 Great-great grandfather Gerhard Epp owned a
full-sized farm (Wirtschaft) in Rückenau on lot #5. We had no map to tell us where
#5 was located in Rückenau, but the house in the photo is an example of one built by
Mennonites. Gerhard's daughter, Tina, her husband, Peter T. Harms, and
family also lived in Rückenau before moving to Nebraska in 1892.
Today Rückenau is known as Kozolugovka.
We had been told that the owner could also provide tiles from the old church. The
tile that I obtained from her and bought had no distinctive markings indicating the
Mennonite maker, so I ended up leaving it behind.
Below, one of the tree-lined roads of Rückenau, this one leading south out of the
village.
Where exactly Great-grandfather
Harms and Great-great-grandfather
Epp had their farms we do not know, but here we are in a wheat-stubble field near
Rückenau -- not far from where they planted and harvested. The dam in the Kuruschan
River in the background dates from his day.
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