Introduction

While reading Timothy Egan, ‘The WORST HARD TIME – The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the The Great American Dust Bowl’[1], I noticed a lot similarity of the stories about a George Alexander Ehrlich and the German-Russians being described to those that my father and grandparents told about their neighbors when they lived near Goodwin, Oklahoma. In a previous chapter, George Alexander Ehrlich – Land Patent, it was determined that George Alexander Ehrlich was a neighbor of the the Kirmse and Lohman families near Goodwin, Oklahoma and lived about six miles southeast of Shattuck. Oklahoma. I wanted to know more about George and his family.

Story

“George burrowed into a side of the hill, building a dugout, the first home. He married a fellow Volga German, Hanna Weis, put in rows of wheat and corn on 160 acres, raised a few cows for milk. He also started breeding horses. The Ehrlichs had a girl, then another baby girl, then a third girl, and a fourth girl — each of them barely one year apart — before they moved out of the dugout. George built a frame house. They had yet two more girls. The seventh child was a boy, William George Ehrlich, who was called Willie. Then came two other girls, and a second boy, George Ehrlich, Jr. Now there were ten children.”[1]

“The youngest of the Ehrlich ten became everyone’s favorite. Georgie, they called him, a kid full of energy. He was changing by the hour, but so was the land. People were buying cars and tractors, adding rooms to houses, using fine material for clothes. On a summer evening, August 14, 1924, Georgie wandered out to the road as the wind carried sand from the tractors. A cattle truck came along. The driver never saw Georgie and ran him over. He died on the spot. After George and Hannah lost their little boy, the life seemed to go out of them. For years thereafter, Hannah said she had no desire to live. George would admonish her, reminding her of all the hardships the Germans had gone through. But his wound had not healed either. At times during the day, when he was alone in the fields, he cried so hard his body shook.”[1]

Genealogy Search

Since, George had completed his Land Patent in 1907, he probably was still living on his homestead in 1910. The 1910 US Census records were checked and the following was found:

Given the ages of his children, a check of their birth locations found that the first three had been born in Kansas before George staked his land claim near Shattuck, Oklahoma.  This does not match the story.  So a quick genealogical search was made to determine George’s time-line.

To develop this time line, an family tree was created on Ancestry.com. As a starting point, the website The Ehrlich-Laubhan Families was consulted for the ancestral history of George Alexander Ehrlich[2].

Life Story Events

The following is a time-line of George Alexander Ehrlich who was born on December 17, 1872 in Shcherbakova, Saratov, Volga, Russia when his father, Johann, was 26 and his mother, Eva, was 25. He married Hanna Weis on September 20, 1894, in Lehigh, Kansas. They had ten children in 22 years. He died on May 17, 1964, in Shattuck, Oklahoma, at the age of 91, and was buried there.

17 Dec 1872 •  Birth •  Shcherbakova, Saratov, Volga, Russia

George Alexander Ehrlich was born on December 17, 1872, in Shcherbakova, Saratov, Volga,Russia, to Eva Margaret Ehrlich, age 25, and Johann Dietrich Ehrlich, age 26.

12 DEC 1874 • AGE 1 • Birth of Sister

His sister Katherine ‘Katie’ Elizabeth (1874-1949) was born on December 12, 1874, in Shcherbakovka, Saratov, Volga, Russia.

18 DEC 1877 • AGE 1 • Birth of Sister

His sister Marie “Merichie” (1877-1934) was born on December 18, 1877, in Shcherbakovka, Saratov, Volga, Russia.

2 DEC 1878 • AGE 6 • Birth of Sister

His sister Eva Margaretha (1878–1959) was born on December 22, 1878, in Shcherbakovka, Saratov, Volga, Russia.

27 MAR 1881 • AGE 8 • Birth of Sister

His sister Augustina ‘Augusta’ (1881–1954) was born on March 27, 1881, in Shcherbakovka, Saratov, Volga, Russia.

 2 JUN 1885 – AGE 12 – Birth of Sister

His sister Emilie (1885–1970) was born on June 2, 1885, in Shcherbakovka, Saratov, Volga, Russia.

 7 APR 1887 • AGE 14 •  Birth of Brother

His brother Karl Dick (1887–1957) was born on April 7, 1887, in Shcherbakovka, Saratov, Volga, Russia.

 1890 • AGE 17 • Birth of Brother

His brother Peter (1890-1890) was born in 1890 in Shcherbakovka, Saratov, Volga, Russia.

 8 JAN 1891 • AGE 18 • Departure

1890 • AGE 18 • Death of Brother 

His brother Peter (1890-1891) died in 1891 at sea.

9 FEB 1891 • AGE 18 • Arrival

George Alexander Ehrlich along with his family arrived in New York, Harbor on 9 Feb 1891.

20 SEP 1894 • AGE 21 •  Marriage

George Alexander Ehrlich married Hanna Weis in Lehigh, Kansas, on September 20, 1894, when he was 21 years old.

22 NOV 1895 • AGE 22 •  Birth of Daughter

His daughter Mary (1895–1989) was born on November 22, 1895, in Lehigh, Kansas.

 SEP 1897 • AGE 24 • Birth of Daughter

His daughter Diana Lee (1897–1980) was born in September 1897 in Lehigh, Kansas.

 18 APR 1900 • AGE 27 • Birth of Daughter

His daughter Lydia (1900–1986) was born on April 18, 1900, in Lehigh, Kansas.

