Volga German Immigrants

The following provides a brief historical background of many German-Russian families that immigrated to North America from the Volga region near Saratov, Russia during the early 1900s.

The roots of the so-called German-Russians reach across the sea to Saxony which is located in east central Germany and that area today is called Leipzig, Dresden and Karl-Marx-Stadt (Chiminitz). During the 17^th century, the states of Germany were torn by war. The people faced starvation, strife and devastation. Saxony was the homeland of these German people. It also was the battlefield for Austria and Prussia. For seven long years they suffered and were starved by the invading armies.

Catherine II (1729-1796) known also as Catherine the Great was born a German princess at Stettin, Prussia. She married Peter, the weak successor to the throne after the death of his mother, Catherine I, who had succeeded her husband Peter the Great. Peter married Catherine II and then became emperor in 1762. Peter was quickly deposed by Catherine II and her friends and was later murdered. She then succeeded him to the Russian throne. Catherine II was very romantic and had twelve lovers over the years.

On July 22, 1763, Catherine the Great issued a persuasive manifesto, inviting foreigners to settle in Russia. Because of the impoverished conditions in Europe due to the Seven Years War, and the aggressive campaign of immigration agents, many Germans answered the 'call to paradise'. Thus many German families left the war ridden German states to go to the Volga district in southern Russia where they were assured freedom for the selection of settlements and professions as well as freedom of religion and exemption from military service. It included the right to self-government, a grant of land to every family, their own churches and schools and free transportation. Travelling expenses and self-government were assured and, in case of dissatisfaction, a return ticket was to be given them.

It was therefore natural that the people from Saxony accepted the promises of the Prussian princess and so Luebeck and Danzig in Germany became the gathering places for the immigrants seeking an escape from war and a land where they might live in peace.

Catherine's invitation revived the hopes and dreams of Germans suffering from the ruin and devastation of the Seven Year's War and many, especially farmers, joined in the bustling excitement in small towns as people from miles around gathered in anticipation of going to Russia. Many marriages were hastened and the wagon trains, loaded with women and children, started rolling, the men following on foot.

Between 1764 and 1767 more than 8000 families or about 270,000 people left the fatherland to follow the call of freedom and happiness.

After a sailing ship had carried families to St. Petersburg, they set off on a 200-mile trek into the vastness of Russia suffering cold, snow and attack by wolves. They subsisted on cabbage soup as they struggled to Moscow and then across the broad plains for another 450 miles to the southeast until they reached the Volga Valley, an unusually beautiful area, on either side of the Volga River. Saratov was the major city in this area.

On June 29,1764, the first settlers arrived at Dobrinka on the Volga River. Political promises notwithstanding, there was nothing there for them. No houses and in fact absolutely nothing! No homes, no material for building, only wolves from the riverbed, received them. Attacked by fever, robbers and famine, thousands of these trusting Germans fell by the wayside. Over the course of time, when they had to rely on their own resources, it was a case of survival of the fittest.

The landscape on either side of the Volga River was vastly different. On the side west of the river (left on the map), the banks rose steeply to a wooded range of hills traversed by deep gorges. The whole area was covered with tall grass and bushes. This area later was called the Bergseite, meaning hillside in German. The area on this side settled by the German colonists began about 30 miles south of Saratov and stretched to Kamyshin. Only ten of the villages were on or near the Volga River. The others were some distance west, along smaller rivers whose waters flowed westward into the Don River. One village, Jagodnaja Polyana, was initially all by itself about 40 miles northwest of Saratov. It was from this part that the fathers of the Zion Lutheran Church came. Of the 104 original mother colonies, 44 were on the west side (Bergseite). This side west of the river corresponded to the Russian province of Saratov.

On the side east of the Volga River stretched a low grassy plain, sloping gently towards the river and crossed here and there by small sluggish tributaries. This side was called the Wiesenseite in German, meaning meadow-side. The main area of the settlement began about 20 miles upstream from Saratov and stretched northeastward along the Volga and eastward along both the Great and the Little Karman rivers. The other villages were grouped farther south, along the Volga banks about 50 miles downstream. On the Wiesenseite, 66 mother colonies were established. The side east of the river corresponded to the Samara province.

The majority of the nearly 70 daughter colonies were established on the Wiesenseit or east and southeast of the mother colonies. Only about a dozen daughter colonies were established on the Bergseite, south of the mother colonies.

The villages ranged in population from 225 to 250 people each. The majority came from Hesse Germany, with southwest Germany well represented and less coming from other countries. Separate religious affiliations were of primary importance and interdenominational villages were extremely rare. With few exceptions, all of the villages were Evangelical, Lutheran or Catholic and later Mennonite.

