To recap briefly (given the length of time between posts), Benjamin Heinrich Buller, who was part of the Przechovka church group that moved from Prussia/Poland to Molotschna colony in the early 1820s, was most likely our ancestor, the father of Benjamin Benjamin Buller, who was himself the father of David, the father of Peter D, and so on. We have no definitive evidence proving this, but it is the best explanation of the evidence that we do have. Consequently, until clear evidence demonstrates otherwise, we will proceed under the assumption that Benjamin Heinrich Buller (Benjamin 1 in the Buller chart provided in the previous post) is a direct ancestor of our branch of Bullers.
The Benjamin’s Father series is finished, but we will continue with the Alexanderwohl series that was running parallel to it for a time, not only in view of the fact that Benjamin 1 lived his final years in that Molotschna village but also because the village is important for the history of the larger Buller family.
We do not have, to my knowledge, the same types of primary sources (records) for Alexanderwohl that we plumbed earlier for Waldheim (see here and the rest of the posts in the Waldheim series), but we are not completely without semi-contemporary records that help us reconstruct the history of the village. We begin with the 1848 Gemeindebericht, which was introduced in an earlier post as follows (see here):
Each community, or village, within Molotschna wrote a report offering a brief history and the current state of the village. The Waldheim report, we saw earlier, was written by Mayor Christian Schlabbach and teacher Henry Dirks. The Alexanderwohl Gemeindebericht was similarly compiled by the village mayor, Heinrich Voth, and teacher, Heinrich Buller, with the help of mayoral assistants Heinrich Goerz and Jakob Schmidt. These four individuals provide, it seems, the earliest record of the origins of the village in which Benjamin Heinrich lived.
The original German version of the Gemeindebericht is provided at the end of this post for those who wish to consult it for themselves. The English translation below is taken primarily from Heinrich Goerz’s The Molotschna Settlement (1993) but supplemented (material in brackets) by additions from the translation included in Duerksen and Duerksen 1987. The Goerz translation provides excerpts but not the entire report, which is why the two sources are combined below.
Works Cited
The Benjamin’s Father series is finished, but we will continue with the Alexanderwohl series that was running parallel to it for a time, not only in view of the fact that Benjamin 1 lived his final years in that Molotschna village but also because the village is important for the history of the larger Buller family.
We do not have, to my knowledge, the same types of primary sources (records) for Alexanderwohl that we plumbed earlier for Waldheim (see here and the rest of the posts in the Waldheim series), but we are not completely without semi-contemporary records that help us reconstruct the history of the village. We begin with the 1848 Gemeindebericht, which was introduced in an earlier post as follows (see here):
A useful source of information about Waldheim and other Russian villages inhabited by colonists is a collection of village reports commissioned by the Russian ministry responsible for governing foreign settlers within Russia. On 8 January 1848 the president of the Fürsorge-Komitee für die Kolonisten der südlichen Gebiete Russlands (Guardians’ Committee of the Foreign Colonists in the Southern Regions of Russia; see further Krahn 1959), Eugen von Hahn, sent out a circular requiring mayors and school teachers under his jurisdiction to compile Gemeindeberichte (community reports) for their villages, all 203 of them.
Each community, or village, within Molotschna wrote a report offering a brief history and the current state of the village. The Waldheim report, we saw earlier, was written by Mayor Christian Schlabbach and teacher Henry Dirks. The Alexanderwohl Gemeindebericht was similarly compiled by the village mayor, Heinrich Voth, and teacher, Heinrich Buller, with the help of mayoral assistants Heinrich Goerz and Jakob Schmidt. These four individuals provide, it seems, the earliest record of the origins of the village in which Benjamin Heinrich lived.
The original German version of the Gemeindebericht is provided at the end of this post for those who wish to consult it for themselves. The English translation below is taken primarily from Heinrich Goerz’s The Molotschna Settlement (1993) but supplemented (material in brackets) by additions from the translation included in Duerksen and Duerksen 1987. The Goerz translation provides excerpts but not the entire report, which is why the two sources are combined below.
This colony was founded in 1821 under the leadership of Gerhard Ens, district mayor (Gebietsvorsteher) of Altonau, and under the administration of Mr. Fadeyev, chief judge in the Office for Foreign Settlers in Ekaterinoslav. [It is located on the west bank of the Behemtscherkark (Begin Tschokrar), a distance of 47 Werst from Orechow and 90 Werst from Berdjansk. The gently rolling land consists of rich black soil in the lowlands and a mixture of clay and loam on the higher ground, and is suitable for tillage, for pasture and horticulture, but not for production of abundant hay.
