The Old Country

Ulmer is a German surname, meaning "from Ulm,” Ulm being a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. Ulm comes from the Latin ulmus, meaning mountain elm.

As such, it is likely the family originates from this city, though the first known relation is Matthäus Ulmer, born on 16 September 1760 in Evangelisch, Württemberg, to Maria Margretha Leisser and Johan George Ulmer. At the time, this was the Duchy of Württemberg, a state of the Holy Roman Empire. Situated along the Black Forest and Danube River, the Duchy was one of the most populous of the Holy Roman Empire, with a strong farming community.

He married Veronica Barbara Groll in Evangelisch, Württemberg on 22 November 1785. The couple would have 14 children, losing 5 of them in early childhood. This family's direct line relies on their final child, Johann Jacob Ulmer, born in Evangelisch, Württemberg on 31 May 1810 and baptized 1 June 1810. During this time, from 1803 to 1808, the Duchy of Württemberg had become the Electorate of Württemberg before becoming the Kingdom of Württemberg, a member of the German Confederation in 1808 until 1918. Matthäus would die during this time of growing political and religious upheaval on 7 June 1817 in Evangelisch, Württemberg, leaving his wife and up to 9 children.

With such turbulent times and loss of the patriarch, it is no wonder that the Ulmer family would join other Germans in settling in what was then part of Russia Empire (and is now part of Ukraine, around Odessa) in the Crimean Peninsula, as part of what is now known as the Black Sea Germans. The area had been annexed from the Ottoman Empire, and Russia was looking to quickly fill the land with colonists to lay claim. Thus, at the behest of Alexander I of Russia, colonists were granted several freedoms including free land, freedom of religion, freedom from military service, and freedom from Russification. The first settlement was made in the early 1800's by 34 families consisting of 122 persons (71 male and 51 female). Per "Homesteaders on the Steppe" by Joseph S. Height, which directly quotes a missive written by Johannestal mayor Peter Martin on 4 May 1848:

Since there were no dwellings to house the settlers, they had to seek shelter in the homes of the colony of Rohrbach until 1821, when they had built the clay huts, called semelankas, for which the government advanced the necessary loan. The colony was first located on the eastern ridge of the Sasika valley, about midway between the colonies of Rohrbach and Landau, which are about 20 versts from each other. However, in view of the lack of water supply the colony had to be moved one verst farther to the south. The Sasika valley begins about 3 versts to the north and continues in a southeasterly direction for 50 versts until it reaches the Black Sea. The colony is about 110 versts from Kherson, the administrative center of the "gouvernement", and 100 versts from Odessa.

The steppe assigned to the colony has an area of 4,143 dessiatines. Except for the Sasika valley, the land is completely flat and has one to two feet of topsoil consisting of black humus and loam, with a lower layer of clay, sand, and gravel. The soil, though mixed with saltpeter, is very productive when there is sufficient rainfall. It produces luxuriant vegetation and tall grain. However, in periods of prolonged drought, which occur quite frequently, little or nothing grows in the parched loose earth. The following crops are planted: arnaut, spring and winter wheat, winter rye, barley, oats and potatoes.

Many years of experience and largely unsuccessful attempts have convinced the farmers that the locality and the soil are not favorable for the production of wine or the planting of trees.

There are no woods here, and the success of the plantations that were started in 1817 upon orders of the authorities cannot yet be determined.

At the southern end of the colony there are stone quarries that deliver an abundance of good building stone for the colonists. Three dams and ponds have been constructed by the community to provide water for the cattle during the summer months.

Out of love and fondness for His Excellency Superintendent General von Inzow, under whose paternal guidance the colony was established, the community, at the suggestion of its mayor Dietrich Lutz, requested that they be permitted to call their settlement "Johannestal", after the surname of His Excellency. This was granted.

