The previous post explored—and confirmed beyond reasonable doubt—Glenn Penner’s hypothesis that two Benjamin Bullers listed in the GRANDMA database (60393 and 32139) are one and the same person. Glenn suggests further that this Benjamin was the father of our Benjamin 2, who was the father of David, father of Peter D, father of Peter P, father of Grandpa Chris. We will examine that hypothesis in due course, but first we need to learn all that we can about the Benjamin who was the subject of the prior post.
1. Benjamin’s Lineage
The simplest way to present Benjamin’s ancestry is via a chart that we have used in the past.
As noted many times, the original Przechovka Buller was George, who was married to Dina Thoms. Three sons of George and Dina are known to us: Hans, George, and Peter. Son Hans (on the left) also had three sons: Hans, George, and Heinrich. The latter is of primary interest to us, since Heinrich had a daughter Maricke and a son Benjamin. The number under Benjamin’s name in the chart above is 352 (his entry number in the Przechovka church book [hereafter PCB]), which matches the identity of the Benjamin discussed in the previous post (60393 and 32139).
In other words, Benjamin 352 was the great-grandson of George Buller and Dina Thoms. His lineage can be represented simply as follows: George > Hans > Heinrich > Benjamin. None of this surprises; the fact that Benjamin is recorded in the PCB means that he had to be descended from George and Dina. What is of real interest is Benjamin’s own family: his wife and children.
2. Benjamin’s Nuclear Family
2. Benjamin’s Nuclear Family
As noted earlier, Benjamin Buller married Maricke Cornelsen (PCB 409). Together they had at least seven children: five daughters and two sons. I specify at least five daughters and two sons because we do not yet know if these were the only children born to Benjamin and Maricke. Given the possibility that this family may stand in our direct ancestral line, the members of it deserve a closer look.
The previous post reported that Benjamin and Maricke were wed in Deutsch Konopath on 30 June 1774; a closer look at the PCB reveals that the location was actually Klein Konopath (a misreading of Dt. for Kl.). Their first five children were born over the course of the next nine years.
Maricke, the oldest, was born on 22 August 1775 in Konopath (technically Kunpat in the PCB); since her parents were wed in and her younger siblings born in Klein Konopath, one can assume that she was born there as well. She was obviously named after her mother. The date of her baptism is not recorded. According to her entry, she was married on 4 December 1796 to Peter Nachtigal (PCB 667) in Klein Konopath. (GM reads her husband’s entry as 9 December, but it looks like a 4 in the PCB, at least to my eyes.)
Hinrich (Heinrich) was born next, on 1 September 1777. He also was named after a family member, in this case his father Benjamin’s father. Heinrich was baptized sometime in 1795, around the age of eighteen. According to the GM entry for Heinrich, the words written on the right side of his entry indicate that he married a Lutheran named Maria. The extract below has the word Lutheran in the top line and Maria in the bottom line, so the GM is no doubt correct.
If you recall (see here), each PCB entry extends across two pages. A person’s lineage, date of birth, baptism, and first marriage are recorded on the left-hand pages; subsequent marriages, date of death, and length of life appear on right-hand pages. With Heinrich, we need to look at the right-hand page to learn important information about him.
Heinrich is PCB 368, and one can easily see a record in the death column: 18 May 1807, age twenty-nine years and eight months. The church book records no other information about Heinrich. Given his marriage to a Lutheran, perhaps he left the church, in which case any children born to that marriage were not entered in the church records.
Ancke, daughter two, was born 12 July 1779 and baptized sometime in 1795. She married Peter Becker (336) on 23 June 1811. According to the GM entry for Peter, they “probably settled in Wegtzin, Revinsk district, in 1820 (Fond 383 Opis 29 Dielo 1212, St. Petersburg Archives).” If that is correct, it would be an interesting lead, since Wegtzin (or Wysock) is the Volhynian location where Benjamin 2 and Helena and their family arrived in 1817. The fact that both Buller families ended up in the same village several years apart proves nothing, of course, but it is an intriguing, perhaps even suggestive coincidence.
David was the family’s second son, born on 10 December 1780. He was baptized 5 October 1800; his PCB entry does not record a marriage, but GM states that he married Anna Unrau 1 May 1808. They had only three children, since David died on 17 March 1813 at the age of thirty-two years and three months (see PCB 370 in the image immediately above). Anna remarried Martin David Cornelsen, and in 1820 they immigrated to Alexandwohl in Molotschna colony.
Trincke (aka Katharina) followed, born 4 January 1783. She was baptized in 1798, but no marriage is recorded for her. However, the 1835 Molotschna census indicates that (if we are correct to identify Trincke and Katharina, as seems reasonable) she was married to Johann Peter Ratzlaff, and they and her father Benjamin Buller lived at Alexanderwohl plot 16. Further, the passport records identify a Johann Ratzlaff and his wife Katharina of Przechovka on a visa issued 17 August 1820. (The visa gives her age as forty-five, which is eight years different from what we expect. Whether this points to an error on our part or the visa’s is uncertain.) Importantly, although Katharina and Johann ended up at the same village and plot as her father Benjamin, the visa does not list him along with them. In addition, no children are listed, merely Johann and Katharina (Rempel 2007, 173, 176).