When this community, which had existed as a church in Prussia for over 200 years, emigrated to Russia under the leadership of its church Ältester (elder), Peter Wedel, they rested for two days on the south side of the city of Warsaw. Tsar Alexander I—may he rest in peace—and a segment of his troops were outside the city engaging in field manoeuvres. We waited anxiously when the tsar, who had been alerted by several passing generals, stopped his carriage and beckoned with his right hand. Several church leaders ran to him and were asked where we came from and where we were going. When he heard we were going to Molotschna in southern Russia the tsar said: “I wish you luck on your journey. Greet your brethren for I have been there.” This happened on September 14, 1820.
When we arrived in Molotschna these greetings were promptly conveyed by Peter Wedel, our Ältester, to the congregations gathered in the churches. When the office in Ekaterinoslav heard of this extraordinary event, the chief judge Fadeyev immortalized it by naming the colony Alexanderwohl because, as he said, “Tsar Alexander has wished you well.” By 1821 twenty-one [sic: twenty-two] families [from the Prussian Chief Magistrate’s District of Schwetz in the regency of Marienwerder] were settled there, seven more in 1823 and one more in 1824.
Before the arrival of the Germans the unsettled steppe had been leased by Johann Cornies, used as a cattle pasture by the Nogai and partially farmed by Russians.
[Of the immigrant families 20 received a government loan of 4104 R. (Rubel), 284/7 K (Kopack) Silver; their own financial assets amounted to about 8570 R. Silver.]
The first year of settlement, 1821, proved unproductive and they barely recovered the seed grain. The year 1822 was a fruitful one but was marked by the appearance of grasshoppers which caused great damage for the next seven years. Furthermore, 1823 and 1824 were years of crop failures. A persistent [winter] storm during the first months of 1825 resulted in a great loss of cattle for this community since no feed was available. There also straw from the roofs was fed to the cattle. A devastating epidemic among the cattle held sway in 1821 [sic: 1828]. However, the most difficult was 1833, the year of the famine.
Purebred cattle and sheep and the four-field system in farming were introduced through the efforts of the state councillor Contenius and under the leadership of the Agricultural Society’s memorable Johann Cornies. These innovations brought prosperity to the community.
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| Looking north toward Alexanderwohl (modern Svitle). The Behim Chokrak River is on the north side of the village. The higher steppeland is visible both in the foreground and north of the river. |
When we arrived in Molotschna these greetings were promptly conveyed by Peter Wedel, our Ältester, to the congregations gathered in the churches. When the office in Ekaterinoslav heard of this extraordinary event, the chief judge Fadeyev immortalized it by naming the colony Alexanderwohl because, as he said, “Tsar Alexander has wished you well.” By 1821 twenty-one [sic: twenty-two] families [from the Prussian Chief Magistrate’s District of Schwetz in the regency of Marienwerder] were settled there, seven more in 1823 and one more in 1824.
Before the arrival of the Germans the unsettled steppe had been leased by Johann Cornies, used as a cattle pasture by the Nogai and partially farmed by Russians.
[Of the immigrant families 20 received a government loan of 4104 R. (Rubel), 284/7 K (Kopack) Silver; their own financial assets amounted to about 8570 R. Silver.]
The first year of settlement, 1821, proved unproductive and they barely recovered the seed grain. The year 1822 was a fruitful one but was marked by the appearance of grasshoppers which caused great damage for the next seven years. Furthermore, 1823 and 1824 were years of crop failures. A persistent [winter] storm during the first months of 1825 resulted in a great loss of cattle for this community since no feed was available. There also straw from the roofs was fed to the cattle. A devastating epidemic among the cattle held sway in 1821 [sic: 1828]. However, the most difficult was 1833, the year of the famine.
Purebred cattle and sheep and the four-field system in farming were introduced through the efforts of the state councillor Contenius and under the leadership of the Agricultural Society’s memorable Johann Cornies. These innovations brought prosperity to the community.
As we discovered when examining the Waldheim Gemeindebericht, the information within the report cannot be accepted as established fact—not least because the report was written some twenty-seven years after the village was established. It does, however, provide us a starting point, a place to begin our exploration of specific claims. For example, we are told that twenty-two families formed the core of the village, with seven more families following two years later and another family a year after that. Who were they? To what extent can we identify Alexanderwohl’s original settlers? In addition, the next to last paragraph recounts the difficulties of the early years, with crop failures, grasshoppers, a ferocious spring storm, a cattle epidemic, and a devastating famine. What more can we learn about these formative events?
