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The Guardianship Committee of Foreign Settlers in South Russia

Compiled March 2002 by Tim Janzen & Tatyana Makarenko

1815

File 919. File concerning the issuance of temporary passports to colonists who had obtained permission to leave the colonies for business and private affairs and for trips abroad.

  1. Correspondence from the Guardianship Office with the Chortitza District Office, the Inspector of the Josephstal Colonies, Mr. Develdeev, the Inspector of the Crimean Colonies, Mr. von Remling, and the Ekaterinoslav District Exchequer about the issuance of temporary passports to the following colonists: Peter Wieler (Kronsgarten), Gerhard Bergen (Kronsgarten), Christian Tenich (Mayor of Rybalsk), Johann Bren (or Breck) (Rybalsk), Anton Bruner (Josephstal), Frederick Gering (Josephstal), Johann Bitser (Heilbrunn), Joseph Nowitzky (Chortitza Colony), Johann Peters (Chortitza), Kral Stoyan (Kishlav), Nigel Jekko (Kishlav), Nedelko Todorov (Old Crimea), Dimo Bratin (Old Crimea), Jelezko Nyano (Old Crimea), Georg Kuhn (Josephstal), Johann Becker (Josephstal), Georg Waldner (Jamburg), Jacob Tonhauzer (Jamburg), Johann and Daniel Schroeder (Josephstal), August Schmidt (Josephstal), Frederick Schtink (Josephstal), Klaas Wiens (Kronsgarten), Gerhard Spurgeon (Klosterdorf), Gabriel Schpuring (Rybalsk), Christian Kuhn (Josephstal), Johann Klass (Kronsgarten), Wolfgang Walner (Jamburg), Joseph Simon Kirsch (Chortitza), Johann Rischkob (Josephstal), Peter Siemens (District Mayor of the Chortitza Colony), David Epp (minister in Chortitza), Peter Friesen (Chortitza), Aron Peters (Neuendorf), Abraham Friesen (Schoenhorst), Martin Brandt (Schoenhorst), Derk Rempel (Schoenhorst), Franz Jantzen (Kronsweide), Nathaniel Goerz (Schoenwiese), Abraham Jantzen (Schoenwiese), and Abraham Buller (Kronsweide).
  2. Passports for the following colonists: Johann von Bergen (Kronsgarten), Peter Wieler (Kronsgarten), Johann Bietser (Heilbrunn), Abraham Jantzen (Schoenwiese), Nathaniel Goertzen (Schoenwiese), Franz Jantzen (Kronsweide), Abraham Buller (Kronsweide), David Epp (Chortitza), Aron Peters (Neuendorf), Peter Friesen (Chortitza), Martin Brandt (Schoenhorst), and Derk Rempel (Schoenhorst).
  3. Correspondence from the Guardianship Office with the Poltava Vice-Governor G. A. Boyarinov concerning the need to give the rank of artisans to the children of the deceased widow Barbara Schmidt of the Kronenthal Colony in Poltava.

These documents are written in both Russian and German.
6 May 1813 to Dec 1815. 116 pages. 197 frames.

File 923. File concerning correspondence from the Guardianship Office regarding an incident in which a merchant from Ekaterinoslav, Joseph Zaitsev, brought a suit against Mennonites from the Chortitza Colonies. He accused the Mennonites of the theft of hot wine that belonged to him.

  1. Correspondence from the Guardianship Office with the Chortitza Local Government, the Ekaterinoslav Minor Court and District Courts, the Ekaterinoslav City Police, and Inspector Develdeev about the conflict between merchant J. Zaitsev, a wine grower in the Chortitza Colonies, and Mennonites from the Chortitza Colony.
  2. Testimony written by Joseph Zaitsev about making wine.
  3. Correspondence from the Guardianship Office with the Ekaterinoslav District Court, City Council, and the Ekaterinoslav Public Prosecutor regarding the necessity to expedite the investigation of this case.

These documents are written in both Russian and German.
17 Feb 1815 to 23 Jul 1820. 100 pages. 200 frames.

File 926. File concerning the debt of 150 rubles, 5 kopecks, that the colonist R. Aberle of the Zuerichtal Colony owed to the Jew, Mr. Walburn. There is also information in this file about orphans' money.

