Another clue on the Eckerdt trail…

We found this funeral remembrance card neatly tucked between the deteriorating pages of an old German book at the end of our bookshelf.  The book — undated, but I would guess a turn-of-the-20th century vintage — is printed in the Gothic looking old German script.  The front introductory pages, as well as pages beyond 246, are gone.  The heading on page 3 reads:  "Geschichten des Alten Testaments" or "History of the Old Testament."  It likely earned its dog-eared pages through use in the Pete and Dora Miller home in Whitney, Nebraska, and was likely the repository of many  newspaper clippings and other mementos over the years — all long since gone.  So finding this was a pleasant surprise.

The card honors Helene Eckert (Eckerdt), the second wife of Conrad Luke Eckerdt. 

Conrad's first wife is believed to have been Maria Dorotea Wilhelm.  About her, we know almost nothing, since it is believed that she died giving birth to her only child — Dorotea (Dora) Eckerdt.  Dora was born in Schwed, Russia, on January 8, 1892.  Her father Conrad  then married widow Helene Neuwirth sometime in the 1890's.  By the time Conrad Eckerdt and his wife Lena left for America in 1905, they had three children.  A daughter (Dora) by Conrad's first wife.  A son (Henry) by Lena's first marriage.  And their own son, Alex, born in 1900.

In the United States, while living in Longmont, Colorado, Dora Eckerdt met and would later marry Pete Miller on March 21, 1909.

Finding this remembrance card of Lena's rekindles our interest in learning more about Conrad Eckerdt and his first wife, Maria Dorotea Wilhelm, cold though that trail might be!

From the Czar's army....to America

He was buried 100 years ago in Mountain View Cemetery on the north side of Longmont, Colorado.   But there is no tombstone.  No marker.  Nothing that tells us anything about this German-Russian immigrant who escaped the hard life of Russia for new opportunities in America.

Conrad Luke Eckerdt
Undated photograph

This man, Conrad Eckerdt, was born July 12, 1858 in the German colonies along the eastern “wiesenseite”  (meadow side) of the Volga River.  We don't know exactly where he was born, but the discharge documents from his service in the Russian Army listed the village of "Splavnukha" as home.  The Germans living there called the colony “Huck.”  Conrad's parents were listed as Lewis (Luke) Eckerdt and Lizzie Liesmann, and he had at least one brother, Philip. 

The German colonists were largely a segregated group, preferring to remain unto themselves; however, the changing requirements of the Czar's rule discontinued the exemption from military service that German colonists had long enjoyed.  So it was in 1880 that Conrad Eckerdt entered the Russian military.  He was 22 years old and was described by one of his acquaintances as a "good-sized" man, and he would serve five years in the Czar's army. 

Conrad Eckerdt
Army discharge document

On March 6, 1885, Private Eckerdt, who had worked as a "Staff Helper" in the 96th Reserve Battalion, was discharged to the army reserve.  He returned to Schwed, and that's probably where he met Maria Dorotea Wilhelm.  There are no documents listing a date of marriage for the Eckerdts, but they were supposedly married by the Lutheran pastor from nearby Rosenheim parish sometime between 1885 and 1890.  Their first child, Alexander Eckerdt, was born on October 1, 1890.  

Some years later, Eckerdt was described by acquaintance Fred Gorr as a "pretty good carpenter," so he may have pursued that kind of work upon his return to Schwed.  However, Gorr also remembered that at some point, Conrad Eckerdt worked at a flour mill for an uncle named Kriegel.  

In January of 1892, Conrad and Maria had their second child -- Dora.  There are no documents to substantiate it, but family hearsay indicates that Maria Dorotea died giving birth to her daughter.

So Conrad was left to raise his two young children alone.  But at some point between 1892 and 1900, he remarried.  His new bride was the widow Helena (Lena) Neuwirth, who also had a son, Henry.  Conrad and Lena remained in Schwed for the next few years before packing up and leaving Russia in early 1905, headed for America.  They made their way to Bremen, Germany – probably by train – and then sailed from Bremen on March 29, 1905, destined for the United States.

There are lingering family stories that some of the colonists from Schwed -- like so many immigrants at the turn of the 20th century -- were not allowed to enter the United States because of “pink eye,” but that was not the case for the Eckerdts. 

They arrived in Galveston, Texas, on April 20th aboard a ship of the “Missler” line.  Arrival documents indicated that their destination was Denver and that  “Dorothea Schneider, 18,” accompanied the family.  She was listed as a niece to Conrad Eckerdt.

