As we have noted from time to time, Mennonite researchers have made a large number of historical records available online. There are, in fact, so many available resources that it is easy to overlook one or another when pursuing a particular investigation. That is precisely what has happened with the initial part of the Przechovka Emigration 3 series.
The neglected resource is a 1810 Mennonite Census of the Schwetz Region of West Prussia that was transcribed and translated by Esther Patkau and Glenn Penner (see here). The title of the resource is self-explanatory: this is an 1810 census of the Schwetz region, which was, of course, the area in which the Przechovka church was located. Thus it is not surprising to see listed in the census not only a number of families from Przechovka but also families from other villages associated with the church.
Of immediate interest in the census is the sixth family listed for Przechovka: Peter Becker.
If you recall, Peter Becker was the name of the first of the 1819 emigrants in our list (see here). We identified that Peter Becker as PCB 321/GM 32099 based on the fact that in 1819 he and his wife had, as far as we can tell, one son and two daughters still at home. The 1810 census offers additional information about the family, especially when viewed alongside Peter Becker’s GRANDMA entry.
1. Becker was born 13 September 1765, so his age is correctly given as forty-four in the March 1810 census.
2. Note that he was married first to Maria (Maricke) Unrau, then to Maria Schmidt; the latter is the wife Maria listed on the census. It seems that her age is understated by about five years on the census. She died later that year, on 12 November 1810.
3. Peter Becker had fathered eleven children by March 1810 (number twelve was born the following month). The census lists only five, four of whom we can identify in GRANDMA:
2. Note that he was married first to Maria (Maricke) Unrau, then to Maria Schmidt; the latter is the wife Maria listed on the census. It seems that her age is understated by about five years on the census. She died later that year, on 12 November 1810.
3. Peter Becker had fathered eleven children by March 1810 (number twelve was born the following month). The census lists only five, four of whom we can identify in GRANDMA:
- Peter, age eighteen, so born circa 1792 = GM 32122
- Maria, age fifteen (error?) = GM 32121?
- Anna, age fifteen, so born circa 1795 = GM 32123 (Ancke)
- Eva, age ten, so born circa 1800 = GM 32128 (Efa)
- Helena, age nine, so born circa 1801 = GM 32129 (Lehncke)
The listing of Maria and Anna as both aged fifteen is apparently an error, since Maria (Maricke) was born 16 August 1789 and thus was twenty.
4. The remaining six children had all died before 1810:
4. The remaining six children had all died before 1810:
- Ancke: born 1786, died 1792
- Peter: born 1787, died 1787
- Lehnke: born 1796, died 1796
- Else: born 1804, died 1807
- Jacob: born 1806, died 1809
- Andreas: born 1806, died 1806
5. Note, finally, the German note in the comments section: “Hat es nach dem Gericht Erbungsweise am 20. Juni 1794 fuer 1166 g. ? Von Heinrich Unrausche Erben uebernommen, ohne Concession.” Not all of the details are intelligible (e.g., the meaning of “1166 g.” and “without concession”), but the main point is clear: the note reports that Peter Becker inherited his property on 20 June 1794 from Heinrch Unrau.
What is particularly interesting about this—and what begs for additional explanation—is the apparent course of the inheritance. Heinrich Unrau was the father of Peter Becker’s first wife. According to GRANDMA, Heinrich Unrau died 13 September 1793. What complicates the issue is that Maria Unrau Becker, who was Heinrich’s daughter and Peter’s wife, died the following year, on 10 May 1794—before the date of the inheritance. Did the property pass first from Heinrich to his daughter Maria, then to Peter, or was probate still in process when Maria died in May 1794, so that it passed directly to her heir, her husband Peter? If the latter, is that related to the use of “without concession”?
Apart from the inheritance issue, the census raises one additional issue: When Peter Becker prepared to leave in 1819, to whom did he sell the circa 33 acres that he had inherited from his father-in-law? Other land transfers are recorded for this time and place (see here), but Peter Becker does not appear in that set of records.
Thanks to the efforts of Mennonite researchers we are able to fill out the picture of this 1819 emigrant quite a bit. Perhaps in time the transcription of additional historical records will enable us to answer the few questions that remain.
What is particularly interesting about this—and what begs for additional explanation—is the apparent course of the inheritance. Heinrich Unrau was the father of Peter Becker’s first wife. According to GRANDMA, Heinrich Unrau died 13 September 1793. What complicates the issue is that Maria Unrau Becker, who was Heinrich’s daughter and Peter’s wife, died the following year, on 10 May 1794—before the date of the inheritance. Did the property pass first from Heinrich to his daughter Maria, then to Peter, or was probate still in process when Maria died in May 1794, so that it passed directly to her heir, her husband Peter? If the latter, is that related to the use of “without concession”?
Apart from the inheritance issue, the census raises one additional issue: When Peter Becker prepared to leave in 1819, to whom did he sell the circa 33 acres that he had inherited from his father-in-law? Other land transfers are recorded for this time and place (see here), but Peter Becker does not appear in that set of records.
Thanks to the efforts of Mennonite researchers we are able to fill out the picture of this 1819 emigrant quite a bit. Perhaps in time the transcription of additional historical records will enable us to answer the few questions that remain.
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