In April 1994, Betty Ashley (Village Coordinator for Wiesenmuller) and I (former Village Coordinator for Gnadenthau) began publishing a quarterly newsletter for descendants of the Wiesenseite daughter colonies along the Jeruslan River. Our main focus was the villages Wiesenmuller, Gnadenthau, and Friedenberg, however we welcomed information regarding neighboring villages such as Morgantau, Kana, and others.

At that time we had a goodly amount of materials to share - church records, passenger lists, Bible records, interviews, correspondence with Volga Deutsch still living in the former Soviet Union and Germany and others - as well as a database of over 2,000 individuals. Thanks to research gains in Russia and the help of our loyal subscribers, our project grew by leaps and bounds. In addition, I was fortunate to have visited these villages (and others) in July 1993.

What follows are excerpts from those newsletters that we believe are still very relevant to researchers today. We hope to eventually add photographs, charts, maps and other information as we can.

~ Sue & Betty 

• From Wiesenmuller to Krasnoyarsk to Germany
• Genealogical Success in Germany
• Gnadenthau
• Friedenberg

• Maps
• The Photo of the Wiesenmuller Refugees at Frankfurt on the Oder
• My Story - Marie Vogel Martina
• St. Paul’s German Evangelical Lutheran Church at Rocky Ford, CO
• Former Local Man Among Five Killed in Automobile Collision on 287 Just S of Laramie - 1946
• The Church at Gnadenthau

• Wiesenmuller News from Friedrich Treise  -  including his map of the village
• Wanted: The Descendants of Albrecht Dell
• Mail From Russia… In 1937
• St Paul's Lutheran Church, Sugar City, CO - photo
• Grace Lutheran Church, Sugar City, CO - photo
• Schreiner / Greb Marriage Certificate
• Fredrick & Jacob Muth - photo
• Spengler Home in Wiesenmuller - photo
• Artistic Wiesenmuller Descendants by Betty Ashley
• The Church at Gnadenthau - from Freida Schreiner Purvis
• Report from Russia - Summer 1994 - from Dr. Irma Eichhorn
• The Story of George Heinrich Hartwig - from Arthur R. Hartwig

Vol II  No 1

• Letters... We Get Letters [re: GOTTSCHOLL / KATCHOL,  STUCKERT]
• Muller family chart (Pleve chart)
• The Balzer Family from Barbara Balzer Drake  -  includes photos
• Fritzler Query from Krasnoyarskii Krai, Russia
• Schafer von Fridenberg, Johann Jung - photo

Vol II  No 2

• SS Friesland - photo & manifest Apr 1911
• Gnadenthau & Morgantau Photographs - including interior of Gnadenthau Church
• Pastor Koscial
• Krug, Vogel, Greb, Fritzler Query & Photo
• Fishing in the Volga by Fred Buxman

Vol II  No 3

• Memorial Contribution for Amelia Vercoe Received
• A Love Story, Sort Of  by Marie Schafer Kerbs Heath as told to Betty Miley Ashley
• Riffel, Schwartzkoph, Kraft, Ziegler Query
• Lich, Roehrig, Spengler, Claus Query
• Wurtz Found! from Jon Dolberg
• The Village Grimm 1775 & 1798 - extractions of Wiesenmuller and Gnadenthau family names
• Schafer Research in Russia
• 1775 & 1798 Beideck Census - list of Wiesenmuller, Gnadenthau, Friedenberg surnames
• Poetry by Pauline Schafer Turner
• Special to Tell of Journey of Faith in Russia
• Muth - Bechtold Connection by Ruth Muth Grennard

Vol II  No 4

• Village News by Bill Wiest (from his 1995 tour of Russia)
• Muth Family in Germany from Ruth Muth Grenard - several photos
• Die Welt Post Articles
• Loss of a Subscriber with Gnadenthau & Wiesenmuller Roots  (Schreiner)
• Muller Village Map - list of surnames
• The Village Grimm 1775 & 1798 - extractions of Wiesenmuller and Gnadenthau family names - Part II
• Kvas Memories from Rosalie Eichman
• Research Tips

Vol III  No 1

• Letters from German from Marvin Yakel (Treise, Jekel, Schleinling) - including photos
• Lissman Family Information - re: Pleve Chart
• Roehrich (Rohrig), Popp, Bender, Kraft Query
• German Families Now Living in Wiesenmuller from Dr. William Wiest
• The Meanings of Several Wiesenmuller Names by Betty Miley Ashley
• More News from Germany from Ruth Muth Grenard - including letter
• Letter from Frieda Lautenschleger
• Dietz Information

Vol III  No 2

• So Much History is Being Lost to Future Generations
• A Typical Volga German Life Story by Lyudmila Tokareva Koretnikova of Saratov, Russia
• Jeruslan Nachrichten Member to be Published
• Wiesenmuller - A Contemporary History Report by Lyudmila Lishcheryakova
• Our Sympathy  (Pringle, Buxman, Wiest)  -  including memorials
• Wiesenmullerin Listed in the 1913-1915 Census of Germans from Russia Living in Lincoln, Nebraska
• Village Index to 1913-1915 Census of Germans from Russia Living in Lincoln, Nebraska
• Niedens, Pinnecker, Keil Query
• Fritzer News
• Clippings from Ethel Lock
• Long Shot Pays Off by Bill Wiest

Vol III  No 4

• From Your Editor - re: village project database
• Brief Lists of Revision Lists
• 1850 Muller Revision List - All Spengler Families
• Family Charts from Russia
• Wiesenmuller Photographs
• Famine & Genocide on the Volga 1920-1924 and the American Volga Relief Society Records Collection at the Nebraska State Historical Society by Samuel Sinner
• Die Welt Post Letter - 14 Aug 1924 to David & MariaKatrine Muth from Emilie Stuckert
• 1922 - 1923 Donations to Wiesenmuller
• Morgentau - Volga Relief Society Records
• More Volga Relief Society Records
• Die Welt Post - 2 March 1922 Jacob Greb of Wiesenmuller to Georg Vogel of Lincoln, NE
• Die Welt Post Letter - 12 Apr 1923 from Katherina Trot to Jakob Herrmann
• Die Welt Post Letter - 29 Mar 1923 from Peter Buxman to Heinrich Vogel
• The City of Balzer written by Jacob Volz in 1938
• Die Welt Post Letter - 26 July 1923 from Alexander Doll to Gustav Veschorner
• Fred (Maxim) Buxman - photo