Germans in Russia look up please .........

[melsimba66]

Hello , I  would like to know if some one can help me . My Gr Grandfathers family came from Karlsruk ?  Russia and were German immigrants . They arrived on the Victorian ship in 1908 . headed to Rosthern Saskatchewan  Gr Grandfather was John K Gerlock , he has his age as 14 on the ships passenger list but I suspect it might be wrong . He was traveling with his parents John and Elizabeth Gerlock . Then in the 1911 Saskatchewan census it has him down  again with his parents and a wife Catherine  and children John 5,  Park 4 , and Elizabeth  1 . it says the two older children were born in Russia , and in the 1916 Census John is with a Teresa Trippel  newly married from 1912 with children from that marriage .  I would like to know  if there was a marriage back in Russia , and if there is any birth certificates to be found for John or his children ??   I have read how difficult it might be with Russian Researching , but I think it will be worth the effort .
 As  for the first wife Catherine , and the children I have found no trace of them , I don't know how much divorce there was back then , or if she went back home to Russia after a few years in Canada ?? I do not know her  maiden name .

                                                                             Thank you   Melanie

[fastfusion]

have u tried familysearch.org  firstly?     if not on there, you may have to be visiting a microfische library resource near you to look at the original International Genealogical Index fische, if the record survived in the first instance and was microfilmed in the second.

I am not seeing any genealogical references for "Karlsruk" so I would ask that you identify the geographical placename a bit more ......thanks. But don't get me wrong it may be as you have stated or the place simply was not attended by microfilmers or the village may not exist anymore.  If it is not on microfilm you will have to identify the closest archives and contact them; and; possibly start to identify the main religions of your folk to be able to write to the diocese office in Russia of that faith to ask where such records may be housed if they have survived.
Given that you say the family went to Canada, I have a small inklings they may have been one of the many families expelled by Stalin, as mine were from Archangel.

best I can offer at the moment but others may have some suggestions I don't.

fusion
 

[melsimba66]

Thank you , I have looked at Family Search , but it only has John married to Teresa Trippel . I will sjpend some more time searching the  IGI  , and I will have to check the spelling on his home village .

                                                                                         melanie

[aghadowey]

I have Volga German relatives who moved over the to States eventually and have done a bit of research on them. There is lots of material online (compared to native Russian genealogical research) and I was fortunate that a distant cousin is  a professor who lectures on the subject.

Some website which might be of interest-
http://www.grhs.org/villages/beresan/karlsruhe.html
http://www.rollintl.com/roll/karlsruhe.htm
http://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/history_culture/history/fromkarlsruhe.html

You might find that the surname was Gerlach (or similar) not Gerlock.

[aghadowey]

As I suspected, the name might be Gerlach (as transcribed from passenger list)-
http://irishgenealogy.net/files/ships.txt

[melsimba66]

Hello ,

  I am going through the links you have given me and there is some great information . I  am not sure if or when the name change might have taken  place from Gerlock to Gerlach , if I can find something on the Russian end of this it may give me a clue , but for now it seems to be Gerlock .

                                                                                         Take care  Melanie

[fastfusion]

sometimes folk anglosise their name to "fit in" to the new community.....   and sometimes phonetic mistranscriptions take place I wouldn't worry too much about it.....

 

[KGarrad]

Can I ask a dumb question?

Is it possible they came from Prussia, rather than Russia?
Prussia covered what is now parts of Germany and Poland.

[aghadowey]

I  am not sure if or when the name change might have taken  place from Gerlock to Gerlach , if I can find something on the Russian end of this it may give me a clue , but for now it seems to be Gerlock .

Moving from Germany to Russia (although within a German community) and then to U.S. where German was not the language it's not surprising the name has evolved slightly. The transcribed passenger list (I have not seen the original) shows your family as Gerlach. If you search for GERLACH & Rosthern you will see there are more than just your immediate family settled there.