Time (Clock of the Heart)

 

From the “Only in New York” files: You’d better believe I would only trust my great-grandfather’s pocket watch to a repairman who has serviced the likes of both Fran Lebowitz and Leslie Uggams!

Backstory: My mother recently received her grandfather's Hamilton Railroad pocket watch in a box of things that belonged to her brother, who died in 2013. (My Uncle Patrick undoubtedly inherited it when his grandfather died in 1965.) Patrick’s surviving partner finally got around to sending things she thought my mom might want -- and Mom gave me the watch when I was home for Thanksgiving. I had hoped to have it up and running in time for my wedding, but it wasn't meant to be. (I still carried it, so it wasn't a complete wash.) 

My maternal great-grandfather, Conrad Ross III, died a couple of years before I was born, so I never got to meet him. Fortunately his wife, Ruth, lived until I was nearly 16, so I have fond memories of her. Both he and Ruth were ethnically German, although Conrad was born in Russia in the German colony of Norka in 1889. While he moved to Nebraska at age 3, he was still German enough that during World War II, my mother says the government came by to question him about his allegiances. 

Other than this site I'm quoting from below, I'm surprised by how little is written about Norka -- there's not even a Wikipedia entry -- although there is plenty about the greater community of Volga Germans, as they were known. (During the Great Purge, Volga Germans were targeted, and following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, ethnic Germans were deported to concentration camps in Siberia and Central Asia resulting in the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Volga Germans.)

As you’ll see, I guess my family has Catherine the Great -- another non-Russian -- to thank for our "Russian" lineage! 

From the useful norkarussia.info: 

Norka, Russia, was founded on August 15, 1767, by colonists who predominantly originated from the area now comprised of the current state and cultural region of Hessen, Germany. These colonists were drawn to Russia by the Manifesto of Catherine II, who wished to develop lands on the southeastern frontier of the Russian empire.  The colony of Norka was located on the unsettled Steppe, not far from the west bank of the Volga River, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of the frontier town of Saratov. Norka grew from a fledgling settlement to one of the Volga region's largest and most prosperous German colonies.

These pioneers shared a rich life based on German culture and traditions influenced by their Russian neighbors and the environment. Today, those born in Norka and their descendants have migrated to many parts of the world, including Canada, the United States, Germany, Argentina, and Brazil.  Many descendants remain in Kazakhstan and Siberia, where the entire Volga German population was deported in 1941, bringing an end to the colony of Norka.

If any of you have family Norka connections, I would love to hear from you!

From my mom and her cousin Susan:

Sue: Conrad and his family moved to Nebraska from Russia in 1892. In the 1900 census, "Cony" and his 5 younger brothers and sisters were living at 403 E. Division in Grand Island. 

(NOTE FROM KENNETH: Family lore has it that the siblings' father treated Conrad "differently," and the rumor was he was the illegitimate child of a Jewish man with whom the mother had had a relationship. My DNA results, however, with just 1% Ashkenazi Jew, beg to differ ... although my love of kugel still allows doubts to linger.) 

Mom: We are not Polish...sorry! Norka, Russia/Poland is a German Colony in Russia/Poland on the Volga. WAR changed the borders.

Mom: Okay the Ross connection (my grandpa) immigrated via Hamburg from Norka. My grandma was a Spangenberg (from Hanover) so not about this. 

Me: Interesting that Conrad frequently listed Germany as his birthplace instead of Norka. Perhaps that was the shorthand way to describe it back then, although that would make more sense if the question were "nationality." 

Sue: Actually Grandpa listed Russia as his birthplace on his WWI and WWII draft cards.  On the 1920 census he listed his birthplace as Nebraska!