On December 4, 1762, Catherine the Great issued a Manifesto inviting Western Europeans to settle in Russia. However, it was her second Manifesto of July 22, 1763, which offered transportation to Russia, religious and political autonomy, and land that incited many Western Europeans, mostly Germans, to migrate to Russia

The first wave of migration occurred in the Volga River region beginning in 1764. By the late 1760s some isolated settlements were already founded in South Russia. Hutterites first settled in Russia in 1770 and Mennonites began to settle in Russia by 1789. Settlements in the Bessarabian and Black Sea regions were being established in the early nineteenth century. In the mid-nineteenth century the areas of Volhynia, Crimea, and the Caucasus were being settled by Germans. Beginning in the late nineteenth century and continuing into the first decade of the 1900s, settlements were being founded by Germans in Siberia. Russia had a population of approximately 1.8 million Germans at the end of the nineteenth century. An excellent series of maps developed by Mitch Roll, "1700s & 1800s German-Russian Settlements" http://www.rollintl.com/roll/grsettle.htm illustrates the locations of the German settlements.

There were approximately a thousand German villages in Russia prior to 1941 when the Soviet authorities issued a decree that resulted in a forced evacuation of the villages and the resettlement of the villagers to Siberia and the Asiatic Republics (e.g. Kazakhstan).

When Alexander II revoked the privileges offered to the Germans who had settled in Russia more than a century earlier, such as exemption from military service, the emigration of the Germans from Russia to the Americas began. 1872 was the beginning of a large wave of emigration of Germans from Russia as a result of the social conditions in Russia. There was a growing sentiment of hostility towards foreigners, particularly Germans, and a policy of Russification was adopted to make the populations in the empire more Russian. Later emigrants left Russia due to worsening living conditions, caused by war and famine.

source: http://www.ahsgr.org

The church at Shcherbakovka
The bell tower is on the left and the gates to the cemetary were on the right. The steeple including the cross was 175 feet. School classes were held on the second floor

The Volga Valley lies about 450 miles southeast of Moscow, on either side of the Volga River. Saratov was the major Russian city in the area. The landscape on either side of the Volga River was vastly different.

On the west side of the Volga River, the banks rose steeply to a wooded range of hills traversed by deep gorges. The whole area was covered with tall grass and bushes. This area was called the Bergseite, meaning hillside in German. The area on this side settled by the German colonists began about 30 miles south of Saratov and stretched south nearly to Kamyshin. Only ten of the villages were on or near the Volga River. The others were some distance West, along smaller rivers whose waters flowed westward into the Don. One village, Yagodnaya Polyana was initially all by itself about 40 miles northwest of Saratov. A few years later in 1772, another village, Pobotschnaya was established nearby. Of the 104 original mother colonies, 44 were on the westside (Bergseite). This area corresponded to the Saratov province. Occasionally our ancestors would list the name of the province, either Saratov or Samara on their paperwork as their home instead of the name of their village.

Shcherbakovka, (also known as Deutsch Tscherbakowka and Muehlberg between 1917 and 1941), a Lutheran colony on the west bank (Bergseite) of the lower Volga River, was founded 15 June 1765 by Johann Stricker. The Minkh Russian Encyclopedia indicates that the towns (both Russian Tscherbakowka and German Shcherbakowka) were named for Michael Shcherbatov, a well-known writer and "man of letters" during the reign of Catherine the Great. The Shcherbatovs (accent on the BAT) were a prominent Russian noble family.

The population in 1769 was 196 (48 families); 1773 - 229 (49 families); 1798 - 414 (62 families); 1897 - 1584; 1912 - 4,448; and by 1926 had declined to 1903 inhabitants.

At the time of the 1798 census, Shcherbakovka had a pastor and a church in the Stephan Parish. The schoolteacher was under the supervision of the pastor. Most of the immigrants were farmers, but craftsmen included a joiner, blacksmith, tailor, cobbler, and two weavers. In 1798 there were only two stone houses, although the mayor reported that there was stone on the colony's land suitable for construction. Each house was enclosed with a fence, and a kitchen garden was behind each house. There were three mills and no orchards at that time. Cattle were raised and rye, wheat, oats were grown and sold in Kamishin. The public granary was ramshackel, but built in a secure place.

