World War II Letters Home

    Many readers have expressed how great Uncle Felix's manuscript The Villa Verde Trail is. With the help of my sister we have added a new page sharing his letters home and family pictures.This presents a whole different side in how Felix kept the war and his war related challenges away from family. He also repeatedly mentions how import letters from home were to him. If you haven't read it, go back and read his manuscript The Villa Verde Trail first then go to World War II Letters Home for this hero's more personal side. You will never forget this reading experience.

World War II Philippines

Felix Herrman 1946

    I'm honored to post my Uncle Felix Herrman's manuscript from 1975 on a page dedicated to his work. He notes his manuscript as, "An unaltered eyewitness account of one of many similar battles fought in the Second World War. This one in the Philippines, on the island of Luzon, in 1945." For his service he receive the Bronze Medal and other awards. The manuscript is posted in full as he wrote it with the exception of added some titles and pictures for reference. Please click for more.

New Page for Weber Family Stories

 

Frank and Elizabeth Weber

    Frank and Elizabeth Weber were my Great Grandparents on my mothers side, they came to the United States at age 16 and 14 on the same ship. It seemed they bonded a relationship on that journey that lead to marriage 9 years later and a very full and bountiful life. Their story and other Weber family stories will be presented on the Weber Family Story page. Please check it out.  

Immigration to the United States

SS Frisia

    Immigration to the United States for the Volga German families was a very difficult time. Please check out the link to a page dedicated to the time frame when the Basgall family immigrated to the states. For the Basgall's it was the families of 3 brothers that made the trip. However, two of the brothers had passed away in Russia before the families were underway. The family leadership would have came from the remaining brother John Basgall. Well; that's all I'm going to give you for now, so click this link to check it out, Immigration to the United States.  

Chapter 4 Jann Baptist Pasqual Legacy

Catherine the Great Palace
From Wikipedia

    Chapter 4 of the Jann Baptist Pasqual (Basgall) Legacy has been posted. Read the historic account of this grand story teller as he traveled from war torn Europe in 1793, after the 7 Years War. Learn how he and many other European decedents accepted Catherine the Great's offer to go to the Volga River area of Russia and start a new life. Learn what his trip would have been like as he traveled to this new land. Learn about his Russia maiden, that together formed the oldest generation of the Basgall Heritage. Click here for the John Baptist Pasqual Basgall Legacy link.

Uncle Felix Herrman – World War II Hero

Frances and Felix Herrman
From A Folder
Felix Put Together

    Uncle Felix Herrman was the younger brother to by mother Frances Herrman. Growing up I often heard the family talking about the troubles Felix was having with health issues, but never really understand what they were saying. They never came out and discussed it directly. At that time, no one talked about the affect war had on young men, it was considered taboo.
    It wasn't until several months after his death, when my sister shared a manuscript of his involvement in World War II, South Pacific, that I actually learned the events that shaped this quiet gentle man. Once I started reading, I was hooked and spent the night going through it. He was a combat harden war hero, at a very young age and not a word was every spoken about what he did for his country. 

    This is his story, just as he wrote it!

Finding a Great Great Grandmother

Holy Cross Cemetery Pfeifer, Kansas

    This was a difficult find and one that almost didn't happen. It was on our third trip to Holy Cross Cemetery that my sister and I found this very special marker. We originally figured she had a wooden marker and her actual site marker was lost forever, until it all fell into place. 

St. Mary's Parish Loretto Kansas

Loretto's St. Mary's Parish Church

    St. Mary's Parish of Loretto Kansas was established in 1912. It's kind of an unusual story for a parish because of how it came about. Originally the members of St. Mary's Parish were from Holy Cross Parish. However, when the elders of that parish got together and changed the name of the town from Holy Cross to Pfeifer, as their village in Russia was, the proud members that came from Kamenka & Rothammel, Saratov, Volga, Russia were put out. Click below for more!

Chapter 3 Jann Baptist Basgall

Volga River Russia
From Wikipedia

    Chapter 3 is out on the Basgall Stories Page. This chapter depicts the meeting between Jann and Stepanida, his future Russian Bride. When I got my DNA analysis back from Ancestry.Com you could clearly see the portion that she represents in me. It's awesome to have that kind of linkage back to specific ancestors. I'll share more on this later. For now you need to click the link to John Baptist Pasqual Basgall Legacy. Enjoy! 

Cemetery Sites

        Cemetery Sites can provide a lot of information about your ancestors. However, they can be very hard to find. My sister and I went out one weekend to find as many ancestor's cemetery sites as we could. The weekend trip took us to 8 cemetery's and our find was amazing. We were surprised at the number of Great Great and Great Great Great Grandparents we found. Even though the family tree showed they journeyed to the the states it didn't register until we took the trip and actually visited with them.  Well, not really with them but with their sites. Over the next few weeks we'll be posting our photographs to share with you. Check out the link to Cemetery Sites Page.

Jann Baptist Pasqual (Basgall)

Catherine The Great's Palace

    Chapter 2 of the Historical Account of Jann Baptist Pasqual (Basgall) life has been posted on the Basgall Stories Page. Check out how Jann would have traveled from central Europe to his new world and romance in Russia.
    Link to Chapter 2 - Jann Baptist Pasqual (Basgall) - Leaves Europe for the next stage of this remarkable mans life. 

Frances Basgall (Herrman)

Edward and Frances Basgall

    Every family tree needs to have a tribute to Mom. Following is my tribute to my Mother. A mother is always there for you. She is someone you can lean on when times get rough. Please help me pay tribute to my mother Frances Basgall Herrman. 

The Basgall Heritage

    The Basgall bloodline is very unique.  It’s unique because it starts with the union of a French man who had traveled many miles to meet a young Russian woman.  

Basgall Immigrants to the United States

Welcome to Volga German Heritage Blog Site

Seven Years War
from Wikipedia

    This is a very special day for me. Not only am I turning 59 years young today but I’m also kicking off this new blog site to share information that my sister and I have compiled over the years. Ever since my folks passed away I had a need to understand my ancestry. It’s been a great adventure that starts in Europe, around the time of the 7 Years War, in the mid 1700’s. From there, our clan traveled to the Volga River Region of Russia for another 100 years before making the immigration journey to the United States around 1870. We found cousins in Argentina, Siberia and parts of Europe.