Germans from Russia

Following the Seven Years War Catherine the Great invited Germans to settle the Volga River region of Russia.  These people were given certain exemptions that were to last forever, these included not having to serve in the military and the ability to keep their religion.  After Catherine died and Alexander II gained power he decided that forever was about 100 years and revoked the privileges that Catherine the Great had assured people of.  This started a massive immigration to North America.  Many of the German Russians or Volga Germans settled in the central United States and central Canada because it resembled the area they came from.

Most German Russians in Morgan County started arriving around 1905.   They came to work the sugar beet fields, because it was a crop they were familiar with.  These people who came as farm labor settled, bought their own land, started their churches, raised their families, and have become the backbone of the community.