Fast - Teichroeb Ancestry

64. Michael Teichroeb,¹⁰⁰ son of Michael Teichroeb, was born before 1741 in Marienburg Region, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died before 1803 in Prussia.

The 1776 Prussian Mennonite Census published in Penner's book lists a Michael Dickgres in Kalthof, Marienburg. The Mennonites living there belonged to the Flemish church and were members of the Heubuden congregation. In fact we find Michael mentioned in the Heubuden Church Book in connection with two marriages. We also see records of several children that appear to be Michael's. He is associated with a son, Peter, born in 1761 and from this information it is assumed Michael was born around 1740. The Elbing baptism records list a Peter Dykgraf, son of Michael Dykgraf, baptised in Krebsfeld in 1781. In the Elbing Marriage Book Peter is listed (1785) marrying Helena Dyck and once again his father Michael is mentioned.

I have also seen the name spelled Teichgraf and Deichgraf.

H. Schapansky says Peter is the son of Michael Teichgraf. There is a baptism record in the Elbing Church Book that supports this (1781) mentioning his father Michael.

According to the census Michael was a self employed tailor. With him were a wife and daughter. These would be his second wife whom he married in Traalau in 1774 and probably a daughter from his first marriage; the Heubuden Church Book doesn't list any daughters born after 1774 until 1778 but there is a record of another potential daughter, Anna, baptised in 1790 (and therefore born around 1769). This record is in the Heuebuden Church Baptism Records and the family lived in Marienburg.

The Heubuden Church Book gives us the name of Michael's second wife, Helena or Magdelena. My hypothesis is that the marriage and death listings associated with this woman refer to the same person, although it is strange that her name would not be more similar in the two entries. On 8 October 1778 twins are born in Kalthof and the next day the death of a woman whom I believe to be Michael's wife is recorded. There is a discrepancy in the names; the wife's name in the marriage record is Henlane and in the death record Magdalena. I think the first entry is intended to be Helena, a name frequently also twinned, and used interchangeably, with Magdalena.

A year later Michael remarries in Usnitz. This record is remarkable in that the name of the wife is apparently added many years later in a different style. The name is Anna Dick. His third wife was Anganetha and I believe the entry reflects an incorrect recollection of the first name but possibly a correct surname. The Grandma Database appears to agree with my assertion.

Anganetha's children for whom we have a birth record were born at Usnitz. After 1786 it isn't clear where the children were born.

Geography notes: Traalau, Kalthof, Usnitz and Marienburg are all tightly clustered towns. Krebsfeld is an outlier and the appearance of Michael's son Peter there in 1781 is an anomaly, both because of the distance and because Michael appeared to be living in Usnitz continuously from 1779 through 1786, based on his marriage record and the registers of children's births thereafter. It is possible that Peter was in Krebsfeld to work and was baptized there as a result. It would then follow that Peter could have been living with relatives in Krebsfeld. Johann and Abraham were both in Krebsfeld at this time.

The Grandma Database cites Prussian emigration records for September 1796 indicating that Michael was not a landowner and had never owned land. This is a factor in the eligibility for emigration, because landowners were not permitted to emigrate at the time. Also mentioned is that in May 1796 the family lived in the poor house in Heubuden. This indicates a remarkably impoverished state. Apparently Michael signed his emigration application with 'x's rather than a signature, implying that he was illiterate. This citation also implies that Michael was born around 1746, a date that is anomolous with the birth year of his first son Peter in 1761.

Michael died in Prussia after 1799 (the year of birth of his last child). His wife, Anganetha, moved to Molotschna, Ukraine with seven children. She is listed as a widow but within a year she remarries and we find her and her children living with the new husband, Abraham Neudorf.

Michael's son David appears in the 1835 Molotschna census, listed at Montau #25, the home of his step-father, Abraham Neudorf. He must have had a previous wife, since he is listed in the census as having several stepchildren with the surname of Wiens. The 1835 census gives his age as 35, indicating that he was born about 1800.

Hans and Abraham Dickgrew are also listed in the 1776 census and probably the three men are related, although there is scant hard evidence except for DNA evidence. We can see from the DNA results for descendants of Johann (Hans) and Michael that they have a common ancestor but they may not be brothers. The DNA mutations are slight but sufficient to prohibit a firm conclusion that they are siblings. One other slight mutuation occurred in Michael's descendants, possibly as early as his son Daniel.

There are people who hypothesize that Johann (Hans), Abraham, Michael and another person, Peter Michael Teichroeb, are brothers. Peter is interesting in that his middle name, derived from the Molotshna Census of 1835, establishes a circumstantial linkage to Michael. Michael and Peter both came from Kalthof while Abraham and Johann came from Krebsfeld. Peter is definitely not the same person as Michael's son Peter - there are separate census and immigration records for the two people.

Michael's son Peter from his first marriage was a signatory to a letter written in 1793 (dated 3 September 1793) attempting to get Elder David Epp removed from office. Other signatories included Jacob Bartsch and Johann Sawatsky, two other ancestors of mine, and Johann Krahn, brother of another of my ancestors, Bernhard Krahn. While the attempt failed it is interesting that so many of my family members were involved in the effort to defrock David Epp.

According to an old article in Mennonitische Rundschau (an old Canadian Mennonite news publication) the Teichgraf name originates in Nord Friesland. This is possibly a reference to the Friesland area of the Netherlands that is composed of a large area in the north area of Netherlands. The Dreifrieslands area in the north of the Netherlands was a primary origin of Mennonites, who left the Netherlands in the 1500's. Henry Schapansky has researched the Dutch origin of the name and in his article "The Bergthaler / Chortitzer / Sommerfelder Dyck / Duecks" he says that the name was originally Dyckgraf. It could also have been Dijkgraaf based on the Dutch spellings I have seen. I have also seen Dutch references to Dijkgraef. Either way it is a concatenation of the words overseer and dyke. Henry says the name evolved over time to Deichgraf, Theichgraf, Theichrob and Theichgrow. The spelling changed but the pronunciation remained fairly constant.

Having noted the foregoing information about the origin of the name, there is another possibly geographic origin. Nord Friesdland was a province in Denmark in the 17th century. We see the name in Friedrichstadt where Remonstrants and Mennonites settled at the behest of the Danish Crown.

There is a death record for a Hans Teichgraber Jr. in 1694 in Bohnsack, Danziger Niederung. The burial date on the record is 25 July 1694. The data appears in the Evangelische Kirche Bohnsack records. This information is from FHL Film Number 208033, and was brought to my attention by Scot Sheppard (Mennonite Genealogy and History Facebook Group). Whether Teichgraber is a variation on Teichgraf is open to speculation. The literal translation of teichgraber is "pond digger".

The Flemish Mennonite Church was one of the two major branches of the Mennonite Church. The other branch was the Frisian Mennonite Church. The Flemish Church was more conservative or traditional and in some communities two churches coexisted.

Michael married NN about 1760. NN was born before 1741 in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died before 1774 in Prussia.

i. Peter Teichroeb ²⁰³ was born about 1761 in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Peter married Helena Dyck ²⁰⁴ 30 October 1785. Helena was born in 1764.

ii. Anna Teichroeb ²⁰⁵ was born in 1769 in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Michael next married Helena Dyck ²⁰⁶ in 1774 in Traalau, Marienburg Region, Prussia. Helena was born in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died 9 October 1778 in Kalthof, Marienburg Region, Prussia.

i. Gertruda Teichroeb ²⁰⁷ was born 8 October 1778 in Kalthof, Marienburg Region, Prussia and died 8 October 1778 in Kalthof, Marienburg Region, Prussia.

ii. Kornelius Teichroeb ²⁰⁷ was born 8 October 1778 in Kalthof, Marienburg Region, Prussia and died 8 October 1778 in Kalthof, Marienburg Region, Prussia.

Michael next married Aganetha Dyck ¹⁰¹ 17 October 1779 in Gross Usnitz, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia. Aganetha was born about 1761 in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died before 1835 in Muntau, Molotschna, Ukraine.

i. Heinrich Teichroeb ²⁰⁸ was born 19 February 1783 in Gross Usnitz, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia and died 28 February 1785 in Gross Usnitz, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia.

ii. Johann Teichroeb ²⁰⁹ was born 6 February 1784 in Gross Usnitz, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia. Johann married Katharina. Katharina was born about 1792.

iii. Heinrich Teichroeb ²¹⁰ was born 11 November 1786 in Gross Usnitz, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia. Heinrich married Margaretha Hooge. Margaretha was born about 1797.

32 iv. Daniel Teichroeb ⁴⁹ (born 22 February 1789 in Gross Usnitz, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia - died 5 January 1857 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine). Daniel married Maria ¹⁰² 5 September 1813 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine. Maria was born in 1779 in Prussia and died before 1835 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine. Daniel next married Anna Wolf,⁵⁰ daughter of Johann Wolf ¹⁰³ and Anna Peters,¹⁰⁴ about 1834 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine. Anna was born in February 1806 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine and died about 1840 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine. Daniel next married Maria Lehn ¹⁰⁵ 30 October 1840 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine. Maria was born 1 December 1794 in Ladekopp, Marienburg Region, Prussia and died 31 May 1855 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine.

vii. David Teichroeb ²¹¹ was born about 1797. David married Anna Hamm. Anna was born about 1794.

65. Aganetha Dyck ¹⁰¹ was born about 1761 in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died before 1835 in Muntau, Molotschna, Ukraine.

Anganetha was the Widow Dueckgroeb who migrated in 1803 with seven children to the Molotschna Colony from Heubuden, Prussia. Rempel has the information relating to her conveyance papers issued by the government in Grodno on 15 August 1803 and lists her children and the monies received for the purchase of food and cattle feed in accordance with the settlement agreement (about 112 rubles). Her eldest son Johann is shown as the head of the family. By 1804 she was married to Abraham Neudorf, a man about 20 years younger.

It is curious that Michael's second wife was Helena Dyck. I wonder if Anganetha and Helena were sisters.

Settlement in the Ukraine

The first major wave of Mennonite migration from Prussia to Ukraine occurred primarily between 1789 and 1795 to the Chortitza region southwest of the Dneiper River. The original group of settlers migrated in the period of 1789-1790 when the first 228 households moved from Prussia. There followed a second group of settlers in the period of 1793-1795 when about 57 households migrated. There was sporadic migration to Chortitza thereafter. Fourteen towns were established in Chortitza. There were many reasons for the migration. There was a shortage of land available in Prussia and the quest for arable farmland was a strong motivator. Further, under the Edict of 1789 the Mennonites were forbidden to acquire land without meeting the Cantonal obligation to provide military service. Until the Edict this obligation had always been waived. Concurrently there was a major economic enterprise driven by the Russian government to attract Mennonites from Danzig through the offer of free land in the Ukraine.

The migrant settlers often traveled by ship from Danzig through Riga and then overland by wagon to collecting camps from which they were allotted land, money, food, equipment, and lumber to establish homesteads. Some settlers had sufficient resources to transport their property themselves from the ships. Often, however, they had to resort to hiring commercial agents to transport their goods and frequently these families saw little or nothing of their possessions after setting off on the overland portion of the trip. The early years were challenging.

