1875 BIEKER MIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES
Catharine II of Russia died, there was an uprising in Russia, and in June 1871,
an edict had limited the period of exemption from Military service to 10
years, leaving the colonists the right to emigrate within that time without
forfeiture of property. The Russians were jealous of the colonists for their
right given to them by Catharine II to not participate in the Crimean war.
the colonist were opposed to military service, because it was difficult if not
immpossible for Catholic soldiers to fulfill even their Easter duty of receiving
the sacraments. Catholics were not allowed to become officers and suffered
other discrimination. On January 13, 1874 military law subjected all colonists
to military service.
The right to emigrate within the 10 year period of time without
forfeiture of property was not generally known for sometime. When
it became public, it led to a meeting of some 3,000 colonists
at Herzog in the spring of 1874 to discuss the question of emigration.
Brazil and Nebraska were two of the possibilities discussed. Nebraska won
out because it was cooler. If was then decided to send five delegates
to visit America.
The delegates first arrived in Castle Garden, New York. They traveled to
Buffalo, Chicago, Omaha, Lincoln and Sutton. In all, their journey in
America lasted 10 days. They took back with them one pound of soil, some
prairie grass, blue stem grass and paper money. All took some literature
descriptive of the land back in Russia. On their return to Russia, they
reported favorably on the land in America they had visited.
In November 24, 1874 the first colonists were drafted into military service.
Toward the end of December 1874, two other delegates came to the United
States and visited Kansas and returning home, reported unfavorably on the
new country, thus deterring quite a number from emigrating.
The first party to imagrate included Biekers from Neu-Obermounjour.
Henry Bieker and 5 members of his family,
John Bieker with 6 members of his family,
John Joseph Bieker with 6 others in his family,
William Bieker and 5 family members and
Nicholas Bieker with 8 other family members.
Biekers came from Obermonjour (founded 1766), Schoenchen (founded 1767,
Paninskoje) all lying on the east bank of the Volga River, north of Saratow,
and Neu-Obermonjour (founded 1859) was south of Liebenthal. All Bieker
colonies were on the meadow side of the Volga river.
The settlers took passage in Bremen on the steamship "S.S. Ohio, 1869 North German
Lloyd". The voyage was rough and passengers were treated poorly.
the ship arrived 21 days later in Baltimore,MD on November 23, 1875.
The settlers arrived in Topeka, KS on November 28, 1875.
They stayed in the vacant King Bridge building for
three days while seeking a home. The old vacated hotel was a stone
building and was too small for the large group. Some rented homes in North
Topeka and they all remained there until spring. In spring they moved on to
Ellis County Kansas. There were several King Bridge buildings built in
early 1870's by the King Bridge Company and later purchased by the Santa Fe
Railroad. One of the two story brick building where immigrants were housed
when the first arrived to Topeka was torn down in 1960. Other buildings
may still stand east of Jefferson and Crane Streets.
Some of the settlers met with agents of the Kansas-Pacific Railroad who
spoke to them of some desirable land the railroad company had to offer.
Trips were made to Hays, Ellis, Catherine and Vicrotia, Kansas.
This land was $2.00 to $2.50 per acre and well equipped for
farming colonies. They decided to settle on it. 23 families settled in
Victoria and erected their first dwellings on April 8, 1876.
In September 1876,
Adam Bieker and 4 other members in his family
arrived in Liebenthal, KS from Neu-Obermonjour comming through Hamburg, Germany.
Families continued to move from the Volga Valley until the 1920s.
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