Honoring our Immigrant Herritage Survey

Full Name

Burbach, Marvin Imo (see note below)

What are your ties to Collyer?

Born Nov. 16, 1917 on a farm 7 miles South of Collyer. Attended Victory School which was on the Banner Road. The building still stands, but has had no pupils since the 1950's. Graduated from Collyer High School in 1936. I took over my dad's farm when his health failed in 1958. Continued raising wheat, milo and alfalfa until 1997 when a storm destroyed my machine shed and storage for farm machinery. Still own the land and it is farmed by Rich Burbach.

Where did you live?

On a farm 7 miles South of Collyer.

Which School did you attend?

Victory School on the Banner Road and Collyer High School.

College at Hays, College at Lincoln Nebraska.

What was your religious affiliation?

Parents were Seventh-Day Adventists, but there was not a SDA church in the area. I understand that in the early 1900s there were a group of Seventh-Day Adventists South of Collyer, but they were gone by the time I had memories of the area. I still belong to that belief.

Do you have any stories to tell about family hardships resulting from building and oranizing a Collyer Church or Church Structure?

Were your friends and neighbors all of the same religious affiliation?

My neighbors were Methodist and Catholic.

Your ethnic background/which country did your ancesters call home?

Maternal Grandparents - Dutch.

Paternal Grandparents - Russian Germans.

What language was spoken in the home?

My father spoke both German and English, but my mother could not understand German, so English was spoken in our home.

Did you experience any problems or barriers caused by speaking a different language?

No.

What ethnic and/or religiuos traditions do you specifically remember growing up with? Does your family still practice the same traditions?

(Ethnic) German Foods, (and) yes, (we still have German Foods).

When did you and/or your family move to Collyer?

My Paternal Grandparents moved to United States in about 1880. They first settled in Nebraska, then moved to the Collyer area in 1905. I often wonder why.

My Maternal Grandparents were Holland Dutch (VanScyoc) but had been in United States since the Revolutionary War days. Grandpa VanScyoc moved to this area about 1880.

I was born there.

Do you know how "Collyer" was chosen as a home designation? (Why did your family move here?) Did they operate a farm on homesteaded property?

Grandpa VanScyoc ran a General Store in Quinter, and a Hotel-Livery Barn in Collyer, and farmed what is now known as the Adam Ziegler Farm. He brought in wild horses from the mountain States which he "Broke" and sold. He also was among the first to do Custom Thrashing with a thrashing machine turned by horse power (Horses walking around a turntable and stepping over the "tumbling" rod which ran the Thrashing Machine better known as the "separator." Grandpa died about 1910. His holdings were divided among his children and went several different directions.

Did you/and or your family operate a business in Collyer?

I farmed each summer but taught Junior High School each winter until 1984.

(See prior question)

Did you or your parents serve in the military?

Paternal Grandfather - WWI

No, (not my parents nor I).

Were there problems caused by your ethnic background?

Grandpa Burbach found that during WWI, there was a lot of anti-German feelings and he found it handy to emphasize that he had come from Russia.

Was your family name changed after you arrived in the United States?

What year were you born?

(Nov. 16), 1917

Where was you place of birth?

Family farm, 7 miles South of Collyer.

Why did your family leave their homeland?

economic opportunity

What form of travel did your ancestors use to get to their destination?

steam ship, railroad, horse and wagon.

What hardships did they encounter on their journey?

language, poverty.

What Ports of Call did they travel through to get to America?

Breman, Germany

Which Port of Entry did they come through when they arrived in America?

Ellis Island

What possessions did they bring along with them on their journey? Did they have to sell most of their possessions to be able to obtain money for the journey?

(They brought ) Immediate clothing. They sold everything because had no plans to return.

How long did their journey take them from their homeland?

weeks

What was the occupation of your ancestors?

farming

Did they change occupations once they settled?

Did they face discrimination once they settled in Collyer?

Collyer folks always seemed to be very tolerant of differing religions and political beliefs.

How did they acquire their homestead land or business?

Applied to the government (for homesteaded land).

Did there seem to be different social classes among the settlers?

The original settlers in Collyer liked to think of themselves as learned, cultured, and refined. They were gradually pushed to one side by the influx of Bohemians, Chechs, and Russian-Germans who liked dancing (with a little "snopps") better than the stuffy things the original settlers found entertaining.

(Social Classes were:) Catholic - Mennonite - Luthern - and nothing.

How did the war affect you or your family?

Increased economic opportunity.

Do you have ties or are you in communication with anyone in your ancestor's country?

Have you ever been back to your ancestor's country?

How did your ancestors integrate into a community? In other words, what was the common thread that brought them together?

Farming.

Additional Notes:

It was in the 1200's that the Kings of Europe decreed that all persons should select a family name. So some chose --

Locations - Rivers, Mountain, Field, Hill, Lake, (Bach means a small stream and Bur means beside. I have about 40 names ending in Bach: Schoenbach, Einsbach, Hettenbach, Kutenbach, etc).

Animal names - Fox, Wold, Wulf, Deere, Katz (cat), Hunt (dog)

Colors - White, Black (Schwatz), Green, Blue, Brown

Everybody's last name means something. Some names are hard to recognize because until Noah Webster came along, people might change the spelling of their names to more nearly match the way people were trying to pronounce it.

Norman Schwartzkoff's name means Black Head etc.

Additional Notes:

(Originally I went by the name of Imo, but I had complications with people thinking that I was a girl and my name was short for ImoGene. So I changed it many years ago to Marvin.)

Additional Notes:

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