The second major wave of migration began principally in the 1803-1805 period when the 19 towns in Molotschna, to the southeast of Chortitza, was established. This wave was once again in pursuit of land, and bolstered by further tightening of freedoms in Prussia.

The Napoleanic Wars caused migration to slow dramatically.

The third major wave began around 1818 and continued for some time on a gradual basis.

Aganetha married Michael Teichroeb,¹⁰⁰ son of Michael Teichroeb, 17 October 1779 in Gross Usnitz, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia. Michael was born before 1741 in Marienburg Region, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died before 1803 in Prussia.

Johann came to Ukraine as a youngster and at the age of 17 in 1795 was the head of the household in Schoenhorst with his four siblings. His father died between 1789 and 1792 and his mother married David Isbrecht. She moved to David's homestead and when David died she married a Jacob Epp and moved to his homestead. Johann inherited his father's homestead on Jacob's death but according to the Chortitza Census of 1801 he didn't have full title to the homestead; probably it was shared with his mother. Johann appears in the 1848 list of Chortitza householders. He is listed in the diary of Jakob Wall as having died on 11 April 1848, presumably in Neuendorf where Wall lived. Johann and Anna Peters were married sometime between the months of January and May of 1803, in Schoenhorst, in accordance with the 1803 Chortitza vital records.

The Grandma Database gives us the name of a second wife, Helena Niebuhr. This person is also documented by Schapansky, but not as Johann's wife. The only substantiating evidence that she was married to Johann is correspondence with Marcy Bryon who told me that Helena had a daughter, Justina, who was a Niebuhr, but was referred to in Peter Goertzen's genealogy of Peter Teichroeb as Justina Wolf. The Wolf, according to Marcy, was Johann Wolf who married Helena after his first wife, Anna Peters, died. Goertzen's genealogy does refer to her as Justina Wolf and there is a handwritten entry saying she was the daughter of Niebuhr. I have not found a reference to the father and Helena is the daughter of Jacob Niebuhr, leading me to conclude Justina is a daughter of Johann Wolf. Certainly a careful analysis of autosomal DNA matches between Justina's descendants and my father, Peter Teichroeb, indicates Justina was a daughter of Johann. This analysis is based on ancestry.ca data that has been adjusted for endogamy using the Timber algorithm and compared with matches from all available data for her half siblings. Even after setting longest segment match thresholds at 15 or 20 cM the results are convincing.

Johann married Anna Peters,¹⁰⁴ daughter of Johann Peters ²¹⁵ and Maria Bergen,²¹⁶ in 1803 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine. Anna was born 28 July 1783 in Leske, Marienburg Region, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died after 1822 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine.

33 i. Anna Wolf ⁵⁰ (born in February 1806 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine - died about 1840 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine). Anna married Daniel Teichroeb,⁴⁹ son of Michael Teichroeb ¹⁰⁰ and Aganetha Dyck,¹⁰¹ about 1834 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine. Daniel was born 22 February 1789 in Gross Usnitz, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia and died 5 January 1857 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine.

Johann next married Helena Niebuhr ²²⁰ after 1822 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine. Helena was born in 1799.

67. Anna Peters,¹⁰⁴ daughter of Johann Peters ²¹⁵ and Maria Bergen,²¹⁶ was born 28 July 1783 in Leske, Marienburg Region, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died after 1822 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine.

The October 1816 Chortitza Census gives us an additional daughter Katherina that Schapansky does not list.

68. Abraham Abrams,¹⁰⁶ son of Abraham Abrams, was born in 1761 in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died in Ukraine.

In the 1835 Census, he is listed at Wernersdorf and it says he came to Ukraine in 1818, and moved to Wernersdorf from the Chortitza Colony in 1825. Only his son Jacob is recorded in the 1835 Census entry. H. Schapansky concurs that he came to Ukraine in 1818 but records in Peter Rempel's book indicate he may have arrived in Molotschna in 1819. It appears that the family lived in Schweingrube until 1805 and then moved to Montauerweide. From there they moved to Ukraine. They probably stayed in Schoenhorst, Chortitza Colony on their way to Molotschna, based on comments in Rempel.

Rempel says his family consisted of two males and three females. This only partially matches what we know about his family. He and his wife would have been accompanied by son Jacob and daughter Elisabeth. Son Peter emigrated about a year later, daughter Margaretha died in infancy and daughter Catharina appears to have remained in Prussia. Daughter Anna was married in Prussia.

Based on the 1835 Molotschna Census his wife, Anna, died before 1835. Abraham was 74 in that census and therefore he must have been born around 1761.

He isn't listed in the Tragheimerweide baptism records but this record starts in 1781, implying he must have been baptized earlier. This puts his year of birth around 1760-1765, corresponding to the age reported in the Molotschna Census. I can't find an Anna Doerksen in the baptism record either so her year of birth must be subject to the same constraint.

I have seen his middle name given as Abraham (for example in the 1835 Molotschna Census), in reference to his father's first name.

Notes for the children:

I have found a baptism date for daughter Catarina of 1832. I'm not certain this is the right baptism date. It means that she did not move to Ukraine with her parents.

Daughter Elizabeth's birth date is also recorded in the Schoenhorst Church Records.

The 1835 Census entry for Wernersdorf says son Jacob died in 1824.

In the Tragheimer Church Book the timeline of entries is as follows.

For Schweingrube

1788 birth of daughter Anna
1792 birth of daughter Elizabeth
1798 birth of son Peter
1800 death of Anna (widow Abrams) age 45 [it is not clear who this woman is]
1801 birth of daughter Catarina with wife Anna Duerksen
1802 baptism of daughter Anna
1804 birth of daughter Gretha on 30 November with wife Anna Diercksen
1805 death of daughter Margarita age 1 month on 3 January [this must refer to Gretha]
1806 birth of son Jacob with wife Anna Diercks

For Montauerweide

1807 baptism of daughter Elisabeth
1810 death of daughter Elisabeth
1811 birth of daughter Elisabeth with wife Anna Diercks
1813 baptism of son Peter

Abraham married Anna Doerksen.¹⁰⁷ Anna was born before 1765 in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died before 1835 in Ukraine.

i. Anna Abrams ²²² was born 2 February 1788 in Schweingrube, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia and was baptized in 1802 in Schweingrube, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia. Anna married an unknown person.

ii. Elisabeth Abrams ²²³ was born 19 December 1792 in Schweingrube, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia, was baptized in 1807 in Montauerweide, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia, and died 11 January 1810 in Montauerweide, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia.

34 iii. Peter Abrams ⁵¹ (born 22 February 1798 in Schweingrube, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia - died 8 November 1856 in Neuenburg, Chortitza, Ukraine). Peter married Margaretha Krahn,⁵² daughter of Bernard Krahn ¹⁰⁸ and Maria,¹⁰² about 1825 in Neuenburg, Chortitza, Ukraine. Margaretha was born in 1803 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 13 June 1855 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine.

iv. Catarina Abrams ²²⁴ was born 1 November 1801 in Schweingrube, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia and was baptized in 1832 in Boenhof, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia.

v. Margaretha Abrams ²²⁵ was born 30 November 1804 in Schweingrube, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia and died 3 January 1805 in Schweingrube, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia.

vi. Jacob Abrams ²²⁶ was born 3 January 1806 in Montauerweide, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia and died in 1824.

vii. Elizabeth Abrams ²²⁷ was born 3 September 1811 in Montauerweide, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia and died 28 January 1888 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine. Elizabeth married Wilhelm Klassen.

69. Anna Doerksen ¹⁰⁷ was born before 1765 in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died before 1835 in Ukraine.

I think Anna was with Abraham when the family migrated to Ukraine. Rempel says the family consisted of 2 males and 3 females. We know Abraham and son Jacob were part of the group and son Peter emigrated on his own. Daughter Anna was already married before the family emigrated and so she was not part of the family unit in Rempel's book. Daughter Margarita died as an infant in 1805. This leaves Anna and her daughters Catarina and Elizabeth. Consequently Anna must have emigrated with her family.

There is an entry in the Tragheimer Gemeinde records for a Catarina Abrams who was baptized in 1832 in Boenhoff. She was the daughter of an Abraham Abrams. This must not be the daughter of Abraham and Anna because the baptism age (31) is very unusual. In addition, it would mean the family left her alone, unmarried, at the age of eighteen when they emigrated. This is difficult to believe.

70. Bernard Krahn,¹⁰⁸ son of Johann Krahn, was born in 1770 in Klein Mausdorf, Marienburg Region, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died in 1813 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine.

Bernhard's first wife was Katharina Andres. Bernhard and Katharina were probably married in 1795. Katharina is recorded as Bernard's first wife and the mother of Maria and Anna in the notes to the 1811 Chortitza Census. H. Schapansky tells us Bernhard was baptized in 1794 and their children arrived in 1797 and 1798. Johann Rempel's Family Book just says they were married in 179.. Katharina was a sister of Anna, who married Bernhard's brother Johann. Katharina died in November 1800 according to Johann Rempel.

H. Schapansky says he came to Ukraine in 1795-1796 and his brother, Johann, came to Ukraine at the same time. Johann is listed in the 1793-1795 list of original settlers assembled by Glenn Penner. I think Bernhard was with Johann in that household.

Bernard was subsequently married to Maria in 1801, probably in Rosenthal. By the time of the September 1801 Census they were already married. Maria is the mother of Margaretha. When Bernhard died Maria married Daniel Teichroeb (born 1789). Stumpp lists Bernard as a tailor from Klein Mausdorf, Grosses Werder in 1795 who moved to Burwalde, Chortitza. He was in Rosenthal in 1801 and 1802 and in Burwalde in 1803, 1806, 1808. H. Schapansky says that he was the son of Johan Krahn of Neustadterwald and came to Ukraine in 1795 - 1796. The 1801 census indicates he was a tailor. The Grandma Database says he died between 1808 and 1813; probably the year was 1813, the year Maria remarried. I suspect he died in Burwalde because the Vital Records indicate this is where Daniel Teichroeb married his widow.

Notes about the first wife of Bernhard, Katharina Andres

Her father was Jacob Andres. A Jacob Andreas, born about 1740, lived in Rosenthal in 1808. Schapansky says he was also there in 1802 and 1803 having emigrated from Walldorff, Elbing District, Prussia in 1795. The 1776 Prussian Mennonite census lists him as living in Powunden; H. Schapansky indicates he was a member of the Ellerwald Gemeinde but I can't substantiate this. It records 4 sons and 2 daughters at the time. He was a farmer described as a landowner in poor circumstances. The 1789 Prussian census list him in Munsterburg/Marienburg. Schapansky says he moved to Lackendorff and then to Gartenkamp in the region of the Rosenort Gemeinde. According to Stumpp, he moved to Rosentau/Taurien in 1795, but this village was not established until 1804. Jacob was a farm labourer. In 1808, he had a son, Jacob (b. 1774), living with him as well as a grandson, Jacob Krahn (b. 1786), and his grandson's wife, Magdalena (b. 1788). He was a Flemish Mennonite. The Grandma Database provides his date of death based on genealogical contributions.

