My Great Grandpa came to America at the age of 14 from Russia around 1875. They homesteaded in Dakota Territory near what is now Parker, South Dakota. Their first home was a sod house. He once showed my uncle Gordon the ruins of it which was just a mound of dirt which were the crumbling walls.
The family was not Russian, but German. They were of the large migration of Germans that had moved to Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great, the German Empress of Russia. They were a part of the Amish, Mennonite and Hueterite religious groups that did not believe in war and killing. At that time Catherine the Great had acquired a vast amount of land around the Black Sea and offered these Germans the land to homestead and build up and promised they would never have to serve in the military. During the mid 1800's thousands migrated to the US and settled from an area of mid Minnesota, parts of Nebraska, both Dakotas and into Canada. We have distant relatives all through that area. Some came and settled in colonies and others settled independently. The Guenthers were of this latter group. You have probably heard of the many colonies in South Dakota and some of them are related to me also. The Amish (Pennsylvania Dutch) are a part of that movement and my uncle belives they came directly from Germany.
Their children were George, jr. who died of diphtheria at a young age and is
buried a couple of miles from their original farm because the roads were so muddy
in the spring they could not get his body to Parker for burial. My Grandpa showed my uncle Gordon the spot one time, but he as since forgotten just where the spot is. Their second child was Nettie followed by Mary, Emma (my Grandmother) and Edward.
Nettie married Henry Koller (from a German family of that same area). They had 5 children. Ruth (married to Carlton Strange), Ardell, Erma and Morris.
Erma was married to Roy Lundquist of Sioux Falls. (Roy's brother Carl was
President of Bethel College and Seminary of St Paul MN) .
Mary married Carl Wright of Parker and had one daughter Jeanne who married Fred Fenton of Mount Pleasant Iowa.
Emma married James Henry Terwilliger (My Grandfather) and had 4 children, Gordon, Nada Dorene, Raymond and James Edward (My Dad).
Edward married first a woman name Stella (divorced) then married Sylvia from Minnesota. They had 2 sons, Dean and Richard. Dean was an MD in St Paul MN.
The family was not Russian, but German. They were of the large migration of Germans that had moved to Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great, the German Empress of Russia. They were a part of the Amish, Mennonite and Hueterite religious groups that did not believe in war and killing. At that time Catherine the Great had acquired a vast amount of land around the Black Sea and offered these Germans the land to homestead and build up and promised they would never have to serve in the military. During the mid 1800's thousands migrated to the US and settled from an area of mid Minnesota, parts of Nebraska, both Dakotas and into Canada. We have distant relatives all through that area. Some came and settled in colonies and others settled independently. The Guenthers were of this latter group. You have probably heard of the many colonies in South Dakota and some of them are related to me also. The Amish (Pennsylvania Dutch) are a part of that movement and my uncle belives they came directly from Germany.
Their children were George, jr. who died of diphtheria at a young age and is
buried a couple of miles from their original farm because the roads were so muddy
in the spring they could not get his body to Parker for burial. My Grandpa showed my uncle Gordon the spot one time, but he as since forgotten just where the spot is. Their second child was Nettie followed by Mary, Emma (my Grandmother) and Edward.
Nettie married Henry Koller (from a German family of that same area). They had 5 children. Ruth (married to Carlton Strange), Ardell, Erma and Morris.
Erma was married to Roy Lundquist of Sioux Falls. (Roy's brother Carl was
President of Bethel College and Seminary of St Paul MN) .
Mary married Carl Wright of Parker and had one daughter Jeanne who married Fred Fenton of Mount Pleasant Iowa.
Emma married James Henry Terwilliger (My Grandfather) and had 4 children, Gordon, Nada Dorene, Raymond and James Edward (My Dad).
Edward married first a woman name Stella (divorced) then married Sylvia from Minnesota. They had 2 sons, Dean and Richard. Dean was an MD in St Paul MN.
