LIFE IN AMERICA

Bieker in Russia were accustom to living as a group in villages, in Kansas people lived on their farms away from the group. Communities in Russia were united by a legal bond, but in Kansas none existed. Communities became rivals.

It was common for married children to live with their parents. This allowed boys at 18 to marry girls at 16. Land in Russia was divided up among the boys and girls received dowry at the time they marry. This excluded girls from inheriting land and made the housewives, with the home being the center of her activities. Large Catholic families were the standard without divorce and illegitimate. Family life was pure with customs prevailing. Christmas presents are given to children. New year is celebrated by shooting guns and in return get refreshments. At holy week the young men who serve in the church go around town with wooden clappers to announce church services. The church bells are silent between Thursday and Saturday. After mass on Saturday the boy collect eggs in payment for their services. Each child prepares a nest on the porch or near the house and on Easter morning are awaken with the announcement that the "Easter rabbit has laid".

The first settler were conspicuous with their large sheepskin lined coats for winters on the Volga. The long coat was drawn at the waist which gave it a skirtlike appearance. Winter caps were high and elliptical. The men wore boots year around. The boots had shafts at the top to tuck your trousers into.

Sometimes they were decorated with silk embroidered flowers. Women wore neither hats or bonnets. They preferred their small black shawls which were often embroidered with silk flowers. Men wore their hair long.

They retained their German language with the addition several words and the development of individual dialects for each village on the Volga. The settlers were never embarrassed about their differences in language. They went as for as coining new meanings to common words to convey their ideas.

The emigrants to Kansas were primarily farmers, a skill they had to learn when they migrated to the Volga. Colonists grew grain, raised cattle and cultivated tobacco. Watermelon grew well in Kansas along with other vegetables in the garden.

The Germany-Russian people were recorded as being industrious and economical. The emigrants arrived in this country poor and from 1899 to 1909 increased their ownership in real estate from 82,003 acres to 196,550 in Kansas. The emigrants had even more land under lease and on contract to purchase. The first settlers made extra money by working on the railroad and selling buffalo bones that were strewn across the prairie.

The first homes were board tents, followed by sod houses or dugouts. Houses were later built of stone which they could collect on their property. the biggest problem was lumber and its cost. Homes were also built in the villages as a place to stay on weekends while attending church. The cost of lumber as fire wood was prohibitive. A mixture of stray and manure was use for heating. Knitting was a favorite occupation for early settlers.

Education was not primary in the early years and records were not kept and little written information was brought on family heritage. the Russian on the other hand did keep records and have not been available under soviet rule. estate in the area.