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Wills, Ted C. (Jr.)

Theodore "Ted" C. Wills, Jr., was born 9 February 1934 in Fresno, California, to Ted C. Wills, Sr., and Bertha Metzler. He is an professional American Major League baseball pitcher having been signed by the Boston Red Sox 1955.  He played all or part of five seasons with the Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago White Sox between 1959 and 1965. He also pitched for the Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Cardinals before the end of the 1965 season.  He married on 29 January 1955 to Carol Smith. He married on 19 December 1969 to Michele Pishione.

Kraus (Messer)

Johann Heinrich Kraus, son of Stoffel Kraus, was born 27 June 1734 in Spielberg. Johann Heinrich married there to Maria Barbara Bartholomeus, daughter of Johannes Bartholomeus, on 6 March 1755. Maria Barbara was born on 12 October 1732, also in Spielberg. Their son Georg Friedrich was also born in Spielberg on 24 August 1755.

Johann Kraus, a farmer, his wife Anna, and children (Friedrich, age 11; Konrad, age ½) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 9 June 1766 aboard an English frigate named Love & Unity under the command of Skipper Thomas Fairfax.

Shmakov, Zalesovsky District, Altai Krai (Siberia)

Shmakovo was originally founded by Old Believers (one of the branches of the Russian Orthodox Church) before 1766.

Following the deportation decree of 28 August 1941, Volga Germans from the colony of Gnadenflur were resettled in Shmakovo. At the end of World War II, "captured Germans" were settled in this area as well.

On 21 July 1953, Shmakovo was administratively merged with Zalesovo.

Alexanderdorf (North Caucasus)

The first Volga German colonists arrived in the area that became Alexanderdorf in 1843. In February 1852, a group of them petitioned local authorities for permission to establish a colony north of the fortress of Nalchik.

Over the years there were many families who moved back and forth between the Volga German colonies and Alexanderdorf.

All of the German-speaking inhabitants of Alexanderdorf were subject to the 28 August 1941 Deportation Decree, and were forceably resettled to Central Asia or Siberia during the first weeks of September that year.

Geim, Andre

Andre Geim, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, was born 21 October 1958 in Sochi, Russia, to Konstantin Geim and Nina Baier, both of whom are engineers.  He was educated at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) and the Institute of Solid State Physics of the Russian Academy of Science.

Benzel, Johann

Johann Benzel was born in the Volga German colony of Kolb. He was one of the scouts selected to come to North America in 1874 to investigate opportunities for the Volga Germans to immigrate to the United States. He and the other scouts traveled by train to Hamburg, Germany, where they boarded the SS Schiller. They arrived at Castle Garden in New York City on 15 July 1874.

Schwabauer, Heinrich

Heinrich Schwabauer was born in the Volga German colony of Balzer. He was one of the scouts selected to come to North America in 1874 to investigate opportunities for the Volga Germans to immigrate to the United States. He and the other scouts traveled by train to Hamburg, Germany, where they boarded the SS Schiller. They arrived at Castle Garden in New York City on 15 July 1874.

Kähm, Georg

Georg Kähm was born in the Volga German colony of Balzer.  He was one of the scouts selected to come to North America in 1874 to investigate opportunities for the Volga Germans to immigrate to the United States. He and the other scouts traveled by train to Hamburg, Germany, where they boarded the SS Schiller. They arrived at Castle Garden in New York City on 15 July 1874.

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