The Gemeindebericht is not the only primary resource we will consult, but it will guide our search, at least initially, as we seek to learn as much as we can about the first Molotschna village in which our ancestors lived.
Works Cited
Duerksen, Velda Richert, and Jacob A. Duerksen, trans. 1987. Church Book of the Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church in the Molotschna Colony of South Russia. Translation of the Kirchen Buch der Gemeinde zu Alexanderwohl. Goessel, KS: Mennonite Immigrant Historical Foundation. Velda Richert Duerksen is the translator of the Gemeindebericht.
Goerz, Heinrich. 1993. The Molotschna Settlement. Translated by Al Reimer and John B. Toews. Echo Historical Series 7. Winnipeg: CMBC and Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society.
Krahn, Cornelius. 1959. Fürsorge-Komitee (Guardians’ Committee). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Available online here.
Original Gemeindebericht
Diese Kolonie wurde 1821 unter der Verwaltung des Oberrichters im Kontor fuer auslaendische Ansiedler zu Jekaterinoslaw, Herrn Fadejew und der Leitung des Gebietsvorstehers Gerhard Ens aus Altona gegruendet. Sie liegt am linken Ufer des Flussbettes Behemtschekrak (Begim Tschokrak), 47 Werst von Orechow und 90 Werst von Berdjansk entfernt. Der unebene Boden besteht in den Niederungen aus schwarzer Dammerde und auf den Anhoehen aus mit Lehm vermischter Schwarzerde, ist zum Ackerbau, zur Viehweide und Baumkultur ziemlich gut geeignet, gibt aber nur wenig Heu.
Als die hiesige Gemeinde, welche schon ueber 200 Jahre in Preussen als Kirchgemeinde existiert hatte, unter der Leitung ihres Kirchenaeltesten Peter Wedel in Russland einwanderte, und an der Suedseite der Stadt Warschau zu einer zweitaegigen Rast Quartier aufgeschlagen hatte, fuhr der jetzt in Gott ruhende Kaiser Alexander I. aus der Stadt, um auf dem Felde eine Abteilung Militaer manoevrieren zu lassen. Wir aber, von einigen vorbeieilenden Generaelen aufmerksam gemacht, standen in gespannter Erwartung, als der Kaiser bei uns vorbeikam, die Kutsche halten liess und uns mit der rechten Hand winkte. Da liefen drei unserer Kirchenvorsteher hinzu, welche befragt wurden, von wo wir kaemen und wohin wir wollten. Auf die Antwort, dass wir an die Molotschna ins suedliche Russland wandern wollten, sprach der Kaiser: "Ich wuensche euch Glueck zu eurer Reise, gruesset eure Brueder; ich bin da gewesen." Das geschah am 14. September 1820.
An der Molotschna angekommen, wurden diese Gruesse von unserem Kirchenaeltesten Peter Wedel in den Bethaeusern vor den versammelten Gemeinden aufs puenktlichste ausgerichtet. Da nun auch das Kontor zu Jekaterinoslaw von dieser denkwuerdigen Begebenheit in Kenntnis gesetzt werden musste, so verewigte sie der Herr Oberrichter Fadejew dadurch, dass er die Kolonie Alexanderwohl nannte, denn er sprach: “Der Kaiser Alexander hat euch Wohl gewuenscht.”
Im Jahre 1821 wurden hier 22 Familien, 1823 7 Familien und 1824 noch eine Familie aus dem Landratsamte Schwetz im preussischen Regierungsbezirk Marienwerder angesiedelt. Die unbesiedelte Steppe wurde vor der Ankunft der Deutschen von Johann Kornies in Pacht gehalten und von Nogaiern zur Viehweide und von Russen teilweise zum Ackerbau benutzt.
Von den Eingewanderten haben 20 Familien einen Kronsvorschuss von 4104 R. 28 4/7 K. Silber erhalten; die eigenen mitgebrachten Mittel beliefen sich auf etwa 8570 R. Silber.
