Reinold Rode (1905-1992)

I have a friend that lured me into researching some of her Eastern European immigrants. Actually, she didn’t lure me; she just told me her story and I bit. I had never searched Eastern European immigrants and had no idea how perplexing such searching can be. My friend provided what little information she knew.

Continuing on to the 1930 Census I found him again born in
Russia about 1906[2].
Humm, it seems that the 1901 birthdate is probably incorrect – me thinks that 1905 or 1906 is correct. 

RMS Caronia Photo Courtesy: Wikipedia.Com

I figured that if I could find his immigration record I would know for
sure. So, I looked closely and couldn’t find it. (Grumble, Grumble – It is
never that easy.) The 1930 Census indicated his immigration year as 1922 so I
cast a search for his record looking for anyone named Rode who came to the country in 1922. Then I found him (spelled Rheinhold Rode). Arriving on the SS Caronia
in New York on 26 September, 1922. He was heading to Nebraska to his father, Adolph, (whose name I already had from my friend) with a brother, Rudolph. Reinold was
17 years, 4 months old when he arrived which would put his birthdate in 1905
and his birth month in April or May.  But
most important to my quest it gave a birthplace of “Marijantje, Russia.[3]” Got
it.

Detail of Passenger List which shows Rudolph born in Lindental and Reinold born in Marijantje – Image from Ancestry.Com

A quick search of Marijantje in Google maps found nothing; likewise no results on Wikipedia. Maybe his brother Rudolph’s birthplace Lindental, Russia, will help. Again nothing on Google maps nor Wikipedia. Finally, a Google search yielded a link to the “Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online” (GAMEO). It mentioned that “Lindental was a small Mennonite settlement in South Russia near the railway station Sinelnikovo,” So, where is Sinelnikovo? Google Maps suggested three different places all in Eastern Urkrane, none anywhere near the Belarus border. Also on the GAMEO there is an entry that says that “The village of Lindenthal was located between Kutuzovka and Zhitomir.”

Now I still can’t figure out where Lindental/Lindenthal nor Kutuzovka are but I’m fairly certain that Zhitomyr and Zhitomir are the same place which would put Rudolph’s birthplace near Zhitomyr which is where I guess I’ll tentatively place Reinold’s birth. Am I sure, no, but I think Zhitomir is more likely than Minsk.

I learned how place names in Cyrillic are translated into English in lots of different ways. It seems like every translation becomes a unique spelling. Also, place names changed dramatically in the past hundred years as countries rose and collapsed. Prussia no longer exists, parts became part of Russia and parts became Poland. Today there are Belarus and Ukraine that overlap the same area.

I still have a lot more research to do on Reinold Rode (pronounced “roe-dee”). I know he was a German speaking Russian from the Prussian, Polish, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia area. Maybe a naturalization record can be found, that might clinch it. I definitely have a lot more work to do.

Reinold Rode was born on 29 Apr 1905[4] in Marijantje,
Russia, which is probably near Zhytomyr, Ukraine today.

S.S. Caronia Thanks to Great Ships

When he was 17 he immigrated from “Ober Cyrus, Germany” to
the United States aboard the SS Caronia with his brother, Rudolph. The two
brothers met up with their father, Adolph in Madison, County Nebraska. 

Reinold met and married a Nebraska native, Delilah Hefner (Hoefener)
about 1928.

He rented farmland, which he farmed, in Pierce (1930 Census),
Cumming (1935), and Antelope (1940 Census) Counties, all in Northeast Nebraska.

Marker: Rode – Reinold & Delilah Courtesy: Find a Grave

Sometime before 1992 the Rode’s moved to Tacoma, Washington
where Reinold died on 18 Apr 1992.

He is buried at Trinity Lutheran Cemetery,
Tacoma, Pierce County, Washington State. His wife Delilah passed three years
later and is buried with him.

  

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