Alt Posttal - 1848 Village History
Copyright 2000, Elvire Necker-Eberhardt  
 

Notes:  Please see the Introduction to the Village History Project for additional information.  

MALOJAROSLAWETZ II (ALT POSTTAL)

1. The Emigration of the Local Germans from the Fatherland and their Settlement
in Poland in the Years 1800 to 1803.

In the years 1800 to the year 1803, many subjects of the former Electorate of Wuerttemberg because of wars and unrest, which followed the French Revolution and because of the denseness of the population of the referred to state were induced to emigrate to the Duchy of Warsaw in Poland (which was under the control of Prussia), and establish new settlements there. The emigrants found refuge and a good reception under the now deceased king of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm III.

Because of these reasons, the Evangelical Lutheran parents of the present inhabitants of this colony of Malojaroslawetz II, were willing to leave their Fatherland, the former Electorate of Wuerttemberg (especially from the area of the Black Forest region), and settle in many colonies in the Duchy of Warsaw, close by the capital of Warsaw, until the year 1814.

2. The Immigration to South Russia from Poland in the Year 1814.

The devastating military expeditions of the French affected all of Europe and also advanced as far as Poland. Because of this, the German Protestant settlers suffered very much. There was religious persecution by the Catholic Church, which resulted in the loss of most of their newly gained properties, and many other hardships inflicted by the Polish subjects. Because of these reasons, the German settlers looked joyfully to the heavens when the High Crown of Russia opened the door to emigration into the Imperial Russian State in 1813, with the following privileges outlined word for word below.

3. Rights and Privileges Granted to the Immigrants in 1813.

The Russian Government takes the emigrating colonists of the Duchy of Warsaw under her particular protection and gives them the rights to enjoy all conveniences, as well as the rights and privileges of the law, which were laid down for the native-born Russians.

It shall be desired of the emigrants that they shall, above all, concern themselves with the improvement of agriculture, the establishment of fruits, gardens and the vine culture. Whoever qualifies himself in this, in general they shall become good farmers and new residents, standing under the protection of his monarch. For their easier settlement, the following rights will be granted them.

a.) Freedom from all taxes and land obligations from the day of their arrival in Russia for ten years, except for a small payment made to the Bessarabian tenants.

b.) There will be paid out to the poor families for ten years, from the Crown, based on a rough estimate of their needs, 270 rubles, and to others as much as is needed to get established.

c.) 60 desjatines (1) of land will be allotted forever, to each complete family and their heirs.

d.) Moreover, all of those who have no food shall receive from the day of their arrival in Russia, for each person, every 24 hours, 5 kopeks support money until the first grain harvest.

e.) They, as well as their descendants, shall be free from conscription and military quartering, except for unusual cases when the military has to pass through the villages. This shall take place for a short while and shall be for overnight or for days of rest.

f.) The settlers are allowed to build churches according to their faith, to employ pastors and to observe their religious customs.

g.) Ten years after their immigration to Russia, another 10 years will be allotted in which everyone will return to the Crown, in a rough estimate, the money allotted to them at the time of their arrival.

Joyfully the above-mentioned colonists, numbering 138 settler families, followed the call of the Imperial Government of Russia and left in September, 1814, under the leadership of the colonists Bernhardt Bohnet and his assistant, Martin Vossler, from their aforementioned place of settlement in Poland, namely from Graenach (Groembach?) and Sulzfeld. They were so poor that close to a third of their company were transported by horses and a portion had to make this journey on foot. This group of travellers entered the Czarist state of Russia at Uschtschiluk, on the Bug River and arrived at their own expense at the assigned quarters. These were partly in Moldavian villages near Kischenew, and partly in villages near the city of Bender, where some stayed from Nov. 1814 to June 1815, some until the spring of 1816.

4. The Founding of the First Malojaroslawetz Colony(2) in Bessarabia in the Years 1815 to 1816.

Upon the order of the Imperial Government, 80 families moved to the appointed settlement place in the Kirgisch valley, and the remaining 58 families followed there in the spring of 1816, so that the colony was completely settled in 1816. Upon the arrival of the settlers, nothing was found except steppe land covered with high grass, in which two Bulgarian kirschlers, (3) called Slatow and Margowski, held tenure, so they were forced to erect houses constructed of shrubs.

For the construction of such dwellings, the settlers received the necessary brushwood, 4 corner posts and 2 faden(3) of reeds for roof construction. They received the necessary doors and windows, 1 plank for the construction of a bench and 15 rubles B.A. (bank assignation) for building costs. As far as implements were concerned, each complete family received a wagon without iron wheel rims, a plow with share and counter, one harrow, 2 scythes, 2 sickles, an iron shovel, a hoe, a set of harnesses, a set of sharpening tools, other small implements, a pair of steers as draught animals, and 1 cow; and for the sowing of crops, 1,600 pounds of wheat and 800 pounds of potatoes, and for subsistence, each person received upon arrival on the steppe for about 1-1/2 years, 1 pud(4) of meal flour, from the storehouse in Tarutino.

