Notizen zu dieser Person
The first of the Adolf Family to settle in Kit Carson County was AugustAdolf, who was born to Christian and Friederika (Steg) Adolf in Briene,Bessarabia, a province in southern Russia, near the Black Sea, in March,1862.
As many of the early settlers in the area north of Bethune (stillknown as "The Settlement") came from southern Russia in the late 19th andearly 20th centuries, a brief background sketch of these Germans fromRussia may be helpful.
In 1763 Catherine the Great, a German born princess who ruled Russiaas Czarina from 1762 to 1796, initiated an era of German colonization ofsouthern Russia along the Volga and DnieperRivers and around the BlackSea. Lavish promises were made by the Russian government to Germancraftsmen and farmers, including free land, initial subsidies, andimportant guarantees of rights of local government, freedom of religion,and exemption from military service. Many Germans were induced to"homestead" in Russia by these promises and by the desire to leave theareas devastated by war in Europe.
In 1817 one such family, the Adolf Family, emigrated from WestPrussia to Bessarabia as part of this resettlement. They settled in thenew town of Briene, sharing in the communal life of these German towns,where everyone lived in the village which centered around the LutheranChurch and School, plying their trades and working small fields in thesurrounding countryside, asthey had in Germany. This "communal" featureof German rural life, carried into Russia and then into the UnitedStates, marked the Germans from Russia as "clannish" but was really partof acenturies old culture. Life on the isolated homesteads of theAmerican prairies was a real hardship for many of the Germans fromRussia, accustomed as they were to shared village life.
Beginning in 1871, a series of government actions under CzarAlexander II began to affect the German-speaking colonies in Russia inmany far-reaching ways. The acts were part of the "russification" orforced absorption of foreign minorities into the Russian culture. Localgovernment was abolished in the German-speaking areas in 1871 and in theautumn of 1874 the Russian army began 'drafting' young men from theGerman colonies. The loss of these important guarantees, which theGermans had received when they first settled in Russia a century before,triggered aslow but increasing flow of German families and young meneligible for army service to leave Russia for North and South America.This movement increased rapidly in the 1880's as the promiseof abundantfree lands available overseas drew more and more Germans out of Russia.The new wave of emigration continued until the First World War in 1914and brought many thousands of Germans from Russia to the United States,Canada, Brazil and Argentina.
August Adolf was one of the young men caught up in this greatwestward wave of emigration. Married in 1884 to Katherine Richter, theyleft Russia in 1888 with their two children, Danieland Katherine("Katie"), following the tracks of other Germans from Russia coming tothe American West. They settled briefly in Scotland, South Dakota, (oneof the "jumping off" points fornewly arrived immigrants), but moved onquickly to the prairies of the 14 year-old state of Colorado. Arrivingin Burlington in March of 1890, August Adolf and his family, togetherwith a fewother Germans from Russia, settled north of Bethune, nearother German families from Russia, among whom were the Doblers, Strobels,Schaals and Baltzers.
Their first homes were dug-outs, carved into hillsides with planks,covered with sod, serving as the roof. Later, adobe houses were builtwhich were much better than the sod houses mostof the other earlysettlers had.
On May 8, 1890, a son, August William Adolf, was born. He was the firstbaby to be born in "The Settlement" and, was the first registered malebirth in the newly-incorporated Kit Carson County. An often-repeatedfamily story is that when August Adolf arrived home from the RepublicanRiver, where the settlers had to go to get water before the first wellswere dug, and learned that his son was born, in the excitement the horsesbolted, overturning the water barrels. It was two days before Augustcould safely leave his wife and new son to go for more water, and sothebaby was a few days old before he could have his first bath!
August Adolf was a shoemaker by trade in Russia and so beside caringfor his homestead and his growing family, he walked to Burlington -approximately 15 miles across the prairie - to make and repair shoes andboots, earning 25 cents a day. His wife, Katherine, was one of the firstmid-wives in the area. She and "Grandma" Yale, another of the earlymid-wives, delivered many of the children born in those years, andsometimes assisted Dr. C. Gilette, one of the first medical doctors inKit Carson County, with practical nursing.
