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Eurich and Allied Families Photographs and Documents

Twentieth Century Michigan Relatives
The Eurichs and Spindlers who I grew up with all lived in Michigan, staying near the settlement of Volga Germans in Saginaw, or moving a few miles to work in the auto shops in the Flint area.
Eurich_Album_1.txt Eurich_Album_1.zip Click on the .txt file to see descriptions of the photographs in the .zip file. The .zip file is over 5 megabytes in size. This photograph "album" contains the known surviving sample of wedding pictures that my mother kept. She was busy during those wartime years -- holding down a full-time job, tapdancing at the Flint IMA, and serving as bridesmaid for all her siblings and many of her friends. But she looked like she was having fun -- they often had large, flowery, polka-dancing receptions that lasted half the night.

1920 Saginaw census page listing Spindlers and Eurich family shown below.
Eurich Family, c. 1925, Saginaw. Seated: my grandparents, Fred & Katharine Spindler Eurich. Standing: Walter, Frieda, John, Harold (Herman), Amelia, Henry. Wisconsin Connections
Parochial Certificate used by the Spindler family to immigrate to the United States in 1903.
English translation of the Spindler parochial certificate.
The large Eurich family picked strawberries as migrant workers on their way from Philadelphia to Sheboygan, where they worked in the chair factories and attended one of the German Lutheran churches.
Baptism Card for Gottlieb Diener, given to godparents Frederich and Katharine Eurich in Sheboygan Wisconsin 1910-1920.
Baptism Certificate for Amelia Eurich, performed by Rev. C.P. Schultz at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sheboygan Wisconsin on April 14, 1912. Witnesses were her aunt Anna Spindler, Maria Kober, Christ Reimer, and Christ Dahmer.
Eurichs at Trinity Lutheran 1903-1939, extracted from church records.

Russian Connections
Map of German colonies in the Volga Valley, published by Karl Stumpp in his monumental "Emigration of Germans to Russia". The Eurichs, like many Russian Germans who emigrated eventually to Sheboygan, were from the village of Reinwald, a Lutheran village on the east side (also known as the meadow side or wiesenseite) of the Volga river, in the region of Samara.
Grandmother Kate Spindler Eurich was born in nearby Reinhart, and since there was a lot of traveling between villages may have known her future husband before she emigrated. Her sister Anna's first husband Henry Weitz is said to have been a guard to Czar Nicholas II, and was born in Krasnojar. Anna's second husband Jake Aab was from Doenhof, on the other side of the Volga from the Spindlers (the mountain side or bergseite). Much of his family group emigrated to Colorado, though some stayed behind. We in Flint thought of them as we collected eyeglasses to send back to the old country.

According to my uncle, a direct Eurich ancestor was a respected 18th century butcher in the Volga Valley; perhaps others were also tradesmen but, despite Russia's initial promises, did not have the opportunity to practice their trades. Instead, they were made to farm the salty soil and endure increasing government interference with the freedoms they had come to expect in their new homeland. My family's wedding parties in America may have been a reaction to Russia's constant monitoring, even of weddings, to ensure they were putting all their resources into soberly improving the land.
I could use some help on this one...This photo was in my mother's collection. The couple seated in front may be Frederick and Catherine Dahmer Eurich; the rightmost male looks very much like my grandfather Frederick Eurich (see Spindler family photo below left). Probably taken in the 1910s, either in Saginaw or Sheboygan.

Spindlers, 1916. Back row: John, Anna, Frederich Eurich, Katherine, Walter Eurich, Amelia Spindler. Seated: Johann Heinrich and Sophie Merz Spindler. Children: Henry, Amelia, and John Eurich. German Connections
Relying again upon Dr. Stumpp, here is his map of emigration routes from the German states to the Russian Empire in the 1760s-1820s .
Escaping the famine and destruction of continuous war, my ancestors sailed from Hesse and the Rheinland in small ships for hundreds of miles to the Volga river valley, a tax free land of opportunity and freedom from conscription promised by Tsarina Catherine the Great. Survivors of the dangerous journey were faced with making it through their first winter without shelter, for there were no buildings and few trees in the promised land. So they dug holes in the ground and pulled together to wait for spring, when they would do for the German-born Catherine what she knew they would do -- improve her land with characteristic energy and industry.
Later groups, including a branch of Spindlers, came from Wuertemburg and Baden to the Caucassas and South Russia, not only to escape poverty but persecution due to their Mennonite religion.

Katherine Spindler and Frederick Eurich
April 1904, Sheboygan Wisconsin
Henry, Amelia, John Eurich, 1912, Sheboygan

Favorite Internet Sources
AHSGR
(American Historical Society of Germans from Russia). Volunteers keep track of Germans from the Volga Valley, as well as other Germans-from-Russia groups. Headquarters in Nebraska, but chapters in all major North American settlements. Online copies of partial versions of Karl Stumpp's census indexes for Russian villages, listings of immigrants by areas in the U.S., springboard for other sites relating to Russian Germans.
Volga Links and Sources. Extensive list of links to Volga Valley German family sites and lists, including websites for the Weitz family and for Russian Germans in Sheboygan Wisconsin.
Saginaw Michigan Obituary Archive. Saginaw News archive maintained by the Public Libraries of Saginaw, containing extracts of obituaries dating from the mid-1800s to the present. Information includes birthdate, deathdate, spouse, cemetery, notes about employment and immigration.