The Volga Germans built their homes and here they created one of the wonders of German-Russia: 'The German Volga Colony'. Saratov became the centre of culture and of religion, and had a college, high school and other schools of trade.

These pioneers resisted all efforts of Russia to 'Russianize' them. They remained more faithful to German traditions than the Germans in their homeland and they above all, followed their religion to the core of their soul.

The Leinweber, Gorr, and Rausch families, were some that settled in one of the towns on the steppes of the Volga, which became known as Jagodnaja, where the community held on to their Teutonic nationality, customs and language. With the few plows and sickles they had brought with them and great toil and effort they saw vast wastelands become beautiful farming regions.

Jagodnaja meant 'strawberry' in German. It was so named because of the many wild strawberries that grew there. The farmers grew wheat, oats, rye, and barley. There were also big apple orchards and cherry trees. The children threw sunflower seeds behind the plough. In winter a Sunday night treat was a pocketful of the choicest seeds, not roasted or salted, but real dry and were very tasty.

Crops were abundant but threshing was primitive and became a family affair, rather like an extended camping trip, as they packed special trunks for food and barrels for water and everyone went to work in the fields outside the town.

For threshing, a big flat place near the field was flooded with water and horses would tread it until it was as hard as cement. The wheat was put on the hard ground and horses would be hitched to a wagon that went round and round until the wagon wheels and horses feet threshed out the wheat. The straw was removed with a fork and the wheat was put through a screen.

Their livestock were butchered for meat, and pork sausage was a speciality. In the Russian custom, sunflower oil was used extensively in their cooking.

After the harvest came the time for dancing and weddings with as many as 50 couples being married at one time. When the first row in the church was married the next row would step forward. The newlyweds would come out of the church and pile into two sleighs each drawn by three horses. There was one for brides and one for grooms and they would drive around the town-square where everyone in the village could watch. The brides and grooms jumped out of the sleighs and danced on the hard snow. The celebrating went on for two or three days. The wedding supper was cooked by the older ladies and usually consisted of barley soup, roast beef, potatoes and krebbles (doughnuts) served with sour cream.

Revolutionists, inspired by the teachings of Carl Marx and Fredrich Engels, filled with hatred against church and government, began their undermining work. The government in turn worked out a program of the Russification and Nationalization of its population as a matter of self-defence. The army, the secret police, and Siberia, became the terror of Russia. When the breakdown came after the Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905, where Russia was defeated, the government attacked the 'Jews' and the 'Germans' as traitors who caused the defeat of the Russian army. The Russian schools hitherto unknown in the colonies began to appear. The army drafted these Germans into the Russian army (including Adam Gorr who was married to Elizabeth Rausch with his two brothers) and the government began to fit these Germans into the clothes of Russian gear. German life, German costumes, and the religion of Luther were more than in danger and there was no future for the youth of the Volga Germans but the slow process of becoming Slave-Russian.

What could be done? A court trial, to retain the charter of the 'Volga Germans' was cancelled by the government and the ideals for which they came to the Volga became a death struggle.

Rumours reached the colonies of a new land where freedom reigned supreme, where all were given a chance to live according to their own traditions, customs, language and religion. This was 'America'! A choice had to be made: either become a 'Russian' or an 'Emigrant. Can America be trusted? Once the fathers had believed but they were betrayed. It was no wonder the Volga German was cautious.

Many Volga Germans left their homeland, sold their property and under prayer asked for God's guidance. These people who were oppressed by their own government, left for America. Pine Land, New York, Kansas, Calgary, Canada, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Walla-Walla, Washington, Sheboyan and Oshkosh became gathering places for these immigrants. The Germans from Jogadnaja settled on the west side of Oshkosh establishing their homes here and building a Zion Lutheran church.

Unfortunately, many of those who remained in the Volga region were soon sent to the desolate Salt Mines of Siberia.

