The map below helps put the geography of our forebears’ wanderings into even broader perspective. As above, the star on the far left marks the Neumark area; one can easily see that the Mennonites of Neumark were closer to Berlin than to the Przechowka church, which again appears above the word Poland. The first star to the southeast marks Volhynia, while the second star (far right) is located in the center of the Molotschna colony, an additional 475 miles to the southwest of Volhynia.
We know that some Buller families moved from Schwetz to the Neumark area, then from Neumark to Volhynia, and finally from Volhynia to Molotscha. The families who did so—and our direct ancestors may have been among them—traversed well over a thousand miles (120 + 490 + 475).
It is helpful to keep that broad geographical perspective in mind, but ultimately we want to focus on narrower slices of space and time. As stated above, we are still in Neumark; the previous posts, on David Buller (346 in the Przechowka church book), were located in the village of Neu Dessau during the years 1771–1780. This post moves roughly 7 miles to the west and begins a few years earlier, but the context is roughly the same.
As mentioned earlier, no other Buller after David is associated with the village of Neu Dessau, so it only makes sense to turn our attention to the other Mennonite villages in the area, where Bullers are reported to have lived for a a number of years. Instead of simply listing the names of the Bullers who appear in the governmental records, we will reproduce the complete lists of Mennonites living in the villages, in hopes that the additional information might give us insight into the dynamics of life in each of the villages.
Our sources are Praestations-Tabellen, “land tax lists … [of] tenants on royal domain lands” (Goertz 2001, 47). Adalbert and Bärbel Goertz have transcribed these lists from the following years: 1767, 1793, 1805, 1806, and 1826. To simplify matters as much as possible, we will work through all the lists for Brenkenhoffswalde, then do the same for Franztal.
Brenkenhoffswalde in 1767
The following list appears in Goertz 2001, 48 (see also here).
M
|
F
|
S
|
D
|
Total
| ||
1
|
Cornelius Vood
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
8
|
2
|
Hein Vood
|
1
|
1
|
—
|
4
|
6
|
3
|
Hans Vood
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
6
|
4
|
George Vood
|
1
|
1
|
4
|
2
|
8
|
5
|
Peter Ratzlaff II
|
1
|
1
|
—
|
—
|
2
|
6
|
Hein Ohnrau
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
4
|
7
|
Heinrich Ohnrau
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
7
|
8
|
Jacob Thomas
|
1
|
1
|
—
|
—
|
2
|
9
|
Jan Richert
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
6
|
10
|
Peter Vood I
|
1
|
1
|
—
|
1
|
3
|
11
|
Peter Vood II
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
4
|
12
|
Abraham Ohnrau
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
5
|
8
|
13
|
Witwe [widow] Reicherten
|
1
|
—
|
2
|
2
|
5
|
14
|
Ernst Kühn
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
6
|
15
|
Hans Decker
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
6
|
16
|
Peter Buller
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
6
|
Total
|
16
|
15
|
22
|
32
|
85
|
There is not a great deal we can cull from this single list. It is interesting to note that six out of the sixteen families in Brenkenhoffswalde were named Vood (Voth) and that three others were named Ohnrau (Unrau or Unruh). It is likewise curious to see the widow Reichert (the -en is a feminine ending) numbered in the male column instead of the female one, but none of this is of great import.
We have already encountered the Peter Buller of Brenkenhoffswalde lot 16 (this is not the first time we have drawn upon this list) and identified him as Peter 351 in the Przechowka church book (see here). To this bare information this list adds only the fact that Peter’s wife was alive in 1767 and that they had two sons and two daughters.
This list, however, merely sets the scene so that we can observe how the family of Peter Buller (and perhaps other Buller families) changed over the next six decades. Next up: more Brenkenhoffswalde Bullers in 1793.
Works Cited
Goertz, Adalbert. 2001. Mennonites in Amt Driesen of the Neumark, Brandenburg, Prussia. Mennonite Family History 20:47–51.
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