Alexanderwohl 32

The previous post in the series ended by observing the wide disparity in cattle ownership among Alexanderwohl’s original settlers: fewer than half of the settlers owned any cattle, and 23 percent of the settlers owned 69 percent of all cattle when they settled. As noted, the government loans were apparently designed to correct this imbalance.

The table below reveals this by listing the original farm capital with which each individual arrived, the capital purchased with the government loan, and the total amount of farm capital that the settler owned after combining the original with the new purchase. As before, W stands for wagon, H for horse, and C for cattle.

	Original	Loan	Final
1820 Settlers
Heinrich Jakob Buller	1W + 1H	1H + 2C	1W + 2H + 2C
Jacob Peter Buller	2W + 3H  + 2C	———	2W + 3H + 2C
Martin Jacob Kornelsen	1W	2H + 2C	1W + 2H + 2C
Andreas Jakob Nachtigal	1W + 1H  + 1C	1H  + 1C	1W + 2H + 2C
Jacob Jacob Pankratz	2W + 4H  + 4C	no loan	2W + 4H + 4C
Jacob Heinrich Ratzlaff	1W + 2H  + 3C	———	1W + 2H + 3C
Johann Peter Ratzlaff	1W + 1H  + 2C	1H	1W + 2H + 2C
Andreas David Schmidt	1H?	???	???
Andreas Peter Schmidt	1W	2H + 2C	1W + 2H + 2C
Heinrich David Schmidt	———	1W + 2H  + 2C	1W + 2H + 2C
Jacob David Schmidt	3H?	???	???
David Peter Schroeder	2W + 1H  + 2C	1H	2W + 2H + 2C
Heinrich Isaak Schroeder	1W + 1H	1H  + 2C	1W + 2H + 2C
Johann Peter Schroeder	1W + 2H	2C	1W + 2H + 2C
David David Unrau	1W	2H + 2C	1W + 2H + 2C
David Johann Unrau	1W + 2H + 2C	no loan	1W + 2H + 2C
Heinrich Peter Unrau	1H?	???	1H?
Peter Johann Unrau	1W + 2H + 3C	no loan	1W + 2H + 3C
David Bernhard Voth	1W + 2H + 3C	no loan	1W + 2H + 3C
Jacob David Voth	———	1W + 2H + 3C	1W + 2H + 3C
Peter Heinrich Voth	2W + 2H + 4C	no loan	2W + 2H + 4C
Peter Jacob Voth	1W + 1H	1H + 2C	1W + 2H + 2C
Peter Benjamin Wedel	1W + 3H + 3C	no loan	1W + 3H + 3C
1821 Settlers
Peter Christian Dalke	1W	2H + 2C	1W + 2H + 2C
Peter Benjamin Frey	2C	1W + 2H + 1C	1W + 2H + 3C
1822 Settlers
Jacob Jacob Buller	no record
Peter Johann Reimer	no record
Heinrich Jacob Schmidt	1W	2H + 2C	1W + 2H + 2C
1823 Settler
Heinrich Peter Block	no record
1826 Settler
Peter Franz Goerz	no record

As before, four settlers have no record, and two more (Jacob Schmidt, Heinrich Unrau) lack details. However, the twenty-four remaining records show a remarkable regularity in the farm capital owned at the end of the process, with each settler owning a minimum of one wagon, two horses, and two head of cattle.

For example, Heinrich David Schmidt arrived in Molotschna with no farm capital whatsoever; he received a loan to purchase a wagon, two horses, and two head of cattle; so also Jacob David Voth. Martin Jacob Kornelsen, David David Unrau, and Peter Christian Dalke each owned only a wagon; the loan enabled them each to buy two horses and two head of cattle. The only deviation from this norm is with Peter Benjamin Frey, who owned two head of cattle but was provided a loan to purchase a wagon, two horses, and a third cow. Apparently the particulars of his situation led the local authorities to determine that he needed the extra cow.

On the other end of the spectrum, the settlers who already owned a wagon and at least two horses and two head of cattle received no government loan to purchase farm capital, even if they received a loan to establish a household (Jacob Buller, Jacob Ratzlaff). Everyone else had access to a loan amount that enabled him to fill out the minimum requirement to establish a farm household: one wagon, two horses, and two cattle

The insight we gain from this brief review is not shocking, but it does offer an interesting perspective on the conditions under which the Przechovka settlers built their new village. All those who owned land started with roughly the same resources and opportunity. Of course, this by no means guaranteed that they would all enjoy the same outcome.