Her mother was Anna Klassen. According to Schapansky an Altester Wiebe mentioned that Jakob Andres, husband of Anna, was the brother in law of a Johann Klassen of Insel Chortitza, who in turn was the son of Johann Klassen of Neustadterwald.

She had a brother, Kornelius. Kornelius came to Rosenthal from Krebsfeld, Elbing in 1795. In 1808, he was living there with his wife, Anna (b. 1778), and their children, along with a servant girl named Susanna Ensz (b. 1788). The Grandma Database cites Johann Rempel (1921, p. 13) who says that Kornelius was born 31 October 1766.

She had a brother, Johann. Johann lived in Einlage in 1802 and 1808. The Grandma Database has a reference to material published by Johann Rempel (1921, p. 13) indicating Johann was baptized in 1788.

Grosses Werder was part of the Danzig Gemeinde until 1639. Mennonites were first invited in 1568 to Grosses Werder from Danzig and most of the migration to Grosses Werder originated in the Danzig area.

Bernard married Katharina Andres,²²⁹ daughter of Jakob Andres ²³⁰ and Anna Klassen,²³¹ before 1797 in Neuenburg, Chortitza, Ukraine. Katharina was born in 1771 in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died in November 1800 in Neuenburg, Chortitza, Ukraine.

Bernard next married Maria ¹⁰² in 1801 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine. Maria was born in 1779 in Prussia and died before 1835 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine.

35 i. Margaretha Krahn ⁵² (born in 1803 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine - died 13 June 1855 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine). Margaretha married Peter Abrams,⁵¹ son of Abraham Abrams ¹⁰⁶ and Anna Doerksen,¹⁰⁷ about 1825 in Neuenburg, Chortitza, Ukraine. Peter was born 22 February 1798 in Schweingrube, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia, was baptized in 1813 in Montauerweide, Stuhm Lowlands, Prussia, and died 8 November 1856 in Neuenburg, Chortitza, Ukraine.

ii. Catharina Krahn ²³² was born 10 April 1806 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine and died in 1814 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine.

iii. Bernhard Krahn ²³³ was born 10 April 1806 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine and died in 1806.

iv. Agatha Krahn ²³⁴ was born 2 April 1808 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 10 May 1808 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine.

v. Bernhard Krahn ²³⁵ was born 18 April 1809 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 29 April 1809 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine.

71. Maria ¹⁰² was born in 1779 in Prussia and died before 1835 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine.

Maria married Bernard Krahn,¹⁰⁸ son of Johann Krahn, in 1801 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine. Bernard was born in 1770 in Klein Mausdorf, Marienburg Region, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died in 1813 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine.

72. Johann Dyck,¹¹⁰ son of Johann Dyck, was born in 1766 in Tiegenhagen, Marienburg Region, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died in 1831 in Lichtenau, Molotschna, Ukraine.

His name is recorded as Johann Johann Dyck in the 1835 Molotschna Census, indicating he was the son of a Johann.

Johann married Agatha Schulz,¹¹¹ daughter of Hermann Schulz, 29 May 1792 in Tiegenhagen, Marienburg Region, Prussia. Agatha was born in 1771 in Altendorf, Marienburg Region, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was baptized 28 June 1789 in Tiegenhagen, Marienburg Region, Prussia, and died in Lichtenau, Molotschna, Ukraine.

ii. Hermann Dyck ²³⁶ was born in 1794 in Tiegenhagen, Marienburg Region, Prussia.

iii. Jacob Dyck ²³⁶ was born in 1798 in Tiegenhagen, Marienburg Region, Prussia.

iv. Heinrich Dyck ²³⁶ was born in 1802 in Tiegenhagen, Marienburg Region, Prussia.

v. Elisabeth Dyck ²³⁶ was born in 1806 in Lichtenau, Molotschna, Ukraine.

73. Agatha Schulz,¹¹¹ daughter of Hermann Schulz, was born in 1771 in Altendorf, Marienburg Region, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was baptized 28 June 1789 in Tiegenhagen, Marienburg Region, Prussia, and died in Lichtenau, Molotschna, Ukraine.

Agatha married Johann Dyck,¹¹⁰ son of Johann Dyck, 29 May 1792 in Tiegenhagen, Marienburg Region, Prussia. Johann was born in 1766 in Tiegenhagen, Marienburg Region, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died in 1831 in Lichtenau, Molotschna, Ukraine.

74. Bernhard Friesen ¹¹² was born in 1752 in Vierzehnhuben, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died before 1835 in Blumenort, Molotschna, Ukraine.

The discovery of Bernhard Friesen and Susanna Penner was made after a detailed analysis of autosomal DNA matches that appeared on ancestry.ca. The conclusion they were correct ancestors was made after comparing DNA from known descendants of their daughter Helena (1798) with DNA from descendants of potential siblings. After filtering to remove the effects of endogamy using the Timber algorithm and using a longest segment match threshold of 15 cM it is clear the group of people reviewed were descendants of a group of siblings, of which all but Helena had been previously identified as children of Bernhard and Susanna. It follows that Helena is also one of the siblings and a child of Bernhard and Susanna. The genealogical data corresponds to this conclusion because we know the age of Helena and therefore the accuracy of the scenario appears to be reasonable.

Rempel indicates the family immigrated in 1804 and Unruh indicates they settled on their land in 1805. They emigrated from the village of Waldorf in the Tiegenhagen area of Prussia. Unruh indicates they originated in Vierzehnhuben. Bernhard is listed in Vierzehnhuben in the 1789 Prussia Land Census.

The family settled on Blumenort #19. We see Bernhard and Susanna with all the children in the 1806 census. In the 1811 census Bernhard is listed as a tailor. Susanna is not in the census, indicating she died earlier. Bernhard's wife is listed as Helena, but I think this is an error because daughter Helena is not listed in that census. In the 1814 census Helena is listed as a daughter and there is no wife listed for Bernhard.

Bernhard must have died before 1835 because the census of that year shows his son, Heinrich, along with Heinrich's family, as the householders on Blumenort #19.

Bernhard married Susanna Penner ¹¹³ before 1778 in Prussia. Susanna was born in 1754 in Vierzehnhuben, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died before 1811 in Blumenort, Molotschna, Ukraine.

75. Susanna Penner ¹¹³ was born in 1754 in Vierzehnhuben, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died before 1811 in Blumenort, Molotschna, Ukraine.

Susanna is still alive in Blumenort when the 1808 census is taken but she does not appear in the 1811 census for Molotschna and therefore she must have died before the census was taken.

Susanna married Bernhard Friesen ¹¹² before 1778 in Prussia. Bernhard was born in 1752 in Vierzehnhuben, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died before 1835 in Blumenort, Molotschna, Ukraine.

His family was Landless in Schoenhorst in the 1807 census. According to the 1808 Vital Records they were still in Schoenhorst in 1808. They were in Burwalde in the 1810 and 1811 census records. In 1813 and 1814 they were Landless in Neuenberg. In 1815 they owned property in Neuenburg.

Cornelius married Anna Nickel,¹¹⁷ daughter of Erdman Nickel, in 1805 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine. Anna was born 12 January 1788 in Rehhof, Stuhm Lowlands, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

38 i. Cornelius Hiebert ⁵⁷ (born 21 January 1806 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine). Cornelius married Katharina Penner,⁵⁸ daughter of Gerhard Penner ¹¹⁸ and Anna,¹¹⁹ in 1827 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine. Katharina was born 19 April 1806 in Chortitza, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 2 December 1841. Cornelius next married Anna Thiessen ¹²⁰ in 1843 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine. Anna was born in 1816 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine.

ii. Anna Hiebert ²⁴⁶ was born in 1807 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine.

iii. Erdman Hiebert ²⁴⁷ was born in 1808 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine.

iv. Helena Hiebert ²⁴⁸ was born in 1809 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine.

v. Agatha Hiebert ²⁴⁹ was born in 1810 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine.

vi. Abraham Hiebert ²⁵⁰ was born in 1813 in Neuenburg, Chortitza, Ukraine.

vii. Elisabeth Hiebert ²⁵¹ was born in 1814 in Neuenburg, Chortitza, Ukraine.

77. Anna Nickel,¹¹⁷ daughter of Erdman Nickel, was born 12 January 1788 in Rehhof, Stuhm Lowlands, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Anna's date of birth is taken from the Tragheimerweide Church records, along with the connection to her father Erdman.

According to the 1807 census for the village of Chortitza, he was a carpenter by trade. His first wife was Anna Pries according to that census. His second wife was Helena Driedger. I have used children's ages to estimate birth and death dates. Marriage dates for both of these wives is cited in the notes.

It appears Gerhard moved to Rosenthal in 1795, based on Rempel. He definitely was in Rosenthal by 1801, although Glenn Penner does not record him in the First Settler list (1789 or 1793-5).

The Danzig Church Family Book Volume 2 indicates that he was born in the Werder in 1758 and resided at Klein Wickerau near Elbing.

Gerhard died in 1813 according to the Chortitza census taken in November 1815.

Gerhard married Anna Preuss,²⁵⁴ daughter of Wilhelm Preuss, 25 November 1787 in Klein Wickerau, Elbing Region, Prussia. Anna was born in 1768 in Lakendorf, Marienburg Region, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died in 1791 in Prussia.

Gerhard next married Helena Driedger,²⁵⁶ daughter of Peter Driedger, 23 February 1792 in Klein Wickerau, Elbing Region, Prussia. Helena was born about 1770 in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died in 1800 in Chortitza, Chortitza, Ukraine.

iii. Helena Penner ¹¹⁹ was born in 1800 in Chortitza, Chortitza, Ukraine.

Gerhard next married Anna ¹¹⁹ in 1801 in Chortitza, Chortitza, Ukraine. Anna was born in 1764 in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine.

i. Bernhard Penner ²⁵⁸ was born in 1804 in Chortitza, Chortitza, Ukraine.

79. Anna ¹¹⁹ was born in 1764 in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine.

The Grandma Database gives her date of death as 20 August 1849 but this is in fact the date of death of her stepson Peter Penner (see the Bergthal Gemeinde Buch p. 19).

80. Hermann Schapansky,¹²¹ son of David Schapansky ²⁵⁹ and Anna Pauls,²⁶⁰ was born in 1754 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died 8 December 1824 in Schwansdorf, Marienburg Region, Prussia.

He was a member of the Flemish Gemeinde but the origin of the family is from the Frisian Gemeinde. His birth date is taken from the 1811 Elbing Census. Hermann was 58 in that census, living in Kerbshorst. The census records a wife aged 33, a son aged 6 and a daughter aged 2. He was a carpenter.

Most of the children are found in church records and data is rounded out by the many-roads.com genealogy. The information about Kornelius (1786-1801) is from the Grandma Database and may be incorrect. There is an indication of two other children (1805-1811 and 1809-1811). No other details are available.

