Catharine, Ellis Co., Kansas

Catharine was founded 8 April 1876 by a group of Volga German immigrants who had arrived the previous fall in Topeka. The original settlers included the following families (with the total number of people in each family in parenthesis):

from Katharinenstadt

Justus Bissing (7)
Friedrich Karlin (4)
Peter Karlin (3)
Jacob Karlin (3)
Friedrick Koerner (10)

They were joined on 27 July 1876 by another group of families from Katharinenstadt:

John Karlin (5)
Karl Koerner(4)
Friedrich Meis (2)
Mrs. Meis, widow (8)
Andrew Schmidt (2)
Jacob Schmidt (5)
John Schmidt (3)
Peter Schmidt (4)
Mrs. Schueler, widow (3)
Mrs. A. Schuetz, widow (7)
Henry Staab (5)
Karl Staab (5)
August Walter (5)
Friedrich Walter (8)
Jacob Walter (4)
Jacob Welz (3)

On 26 September 1876, another group of immigrants arrived in Catharine:

Jacob Staab
Jacob J. Staab
John Staab
Peter Staab
Raymond Staab
Peter Ubert

Sometime in November they were followed by the following families:

Karl Karlin (6) from Katharinenstadt
Leonard Mittelmeier (5) from Katharinenstadt
Jacob Meier (12) from Louis
Henry Paul (4) from Louis
Michael Peters (4) from Louis
John Giebler (3) from Ober-Monjou

In August 1877, two additional families arrived:

Joseph Giebler
Friedrich Weilert

In July 1878, another group arrived:

Peter Leikam
Jacob Mueller
Jacob Mueller Jr.
Michael Weilert

The final group of early settlers arrived in November 1878:

Jacob Dorzweiler
Henry Wolf
Dorothea Beilman
Anna Mittelmeier

From 1878-1883, the Volga Germans in Catharine were joined by several Moravian families from Austria.