Because of its location, it was an ideal site for water mills. At onetime, there were 34 mills along the stream which ran below the villageand into the Volga River which was about five miles away.

One visitor writes in a letter of 26 October 1994:

"While I was in Russia I was on a cruise festival ship which gave concerts of German music in Ulyanovsk, Samara, Volgograd, and Saratov. The afternoon we left Volgograd and were on our way back upstream, we passed Russian Shcherbakovka. (It was impossible to see Muehlberg because the ship was lower than the cliffs.) About a kilometer to the north of Russian Shcherbakovka there is a new settlement of Germans moving from the Muslim republics. Most of the people live in small trailers, but they are building houses as fast as they can. The man in charge of this settlement was aboard the ship, so the ship stopped and the performers held an impromptu two-to-three hour concert. People came running from the fields and elsewhere to the cliffs, and some of the children were brought to the ship by a boat. It was fantastic!"

Shcherbakovka is in Saratov Province

Today, Shcherbatovka has the main paved road from Holstein and Stephan running through it. Shcherbakovka is mostly an unpaved, one-street town. It has a small store in an older wooden house. The town sits in a little valley about seven miles from the Volga River.

Below are recent photos of Shcherbakovka.

Surnames in the 1798 Shcherbakovka census
A copy of the 1798 census, translated into English, can be obtained from AHSGR.

"Mary Lou Huckaby has sent a copy of a letter written by John George Oblander, Chicago, Ill, on 30 July 1947, and a draft family chart on Oblanders. Her information goes back to a Johan Frederick Oblander called "Dan" (1795 - 1840) married to Eva Katherine Blahm. There are two sons, Jacob and Christoff who had flour mills in Muehlberg (Shcherbakovka) There were four more brothers. We think this may be part of the same family, but more information is needed.

The letter-- written by the father of a cousin of Mary Lou's-- traces branches of the family to the Okeene, OK. area, to Wichita and Wellington, KS., to Canada, and Windsor, CO. The J. G. Oblander family immigrated to the United States in 1900/1901. An exit visa from Russia is dated 31 Oct 1900. They were quarantined at Ellis Island for three months, where some of the children died, namely Frederich and Heinrich, who were half brothers. They later took a ship to Galveston, TX, where they officially entered the U. S.

J. G. Oblander and some of his family converted to the Seventh Day Adventist religion. Conrad Oblander reportedly changed his name to Elmer Finley. Members of the family were living in the Villages of Avilla and Erlenbach before emigrating.

J. G. Oblander, writer of the letter, was born 16 April 1884 (Apr. 28, new calendar) in Avilla. His father was George Oblander, and mother was Kathryn Elizabeth Lochmann.of the village of Stephan. His letter is filled with familiar names including: Blehm, Frederich Laubhan, Gotlieb Schaffer, Kathryn Kerbs, Kathryn Becker-Schonfeld, Albert Peach, John Ruhl, David Nuss, Henry Marxsen, Eva Winter, Gottfried Winter, son of Leonhard; Fred Mier, Reinhardt Nuss. "

A Letter of 12 Feb 1932 from Amalia (Wasemiller) and Konstantine Oblander
Note: The following letter written from Tschu, Kasakstan is translated by Ella Wasemiller Wadewitz, daughter of Richard and Katherine (Niedens) Wasemiller. Amalie (1902-1983) is the sister of Richard Wasemiller (1884-1965) who immigrated to the U. S. in 1912 with his family. They lived in Fresno, California. Konstantine (1896-1947) is a brother to Alexander Oblander (1893-1978) son of Mary (Wollert) and Alexander Oblander (1847-1933). Alexander m. Katherine Stoll, and immigrated in 1912, living in Windsor, Weld County Colorado. Esther Hergenreder is his daughter.