Hermann's second wife, Anna Heinrichs, has birth, baptism and marriage records in the Marcushof church records. She is listed in the 1811 Elbing Census although not by name. Further there is a record of their marriage in the "Kingdom of Prussia and State of Prussia, Germany, Selected Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1661-1944". For the later I do not have a specific reference, only an ancestry.ca reference. Notes for her father: Jacob is listed in the Tiensdorf and Marcushof Church Book. His baptism appears in 1777, although I can not make out the month. His wedding to Anna Ketler appears in 1780. Notes for her mother: In the Thiensdorf and Marcushof Church Records there are two young women with the name Ketler who are married on 2 May 1780. Both are from Kerbshorst. Probably they were sisters. There is a baptism record for a Barbara Ketler, daughter of Cornelius, in 1779 (pp. 14-15). In 1778 Heinrich Ketler, son of Cornelius is baptised (pp. 6-7). Barbara and Heinrich were from Thiergarth at the time of the baptisms. The 1776 census lists Cornelius living in Thiergarth with a wife, one son and two daughters. In 1780 Barbara is listed again as being baptised; she is still listed as living in Thiergarth as the daughter of Cornelius (pp. 18-19). I think the double entry implies that one of the records is for daughter Anna. It seems unlikely that there were two householders named in Cornelius with daughters named Barbara at the same time. Certainly the 1776 census does not list two such individuals. The Church Book lists another son, Cornelius, from the same town baptised in 1782 (pp. 30-31). This runs contrary to the 1776 census.

The port at Elbing, along with the port at Danzig, were two maine disembarkation points for Mennonites fleeing western Europe by sea. The earliest settlements in Elbing were established in the middle to late 1500's and citizenship was first granted to Mennonites in Elbing in 1585. In later years there were Frisian and Flemish Mennonites in the area, the Frisians belonging to the Thiensdorf - Marcusoff Gemeinde.

Hermann married Maria Klassen ¹²² 13 March 1785 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia. Maria was born in 1764 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died 25 February 1800 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia.

40 i. Hermann Schapansky ⁶⁶ (born 24 December 1785 in Prussia - died after 1847 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine). Hermann married Maria Doerksen ¹²³ 6 November 1806 in Markushof, Elbing Region, Prussia. Maria died before 1823. Hermann next married Susanna Dyck,⁶⁷ daughter of Martin Dyck ¹²⁹ and Margaretha Wiebe,¹³⁰ before 1823 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine. Susanna was born before 1803 and died 23 April 1858 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine.

iii. Heinrich Schapansky ²⁶¹ was born 5 September 1792 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia and died 9 February 1801 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia.

iv. Johann Schapansky ²⁶² was born 4 September 1794 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia and died 6 September 1794 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia.

Hermann next married Anna Heinrichs,²⁶³ daughter of Jacob Heinrichs ²⁶⁴ and Anna Ketler,²⁶⁵ 6 November 1800. Anna was born 5 August 1781 in Kerbswalde, Elbing Region, Prussia, was baptized in 1797 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia, and died 13 January 1857 in Ellerwald, Elbing Region, Prussia.

i. Cornelius Schapansky ²⁶⁶ was born 2 August 1801 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia and died 26 October 1801 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia.

ii. Anna Schapansky ²⁶⁷ was born 18 July 1804 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia and died 27 June 1807 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia.

iii. Cornelius Schapansky ²⁶⁸ was born 11 February 1806 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia, was baptized 19 May 1823 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia, and died 27 February 1861 in Ellerwald, Elbing Region, Prussia.

iv. Heinrich Schapansky ²⁶⁹ was born 9 January 1811 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia and was baptized 4 June 1827 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia.

v. Maria Schapansky ²⁷⁰ was born 17 September 1812 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia and died 9 August 1825 in Schwansdorf, Marienburg Region, Prussia.

vi. Anna Schapansky ²⁷¹ was born 9 January 1816 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia.

vii. Cornelia Schapansky ²⁷² was born 14 October 1817 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia and died in 1817.

viii. Johann Schapansky ²⁷³ was born 12 May 1819 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia and died in 1819.

ix. David Schapansky ²⁷⁴ was born 6 July 1821 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia and died in 1831.

x. Catharina Schapansky ²⁷⁵ was born 6 May 1824 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia and died 2 January 1825 in Schwansdorf, Marienburg Region, Prussia.

81. Maria Klassen ¹²² was born in 1764 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died 25 February 1800 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia.

Maria was a Flemish Mennonite. Her date of death is taken from the Marcushof Marienburg Church Record along with her age, enabling an estimated year of birth.

Maria married Hermann Schapansky,¹²¹ son of David Schapansky ²⁵⁹ and Anna Pauls,²⁶⁰ 13 March 1785 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia. Hermann was born in 1754 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died 8 December 1824 in Schwansdorf, Marienburg Region, Prussia.

According to the 1835 Molotschna Census he immigrated in 1818 to Margenau #35, and he died in 1832. There is speculation that his marriage in Stadtfeld in 1783 is listed in the Heubuden Church Book. In this listing his wife's name is Wieler.

Martin married Margaretha Wiebe ¹³⁰ 27 May 1783 in Stadtfeld, Prussia. Margaretha was born before 1763 in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

41 ii. Susanna Dyck ⁶⁷ (born before 1803 - died 23 April 1858 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine). Susanna married Hermann Schapansky,⁶⁶ son of Hermann Schapansky ¹²¹ and Maria Klassen,¹²² before 1823 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine. Hermann was born 24 December 1785 in Prussia, was baptized 7 June 1802 in Kerbshorst, Elbing Region, Prussia, and died after 1847 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine.

83. Margaretha Wiebe ¹³⁰ was born before 1763 in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

There is speculation that her marriage in Stadtfeld in 1783 is listed in the Heubuden Church Book. In this listing her name is Wieler.

88. Michael Loewen,¹³¹ son of Heinrich Loewen, was born about 1771 in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died before 1801 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, Ukraine.

Michael is undoubtedly the father of Jacob. In the 1801 Chortitza Census we see Jacob and sister Maria at Neuendorf #23 with their mother Maria Bueckert and her new husband Jacob Peters. The comments made by the people transcribing the material tell us the children were Michael's. Furthermore, as noted in the commentary about Jacob, there is ample DNA evidence to support the position that Jacob is the common ancestor.

Henry Schapansky tells us that Michael was the son of Heinrich of Neustadterwald and a member of the Tiegenhagen Church. The 1776 census tells us Heinrich had three sons. Michael and Jacob would be two of them. There were two later sons mentioned in the Grandma Database. The third son in the 1776 census is unknown.

Heinrich migrated to Ukraine in 1789 and died before 1793; in fact he probably died in 1789 before even reaching Chortitza because he does not appear in the First Settlers work done by Glenn Penner. In 1795 Michael was living with a Peter Dyck in Neuendorf; Michael was employed as a servant. This was the revision list for settlers of 1789 and I conclude Michael was among those earliest settlers. There is no sign of Michael's mother except census information to the effect that when she died her Einlage homestead was left to her daughter and son-in-law. These were Helena Rempel and Cornelius Willems. Therefore we know that Heinrich Loewen's wife had been married first to a Rempel. For an analysis of the disposition of the family upon arrival at Chortitza, see the notes for Heinrich Loewen.

After Michael married Maria Bueckert he took over the homestead of her deceased father, Daniel Bueckert. The homestead later went to Maria's new husband, Jacob Peters, after Michael died and she remarried.

Michael is mentioned in comments in numerous Chortitza Census documents after his death, all in connection with his children.

Michael married Maria Bueckert,¹³² daughter of Daniel Bueckert, about 1797 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine. Maria was born in 1777 in Marienburg Region, Prussia and died in Ukraine.

44 ii. Jacob Loewen ⁷² (born in 1800 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, Ukraine - died in 1857 in Ukraine). Jacob married Maria Klassen ¹³³ 1 October 1822 in Neu-Osterwick, Chortitza, Ukraine. Maria was born about 1800 in Ukraine and died about 1852 in Ukraine. Jacob next married Margaretha Braun ⁷³ in 1854 in Ukraine. Margaretha was born in 1836 in Ukraine and died in 1857 in Ukraine.

89. Maria Bueckert,¹³² daughter of Daniel Bueckert, was born in 1777 in Marienburg Region, Prussia and died in Ukraine.

Maria's parents must have died before 1795; that year she is found with her brother, Jacob, and sister, Anna, in Neuendorf. In Unruh there is an indication that a young girl, Anna, aged 8, lived with them but I think this is an error in interpreting the data because the same entry also refers to Anna, age 15, being the sister of Maria. Certainly the 1795 census seems to be clear that the Anna listed in the household is aged 15. Maria's birth record is found in the Heubuden Church records.

Her second husband was Jacob Peters and they assumed the farm in Nieder Chortitza that had belonged to her father Daniel Bueckert. This was recorded in Rempel's book for the year 1806, the same year that Nieder Chortitza was established. That entry says Daniel came to Ukraine in 1789, as is confirmed in information about the first Chortitza colonists.

Jacob Peters is listed in the 1809 Smallpox Vaccination list with two children.

Maria married Michael Loewen,¹³¹ son of Heinrich Loewen, about 1797 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine. Michael was born about 1771 in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and died before 1801 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, Ukraine.

Maria next married Jacob Peters,²⁸¹ son of Johann Peters ²¹⁵ and Maria Bergen,²¹⁶ before 1802 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, Ukraine. Jacob was born 23 November 1776 in Leske, Marienburg Region, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

i. Anna Peters ²⁸² was born 28 November 1802 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, Ukraine and died before 1805 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, Ukraine.

ii. Johann Peters ²⁸³ was born in 1805 in Nieder Chortitza, Chortitza, Ukraine.

iii. Catharina Peters ²⁸⁴ was born in 1808 in Nieder Chortitza, Chortitza, Ukraine and died in 1810 in Kronsthal, Chortitza, Ukraine.

iv. Catharina Peters ²⁸⁵ was born in 1811 in Kronsthal, Chortitza, Ukraine.

v. Gertruda Peters ²⁸⁶ was born in 1813 in Neu-Osterwick, Chortitza, Ukraine and died in 1814 in Neu-Osterwick, Chortitza, Ukraine.

The relationship between Johann Dyck (1796) and Sara Klassen (1801) is based on data in the Grandma Database, as is the list of their children.

46 v. Johann Dyck ⁷⁴ (born 24 December 1826 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine - died 19 October 1921 in Canada). Johann married Maria DeVeer,⁷⁵ daughter of Isaak DeVeer ¹⁴¹ and Margaretha Falk,¹⁴² 16 October 1849 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine. Maria was born 14 November 1830 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine, was baptized 24 May 1849, and died 5 December 1895 in Canada.

According to the Grandma Database, Sara's birthdate could be 12 June 1801 or 24 June 1801.

94. Isaak DeVeer,¹⁴¹ son of Jacob DeVeer ²⁹¹ and Maria Peters,²⁹² was born 17 March 1810 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, Ukraine, was baptized in 1829 in Ukraine, and died 1 December 1889 in Reinland, Manitoba.

