Bullers in Deutsch-Wymysle 6: Heinrich

Several future posts will list the descendants of the Heinrich who was born in Brenkenhoffswalde in 1787. For now we stop to look back, to trace Heinrich’s ancestors to the extent that we are able. The discussion that follows will use several abbreviations:

• PCB = Prezcheowka church book
• DW = Deutsch-Wymysle
• DWCB = Deutsch-Wymysle church book

A number of previous posts have referenced the Buller family chart (see full version here), which presents schematically the descendants of George and Dina Thoms Buller, the earliest Bullers known to us in the PCB. Specifically, the chart traces for three more generations the lines of the three sons of George and Dina: Hans, George Jr., and Peter.

From the evidence of the PCB, we know that George and Dina’s son Hans (PCB 340) had a son (thus grandson to George and Dina) named George (PCB 342); we also read in the PCB that George 342 had a son named Peter (PCB 351). Some time back we were able to correlate the evidence from the PCB and the Neumark land tax records and identify Peter 351 as a resident in Brenkenhoffswalde as early as 1767 (here) and as late as 1793 (here). The 1793 records also listed two other Bullers in that village: Peter Jr. and Heinrich. That much we know.

What we strongly suspect but cannot demonstrate from documentary evidence is that Peter Jr. and Heinrich were the sons of Peter 351. Our reasons for suspecting that are: the 1767 land tax register states that Peter 351 had two sons; there were no other Buller families in Brenkenhoffswald at the time (as far as we can tell); the listing of a Peter Jr. implies the existence of a Peter Sr., which could only be Peter 351; the listing of a second Buller (Heinrich) of roughly the same age as Peter implies rather strongly that this second Buller is Peter 351’s second son. Until evidence indicates otherwise, then, we will work with the hypothesis that the Peter and Heinrich in the 1793 Brenkenhoffswalde land registers were the sons of Peter 351.

With that as background, we are ready to draw the lines between DW and Brenkenhoffswalde. We begin with the Heinrich (DWCB 97) who was the subject of the last post. The DWCB states that he was born in Brenkenhoffswalde in 1787. Since there were in the village only two Buller families in their child-bearing years (Peter and Heinrich), Heinrich DWCB 97 must have been the son of one or the other. It seems Heinrich 97 was the oldest male of this generation in the village of Brenkenhoffswalde, so one would not be surprised if he had been named after his father: Heinrich son of Peter 351. We do not know this for certain, but this hypothesis accounts for all the evidence that we have and accords well with Mennonite practice of that time.

If all this is correct, then we are now able to trace one line of George and Dina’s descendants for six generations (and beyond, given the later evidence of the DWCB). The entire line of descent can be represented schematically as follows (question marks indicate connections that we suspect but cannot prove):

George and Dina were the father of Hans 340, who was the father of George 342, who was the father of Peter 351 of Brenkenhoffswalde, father of Peter Jr. and Heinrich, the latter of whom was the father of Heinrich 97, the first Buller listed in the DW list of families in the congregation. Where Heinrich 97’s line led and ended up we do not yet know, but at least we have a reasonable idea of where they originated.