    "First, the Best greetings to you, dear brother-in-law and sister-in-law and all your children, from us, your sister and brother-in-law and our 2 children, Eduard and Alexander.
    "One child of 8 months with the name Leo has already died here in Kasakstan, the 8th of July, 1931.
    " We came here in the year of 1931 on Easter Sunday. We had to leave our home March 17th 1931. It is almost one year that we are in this far away land, and we have already endured so much. We have all been sick; especially the children. They are sick all the time. This is a very bad climate.
    "Many of the folks from Muehlberg [Shcherbakovka] have already died. From Muehlberg there are teacher Georg Georgow with family; Graf and family, and not the old one; and Friedrich Hanschu (Goldhannes.)
    "From the lower part of the village (Graben or dugout), the Laubhans, and from the Kutter, the Blehms with children, the old folks are still home; Uncle Conrad Wassenmueller with his family; David Wasenmueller with family. From the Kling: S. Brinkman; the Reisig that had the mill; the old Reisig is still at home; Johannes Ehrlich and Kristof.
    "Those that already died here: David Wasenmueller, Uncle Konrad Wasenmueller's mother emigrated. The young Konrad, a child. The 2 Reisigs: Georg and Woldemar, Johannes Ehrlich and a single son of the Meiers. There are 3 people that can't work and about 7 that have died.
    "Now my dear brother-in-law and sister-in-law, we are telling you we have already written you, and we have received no answer. We received $10 but do not know from whom. Was it from my brother Alexander? We do not receive letters from him either, and we have written 3 letters to him. Maybe you do not receive our mail. Other people here received mail and packages from America with lard and flour. If it is possible, maybe you can send us some lard and flour and other food products. Whet we need most is lard or something like it. Not even money will buy this here. We have not had something like lard for so long, we need something to season our food. Everything is so bland. Things we get out of the central kitchen are weak and bland. We could buy potatoes and flour, but one needs a great deal of money.
    "I alone am working. Amalie has so much work with the children, and with making the bread. It is winter now and very cold. Our living quarters are barracks. For now we are in fairly good health, and we would be very happy to know that your health is good too. And we hope our letter will reach you.
    "From home we also do not receive leters, but as we hear from others when mail gets through, things are very weak at home.
    "I am sending you my borhter Alexander's address, and please write to him and tell him to help us. Please write to us, and tell us how things are with you. Are you still alive? If you can, please help us, and send us what you can. We hear things are very good in America.
    "Your friends Konstantin and Amalie and Children.
    "Live well and be happy till we meet again. We are waiting for an answer soon."
 

A Letter sent to Alexander Oblander, furnished by Esther Hergenreder.  January 6, 1935

    "I will write to you my beloved Brother.
    To start my letter we are all together. Alex and Sister-in-law and dear children.
    Greetings and I kiss you, kiss of love from your beloved Brother Konstandine, wife Amalia, and two children are also helathy, and this is what we wish to you with all our heart.
    "To you health is the greatest. We have in three years gone to the forest, and went through many a hardship, hunger where many people died. Dear Father and Mother worked very hard and died over there.(Siberia) I have written very often and have told you the same thing.
    "I cannot understand this Alex, I write the addresses from home and never received many letters. Do you receive any of my letters or are you not alive? Your wife should be alive and your children. I have a great plea to you. When you receive this letter and write how many are still alive. I can't think that you have forgotten us. People receive letters from America and receive a lot of help. Lauban received 3 letters one after the other from Sister Amalia and $5.00. I am trying to tell you how it is. This year a little better.
    "In spring comes work and we have a piece of land, potatoes, beets, kraut and other crops, and we live off of this. We have no pigs so there is no pig lard. January 1st Fritz received 7 rubels but we don't have any money. Haven't received any money for 4 months. I don't know how we get through. You can also put a $1.00 in the letter.
    "My Brother Alexander & Mollie Blehm please come to my help. I am pleaing so I could buy something. If we had some money we could buy some milk. Lot of people receive much help and money. Two families have a cow and pig which they slaughter. I am very poor. One cow cost $2500 and goose 200 rubels. If you could send me some money Alec I could get it from Turkey.
"Konstandine & Amalia"

Could this be the Amalia who was 2 in 1905?

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Russian Money from 1905

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Russian Immigrants Arrive In America at Ellis Island New York
 

SON OF CONRAD - ARRIVED 1905 - SEE BELOW
Most likely returning from WWI