Elizabeth Rausch and Adam Gorr

Adam Gorr was born on February 15, 1879 at Jagodnaja, Saratov, Russia. Adam was the eldest son of Adam Gorr and Christine Fuch (pronounced Fox) and they never left Russia. Adam had two brothers, George and Henry and a sister Mary Elizabeth. Henry was born on July 3^rd 1887 in Jagodnaja, Saratov, Russia and he died on July 26^th in Oshkosh, WI, USA. He was the first of the three brothers to arrive in the US sometime between 1907-1909. He worked at Coney Island in New York for a short period and then moved to Oshkosh, WI, where he met and married Elizabeth Weigandt on Sept. 9^th 1909 in Oshkosh. Henry owned a small store and also worked for the city of Oshkosh as a groundskeeper. They had seven children: Erna Gorr born on June 3^rd 1910 and died Sept 5^th 1972 of a heart attack; Harvey M Gorr who was born on Aug. 20^th 1912 and married Tillie Leinweber but he died on July 18^th 1966 of a heart attack; Alma Anna Gorr was born on March 27, 1915 and died of heart failure on Oct. 20^th 1933. Glen Henry Gorr was born on June 21th 1917 and he died on April 9^th 1979 of a liver disease. Mary Jane Gorr was born in 1920, Virginia in 1922 and Jeannine Alice Gorr in 1919 and they are all still living. Jeannine married Stan Gores.

Mary Elizabeth Gorr was born in 1882 and married to Adam Luft (1880-1950). She died while giving birth and the baby also died (1915).

George Gorr Sr. Was born in Russia (Sept 20, 1890) and married Elizabeth Klaveno ((June 19,1885, Russia - died Nov. 25,1950 Oshkosh, WI). Their children were: Alexander (1905-1967), George Jr. (1907-1983) who married Ethel Kalt (b. Sept 5, 1912 – d. Dec 28^th 2004), Pauline (b.1910-1998) who married Roger Laabs (1908-1998), Emma (1912-????) who married Freund, Lydia (1912?-Mar 24^th 2004) who married Adolph Baier, John (1917- ???), Esther (1923-???), Floyd (1923-???) and Nathan (1925-??) who married Gertrude Ebersberger (b. Dec 19,1928 - d Mar. 18, 2005)

In 1899 Adam married Elizabeth Rausch who was born July 2, 1880. Her parents were George Rausch and (?) Baum. Their first child was John who died in infancy. Then their first daughter, Anna Marie, was born on December 30^th, 1900. When she was 10 months old, Adam was conscripted into the Russian army until the end of the Russian-Japanese war (1904-1905). During the time that Adam was away, his wife Elizabeth moved back home to live with her parents, George and (?) Rausch. A second son, Henry was born on August 26, 1907 and a second daughter, Kathryn on December 2, 1909.

In 1911 Adam and Elizabeth decided to move to Canada. In July of that year they travelled to St. Petersburg to get their passports. Because Adam Gorr's father could not pass his medical because of his poor eyesight, they all went back to Saratov with him and waited for another time. Alex, their fifth child, was born that fall on September 16, 1911 in Jogadnaja, Saratov, Russia.

In April 1912, the Gorr family was originally scheduled to board the Titanic on its maiden voyage from England to North America. However, when they arrived at the seaport, only the wealthy were allowed to board the luxurious Titanic. The poorer people were rescheduled for the crossing.

John Rausch, a nephew of Elizabeth Gorr, and his bride of three months came with them. After two weeks on the ocean they arrived in Halifax. From there they went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Adam worked in a door factory for two years.

The Adam and Elizabeth Gorr family travelled to Milwaukee, Wisconsin after coming to America in April of 1912. In 1914 they travelled by train to western Canada where they settled in the Bridgeland District of Calgary, Alberta. Adam's two brothers, Henry settled at Neenah, Wisconsin and George at Omro WI.

Adam worked in the Ogden railroad shops for 19 cents an hour as a locomotive stripper with the CPR. He worked there for about five years but he always wanted to become a farmer. While they were living in the Bridgeland district of Calgary two more daughters were born, Pauline on August 26,1914 and Mary on September 14, 1916.

In 1918, to fulfil his dream to farm, Adam moved his family to the Keim farm located between Beiseker and Acme where he worked for Mr. (?) Keim. Albert was born here on August 23, 1918.

In 1919, Adam rented some land at Granger, Alberta. They lived there for about three years but had a lot of drought at that time. Adam was quite ambitious so for several years he rented some land west of Acme that was owned by Elmer Davenport. Emma was born in 1920 at Acme. About 1921 Adam decided to buy his own farm from Peter Gobert (SE 20-30-26-W4) located five miles west and five miles north of Acme. John Leinweber, who married their eldest daughter, Anna Marie (Annie) in 1921, moved to the Gobert place and farmed there a few years (see note below).

In 1927 Adam and Elizabeth decided to move to the Gobert place themselves and farmed there until about 1944. At this time they retired from farming and moved back to the Bridgeland district in Calgary where they lived until they passed away: Adam in 1953 and Elizabeth on December 10, 1970.

