I've Been Working on the Railroad

My grandparents have lived all over the country and are active members of their community wherever they go.  As a result of their experience, they have the best stories.  They should both consider being guest bloggers (or starting their own blog) because their anecdotes are far more entertaining than mine.  My grandmother has devoted years to researching our genealogy.  She has collected birth and death records, pictures, and legends, from traveling all over the country and from searching online databases. She has traced some lines as far back as the 1300s and 1400s.  Her collection and passion are truly amazing. Our ancestors include both royalty and gypsies.  Yes, there might be some truth to the “princess” title that little Vivi has bestowed upon herself.

 

For those of you that don’t know (and I can’t believe there are many of you), my maiden name is Reifschneider.  I hated it when I was younger.  No one could pronounce it, let alone spell it correctly.  My brother is the only son of an only son, and therefore the only one left to carry on our line of Reifschneiders (no pressure there).  In my twenties, I began to appreciate the uniqueness and legacy that came along with that name.  I was reluctant to change it when I got married, but agreed to do so when Nick just wanted our names to “match.”  The compromise was I dropped Lynn, and adopted Reifschneider as my middle name.

 

Researching the Reifschneider line has led my grandmother to believe that my German ancestors settled in Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great.  Tsarina Catherine II, who was of German descent, allowed open immigration beginning in 1763. As a result, many German colonies were founded in the lower Volga river area. The immigration to Russia was motivated by difficult economic conditions and religious intolerance. In Russia, the Germans were free from military service and taxation. When Alexander II took over in 1871, Russian nationalism was on the rise and the immigration policy was reversed.  By 1874, the Germans were once again subject to taxation and military service.  In 1881, all remaining privileges for the Germans were revoked and they were required to speak Russian. The decline in conditions drove Germans out of Russia. The Volga Germans landed in Nebraska and Kansas (sources: Vivian E. Reifschneider, and Wikipedia).

  

One story my grandparents tell involves a cross-country road trip in their RV which included a stop in Sutton, Nebraska.  That is the only place they have ever been where people can pronounce Reifschneider correctly. I was in Omaha last week on business and decided I had to experience it for myself.

 

When I got to Sutton, my first stop was the cemetery.  My grandfather mentioned that there were a lot of Reifschneiders buried there.  I took a picture of this headstone and sent it via text to Bernie and my dad.  Phillip is my grandfather’s name, and the middle name of my dad, brother, and Jack.  I was surprised to find we had been using it this long.

 

 

You should always do your research before you jump feet first into a project.  I neglected to do so, and it turns out this this “Philipp” is not part of my direct line (although he is likely a distant relative of my grandfather). The headstone image I should have captured was that of Heinrich Phillip Reifschneider who was born on 12/12/1828 in Saratov, Volga, Russia and died on 8/28/1912 in Sutton, Nebraska. Heinreich, whose headstone reads H. Phillip Reifschneider, is buried a few rows away; a row I happened to miss.  The use of his first initial and then Phillip likely indicates that he was actually known as Phillip. This also means that our spelling of the name was in use in our family 180 years before Jack was born. H. Phillip, was my grandfather’s great grandfather. H. Phillip’s son, Johannes Phillip Reifschneider (my grandfather’s grandfather – are you following this? LOL) came to the United States in 1887 and was naturalized in Pennsylvania.  The city of Sutton was established in 1871 as the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad was extended westward.   Johannes was a switchman on the railroad.  H. Phillip left Russia in 1890, at the age of 62, to join Johannes and family in Nebraska. My great-grandfather, John H. Reifschneider was born in Sutton in 1888 and was a railroad engineer and machinist.  My grandfather, Phillip C. Reifschneider was born in South Dakota, and his branch of the family ended up in the Seattle area. Washington is where my grandfather eventually met my grandmother in a high school speech class (a story for another day).

After the cemetery, I toured the city which is 2.0 square miles and about 1500 people. The city is surrounded by hundreds of acres of cornfields. Driving into the center of the city was akin to stepping back 100 years in time.      The train tracks run right through the center of the city. The train cars seemed to extend for miles.

 

 

 

It makes me wonder if Nick’s train obsession in his younger days was somehow genetic. I considered all the times I sang “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” with Grandma, without giving a second thought to what the lyrics actually mean. 

The city has one small pharmacy that also houses medical offices.  It only sells medications, medical supplies, and limited gift items.  The only grocery store is independently owned and named “Brown’s Thrift Store.”  I wrote my maiden name on a piece of paper and walked into both the pharmacy and the supermarket in search of someone who could pronounce Reifschneider without coaching.  Both people I asked probably thought I was crazy, but they both articulated it correctly without hesitation.

The city has a historical museum.  I would have loved to spend some time there but it was closed.  Apparently it is only open on Sunday for a few hours.

My last stop on the Sutton tour was Zion Lutheran Church.  As far as I know, that side of the family has always been Lutheran. I was a little disappointed that the one story building that currently houses the congregation was erected in the 1980s. However, the congregation itself was organized in 1894 and the bell looks like it could have been original to the congregation. My grandparents helped build their current church building.  It would truly be something if that tradition had started at the turn of the twentieth century.

 

It was very interesting to knowingly walk on the same ground that my ancestors did over one hundred years ago.  I tried to imagine what their lives were like and how much courage it must have taken to come all that way from Russia in search of a better quality of life.

I did find one other item in Nebraska that I know my family will appreciate.  It is the world’s largest coffee pot.  Coincidence that it is relatively near where one branch of our family tree settled?  Given how much coffee we consume, maybe not.