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John and Marie (Matteis-Matthies) Jacober were part of the Germans who came to this country by way of Russia. John was born March 12,1866, in Tirraspol/Trispol, Russia, and Marie was born Dec. 22, 1868, in Geidetown, Russia. Their obituaries list Glueckstahl, So. Russia as their birthplaces and Tirraspol is listed for both of them on their Petition of Naturalization dated Oct. 30, 1909. When the ancestors of John & Marie went to Russia, Catherine was Empress. She wanted to settle the Ukraine with German farmers so she promised them free farms, less taxes and freedom from military service for 100 years. The land there was somewhat like our Great Plains but had better water, timber and deeper soil. Years went by, Russian Emperors changed, the 100-year military exemption expired and the Russians started calling the young German men into their troops. At that time John was a young farmer with a wife, having married Marie on Nov. 10, 1887, and two small children. He was taken into the military for a year's service and was attached to a cavalry regiment located at Odessa. Since he was handy with blacksmith tools he was made farrier, or horse shoer, for the regiment and several times shod the saddle horse of the Royal Duke. After serving five months, with no bad marks against his record, he was told he would be granted a month's furlough at the end of his 6-month service. Just before his furlough he received a letter from a cousin who had migrated to the United States and was living in the Dakotas. He told John the U.S. had given him 320 acres of land, and that he had raised 2,000 bushels of wheat that year. John began to visualize himself on a farm in America, sowing the seed by hand from a sack over his shoulder, harrowing it, cutting it with a sickle or cradle, tramping it out with horses on a hard clay bed or pounding it with a flail, and winnowing it by dropping it from an upheld pail. Farming was certainly not an easy task in those days. Finally, unable to get the thought of a farm in America and 2,000 bushels of wheat out of his mind, he wrote to his wife, Marie, to sell their farm and everything else she could. She followed his instructions, and when he arrived for his furlough all their possessions had been converted into money except for the few bundles of personal belongings they could carry. That night, after farewells to friends and relatives, they took their two small children, Anna, 3 years, and Louise, 1 year, and left. They traveled only at night for fear of being caught, and after passing through a forest and over a river arrived in Austria. While waiting for a train, an official, sensing that they were running away, arrested John, put him in jail and took half of his money. At the next stop the same thing happened, and Marie, with the two small children, spent the night on a bench outside the jail. The next morning the chief military officer came by, saw her and the children, and sent his orderly to inquire as to what had happened. When he learned the story, the officer made the jailer release John, return all his possessions and money. The orderly was then instructed to accompany John's family to the station and see that they got safely on their way. After a long journey they arrived in Hamburg, Germany. They sailed for New York aboard the ship "Warl" on March 24, 1892, and after arriving there April 12, 1892, spent three days in a day coach to Burlington. They reached Burlington at 3:00 in the morning of April 15, 1892. Not knowing the English language they were unable to communicate with anyone. About noon that same day, Frank Mann heard of their situation and with T.G. Price, who could speak German, went to the depot and arranged to take them to the Settlement. There they found friends who located work for John and a place for the family to stay. John went to work for the railroad. They built a sod house and plastered it with native lime. Every Saturday Marie would get fresh lime and whitewash the walls so the house would always look fresh and clean. The floor was plastered with a mixture of clay and straw, which when dry became so hard it could hardly be broken with a hatchet. John moved with his family to Denver in 1895 and worked in the smelter at Globeville until 1898. At that time they moved to Brighton and had a truck garden until 1905 when they moved back to Kit Carson County. They homesteaded 320 acres, which included 240 acres in the N 1/2 E 1/2 SW 1/4, Sec. 27, T. 6, R. 44 and 80 acres in the NE 1/4 NW 1/4 and NW V4 Ne 1/4 of Sec. 34, T. 6, R. 44, about 17 miles north of Burlington. With the help of neighbors they hauled rocks and soon had a stone house and barn built. John then bought a horse and a set of harness. After he borrowed a rod breaking plow and Henry Goebel loaned him another horse, he was ready to start working his American farm. Though it took several years of hard work, John finally one day saw his dream of 2,000 bushels of wheat come true. In addition to their two daughters who came with them from Russia, Anna, born in Tirraspol, Russia Oct. 11, 1888, and Louise also born in Tirraspol, Aug. 5, 1890, there were three sons born after arriving in the United States. John, Jr. was born Mar. 3, 1893, and Ralph Oct. 24 1894, both in Burlington, and Christian "Chris", born Dec. 15, 1897, in Globeville, Colorado. When World War I started two of their sons, John and Ralph went into the service. John died shortly afterward aboard the USS Pocahontas near Brest, France, Sept. 29, 1918. Ralph was wounded at the Battle of Metz near Paris, France, and received his honorable discharge in Feb. 1919. John had not married before he went to war so Ralph took over his homestead when he returned from service. In 1922 Chris started working John & Marie's homestead and they moved into Burlington a short time later. On Oct. 8,1934, John passed away and Marie followed him on Dec. 15, 1950. Both John and Marie set good examples to their descendants as good citizens and faithful followers of God. They became official American citizens on June 15, 1910 and were a true credit to their adopted country. In addition to their two sons who served in World War I, they had grandsons serving in World War II, and the Korean War and great-grandsons in Vietnam. None of John & Marie's children are living. Anna passed away Feb. 7,1981, Louise March 16, 1918, John, Jr. Sept. 29, 1918, Ralph Oct. 8, 1970, and Chris May 15, 1967. |