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Migration

Locations

48.848889, -122.590278
38.219444, -90.400833
39.294167, -103.065833
35.199167, -111.631111
40.682778, -102.84
38.390278, -105.1166
43.984167, -124.103056
41.333333, -74.366667
39.294444, -96.44055
45.664722, -93.909722
36.433924, -100.141521
46.266667, -106.666667
42.497469, -94.168016
37.835278, -94.701944
41.080556, -85.139167
47.576389, -95.751389
38.128333, -104.025
28.464722, -98.811667
38.45, -91.008611
39.489722, -86.056667
37.533889, -95.826667
42.291944, -89.630278
40.743889, -95.608611
41.439722, -96.49
41.348889, -83.117222
40.65, -97.283333
34.638889, -102.721667
48.335833, -104.4902
45.391667, -108.908611
39.15887, -108.728988
38.846667, -91.948056
34.01, -86.010278
36.315594, -99.757618
33.630278, -97.140278
38.633333, -98.95
35.528056, -108.7425
38.260833, -121.303056
37.975278, -100.8641
38.076389, -99.245
47.652778, -101.416667
41.611111, -87.49305
36.851944, -100.055833
45.024722, -84.676667
35.629444, -98.318056
40.526389, -97.601944
41.826362, -103.657762
40.747778, -98.844444
41.385, -83.321667
30.183056, -96.934722
44.282778, -105.505278
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47.108611, -104.7105
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41.883333, -86.483333
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41.401944, -74.323056
35.071098, -98.874374
40.931667, -100.159444
43.319167, -87.93166
48.416111, -97.410556
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40.250556, -105.824444
42.961111, -85.65555
46.344444, -120.191389
44.43841, -118.89173
40.844444, -101.726111

United States

Over the years, the promises made by Catherine the Great began to erode. A significant blow was the Universal Conscription Act of 1874, which mandated military service by all Russians, including the Volga Germans.

In the spring of 1874, representatives from the Wiesenseite colonies met in Herzog to discuss the possibility of emigration and five delegates were elected to investigate possible sites for relocation:

Peter Stöcklein, Jacob Ritter,
Nicholas Schamne, Peter Leiker,
and Anton Wasinger (1874).
Posted with permission.
Kansas State Historical Society.
Copy and Reuse Restrictions Apply.

Nikolaus Schamne from Graf
Peter Leiker from Ober-Monjou
Peter Stöcklein from Zug
Jakob Ritter from Luzern
Anton Wasinger from Schönchen

At the same time, representatives from the Bergseite met in Balzer and nine delegates were elected:

Anton Käberlein from Pfeifer
Christoph Meisinger from Messer
Georg Stieben from Dietel
Johannes Krieger from Norka
Johann Nolde from Norka
Georg Kähm from Balzer
Heinrich Schwabauer from Balzer
Franz Scheibel from Kolb
Johann Benzel from Kolb

These fourteen men boarded the S.S. Schiller in Hamburg and arrived in New York City on 15 July 1874. They investigated properties in several states, primarily in Nebraska and Kansas. They returned to Russia and reported their findings to their local communities.  Within a few months, hundreds of Volga German families began to arrive in the United States.

By Richard Sallet's count, there were 118,493 Volga Germans of the first and second generation living in the United States according to the 1920 U.S. Federal Census.

Sources

- AHSGR Journal 1:3 (Winter, 1978).
- Koch, Fred C. The Volga Germans: In Russia and the Americas, from 1763 to the Present (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1977): 3.