Eureka Classis, Part One Prepared for Trinity Covenant RCUS, Colorado Springs August 1, 2004
Westernization of Russia and German Immigration to Germany	Catherine the Great, 1729-1798. The devastation of the Thirty Years’ War [1618-1648] and following century with the ruinous French, Spanish, Hapsburg occupations, the Seven Years’ War, the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars not only caused the Reformed to flee Germany, but also cause a general migration of large numbers of other Germans, Lutherans, Moravians, Anabaptists, and Catholics. Many of them not only came to America, as we have seen in previous lessons, but they were also attracted to the large, fertile plains of Russia. In 1763 Catherine the Great issued a proclamation “encouraging colonization along the Volga River with promises of religious liberty, tax exemption up to thirty years for farmers, exemption from military service and cash grants for buildings and livestock.” [Ye Shall Be My People, published by the Reformed Church in the U.S. at their 250^th anniversary in 1996]. Part of the deal was the freedom to leave Russia at anytime. By 1768, just before American Independence, while the Reformed were gaining a foothold in Pennsylvania and Ohio, there were 103 colonies of colonies from Hesse, the Rhineland, and the Palatinate, with about 23,000 settlers. Sixty-five of these colonies were Evangelical. Many of them were Reformed, but we do not know whether any of these Reformed people figured in the history of the Eureka Classis. However, along the Black Sea near the seaport town of Odessa. In 1803, Alexander I, grandson of Catherine the Great, further implemented the plan of his grandmother by sending agents into south Germany, adding free acreage to the promises made by his grandmother. But he would admit only families [no singles] who had some wealth, farmers and craftsmen who would help teach Russians how to work and prosper By 1843 forty-two members separated from Lutheranism and formed a Reformed Church in Odessa. By 1865 there were 138 voters and 514 souls. Other groups were found in the vicinity of Odessa, and these are the true forebears of the Eureka Classis. These people were from Wuertemberg, the Palatinate and Baden in Germany.
Life in Russia	Life was very hard. At first they lived in dugouts, but later built homes of brick and stone. They suffered from disease and bandits. At first morals were deplorable and there was no church discipline. Alcoholism was rampant. But revival and renewal came with the ministry of Johannes Bonekemper who labored for 24 years and transformed the colonies. Although Bonekemper was somewhat infected with pietism and tolerated some extreme emotional manifestations akin to the “Second Great Awakening” in America, there was a genuine reformation of the lives and conduct of the Reformed churches around Odessa. His son Carl traveled to America, studied at Mercersberg, and became a very scholarly and godly minister. It was said he could preach in seven languages or be silent in seven languages. The latter is probably the most admirable trait. Johannes Bonekemper had tremendous influence on the RCUS which remains to this day. We will discuss some of this later. The “leaven” of the German-Russians was to have a tremendous effect on the direction of the modern Reformed Church in the U. S.
Alexander II	The Change: In 1861, the Tsar freed the serfs, but sought to make all citizens equal, and so revoked the privileges given to the German settlers. “All schools had to be taught in Russian, and universal military conscription was instituted in 1874.” The Tsar thought that “forever” meant a century and the time was up. The settlers were given ten years to conform or immigrate. The result was an immigration over the next years to America, the first were 121 persons from the Odessa area. They came to Ohio, looked at Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, and finally decided on the “steppes” of the Dakota Territory. About four hundred more came later. Some settled in Nebraska at Lincoln and Sutton; most moved on to the Dakotas. The names are familiar: Griess, Hoffmann, Neuharth, Koerner, Goehring, Aman, Nuss, Becher, Hoff, Bentz, Mehlhaf. The names of their settlements took the names of Russia or Germany: Odessa, Kassel, Menno, etc.