Our Stahlecker family lineage begins with two individuals: matriarch Maria (Mary) DOBLER and patriarch Johannes (John) STAHLECKER. Before them, John’s father, Martin STAHLECKER (1848-1914) married Katherena JUENGLING, one of the three Juengling sisters who later moved to Colorado, all daughters of Konrad and Rosina (Eva) Hiller JUENGLING. Their roots trace back to Germany, Poland, and the Steppes of South Russia, known as Bessarabia, located west of present-day Ukraine.
Katherena and Martin were married in the village of Friedenstahl in Bessarabia before immigrating to America, initially settling on a farm north of Columbus, Nebraska. By 1880, they had moved to Scotland and Tripp, South Dakota, where many other German-speaking Bessarabian immigrants resided. In 1890, a group of these German-Russians relocated to Eastern Colorado, in the area north of the Town of Bethune, where farmland was still available, including the Stahleckers and Doblers. Bethune is still often referred to as “The Settlement”.
In 1898, John, the eldest son, married one of Christian DOBLER and Dorothea HANDEL’s daughters, Maria. Christian was a renowned wagon builder from the village of Toeplitz in Bessarabia.
Returning to our founders, Maria and John Stahlecker, they, like many others, farmed the land, raised livestock, cultivated gardens, and nurtured their children. Nine of their children married and started families, forming the nine Stahlecker clans we recognize today.
- Martin b. 1899, married Frieda BAUDER
- Mary b. 1904, married Chris KRAMER
- Martha b. 1906, married John ADOLF
- Theresia b. 1908, married Bill KRAMER
- Lydia b. 1911, married John S. ADOLF
- Andrew b. 1915, married Doris SWEDIN
- Dorothy b. 1917, married Henry KLEIN
- Walter b. 1919, married Vera KLOECKNER
Additionally, there were three other children: Anna, born before Martin Stahlecker; baby Dorothea, born between Martin and Mary; and Edward, who was born in 1912 but died in his mid-twenties due to illness.
Special Note: There are other Stahleckers that are known in the Colorado Settlement. These were John’s siblings. They included Gottlieb, Frederick, Isaiah, Edward and Chris, plus the families of the four sisters who took on the names of BAUER, KNODEL, WEIDMAN and WEISSAAR. The John Ziegler family stayed with the Stahleckers for a few months when they moved to the Settlement from Dakota.
If you have additional information on the origins or would like to provide family updates, please do so in comments below.
Reunions
In total, these families had 32 children, the First Cousins (grandchildren of John and Maria), with 24 of them still alive today. It is these families; their children, grand-children, greats and great-greats that gather for reunions.
We will hold a Stahlecker Family Reunion at the Hope Church north of Bethune, Colorado on June 28, 2025. This is the sister church to the Lutheran Church mentioned above, just a mile away. A second reunion will be held in California on July 12, 2025.
Germans from Russia
You may learn more about the immigration of Germans from Russia at the North Dakota State University Germans from Russia Heritage Collection.
Acknowledgment
Many thanks to Nathan Kramer for providing the background and photographs for this article.
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