Das Ansiedlungsjahr 1821 war unfruchtbar und lieferte nur die Aussaat. 1822 war fruchtbar, aber es kamen die Heuschrecken und richteten 7 Jahre lang grossen Schaden an. 1823 und 1824 waren zudem Misswachsjahre. Der anhaltende Sturm in den ersten Monaten des Jahres 1825 verursachte auch dieser Gemeinde grossen Verlust an Vieh, weil kein Futter fuer dasselbe vorhanden war. Damals wurde auch hier das Stroh von den Daechern gefuettert. 1828 herrschte eine verheerende Viehseuche. Das schwerste Jahr jedoch war das Hungerjahr 1833. Die veredelte Vieh- und Schafzucht und die Vierfelderwirtschaft beim Betrieb des Ackerbaues sind durch die Bemuehungen des Wirklichen Staatsrats Kontenius und des unter der Leitung des unvergesslichen Johann Kornies stehenden landwirtschaftlichen Vereins eingefuehrt worden und haben die Gemeinde zum Wohlstand gebracht.
Schulz Heinrich Voth.
Beisitzer Heinrich Goerz, Jakob Schmidt.
Schullehrer Heinrich Buller.
Als die hiesige Gemeinde, welche schon ueber 200 Jahre in Preussen als Kirchgemeinde existiert hatte, unter der Leitung ihres Kirchenaeltesten Peter Wedel in Russland einwanderte, und an der Suedseite der Stadt Warschau zu einer zweitaegigen Rast Quartier aufgeschlagen hatte, fuhr der jetzt in Gott ruhende Kaiser Alexander I. aus der Stadt, um auf dem Felde eine Abteilung Militaer manoevrieren zu lassen. Wir aber, von einigen vorbeieilenden Generaelen aufmerksam gemacht, standen in gespannter Erwartung, als der Kaiser bei uns vorbeikam, die Kutsche halten liess und uns mit der rechten Hand winkte. Da liefen drei unserer Kirchenvorsteher hinzu, welche befragt wurden, von wo wir kaemen und wohin wir wollten. Auf die Antwort, dass wir an die Molotschna ins suedliche Russland wandern wollten, sprach der Kaiser: "Ich wuensche euch Glueck zu eurer Reise, gruesset eure Brueder; ich bin da gewesen." Das geschah am 14. September 1820.
An der Molotschna angekommen, wurden diese Gruesse von unserem Kirchenaeltesten Peter Wedel in den Bethaeusern vor den versammelten Gemeinden aufs puenktlichste ausgerichtet. Da nun auch das Kontor zu Jekaterinoslaw von dieser denkwuerdigen Begebenheit in Kenntnis gesetzt werden musste, so verewigte sie der Herr Oberrichter Fadejew dadurch, dass er die Kolonie Alexanderwohl nannte, denn er sprach: “Der Kaiser Alexander hat euch Wohl gewuenscht.”
Im Jahre 1821 wurden hier 22 Familien, 1823 7 Familien und 1824 noch eine Familie aus dem Landratsamte Schwetz im preussischen Regierungsbezirk Marienwerder angesiedelt. Die unbesiedelte Steppe wurde vor der Ankunft der Deutschen von Johann Kornies in Pacht gehalten und von Nogaiern zur Viehweide und von Russen teilweise zum Ackerbau benutzt.
Von den Eingewanderten haben 20 Familien einen Kronsvorschuss von 4104 R. 28 4/7 K. Silber erhalten; die eigenen mitgebrachten Mittel beliefen sich auf etwa 8570 R. Silber.
Das Ansiedlungsjahr 1821 war unfruchtbar und lieferte nur die Aussaat. 1822 war fruchtbar, aber es kamen die Heuschrecken und richteten 7 Jahre lang grossen Schaden an. 1823 und 1824 waren zudem Misswachsjahre. Der anhaltende Sturm in den ersten Monaten des Jahres 1825 verursachte auch dieser Gemeinde grossen Verlust an Vieh, weil kein Futter fuer dasselbe vorhanden war. Damals wurde auch hier das Stroh von den Daechern gefuettert. 1828 herrschte eine verheerende Viehseuche. Das schwerste Jahr jedoch war das Hungerjahr 1833. Die veredelte Vieh- und Schafzucht und die Vierfelderwirtschaft beim Betrieb des Ackerbaues sind durch die Bemuehungen des Wirklichen Staatsrats Kontenius und des unter der Leitung des unvergesslichen Johann Kornies stehenden landwirtschaftlichen Vereins eingefuehrt worden und haben die Gemeinde zum Wohlstand gebracht.
Schulz Heinrich Voth.
Beisitzer Heinrich Goerz, Jakob Schmidt.
Schullehrer Heinrich Buller.
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