 Although the Imperial Government had made it its business to lighten the difficult situation by means of all possible support, this kind intention was very much weakened by the greed of the suppliers, especially by a man named Pollnor, therefore the colonists received very meager support in livestock, and in addition to this, it was half spoiled. The promised 5 kopeks a day was not given to them at all, so they had to use the money that they had laid aside, which had been saved to establish their own economic support. As a result, they had to go abroad to seek day-labor work in order to earn enough for their necessary daily subsistence, and as a result, they were hindered in the development of their planned agriculture.

The management of their farms was greatly hindered by the fact that the colonists had received so few strong draught animals, so that three to four farmers had to be harnessed together in order to put a plow to work. Many families had to get their meager amount of sowing seed into the ground by the use of a hoe or whatever they could use. This way the settlers' wealth increased only slowly and with the greatest difficulty.

At the founding of this colony, the name used was Wuerttemberg, after the settlers' country of origin, and then later it was Marienthal; but some years later it was honored with the name Malojaroslawetz at the request of the government, most likely in remembrance of the memorable battle of Malojaroslawetz on October 24, 1812.

5. Emigration and Founding of the 2nd Colony of Malojaroslawetz in the Years 1823-1824.

After 6 years in which the settlers had strengthened themselves through their diligence, and during which time they had procured stronger draught animals, the whole village agreed that the site upon which the village was founded had not been a good selection. The village was located 12 wersts(6) away from the eastern border of their land. On account of this, the colonists wished that the one community of Malojaroslawetz be divided into two, especially because, by the way the colony was layed out, the place of each farm had been restricted to too narrow a space. Because of this, the congregation placed their wish before the high government authorities and when the approval was given, 69 settlers with their families moved voluntarily in the years 1823-1824 into the Schalscheut Valley, which lay 100 wersts from the  provincial town of Kischenew, 100 wersts from the district town of Akkermann, and 90 wersts from Ismail. They had moved in order that they could settle and build anew in the above-mentioned valley. This valley ran in a north-northwest to a south-southeast direction. It was very well suited for the establishment of a village, as some wells were found there whose water could be held by dams. Each farmer could have his own water on his own land. The valley is situated so that it is surrounded on both sides with tall hills. The easterly side appeared to be a nice location for the planting of vineyards and fruit trees, but sad to say, that after a year, the trees withered and died.

Thus, in 1824, the new village was founded in the direction of the above-mentioned valley in 2 rows of houses built of hollow bricks and covered with reed, the rows being 78 faden apart. The settlers voluntarily leaving Malojaroslawetz I received 3,000 hollow bricks and 6 rubles B.A. from their remaining neighbours. Also, right away, a school and prayer chapel house were built under one roof of the same material. Before the establishment of the new colony upon the location where it was founded, there lived a Kischler(3) by the name of Borsch. This was the reason why the new colony was called Borschtal, until the higher government named it Malojaroslawetz II, but the name Borschtal is still in use to this day.

When finished with the building of their houses, the residents of Malojaroslawetz II devoted themselves immediately with the planting of trees and vineyards, which crowned the settlers' efforts when they prospered; the location of the vineyards was very well chosen and favoured success. In the year of 1825, 36 farmers planted 36 vineyards near the west side of the village; on the eastern side of the mountain slope, 33 farmers established vineyards in which they planted 1,500 to 2,000 vines. The labour in this planting was richly rewarded by blessings from above, in that already in 1828 an abundant gathering of the grapes brought happiness. The success of the planting increased the settlers' incentive even more and so new planting sites on the eastern slopes had to be surveyed and each farmer could get an additional piece of land of 1/2 desjatine, which by 1835 were entirely planted with 1,200 vines.

6. The Location of the Village Malojaroslawetz II

The buildings of this village are erected, as previously said, in the direction of the valley from north-northeast to south-southeast. In the middle, the road from Bender to the towns of Bolgrad and Reny bisect diagonally through the village, and on the north side of the street a massively built prayer house was erected, and to the south in the year of 1840 a massively built school.(7) The school was built for 110 children, and included accommodations for a church-school teacher. A large government office of stone, roofed with tile, is presently being erected 90 faden away from the school building. Eighteen faden away stands the district government chancellery. This important office was transferred here from Malojaroslawetz I in 1832. One hundred and thirty faden from the latter building stands a beautiful building of stone with a tile roof. It is the storage house that was finished in 1843.

