I never have heard of it being usual over there. BUT my grandfather came to the US and then his sister found him a wife back in the Volga area (ie, my grandmother). The story is that he wrote and asked a woman he knew to come and marry him but she didn't want to. So his sister, who was friends with my grandmother, asked her to marry him. She agreed. She had been saving her money to go to South America where she had cousins, but my grandfather gave her the opportunity to go to the US and he paid her passage. He wanted a wife from "home". They didn't know each other though she remembered seeing him once at a dance drunk. He didn't remember her. When she arrived she cried for three days because he was a "drinking man" and she didn't want a drinking man. But she went through with the marriage. I don't think it would be considered a happy marriage but they raised three children. Fortunately for my grandmother three of my grandfather's sisters also came over and they stuck up for my grandmother. Sally Zitzer (Katharinenstadt, Wiesenmueller) On Mon, 20 Aug 2007, Dennis L. Sewald wrote: > Does anyone know if it was the custom to have arranged marriages both in > Russia and with the early VG? > > > > Thanks, > > > > Dennis Sewald > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GER-VOLGA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Believe it or not my father arranged a marriage between my younger sister and a particular man. My younger sister rejected him, but one of my even younger sisters married him. They are now divorced. I'm 51, the first potential bride is now 49 and the one who married the arranged groom is now 35. When she married him she was 17. I believe there was once a time and a place for arranged marriages, but during my generation? Very unusual. Carla " Carla Wills-Brandon, Ph.D. www.CarlaWillsBrandon.com www.RapidResponseProgram.com "Angels are everywhere!"