Benjamin and Maricke’s first five children are listed in the Buller section; two additional ones appear later in the church book, since they were presumably added after the first wave of record keeping had been completed.
Efcke (PCB 1198) was born 14 October 1784 and baptized in 1798, the same year as Trincke. Efcke Buller and Peter Schmidt wed on 6 November 1808, and together they had three daughters. Based on the later location of their children, it appears that they relocated in Alexanderwohl with the rest of the church (early 1820s), but at this point we can say no more than that.
Elizabeth (PCB 1264), the last child of Benjamin and Maricke recorded in the church book, was born sometime in 1788. She died at the age of eighteen on 29 January 1807, less than four months before her older brother Heinrich passed away. It seems certain that she never married.
Now that we have all the known facts on the table, we are ready to discuss Benjamin Heinrich Buller and his family in greater detail in the following post. Was this Benjamin an ancestor of ours, the father of Benjamin who was the father of David? Glenn Penner thinks he was. We continue to explore the question, not knowing where the evidence will lead or what it will lead us to conclude.
Work Cited
Hinrich (Heinrich) was born next, on 1 September 1777. He also was named after a family member, in this case his father Benjamin’s father. Heinrich was baptized sometime in 1795, around the age of eighteen. According to the GM entry for Heinrich, the words written on the right side of his entry indicate that he married a Lutheran named Maria. The extract below has the word Lutheran in the top line and Maria in the bottom line, so the GM is no doubt correct.
If you recall (see here), each PCB entry extends across two pages. A person’s lineage, date of birth, baptism, and first marriage are recorded on the left-hand pages; subsequent marriages, date of death, and length of life appear on right-hand pages. With Heinrich, we need to look at the right-hand page to learn important information about him.
Heinrich is PCB 368, and one can easily see a record in the death column: 18 May 1807, age twenty-nine years and eight months. The church book records no other information about Heinrich. Given his marriage to a Lutheran, perhaps he left the church, in which case any children born to that marriage were not entered in the church records.
Ancke, daughter two, was born 12 July 1779 and baptized sometime in 1795. She married Peter Becker (336) on 23 June 1811. According to the GM entry for Peter, they “probably settled in Wegtzin, Revinsk district, in 1820 (Fond 383 Opis 29 Dielo 1212, St. Petersburg Archives).” If that is correct, it would be an interesting lead, since Wegtzin (or Wysock) is the Volhynian location where Benjamin 2 and Helena and their family arrived in 1817. The fact that both Buller families ended up in the same village several years apart proves nothing, of course, but it is an intriguing, perhaps even suggestive coincidence.
David was the family’s second son, born on 10 December 1780. He was baptized 5 October 1800; his PCB entry does not record a marriage, but GM states that he married Anna Unrau 1 May 1808. They had only three children, since David died on 17 March 1813 at the age of thirty-two years and three months (see PCB 370 in the image immediately above). Anna remarried Martin David Cornelsen, and in 1820 they immigrated to Alexandwohl in Molotschna colony.
Trincke (aka Katharina) followed, born 4 January 1783. She was baptized in 1798, but no marriage is recorded for her. However, the 1835 Molotschna census indicates that (if we are correct to identify Trincke and Katharina, as seems reasonable) she was married to Johann Peter Ratzlaff, and they and her father Benjamin Buller lived at Alexanderwohl plot 16. Further, the passport records identify a Johann Ratzlaff and his wife Katharina of Przechovka on a visa issued 17 August 1820. (The visa gives her age as forty-five, which is eight years different from what we expect. Whether this points to an error on our part or the visa’s is uncertain.) Importantly, although Katharina and Johann ended up at the same village and plot as her father Benjamin, the visa does not list him along with them. In addition, no children are listed, merely Johann and Katharina (Rempel 2007, 173, 176).
Benjamin and Maricke’s first five children are listed in the Buller section; two additional ones appear later in the church book, since they were presumably added after the first wave of record keeping had been completed.
Efcke (PCB 1198) was born 14 October 1784 and baptized in 1798, the same year as Trincke. Efcke Buller and Peter Schmidt wed on 6 November 1808, and together they had three daughters. Based on the later location of their children, it appears that they relocated in Alexanderwohl with the rest of the church (early 1820s), but at this point we can say no more than that.
Elizabeth (PCB 1264), the last child of Benjamin and Maricke recorded in the church book, was born sometime in 1788. She died at the age of eighteen on 29 January 1807, less than four months before her older brother Heinrich passed away. It seems certain that she never married.
Now that we have all the known facts on the table, we are ready to discuss Benjamin Heinrich Buller and his family in greater detail in the following post. Was this Benjamin an ancestor of ours, the father of Benjamin who was the father of David? Glenn Penner thinks he was. We continue to explore the question, not knowing where the evidence will lead or what it will lead us to conclude.
Work Cited
Rempel. Peter. 2007. Mennonite Migration to Russia, 1788–1828. Edited by Alfred H. Redekopp and Richard D. Thiessen. Winnepeg: Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society.
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