The families who had come from Wuerttemberg in 1817 on the Danube waterway were organized into parties which were led by the transport conductors Stephan Schmidt and Johannes Gugel. The other immigrants came on the overland route independently, without conductors. Until they were settled they remained in the colonies of the Grossliebental and Kutschurgan districts. Most of the local inhabitants are Lutheran; only a few belong to the Reformed Church.

All of them came to Russia during the glorious reign of the late Czar Alexander I and in response to the gracious privileges granted by His Majesty.

The steppe that was allotted to the immigrant settlers originally belonged to the Imperial Crown and was used by the local landowner Yeschitzki to pasture his cattle. There were no dwellings to be found here to shelter the settlers.

Apart from the non-refundable food ration and travel money granted by the government, the immigrants received an advance loan for the purchase of building materials and farm equipment amounting to 660 rubles for each of the 34 pioneer families, or a total of 22,440 rubles. The property that most of the immigrants brought with them consisted largely of clothing, bedding, and household goods; only a few had actual cash, but this was spent before they learned how to put it to good use.

Since our colony of Johannestal lacked water on its first site, but succeeded, after many failures in getting a well with good drinking water one verst farther south in the Sasika valley, the colonial officials acceded to their request that the colony be re-established in the new location. In 1833 the resettlement got underway and the construction of the houses was undertaken.

Based on what little documents are available, the Ulmers seem to have been part of a subsequent wave colonists, moving into Rohrbach in 1831. They were then part of the second settlement wave of Johannestal in 1833, though not before Johann Jacob Ulmer married Christine Barbara Bremer on 5 December 1833 in Rohrbach. After moving to Johannestal, the couple would have 10 children, of which their firstborn is this family's direct line: Mathias Ulmer, born on 2 November 1835 in Johannestal.

By all account, it was a hard life along the Black Sea. Again, per "Homesteaders on the Steppe":

Since the founding of the colony 3 houses burned down; one in 1830; one in 1831; and one in 1840. In 1842 a windmill went up in smoke. In 1838 a fire that started on the steppe of a nobleman also burned it down with its stacks of wheat and hay on 3 threshing floors and destroyed a large number of shocks in the wheat fields.

There were earthquakes in 1829 and 1838, but they caused no damage.

Grasshoppers ruined much grain and grass in 1827, and also in 1846 there were considerable traces of devastation.

In 1830 and 1845 many children died of the measles; otherwise there was no epidemic.

There was a livestock epidemic in 1845 that wiped out half of our cattle.

Besides these losses, the colony had a total crop failure in 1833. In 1834 and 1842 the farmers did not even get their seed back.

Not all was hardship, however, as Mathias Ulmer married his first wife Katharina Delzer in Johannestal, likely around early 1857. The couple would have 8 children, of which this third son would be this family's direct line: Gottlieb Ulmer, born in March 1859 in Johannestal. Katharina Delzer would sadly pass away during childbirth on 31 October 1869 (son Jakob Ulmer survived the ordeal), and Mathias Ulmer remarried Elisabeth Kling in 1871. The couple had two children while living in Johannestal.

Heading to the New World

In the 1870s, Tsar Alexander III, in accordance with growing anti-German sentiments in the Russian Empire, removed previously gifted freedoms from the colonists, beginning forced Russification and persecution of non-Orthodox religions. In response, many left the area for America, the multi-generational Ulmers included. They left Europe on 20 Aug 1874 from Hamburg, Germany to New York City, New York on the SS Schiller (which had only been launched the year before and on 7 May 1875 would be one of the worst British shipping disasters in history, with over 300 dead). The accommodations thereon were Zwischendeck, below-deck steerage on the forward side. They arrived in New York City, New York on 1 Sep 1874 and headed west to the Dakota Territory.