Henry married Grace Rinn and they had three daughters: Evelyn, Viviane and Dianne. Alex married Pearl Hope and they had four children: Ronald, Jack, Gerald and Betty. They farmed just west of Three Hills. Pauline married Jake Brielsman and they farmed just south of the Annie and John Leinweber farm. Mary married Walter Zeh and they had one daughter Sharon. Emma married Elmer Schmidt in 1940. Albert married Alice Green in 1944 and they had two boys, Larry and Darryl. Albert and his wife then farmed the Gobert place for many years while raising their two sons. Darryl and his wife Wanda continue to live and farm there at present (2003).

Jake Brielsman and Pauline Gorr

Pauline (Polly) Gorr was born in Bridgeland, Calgary, Alberta on August 26, 1914, the third daughter of Adam and Elisabeth Gorr. She moved to the Acme area with her parents. She helped her mother and dad on the farm and also helped her sister Annie prepare meals for the threshing crew when John Leinweber did custom threshing in the thirties. Polly met her husband, Jake Brielsman, when she was 14 years old. After dating for seven years, they were married March 21,1936.

Jake's parents, John and Margaret Brielsman, came to Canada in the spring of 1912 from Holland with their eight children: Lucy, Mary, Margaret, Bill, Jake, Johnny, Nellie and Kathleen. They settled in Grainger, Alberta where Jake's father worked first as a hired hand. There, times were very difficult; and for a time the only home they had was a tent. In the fall they were able to rent a farm nearby for three years building up a herd of cattle and had horses and chickens.

The Brielsman family eventually and successfully settled in the Bancroft district (NW 24-30-27-W4). During this time two more sons were born, Albert and Paul. The three older sons went to work for neighbours at a very young age. Unfortunately Jake's father became ill and died quite young. Jake's mother found a housekeeping job for a bachelor and neighbour Jim Jensen, from Denmark, whom she married and they had one son, Jimmy. Jake and Polly later bought the Jensen farm where they farmed for many years.

Jake left home at the age of 13 years and began working for Percy Fullerton, a bachelor and a very hard worker. It is this Fullerton's home quarter where Allan and Jean Leinweber settled in 1955. Jake worked here for 2 to 3 years. He then worked for George MacKay for seven years. By this time he bought a Model T car. He attended most of the card parties, dances and pie socials in the community. He always had a date and his car was always full of friends.

His next job took him to work for T. M. Evans, one of the bigger operators at that time. Jake drove an outfit of 12 horses hitched to a four bottom plough and a cultivator.

Once again, after seven years, Jake began working driving trucks for Harley King who was a water well driller. At this time Jake began a seven year courtship with Polly Gorr. They both loved to dance and play cards and go to movies. Jake bought a new 1927 Chevrolet coach which was popular with the ladies.

Polly's father, Adam Gorr hired Jake to work for him. Jake and Polly later got married and they continued to live with Polly's parents for seven years. They rented land from Adam Gorr after he retired and eventually bought Jake's mother's place who was remarried to Jim Jensen. Jake and Polly lived here happily together until Jake passed away at on April 5, 1985. Polly continued living on this farm for 8 years until she moved to a nursing home in Hanna where she has lived since she was 79 years old.

The Adam Gorr and Christine Fuch family of four children resulted in 24 grand children and many more great grand children.

John and Mary Leinweber

John Leinweber was born in 1875 in Jogadnaja, Saratov, Russia. He married Mary Leinweber who was also born in this village on November 29, 1871. Their first three children were born in Jogadnaja, their eldest son, John A on August 24, 1899, Peter in 1901 and Emily in 1903.

In 1913, John and Mary and their three children immigrated to Canada. They settled in the Bridgeland district in Calgary. Here Henry was born in 1915 and Adam on February 17, 1917.

In 1919, the entire family moved out to the Acme area to what is known as the Simonsen farm (NE 1/4 24-30-24-W4). They moved back to Calgary after living there for about one year.

Anna Marie Gorr and John A Leinweber

John A Leinweber was born in Saratov, Russia on August 24, 1899 in the little Volga German village of Jagodnaja, Saratov, Russia. He was the eldest son of John and Mary Leinweber. In 1911, at about age 12, John and his parents immigrated to Canada along with his 10 year-old brother Peter and 8-year old sister, Emily.

In his teen years, John A was employed on the farm of Frank Brown. He enjoyed life on the farm and he pursued his dream of farming for the rest of his life.

Annie was born on December 30, 1900 at Jogadnaja, Saratov, Russia. In April 1912, Annie immigrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her parents Adam and Elizabeth Gorr and her brothers Henry and Alex and her sister, Katie. In 1914 they left Milwaukee and travelled by train settling in the Riverside or Bridgeland district at Calgary. From 12 years of age until she was married, Annie was employed on the cleaning and kitchen staff first at the Holy Cross Hospital and later at the General Hospital where she worked for $25 a month that included her room and board.

