A History of the Johann Helzer Family
Prelude: The German Colonies on the Volga River
Although the Helzer (Hoelzer) family is Germanic in origin, the first members of the family to arrive in America came from the vast hinterland of Czarist Russia. Beginning in 1763, successive waves of German settlers had migrated to Russia at the invitation of Catherine the Great, who hoped to secure her southern frontier from the depredations of the Muslim Turkic peoples living in the area. Over the next four years, farmers from the German states of Hesse, which formed part of the Holy Roman Empire, settled along the banks of the Volga River in the vicinity of the provincial capital of Saratov.
The Helzers and other emigrant families found rich farmland in the region, enabling them to build a series of colonies that were to survive until Hitler's invasion of Russia in 1941. One of these colonies was Norka, located on the western side of the Volga and thus protected from attacks by Muslim horsemen who periodically ravaged the colonies on the river's eastern bank until the early 1800s. However, Norka was not immune to droughts and crop failures that placed severe hardships on the colonists, especially in the settlement's early years.
By the 20th century, the German colonies were thriving; indeed, in 1912 Norka boasted a population of 12,000, making it the largest of the colonies. However, political conditions in Russia had entered a state of turmoil, and the consequences for the colonies would prove to be devastating. The first sign of the coming disaster came in 1904-05, when Russia was humiliated by its defeat in the Russo-Japanese War. Revolution broke out in the capital of St. Petersburg, which was mirrored by thousands of peasant uprisings throughout the empire, and it was during this time of revolutionary unrest that the Helzers left Norka and made for the United States--a decision that may have saved their lives.
Russia slowly regained a measure of stability after the 1905 revolution, but the outbreak of war with Imperial Germany less than ten years later brought the entire German population on the Volga under the suspicion of the czarist government. The colonies gained a brief respite with the overthrow of Czar Nicholas II in February 1917, but the Bolshevik seizure of power under Vladimir Lenin in November 1917 created a new crisis. Once lauded for their agricultural productivity, the colonies were targeted by the new communist regime as being "bourgeois"; all property was nationalized, and Lenin ordered all food produced by the colonies to be confiscated to prevent them from "hoarding" what now belonged to the state. Even more serious, the Bolsheviks persecuted the colonists for their religious faith, executing many of those who refused to renounce Christianity.
Lenin's greatest weapon against the German peasant farmers was famine, which struck the entire Volga basin. Hunger was further compounded by the eruption of civil war between the Bolsheviks and the anti-communist White armies, which left Norka and its sister colonies in virtual ruin. As the fighting ebbed in the early 1920s and Lenin instituted his more liberal New Economic Plan, the colonies slowly recovered. However, the rise of Josef Stalin to power in 1928 coincided with another great assault on Russia's peasantry, the collectivization of agriculture. As part of his effort to force the peasants onto collective farms, Stalin induced the great famine of 1931-32 that resulted in the death by starvation of some 20 million people. Still, Norka and the other colonies managed to linger on until the Nazi invasion of Soviet Russia in 1941. Understandably worried that the remaining colonists might welcome the invaders as liberators, Stalin deported the entire population to Siberia and Central Asia, from which it has never returned. Thus did the German colonies on the Volga pass into history.
Johann Helzer and His Family
The first member of the Helzer family for whom there are records is Johann (John) Helzer, who was born at Norka on March 12, 1842. He married a certain Amy Preisendorf and had two children: John (1862-1945) and Ludwig (1866-1941). The marriage apparently ended either in divorce or Amy's death, for Johann then married Christina Preisendorf (perhaps Amy's sister or cousin) on November 27, 1872. Born at Norka on July 3, 1853, Christina was the daughter of John Preisendorf and Catherine Holland. Johann and Christina then had three children of their own: Peter, Heinrich, and Elizabeth. Born May 18, 1874, Peter Helzer became a farmer like his father and many of the other colonists, eventually marrying Margret Dick on February 1, 1901. The daughter of Phillip Dick, Margret was born on January 18, 1880, and had two brothers: Phillip and John. However, soon after their marriage the Russo-Japanese War broke out, and Peter was sent to the Russian Far East, where he took part in the losing fight against Japan for control of the Chinese province of Manchuria.
Upon Peter's return to Norka, the Helzers uprooted themselves and made their way to Germany, from which they then sailed for the United States. Their destination was Nebraska, already home to Johann Helzer's second son, Ludwig, who had settled in the town of Worms several years earlier. After reaching Nebraska, Peter and Margret moved to Grand Island, where Peter spent four years working for the Union Pacific Railroad. Living with him were his parents Johann and Christina, who stayed with Peter's family until Johann's death on November 21, 1912; Christina survived until November 6, 1923. As for Margret Dick's relatives, her parents stayed in Norka, where they were apparently among those executed by the Bolsheviks soon after their seizure of power.
After 1910 Peter relocated to a farm outside the nearby town of Palmer, which he worked until his retirement in 1937. He then moved back to Grand Island, residing at 328 Oak Street until his death on May 19, 1944. Following Peter's death, Margret lived with her son Samuel Helzer for some twelve years, until her own death on July 7, 1957. Both Peter and Margret are now buried at Grand Island Cemetery.
