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Peter Stoecklein

Address:
Munjor, KS 67601

About this Exploration:



Peter Stoecklein was one of the five men in the first scouting group that came from Russia in 1874 to investigate locations in the United States where the Germans from along the Volga River could establish new villages. Peter, who was born in Gattung (Zug), Russia, May 20, 1825, was one of the original founders of the town of Munjor in August 1876.

At some point during the mid 1870s, representatives from the German colonies along the Volga River met and elected five men to act as scouts and travel to the U.S. to learn about possible locations where the land was suitable for farming, the climate was similar to what they were used to in Russia and the living conditions were favorable for building new homes and communities where they could live among their own people.

The five men left Obermonjou, Russia, in 1874 and arrived in New York City. They met a land agent, more than likely someone associated with a railroad company, and traveled by way of Chicago, Omaha, Lincoln and then to Sutton County, Nebraska. They took back with them soil and prairie grass samples and gave a glowing account of what they found out on their trip. Other scouting groups came to America later and checked out land that was available in other areas of Kansas and Arkansas.

When four young German men from Herzog, Russia, were drafted into the Russian military November 24, 1874 – and another 21 from Katharinenstadt were drafted on December 11, 1874, the German villagers along the Volga River knew it was time for them to leave. The first group departed from Katharinenstadt on October 22, 1875. They came by way of Baltimore and then Topeka, Kansas, where they spent the winter and later decided upon land in Ellis County to establish their new homes.

The family of Peter Stoecklein, his wife and seven children, set out on their journey to America in July 1876. They arrived in New York  August 3 and traveled to Topeka and then to Herzog, Kansas. They stayed in Herzog for several days before moving to the location on Big Creek near where the townsite of Munjor was eventually established.

Peter Stoecklein died in Munjor on November 21, 1908, at age 83. His grave marker can be viewed at the St. Francis Cemetery. It is located approximately 15’ north and 12 rows east of the center crucifixion scene that is toward the center of the cemetery.