauly. The train stopped in Sutton and the people stayed in the cars until the following morning. Some were met by their relatives who had come there earlier. Many moved into the immigrant house which was situated near the railroad station and which served as their living quarters for a time.
Most of those who arrived in Sutton during the years 1875-1879, found work in the area. For the most part, they settled on the land. At first, they worked for wages. Soon, however, they had acquired animals and equipment and leased their own land. Some continued to work on the railroad as it moved westward where eventually they established permanent homes.
Within the decade of 1890-1900, there was great unemployment, due in part evidently, to the political situation, when many of our people did not fare well. A laborer had to work for a very meager salary. These were very difficult times throughout the land; day laborers were especially affected. With the advent ofthe sugar beet industry conditions improved. For many, it became the first real opportunity to earn daily bread. More and more, people moved into those regions where the government had established irrigation, and where they also made their permanent homes.
So we find the Volga Germans involved everywhere and associated with anything of worth. He is an honest, dependable and industrious worker who is noted everywhere for his outstanding accomplishments. Early, he established a home and is devoted and loving to his family. As a rule, he is known as someone who willingly pays his debts. He is also devoted to the Christian religion, which he received from his fathers and he attends church and participates in the mission effort. He is also a law-abiding person who gladly adheres to the state's precepts. The Volga German belongs to a healthy, strong, honorable and God-loving people of whom we need never be ashamed. Instead, we have every reason to be justly proud.
Source: This article was published in AHSGR Work Paper No. 16, December, 1974.