Matrilocality … and Bullers 2

Recently we have been looking at our family history in the light of social anthropology, as a way of filling in possible details and adding nuance to what we know about our ancestors. First we learned that Mennonite inheritance was typically bilateral and partible, meaning that female and male children shared equally as heirs to their parents, often by means of the inheritable portion of an estate being divided up (or partitioned). The offered us some insight into the disposition of Peter D Buller’s estate both after his passing as well as that of his wife Sarah some years later.

After exploring Mennonite inheritance practices we turned to matrilocality, an arrangement in which a husband resides with or near his wife’s parents. We noted in the previous post that matrilocality was fairly common in Mennonite circles, since it provided young couples the best chance of having land of their own to farm. That is, access to adequate farmland did not depend solely on the husband and his family; often the wife was the landed member of the pair, in which case the husband would live with or near her family.

This raises the question, of course, whether any of our ancestors practiced matrilocality. The answer, for those who have been paying attention these past years, is an unambiguous yes. Bullers practiced matrilocality early and often. Can you name the first known Buller couple to do so? The answer is revealed below the map.

The map shows roughly the central part of Molotschna colony, which is a helpful clue to the answer to our question. If you recall, David and Helena Zielke Buller and their family lived in the village of Waldheim (northeast corner). Their son Peter D married one Sarah Siebert, whose father Johann not only lived in but also owned farmland tied to the village of Kleefeld (southwest corner). Any guesses where Peter D and Sarah lived?

Of course, we already know the answer. According to the Buller Family Record, Peter D and Sarah first lived in Kleefeld, then moved to Alexanderkrone immediately to the east (this is where Peter P, Grandpa Chris’s father, was born in 1869), then moved back to Kleefeld in 1871 to live with Johann and his wife Katherina and the rest of the family, until they all emigrated to the U.S. in 1879.

This is as clear an instance of matrilocality as one might want. To our knowledge, Peter D and Sarah never lived near or with his parents; they always lived with or near Sarah’s parents. Although we can never know definitively why they did so, it seems fairly likely that it was somehow related to Johann and Katherina’s landedness. Peter D’s father David was landless until at least three years after Peter D and Sarah married (see here), and when he finally did acquire land it was only a half-Wirtschaft (plot) 88 acres in size—barely enough for one family, let alone multiple families.

Johann Siebert, on the other hand, owned a full Wirtschaft of 176 acres, and he and his family owned their own house with ample area for a garden and, in all likelihood, a barn for the livestock that were taken to the village pastureland whenever possible.

We should also not forget that Sarah was the oldest child in her family, as likely a candidate as any to be given first chance to acquire the family farm, should both her parents die early. If, as it turned out, Johann and Katherina lived for a number of years, Sarah and Peter D still would have shelter, plenty to eat, and meaningful employment assisting with the Siebert family farm.

In light of all this evidence, it seems safe to conclud that Peter D and Sarah practiced matrilocality in order to provide themselves and their family access to land. Whether land-driven matrilocality became a pattern with our family or was an anomaly will be explored in subsequent posts.