Alexanderwohl 23

We have completed the overview of the Alexanderwohl founders, but that does not mean that we are finished with this village. Rather, we should retrace our steps and observe carefully again, for a variety of reasons. 

First, we started the overview before we had available the English translation of the 1835 Molotschna census or John Richert’s investigation of the same question from a different perspective. Therefore, we should take a moment to check our work by comparing our results with John Richert’s and consulting the census or other records when we disagree.

Second, we should also view our findings from other angles. Thus far we have compiled a simple list of Wirtschaften and individual settlers; we should also consider possible groups of settlers, generally based on their year of immigration, so that we see both the individual trees and the different sections of the forest. If we want to understand the village and its history, we must take a step back so we can see the groups that constituted it.

Third, once we have a more informed impression of the history of Alexanderwohl’s founding, we can compare that reconstruction with the Gemeindebericht, the 1848 community report, to determine if any aspects of our impression need to be revised or, conversely, if we need to view with suspicion one or more points in the report itself.

After we do all that, we will lighten things up by having some fun: identifying all the Bullers we can who lived in Alexanderwohl from the beginning. Then we will meander a little, broadening our search beyond Alexanderwohl to include other groups who emigrated from Przechovka and consulting and correlating other resources that may shed light on that seminal Polish Mennonite congregation. 

We begin with a simplified list of our original settlers numbered by Wirtschaft (no GRANDMA or Przechovka church book numbers), with John Richert’s list set to the right for comparison, followed by the year in which the settler emigrated to Molotschna.

	Buller Time List	John Richert List	Emigration Date
1	Martin Jacob Kornelsen	Martin Jacob Kornelsen	1820
2	Heinrich Peter Block	Heinrich Peter Block	1819
3	????	????	—
4	Peter Jacob Voth	Peter Jacob Voth	1820
5	Heinrich David Schmidt	Heinrich David Schmidt	1819
6	Peter Johann Unrau	Peter Johann Unrau	1819
7	David Bernhard Voth	David Bernhard Voth	1820
8	Peter Franz Goerz?	Peter Franz Goerz	1819
9	Jacob Peter Buller	Jacob Peter Buller	1820
10	David Johann Unrau	David Johann Unrau	1820
11	Heinrich Isaak Schroeder	Heinrich Isaak Schroeder	1820
12	Jacob Jacob Pankratz	Jacob Jacob Pankratz	1820
13	????	????	—
14	Heinrich Peter Unrau	Heinrich Peter Unrau	1819
15	Jacob Jacob Buller	Jacob Jacob Buller	1819
16	Johann Peter Ratzlaff	Benjamin Benjamin Buller	1820
17	Heinrich Jacob Schmidt	Heinrich Jacob Schmidt	1822
18	Jacob David Schmidt	Jacob David Schmidt	1819
19	Peter Johann Reimer	Peter Johann Reimer	1804
20	Andreas David Schmidt	Andreas David Schmidt	1819
21	Peter Christian Dalke	Peter Christian Dalke	1821
22	Peter Benjamin Frey	Peter Benjamin Frey	1819
23	Johann Peter Schroeder	Johann Peter Schroeder	1820
24	Andreas Jakob Nachtigal	Andreas Jakob Nachtigal	1820
25	????	????	—
26	Heinrich Jakob Buller	Heinrich Jakob Buller	1820
27	Peter Benjamin Wedel	Peter Benjamin Wedel	1820
28	Peter Heinrich Voth	Peter Heinrich Voth	1820
29	Andreas Peter Schmidt	Andreas Peter Schmidt	1820
30	David David Unrau	David David Unrau	1820

Assuming I have understood John Richert’s list correctly (I ask him to write if I have gone astray on any points), then there is only one point of disagreement. Ironically enough, it relates to Wirtschaft 16, where our ancestor Benjamin Heinrich (not Benjamin) Buller and Johann Peter Ratzlaff lived. 

The question is simple: Who was the original owner of the Wirtschaft? John lists Benjamin Buller, and I opt for his son-in-law Johann Ratzlaff. The evidence of the census supports John’s conclusion by listing Benjamin first; the evidence of the settlement report supports my view, by reporting that Johann received a government loan to establish a household. In the end, it does not matter which option is correct: both Benjamin and son-in-law Johann lived in Alexanderwohl 16, and one of them was the original owner.

The main takeaway from this exercise is to confirm that we have a fairly clear idea of who initially owned Alexanderwohl’s thirty Wirtschaften. They were not the only early residents of the village, to be sure, and we will fill out the village roster as much as we are able. All that we do from this point on, however, will be constructed on the foundation of this list, which records those citizens who were primarily responsible for the birth and growth of this influential Mennonite village.