Although the Helzer (Hoelzer) family is Germanic in origin, the first members of the family to arrive in America came from the vast hinterland of Czarist Russia. Beginning in 1763, successive waves of German settlers had migrated to Russia at the invitation of Catherine the Great, who hoped to secure her southern frontier from the depredations of the Muslim Turkic peoples living in the area. Over the next four years, farmers from the German states of Hesse, which formed part of the Holy Roman Empire, settled along the banks of the Volga River in the vicinity of the provincial capital of Saratov.
The Helzers and other emigrant families found rich farmland in the region, enabling them to build a series of colonies that were to survive until Hitler's invasion of Russia in 1941. One of these colonies was Norka, located on the western side of the Volga and thus protected from attacks by Muslim horsemen who periodically ravaged the colonies on the river's eastern bank until the early 1800s. However, Norka was not immune to droughts and crop failures that placed severe hardships on the colonists, especially in the settlement's early years.
By the 20th century, the German colonies were thriving; indeed, in 1912 Norka boasted a population of 12,000, making it the largest of the colonies. However, political conditions in Russia had entered a state of turmoil, and the consequences for the colonies would prove to be devastating. The first sign of the coming disaster came in 1904-05, when Russia was humiliated by its defeat in the Russo-Japanese War. Revolution broke out in the capital of St. Petersburg, which was mirrored by thousands of peasant uprisings throughout the empire, and it was during this time of revolutionary unrest that the Helzers left Norka and made for the United States--a decision that may have saved their lives.
Russia slowly regained a measure of stability after the 1905 revolution, but the outbreak of war with Imperial Germany less than ten years later brought the entire German population on the Volga under the suspicion of the czarist government. The colonies gained a brief respite with the overthrow of Czar Nicholas II in February 1917, but the Bolshevik seizure of power under Vladimir Lenin in November 1917 created a new crisis. Once lauded for their agricultural productivity, the colonies were targeted by the new communist regime as being "bourgeois"; all property was nationalized, and Lenin ordered all food produced by the colonies to be confiscated to prevent them from "hoarding" what now belonged to the state. Even more serious, the Bolsheviks persecuted the colonists for their religious faith, executing many of those who refused to renounce Christianity.
Lenin's greatest weapon against the German peasant farmers was famine, which struck the entire Volga basin. Hunger was further compounded by the eruption of civil war between the Bolsheviks and the anti-communist White armies, which left Norka and its sister colonies in virtual ruin. As the fighting ebbed in the early 1920s and Lenin instituted his more liberal New Economic Plan, the colonies slowly recovered. However, the rise of Josef Stalin to power in 1928 coincided with another great assault on Russia's peasantry, the collectivization of agriculture. As part of his effort to force the peasants onto collective farms, Stalin induced the great famine of 1931-32 that resulted in the death by starvation of some 20 million people. Still, Norka and the other colonies managed to linger on until the Nazi invasion of Soviet Russia in 1941. Understandably worried that the remaining colonists might welcome the invaders as liberators, Stalin deported the entire population to Siberia and Central Asia, from which it has never returned. Thus did the German colonies on the Volga pass into history.
Johann Helzer and His Family
The first member of the Helzer family for whom there are records is Johann (John) Helzer, who was born at Norka on March 12, 1842. He married a certain Amy Preisendorf and had two children: John (1862-1945) and Ludwig (1866-1941). The marriage apparently ended either in divorce or Amy's death, for Johann then married Christina Preisendorf (perhaps Amy's sister or cousin) on November 27, 1872. Born at Norka on July 3, 1853, Christina was the daughter of John Preisendorf and Catherine Holland. Johann and Christina then had three children of their own: Peter, Heinrich, and Elizabeth. Born May 18, 1874, Peter Helzer became a farmer like his father and many of the other colonists, eventually marrying Margret Dick on February 1, 1901. The daughter of Phillip Dick, Margret was born on January 18, 1880, and had two brothers: Phillip and John. However, soon after their marriage the Russo-Japanese War broke out, and Peter was sent to the Russian Far East, where he took part in the losing fight against Japan for control of the Chinese province of Manchuria.
Upon Peter's return to Norka, the Helzers uprooted themselves and made their way to Germany, from which they then sailed for the United States. Their destination was Nebraska, already home to Johann Helzer's second son, Ludwig, who had settled in the town of Worms several years earlier. After reaching Nebraska, Peter and Margret moved to Grand Island, where Peter spent four years working for the Union Pacific Railroad. Living with him were his parents Johann and Christina, who stayed with Peter's family until Johann's death on November 21, 1912; Christina survived until November 6, 1923. As for Margret Dick's relatives, her parents stayed in Norka, where they were apparently among those executed by the Bolsheviks soon after their seizure of power.
After 1910 Peter relocated to a farm outside the nearby town of Palmer, which he worked until his retirement in 1937. He then moved back to Grand Island, residing at 328 Oak Street until his death on May 19, 1944. Following Peter's death, Margret lived with her son Samuel Helzer for some twelve years, until her own death on July 7, 1957. Both Peter and Margret are now buried at Grand Island Cemetery.
Source
Unknown.
Last updated April 22, 2016.