Per the book "Menno, the First One Hundred Years" (1979) by Arthur Flegel:

JACOB ULMER and his wife CHRISTINA Brenner Ulmer, left Johannestahl, S. Russia in the year 1874. They came by ship across the ocean to the United States. Then they took a train to Yankton, Dakota Territory. They bought a wagon and a team of horses. With the $1.75 they had left, they bought a sack of flour, a bag of sugar and some coffee beans. They drove across the Yankton territory to what is now Hutchinson County. They dug a shelter until a home was erected. They were on the land which the Orville Hauck family now live on. Jacob lived only 10 days, to work and enjoy life in Dakota Territory, when he got sick and died. The mother and family then had to go on alone. Jacob was buried in the Ebenezer cemetery, Southeast of Menno. There is no marker there to identify his grave, but we know he is buried there.

It must be noted that the prior book is incorrect in that per other records (including census records), Johann Jacob Ulmer did not pass in 1874/1875, but in 1880. Incidentally, this was also the year that Gottlieb Ulmer married Christina Jenner. The couple would have 14 children, of which the fifth provides this family's direct line: William Frederick Ulmer, born on October 1886 in then-Yankton County.

The Ulmers filled out most of southwestern then-Yankton County's farmland, with land transfers making up most of any newspaper mentions between 1874 and 1885 (including some delinquent taxes in 1884 and 1885), though the family worked in a variety of arenas, including Mathias Ulmer helping with county bridge work in 1888. Mathias and Elisabeth would have 4 more children.

Northward

Not soon after their final child, South Dakota (and its northern sibling) were admitted to the Union in 1899, which meant its newly formed legislature needed to contend with several major issues: women's suffrage and prohibition, the latter of which was fiercely opposed by the German communities. Native American affairs were also a top priority, which is the state wanted to remove the Indigenous populations to provide more room for European settlers. While this often took the form of enforced migrations onto reservations (largely through dubious means), outright war and massacre were also utilized, including the Wounded Knee Massacre on 29 December 1890, in which 300 Souix were slaughtered by the US military.

Cyclical droughts and locust plagues were also constant concerns, causing catastrophic losses in 1889.

Perhaps it was any of these that led Gottlieb and his family to head North, or perhaps it was the overcrowding of the former territory as more and more people moved in, jostling for land. Whatever the reason may be, they immigrated to Alberta, Canada in 1905: Gottlieb to Ingleton and William Frederick Ulmer to Strathcona (A homestead application was applied for on 20 Oct 1905, on which the family settled in Strathcona by 18 Jun 1906). Gottlieb was naturalized in 1908. By 1911, the Ulmer group would moved to Red Deer, getting involved in a accidental cow rustling court case in November of that year.

In 1912, William Frederick Ulmer married Ida Renschler in Castor, Alberta. The couple would have 5 children, of which the last is of this family's line: Harold Frederick Ulmer, born on 25 May 1919 in Castor, Alberta.

Gottlieb died in a coal mining accident in 17 April 1933 in Castor, Alberta, something which had already taken the life of a son, Emmanual Ulmer in 1922.

Harold Frederick Ulmer was born in 25 May 1919 in Castor, Alberta. Upon graduation from the local One-through-Twelve school, he enrolled at the Calgary Normal School in Sep 1938, where he received a temporary teaching certificate the following spring. He began teaching in a one-room school in Sullivan Lake where he taught grades One to Ten for two years before enlisting in the Royal Canadian Air Force in Jun 1941. Just before going overseas, he met and married his wife Corliss Kathleen Martell (b. 1921 Glace Bay, Nova Scotia) who lived and taught in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. For two and a half of the five years he spent in the service, he sat behind the controls of a Spitfire single-engine fighter plane. Upon discharge, he took the Department of National Defense’s offer of free tuition by enrolling at the University of Alberta in Jan 1946, where he completed a Bachelor’s of Education. He went on to obtain his Master’s of Education two years later. For the following six years, he taught high school mathematics and science in Vulcan before moving to Edmonton in 1955, where he spent 25 years acting as teacher (and then principal) at the Greisbach Barracks. He retired in 1980. His wife died in 1986.