There were no buffalo left in Kit Carson County when these firstGerman settlers arrived, but there were antelope to supplement the meagermeat supply. The only gun in "The Settlement"was a 33-gauge rifle,owned by Gottlieb Bauder, which was shared by the people of "theSettlement," as were their other tools and their skills. Gradually,cattle herds were built up and moreground broken for growing grain andfeed. Earlier Germans from Russia had brought with them a hardy winterwheat, well-adapted to the cold, dry winters of the prairies. It was theintroduction of this winter wheat which opened much of the "high plains"to wheat production. (An unwelcome "hitch-hiker" was the Russian thistle,which has become a kind of "trademark" of the American West: thetumbleweed!)
In 1892 August Adolf was able to arrange for his father and mother,Christian and Friederika Adolf, together with their children, Frederika,Andrew, and Katherina, to come to the UnitedStates. Christian and hisfamily settled near Denver when they first arrived; he and Andrew workedin the smelters. Later, they came to "The Settlement," where Christianpracticed his tradeof blacksmithing. In 1896, Frederika Adolf marriedthe widower, Franz Kramer, raising his children, Frank, Marie, Christine,Margaretha, and Rosie, as well as their own children in time: Christian,William, Katherina (Jurgens), Frederika, Amelia (Stahlecker) and Pauline(Kloeckner).
In 1908 the last of Christian and Friederika's five children came tothe United States. Wilhelm and his wife Margaretha (Buchfink) came toColorado from Michaelsfeld in Bessarabia. Hewas a skilled wagon-makerby trade, but had to sell his tools for passage money for the family.Their children are: Margaret (Meyer), Gottlieb, William, Christina(Leasing), Mary (Kramer) Carl, John, Christian, Nettie (Hasart), andFrieda (Weisshaar).
Andrew Adolf married Margaretha (Schlickenmayer) and raised ninechildren in "The Settlement": Jacob, Karolina (Golle), William, John S.,Emanuel, Fred, David, Frieda (Gramm), Martha (Weiss), and Gotthilf.
The children of August and Katherina Adolf are: Daniel (who died in adiptheria epidemic in 1892), Katherina ("Katie") (Wahl), August ("A.W."),Gustaf, Christian, Luella (Holwegner), Anna (Hasart), and Daniel Jacob.
From these four children of Christian and Friederika: Frederika,August, Wilhelm, and Andrew, are descended many of the residents ofeastern Kit Carson County, many of them still livingin "The Settlement"north of Bethune.
We Helped Start the Settlement
by Della Adolf Pugh
orginally published in Kit Carson Conty and Its Cattlemen 1958 - RoyBader & Avis Bader
Later reprinted in the Kit Carson County History
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August and Kathrina Adolf were Germans who had immigrated to BrieneBessarabia, South Russia.
In 1888 Mr. and Mrs. Adolf and their two Russian born children, Dannyage 3 and Katie age 1, came to America. They made their first home inScotland, South Dakota, where others of theirnationality had settled.Here Mr. Adolf worked as a shoemaker.
In March 1890, the Adolf family along with others came to Burlingtonand started what is now known as and called the "German Settlement," anarea north and east of Bethune. The new railroad had just come throughthis new country. August and Kathrina were the second family to claim ahomestead. The first family was Mr. and Mrs. Christ Dobler. Soonafterwards the Strobels,Schaals, Baltzers and others also homesteaded.
The settlers first homes were dugouts with planks covered with sodserving as the roof. Rattlesnakes were their constant danger. Later onthey plowed the ground making large clots of dirt. They would shape theminto squares and stack them one on top of another making a wall. Theroofs were alsoplanks covered with sod.
Still later on, they made the houses out or adobe. This was a mudand straw mixture. A large round vat shaped place was made in the groundto which dirt, water and straw were added. Horses were led to walkaround and around in the vat to mix the mud mixture until it was theright thickness. Then it was cut into blocks. These blocks were thencarefully piled about one foot high around the desired size of the roomwanted. After it had dried sufficiently another foot of adobe was addedand so on until it was the desired height. Sometimes a shingle roofwouldbe added. Others would just use mud covered planks. Some twostory houses would be built
this way.