Family Tree Data Dawn's Families Home Page

*Twentieth Century Michigan Relatives* The Eurichs and Spindlers who I grew up with all lived in Michigan, staying near the settlement of Volga Germans in Saginaw, or moving a few miles to work in the auto shops in the Flint area. Eurich_Album_1.txt Eurich_Album_1.zip Click on the .txt file to see descriptions of the photographs in the .zip file. The .zip file is over 5 megabytes in size.	This photograph "album" contains the known surviving sample of wedding pictures that my mother kept. She was busy during those wartime years -- holding down a full-time job, tapdancing at the Flint IMA, and serving as bridesmaid for all her siblings and many of her friends. But she looked like she was having fun -- they often had large, flowery, polka-dancing receptions that lasted half the night.
1920 Saginaw census page listing Spindlers and Eurich family shown below. Eurich Family, c. 1925, Saginaw. Seated: my grandparents, Fred & Katharine Spindler Eurich. Standing: Walter, Frieda, John, Harold (Herman), Amelia, Henry.	*Wisconsin Connections* Parochial Certificate used by the Spindler family to immigrate to the United States in 1903. English translation of the Spindler parochial certificate. The large Eurich family picked strawberries as migrant workers on their way from Philadelphia to Sheboygan, where they worked in the chair factories and attended one of the German Lutheran churches. Baptism Card for Gottlieb Diener, given to godparents Frederich and Katharine Eurich in Sheboygan Wisconsin 1910-1920. Baptism Certificate for Amelia Eurich, performed by Rev. C.P. Schultz at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sheboygan Wisconsin on April 14, 1912. Witnesses were her aunt Anna Spindler, Maria Kober, Christ Reimer, and Christ Dahmer. Eurichs at Trinity Lutheran 1903-1939, extracted from church records.
*Russian Connections* Map of German colonies in the Volga Valley, published by Karl Stumpp in his monumental "Emigration of Germans to Russia". The Eurichs, like many Russian Germans who emigrated eventually to Sheboygan, were from the village of Reinwald, a Lutheran village on the east side (also known as the meadow side or wiesenseite) of the Volga river, in the region of Samara. Grandmother Kate Spindler Eurich was born in nearby Reinhart, and since there was a lot of traveling between villages may have known her future husband before she emigrated. Her sister Anna's first husband Henry Weitz is said to have been a guard to Czar Nicholas II, and was born in Krasnojar. Anna's second husband Jake Aab was from Doenhof, on the other side of the Volga from the Spindlers (the mountain side or bergseite). Much of his family group emigrated to Colorado, though some stayed behind. We in Flint thought of them as we collected eyeglasses to send back to the old country.	According to my uncle, a direct Eurich ancestor was a respected 18th century butcher in the Volga Valley; perhaps others were also tradesmen but, despite Russia's initial promises, did not have the opportunity to practice their trades. Instead, they were made to farm the salty soil and endure increasing government interference with the freedoms they had come to expect in their new homeland. My family's wedding parties in America may have been a reaction to Russia's constant monitoring, even of weddings, to ensure they were putting all their resources into soberly improving the land. I could use some help on this one...This photo was in my mother's collection. The couple seated in front *may be* Frederick and Catherine Dahmer Eurich; the rightmost male *looks very much like* my grandfather Frederick Eurich (see Spindler family photo below left). Probably taken in the 1910s, either in Saginaw or Sheboygan.
Spindlers, 1916. Back row: John, Anna, Frederich Eurich, Katherine, Walter Eurich, Amelia Spindler. Seated: Johann Heinrich and Sophie Merz Spindler. Children: Henry, Amelia, and John Eurich.	*German Connections* Relying again upon Dr. Stumpp, here is his map of emigration routes from the German states to the Russian Empire in the 1760s-1820s . Escaping the famine and destruction of continuous war, my ancestors sailed from Hesse and the Rheinland in small ships for hundreds of miles to the Volga river valley, a tax free land of opportunity and freedom from conscription promised by Tsarina Catherine the Great. Survivors of the dangerous journey were faced with making it through their first winter without shelter, for there were no buildings and few trees in the promised land. So they dug holes in the ground and pulled together to wait for spring, when they would do for the German-born Catherine what she knew they would do -- improve her land with characteristic energy and industry. Later groups, including a branch of Spindlers, came from Wuertemburg and Baden to the Caucassas and South Russia, not only to escape poverty but persecution due to their Mennonite religion.
Katherine Spindler and Frederick Eurich April 1904, Sheboygan Wisconsin	Henry, Amelia, John Eurich, 1912, Sheboygan
*Favorite Internet Sources* AHSGR (American Historical Society of Germans from Russia). Volunteers keep track of Germans from the Volga Valley, as well as other Germans-from-Russia groups. Headquarters in Nebraska, but chapters in all major North American settlements. Online copies of partial versions of Karl Stumpp's census indexes for Russian villages, listings of immigrants by areas in the U.S., springboard for other sites relating to Russian Germans.	Volga Links and Sources. Extensive list of links to Volga Valley German family sites and lists, including websites for the Weitz family and for Russian Germans in Sheboygan Wisconsin. Saginaw Michigan Obituary Archive. Saginaw News archive maintained by the Public Libraries of Saginaw, containing extracts of obituaries dating from the mid-1800s to the present. Information includes birthdate, deathdate, spouse, cemetery, notes about employment and immigration.
Family Tree Data	Dawn's Families Home Page