Steppes to Neu Odessa: Germans from Russia Who Settled in Odessa Township, Dakota Territory, 1872-1876

Description

The latest edition of this biographical and genealogical sketchbook of Plains pioneers includes many new family connections made available in part by the Odessa German-Russian Genealogical Library. In the late 1700s and 1800s, the Russian government encouraged hardworking people from Western Europe, including Germany, to settle Russia in a number of locations. Many of the Germans eventually decided to relocate. They found rich homestead land in the Dakota Territory that was similar to the farmlands they had left in Russia. They sent encouraging letters back to family and friends in Russia, which resulted in a flood of German-Russians to America. Their numbers were estimated at one hundred thousand by the end of the century. The biographical sketches include the settler’s date of settlement, occupation, place of birth, death, and burial, and names of parents, spouse, and children. Sometimes the biography is supplemented with newspaper excerpts. The surnames included are Auch, Bohrer, Dux, Engel, Frank, Friemark, Freier, Hermann, Horst, Jassmann, Kost, Kusler, Mind, Mueller, Mutschlknaus, Reister, Rude, Sayler, Schaefer, Schamber, Schorzman, Schramm, Serr, Sieler, Stoller, Ulmer, Vaatz, Weber, Weidenbach, Werner, Winter, and Ziegele. The author’s sources have come from various German-Russian historical works, newspapers of the Dakota Territory, and German-Russian genealogical websites. (2002, 2005), 2009