Voices from Early Catherine: Athanasius Karlin



If there was a person from Catherine that had the most information about him to write a history of Catherine, Athanasius Karlin would be it.  He is one of three settlers to publish some type of diary on his life.[1]  The other two men to do this are Jacob Schmidt and August Walter.  Karlin's diary is the most detailed of the three.  It was most likely written when he was older, since he talks about looking back on his life instead of in day-by-day accounts.  The part I plan to talk about here highlights the the immigration from Russia to the United States.  This the most detailed and revealing section of the diary. 

Athanasius Karlin was born on May 1, 1850 in Katherinstadt, Russia to Friedrich and Maria Karlin.  Athanasius came from a family of twelve siblings, seven brothers and five sisters.  The family tradition was farming.  According to Karlin's diary, his family had to relocate their farm house at one point because the river near their farm house flooded.  At one point, the Karlin family rented out a 203 acre space for families to live for extra cash.  The Karlin family was Catholic and the village had three major churches, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and Russian Orthodox. 

The Karlin family was one of the first wave of immigrants to leave from Katherinstadt.  The family left Katherinstadt on October 7, 1875 getting on a boat to Saratov.  Before leaving, the family had to sell much of their livestock (15 horses and 5 cows) and much of their farm equipment in order to get enough money to make the trip.  As the family left, schoolmaster Jacob Schmidt led the departing group in this perfectly appropriate Psalm: "God is our refuge and strength, a helper in great needs which have befallen us."

On October 23, the Karlins took a train from Orsel to Berlin and then bought tickets from Berlin to Baltimore after arriving on October 27.  On November 2, 1875, the family left from Berlin to Baltimore.  A land agent by the name of C.B. Schmitt met the group in Baltimore to take them over to Topeka, where they arrived by November 28.  Athanasius described the train ride as a rather uncomfortable experience, 500 immigrants where crammed together in small cars and bread was rationed for food at short stops. 

While in Topeka the family first lived ina vacant hotel for a few days and then moved to a house on the North side of Topeka.  Several members of the family took odd jobs to pay rent and afford food.  Athanasius husked corn for 3 cents per bushel and could only earn 25 cents as his maximum payment.  Later, Athanasius took a job feeding cattle for $10 per month.  Athanasius's father traveled with C.B. Schmitt, most likely in January 1876, to view various pieces of land for the group to settle.  Schmitt first showed them land in Barton County, but the price of $5 per acre was too expensive. [2]  Another land agent told the families to look at Ellis County where there was cheap land close to Hays ($2-3 per acre).  After viewing the land, the settlers made a deal to get land at $2 per acre for 11 years at a 7% interest rate. 

On March 1, 1875, the Karlin family departed for Hays on the railroad.[3]  They lived in a store in Hays for about a month until the settlers built their houses in Catherine, the new name of the village they planned to move too. The families began farming in October of that year planting potateos and planted wheat the next summer.  Athanasius would eventually continue the family business of farming.  He died in 1921. 

Most of the story told by Athanasius Karlin paints a good picture of the long immigration to the United States from Russia and the struggles the immigrants had to endure.

Notes:

[1] Athanasius Karlin, "Athanasius Karlin Diary, 1875-1921," Fort Hays State University.
[2] Isadore Appelhanz, The Volga-Germans in Topeka, Kansas, 1875-1885. (Topeka, Kansas: Privately Printed, 1992).
[3] Norbert Dreiling, Lawrence Weigel, and Blaine Burkey, Official Centennial History of Volga-German Settlements in Ellis and Rush Counties in Kansas, 1876-1976 (Hays, Kansas: Volga-German Centennial Association, n.d.), pageNr.