Polish/Prussian Bullers: the land register of 1772

Before Frederick the Great took a census of all the Mennonites in West Prussia (Poland) in 1776 (see here), he took stock of all the land owners in his newly added territory. The purpose of the survey (or registration) was simple: to “produce the necessary foundation for the introduction of the Prussian taxation system in the new territory” (see further here).

Because the purpose of the register was not to count heads (as in all the people), only the male heads of taxable households are recorded. The original records also list the number of children, but these numbers are not readily available online. Fortunately, the basic information for fourteen Buhler or Buller households in West Prussia is provided by Reuben R. Drefs at the Odessa Digital Library (link above).

Last Name	First Name	Village	Area	County
Buhler	Abraham	Ruckenau	Tiegenhoff
Buhler	Abraham	Tiegenhoff	Tiegenhoff
Buhler	Wilhelm	Tiegenhoff	Tiegenhoff
Buhlern	Wittwe (widow)	Tiegenhoff	Tiegenhoff
Buhler	Jac.	Laakendorf	Amt Elb. Niederung
Buller	?	Sazewka	Cammin
Buller	?	Sazewka	Cammin	Zempelburg
Buller	Adam	Sazewka	Cammin
Buller	Adam	Sazewka	Cammin	Zempelburg
Buller	Adam	Dworziska	Schwetz
Buller	Georg	Jesiorky	Schwetz
Buller	Heinrich	Ostrower Kämpe	Schwetz
Buller	Heinrich	Ostrower Kämpe	Schwetz
Buller	Peter	Deutsch Konopat	Schwetz

Of greatest interest for us are the last five Bullers listed: Adam, Georg, Heinrich, Heinrich, and Peter. These five families lived in the Schwetz area (Schwetz is the village just left of E in the map below), some in villages that we have already encountered: Jeziorka (A), Ostrower Kämpe (F; aka Ehrenthal; modern Ostrów Świecki), and Deutsch Konopat (B/C). The only village new to us is Dworziska (or Divorczieka; German, Wilhelmsmark), which was just to the southwest of the B on the map.

Not only have we encountered some of these villages; we have also already encountered the persons listed. The following list compares several individuals in the 1772 land register with the names given in the 1776 census of West Prussian Mennonites (here):

• 1772 George in Jesiorky = 1776 George in Jeziorken (both Jeziorka)


• 1772 Peter in Deutsch-Konopat = one of two 1776 Peters in Deutsch Konopat


• one of two 1772 Heinrichs in Ostrower Kämpe = 1776 Heinrich in Schwetzerkampen

Only Adam Buller of Dworziska is not included in the later census. One wonders whether he moved or died in the interim. This is not the last we will hear of the other Bullers, however. Future posts will return to the Przechovka church book to flesh out these families even further.

To be clear, we do not know whether any of these Bullers are our direct ancestors. However, we can conclude with relative confidence that they are part of our larger family. The same cannot be known at this time for the other Buhlers and Bullers listed. Although at least one of them was a Mennonite (Abraham of Tiegenhoff is listed in the 1776 Mennonite census), we do not know even that much of the others. Perhaps the Buller surname is not as rare as we thought!

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For additional background on the 1772 land register, see the introduction by Rueben R. Drefs here.