The previous post identified the original settlers of Wirtschaften 29 and 30: Andreas Peter Schmidt and David David Unrau, respectively. The 1835 census does not end here, however; it lists additional Alexanderwohl residents and assigns numbers to them. The following list records the household heads named, along with explanatory notes included in the census.
31. Franz Adrian
32. David Peter Schroeder
— in the year 1821
Isaak Isaak Thiessen
— in the year 1822
Jakob Jakob Ratzlaff
Andreas Johann Funk
Heinrich Heinrich Nachtigal
Peter Jakob Schmidt
Peter Peter Voth
Jakob Daniel Tesmer [or Ziegler]
— in the year 1829
32. David Peter Schroeder
— in the year 1821
Isaak Isaak Thiessen
— in the year 1822
Jakob Jakob Ratzlaff
Andreas Johann Funk
Heinrich Heinrich Nachtigal
Peter Jakob Schmidt
Peter Peter Voth
Jakob Daniel Tesmer [or Ziegler]
— in the year 1829
33. ——— | Maria Unrau [widow of Heinrich Unrau]
— in the year 1832
Bernhard Martin Unrau
What are we to make of all this? We know beyond doubt that these were not additional Wirtschaften, that is, plots with land allotments and voting rights. Alexaanderwohl had only thirty Wirtschaften until the early twentieth century.
Clearly, these were residents of Alexanderwohl but not landowners in Alexanderwohl. They were, for one reason or another, households without land. Some in this group might be labeled the temporarily landless. These households moved to and apparently lived in Alexanderwohl until a Wirtschaft in some other village became available.
For example, the census reports that Jakob Jakob Ratzlaff first lived in Alexanderwohl (emigration in 1822) and then moved to Friedensdorf 11. Similarly, Andreas Johann Funk settled in Alexanderwohl in 1822 and moved to Friedensdorf 22 in 1824. Heinrich Heinrich Nachtigal followed the same course but did not gain a Wirtschaft in Friedensdorf and died a year after moving, in 1825. Others likewise moved to a different village several years after arriving in Alexanderwohl, although not all were able to secure a Wirtschaft in the process.
Several of the early residents of Alexanderwohl did not live long after emigrating. For example, Isaak Isaak Thiessen died in 1826, as did Peter Peter Voth in the same year. No other information is given about either individual. Each man’s presence and death in Alexanderwohl was dutifully recorded, even though the recorder apparently knew nothing further about him.
What is the point of this noting this? Listing the resident landless in Alexanderwohl complicates the issue of who counts as a founding settler of the village. Identifying these landless residents reminds us that not all Mennonites were farmers, that some, either out of choice or of necessity, earned a living and contributed to the general welfare through other means, without ever owning a Wirtschaft.
Soon we will read of a Heinrich Buller who falls into this category. This blacksmith in Molotschna colony never owned land until he emigrated to the United States. That is another story for another time; for now it is enough to remember that Alexanderwohl consisted of a variety of individuals, many of whom owned land and earned their living from it but some of whom performed one or another service that enriched the community and enabled the worker’s family to survive. To the extent that we are able, as we re-create Alexanderwohl’s history, we should give space to both categories of residents, the landed and the landless who were part of the Alexanderwohl story from the very beginning.
***
Note: I wonder if the long list of names given for Alexanderwohl 30 (see here) is a misreading of the way the census is laid out. Is it possible that the names listed after the head of household actually begin the general listing of landless persons who inhabited Alexanderwohl? Perhaps there is no need to associate Jacob Heinrich Ratzlaff, Heinrich Paul Dahl, and Peter Heinrich Pauls with Alexanderwohl 30 at all. Ratzlaff died in 1822, so his listing resembles those of Isaak Isaak Thiessen and Peter Peter Voth, both of whom died in 1826. The other two persons listed “with” Alexanderwohl 30—Heinrich Paul Dahl and Peter Heinrich Pauls—moved to other villages (Dahl to Alexanderthal 4 in 1830; Pauls to Schardau 23 in 1826), which puts them in the same category as Jakob Jakob Ratzlaff, Andreas Johann Funk, Heinrich Heinrich Nachtigal, and others above who lived in Alexanderwohl while they waited, apparently, for a Wirtschaft in some other village to become available. In short, we may be mistaken to associate these three individuals with Alexanderwohl 30. They may have been part of the landless group listed at the end of the census.
