Alexanderwohl 20

It has been a little while since we have encountered an Alexanderwohl Buller. That changes with the first Wirtschaft of this post.

Wirtschaft 26

Both the index to the census and the census itself list only one family for this plot, whose head was:

Buller, Heinrich Jakob (b. ca.1787)

The last Buller settler we covered was Jacob Jacob Buller, of Alexanderwohl 15 (here); before him we identified his father, Jacob Peter Buller, of Alexanderwohl 9 (here). Obviously, the question that comes immediately to mind is whether Heinrich Jacob Buller was another son of Jacob Peter Buller. He was, as Heinrich’s GRANDMA entry makes clear (GM: 32901). Specifically, he was Jacob Peter’s oldest son, Jacob Jacob’s senior by eight years.

The census also reports that he settled in Molotschna in 1820, which happens to be the same year that his father settled. In fact, Heinrich’s visa was issued the same day as his father’s visa, as well as those of a number of Przechovka Mennonites: 17 August 1820.

Heinrich Buller, Teacher from Przechowko, his wife Anna 30 (b. ca. 1790), daughters Anna 4 (b. ca. 1816), Maria 3 (b. ca. 1817), Eva 1 (b. ca. 1819). Passport from Marienwerder issued on July 11, 1820. (Rempel 2007, 172)

Unlike most other heads of household in this group, who are generally identified only by village but not by occupation, Heinrich is identified as a teacher. We probably should not make too much of that, since Peter Fodt (Voth) of the same group is also identified as a teacher, and several others have their occupation listed (e.g., weaver’s apprentice, miller). The one occupation not mentioned in the August and September 1820 groups is farmer. It may be that only the nonfarmers were identified, under the assumption that it would be understood that everyone else was a farmer.

A later settlement report may be for this Heinrich Buller, although the numbers of males and females do not match what we expect. Because GRANDMA records no other Heinrich Buller who emigrated in 1820, we will tentatively (!) conclude that the male and female counts are in error (whether in the original report or the transcription we cannot say) and that the report is for this Heinrich Buller.

Heinrich Buller (Гейнрих Булер), whose family consists of 2 males and 3 females. Settled in Russia in the year 1820. They had no cash. They brought possessions valued at 330 rubles, 1 wagon, 1 horse and no cattle; wagon, horse or cattle cost 113 rubles. The local administration suggested providing financial aid for the purchase of 1 horse, 2 head of cattle, at a sum of 160 rubles, and also for building a house and establishing the household, at a sum of 589 rubles. (Rempel 2007, 175)

It is clear that Heinrich was a founding settler in Alexanderwohl, along with his father Jacob Peter and, several years later, his brother Jacob Jacob.

Wirtschaft 27

Like Alexanderwohl 26, this Wirtschaft has only one head of household listed, another person with a family name well-attested in the Przechovka church:

Wedel, Peter Benjamin (b. ca.1791)

Like Heinrich Buller, Wedel emigrated to Molotschna in 1820, and, like many others, his visa was issued on 17 August 1820.

Peter Wedel Mennonite head of household <…?> from Przechowko, his wife Elizabeth 28 (b. ca. 1792), son Peter 1 (b. ca 1819), brother Benjamin 16 (b. ca. 1804), his mother Sarah 50 (b. ca. 1770). Passport from Marienwerder issued on July 11, 1820. (Rempel 2007, 172)

Several things about Peter Wedel (GM: 32275) are worthy of special notice. First, his wife Elizabeth was not only a Buller but a daughter of Jacob Peter Buller and thus sister to Heinrich Jacob and Jacob Jacob Buller. The family connections of the Alexanderwohl settlers were more extensive than is apparent at first glance.

Second, Peter Wedel, who was born in 1792, was the elder (Ältester) of the Przechovka church. According to the church book, as reported in GRANDMA, he became teacher in 1813, when he was twenty-one, and elder one year later at the age of twenty-two. He married Elizabeth (Elscke) Buller three years after that; Elizabeth died in 1832.

As elder, Wedel is credited with leading his congregation from Przechovka to Alexanderwohl, and it seems indisputable that he was the driving force behind the 1820 emigration. Whether this was the first Przechovka group to emigrate remains to be considered, but it seems safe to conclude that the 1820 group was most significant group of Przechovka immigrants, even if it was not the first. (Let us not forget that other Przechovka families had previously relocated to Volhynia, including our own ancestor Benjamin Benjamin Buller, so the entire question of who from Przechovka was first will always be a bit messy.)

Peter Wedel deserves his own focused post outside the confines of this series, but those who cannot wait may read the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online article about him here. Suffice it to say for now that Peter Wedel clearly was a founding settler in Alexanderwohl.

