A Long Journey

1
A Long Journey

• The Roesch Family

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In Loving Memory of
Anne Roesch Larson
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Roesch Family in Germany

• The farthest back that the Roesch family has been
  traced so far is to Jacob Roesch, born around
  1740, and his wife Dorthea B. Seithers. They had
  Christoph Friedrich Roesch, who married Anna
  Marie Bergmann and lived in Württemberg, Germany.
  Their son, Friedrich Roesch, lived in Württemberg
  until he moved to Glueckstal, Russia, taking
  advantage of the Second Wave.

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The Promise

• Catherine the Great of Russia issued a Manifesto
  on July 22, 1763. Her offer of land and religious
  and political self-government motivated many
  Germans to migrate to Russia.

Catherine the Great
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The Second Wave

• In 1804, Czar Alexander I renewed Catherine the
  Greats manifesto, and the second wave of
  emigrants moved to Russia.

Alexander I
6
The Move

• Friedrich Roesch and his parents moved to
  Glueckstal, Russia around 1819 to take advantage
  of the renewed offer made by Czar Alexander I. He
  traveled either by way of wagon train or barge,
  and the journey took two months or more. Once in
  Russia, he started his new life by marrying
  Barbara Strobel on December 31, 1822.

The Route from Germany to Russia
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Roesch Family in Russia

• Friedrich and Barbara had nine children and lived
  in the colony of Glueckstal. At Catherine the
  Greats insistence, each colony was of the same
  religion. The little colonies flourished and grew
  from 300 people to over 3,000. Cultures between
  the colonies blended into a mix of German,
  Russian, and whatever religion was dominant in
  the area.

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Changes for the Worse

• The Russian government was not entirely happy
  with the German immigrants and feared they lacked
  complete loyalty to Russia. Also, native Russians
  were jealous of the prosperity of the colonies.

• Then in 1874, Czar Alexander II said the
  colonists were no longer exempt from military
  service. He also instituted a Russification
  policy, which threatened the culture of the
  Germans by forcing them to adopt Russian cultural
  aspects.

Czar Alexander II
9
The Choice

• In 1862, President Lincoln of the United States
  issued the Homestead Act, which gave 160 acres of
  land to anyone who would settle it. The Germans
  in Russia heard and then had a choice to make
  escape the increasingly oppressing Russia and
  take their chances in a new country, or stay and
  face oppression but at least have familiarity.
  Friedrich Roesch decided his family was to move.

The Roesch Family- 1905
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Coming to America

• On October 11, 1898, Friedrich Roesch (Grandson
  of Friedrich and Barbara Roesch), his wife Rosina
  and their family decided to move to America. The
  parents and their two children, Rose and John,
  sailed to Ellis Island on the Kaiser Friedrich.
  Their other brother, Friedrich, passed away
  before the move. He reportedly told his family,
  Im not going to America, and he died. The
  family buried him in much sadness and left for
  America.

The Kaiser Friedrich
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A Better Life

• Friedrich and Rosina eventually settled in
  Roscoe, South Dakota with other Germans from
  Russia. They tilled the rocky soil and turned it
  into productive farmland. Their family prospered
  and grew to include nine children Rose, John,
  Jake, Fred, Martha, Eva, Anne, Ed, and Marie.
  Each enjoyed the freedoms of their new homeland,
  America. Their long journey had been worthwhile.

The Roesch Family- 1915
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Bibliography

• Information
• grhs.com
• wikipedia.com
• google.com
• Virginia Prior (Schumacher)
• GRHS Headquarters, Bismarck, North Dakota
• Music
• Whereer You Walk from Semele by G.F. Handel

• Images
• nndb.com
• palagems.com
• americaslibrary.gov
• reformation.org
• europeinns.com
• ehrman.net
• Virginia Prior (Schumacher)
• GRHS Headquarters, Bismarck, North Dakota

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The End

• Thanks to everyone
• who helped me!