It is probably significant that the men listed after the Alexanderwohl 30 main entry are not identified as having been “accepted into the household,” as others have been labeled earlier in the census. This probably indicates that they lived on the outskirts of town, on the margins, as it were, of the main body of Alexanderwohl’s Wirtschaften. It may well be that we should think of multiple classes of landless residents in the early days of Alexanderwohl (and presumably other villages): those who lived with another family temporarily while they waited for a plot elsewhere to become available (i.e., those “accepted into the household”); the landless who settled on the outskirts temporarily while waiting for a plot elsewhere to become available; and the permanently landless who earned a living through a means other than farming (e.g., linen weaver, blacksmith, carpenter).
Clearly, these were residents of Alexanderwohl but not landowners in Alexanderwohl. They were, for one reason or another, households without land. Some in this group might be labeled the temporarily landless. These households moved to and apparently lived in Alexanderwohl until a Wirtschaft in some other village became available.
For example, the census reports that Jakob Jakob Ratzlaff first lived in Alexanderwohl (emigration in 1822) and then moved to Friedensdorf 11. Similarly, Andreas Johann Funk settled in Alexanderwohl in 1822 and moved to Friedensdorf 22 in 1824. Heinrich Heinrich Nachtigal followed the same course but did not gain a Wirtschaft in Friedensdorf and died a year after moving, in 1825. Others likewise moved to a different village several years after arriving in Alexanderwohl, although not all were able to secure a Wirtschaft in the process.
Several of the early residents of Alexanderwohl did not live long after emigrating. For example, Isaak Isaak Thiessen died in 1826, as did Peter Peter Voth in the same year. No other information is given about either individual. Each man’s presence and death in Alexanderwohl was dutifully recorded, even though the recorder apparently knew nothing further about him.
What is the point of this noting this? Listing the resident landless in Alexanderwohl complicates the issue of who counts as a founding settler of the village. Identifying these landless residents reminds us that not all Mennonites were farmers, that some, either out of choice or of necessity, earned a living and contributed to the general welfare through other means, without ever owning a Wirtschaft.
Soon we will read of a Heinrich Buller who falls into this category. This blacksmith in Molotschna colony never owned land until he emigrated to the United States. That is another story for another time; for now it is enough to remember that Alexanderwohl consisted of a variety of individuals, many of whom owned land and earned their living from it but some of whom performed one or another service that enriched the community and enabled the worker’s family to survive. To the extent that we are able, as we re-create Alexanderwohl’s history, we should give space to both categories of residents, the landed and the landless who were part of the Alexanderwohl story from the very beginning.
***
Note: I wonder if the long list of names given for Alexanderwohl 30 (see here) is a misreading of the way the census is laid out. Is it possible that the names listed after the head of household actually begin the general listing of landless persons who inhabited Alexanderwohl? Perhaps there is no need to associate Jacob Heinrich Ratzlaff, Heinrich Paul Dahl, and Peter Heinrich Pauls with Alexanderwohl 30 at all. Ratzlaff died in 1822, so his listing resembles those of Isaak Isaak Thiessen and Peter Peter Voth, both of whom died in 1826. The other two persons listed “with” Alexanderwohl 30—Heinrich Paul Dahl and Peter Heinrich Pauls—moved to other villages (Dahl to Alexanderthal 4 in 1830; Pauls to Schardau 23 in 1826), which puts them in the same category as Jakob Jakob Ratzlaff, Andreas Johann Funk, Heinrich Heinrich Nachtigal, and others above who lived in Alexanderwohl while they waited, apparently, for a Wirtschaft in some other village to become available. In short, we may be mistaken to associate these three individuals with Alexanderwohl 30. They may have been part of the landless group listed at the end of the census.
It is probably significant that the men listed after the Alexanderwohl 30 main entry are not identified as having been “accepted into the household,” as others have been labeled earlier in the census. This probably indicates that they lived on the outskirts of town, on the margins, as it were, of the main body of Alexanderwohl’s Wirtschaften. It may well be that we should think of multiple classes of landless residents in the early days of Alexanderwohl (and presumably other villages): those who lived with another family temporarily while they waited for a plot elsewhere to become available (i.e., those “accepted into the household”); the landless who settled on the outskirts temporarily while waiting for a plot elsewhere to become available; and the permanently landless who earned a living through a means other than farming (e.g., linen weaver, blacksmith, carpenter).
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