  1. Correspondence from the Guardianship Office with the Inspector of the Crimean Colonies, Mr. von Remling, regarding the debt of R. Aberle; a list of the property of the deceased R. Aberle.
  2. Correspondence from the Guardianship Office with inspectors of the Colonies about orphans' money. Reports, resolutions, and orders written by the Guardianship Office concerning management of the orphans' money.
  3. Reports written by inspectors of the Jewish, Josephstal, and Crimean Colonies about state of the orphan funds in the colonies.
  4. Reports written by the Chortitza District Office and the Molotschna District Office about the orphans' money. Lists of the orphans' money that was lent to settlers from 1813 to January 1, 1815. Lists containing information about the increase in amount of the orphans' funds due to public sales of orphans' property and interest that was received.
  5. Certificates written by guardians regarding the use of orphans' money.
  6. Lists showing the amount of money that was collected from the public sale of the property of the deceased colonists: Peter Benz of Rosental; Michael Ganter and Martin Strobel of Friedenthal; Mateus German and Sebastian Treiber of Neusatz; Johann Merkel, Heinrich Ott, and Jacob Schmidt of Kronenthal; Ludwig Erminger, Adam Pfeifer, Johann Nefh, Johann Buchmann, Christopher Volder, and Jacob Guth of Zuerichtal; Johann Faller of Neusatz; Johann Ber and Peter Medier of Zuerichtal; M. Renner of Neusatz.
  7. Lists containing information about all orphans' monetary funds in the Molotschna Mennonite Colony (frames 410-519) and the Chortitza Colony available on January 1, 1819 (covering the years from 1815 to 1819) (frames 550-584). The lists for the Molotschna Colony generally include the names of the orphans and their fathers and the date that they became orphans, as well as the names of the villages where their fathers were from. The lists for the Chortitza Colony generally include the names of the fathers of the orphans, the number of orphaned children that they had, and the year that they became orphans. The lists for the Chortitza Colony also include the names of the men from each village who borrowed money from the orphans' funds. These men are arranged according to their household numbers in those villages.
  8. Correspondence from the Guardianship Office with the Ekaterinoslav Public Charity concerning sending and receiving the orphans' money.

These documents are written in both Russian and German.
8 Feb 1815 to 16 Jan 1820. 335 pages. 586 frames.

File 928. File concerning the debt owed by the Mennonite Joseph Nowitzky to the merchant Basil Bobrov of Alexandrovsk.

  1. A report written the Chortitza District Office to the Guardianship Office.
  2. A petition written J. Nowitzky with explanation of his innocence.
  3. A resolution from the Guardianship Office with mention of the following paragraph of internal rule: "Settlers are prohibited from giving a promissory note to anyone without the permission of the authorities".

These documents are written in both Russian and German.
12 Mar 1815 to 29 Nov 1815. 9 pages. 18 frames.

File 937. File concerning an incident in which the Radichev Colony Brotherhood accused Adam Wollman of theft and expelled him from the Radichev Hutterite Brotherhood. Adam Wollman didn't agree with this sentence. The Elder of the Radichev Mennonite Brotherhood, Mr. Waldner, reported to the Guardianship Office about this.

  1. Reports written by the Elder of the Radichev Mennonite Brotherhood, Mr. Waldner, to the Guardianship Office about the incident.
  2. A resolution from the Guardianship Office to reinstate Adam Wollman in the Radichev Mennonite Brotherhood.
  3. The certificate that was given by the Guardianship Office to A. Wollman.

These documents are written in both Russian and German.
25 May 1815 to 1 Aug 1815. 6 pages. 13 frames.

File 944. Colonist Johann Fein from Ekaterinoslav and the Mennonite Johann Klassen from Rosenort made a contract for the construction of a cloth factory in the Molotschna Colonies. The Guardianship Office ratified this contract.

  1. A petition written by J. Klassen and J. Fein.
  2. Reports written by the inspectors of the Molotschna Colonies, Mr. Sieber and Mr. Hauschteck, and the Molotschna District Office regarding the construction of the cloth factory and the establishment of this factory in Halbstadt.
  3. Contract documents containing information about land for the construction of the cloth factory. The parties signing the contract include the Molotschna Mennonite community of Halbstadt, J. Klassen, and J. Fein.
  4. Contract documents containing information about the construction and the equipment of cloth factory and its management. Contracting parties are J. Klassen and J. Fein.

These documents are written in both Russian and German.
12 Aug 1815 to 1 Nov 1815. 26 pages. 49 frames.

