THE VOLGA GERMANS IN PORTLAND
  • Home
    • About This Website
  • History
    • A Historical Timeline
    • Migration to Russia
    • Emigration from Russia
    • Settlement in America
    • Migration to Portland
    • Little Russia
    • A Short History of Albina
    • World War I
    • The Volga Relief Society
    • World War II
    • Assimilation and Dispersion
  • Beliefs
    • Churches >
      • Albina Seventh-day Adventist Church
      • First United Mennonite Baptist Church
      • Ebenezer German Congregational Church
      • Free Evangelical Brethren Church >
        • German Evangelical Congregational Brethren Church
      • Second German Baptist Church
      • St. Pauls Evangelical and Reformed Church
      • Second German Congregational Church >
        • Evangelical Congregational Church
      • Zion German Congregational Church >
        • Rivercrest Community Church
    • Pastors
    • The Brethren
    • Denominations >
      • German Reformed Church
      • German Evangelical Synod of North America
      • Evangelical and Reformed Church
      • German Congregational Church
      • United Church of Christ
  • People
    • Our People
    • Notables
    • Pioneers 1881-1892
    • Stories
    • Photographs
    • Help Identify These People
  • Community
    • Characteristics
    • Businesses >
      • Bakeries Retailers and Services
      • Garbage Haulers
      • Grocery and Meat Markets
      • Restaurants >
        • Helsers on Alberta
        • McCormick & Schmicks
        • Wildwood
      • Saloons and Taverns
      • Suppliers and Manufacturers
    • Employers
    • Education
    • Sports
    • Maps
    • Documentary
  • Traditions
    • Foods
    • Folk Medicine
    • Weddings
    • Holidays
    • Folk Music
    • Funerals and Burial Sites
  • Engage
    • Family Research
    • Books and Video
    • Organizations
    • Works Cited
People > Pioneers

Pioneers

The earliest Volga German pioneers arrived in Oregon between 1881 and 1892. Some were among the very first Volga Germans to arrive in North America in 1875. These immigrants initially settled in the Midwest and within a few years decided to migrate to the Pacific Northwest. 

Many of the early pioneers were from the Volga German colony of Norka, Russia and shared family ties. A large group of these settlers arrived in New York aboard the steamship EMS on June 4, 1887 which sailed from Bremen, Germany.

Historian Emma Schwabenland Haynes describes the early Portland settlers in her unpublished manuscript titled My Mother's People.
Volga German family in Portland, Oregon
Photograph of a Volga German family in the Albina area of Portland, Oregon taken about 1905 (Bruno Art Studio was founded in Portland that year). Photograph courtesy of Stacy Hahn.
"When Grandfather Miller arrived in Portland on October 27, 1890 he found about twenty Volga German families living east of the Willamette River between Tillamook and Knott Streets. Technically this area was not part of Portland, because until 1891 Albina and East Portland were incorporated as independent communities with their own mayor, town hall, banks, jail, etc. The first Volga Germans had left Kansas for Walla Walla, Washington, but after spending three months in that city, they had moved on to Portland as early as 1882. Other old timers came by boat from San Francisco or by way of Nebraska. Most of them were from the colony of Norka, and it is probably due to their influence that so many other people from that village eventually settled here. The names of the earliest pioneers include the following individuals:  John Schnell, Conrad Schnell, George Betz, Ludwig Spady, Peter George, Constantin Brill, Henry Maier, Conrad Schwartz, Peter Gerloch, Adam Schwartz, Peter Wolf, Adam and David Schwindt, and a Frühauf family, all of whom had come before 1889."
The follow list of pioneers was extracted from the Albina and Portland City Directories (1881-1892), the Ebenezer German Congregational Church family register, and other sources.