Isaak was born in Chortitza Colony. Unruh lists him in Neu-Osterwick, Chortitza in 1814 with his parents Jacob and Maria. Since Neu-Osterwick was established in 1812 he would have been born in Neuendorf where his parents lived before they moved to Neu-Osterwick. Fehr says he was a silk producer in Neu-Osterwick and later in Fuerstenland. He is listed in Neu-Osterwick in the 1863 Chortitza Grain Signature List. He is also recorded in the 1847 and 1859 Householder lists in Neu-Osterwick.

He came to Canada on 23 June 1876 aboard the S. S. Quebec with his second wife, Elizabeth Banman, and her youngest son Abram. They brought with them an 18 year old servant named Maria. They were headed to Reinland according to the entry in the passenger list. In 1881 they appear in Reinland in the census along with their son. The dates are taken from the Reinlander Gemeinde Buch.

Isaak's second wife, Elizabeth Banman, is listed in the Reinlander Gemeinde Buch.

According to the Grandma Database his daughter Susanna died in Rosthern, Saskatchewan on 12 November 1927.

47 i. Maria DeVeer ⁷⁵ (born 14 November 1830 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine - died 5 December 1895 in Canada). Maria married Johann Dyck,⁷⁴ son of Johann Dyck ¹³⁹ and Sara Klassen,¹⁴⁰ 16 October 1849 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine. Johann was born 24 December 1826 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine, was baptized in 1847, and died 19 October 1921 in Canada.

ii. Jacob DeVeer ²⁹⁵ was born 5 February 1832 and was baptized in 1854.

iii. Katarina DeVeer ²⁹⁵ was born 30 July 1833, was baptized in 1852, and died 4 November 1895.

iv. Helena DeVeer ²⁹⁵ was born 21 September 1835 and was baptized in 1854.

vi. Susanna DeVeer ²⁹⁵ was born 13 September 1838, was baptized in 1858, and died 12 November 1927 in Rosthern, Saskatchewan.

viii. Isaak DeVeer ²⁹⁵ was born 16 October 1841 and was baptized in 1860.

xiv. Elizabeth DeVeer ²⁹⁵ was born 24 December 1851 and was baptized in 1870.

Isaak next married Elizabeth Banman, daughter of Cornelius Banman and Anna Froese, 5 November 1865. Elizabeth was born 28 May 1821 and died 26 August 1903 in Manitoba.

There has been confusion about who the wife of Isaak Fehr really was. This has been caused by an error in the Reinlander Gemeinde Buch wherein Isaak is listed as the husband of a Maria Falk born in 1810 in one entry. In all the other entries his wife is listed as Margaretha Falk. Margaretha's sister Maria Falk was actually born in 1807 as all the Chortitza Census records show, whereas Margaretha was born in 1810.

There has also been uncertainty about whether Margaretha's mother was Sara Martens or Maria Bartsch. The Chortitza Census records make it quite clear that as early as 1807 Maria was the wife of David Falk. Consequently it is clear that Maria Bartsch is the mother of Margaretha.

Margaretha married Isaak DeVeer,¹⁴¹ son of Jacob DeVeer ²⁹¹ and Maria Peters,²⁹² 6 January 1830 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine. Isaak was born 17 March 1810 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, Ukraine, was baptized in 1829 in Ukraine, and died 1 December 1889 in Reinland, Manitoba.

Johann's father, Cornelius, came to Ukraine in 1821. I suspect this is when Johann immigrated as well, although it is difficult to find him. It appears that he came on his own, since he is not listed with his father. His father emigrated in 1821 from Wernersdorf and appears to have settled in Tiegerweide, Molotschna. I assume Johann was born in Wernersdorf.

Schapansky says that Johann may have lived at Chortitza, Einlage, and/or Ekaterinoslav and may have been a miller. Helmut Huebert's book supports this view of his occupation. I suspect he moved to Ekaterinoslav because there is no record of him in Chortitza when he immigrated. Also of interest is the fact that his future wife also lived in Ekaterinoslav, where her parent moved when they immigrated.

H. Schapansky points out that Johann and his wife Aganetha Toews were cousins, his mother being Maria Toews. The father of Aganetha Toews was Jacob Toews, the brother of Maria Toews.

Helmut T. Huebert, in his book "Mennonites in the Imperial Cities of Russia", describes the many business enterprises of Johann Fast and his descendants. Of further interest is the interrelationship of the Fast family with the Toews family and the Heese family and the capital accumulation of this group of families.

Johann Fast (1800-1841) was married to Aganetha Toews (1803-1862). Johann appears to have operated a treadmill powered flour mill. This mill was most likely in Ekaterinolav or in the Chortitza settlement. After Johann died the operation of the mill was assumed by his son, Jacob (1822-1866).

Jacob had married Katharina Heese (1816-1848) and, upon her death, her sister Anna Heese (1826-1909). The Heese sisters were daughters of Heinrich Heese (1786-1868), a well known educator and the founder of the Chortitza Zentralschule. Jacob and Anna were living in the Chortitza Settlement when Anna persuaded Jacob to relocate to Ekaterinoslav, where they set up a new milling business. Around 1866 the mill was converted to steam power.

Jacob died in 1866 and his wife, Anna, ran the mill with their son, Heinrich (1858-1897). Heinrich's brother, Wilhelm (1864-?) joined the business and in later years ran the mill in partnership with Heinrich, and after Heinrich's death took over sole management of the business. In 1890 the mill was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt in the 1894-1897 period. By 1911 the business was insolvent and taken over by the banks to which it was indebted.

The reasons for bankruptcy are vague, but it seems the investment was huge and highly leveraged. Further, competitors, concerned by the threat posed due to the scale and modern nature of the new operation, spread rumours about the unsafe conditions in the mill and the quality of the product. The financial and reputational damage were more than Wilhelm could withstand. After bankruptcy the operation continued in some form and after the Bolshevik Revolution the business was nationalized. Later when Ukraine gained its independence the company began to operate under the name DMK Dnipromyln LLC. It is still in operation today. The company web site discusses the early years, mentioning Fast by name and describing the challenges with the development of the substantial property and the ensuing bankruptcy.

Jacob's son, Johann (1849-1908) established a lumber mill in Ekaterinoslav around 1875 and was successful for many years. The business supplied lumber for the flour mill operated by Heinrich and Wilhelm. This was a key source of revenue. When the flour mill failed the lumber mill was severely impacted and eventually became insolvent.

Following the failure of the lumber mill, Jacob's son, Johann, established an iron foundry in partnership with a son in law. This business was successful until the son in law died, at which point the operation was downsized.

The family of Aganetha Toews (1803-?) were also engaged in capitalist ventures. Her father, Jacob Toews (1768-?) had a wind powered flour mill in Ekaterinoslav. It was destroyed in a fire around 1807. Jacob's son Heinrich Toews (1819-1867) operated a wind powered mill in Ekaterinoslav in 1836 and 1837. He moved to Einlage in the Chortitza Settlement in 1840 and continued in the business of milling. Later he returned to Ekaterinoslav and in 1857 purchased property that was still in the family of Johann Fast (1800-1841). He built a treadmill powered mill there and ten years later a steam powered mill. He died in 1867 and the business was taken over by his sons, Jacob (1845-1883) and Johann (1841-1915).

Johann's son, Johann (1869-?) established a soap manufacturing business, financed by his father. Apparently, he was the black sheep of the family. He was caught philandering with one of his servants, by whom he had several children.

In 1880 Jacob (1845-1883) built another mill and left his brother Johann to operate the earlier mill. Jacob Toews (1845-1883) married Margaretha Heese (1848-1880), daughter of Heinrich Heese (1828-1883) and granddaughter of Heinrich Heese the elder (1786-1868). After Margaretha died Jacob went on to marry her sister, Susanna (1862-1950).

The Heese family were also successful entrepreneurs. Heinrich Heese (1828-1883), a son of Heinrich Heese (1786-1868), entered the milling business with a treadmill powered mill. When it was destroyed in a fire, he went into the grain marketing business. After the Crimean War global demand for Russian grain was weak and he was unsuccessful. In the late 1860s he built a steam powered flour mill, purchasing machinery from England. He left that business to work as a lawyer, banker, and real estate agent.

Heinrich's son, Heinrich (1846-1903) established his own flour mill in 1878 in Ekaterinoslav. His business was successful, and he prospered. In later years he was on the board of several private banks and the federal bank. Later his sons, Heinrich, and Peter, took control of the mill and operated it until it was nationalized after the Bolshevik Revolution.

Another son of Heinrich Heese (1828-1883), Wilhelm (1846-1920) married Maria Fast (1858-1935). Maria was a daughter of Johann Fast (1832-1885) and granddaughter of Johann Fast (1800-1841).

i. Jacob Fast ³⁰⁰ was born 21 April 1822 in Ekaterinoslav, Ukraine and died 6 June 1866 in Ukraine.

48 ii. Johann Fast ⁷⁹ (born 25 September 1832 in Chortitza, Chortitza, Ukraine - died 5 December 1885 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine). Johann married Judith Rempel,⁸⁰ daughter of Dietrich Rempel ¹⁴⁶ and Maria Nickel,¹⁴⁷ before 1852 in Ukraine. Judith was born 12 December 1832 in Chortitza, Chortitza, Ukraine and died in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine.

iii. Heinrich Fast ³⁰⁰ was born 29 January 1840 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine and died 12 October 1865 in Ukraine.

Aganetha came to Ukraine as a young child. Therefore she must have been married in Ukraine. Her second husband, Johann Stoez, settled in Rosenthal according to H. Schapansky.

Her birthdate is from the Martin Toews Genealogy. Her date of death is taken from a Geni family tree, and this date also agrees with the date recorded in the Grandma Database. The latter appears to have been sourced from a 1996 reference attributed to a Peter Neudorf.

There is a note in the Grandma Database saying that she received an inheritance in 1841 from her uncle, Peter Toews, and in the documentation related to this there is a list of all her children. This is how Johann (1832) is linked to his parents.

Aganetha next married Johann Stoesz ³⁰⁰ 23 March 1843 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine.

His father, Dietrich (1763), and grandfather, Isbrand (1737), were both original householders in the group of 228 families that settled Chortitza in 1789. Both men established homesteads in Einlage. In the 1795 Census they were both still in Einlage. Dietrich (1792) is three years old in that census. The familiy was still in Einlage in 1797 but they moved to Rosenthal before the 1801 census. Dietrich (1792) was still living at home in Rosenthal in 1816, as evidenced by the census in October of that year. He was still unmarried at that point. I assume he married and died in Rosenthal because so much evidence indicates the Fast descendants lived there. I have seen data indicating that his son Gerhard was born in Rosenthal in 1836, demonstrating that the family lived in Rosenthal at that time.

i. Anna Rempel was born 12 October 1817 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine and died 12 November 1857 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine. Anna married Cornelius Krahn,¹⁵² son of Johann Krahn ³⁰⁵ and Anna Andres,³⁰⁶ after 1837. Cornelius was born in 1797 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine.

iii. Johann Rempel ³⁰⁷ was born 21 January 1821 and died 14 September 1846.

vi. Katharina Rempel ³⁰⁷ was born 25 January 1828 and died 23 April 1909.

