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Our Boschee families were among the nearly 300,000 Germans who left their homes in southern Russia beginning in the late 19th century to seek a new life in the Americas.
The story of how these German families came to be living in Russia and later settled in the Dakotas and western Canada is quite a unique story in itself. For those who have taken time to learn about our family's heritage, the saga is indeed interesting.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, Germany experienced very difficult times. Wars and religious persecution had devastated parts of the country, and hunger, disease and poverty plagued many of its people. Jobs and productive farmland were difficult to find.
The account of the Germans from Russia began in 1763. Czarina Catherine the Great, of German descent herself, extended an invitation to foreigners to settle in Russia. To entice emigration to Russia, she offered foreigners free land, promised them freedom of religion, and exemption from Russian military service. Due to the poor conditions in Germany at this time, many Germans accepted the Czarina's invitation and established homes for themselves in colonies on the steppes of southern Russia.
Forty years later, Czar Alexander I issued a similar manifesto in 1804 seeking skilled farmers to settle on the Russian steppes. It was after this second invitation was extended that our Boschees immigrated to Russia in 1808 and settled in German colonies near the Black Sea region.
Life in the colonies was difficult at first, but the German settlers eventually prospered. They were experienced farmers and a hardworking, dedicated people.
While living in the colonies, the Boschees maintained their German customs from their ancestral homelands, as did the other settlers. The churches and the schools taught their traditions and gave instruction in their German language.
During the latter half of the 19th century, however, conditions began to deteriorate for the German colonists living in Russia. Not only was land becoming difficult for them to acquire, but the Russian government began to renege on promises they had made, and began a program to "Russianize" the colonists. Beginning in 1874, young men from the colonies began to be drafted into the Russian army. Later, the colonists would be forced to take up the Russian language and they eventually lost the right to self-government in their villages.
During this same period of time, America and Canada were openly inviting emigrants to settle in their lands. 160-acre parcels of land were readily available for little or no money.
Due to the changing conditions in Russia, several Boschee families living in the village of Kassel chose to leave their established homes and come to America. These second- and third-generation Boschees born on the Russian steppe, left behind relatives, many of whom they would never see again. They left behind a way of life and a land they had known for 75 years.
After selling their belongings, these families traveled from Kassel to Bremen, Germany, where they boarded passenger ships. In the fall of 1884 several Boschee families arrived in New York City within days of one another. Records indicate the first Boschee family from Kassel to cross the Atlantic was Jacob and Phillipina (Doerr) Boschee.
Jacob was 22 years old and the young couple had been married less than two years. Jacob and Phillipina boarded the passenger ship, Werra, in Bremen, Germany and arrived in New York Harbor on October 18, 1884. Seven days later two of Jacob's uncles, also from Kassel, arrived in New York with their families.
Johann and Katharina (Bamesberger) Boschee, together with their seven children, traveled from Bremen on the SS Elbe and arrived in New York on October 25th. Johann's daughter Barbara and her husband John Rieger and their children traveled on this same ship.
Johann's younger brother and his family were also aboard. Valentine and Phillipina (Meyer) Boschee and their nine children had arrived in America to begin a new life.
Ship manifests for the Werra and Elbe indicate the Boschee families traveled among steerage passengers. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean by passenger ship was often an unpleasant experience in those days, especially for those in steerage. This class of passengers traveled below deck in crowded conditions, and often suffered terribly from seasickness. The trips usually lasted about two weeks.
From New York City, our Boschee families traveled West by train to the vast prairies in the Dakota Territory. There they became early pioneers of the land. Johann settled near the area that would later become Wishek, North Dakota. Valentine settled near what would later become Zeeland, ND. A few Boschee families including Jacob and Phillipina later left the Dakotas. In 1902 Jacob and Phillipina and their children traveled to western Canada where they settled on a homestead in the Alberta area.
A number of related Boschee families from Kassel immigrated to the U.S. after 1884 to join family members living in the Dakotas. August and Eva (Stroh) Boschee arrived in the Dakota Territory in March of 1885. August, a first cousin to 22-year old Jacob, and his wife Eva later moved to Canada as well.
Friedrich and Katherine (Hauck) Boschee immigrated in 1906 and homesteaded in the McClusky area of North Dakota. Friedrich was also a first cousin to 22-year old Jacob.
Friedrich's youngest brother, Matt, and his wife, Katherine nee Heidt, immigrated in 1909 and first settled in Grand Forks, ND.
Michael Boschee, brother to Johann and Valentine (and father of Friedrich and Matt), emigrated in 1908 or 1909 and made his home in Grand Forks.
These families are a few of the first Boschees to immigrate to America. In the most abbreviated form, this is the story of how our German ancestors ended up in Canada and the United States. The complexities of their lives and the struggles they endured cannot be covered in such a short article as this. With each edition of this newsletter, a different piece of the continuing Boschee saga will appear. For now we thank the pioneers who suffered and worked so hard that we might prosper.
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