My Great Grandpa came to America at the age of 14 from Russia around 1875. They homesteaded in Dakota Territory near what is now Parker, South Dakota. Their first home was a sod house. He once showed my uncle Gordon the ruins of it which was just a mound of dirt which were the crumbling walls.
The family was not Russian, but German. They were of the large migration of Germans that had moved to Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great, the German Empress of Russia. They were a part of the Amish, Mennonite and Hueterite religious groups that did not believe in war and killing. At that time Catherine the Great had acquired a vast amount of land around the Black Sea and offered these Germans the land to homestead and build up and promised they would never have to serve in the military. During the mid 1800's thousands migrated to the US and settled from an area of mid Minnesota, parts of Nebraska, both Dakotas and into Canada. We have distant relatives all through that area. Some came and settled in colonies and others settled independently. The Guenthers were of this latter group. You have probably heard of the many colonies in South Dakota and some of them are related to me also. The Amish (Pennsylvania Dutch) are a part of that movement and my uncle belives they came directly from Germany.
Their children were George, jr. who died of diphtheria at a young age and is
buried a couple of miles from their original farm because the roads were so muddy
in the spring they could not get his body to Parker for burial. My Grandpa showed my uncle Gordon the spot one time, but he as since forgotten just where the spot is. Their second child was Nettie followed by Mary, Emma (my Grandmother) and Edward.
Nettie married Henry Koller (from a German family of that same area). They had 5 children. Ruth (married to Carlton Strange), Ardell, Erma and Morris.
Erma was married to Roy Lundquist of Sioux Falls. (Roy's brother Carl was
President of Bethel College and Seminary of St Paul MN) .
Mary married Carl Wright of Parker and had one daughter Jeanne who married Fred Fenton of Mount Pleasant Iowa.
Emma married James Henry Terwilliger (My Grandfather) and had 4 children, Gordon, Nada Dorene, Raymond and James Edward (My Dad).
Edward married first a woman name Stella (divorced) then married Sylvia from Minnesota. They had 2 sons, Dean and Richard. Dean was an MD in St Paul MN.
The family was not Russian, but German. They were of the large migration of Germans that had moved to Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great, the German Empress of Russia. They were a part of the Amish, Mennonite and Hueterite religious groups that did not believe in war and killing. At that time Catherine the Great had acquired a vast amount of land around the Black Sea and offered these Germans the land to homestead and build up and promised they would never have to serve in the military. During the mid 1800's thousands migrated to the US and settled from an area of mid Minnesota, parts of Nebraska, both Dakotas and into Canada. We have distant relatives all through that area. Some came and settled in colonies and others settled independently. The Guenthers were of this latter group. You have probably heard of the many colonies in South Dakota and some of them are related to me also. The Amish (Pennsylvania Dutch) are a part of that movement and my uncle belives they came directly from Germany.
Their children were George, jr. who died of diphtheria at a young age and is
buried a couple of miles from their original farm because the roads were so muddy
in the spring they could not get his body to Parker for burial. My Grandpa showed my uncle Gordon the spot one time, but he as since forgotten just where the spot is. Their second child was Nettie followed by Mary, Emma (my Grandmother) and Edward.
Nettie married Henry Koller (from a German family of that same area). They had 5 children. Ruth (married to Carlton Strange), Ardell, Erma and Morris.
Erma was married to Roy Lundquist of Sioux Falls. (Roy's brother Carl was
President of Bethel College and Seminary of St Paul MN) .
Mary married Carl Wright of Parker and had one daughter Jeanne who married Fred Fenton of Mount Pleasant Iowa.
Emma married James Henry Terwilliger (My Grandfather) and had 4 children, Gordon, Nada Dorene, Raymond and James Edward (My Dad).
Edward married first a woman name Stella (divorced) then married Sylvia from Minnesota. They had 2 sons, Dean and Richard. Dean was an MD in St Paul MN.
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