49 viii. Judith Rempel ⁸⁰ (born 12 December 1832 in Chortitza, Chortitza, Ukraine - died in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine). Judith married Johann Fast,⁷⁹ son of Johann Fast ¹⁴⁴ and Aganetha Toews,¹⁴⁵ before 1852 in Ukraine. Johann was born 25 September 1832 in Chortitza, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 5 December 1885 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine.

Maria Nickel is probably the daughter of Johann Nickel who came to Ukraine around 1797. Peter Rempel has an entry indicating the family came to Ukraine in 1793 but this is contradicted by Glenn Penner's work on the original settlers in 1789 and 1793-1795, where Johann Nickel is not found. The 1801 Census of Kronsgarten lists Johann and his wife Anna, along with daughters Anna (1782) and Maria (1791). Stumpp has the 1816 census for Kronsgarten and in that book Maria appears to have been born around 1793. Sister Anna is no longer living with the family and Johann has died. His wife remarried Johann Kauenhowen. Maria's father died before the 1806 census for Kronsgarten. In that census she is shown as being born in 1792. Her sister has left home by then.

I surmise that the first two sons, Jacob and Kornelius were from a first wife because the children after that all appear after 1842 with Anna Rempel as their mother; she was born in 1817.

I traced Cornelius' movements from 1808 to 1816. In 1808 the family is at Rosenthal #17 and Johann is still alive. In 1810 Johann has already died and the widow is shown as the head of the family at Rosenthal #13. In May 1811 Anna still had the farm. In October 1811 the farm belonged to a Siemens and Anna's family was listed as landless. In May 1813 Cornelius is a servant at Rosenthal #2. In September 1813 Cornelius has moved to Neu osterwick #6, working as a servant. He remains there through 1814. By May 1814 Anna had remarried to Penner the tailor and lived at Chortitza #38. In 1815 Cornelius is back home with the family at Chortitza #39 and a different servant is employed at Neu Osterwick #6. In 1816 Cornelius is working for Unger the smith, listed at Einlage (landless) #1. Before 1816 Unger had no hired help.

In 1816 Jacob Krahn, uncle of Cornelius is a landowner in Rosenthal. In 1847 the only Krahn listed as a landowner in Rosenthal is Cornelius.

According to Grandma, Cornelius had two sons, Jacob and Cornelius, neither of whom have any associated birth dates. This is peculiar because later children all have detailed information. I surmise Cornelius had a wife before Anna Rempel (who was 20 years his junior) and Jacob and Cornelius are the product of this first marriage.

I believe Cornelius, who married Helena Redekop, is the son of Cornelius Krahn. This is the only way to square the fact that Cornelius and Helena were Rosenthal based and had their children in Rosenthal.

Cornelius next married Anna Rempel, daughter of Dietrich Rempel ¹⁴⁶ and Maria Nickel,¹⁴⁷ after 1837. Anna was born 12 October 1817 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine and died 12 November 1857 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine.

Most of the commentary related to David appears with the comments about his father Wilhelm. In the 1814 Chortitza Census his occupation is listed as Miller. He appears in the 1847 Census and his wife, Katharina, is listed with her maiden name of Wieler. It appears that in 1858 his sons David and Gerhard moved to Eichenfeld, a village in the new daughter colony of Yazykovo, immediately north of the Chortitza Colony. This new colony was established through the purchase of land from a nobleman named Yazykovo. There is a David Redekopp (two actually) listed in Rosenthal in the 1859 Householder List; presumably David is one of these.

I have seen his name listed with a middle initial W which I believe represents his father's first name.

Lorraine Sawatsky Jones has provided information about David's children. The first Maria died as an infant. Her birth date was 1 August 1815 and her date of death was 16 September 1816. Katarina was born on 12 September 1816, married on 10 August 1836, and died on 16 July 1855. According to material published by Johann Rempel (1921, p.26) Katharina died of cholera. One other record says she died in 1853 but I doubt this is correct. The second Maria died on 16 June 1855. Theodor Martens has the original Alter Buch and it also says she died on 16 June 1855, the same day as her sister Katharina. She also died of cholera according to Johann Rempel in his publication (1921, p. 26). The first David died as an infant on 12 October 1819. The second David was born on 4 June 1825, married on 12 Jan 1850 and died on 25 July 1909. He was an Aeltester. The first Elisabeth died as an infant on 14 December 1823. Peter's marriage date was 10 March 1849. The second Gerhard was born on 15 August 1834. The second Anna was born on 13 June 1835, married 14 October 1856 and died on 21 August 1896.

i. Anna Redekop ³¹² was born 4 October 1812 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 7 June 1830.

ii. Wilhelm Redekop ³¹³ was born 20 December 1813 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 19 November 1882 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine.

iv. Katharina Redekop ³¹³ was born 12 September 1816 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 17 June 1855 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine.

v. David Redekop ³¹³ was born 12 June 1818 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 10 May 1819 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine.

vi. Maria Redekop ³¹³ was born 12 October 1819 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 16 June 1855 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine.

51 vii. Helena Redekop ⁸² (born 9 April 1822 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine - died 2 October 1878 in Chortitza, Ukraine). Helena married Johann Rempel ¹⁵⁶ 7 December 1843 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine. Johann died in 1847 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine. Helena next married Cornelius Krahn,⁸¹ son of Cornelius Krahn, 27 October 1847 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine. Cornelius was born before 1827 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine.

viii. Elisabeth Redekop ³¹³ was born 27 August 1823 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 8 June 1824 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine.

ix. David Redekop ³¹⁴ was born 4 May 1825 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 28 July 1909 in Burwalde, Chortitza, Ukraine.

x. Peter Redekop ³¹³ was born 17 August 1827 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 25 December 1905 in Kronsthal, Chortitza, Ukraine.

xi. Elisabeth Redekop ³¹³ was born 25 December 1829 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 14 September 1893.

xii. Gerhard Redekop ³¹³ was born 13 February 1832 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 27 February 1833 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine.

xiii. Gerhard Redekop ³¹³ was born 15 February 1834 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 11 October 1888 in Kronsthal, Chortitza, Ukraine.

xiv. Anna Redekop ³¹³ was born 13 January 1835 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 24 May 1896.

xv. Margaretha Redekop ³¹³ was born 14 March 1838 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 14 March 1838 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine.

xvi. Margaretha Redekop ³¹³ was born 30 June 1839 in Rosenthal, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 25 December 1917.

Birth, death and marriage dates are taken from the Peter Kornelius Martens Alter Buch.

I have seen her name listed with the middle initial C which I believe represents her father's first name.

In the 1814 and 1816 Census lists for Neuendorf he is working as a servant in the household of Peter Isaac at #30. Correspondingly we see that his parents are at Chortitza in 1814, 1815 and early 1816 and Schoenweise in October 1816 and he is no longer living with them. The exception is the 1815 census where he is counted with the family. Either he moved home or the census takers were more exacting about the way they counted family members.

Information about son Jacob Epp and his wife Helena Klassen is contained in a Genealogy document assembled by Cornelius Epp and Orval Ens. This material mentions his parents Peter Epp and Helena Gossen and his grandfather Peter Epp. He is listed in the Grandma Database and baptism, marriage and death dates and locations are all taken from this source. The Schoenhorst Church Register provides detailed information about his children, all of which matches the Epp-Ens genealogy document. Further information abut Helena's parents is in the Schoenhorst Church Register and the Grandma Database.

I discussed with Orval the discrepancy between the family name used in his genealogy work (Gossen) and the name in the Church Register (Goertzen). Orval confirmed that there was no certainty as to her surname and probably the records I found were more correct.

Peter and Helena may have had two other sons, David and Peter. Information about these individuals is sketchy.

i. Jacob Epp ³¹⁹ was born 28 January 1823 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine, was baptized in 1842 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine, and died 3 September 1886 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine. Jacob married Helena Klassen,³¹⁹ daughter of Jacob Klassen ³²⁰ and Maria Wiens,¹⁰⁹ 2 November 1844 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine. Helena was born 5 January 1825 in Ukraine and was baptized 21 May 1844 in Ukraine.

52 ii. Heinrich Epp ⁸³ (born 21 June 1826 in Chortitza, Chortitza, Ukraine - died 20 August 1905 in Waldheim, Saskatchewan). Heinrich married Helena Dyck,⁸⁴ daughter of Peter Dyck ¹⁵⁹ and Maria Regehr,¹⁶⁰ 3 March 1848 in Neuenburg, Chortitza, Ukraine. Helena was born 17 July 1827 in Schoeneberg, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 1 July 1902 in Waldheim, Saskatchewan.

The facts are sparse relating to Helena. We know that she was the wife of Peter Epp based on records in the Schoenhorst Church Register. Further we know that family recollections have a Helena Goossen as Peter Epp's wife, although the authors of that work were uncertain as to the accuracy of this name. I don't know what sources the authors used but they may have relied on Hermann Thiessen's work. He has a record of a Helena Goossen whose location information matches Peter Epp exactly, in accordance with great grandson David Epp's Citizenship Certificate. I think the most reliable information is the church record.

There is a Helena Goertzen in the Tiegenhagen Church Book, born in Petershagen in 1803 who is very likely the same Helena as Peter Epp's wife. However, I don't know this to be certain. Her parents were Georg Goertzen and Maria Neubauer. Helena's birth record gives her father's name and the 1784 marriage record gives the name of Helena's mother. George died in 1808 in Prussia and there is no indication his wife remarried. Maria appears to have died in 1819 or earlier - there is a record in the Fund Of Orphans data showing the inheritance she left three of her children (Maria, Helena and Johann). This further implies that son Isaac had died before 1819.

Helena came to Ukraine in 1818 with her older brothers Isaac and Johann and her sister Maria. Unruh has records showing they immigrated on 2 April 1818 and settled in Kronsthal. It appears her brothers later moved to Molotschna, based on the 1835 census. Helena no doubt stayed in Chortitza because that is where Peter Epp lived and where they raised their family.

Jacob Epp (1823) and Heinrich Epp (1826) are brothers. This is known family history.

Information about Peter Dyck is somewhat convoluted. In a number of sources he is shown with two wives, a Maria Nowitzky and a Maria Regier. I believe Maria Nowitzky is incorrect because research has demonstrated she did not exist but was the product of family lore that was not accurate. (See Glenn Penner, "Myths and Legends" in Preservings 2018.) My assumption is that there was just one wife, Maria Regier. We know about Maria Regier because she is shown as the mother of Barbara Dyck in the Reinlander Gemeinde Buch. This also shows that Peter Dyck is Barbara's father.

