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Note: Reprinted from the December 1976 Heritage Review with permission from GRHS. Walworth County, Java, South Dakota On April 27, 1889 I arrived with my wife at Eureka. My home colony was Landau in the district of Odessa; my wife's was Klein-Neudorf. When we arrived there, Eureka was the chief target of German-Russian immigration. We met no acquaintances but found many good people who were glad to help their fellow countrymen in any way they could. I came to America to acquire land, so my first question was where could I get it. We were told that there should be good land about 20 to 24 miles southwest of Eureka and so we set out immediately with Schumacher's black horses. At that time it was rare for a farmer to have horses. Most had only oxen. We met a man who for a dollar was willing to seek out a claim for us. A gentle valley cut through the land that we examined and we liked that very much. However, we had no knowledge of the endless prairie and thus accepted what our leader pointed out. He showed us only land that was not rolling and thus we believed that the hilly land around us would always remain open pasture and hay land. But in a few years all the land had been taken, for the most part, by German- Russians. The hilly land is just as good as ours. All the land here is undulating, has about two to three feet of black soil, and is underlain with yellow clay. Among those who homesteaded land here with me some 20 years ago I would mention the following: Jacob J. Aman, Jacob Stiegelmeier, Peter Hartman Jr., F. Hartman, Wilhelm Moser, Jakob Wolf, John Fiechtner, Karl Krause, and Johanas Krause. I used to be a Russian soldier but got tired of it. Although I had a good position I decided to emigrate to Beresan District Odessa Newsletter - Volume 6 Issue 3: February 2002 Contributions Toward a History of the German-Russian Settlements in North America Collected and edited for the Dakota Freie Presse October 21, 1909, F.W. Sallet Translated by La Vern J. Rippley, St. Olaf College Page 8 America, for my father and brothers were also going to America. Since I departed for America straight from the military I had no time to earn money for the trip. So I took a portion of my father's money and set out. I arrived in America as good as broke. There was no way to make any money here. I asked myself what I should do with my land? I could not get rid of it, not even for a minimal price, because at that time we were paying the same price for a claim as we had to pay for a team of horses. But now I'm happy that nobody bought the land from me. I had to endure some hard times. Only those who have experienced a similar situation, trying to get established on the wild prairies without money, earnings and without any help can understand how we had to live at the outset. But the bad times had their good side. People pulled together and became better friends. Worship services had to be conducted in the small sod houses in which we ourselves lived and our prayers were more earnest than they are today. Men and animals became so used to living with each other that when a farmer drove to church on Sunday, his cow wanted to come along and on occasion it happened that a pig or a dog followed the wagon to church. It took a year before I could get a cat, two years to get a dog. On the wide open prairies there was nothing but buffalo paths, worn down four or five inches, and the bones of destroyed buffaloes, some antelope, and occasionally a rabbit. Because the prairie burned so often, there was very little wildlife. Today there are plenty of rabbits and prairie dogs. Back then each farmer had two or three horses, about the same number of cows, and there (Continued on page 9)
Baumann Family History heli.best.vwh.net/genealogy/baumann.html Bender Genealogy feefhs.org/surname/frg-bend.html Bertsch (Andreas Sr. ) Family www.twin-cities.com/ed/tree/d0000/g0000079.html Brandner/Kraus Family freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~coleen/brandner/ desc03.htm Ellestad/Sauter Family Tree sites.onlinemac.com/ellestad/ellestad/index2.htm Flink Family Tree freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~riedinger/g025.html Greiss (Michael) Family biochem.uthscsa.edu/~griess/Michael_Griess_history. pdf Heinle Family History www.heinle-web.de/odessa5.htm Hirning (Wilhelm) Family www.hirning.org/andreas/a_william.html Jasmann and Magelky Family History home.quixnet.net/~ecrtree/ed/dat0.htm Kercher Family www.gencircles.com/users/kencunm/2/data/131 Koerner Family History www.pressenter.com/~gregboe/koerner_genealogy.htm Kosts of Worms, Russia members.aol.com/viking1807/page9.html Landsiedel, Descendants of Christian www.geocities.com/mcintoshcond/landsiedel_tree.html Noel Family Information www.mcn.org/2/noel/letters8.htm Roll Family www.rollintl.com/roll/towns.htm Beresan District Odessa Newsletter - Volume 6 Issue 3: February 2002 BDO Personal Family History Web Sites Page 9 Wokal Family Genealogy familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/w/o/k/ Christopher-D-Wokal/ Ullmer, Descendants of Andreas www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/9176/gene1-0001. html Zink Family Tree freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~merlaan/zink/fh01/ fh01_001.htm (Continued from page 8) was enough government land where he could make hay. But there was not always enough hay for the few animals we had. Now-a-days every farmer has 10 or 15 horses and more, as well as about 25 to 40 head of cattle and still there is enough hay to feed his animals. Today each farmer has two, three or four quarters of land and some 200 to 300 acres under plow and even then enough hay - proof that it rains more now then 20 years ago. Back then we also planted corn but we rarely got a crop. You ought to see our corn fields today. We harvest about 40 bushels per acre. This year once again we will have a good corn crop. The same holds true for everything we plant. In the initial years I planted trees twice. They grew well at first but then died off. Today I have trees on my land that are 40 or 50 feet tall. At first we drove to church on Sundays with a team of oxen. Church was conducted in some farm house. Now we drive our two beautiful horses hitched to a nice buggy to a large, beautiful church in which there are still plenty of empty pews. The reason for that, however, is not a lack of rain but discord among people. Nearly everybody has a different faith and there are so many different sects. There ought to be but one religion even as there is only one baptism. But I do not want to start preaching; everyone has the freedom to believe as he wishes. Jacob Aman
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