On the Move Again
The Hutmachers Arrive at Ellis Island 11/24/1911
The German immigrants’ strong desire to maintain their identity as Germans in Russia, speaking German, not allowing marriage to the local Ukrainians and following their chosen faith, was backfiring on the German communities.
Facing growing resentment from the now freed serfs, the German settlers now had to build walls around their settlements to protect themselves and their property and
the anti-western Russian nationalism movement put pressure on the Russian government to rescind the Germans’ special privileges. Exemption from compulsory military service was rescinded and German men began to be drafted into the Russian military.
Meanwhile, word began to reach the German communities that free land was available in the United States. Scouts were sent to the U.S. to identify areas suitable for German settlements: agricultural land where they could re-create a German community.
They found that the Plains states of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Kansas resembled the flat Russian steppes. Scouts wrote home with specific instructions about where settlers should go to find these new territories.
The Germans’ transition was easier if they had someone at the other end to take them in and provide temporary shelter while they built their own home. But many of these new homesteaders found themselves in conditions similar to those faced by their grandparents or great-grandparents when they had first settled in Russia.
The Hutmachers Immigration to the United States
By Perpetua Hutmacher Binstock and son Norbert Binstock
For about 100 years the immigrants enjoyed the privileges granted to them by the Russian government, for they had more rights and privileges than the native Russian people and were an object of envy and jealousy. This was soon to change, for their rights and privileges were slowly taken away.
Land was no longer available. The colonies became over populated. Young men had to enter the service. They lost their local governments. So once again the German people could see no future in their new land. So many packed up and left for the Americas, both North and South.
Valentine Hutmacher was born January 23, 1875, in the colony of Sulz, Russia, the son of Joseph Hutmacher and Seraphia Kupper. He grew up with three brothers, Lucas, Dominic, and Jordan, and three sisters, Rose, Anna Marie, and Katherine.
Valentine Hutmacher married Francis Thomas on November 5, 1900, in Sulz, Russia. She was born November 11, 1877, the daughter of Stephen Thomas and Elizabeth Schwindt.
Valentine Hutmacher was drafted into the Russian Army and served during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 and 1905 on the home front.
In 1911 Valentine went to the mayor of Sulz and tried to acquire land on which to build a house for his growing family. The mayor told him to build in the sky. There is lots of room up there.
After hearing this, Valentine (age 36) decided it was time to get out of Russia. So he took his Francis (29), children Franz (9) Perpentua (3), Anna (3), and Konrad (9 months) and mother Serefina (64), for his father passed away in 1910, and left for the United States of America. They landed at Ellis Island, New York, November 24, 1911.
From there they came to the Dickinson, North Dakota, area and stayed with his brother for a short while. In 1912 he homesteaded land in the Fayette, Dunn County, North Dakota, area. There he built a stone house and moved in with his family. In the course of time he added many more stone buildings on the farmstead.
On the Move Again