Peter was born in 1806 in the village of Chortitza. The family moved to Schoenhorst a year later. By 1811 he had two sisters, Margaretha born 29 June 1807, and Barbara born 1808. His father, Peter, died in 1808 and in the 1808 census we see his mother, Margaretha, alone with the children. By 1810 she has married Heinrich Funk and he has taken over their farm in Schoenhorst. Between 1811 and 1813 the family moved to Neu-Osterwick. In the 1814 census the family is still in Neu-Osterwick but Peter's mother, Margaretha, has died. His sister Barbara was taken in as a foster daughter by Peter Isaac and his wife Katharina who lived at Neuendorf #30. Peter was still at Neu-Osterwick #6 in 1816.

The 1858 Chortitza Census tells us that Peter Dyck lived at Schoeneberg #12 and confirms that his father was also named Peter. H. Schapansky confirms this to be the case.

The 1859 Landless List for Chortitza connects sons Heinrich and Peter to their father Peter. It indicates they are registered to Schoeneberg #12 although they live elsewhere. Heinrich lived in Friedrichstal at that time. There apparently is a letter that the elder Peter wrote to his son Heinrich in Friedrichstal to tell him about the death of Maria Regier in 1867.

Heinrich is also listed in the Sommerfeld Gemeinde Buch and it indicates his father is Peter Dyck.

The birthdate of his son Abraham may have been 24 May 1849. After immigrating to Canada in 1876, Abraham moved back to the Mennonite settlements in eastern Ukraine some years later to give his children what he considered a proper education. They built a new home in there, which was later used to store food. It must have been a very small house.

Ben Fast gave me information about Helena Dyck's family, as best he could remember. He recalled she had a brother Jacob and a brother Abram. Both people are recorded in the Grandma Database. Ray and Helen Fast have told me that when Heinrich Epp and Helena Dyck first came to Saskatchewan, they lived with her brother Abram over the first winter. This is confirmed by information in the book "Waldheim Remembers the Past". Ben also thought one of Helena's sisters married a Jacob Hoeppner. I do not know if this is correct, but I have not found anyone that fits the description. However, Helena Epp, the daughter of Heinrich Epp (1826) married a Jacob Hoeppner. This might be the couple Ben had in mind.

The 1880 Village Census of the Mennonite West Reserve includes a reference to Peter Dyck and his son Abram Dyck. This entry tells us Peter was born in Schoeneberg, Chortitza.

The 1847 Chortitza village list has a Peter Dyck in Schoeneberg recorded as a landowner - it probably is the same person. Peter moved to Michaelsburg, Fuerstenland Colony where he became the first Oberschulz of the colony, according to the 1880 Village Census of the Mennonite West Reserve.

The Grandma Database lists other offspring but I have included only the ones I can support with evidence.

53 i. Helena Dyck ⁸⁴ (born 17 July 1827 in Schoeneberg, Chortitza, Ukraine - died 1 July 1902 in Waldheim, Saskatchewan). Helena married Heinrich Epp,⁸³ son of Peter Epp ¹⁵⁷ and Helena Goertzen,¹⁵⁸ 3 March 1848 in Neuenburg, Chortitza, Ukraine. Heinrich was born 21 June 1826 in Chortitza, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 20 August 1905 in Waldheim, Saskatchewan.

iii. Heinrich Dyck ³²⁶ was born 20 April 1832 in Schoeneberg, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 27 June 1887 in Manitoba.

v. Abraham Dyck ³²⁸ was born 5 June 1848 and died 26 April 1914 in Rosthern, Saskatchewan.

107. Maria Regehr,¹⁶⁰ daughter of Peter Regehr ³²³ and Maria,³²⁴ was born 7 February 1806 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, Ukraine and died in 1867 in Fuerstenland Colony, Ukraine.

Maria Regehr is probably the daughter of Peter Regehr. There is only one person with this name who lived in Chortitza and was of an appropriate age to be the mother of the children associated with Peter Dyck and Maria.

In his book "From Windmills to Prairies" Ben Fast mentions that Margaretha Rempel was born in Neu-Osterwick. Since we have information that her grandfather was Heinrich, born around the turn of the 18th century, this Heinrich P. Rempel, who was present in Neu-Osterwick, is probably her grandfather. Heinrich was born in Schoenhorst. He appears in the 1801 census in the village of Chortitza. By 1816 he is in Neu-Osterwick, where the family had moved earlier. He later appears in the 1847 list of Chortitza householders in Neu-Osterwick. The Grandma Database shows the same familial linkages. I have seen a birth date of 7 November but it does not contain a source reference.

54 i. Heinrich Rempel ⁸⁵ (born 24 November 1827 in Neu-Osterwick, Chortitza, Ukraine - died 21 July 1908 in Neu-Osterwick, Chortitza, Ukraine). Heinrich married Maria Bergen,⁸⁶ daughter of Jacob Bergen, 1 December 1849 in Neu-Osterwick, Chortitza, Ukraine. Maria was born 10 September 1828 in Neu-Osterwick, Chortitza, Ukraine and died in 1878 in Neu-Osterwick, Chortitza, Ukraine. Heinrich next married Anna Klassen in 1878 in Neu-Osterwick, Chortitza, Ukraine. Heinrich next married Maria Janzen in 1880. Heinrich next married Justina Braun in 1885. Justina was born 27 June 1841 and died in 1888. Heinrich next married Elisabeth Braun in 1890. Elisabeth was born 21 April 1828 and died 30 September 1919 in Ukraine.

This name is from B. J. Harris, as related in an email to me (ancestry.ca page beej808). At this point there isn't enough data to establish the identity of this person or confirm the accuracy of the relationship. There are three possible people in the 1816 Census that could be Jacob: Chortitza, 1808, #529180; Neuendorf, 1808, #528126; Neuendorf, 1798, #813154.

55 i. Maria Bergen ⁸⁶ (born 10 September 1828 in Neu-Osterwick, Chortitza, Ukraine - died in 1878 in Neu-Osterwick, Chortitza, Ukraine). Maria married Heinrich Rempel,⁸⁵ son of Heinrich Rempel, 1 December 1849 in Neu-Osterwick, Chortitza, Ukraine. Heinrich was born 24 November 1827 in Neu-Osterwick, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 21 July 1908 in Neu-Osterwick, Chortitza, Ukraine.

112. Christoph Striemer ¹⁷¹ was born 21 December 1783 in Prussia and died 1 December 1871 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine.

He appears in the Bergthaler Gemeinde Buch in 1843. The death and marriage dates are taken from that source. Glenn Penner has reported that a Russian document published in 1812 implies that Christoph arrived in Chortitza in 1811 at the age of 28. The 1815 Chortitza Census says this as well. Penner's article says that Christoph was not originally a Mennonite, but he joined the Mennonite migration to Ukraine, and thereafter became a member of the Mennonite Church.

His first name is given as Karl in the Bergthal Gemeinde Buch on p. A73 and as Karl in the 1822 Chortitza Colony Vital Records in relation to the birth of his daughter Aganetha, where he is found living in Einlage. The Grandma Database says his first name is given as Christoph in the 1835 Chortitza Colony Census (extract found in Odessa Archive, Fond 6, Inventory 1, File 4889). The Grandma Database goes on to say "In the 1835 Census he was listed at Nieder Chortitza #47. He apparently moved to Schoenthal, Bergthal Colony with the first settlers of that village about 1837 since he and his family are among a group of Mennonites who expressed a desire to settle in Schoenthal per Odessa Archive, Fond 6, Inventory 1, File 4889." I haven't seen the 1835 Census and I haven't found any traces of Christoph other than the Bergthaler Gemeinde Buch and the Chortitza 1815 and 1816 Census and Vital Records information. I wonder if he was an itinerant laborer until he married and settled down in Nieder-Choritza in 1815.

The interchangeable first names imply that possibly his father is a Karl or a Christoph.

Randy Striemer makes a passing reference to Karl without elaboration. I don't know if his source is unique.

Christoph's daughter Anna appears in Sommerfeld, Manitoba in the 1881 Census. The 1901 Canada Census says she was born on 26 November 1828. She arrived in Canada on 30 July 1874 aboard the S. S. Sarmatian.

His son Carl arrived in Canada on 30 July 1876 on the S. S. Sardinian.

His daughter Maria arrived in Canada on 27 July 1874 aboard the S. S. Nova Scotian.

The Bergthal Colony in Ukraine was the first daughter colony of Chortitza. It was established in 1836 with five villages. The first, Bergthal, was established that year. Schoenfeld and Schoenthal were established in 1837, Heubuden in 1839 and Friedensthal in 1852. Bergthal was the religious center. These people managed to remain relatively isolated from much of the religious, educational and agrarian renewal movements that swept the Russian Empire in the 19th century, but they eventually became threatened by political pressure for changes in education and military legislation. This pressure toward modernization and societal integration, coupled with the demand for land, led to the migration in the 1870s of most of the colonists to the Red River area of Manitoba.

In Bergthal many of the people were landless. Apparently there were 350 landless families in 1874, comprising about half of the population. This economic situation made the migration to Canada unaffordable for many families. Therefore the community as a whole contributed 10 percent of the savings in the local financial institution to cover the costs of moving the landless members.

Once in Canada, the Mennonites imposed their old hamlet based village pattern, where all residents settled in small hamlets, with farm yards fronting onto a main street and homesteads surrounding the hamlet. While the homesteads were technically registered in the names of the individual homesteaders, the actual organization was based on shared pasturage and a community - based organization of crop lands, supported by the authority of the community church. This contravened Canadian law where each homesteader was supposed to live on the homestead. The government permitted the exception, but in practice the arrangement was not stable. There was constant tension between the rights of the individual owners and the communal structure of the group. The communal system did not lend itself well to expansion when young people needed to acquire their own land. Since the wealthier families could buy and register new land, there was little incentive to continue to treat the land as communal property. Many hamlets fell apart as the new individual based structure was adopted.

56 i. Heinrich Striemer ⁸⁸ (born 17 August 1817 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine - died 5 November 1905 in Plum Coulee, Manitoba). Heinrich married Anna Neufeld,⁸⁹ daughter of Karl Neufeld ¹⁷³ and Maria Dyck,¹⁷⁴ 5 December 1846 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine. Anna was born 20 November 1826 in Chortitza, Chortitza, Ukraine, was baptized 26 May 1846, and died 13 March 1862 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine. Heinrich next married Sara Funk ¹⁸² 9 July 1862. Sara was born 5 January 1818, was baptized in 1838, and died 13 October 1892.

ii. Carl Striemer ³³⁴ was born 9 February 1819. Carl married an unknown person.

iii. Maria Striemer ³³⁵ was born 25 February 1821 and was baptized in 1839.

iv. Aganetha Striemer ³³⁶ was born 17 November 1822 in Einlage, Chortitza, Ukraine and was baptized 8 June 1842.

vi. Anna Striemer ³³⁷ was born 28 November 1828, was baptized 31 May 1848, and died 19 February 1906 in Rural Municipality of Rhineland, Manitoba.

vii. Johann Striemer ³³⁶ was born 25 January 1834 in Danzig and died 29 August 1848 in Neuenburg, Chortitza, Ukraine.

viii. Gerhard Striemer ³³⁶ was born 3 November 1836, was baptized 16 May 1855, and died before 1870.

ix. Jacob Striemer ³³⁶ was born 6 January 1839, was baptized 1 June 1859, and died 22 March 1861.