Peter & Dora Miller
Wedding photograph
March 21, 1909

Marie (Miller) Derrick, a granddaughter to Conrad Eckerdt, remembered being told that the family was met in Galveston by an unnamed uncle, who escorted them to Longmont, Colorado.  It was there that Conrad would would find work in the sugar beet fields of Boulder County.   And it was also where young Dora Eckerdt would meet another “Volga Deutsch” immigrant, Peter Miller.  They married on March 21, 1909.  He was 23 years old.  She was 21. 

According to the Longmont Call newspaper, Pete and Dora were married at the Longmont City Hall, which served as the temporary worship site for the Evangelical Peace Lutheran congregation organized in 1907 under the leadership of Rev. Wm. I. Busch.  It was Pastor Busch who married the couple.  Pete and Dora's first child, Marie, was born in December of 1909, and they soon moved to Chicago, Illinois.

Alex & Marian Eckerdt
2006 - Au Gres, Michigan

Conrad and Lena Eckerdt remained in Longmont, however.  Just two years after his daughter had married, Conrad Eckerdt, who suffered from diabetes, succumbed to heart disease and died.  It was December 26, 1911.

His obituary in the Longmont Ledger of December 29,1911, said “Mr. Eckerdt was a Russian by birth.  He was not feeling well and was going to the depot to take a train for Denver to see if he could get relief, when he was taken down.  Friends took him in a carriage to go to his home, but he died on the way.”

Conrad Eckerdt was just 52 years old when he died.

His widow, Lena, would eventually move east, settling in Michigan., where numerous Eckerdt and Neuwirth descendants continue to live.  At right are Alex Eckerdt, Jr. and his wife Marian, whom we had the great pleasure of meeting during a visit to Michigan in the fall of 2006.  Alex is a grandson of Conrad Eckerdt.

A place named Unterdorf

Early in my genealogical research, I was confronted with the sad fact that our family surname, Miller, is about as generic a name as you'll find within the German language. Many folks have speculated that our name was originally Muller (probably with an umlaut), and that's likely accurate, although there's no verification one way or the other. Miller, Muller, and Mueller are all surname candidates!

My grandfather, Peter Miller, was born in Unterdorf, Russia in 1886. When I was able to verify that information, I was ecstatic. When I learned that Katie Behm, the wife of my grandfather's nephew, Alex Behm, had created a map of Unterdorf, I was excited at the prospect of learning exactly where my grandfather had lived in the "old country."

Alas, while I guess I had known it, I conveniently overlooked the reality that every family seemed to name their boys the same: Pete, Alex, John, Henry, Fred, etc. There was not a lot of variety. Thus, with so many Miller families in Unterdorf, I haven't been able to pin down exactly where my grandfather lived before migrating to the United States with his older sister, Eva (Miller) Behm, and her family in 1906.

While I've not been able to update it much over the past year or so, I have expectations of significantly enhancing my Unterdorf website in coming months. Of course, that's done largely through the benevolence of people like you -- folks who may have new information about this small village not far from the Volga in Russia and the families that lived there.

Shown above is a contemporary aerial photo of the Unterdorf region. For the many years that I've been tracking the Peter Miller and Dora (Eckerdt) Miller families, I've had hopes of one day setting foot on the same soil that Grandpa Miller walked. With each passing year, that becomes less likely, but I've not given up hope. And perhaps by the time I make the trek, I'll know more about this little village and the circumstances that drove its citizenry to seek opportunities in the "new world."

Unveiling the Mystery of 99 Years

SHE was born in 1892 in Schwed, Russia, in the "Wiesenseite (meadow side)" area of the Volga river valley. HE was born four years earlier -- in 1886 -- down river and on the other side of the Volga in the "Bergseite (hilly side)" village of Unterdorf.

Much of this lower Volga region was inhabited by Germans who'd been there since shortly after Catherine the Great became empress in 1762; in the following year she issued a manifesto inviting Germans and many other Europeans to help populate the outlying reaches of the empire.

Despite their close proximity in the old country, Dora Eckerdt and Peter Miller were not to meet until after the turn of the century, when they migrated with their families to the United States. Peter landed at Ellis Island with his older sister, Eva Behm, and her family. Dora came by way of Galveston with her father and stepmother.

They both ended up in Longmont, Colorado, where they met and then married in 1909. For more information about Pete and Dora Miller and their family, visit the Galey & Miller Family History site.

The photograph above is one of the few of Pete and Dora in their younger years. Taken on March 21, 1909, this wedding picture has been a fun topic of conversation for many years. Their daughter, Marie (Miller) Derrick, first told us the story that had been shared with her by her mother.

And what was that topic? The lovely veil worn by the bride -- before it adorned the young Mrs. Miller's bridal gown -- had been a window curtain!

A lovely veil, by any other name, is still a lovely veil. For a few other Miller family pictures, click here.