Benjamin Buller 5

We are still processing the information found in the “List of Mennonites Wishing to Leave Volhynia and Settle with Their Brethren in the Tauridian Governorate, 1833” (here). In the first post (here) we noted that Benjamin Buller and family were number 10 on that list. The second post (here) answered the question of when Benjamin and family had likely moved from Zofyovka in the Rovno district to Ostrowka in the “Lutzki region” (whatever that might signify). A third and following correction post asked but could not answer questions related to the tax status of Benjamin Buller and Michael Bischkowsky’s other tenants (here and here). So we come to a final Benjamin-related question in this post.

In 1819/1820 the family included four males (Benjamin, David, Dominik, nephew David) and one female (Helena). According to the 1833 list, the family included five males and six females. Who were they?

To think through the possible answers to that question, we start with the 1819/1820 Rovno census.

Although we are not certain whether this census was taken in 1819 or 1820, we will work from the latter date for the sake of simplicity—and also because that makes the census consistent with David’s year of birth: 1818.

The Cyrillic cursive (the script in which this Russian is written) is as difficult to decipher as ever (for more detail, see here), but we know what the entry says based on our earlier work. The columns after the names gives the ages of the family members, males in the left column, females in the right. The table below summarizes and extrapolates from the information presented in the census:

Name	Age		Year of Birth (Approximate)
Benjamin Buller	31		1789
Helena (wife)	25		1795
David (son)	2		1818
“Dominik”	4		1816
David (nephew)	15		1805

The question, then, is how this family grew from four males and one female in 1820 to five males and six females in 1833.

1. In 1833, the year of our current list, Benjamin and Helena’s two sons David and “Dominik” (the scare quotes will make sense a little later on) would have been fifteen and seventeen, respectively. It is improbable that they had married by then, so we should not imagine their wives joining the family.

2. Nephew David, on the other hand, was twenty-eight and probably married in 1833. He may even have had several children of his own. Of course, he may also have established his own household (or joined his wife’s family). We cannot assume that he was even part of Benjamin and Helena’s family at this time.

3. Helana and Benjamin were young enough that one would expect them to have had more children, so the increase in number may reflect the birth of at least another son and five daughters—if nephew David had left the household, then two more sons and five daughters would have filled out the total. This is entirely within the realm of possibility: a total of eight or nine children would not be unusual for a family in that time and place.

In sum, we cannot tell at this point precisely how Benjamin and Helena’s family grew. The increase certainly involved the birth of children, but whose children we are unable to say. Helena presumably bore additional children, but nephew David’s wife may have added to the number as well (if they stayed with Benjamin and Helena’s family). Either way, it seems safe to conclude that our ancestor David had both brothers and sisters. Who they were is a discovery yet to be made.

Year	Person(s)	Event
1817	Benjamin and family (4)	emigrated from Prussia to Volhynia
1818	David Benjamin	birth on 25 January
1819/1820	Benjamin, Helena, David, Dominik, nephew David	listed on census living at Zofyovka, Rovno, Volhynia
1820–????	additional children	birth of up to two additional sons and five daughters; total of five males and six females in family by 1833
1828	Benjamin and family (?)	moved from Zofyovka to Ostrowka, Lutsk, Volhynia
1833	Benjamin and family (11)	expressed desire to emigrate from Ostrowka to Molotschna colony