To answer your question concerning death notices of individuals in Russia being posted in old Dakota newspapers, quite often there will be mention of an individual who has died in the village correspondence published in the newspaper. Sometimes their age will be included, sometime just the name is given. An actual obit for someone in Russia is extremely rare. I have been extracting published letters from the "old" country for several years and have appoximately 400 in my collection. These only pertain to my 4 ancestral villages of Alt Danzig, Neu Danzig, Güldendorf and Hoffnungstal-Bessarabia. Regards, Curt.