Halbstadt 5a

After publishing the previous post, I discovered two more Molotschna censuses available online. The 1811 census, translated by Glenn Penner, is available here. The 1814 census, translated by Richard Thiessen, is available here. With this additional data in hand, we can extend our survey of the Heinrich Epp family a little further.

The first change to note is the absence of Heinrich’s wife Margaretha. Clearly, sometime between 1808, when she turned sixty-two, and 1811 she had passed away.

A second significant change documented in 1811 is Heinrich Jr.’s assumption of head of household duties. Heinrich Sr., age sixty-seven, remains a member of the family, but his son Heinrich and his wife Justina now manage the family Wirtschaft. 

Other changes to the family at that time include the addition of Heinrich Jr. and Justina’s daughter Justina, age three. Of the six daughters born to Heinrich Sr. and Margaretha, only Maria remained, along with her husband Abraham Hiebert and their daughter Maria.

By 1814, the picture had changed further. Heinrich Sr. still lived with his son and daughter-in-law, who now had another daughter, Margaretha. Heinrich Sr.’s daughter Maria does not appear on the census, and we learn from GRANDMA that she passed away in 1813. Since Maria’s only daughter Margaretha was born 3 June 1813 and her widowed husband Abraham Hiebert remarried six weeks later, on 15 July, it seems most likely that she passed away during or as a result of complications from childbirth.

Finally, the number of livestock and farm implements owned continued to increase, as shown in the table below: 

	1805	1806	1807	1808	1811	1814
horses	3	5	5	6	5	8
cattle	6	10	13	14	10	14
sheep	0	0	1	1	0	20
pigs	0	0	4	?	0	6
plows	0.5	0.5	0.5	0	0.5	1
harrows	1	1	0	0	1	0
wagons	2	2	2	2	2	2

During their first ten years in Halbstadt, the Heinrich Epp family weathered painful losses and enjoyed noteworthy gains. No doubt their experience was replicated by many more of these original Molotschna settlers.