The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites to Central Asia, 1880-1884, Fred Richard Belk, 1976

Dirks, Abraham Dirks, Bernard Wiebe, Heinrich Graeves, and Cornelius Wiebe.?’ The day after arrival, they took a river steamboat to Castlegarden, New York, where they met immigration officials. From there 48 of the immigrants boarded a separate rail coach which took them to Beatrice, arriving some three years and twelve days after they had left the Trakt. Later the Kansas group traveled by train to Newton. Thus ended a journey which had taken many of the older ones from Prussia to Russia, Turkestan, Bukhara, Khiva, and now America.” Concern was now focused on the group left behind in Russia. It was learned on September 24 that the rest of this company had received their passports and had started for Bremen. Among the 39 members of this party were the families of Abraham Jantzen, Jacob Toews, Hein- rich Toews, Benjamin Dirks, Friederich Aron Dirks, Heinrich Albrecht, Hermann Bartsch, Philipp Bier, the Ensz and Pauls families, and Mrs. Elizabeth Abrahms, the widow of the murdered Heinrich Abrahms, and her young child. After a nine-day voyage from Bre- men, they arrived in New York aboard the Fulda.” But even then the recurrent tragedy which had dogged their steps from the beginning had not yet run its course. While visiting relatives in Saratov, little fourteen-month-old Maria Toews, daughter of Anna and Heinrich Toews, had been exposed to smallpox. On board ship she became violently ill and was placed in quarantine with her mother by her side. The day the Fulda arrived in New York the baby died and was buried on Ellis Island. So far, the American Mennonite Aid Committee had brought a total of 117 refugees to America. It now undertook an elaborate ac- counting of receipts to show American Mennonites how their contribu- tions of more than $6000 had been used. To transport the first group from the Russc-German border to its final destination had cost the aid committee approximately $2000, while the second party re- quired about $1000 in support. Besides other funds spent for inciden- Migration to America 187 “ge % tie Kec y an ; ‘ : Pa : el Sg “ Gustav Janzen, born in Turkestan, with a cello he made himself. 188 The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites tals, there were still almost $2000 left in their treasury to help future refugees.”! Further Trips Most of these would come from the Aulie Ata settlement/Original- ly, only six of these families had requested aid to come to America, but by the beginning of 1885, it was learned that the number had increased to 15 families, or 79 people in all. As early as August 11, the American Mennonite Aid Committee had sent some 2500 rubles ($1280) to help these people reach the railhead at Orenburg, and they were subsequently given $2810 for the completion of their jour- ney.? Among those at Aulie Ata, who sailed from Bremen to New York in August 1885, were the Eck, Esau, Funk, Janzen, Koop, Kornel- sen, Reimer, Riffel, Schmidt, Schultz,