Our simple-minded way of working back in time has been to remember that before Lushton there was the Molotschna colony, specifically the villages of Kleefeld and, most recently, Waldheim—home of our ancestor David B Buller. Before Molotschna and Waldheim there was Volhynia, a region in the northwest of the Russian Empire, now part of the Ukraine as well.
The Volhynian gubernia (province) contained twelve districts, each one named for its chief city. We first examined a village in the Rovno district, Zofyovka, the home of Benjamin and Helena and David Buller roughly twenty years before they moved to Waldheim in Molotschna colony.
After that, in the post published several days ago, we moved to a new district and a new Mennonite village, specifically the village of Antonovka in the Ostrog district.
Before we look more closely at that village, we need to recall what came before Volhynia, namely, Neumark and Schwetz. That is, the Mennonites (and Bullers) who settled in Volhynia in the early 1800s and then moved to Molotschna in the late 1830s had lived prior to that in one of two areas: the Neumark province in the area of Driesen and the village Schwetz in West Prussia (for additional background, see here).
The reason to bring this up again is because it may have relevance for identifying where the Buller family listed in the 1819 Ostrog census (Andreas and Anna and their children: Maria, David, and Benjamin) lived before Volhynia.
According to Abe J. Unruh (see also Ratzlaff below), the Mennonites who populated Antonovka came from Neumark (aka Netzebruch, the area of Driesen, or the villages of Brenkenhoffswalde and Franzthal; they all refer to the same area), while those who populated Karolswalde (the other Ostrog village mentioned in the prior post) trekked there from the Schweta area, that is, from the Przechovka church whose church book we have spent so much time exploring.
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| Antonovka (modern Antonivka), with the Viliya (Vilia or Vilna) River to the north. |
At the risk of confusing matters further, we should recall that the Neumark Mennonites (and Bullers) were related to the Schwetz Mennonites (Bullers) one generation back. In fact, the Neumark families were associated with the Przechovka church before they moved west in search of more favorable leasing conditions. For example, earlier we explored how several grandsons of the original Buller couple (George Buller and Dina Thoms) left Jeziorka and moved to the Neumark area (see here). Some of these Mennonites and Bullers have walked back onstage as they reappear now in various villages of Volhynia.
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| Looking north toward the village of Antonovka (modern Antonivka). |
None of this is new or surprising information. It is, however, a good reminder that our search for our ancestors cannot be limited to a single locale. We know that Grandpa Chris’s great-great-grandfather Benjamin moved to Volhynia in 1817, but we do not know where he lived before that. It is possible that he came, as did many, directly from the Schwetz area. It is also possible, perhaps even likely, given the lack of evidence indicating that Benjamin was in the Przechovka church, that, like Andreas Buller of Antonovka, Benjamin lived in the Neumark area before he emigrated east to Volhynia.
It would be nice to know exactly how we are related to Andreas, who walked the fields and roads of Antonovka that we see above. Maybe someday we will discover how all the pieces fit together; for now it is enough to enjoy the process of sorting through those pieces and learning a good deal along the way.
Sources
Ratzlaff, Rod. n.d. Antonovka. Online here.
Unruh, Abe J. 1973. The Helpless Poles. Sioux Falls, SD: Pine Hill Press.
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