A brief history of the Propp family...

A brief history of the Propp family...

I always believed that my ancestors came over on the Mayflower, at least proverbially.  My father is of German heritage.  My mom cooked some German dishes, and Dad used German words occasionally (though mostly words like "Dumkopf").  I never put it together, but after Dad was gone I learned that his own father had come to America from Russia, via Germany. 

Many Germans settled in Russia  during the 17th century when Catherine the Great opened Russian territory along the lower Volga river for settlement by Germans.  There were many named "Propp" among the emigres, apparently mostly from two Propp families, one Jewish and one Christian (the one from which I derive).  There is actually a small town somewhere along the Volga named "Propp."  The reasons for the emigration were varied, and a brief history can be found here, in the section titled "Volga Germans":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germans_in_Russia#Volga_Germans
In the late 19th century the political landscape changed and many Germans left Russia for other places, including the United States.  Many of these new immigrants settled in the Midwest, in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, etc. 

My grandfather emigrated to the United States in 1882.  I was lucky enough to find the ship's passenger list with his name and those of his family (at the time) on it.  My father was actually born in Kansas in 1898, the last of 13  children, where my grandfather owned a farm, which is now long gone.  At age 14 Dad left home to apprentice as a barber, which trade he followed his entire life.  He moved to Detroit, not sure why, but owned a few barber shops in succession.  Many of my friends from Brightmoor remember my dad's last shop, which was on Fenkell (5-Mile Road) between Braile and Patton streets.  Some time later my parents had a little "oops" (I believe) and here I am!