The previous post (here) first listed the owners of Alexanderwohl’s thirty Wirtschaften at three points in the village’s early history (1820–1826, 1935, and 1947), then identified and described as fully as possible any ownership changes between settlement and the 1835 census or 1847 voters list. This post builds upon the earlier work to draw conclusions based on the information previously presented.
The goal is to identify trends that will expand and enrich our understanding of Alexanderwohl’s early history, which may apply also to other Molotschna villages.
1. As we have noted several times, we can identify with certainty the original settlers of twenty-seven of the village’s thirty Wirtschaften. The three unidentified (*W3, W13, W25) obviously had different owners at the time of the 1835 census; in addition, the owner of one farmstead (W12) passed away before the census. Thus, in 1835 twenty-six of the Wirstschaften were owned by the same individuals who had settled them a decade or more earlier.
2. By 1847, fifteen Wirtschaften (W1, W2, W5, W5, W6, W7, W14, W15, W17, W18, W20, W22, W23, W26, W27, W29) were still owned by their original settlers. After roughly a quarter century, half of the original settlers still owned their original farmsteads. This reveals, I think, a remarkable degree of stability within Alexanderwohl. Even though some people moved out and others moved in, the village enjoyed a stable core of citizens.
3. The thirteen transfers for which we have information on two owners (i.e., excluding *W3, W25) reveal some interesting patterns.
3.1. In one case (W8) the widow of the original settler retained the rights of ownership, including the right to vote.
3.2. In three instances (W4, W9, W28) a male from outside of Alexanderwohl married the original settler’s widow and assumed ownership of the Wirtschaft. (Note the correction for W28 in the prior post. The post originally said that the new owner was unidentified, but he actually married Eva Ratzlaff [30372], the widow of Peter Heinrich Voth, and thus is known to be Heinrich Schmidt [GM 13313].)
3.3. In three cases (W10, W12, W13) the farmstead transferred from father to son after the father’s death.
3.4. In three instances (W11, W21, W24) the property passed to the husband of a daughter of the original settler.
3.5. Once (W30) the Wirtschaft was acquired by the stepson of the original settler upon the latter’s passing.
3.6. In at least two (W16, W19) and probably three (W28) cases, the farmstead was sold to someone with no family connection to the original settler.
The W16 transfer is of interest to Buller Time readers, since that is where Benjamin Heinrich Buller lived with his daughter Katharina and her husband Johann Peter Ratzlaff. The 1835 census notes that Benjamin died in 1830. Interestingly, both the 1820 emigration visa and the 1835 Molotschna census list Johann and Katherina but no children. It seems likely that the couple died childless, which may explain why this property was transferred to an outside party.
The W19 is loosely related to the earlier W28 one. The original settler of W28, Peter Heinrich Voth (GM 13295), passed away in 1835, after which his widow married Heinrich Schmidt, and he became owner of the Wirtschaft. Even though the oldest son in the family, Heinrich Peter Voth (GM 13298) was twenty-three, he had not yet started a family and did not marry until probably 1838. He clearly stayed in the village, however, since we later read of him acquiring W19 when Peter Johann Reimer left Alexanderwohl in 1843. In other words, although Heinrich Peter Voth was unable to assume ownership of his father’s farmstead when his father passed away due to his mother remarrying, he remained in the village until another opportunity arose, at which time he acquired his own Wirtschaft.
The data collected here offers ample evidence of considerable stability. On the one hand, half of the village’s Wirtschaften were owned by the original settlers a quarter century after they first moved into and built the village. On the other hand, of the thirteen Wirtschaften for which we have record of two owners (i.e., a transfer), ten were passed within the immediately family, even when that involved the introduction of a new person into the family via marriage. In only three instances was a transfer made via sale to someone outside of the family.
That Alexanderwohl’s original settlers preferred to keep their property within the immediate family is unsurprising, of course. What is remarkable is the degree to which they succeeded over an extended period of time. After twenty-five years of hard work and hardship, 90 percent of the farmsteads still remained within the families of their original owners. Did other Molotschna villages enjoy the same level of continuity? Only further research will reveal the answer to that question.
The W19 is loosely related to the earlier W28 one. The original settler of W28, Peter Heinrich Voth (GM 13295), passed away in 1835, after which his widow married Heinrich Schmidt, and he became owner of the Wirtschaft. Even though the oldest son in the family, Heinrich Peter Voth (GM 13298) was twenty-three, he had not yet started a family and did not marry until probably 1838. He clearly stayed in the village, however, since we later read of him acquiring W19 when Peter Johann Reimer left Alexanderwohl in 1843. In other words, although Heinrich Peter Voth was unable to assume ownership of his father’s farmstead when his father passed away due to his mother remarrying, he remained in the village until another opportunity arose, at which time he acquired his own Wirtschaft.
The data collected here offers ample evidence of considerable stability. On the one hand, half of the village’s Wirtschaften were owned by the original settlers a quarter century after they first moved into and built the village. On the other hand, of the thirteen Wirtschaften for which we have record of two owners (i.e., a transfer), ten were passed within the immediately family, even when that involved the introduction of a new person into the family via marriage. In only three instances was a transfer made via sale to someone outside of the family.
That Alexanderwohl’s original settlers preferred to keep their property within the immediate family is unsurprising, of course. What is remarkable is the degree to which they succeeded over an extended period of time. After twenty-five years of hard work and hardship, 90 percent of the farmsteads still remained within the families of their original owners. Did other Molotschna villages enjoy the same level of continuity? Only further research will reveal the answer to that question.
***
Note: In this post the abbreviation W stands for Wirtschaft.
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