1900 • AGE 28 • Residence

George Alexander Ehrlich lived in Lehigh, Kansas, in 1900.

Marital Status: Married; Relation to Head: Head

Fall 1900 • AGE 28 • Staked Land Claim

George Alexander Ehrlich staked his claim in Ohio Township, Ellis, Oklahoma.

2 APR 1902 • AGE 29 • Birth of Daughter

His daughter Lillie(1902–1989) was born on April 12, 1902, in Ellis County, Oklahoma.

5 SEP 1904 • AGE 31 • Birth of Daughter

His daughter Hilda M (1904–1991) was born on September 5, 1904, near Goodwin, Oklahoma.

6 APR 1907 • AGE 34 • Birth of Daughter

His daughter Esther (1907–2001)was born on April 6, 1907, in Shattuck, Oklahoma

15 Aug 1907 • AGE 34 • Land Patent Completed

George Alexander Ehrlich’s Land Patent was signed by President Theodore Roosevelt on August 15, 1907.

12 SEP 1909 • AGE 36 • Birth of Son

His son William George “Willie” (1909–2002) was born on September 12, 1909, in Ellis County, Oklahoma.

 1910 • AGE 38 • Residence

George Alexander Ehrlich lived in Ohio Township, Ellis, Oklahoma, in 1910. Marital Status: Married; Relation to Head of House: Head

27 FEB 1912 • AGE 39 • Birth of Daughter

His daughter Thresia (1912–1987) was born on February 27, 1912, in Oklahoma.

20 JUL 1914 • AGE 41 • Birth of Daughter

His daughter Lucille Lillie (1914–1996) was born on July 20, 1914, in Oklahoma.

JAN 1918 • AGE 45 • Birth of Son

His son George G. (1918–1924) was born on January 8, 1918, Near Goodwin, Ellis, Oklahoma.

1920 • AGE 48 • Residence

George Alexander Ehrlich lived in Ohio Township, Ellis, Oklahoma, in 1920. Relation to Head: Head; Residence Marital Status: Married

28 OCT 1922 • AGE 49 •  Death of Father

His father Johann Dietrich (1846–1922) passed away on October 28, 1922, in Shattuck, Oklahoma, at the age of 76.

14 AUG 1924 • AGE 51 • Death of Son

His son George G. (1918–1924) passed away on August 14, 1924, in Shattuck, Oklahoma, at the age of 6.

12 SEP 1930 • AGE 57 •  Death of Mother

His mother Eva Margaret (1847–1930) passed away on September 12, 1930, in Lipscomb, Texas, at the age of 83.

12 DEC 1934 • AGE 61 • Death of Sister

His sister Marie “Merichie” died on December 12, 1934, in Shattuck, Oklahoma.

1935 • AGE 63 • Residence

George Alexander Ehrlich lived in Ohio Township,Ellis, Oklahoma, in 1935.

1 APR 1940 • AGE 67 • Residence

George Alexander Ehrlich lived in Ohio Township, Ellis, Oklahoma, on April 1, 1940.

26 FEB 1948 • AGE 76 •  Death of Brother

His brother Dietrich D (1868–1948) died on February 26, 1948, in Shattuck, Oklahoma.

7 DEC 1949 • AGE 76 •  Death of Sister

His sister Katherine ‘Katie’ Elizabeth died on December 7, 1949, in Friona, Texas.

17 MAY 1954 • AGE 81 •  Death of Sister

His sister Augustina ‘Augusta’ (1881–1954) died on May 17, 1954, in Southard, Oklahoma.

 11 NOV 1957 • AGE 84 • Death of Brother

His brother Karl Dick (1887–1957) died on November 11, 1957, in Brighton, Colorado.

 2 JUN 1959 • AGE 86 • Death of Sister

His sister Eva Margaretha (1878–1959) died on June 2, 1959, in Higgins, Texas.

 17 MAY 1964 • AGE 91 • Death

George Alexander Ehrlich died on May 17, 1964, in Shattuck, Oklahoma, when he was 91 years old.

Burial

Seventh Day Adventist Cemetery, Shattuck, Ellis County, Oklahoma.

Find A Grave MEMORIAL ID 15862417: George Alexander Ehrlich; BIRTH 17 Dec 1872; DEATH 17 May 1964; BURIAL Seventh Day Adventist Cemetery Shattuck, Ellis County, Oklahoma;

Discussion

The story[1] suggests that George married his wife after he had moved to Oklahoma.  However, he married Hanna six years prior in Kansas before George staked his land claim near Shattuck, Oklahoma.  Also, his first three children were born in Kansas.

If George and family moved out of the dugout after the birth of his fourth daughter, that would have been after April 12, 1902 and probably before the birth of his fifth daughter born September 5, 1904. So the George Alexander Ehrlich family could have lived in a dugout from the late fall of 1901 until the early fall of 1904.

The stories about the immigration of the Ehrllch family are presented in Chapter: George Alexander Ehrlich – Immigration.

Notes

1. Timothy Egan, ‘The WORST HARD TIME – The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the The Great American Dust Bowl’. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, , New York, New York. 2006. Chapter 4: High Plains Deutsch.
2. Ehrlich’s From Russia. From Rushka to Amerika. The Ehrlich-Laubhan Families http://www.discoverehrlich.com/page.html