On May 8,1890, Mr. and Mrs. Adolf's son, A.W. Adolf, was born. Hewas the first white baby to be born in the Settlement. There were nodoctors in this area, so all new babies were delivered by women who werecalled midwives. One of the first was Grandmother Yale. The first doctorto come to this area was Dr. Gillette. However, before he came thesettlers relied on home remedies. It was remembered that about six yearsafter the came, diphtheria struck heavily and many died. Wahls lostthree children, Strobels lost one, August Adolf, Sr., lost one and otherswhose names cannot now be recalled.
August Adolf was a shoe cobbler and besides caring for his cow, twohorses and what little feed he could raise, he walked to Burlington everymorning and home every evening for the approximate earnings of twentyfive to seventy five cents a day. Many times he carried a sack of foodhome. A 50 lb sack of flour could be bought for 75 cents. A two yearold steer sold for $10-00. Good cows also sold for around $10.00. Horseswere scarce and were treasured. Their water was hauled by wagon from theRepublican River.
There were no buffalo left in this area, but there were hundreds ofantelope. There was only one gun in the Settlement, a .32 rifle owned byGottlieb Bauder. It was used by anyone wanting to hunt.
The women spun their own yarn from the few sheep that they raised.All the socks, caps, coats, sweaters, etc., were hand knitted.
The mattresses for the beds were filled with either straw or cornshucks. If the crops had been good, they were filled with new straw eachyear.
Fire was a great hazard in those days. A plow, barrel of water andgunny sacks were their fire fighting equipment. One bad fire recalledwas one which started at Yuma, Colorado, and was never stopped until itreached the railroad at Cheyenne Wells, Colorado; it had even jumped theRepublican River. ; Brienne, Akkerman District, Bessarabian Village, South Russia. Foundedin 1816. One of the original Bessarabian Lutheran colonies.
Left Russia in 1888 with two children, Daniel and Katherine (Katie). They settled briefly in Scotland, Bon Homme, South Dakota. Arriving in Burlington, Kit Carson, CO in March 1890 they settled north of Bethune, Kit Carson, CO. Their first home were dug-outs, carved into hillsides, with planks covered with sod, serving as the roof. Later, adobe houses were built which were much better than the sod houses most of the other early settlers had. In 1892, August Adolf was able to arrange for his father and mother, Christian and Friederika Adolf, together with their three children; Frederika, William and Andreas Andrew, to come to the United States. Christian (father) and his family settled near Denver when they first arrived; he and Andrew (son) worked in the smelters. Later, they came to the settlement and worked as a blacksmith. August Adolf was a shoemaker by trade in Russia and so beside caring for his homesteadand his growing family, he walked to Burlington - approximately 15 miles across the prairie - to make and repair shoes and boots, earning 25 cents a day. His wife, Katherine, was one ofthe first mid-wives in the area. She and "Grandma" Yale, another of the early mid-wives, delivered many of the children born in those years, and sometimes assisted Dr. C. Gilette, one of the first medical doctors in Kit Carson County, with practical nursing. There were no buffalo left in Kit Carson County when these first German settlers arrived, but there were antelope to supplement the meager meat supply. The only gun in "The Settlement" was a 33-gauge rifle, owned by Gottlieb Bauder, which was shared by the people of "The Settlement," as were theirother tools and their skills. Gradually, cattle herds were built up and more ground broken for growing grain and feed. Earlier Germans from Russia had brought with them a hardy winterwheat, well-adapted to the cold, dry winters of the prairies. It was the introduction of this winter wheat which opened much of the "high plains" to wheat production. (An unwelcome "hitch-hiker" was the Russian thistle, which has become a kind of "trademark" of the American West: the tumbleweed!) August Adolf went to the Yakima Valley in the state of Washington afterhis wife, Katherine died on March 12, 1930 and lived there until he died on April 25, 1949.
August lived to be 86 years, 1 month and 3 days.
Ernst
Brost
