GM 6b, Helena Zielke Buller, 11304

The first post about Helena Zielke Buller covered her birth and death; in this post we turn to her family relations.

Family, Spouse: We know that Helena was married to David Buller, and we assume that he was her only husband. The GRANDMA entry is completely accurate on this matter.

Family, Children: The GM entry lists eight children for Helena, but, as we learned with the David Buller entry (here), she was more likely the mother of only six, three girls and three boys:

Helena: 1844
Peter: 1845
Elisabeth: 1847
Benjamin: 1851
Maria: 1853
David: 1855

As suggested in the previous post, Helena’s death may have been associated with the birth of her sixth child, David.

Father and Mother: GM does not list any other family members, but we are now able to supply the names of Helena’s parents and (some) siblings.

According to the 1820 Rovno register (link 1 in the first post), Helena’s family included:

Jacob Tzlivk [Zielke]		37
his wife Maria				46
sons Johan		11
Friedrich		2
daughters Maria				10
Katherina				8
Helena				1

1. The GM database lists nine Jacob Zielkes, but none of them is possibly Helena’s father. Given his age of thirty-seven in 1820, he was born in 1783 or thereabouts.

2. We do not know the maiden name of Helena’s mother Maria. Her age indicates a birth year around 1774. Her oldest child listed on the Rovno census was born when she was thirty-five, which seems a bit late in life for her to begin bearing children. One wonders if this marriage was her first.

3. Helena had two older brothers and two older sisters. None of them is listed in GM, and at present we know nothing further about them. It seems unlikely that Helena other living siblings, considering that her mother was forty-six when Helena was one.

Summary

1. Helena was probably born in 1819 but possibly in 1818. She was born in the Mennonite village of Zofyovka in the Rovno district of Volhynia. Her parents were Jacob and Maria Zielke.

2. Although Helena’s father is not listed among those who wished to emigrate to Waldheim or those who received land in Waldheim (see documents linked here), it is likely that the family did move to Waldheim within the early years of its existence, since Helena and David Buller apparently married there in the early 1840s.

3. Helena’s father Jacob may be mentioned in an 1845 list of Waldheim residents who had decided to return to Volhynia, but the reference may also be to another Jacob Zielke who lived in Waldheim (see further here).

4. Helena gave birth to three girls and three boys between the years 1844 and 1855.

5. Helena and family journeyed from Waldheim to Heinrichsdorf in Volhynia in 1848/1849; Helena and David and their three oldest children are listed on the 1850 Heinrichsdorf census.

6. We believe that Helena accompanied David and family back to Waldheim in Molotschna colony sometime between 1850 and 1855, although the date of the return is not certain.

7. Helena appears to have passed away in 1855, perhaps as a result of complications with the birth of her last child, David. Presumably Helena was and is buried in the Waldheim cemetery.