She appears in the Bergthaler Gemeinde Buch in 1843. Her death date is taken from this source. It says she was born in 1795. She was with her mother until her mother died in 1811. There are no records of her until 1814 when she married Striemer.

Maria married Christoph Striemer ¹⁷¹ 26 May 1814 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine. Christoph was born 21 December 1783 in Prussia and died 1 December 1871 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine.

114. Karl Neufeld ¹⁷³ was born 2 August 1802 and died before 1876 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine.

He appears in the Bergthaler Gemeinde Buch in 1843 and the marriage date used here is from that source. According to the Grandma Database he must have died by 1876 because he isn't listed on the S.S. Kenilworth passenger list with the rest of his family. I have seen some information indicating he died in the US. However I haven't been able to find him or his wife and youngest daughter in the census data.

After his first wife died in 1858 he married a woman whose family lived in Konteniusfeld. Whether Karl moved there from the Begthal Settlement is open to conjecture. It depends, of course, on where his second wife lived at the time.

It is strange that he doesn't appear in any Mennonite Colony census lists. The appearance of his name in the Vital Records where his first marriage is noted indicates that he possibly arrived in Chortitza after 1816, the date of the previous census.

Karl's second wife, Susanna Wedel, is referred to in the Bergthaler Gemeinde Buch as Mrs. Ernest Quiring. Her name is Susanna and she is on the passenger list with her daughter Susanna, disembarking in New York from the S.S. Kenilworth in 1876. The Grandma Database carries a year of death but I have not verified it.

I got the date of death of Karl's daughter Susanna from the Grandma Database. It indicates that her date of death was published in Der Bote but I canot find her listed in the obituary index.

i. Agatha Neufeld ³⁴⁰ was born 8 September 1823, was baptized 8 June 1842, and died 31 July 1855 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine.

57 ii. Anna Neufeld ⁸⁹ (born 20 November 1826 in Chortitza, Chortitza, Ukraine - died 13 March 1862 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine). Anna married Heinrich Striemer,⁸⁸ son of Christoph Striemer ¹⁷¹ and Maria Wiens,¹⁷² 5 December 1846 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine. Heinrich was born 17 August 1817 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine, was baptized in 1837, and died 5 November 1905 in Plum Coulee, Manitoba.

iii. Johann Neufeld ³⁴¹ was born 22 July 1828 and was baptized 5 June 1919.

v. Katarina Neufeld ³⁴³ was born 11 June 1832, was baptized 19 May 1852 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine, and died 25 March 1904 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine.

vi. Karl Neufeld ³⁴² was born 19 May 1834, was baptized 8 June 1853 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine, and died 27 October 1905 in Canada.

Karl next married Susanna Wedel ³⁴⁴ in 1862. Susanna was born about 1822 and died about 1880.

Her death date is taken from the Bergthal Gemeinde Buch. She is probably the woman recorded by Unruh in the 1808 census. Estimates of her birth being in 1805 are not quite accurate. She was born in 1804 but at the time of the census, dated 20 September 1808, she was three years old. This is probably how the birth year of 1805 is derived. The Grandma Database implies that her parents moved to Bergthal around or before 1816 (her youngest brother was born there in 1816). This is not the same as the daughter colony of Bergthal, settled in 1836. Rather it was a reserve land affiliated with Chortitza, used for pasture, and without homesteads attached. This meshes with the information that she was married in 1822 in Bergthal.

Maria married Karl Neufeld ¹⁷³ 14 September 1822 in Chortitza, Chortitza, Ukraine. Karl was born 2 August 1802 and died before 1876 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine.

He is listed in Unruh in 1795. He appears in the Bergthaler Gemeinde Buch with his wife and children along with references to his parents and some siblings.

Franz married Elisabeth Mannholdt ¹⁸⁴ in 1819 in Neuenburg, Chortitza, Ukraine. Elisabeth was born 2 January 1794 in Prussia and died 17 October 1844 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine.

i. Maria Giesbrecht ³⁴⁷ was born 25 November 1823 and was baptized 31 May 1843 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine.

ii. Frans Giesbrecht ³⁴⁸ was born 15 March 1826 and died 23 August 1859. Frans married Anna Janzen ³⁴⁸ 25 September 1847 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine. Anna was born 8 July 1828, was baptized 11 May 1847, and died 4 January 1849 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine. Frans next married Susanna Mueller ³⁴⁸ 15 October 1849 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine. Susanna was born in 1832.

iii. Katarina Giesbrecht ³⁴⁷ was born in 1828 and was baptized 26 May 1846 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine.

iv. Abram Giesbrecht ³⁴⁹ was born 10 December 1830, was baptized 12 June 1850 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine, and died 27 December 1868 in Ukraine.

Franz next married Katarina Driedger ³⁵⁰ after 1844 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine. Katarina was born in 1788 and died in 1857.

117. Elisabeth Mannholdt ¹⁸⁴ was born 2 January 1794 in Prussia and died 17 October 1844 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine.

She appears in the Bergthaler Gemeinde Buch. I obtained her birth year from Amelia Reimer's web page. the date of 2 January has been published on the Geni family tree site and there is no source reference for it.

Prior to her marriage to Franz Giesbrecht she had been married to Gerhard Dueck. She has two sons listed in the Schoenhorst Church Directory. I assume she was born in Prussia and adopted because there is no record of a Mannholdt ever moving to Ukraine. Her surname is very rare in the Mennonite sources. We have two men showing up in the Brand Register of 1727 in Schoeneberg who are possibly related - Michael and Peter Mahnholt.

In the 1808 Einlage census there is a woman named Maria Manhold born about 1796 who could be Elizabeth's sister. She was the adopted daughter of Jacob Wiens and Maria Peters of Waldorf, Elbing, who went to Ukraine in 1803, according to the 1808 Mennonite Colony Census. Potentially Elizabeth was with another family. Jacob Wiens and his wife Maria Peters came from Waldorf, Elbing and according to the 1808 Einlage census had established themselves in Chortitza in 1803. Possibly Maria is a niece of Wiens or his wife. If so then her mother was a Wiens or a Peters. Maria and Elizabeth must have been born in Prussia because there are no records of a Mannholdt moving to Ukraine.

Based on the ages of the two presumed daughters, the father must have been born before 1774 and he must have died before 1803.

Elisabeth married Gerhard Dyck ³⁵¹ about 1816 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine. Gerhard was born about 1795 and died about 1819.

iii. Peter Dyck was born 24 November 1819 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine and died 1 February 1895 in Schoenhorst, Chortitza, Ukraine.

He appears in the Bergthaler Gemeinde Buch with his wife Helena Sawatzky. He was the second Jacob in the family, having had an older brother Jacob that predeceased him. The first Jacob appears in Unruh's census records in Neuendorf as a child in 1795 and 1802.

His son Jacob is listed at Friedrichsthal in the 1850 Census, where it says he moved to Friedrichsthal from Schoenfeld. He apparently married twice, the first time to an Epp and the second to a Penner.

Three children died in 1848. This was the year of a Cholera epidemic that spanned Europe and Russia.

The Cholera Epidemic

Since the early 1800's there have been seven Cholera epidemics along with numerous other Cholera outbreaks. As with pandemics generally, human migration, trade and travel contributed to the spread of such widespread events. The first epidemic originated in India and spread through Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and East Africa. The second affected Europe particularly strongly and even reached North America. These pandemics reached the Russian Empire as well but with less severity than the third epidemic. It erupted in 1846, spreading from Asia northwest through Russia, hitting it with great severity and killing a million people. The southern area of Ukraine north of the Black Sea, colonized by the Dutch Mennonites, was in the path of the pandemic and was not spared.

iii. Kornelius Doerksen ³⁵⁶ was born 28 January 1831 and died 27 October 1848.

iv. Helena Doerksen ³⁵⁶ was born 7 June 1833 and died 14 September 1848.

59 v. Margaretha Doerksen ⁹¹ (born 14 October 1835 in Neuenburg, Chortitza, Ukraine - died in Manitoba). Margaretha married Johann Giesbrecht,⁹⁰ son of Franz Giesbrecht ¹⁸³ and Elisabeth Mannholdt,¹⁸⁴ 14 September 1854 in Neuenburg, Chortitza, Ukraine. Johann was born 4 May 1834 in Neuenburg, Chortitza, Ukraine, was baptized 8 June 1853, and died 16 September 1874 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine. Margaretha next married Abram Harder ¹⁸⁸ in 1874 in Ukraine. Abram was born 7 October 1825 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine, was baptized 3 June 1845, and died 27 February 1887 in Manitoba. Margaretha next married Jacob Dyck ¹⁹⁰ 15 June 1889 in Manitoba. Jacob was born 28 January 1828 in Chortitza Colony, Ukraine, was baptized in 1849, and died in Manitoba.

vi. Katharina Doerksen ³⁵⁶ was born 10 February 1838 and died 1 October 1848.

vii. Susanna Doerksen ³⁵⁶ was born 16 May 1840 and died 24 December 1843.

x. Abraham Doerksen ³⁵⁶ was born 21 September 1848 and died 4 December 1857.

This person appears variously with the names Magdalena and Helena. Henry Schapansky points out that the names Magdalena and Helena are used interchangeably throughout the genealogy records. She came to Canada on 22 October 1874 on the S.S. Nova Scotian; she was a widow living with her daughter Maria (wife of Peter Epp) at this time. She is listed in the 1881 Canadian Federal Census in Schoenthal, Manitoba, still living with her daughter. She may have died on 18 April 1881, based on public genealogy websites that provide no source references. However, the 1881 census was dated 4 April 1881 and usually took up to June to be completed, making it somewhat unlikely she died on the specified date.

In the October 1814 Chortitza Colony Census he is listed in Neuendorf among the landless.

Abraham married Maria ¹⁹² 6 August 1812 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, Ukraine. Maria was born in 1796.

60 i. Abraham Dyck ⁹² (born in 1815 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, Ukraine - died 27 July 1848 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine). Abraham married Elisabeth Dyck,⁹³ daughter of Johann Dyck, before 1846 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, Ukraine. Elisabeth was born 15 October 1819 and died 15 July 1909 in Hopefarm, Montcalm, Manitoba.

61 i. Elisabeth Dyck ⁹³ (born 15 October 1819 - died 15 July 1909 in Hopefarm, Montcalm, Manitoba). Elisabeth married Abraham Dyck,⁹² son of Abraham Dyck ¹⁹¹ and Maria,¹⁹² before 1846 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, Ukraine. Abraham was born in 1815 in Neuendorf, Chortitza, Ukraine and died 27 July 1848 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine. Elisabeth next married Dirk Dyck ¹⁹⁵ in 1849 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine. Dirk was born 12 March 1786 and died 9 September 1850. Elisabeth next married Abraham Flaming,¹⁹⁶ son of Johann Flaming, 15 February 1851 in Bergthal Colony, Ukraine. Abraham was born 15 September 1825 in Rudnerweide, Molotschna, Ukraine and died before 1901 in Manitoba.

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