The rest of the space between the 2 rows of houses is filled with vegetable gardens and orchards. When a traveller, approaching on the road through the steppes and fields to the height of the hills, looks down on the valley, a friendly view presents itself to him as he discovers a neat settlement, regularly built houses, surrounded by stone walls, orderly gates, pastures, poplars and acacia trees. A person's glance will be involuntarily drawn to the cheerful little church standing in the middle of the it all, its steeple with its modest cross pointing the traveller to heaven like a raised finger. Upon closer view, the traveller sees in front of the house, a garden bordered with various fruit trees, and behind the farmyard on the hill slopes, several new gardens and vineyards. As far as the buildings are concerned, many big stone houses have replaced the brick houses, which gives the village a friendly appearance.

7. Area and  Nature of the Land.

The community of Malojaroslawetz owns 4,069 desjatines, 285 square faden of crown land. The area of land has many types of soil, depressions and high grounds, and is cut through or traversed in various directions.

The entire surface is covered with black soil 2-1/2 feet thick, except for a few hillsides, which consist of several feet of siliceous soil followed by sand, which contains one or two layers of quarry stone. Underneath the soil on the hills lies a shallow layer of sand and loam, and underneath this, sometimes yellow or white sand. The previously mentioned black soil is thicker in the plains, under which a hard light gray-coloured soil is found. In general, with any kind of favourable weather, the soil is quite fertile.

Stone quarries are found here and there on the above-mentioned mountain slopes, deep under the earth. Some of the inhabitants have used these stones for the erection of their farm buildings and street stone walls. They have quarried with great effort and often with danger.

As far as vegetation is concerned, the ground is suitable for the cultivation of the following crops: winter and summer wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet corn, legumes, potatoes, and if the weather is very favorable, also various vegetables. But of all grains, summer wheat (Arnaut) excels by far, because it tolerates heat the best and even grows with little rain, but in this case scantily.  The kinds of grass that existed at the time of colonization were hair grass, melilot, vetch and various kinds of grasses, but almost all are extinct now. A cultivation of herbaceous grasses for fodder has so far not been attempted.

8. Events that were a Hindrance to the Well-Being of the Colonists.

A particular event that influenced the destiny of the colonist was the campaign against the Turks in 1827. During the passage of Russian troops, some damage occurred to the colonists in supply teams of horses and billeting the soldiers. Crop failures occurred in the years 1830, 1832, 1833, 1834 and 1839, when the harvest barely got back the seed that was sown. There were complete crop failures in 1822, 1823 and 1824; no grass and feed crops were left in 1822, 1823 and 1824, when filed mice and swarms of grasshoppers ate everything. The same thing happened in 1825, 1826, 1827,1836 and 1847 when they concentrated on field crops. Beetles ruined the vine and fruit blossoms from 1840 to 1847, and because of this, the fruit crop was very scanty. In the year of 1843, the community suffered from a hailstorm in which the greater part of the grain crop was destroyed. In the years 1828-29, the trees and grapevines were hit by a heavy frost so that there was considerable loss in 1828 and total loss in 1829. The cattle pest preyed upon much of the cattle in 1834 and 1847. An earthquake was felt in 1829 and 1837, but did not cause any damage.

9. Favorable Influences on the Prosperity of the Settlers and Conclusion.

Now when one thinks about the present situation of the community and its favorable conditions, it can be truthfully said that the settlers have come to a degree of prosperity despite the frequent hindrances. This they owe to the grace of God and the protection of the High Government, under which the settlers have peacefully followed the pursuit of their occupations, and also enjoyed the tax-free years granted to them. In addition, the settlers received great relief when the government extended the 10 years after which the loan of 1,114 Rubles B.A. had to be repaid; the reason for their prosperity also lies in the endeavour of the settlers to plant vineyards and orchards to cultivate their fields diligently, and to occupy themselves with the raising of cattle. Finally, it should not be forgotten that the women zealously occupied themselves with the spinning, weaving and the processing of sheep wool and flax in winter. In this way, domestic needs, such as table linen, bedding and clothes for the family were provided and because of this the father of the family could save the money that would otherwise be necessary to spend on these purchases.

May the providence of God graciously rule over our High Government and its authorities and may their subjects enjoy the protection of the blessings from above until the end.  The colony of Malojaroslawetz II, the 2nd of May, 1848.

Sexton and church-school teacher: Wilhelm Kludt (author).
Mayor:  Mants  (Mauts?).
Assistants:  Heller, Knoll.
Community clerk:  Grauman.

Translator's notes:
(1) 162 acres (1 desjatine 11.0925 hectares)
(2) It should be noted that the entire first section of this 1848 report is actually about the first Marojaloslawetz Colony, which was actually Wittenberg (originally named Marojaloslawetz I), from which half the residents left to found Marojaloslawetz II (Alt-Posstal).
(3) These were members of a certain sect.
(4) 1 faden = 3 metres
(5) About 13 km. (1 werst = 1.06678 kilometres)
(6) About 32 pounds (1 pud = 16.38 kg)
(7) This must mean solid bricks were used in the construction whereas they had previously used hollow ones.

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