March 26, 2001:
My Uncle, Dad's brother, Conrad Greenwald married a Dorothy Feit in Windsor Colorado. Following is a little information from the write up her Uncle, Conrad Johann Feit made several years ago. Conrad was born 1891 in Erlenbach Russia. His brothers and sisters, all born in Russia, were Henry G. Feit, David E. Feit, Maria (Mary) Feit, Eva Feit, Anna Feit, and his younger brother Fred Feit born 1900. Fred married Pauline Greenwald in Fort Collins, Colorado. He died in 1987. Here's a little from his write-up. The Fiet/Veit family in Windsor Colorado trace their ancestry back to the Province of Saxon in Germany when in 1764 they immigrated to the village of Golga [Galka] Russia. In 1852, when Conrad's grandfather Heinrich Veit was 9 or 10 years old the family migrated from Golga, 113 miles southeast, and with a number of other families established the daughter colony of Erlenbach. On April 13, 1906, the Fiet/Veit family arrived at Ellis Island, USA. They went to Lapare City Michigan where they worked sugarbeets and chicory. The next year they moved to Windsor Colorado area where much of the family has been since.

From: Trish Starchy
January 17-2001
I have Schick's from Galka through my mother, Violet (Schick) Houdyshell and through my Hagen side.
My grandmother Anna (Hagen) Houdyshell had a sister who married a Schick, also from Galka, but so far I can't connect the two sides any other way.

The Kraft side was from Dobrinka (or so my gr.grandmothers obit. reads) but I know there were Kraft's in the Drespitz village also.
I found my Grt. grd.mothers brother, George Kraft, in Shattuck, Okla.
My family came from Marion, Kansas.(out around Lost Springs).
I also have Martens and Friesens on my mom's mother's side. They were from around the Hillsboro area and also came from Russia.

From Judy Riffel
All correspondence on the subject most appreciated.
Researching the family of Gottfried RIFFEL (1842-1926) and Marie Elizabeth BRUNNER (1843-1908) of Galka. Gottfried was the son of Gottfried RIFFEL and Eva MEYER. Gottfried and Marie Elizabeth came to the U.S. in 1878 and settled in Lincolnville, Marion County, Kansas. At least one other brother, John RIFFEL (married to Katherine HANSCHU), came to the U.S. a few years earlier and settled in Dickinson County, Kansas. Judy Riffel, j.a.riffel@att.net, 2576 Bartlett St., Baton Rouge, LA 70805.

From: Don Schimpf
05/31/1999
Re: Galka
My dad's parents came to the US, through Canada, in 1902. Dad always liked to say he was a stowaway, since his mother was pregnant with him at the time. They entered this country at Emerson, ND, then came down to KCMO, where Dad was born in April 1903. He had such a sharp memory, and told me so much about his early childhood, until about 6 weeks before his death about 2½ years ago. His parents moved their family to Marion County, Kansas in 1909, where they lived out their lives. More than you are interested in, I know—I just get carried away.
I have a five generation pedigree chart prepared by Igor Pleve for my grandfathers sister, (so all ancestors on it are mine, also). It includes the following surnames: SCHIMPF, ERLICH, HEINZE, SPRANKEL, BATTHAUER, NEIWERT, HOPP, ABIG and SCHRÖDER—all of which settled in various villages on the Volga. They came from at least five villages in Germany in the 1760's. A real gold mine - ripe for the mining.
The primary village in which I have an interest is Dobrinka, where my Schimpf line resided since 1767. My grandmother's village was Kraft. I do not know when they arrived there, but suspect it was also in 1767. I have a record of a HOPP, (in my grandfather's line), there then. I _suspect_ my grandmother was also a descendant of this family, but I do not have the documentation to prove this. The last known members of our family in Russia died during the famine around 1930. Grandpa had been sending money to them, but they wrote back not to bother, the government was intercepting their mail and taking the money. They were getting ready to butcher their last cow, and didn't know what they would do after that.
Best of luck in your research,
Don Schimpf

Also, listed on pixel I found:
Stahlman, Kathryn Researching Galka (Saratov), Erlenbach (Saratov), Tscherbakovka? Veit, Feit, Fromm, Winter, Blehm.