City of Herzog, Ellis County, Kansas

Ellis County, Kansas
City of Herzog

In Herzog, Russia, three thousand Germans met to consider migrating to America. A group sailed from Bremen, Germany on November 2, 1875. They landed in Baltimore, Maryland on November 23, following a rough voyage. They then traveled by train to Topeka on November 28. They lived and worked out of Topeka during the winter of 1875-1876 as railroad or farm workers. That spring, they moved to Herzog. In August of 1876, 286 more arrived from the Volga. More arrivals came in the years 1877 and 1878.

Herzog, Kansas was founded in April of 1876 by these Germans from the Volga River area of Russia. It was located one half mile north of present day Victoria. The town of Victoria had been founded a few years previously by a number of English settlers. The two towns combined in 1913 under the name Victoria.

Herzog in Germany once meant "leader of the clan" but later became a title of nobility like a duke.

The history of Herzog is documented in The Golden Jubilee of German-Russian Settlements of Ellis and Rush Counties, Kansas, August 31, September 1 and 2, 1926.

The first German-Russian settlers arriving in Herzog on April 8th of 1876, were:

Anton Dreiling
Nicholaus Dreiling
Alois Dreiling family
Andrew Billinger (or Bullinger)
John Goetz family
John Kreutzer
Michael Rome
John Sander
Michael Storm
John Van der Dunkt
Ignatious Vonfeldt
Ignatius Weigel
Jacob Arnhold
Joseph Braun
Frank Weber
John Geist
Jacob Geist
William Geist
Anton Quint
Herman Quint
Peter Quint
Leonard Hammerschmidt