Many information resources have been drawn from to write this book.
Local History
Excerpts of histories, biographies, and events were included from:
- Wilhelm “William” Kirmse. Autobiography. See Appendix: Wilhelm Kirmse – Autobiography.
- Charles Rauh, Rauh: Our Great Heritage 2007. Includes histories of the Rauh Families and their migration to Oklahoma from Perry County.
- Cherokee Strip Volunteer League. “Pioneer Footprints Across Woods County”, 1976. Includes biographies of families.
- Seekers of Oklahoma Heritage Association. “The First 100 Years of Alva, Oklahoma. 1886-1986″ Curtis Media Corporation, Dallas, Texas, 1987. Includes biographies of families.
Volga German-Russian Resources
Information was used from several Volga German-Russian study centers, books and articles:
- 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. This is a must read non-fictional account of the the history and people who stayed and survived the Dust Bowl period which plagued the Southern Plains. Major excerpts were taken from Chapter 4: High Plains Deutsch.
- Center for Volga German Studies at Concordia University. http://cvgs.cu-portland.edu/
- Voga German Institute at Fairfield University. https://vgi.fairfield.edu/
- Lower Volga Project, http://www.lowervolga.org/
- Russia Heritage Collection. North Dakota State University Library https://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/
- Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society. http://www.okhistory.org/publications/
- Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. University of Nebraska-Lincoln http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/
- Germans From Russia, GENEALOGICAL REsEARCH OUTLINE, Family History Library. http://files.lib.byu.edu/family-history-library/research-outlines/Europe/GermansFromRussia.pdf
Maps
Several sources of maps were used to define locations and places being referenced.
- Google Maps
- US Geological Maps
- Bureau of Land Management Maps
Wikipedia
Was a resource for describing areas, histories, events, and maps.
National Archives
National Archives were searched for land case files and land patents.
Ancestry.com
Census records, marriage records, genealogical information were used.
Cemeteries
Information about graves, cemeteries and churches was drawn from:
- The Oklahoma Cemeteries Website
- Find A Grave
Church Records
Marriage and birth records were obtained from:
- Salem Lutheran Church, Farrar, Missouri.
- Zion Lutheran Church – Alva, Oklahoma.
Dale’s Family Research Blog
Dale’s Family Research blog was used to post analysis and research findings, These blog posts formed the initial basis for chapters of this book.
