Bloodsheed in Norka
Homicides were rare in Norka, but in his memoirs titled Memories of Norka, Conrad Brill recalls the murder of an elderly couple in 1909 by two brothers. Previously published accounts of Brill's story disguised the names of the murdered couple as well as the names of both killers. The story below (edited for clarity) reveals the truth about this tragic event.
On the 11th of November 1909, when I and my brother Conrad were going home in the early hours of a morning, after spending the night at the Sinner’s mill getting our two grain boxes of grain ground into flour, we heard the storm‑fire bell ringing, and saw the flames of a large fire in the area where our Uncle Phillip Brill lived, so we headed in that direction to help fight the fire. There were rules set down by the town council in the event of fire, so we and many others went there. The fire was at an old couple’s house, Mr. and Mrs. Johannes Vögler (Note: this surname is also spelled phonetically as Faigler), who made brushes, combs and items of this type, using pig bristles, horsehair and such. The people assembled fast and put the fire out, which led to the discovery that the old couple had been killed and robbed. The fire was set to burn up the evidence and signs of the crime. The old man was discovered dead in the horse shed attached to the house, where he had been harnessing the horse to drive his wares to a nearby village. His wife's body was found in the kitchen where she had been preparing breakfast and a packed lunch for him. Their money and valuables were gone, along with a silver plated, pearl handled pistol the old man owned and carried. The old couple had used a hired man to help them with chores, whom we knew or called Ivan Kiltau.
A week or so earlier, a family named Gerlach was disturbed in the night by the furious barking and actions of their big dogs, so they got up and lit a lantern and went outside, taking their dogs out too. The dogs ran over to a nearby store owned by a villager named Schönemann, with the Gerlach’s following. There they discovered two men hurrying out of a ditch dug down beside the foundation and under the store building. They had intended tunneling into the store from outside to rob the store. Mr. Gerlach had told Schönemann and several other people, that he thought he recognized Ivan Kiltau, the Faigler’s hired helper, as he crawled out from under the store. Ivan had a brother who was married and had a real shady past. They had figured was the other guy.
When the couple was discovered dead, the people proceeded from the fire to the residence of the brothers, where they found the pistol and a bloody hay saw. They took them both to the jailhouse, next to the courthouse. The jailer had left the day before with a prisoner going to Saratov, so they put the two brothers in separate rooms of the lockup, but had no keys to lock them in, so left a big strapping young man sitting on a bench in the main room, in front of the door of the more notorious brother. He was to stay until daylight, when the courthouse opened and someone with keys might arrive, or a "sotnick" (constable) who could transport the brothers to Saratov for arrest and trial. It was about 6:00 a.m. so most people went back home, or to the scene, to make sure the fire embers were all out so no additional burning would occur.
Conrad and I went back to the fire and got our horses and wagon to take our flour home. The watchman had laid on his bench and evidently fell asleep, because when he awoke he discovered that the door he had placed his bench in front of was standing open and the elder brother was gone. A group was formed and a search started. When they went to the house of the elder brother, his wife was there and she said he had come home and went into the loft above the kitchen, extracting items from a hiding place under the eaves, which he stuck into his pockets, then left, without speaking a word to her. That was the last time she saw him.
For several days there were supposed sightings of the elder brother in different areas of the land around Norka. People later decided the sightings were false clues made by friends of his, to keep everyone thinking he was still in the area so that authorities in Saratov wouldn't be alerted and start checking departing trains. The younger brother was taken to Saratov, where his sentence was to be deportation to Siberia, with only a two-week visit to relatives in Norka each year. I never saw the younger one after that, but thirty years later I did see the older one, who had done the crime, in Mount Clemens, Michigan, where my wife and I went to a wedding of a family friend, coming from my wife's village of Erlenbach. The older Kiltau brother was senile and it was said he did silly things like pulling a sitting hen off her nest of eggs. He would then sit on the eggs for hours, because the eggs weren't hatching fast enough. His nephew was married to our neighbor’s daughter and I never told anyone there about his deed in Norka. If they knew, they never mentioned it. He was reluctant to discuss Norka or being from there when I was introduced to him in Mount Clemens.
Notes
The two brothers who committed these crimes were Johannes (John) and Andreas (nicknamed Ivan) Kühlthau (also Kiltau, Külthau or Kildow). They were the sons of Johannes Kühlthau (born April 19, 1856) and Anna Catharina Schwindt (born October 9, 1857). Johannes was born on August 29, 1879 and Andreas was born on February 12, 1888.
Johannes married Anna Marie Loos (born October 13, 1879) on April 16, 1900. They became parents to a daughter, Catharina, born on January 15, 1901. Another daughter, Maria, was born on October 1, 1906.
Subsequent to these crimes, the younger brother, Andreas, was captured and sent to exile (likely a labor camp) in Siberia. The older brother, Johannes (known as der Kiltau Weis) was apprehended but escaped and fled from Russia. Family stories say that John went to South America, but it is believed that he lived in Michigan with one of his sisters.
John's wife, Anna Marie, and her two daughters immigrated to the USA in 1912, arriving in New York with her parents, brother, Heinrich Conrad Loos, and sister, Christine Schreiber (born Loos) on June 7th. Anna Marie married a second time to Conrad Kreick from Huck. She died in Nebraska on June 7, 1929 in Nebraska.
This story was confirmed by Anna Mae Kiltow, the niece of John and Andrew Kilthau. Anna Mae's father was Carl Kildow, born on January 25, 1884.
Johannes married Anna Marie Loos (born October 13, 1879) on April 16, 1900. They became parents to a daughter, Catharina, born on January 15, 1901. Another daughter, Maria, was born on October 1, 1906.
Subsequent to these crimes, the younger brother, Andreas, was captured and sent to exile (likely a labor camp) in Siberia. The older brother, Johannes (known as der Kiltau Weis) was apprehended but escaped and fled from Russia. Family stories say that John went to South America, but it is believed that he lived in Michigan with one of his sisters.
John's wife, Anna Marie, and her two daughters immigrated to the USA in 1912, arriving in New York with her parents, brother, Heinrich Conrad Loos, and sister, Christine Schreiber (born Loos) on June 7th. Anna Marie married a second time to Conrad Kreick from Huck. She died in Nebraska on June 7, 1929 in Nebraska.
This story was confirmed by Anna Mae Kiltow, the niece of John and Andrew Kilthau. Anna Mae's father was Carl Kildow, born on January 25, 1884.
Sources
Brill, Conrad. "Memories of Norka." Interview by George Brill. Print.
Correspondence between JoAnn Kuhr (AHSGR Headquarters) and George Brill (son of Conrad Brill) dated August 5, 1985.
Oral history provided by Anna Mae Kildow to Delores Schwarzkopf (Lincoln, Nebraska). Anna Mae was the daughter of Carl Kildow and the niece of John and Andrew Kilthau.
Norka Church Register 1891-1905.
New York Passenger and Crew Lists, June 7, 1912, Steamship Mauretania, Image 170. Accessed on Ancestry.com on June 27, 2024.
Correspondence between JoAnn Kuhr (AHSGR Headquarters) and George Brill (son of Conrad Brill) dated August 5, 1985.
Oral history provided by Anna Mae Kildow to Delores Schwarzkopf (Lincoln, Nebraska). Anna Mae was the daughter of Carl Kildow and the niece of John and Andrew Kilthau.
Norka Church Register 1891-1905.
New York Passenger and Crew Lists, June 7, 1912, Steamship Mauretania, Image 170. Accessed on Ancestry.com on June 27, 2024.
Last updated June 27, 2024