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Letters to the editors
Re. Post Road
I read the article on the Post Road (Vol. XXVI, No. 2, June 2000), and found it very interesting. My background is Swiss Mennonite so I know little about this material. I recalled some of my summer experiences in VS with MCC, and meeting people from Plum Coulee, Gnadental, etc., who must be from this region.
I have read My Canadian Journal by Lady Dufferin. She includes an account of meeting Russian Mennonites (Aug. 5, 1877) who “are getting along very well . . . They are good settlers and in addition to the virtues of sobriety and industry they add the advantage of bringing money into the country.”
She mentions meeting a Mr. Jacob Peters on August 21 (“the Mennonites’ most learned man”) who gave a speech there, with a Mr. William Hespeler translating. Pages 255-258 are about Mennonites. She states, “The only fault is that the stables open into the living rooms. The inhabitants will gradually leave off this nasty plan, but it is their devotion to their cattle which makes them wish to have them so near. The village herdsman and the village schoolmaster are the only two paid labourers in the Mennonite vineyard. The clergyman receives no pay”.
I am from the US originally and am still amazed at how “young” Canada is. Lady Dufferin writes about all of Canada, east to west, but indicates that to get to Vancouver they go by train through Salt Lake City!
Rachel Schmucker
Markham, Ontario
Re: Old maps and drawing discovered
Checking through my letters from Gerhard Wiens he points out that the map (mentioned in the Mennonite Historian, Vol. XXVI, No. 2, June 2000) was in fact purchased by his wife’s father, a Russian Mennonite from Kansas visiting Molochna in 1914 from a relative – a Dirks who owned a store in Gnadenheim (Letter dated April 10 1987). In the same letter Gerhard states he had spoken with their neighbour Hedwig Dyck who recalled that when the map first appeared there had been some uproar. Her father and Johann Janzen were accused of being German spies and threatened with Siberian banishment, but they managed to convince the authorities that the map was for school children. One part of the railway shown was only built in 1913 and the map was purchased in 1914 which suggests a date probably in late 1913 or early 1914.
Also regarding Taschtschenak, your note identifying the Wiens estate with Cornies is incorrect. A number of estates were named thus after the local river and the Wiens estate was an independent purchase from Cornies. The following item entitled “Mennonite estate of Taschtschenak in southern Russia” is written by Gerhard Wiens himself.
My information about the Gutsbesitzer in Russia will start with Taschtschenak which was located about 18 verst from Melitopol and 18 verst from Fedorovka, the first railroad station north of Melitopol. In the Taschtschenak area were 18 estates which varied in size. The area was named after a small river, Taschtschenak (a Turkish or Tartar name), which flowed south into the Azov Sea.
Our estate was about 22 verst southwest from the colony (village) of Altonau in the Molochna colony. It consisted of an area of 765 desiatin. My mother’s father, David D. Schroeder. had first rented the land from the government and in 1848 he purchased the land. In the 1870s my grandmother, Helene Schroeder, bought more land (2850 desiatin) from Prince Svjetopolk-Mirsky. This land was seven verst from our place and was called Helenenfeld. Around 1900 my father bought about 2950 desiatin from two sisters by the name of Mordvinov. They belonged to the Russian nobility. This land was located 12 verst south of Melitopol on the Molochnaia River. It was called Mordvinovka. A little later father bought 800 desiatin of land at 500 rubles a desiatin from Mr Fein, a Lutheran Gutsbesitzer. This land was adjacent to Helenenfeld. About half the area of land on the Helenenfeld and Mordvinovka estates was rented out to local Russian villagers. Father said they desperately needed more land.
Our neighbour, about one verst north, was Heinrich Schroeder who owned about 1000 desiatin. Two verst north was Aron Martens who owned about 1500 desiatin. He owned another estate of 1500 desiatin near Sofievka the first rail station north of Zaporozha [Alexandrovsk – in Ekaterinoslav].
Three verst north of our estate lived Paul Martens who owned about 1200 desiatin. Across the river from us lived Heinrich Martens with some 1200 desiatin of land. Next to him, about one verst south, lived David Enns owner of some 500 desiatin. Three verst west from his place he owned another estate also of about 500 desiatin. Next was Johann Martens with 600 desiatin and then Isbrand Rempel with 600 desiatin. Two verst southwest lived Jakob Klassen who owned about 700 desiatin. Two verst north of Helenenfeld lived Johann Sudermann, owner of about 800 desiatin of land. Two verst north lived Johann Enns also with 800 desiatin. About three verst north lived Nikolai Rempel with some 800 desiatin. Nearby lived Wilhelm Martens with 500 desiatin. Three verst east lived Abram Reimer with 1000 desiatin. Next was Dietrich Friesen with 1000 desiatin. Two verst north lived Johann Martens with about 500 desiatin. Three verst northeast lived a Bräul with 500 desiatin.
Old Taschtschenak 12 verst south of Melitopol was started by Johann Cornies, the reformer from Molochna. His grandson still lived on this estate before the Revolution. It consisted of about 1000 desiatin. Cornies’ granddaughter, a Mrs Neufeld, lived close by on an estate of about the same size. The Klatts also lived in this area.
At Brotsky, about 50 verst west of Melitopol were a number of estate owners including Jacob Willms, Johann Schroeder, Peter and Johann Dick and Thomas Martens. They owned large estates ranging from 1000 to 2000 desiatin. Near Fedorovka was located Falz-Fein’s original estate with some 2000 desiatin of land.”
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James Urry, Victoria University,
Wellington, New Zealand
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Last modified October 30, 2000.
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