“born to be traveling”

   Sitting in her rocking-chair, Eva was recalling the past and indulging in sweet memories about her young, wild and prosperous years. Her husband, Lowe, as everybody knew him, now white-haired with wrinkled face, was walking to and fro, enjoying the heat of the glowing charcoals in the hearth. Now having a calm and even a bit sedentary life, Eva was once a fervent girl, eager for adventures and aspiring for knowledge. But let’s trace down her life from its beginning.

    It was about midnight. The carriage was moving rapidly through the impermeable mist of the night. The houses along the road were dark and seemed empty and lifeless. All of a sudden an unexpected cry echoed in the surroundings. The pregnant Marie was beginning to give birth to a child. The young family had hardly passed the boundary between Germany and Russia, when a new star appeared in the sky – a little girl was born on Russian land but with German blood flowing through her veins. Her name was Eva – like the first woman on the Earth. Previously, citizens and inhabitants of Bavaria, Marie and John could not resist the warm invitation of Catherine the Great and Alexander the First to settle in south Russia. Offering not only land but also precious source of subsistence for whole families, Russia was tempting hundreds of German farmers. Eva’s parents were no exception.

    Thus Crimea became a home for many farmer families. Unfortunately, Marie and John had tough times during their sojourn in south Russia. Germans had gone to Russia determined to maintain their language, religion and culture. The reality was hard to bear – they turned out to be an isolated people. Not having taken any educated Germans like pastors, priests, teachers or traders – they actually lost all contact with their native land. They were cut off from the substantial progress that took place in Germany during the 19^th century. Like Marie and John, most of the Germans in South Russia were farmers. Few had the time, money or inclination to take interest in any education or literacy. Through this time of adjustment to the unfavorable conditions in Russia, Eva was growing. With her physical growth was increasing her interest in education. Eager for knowledge and resolute to make her dreams come true, Eva had no doubt that she could get what she wanted. Most people, in this number her parents too, displaying more interest in religion than in education, lavished far more money on their churches than they did on their schools. Therefore even when the first German-language elementary schools opened gates in the colonies, the people continued to be more engrossed in farming than in education. Because the educated people among them, mainly Russian officials, foreign priests, pastors and traders, abused the Germans, for the immigrants the only thing they could do was to disgust the educated people, show and feel little respect for them. That’s why for Eva it was the most troublesome task to speak with her parents about education. She knew that the only plausible chance to make them believe in the rightness of her words was to ask not permission for entering a colony’s school but a general movement to America.

    After days of convincing and stipulating, the eleven-year-old girl finally succeeded in persuading her parents to move to America – the country where there was nothing impossible, or at least she thought it to be so. Marie and John, loving their daughter from the bottom of their hearts, were ready to undertake a new hazardous traveling to the “land of freedom”, abandoning a settled but humdrum life. Thriving in a constricted society, Eva was eager to “taste” the education and plunge in the depths of knowledge. The year was 1910. At this time not only Marie, John and Eva were executing their plans to move to South Dakota. So were about two thousands more German-Russians, striving for new horizons. For about four years the McIntosh County was literally swept over by German-Russians. Numerous families were passing the boundary with a view to better opportunities. Marie and John settled themselves in Ashley, McIntosh County, South Dakota and began constructing a new farm. Meanwhile the dreams of Eva fell through. German-Russians in North Dakota exhibited almost the same characteristics they had had in Russia. Eva was one of the few German-Russian children who completed the 8^th grade. Being already 15-year-old, Eva wanted to continue her education in high school, which was quite unusual and even striking for her society. Life in America wasn’t such a piece of cake as she had thought a couple of years ago. German-Russians, like many German-Americans, were subjected to indignities as kissing the American flag or not being able to speak the only language they knew – German. Eva soon realized that coming to America was equal to jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Still, she didn’t lose hope and continued to strive. Her incessant optimism preserved her from the despair. Anyway, she did study in a high-school and after she graduated got acquainted with a young and promising owner, publisher and editor of both the Ashley Tribune and the Wishek News – all renowned newspapers with the German-Russian population in McIntosh County. The energetic entrepreneur – Lowe – momentarily perceived the passion and zeal for knowledge in Eva. As she had a solid education for those times, he offered her a job in Ashley Tribune as a journalist. At this moment, the 19-year-old provincial girl realized that this was a miracle – her dream was becoming true. Lowe had an ambitious goal to spread the newspaper to every home in the county. Therefore a seasoned and experienced German-speaking staff was in aid of his endeavors.

    Four years later Eva and Lowe got married. The wedding ceremony was magnificent. Eva’s parents couldn’t stanch their tears of happiness. The young family continued their progress both personally and professionally. They made a couple of breakthroughs in the media business and successfully coped with the situation during the World War First. Now their two grown-up boys and three girls are building their own families, obtaining essential experience from their parents. Eva is now a 68-year-old grandma but the numerous problems and wild moments hadn’t put years on her. She is still happily married to Lowe, who finally decided to retire from the business and show the ropes to his posterity.

Sources of information:

“All things decently and in order and other writing on a German from Russia heritage” by Edna Boardman

“Russian-German settlements in the United States” by Richard Sallet

“Four generations” by Karen Herzog – article

“Legacy of three generations” by Edna Weispfenning