On January 9, 1921 John married Anna Marie Gorr, the eldest daughter of Adam and Elizabeth Gorr at St. John’s Lutheran Church located in the Bridgeland district in Calgary.

As newlyweds John and Annie resided with her parents for the rest of the winter at Acme (Davenport farm). Then they moved to the Schaffer farm, SE 8-30-26-W4 (Albert said it was the Peter Gobert farm SE 20-30-26-W4). Their first son Albert was born in December 1921 but died of scarlet fever in April 1922. A daughter, Lidia, was born in 1923 but died shortly after birth.

In 1926 they moved to the McCord place (NE 18-30-26-W4). It was here that their son, Allan was born on July 29, 1927.

In the spring of 1929, John and Annie moved to the Frank Deal farm (SW 32-31-26-W4). Here four more children were born: Eileen on July 15, 1929, Robert on August 27, 1931 and Harvey on September 22, 1933. Their last child, Violet, was born on July 11, 1936.

The five children attended Gobert school in the Wheatland School Division until 1942 riding to school on horseback or on their bikes. Grandma Gorr lived across the road from the school so that was a real bonus. Gobert School was closed and the children attended the Bancroft school that belonged to the Olds School Division until 1944. Allan took Grade 10 at the Kathryn High School in 1944 where he stayed in residence.

The Wheatland School Division hired the Leinweber family in 1945 to use their '33 Ford to transport their five children as well as three of the neighbour's children to Acme School each day with Allan as the driver. This became the first bus route in the Acme area. All of John and Annie's children graduated from the Acme High School.

John owned his own threshing machine, tractor, and horses that pulled straw racks laden with bundles of wheat. In the 1930's and 1940's John managed his own threshing crew each year and did custom grain threshing for several neighbours west of their farm even threshing for farmers just east of Carstairs. Les Porter was his assistant maintenance man for many years. Each fall he hired a few men from Calgary for his threshing crew and they slept in a bunk house on the farm. Annie and her sisters worked hard providing meals for the threshing crew.

From the 1940's onward, John had established himself as a successful multigrain diversified farmer. He had a substantial herd of cattle including about 20-30 dairy cows and shipped milk to the Linden cheese factory. Allan, Robert and Harvey graduated from high school between about 1948 to 1955. Wanting to ensure that his sons would have sufficient land to make a living John started buying more land from farmers that were retiring to the city.

Annie was a very industrious woman who always had a huge vegetable garden. She preserved all her fruit and vegetables and made her own pickles and jams. Annie was an expert at making bread, buns and krebbles but shaped them like donuts. Annie helped with the farm chores during busy times on the farm. Each spring she raised a new batch of baby chicks. The roosters were used for her delicious Sunday dinners. The hen's eggs were shipped to Acme along with cream to the Acme creamery. Annie made her own soap and sauerkraut in a crock in their cellar for many years.

After World War II, John and Annie bought a piano and their two daughters Eileen and Violet took piano lessons for several years. Both daughters went to the University of Alberta and sang in the University of Alberta Mixed Chorus. Eileen and Violet both became teachers. Eileen and Violet also set up Glee Clubs in the schools where they taught. In 1950 Eileen married Bruce Hannah and they lived in Acme for many years where they had five boys and established the very successful Bruce Hannah truck line. Allan married Jean Howe, a teacher, in 1955 and they farmed on land southwest of John and Annie's farm. They had 6 children: Ruth, Rebecca, Kathryn, Kurt, Brenda and Kenneth, but Kathryn died a few months after birth. Allan was a very good farmer and admired by many in the community. He passed away in 2001 following a bought with colon cancer. He was also a gentleman, a kind and loving father and a wonderful husband.

Violet married John Walker in 1960 and they moved to Ottawa in 1962 and they had four children. John is the youngest son of Jessie and Ken Walker. Harvey was also a good farmer but his heart was in photography and he documented many wedding and other community activities. He passed away in 2005 following complications with prostate cancer. Robert is recognized as one of the best farmers in central Alberta and he is retired now but nevertheless he keeps close tabs on his land through his nephews Kurt and Ken who now farm it.

John A slowly retired from active farming in the mid 1960's but he and Annie continued living on the Frank Deal place. They built a lovely new house in 1971 less than a quarter mile south of the old home. They celebrated both their 50^th and 60^th anniversaries on the farm living there until almost the time they passed away; John on April 3rd, 1986 and Annie on January 17th, 1987 and are both at rest in the Acme cemetery.