​Please contact us if you have additional information about the people listed below or if you have other pioneers to add to this list.
  • Heinrich and Katharina Margaretha Albert​
  • Heinrich and Margaretha Aschenbrenner
  • Adam and Catharina Elisabeth Bauer
  • George and Christina Bauer
  • Heinrich and Anna Catharina Bauer
  • Johannes and Maria Catharina Bauer
  • George and Anna Betz
  • Adam Brill
  • Conrad Brill
  • Constantin and Maria Christina Brill
  • Johannes and Sophia Brill
  • Heinrich and Elisabeth Dick
  • Johannes Dick
  • Carl Jacob and Catharina Früauf​​​​
  • ​John Gerlach
  • Peter and Elizabeth Gerlach
  • Johannes and Catharina Margareta Giebelhaus
  • Johannes and Elisabeth Göbel (Gabel)
  • Caspar and Anna Katharina Göttmann (Gettman)
  • ​Georg Heinrich and Christina Grün
  • Conrad and Catherine Grün
  • Johann Georg and Catharina Sophia Hahn
  • Philipp and Margaretha Hergert
  • Adam and Anna Maria Hergert
  • George and Elizabeth Hinkel
  • Peter and Emma Hohnstein
  • Heinrich and Christina Hölzer
  • Friedrich and Christina Jörg
  • Heinrich and Catharina Maria Jörg (George)
  • Johannes Jörg
  • Johannes and Katharina Jörg
  • Peter Jörg (George)
  • Johann Friedrich and Katharina Jörg (George)
  • Johannes and Margaretha Jörg (George)
  • Jacob and Katharina Kilthau
  • Peter Klaus
  • Heinrich and Katharina Kniss
  • Heinrich and Katharina Koch
  • Johannes Koch​
  • Conrad Krieger
  • John and Elisabeth Krieger
  • Johann Georg and Elisabeth Krieger
  • Henry and Anna Litzenberger
  • Johannes and Magdalena Leel (Lehl)
  • William and Mary Lind
  • Heinrich and Eva Maier
  • George Heinrich and Christina Miller
  • ​John O. and Anna Elisabeth Miller
  • Elisabeth Repp (née Döring - the widow of Peter Repp)
  • Conrad and Elizabeth Repp​
  • George and Margaretha Repp
  • Heinrich and Margaretha Repp​​
  • Ludwig and Magdalena Sauer
  • Heinrich Peter and Anna Elisabeth Scheidemann​
  • George Schleiger
  • Heinrich D. Schleicher
  • ​Heinrich and Maria Scheuermann
  • Peter and Magdalena Schmidt
  • Conrad and Anna Maria Schnell
  • ​Johannes and Anna Maria Schnell
  • Henry Schnell
  • John Schnell
  • Peter Schnell
  • Heinrich and Elizabeth Schreiber
  • Heinrich and Sophia Schreiber
  • George and Elizabeth Schreiber
  • Peter and Sophia Schreiber
  • Adam and Emma Schwartz
  • Conrad and Sophia Schwartz
  • Henry Schwartz
  • Adam and Katharina Schwindt
  • David and Katharina Schwindt
  • Heinrich Schwindt
  • Johannes and Christina Schwindt
  • Ludwig and Anna Elisabeth Schwindt​​
  • Conrad and Catharina Elisabeth Sinner
  • Conrad and Anna Spady
  • Ludwig and Anna Elizabeth Spady
  • ​Conrad Trüber (Treber)
  • Johannes and Anna Maria Trüber (Treber)
  • Johann Wilhelm and Elisabeth Trüber​ (Treber)
  • Heinrich Volker
  • Johannes and Katharina Wagner​
  • Friedrich and Katharina Walters
  • ​Johann Gottlieb and Anna Marie Weber
  • ​Casper and Maria Catharina Weigant
  • ​Peter and Elisabeth Weigandt
  • Peter and Mollie Wolf
  • Heinrich and Margaretha Wolf
  • ​Adam and Katharina Margaretha Yost
  • ​Conrad and Anna Maria Yost
  • Conrad and Elizabeth Yost​
  • Ludwig and Emma Yost
  • Peter and Elizabeth Yost
The map below shows the residences of some of the earliest Volga Germans that settled in Portland and the surrounding area from 1881 to 1892. Also shown are churches, grocery stores and other historic places.
​Please contact us if you have additional information about the people listed above or if you have other pioneers to add to this list.
Last updated January 15, 2019.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Steven H. Schreiber
  • Home
    • About This Website
  • History
    • A Historical Timeline
    • Migration to Russia
    • Emigration from Russia
    • Settlement in America
    • Migration to Portland
    • Little Russia
    • A Short History of Albina
    • World War I
    • The Volga Relief Society
    • World War II
    • Assimilation and Dispersion
  • Beliefs
    • Churches >
      • Albina Seventh-day Adventist Church
      • First United Mennonite Baptist Church
      • Ebenezer German Congregational Church
      • Free Evangelical Brethren Church >
        • German Evangelical Congregational Brethren Church
      • Second German Baptist Church
      • St. Pauls Evangelical and Reformed Church
      • Second German Congregational Church >
        • Evangelical Congregational Church
      • Zion German Congregational Church >
        • Rivercrest Community Church
    • Pastors
    • The Brethren
    • Denominations >
      • German Reformed Church
      • German Evangelical Synod of North America
      • Evangelical and Reformed Church
      • German Congregational Church
      • United Church of Christ
  • People
    • Our People
    • Notables
    • Pioneers 1881-1892
    • Stories
    • Photographs
    • Help Identify These People
  • Community
    • Characteristics
    • Businesses >
      • Bakeries Retailers and Services
      • Garbage Haulers
      • Grocery and Meat Markets
      • Restaurants >
        • Helsers on Alberta
        • McCormick & Schmicks
        • Wildwood
      • Saloons and Taverns
      • Suppliers and Manufacturers
    • Employers
    • Education
    • Sports
    • Maps
    • Documentary
  • Traditions
    • Foods
    • Folk Medicine
    • Weddings
    • Holidays
    • Folk Music
    • Funerals and Burial Sites
  • Engage
    • Family Research
    • Books and Video
    • Organizations
    • Works Cited