Schwab was a part of the Galka parish. In 1870 a new church with 600 seats was built on the site of the old church. The pastor came to preach 12 times each year and Bible studies were held when the pastor was not available. There were 1919 church members in 1906 with a school of 265 students. The population of Schwab was 2300 in 1912.
It is my understanding that the Eichmans came from Breitenbrun, which is near Barmstadt, West Germany. Johannes Michael Eichman desired to make the trip as a single man; however, since only married men were allowed to emigrate, he married Anna Barbara Wolcker from Eschau and they emigrated in 1765. Jahannes was the oldest of 12 sons. (It is family legend that the town of Schwab was named for the Eichman family.)
The Eichmans and Ehrlichs settled on the west side of the Volga south of Saratov. The Eichmans settled in Schwab, the Ehrlichs in Shcherbakovka. In Shcherbakovka, in the stream of the same name, the colonists were able to catch trout. Trout were not found in any other colony. However, pike, bream, sheat-fish (large catfish), perch, tench, crucian (carp), roach, loach, and crayfish were found in sufficient quantities for the colonists use. Particularly in Schwab did they keep it for themselves while some of the other colonists sold fish to the Russian traders.
(Gottlieb Bauer mentions the Eichman family with his reference to the "inheritance process of the families Ries and Eichmann of the "Turkish Pope Mill", Eichman having served for a decade as an officer in a mine shaft.")
My great-parents Eichman (Heinrich and Maria Katherine, maiden name Eichman, first cousins) did not leave Russia until 1909, at which time they boarded the S. S. Koln in May and arrived in Galveston in June 1909. They lost three children while in Russia and at the time of travel, my grandfather Gottfried was 17, his sister Mary was 14. ( Also accompanying them were their older daughter, Katherine Elizabeth, pregnant with Bertha (later married to Albert Hauschild) and Kate's husband, John Hinther and their infant child, Mary (later married to John Bliss). The passenger list indicates they were headed for Oakley, Kansas, to see Henry's brother-in-law, George Henry Herdt, married to Mary Katherine's sister, Annie Elizabeth Eichman Herdt.) The great-grandparents, Heinrich and Mary Katherine, did not intend to stay in the United States. They mortgaged the farm in Russia to pay for their passage; unfortunately the farm was subsequently sold to pay the mortgage. They died in the 1930s without ever learning English.
The Ehrlichs (John George and Maria Katherine, maiden name Blehm), left Russia in 1891, entering the United States through the port of New York in November of that year; the timing would indicate that the famine of 1891-1892 was a significant factor in the decision to immigrate. They traveled with two infants, George (later married to Bertha Katzenmeier) and Henry (later married to Susanna Herdt); the remaining three children, Lydia (later married to George Henry Herdt), Maria (my grandmother) and Fred (later married to Ruth Evelyn Hibbs) were born in the United States. They first settled in Barton County, Kansas, where my grandmother, Maria, was born. By 1895, they had moved to Marion and by 1900, they settled in Oakley, where he farmed until his death in 1941. During World War I, when no one was supposed to have flour on hand, Grandpa Ehrlich was arrested for having a sack of flour in the attic; he was released and nothing more came of it.
Gottfried Eichman and Maria Ehrlich were married on June 11, 1913 in Oakley in a double wedding ceremony with her brother Henry Ehrlich and Susanna Herdt. Gottfried and Maria had four children, Caroline, Esther, Roland and Harvey. In the 1930s Roland "rode the rails" to California where he met and married Alice Roberta Wreath, of Manhattan, Kansas. During World War II, my grandparents Eichmans sold their farm and moved to California. They only stayed for a short time and then settled in Greeley, Colorado where Grandfather worked for Greeley State Teachers College. Both grandparents Eichman died in Greeley.
Roland Herman Eichman, born December 28, 1916 in Oakley, Kansas
Married January 11, 1937 in San Francisco, California
Died July 28, 1960 in San Jose, California
Gottfried Eichman, born May 13, 1891 in Schwab, Saratov, Volga, Russia
Married November 6, 1913 in Oakley, Logan, Kansas
Died March 25, 1960 in Greeley, Colorado
Married to Maria Ehrlich, born November 11, 1894 in Salina, Kansas
Died Mar 26, 1973 in Greeley, Colorado
Parents of Gottfried -
Heinrich Eichman, born March 4, 1865 in Schwab, Saratov, Volga, Russia
Married November 1885, Russia
Died July 30, 1935 in Oakley, Kansas
Married to Maria Katharine Eichman, born September 4, 1865 in Schwab
Surnames from the 1798 census for the village of Schwab This census is available from AHSGR.
| B-D | Beil, Bernhardt (Burhardt), Biel, Borth, Brauer, Buch, Buxman(n), Daubert,Diel, Dietz, Dorsch |
| E-F-G | Eberhard(t), Eichman(n), Eirich, Elsasser, Feiker(Felker), Fischer,Frank, Freidenberg, Freigefer, Gans/Gantz, Gefler, Gerber, Gergenson, Gross,Grun(e)wald(t), Gunther |
| H-J | Hartung, Hef(f)el(e), Heimbuch, Herdt(Herth), Herman(n), Herr, Hinther,Jung, Just |
| K | Kahl, Kaiser, Keil, Koch, Kreis(s), Krug |
| L | Lehning, Lemmerman, Leonhardt, Linder(Lieder), Lorenz, Lust |
| M-P-R | Mohr, Muller, Port, Rausch, Reinhard, Ring/Rink, Ruff, Ruppel |
| S | Sauerwein, Schaf(f)er, Scharman/Scheuermann, Schenk, Schmahl, Schmunk,Schneider, Schreich, Schwab, Schwetz, Seif(f)ert, Siegward(t), Simon, Stiel,Steinert, Strack, Stuckert |
| T-U-V-W-Z | T(h)iel(e), Urich, Volker, Weber, Weirauch, Weissheim, Wiesner, Zwetzig |
Lower Volga village contact person: Rolene Kiesling
[Lower Volga Project] [Dobrinka] [Dubovka] [Dreispitz] [Galka] [Holstein] [Kraft] [Mueller] [Shcherbakovka] [Schwab] [Stephan] [Of Interest] [Obituaries]
