Schoenchen, Ellis County, Kansas
Founded - April - May, 1877
Schoenchen is distinctive among Unsere Leute for it was the last settlement founded by the Volga-German immigrants in Ellis and Rush Counties. It is the only one which was established in 1877 and the sole community created by spinoff from an original because of conflict among the first settlers.
The story of Schoenchen begins at Liebenthal. Founded on February 22, 1876, Liebenthal was the creation of a part of the Volga-German group which left Saratov, Russia on October 24, 1875, sailed from Bremen, Germany on the Ohio November 2, landed in Baltimore on November 23 and spent the winter in Topeka, Kansas after arriving there by train on November 28, 1875. On February 21, 1876 the Liebenthal group came to Hays and the following day moved to the present townsite in Section 21, Township 16, Range 18, in Rush County. Among the Schoenchen founders were the following who participated in the establishment of Liebenthal share in the added distinction of having been involved in the founding of the first Volga-German community and being among those of Unsere Leute who actually founded two of the original settlements:
Furst Group - February 21, 1876
Heinrich & Elizabetha (Hermann) Bieker -
Maria, Maria Katharina, Margaretha
Johann & Maria Eva (Wasinger) Bieker -
Anna Katharina, Maria Katharina, Clemens, Johannes, Franz
Johann Joseph & Maria (Mayer) Bieker -
Gottlieb, Konrad, Anna, Elizabetha, Alexander
Nikolaus & Anna Maria (Hardinger) Bieker -
Katharina, Sophia, Elizabetha, Anna Maria,
Maria Elizabetha, Katharina Elizabetha, Alexander
Wilhelm Bieker -
Peter, Elizabetha, Kaspar, Joseph, Margaretha
Paul & Christina (Schueller) Dinges
Franz Waldschmidt
Nikolaus, Katharina Elizabetha, Johannes, Katharina, Adam,
Alexander, Anna Katharina
Philip & Maria Elizabetha Wolf -
Margaretha, Philip, Johannes
Johann & Anna Katharina Zimmerman -
Katharina
At this stage the record is still unclear as to which group the following couples belongd: Konrad and Maria Elizabeth (Pfannenstiel) Bieker; Philip & Dorothy (Siegel) Bieker. Fr. Lang fails to mention them, but the 1926 Golden Jubilee book lists them among the 1876 arrivals. In any event, they merit recognition as it appears they were among the founders of Schoenchen.
Second Group Arrives -August 14, 1876
On August 14, 1876 a second group, all from Schoenchen, Russia settled in Liebenthal, Kansas in Rush County. Included in its number were the following families which later moved to Schoenchen:
Agnes (Maria) Hepner (Grandmother)
Helena Herklotz
Karl Anton Herklotz
Jakob Munsch
Joseph and Anna Elisabeth (Lang) Munsch
Anton
Michael & Maria Agnes (Hepner) Schmidt
Dorothea, Julia, Paulina, Anna
Alois Werth
Friederich & Lucia (Ebel) Werth
Anton, Johannes
Jakob & Maria Barbara (Munsch) Werth
Jakob, Johannes
Johann & Maria Elizabeth (Munsch) Werth
Maria Elizabeth
Johann Peter & Maria (Zimmerman) Werth
Theobald
Karl & Anna Margaretha (Wendler) Werth
Mikolaus, Jakob, Heinrich, Maria, Elizabetha, Katharina
J. Jakob & Maria (Werth) Zimmerman
Theresia, Benjamin, Mikodemus, Maria, Alexander
Katharina Zimmerman (Grandmother)
Third Group Arrives - September 1876
In September, 1876 a third group, all from Neu-Obermunjor, Russia settled in Liebenthal. Of that party all but the Philip Dreher family later moved to Schochen. They were:
Adam & Katharina (Sauer) Bieker
Franz, Katharina, Elizabetha
Franz & Maria Julia (Gross) Dreher
Anna, Alexander, Peter, Katharina
Johann & Anna Maria (Unrein) Dreher
Johann, August
Konrad & Anna Elizabeth (Wendler) Dreher
Maria
Anna Katharina Graf (Grandmother)
Friedrich & Anna Maria (Kohlmeyer) Graf
Katharina, Clementina, Barbara, Florian
Joseph Rumbach
Joseph & Anna Katharina (?) Zimmerman
Paul