Wirtschaft 28

The final Wirtschaft covered in this post also involves a well-attested family from Przechovka and even another Buller, although the latter only indirectly. The only head of household listed is:

Voth, Peter Heinrich (b. ca.1796)

The census gives Peter Voth’s age as thirty-eight, which implies a birth year around 1796. However, this is an apparent error in the census, since the age of Peter Voth’s oldest son, by his first marriage, was twenty-three. Unless Peter married much younger than we have seen thus far, his age given in the census is in error.

In fact, this is the same Peter Voth (GM: 13295; PCB: 1171) identified a few paragraphs above as a teacher. He was actually born 26 October 1783, so his age in early 1835, when the census was taken, was fifty-one. His 17 August 1820 visa identifies not only his role as a teacher but also the members of his household.

Peter Fodt, Teacher from Przechowko, his wife Eva 24 (b. ca. 1796), sons Heinrich 8 (b. ca. 1812), Peter 5 (b. ca. 1815), daughters Eva 9 (b. ca. 1811), Anna 2 (b. ca. 1818), female servant Anna 19 (b. ca. 1801). Passport from Marienwerder issued on July 11, 1820. (Rempel 2007, 172)

The settlement report offers additional details.

Peter Voth (Петр Фот), whose family consists of 3 males and 3 females. Settled in Russia in the year 1820. They had with them 2150 rubles cash, possessions valued at 335 rubles, 2 wagon, 2 horses, 4 head of cattle; wagon, horse or head of cattle cost 590 rubles. Settled at their own expense. (Rempel 2007, 177)

The Voth family was relatively wealthy, with more cash and livestock than we have previously seen. As a result, they paid their own costs of settlement (e.g., constructing a house), instead of accepting a government loan to cover those costs. In any event, Peter Voth and family clearly were the founding settlers of Alexanderwohl 28.

Before we leave the family and end this post, we should note their Buller connection: Peter’s first wife, and the mother of his oldest children, Eva and Heinrich, was Eva Buller (GM: 13296). It will likely come as no surprise to learn that she, too, was a daughter of Jacob Peter Buller—and thus sister of Heinrich Jacob Buller, Jacob Jacob Buller, and Elizabeth Buller Wedel. Eva Buller Voth died in 1813, so she never saw Molotschna colony. Her two children, however, made the journey with their father and stepmother Eva Ratzlaff Voth. The family connections among Alexanderwohl’s original settlers were indeed extensive. 

Wirtschaft	Settler	GM	Notes
1	Martin Jacob Kornelsen Anna Unrau	33801 32780	PCB: 1250; emigrated 1820 first husband: David Buller
2	Heinrich Peter Block	29475	settlement year: 1823
3	?????
4	Peter Jacob Voth	268847	Przechovka; emigrated 1820
5	Heinrich David Schmidt Maricke Buller	32966 32967	PCB 1345; emigrated 1819 PCB 1355
6	Peter Johann Unrau	60318	PCB 1229; emigrated 1819
7	David Bernhard Voth	60325	Przechovka; emigrated 1820
8	?? Peter Franz Goerz	819683	to Alexanderwohl in 1826
9	Jacob Peter Buller	318737	PCB 377; emigrated 1820
10	David Johann Unrau	87011	PCB 987; emigrated 1820
11	Heinrich Isaak Schroeder	14829	Schönsee church; emigrated 1820
12	Jacob Jacob Pankratz	43123	PCB 727; emigrated 1820
13	?????
14	Heinrich Peter Unrau	86839	PCB 1149; emigrated 1819
15	Jacob Jacob Buller	5587	PCB 1139; emigrated 1819; settled 1822
16	Johann Peter Ratzlaff	60394	Przechovka; Benjamin Heinrich Buller son-in-law
17	Heinrich Jacob Schmidt	50991	Przechovka; emigrated 1822
18	Jacob David Schmidt	32895	PCB 1302; emigrated 1819
19	Peter Johann Reimer	46418	emigrated in 1804; settled 1822
20	Andreas David Schmidt	43155	PCB 1272; emigrated 1819
21	Peter Christian Dalke	3506	Konopath but not PCB; emigrated 1821
22	Peter Benjamin Frey	35807	PCB 1351; emigrated 1819
23	Johann Peter Schroeder	60432	Schönsee church; emigrated 1820
24	Andreas Jakob Nachtigal	42259	PCB 661; emigrated 1820
25	?????
26	Heinrich Jakob Buller	32901	PCB 393; emigrated 1820
27	Peter Benjamin Wedel Elizabeth Buller	32275 32950	PCB: 1328; emigrated 1820 PCB: 1332; emigrated 1820
28	Peter Heinrich Voth	13295	PCB: 1171; emigrated 1820 first wife: Eva Buller (PCB 1224)

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.