File 951. The Mennonite Klaas Wiens informed the Guardianship Office about the Mennonite Johann Heide from Halbstadt. He accused Johann Heide of a theft of public monies (7000 rubles) from the former Inspector of the Molotschna Colonies, Mr. Sieber.

  1. Correspondence from the Guardianship Office with the Chief Trustee of the Settlers in South Russia, I. N. Inzov, the Assistant of the Chief Judge, Mr. von Lau, the Inspectors of the Molotschna Colonies, Mr. Hauschteck and Mr. von Plotto, the Melitopol Minor Court, and the Molotschna District Office regarding the information against the Mennonite Johann Heide.
  2. The Guardianship Office delivered a verdict of not guilty to Johann Heide. Klaas Wiens was imprisoned for one month for providing false information. Johann Heide bought a claim against K. Wiens.

These documents are written in both Russian and German.
16 Oct 1815 to 25 May 1821. 79 pages. 138 frames.

File 962. File concerning an incident in which the District Mayor of the Molotschna Colonies, Mr. Walther, quarreled with the District Office's clerk, Mr. Treschwing.

  1. Reports written by the Inspector of the Molotschna Colonies, Mr. Hauschteck, about the incident.
  2. An explanation written by the District Mayor of the Molotschna Colonies, Mr. Walther, concerning this incident.
  3. A petition written by the District Mayor of the Molotschna Colonies, Mr. Walther, to retire from his appointment, which he held for 6 years.

These documents are written in both Russian and German.
29 Oct 1815 to 20 Nov 1815. 22 pages. 43 frames.

File 965. Information regarding local authorities who oppressed the Radichev Hutterite Brotherhood. This was the conclusion that was drawn by the Guardianship Office as the result of an investigation of the economic condition of the Radichev Hutterite Colony.

  1. A decision by the Guardianship Office to investigate the economic condition of the Radichev Hutterite Colony. Letter written by the Assistant to the Chief Judge of the Guardianship Office, A. Fadeev, about this problem.
  2. Correspondence from the Guardianship Office with the Ukrainian Chernigov Government Chamber concerning offenses the Krolevetsk District Treasurer made against the Radichev Hutterites.
  3. Correspondence from the Guardianship Office with the Elder of the Radichev Mennonite Brotherhood, Mr. Waldner, the Ukrainian Chernigov Civil Governor, and the Krolevetsk District Minor Court regarding illegal actions by E. Trempanau (native Liflyandiyan) who incited the settlers to disobey local authorities and regarding the false claims of inhabitants from the village belonging to landlord Zabela-Aptov to lands that belonged to the Radichev Mennonite Brotherhood.

These documents are written in both Russian and German.
22 Dec 1815 to 18 Aug 1822. 56 pages. 109 frames.

File 969. The Ministry of Internal Affairs ordered the Guardianship Office to send statistical information about public monies in the colonies.

  1. An order from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Guardianship Office to send statistical information about public monies in the colonies. Correspondence concerning this problem.
  2. Reports written by the inspectors, including Mr. Develdeev, the Inspector of the Josephstal Colonies, Mr. von Remling, the Inspector of the Crimean Colonies, Mr. Chicherin, the Inspector of the Jewish Colonies, and Mr. Leontovich, the Inspector of the Smolensk peasants. Lists containing information about the sources of revenue of public monies in the following colonies: the Josephstal, Rybalsk, Kronsgarten, Jamburg, Chortitza, Zuerichtal, Chokurcha, Smolensk, Molotschna, and Swedish Colonies.
  3. Reports written by the Chortitza, Danzig, and Radichev District and Village Offices on the same subject.
  4. Lists containing information about the state of Spanish sheep breeding in the colonies of the Odessa Settlement and the amount of wool that was sheared from this breed in 1814.
  5. Lists containing information about the annual salary of mayors that was paid from the public monies of the Odessa Settlement.
  6. Lists containing information about mills, gardens, fishing, and lands that were taken on lease until 1815 in the colonies of the Odessa Settlement.
  7. A note from the letter written by the Minister of Internal Affairs regarding the duty of inspectors in Bessarabia. Correspondence from the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the Guardianship Office about the appointment of inspectors in the Bessarabia Colonies.
  8. A statement written by S. X. Contenius about the state of sheep breeding, silkworm breeding, and arboriculture in the colonies from 1800 to 1815.
  9. Instructions that were given by the Duke de Richelieu to the Inspector of the Crimean Colonies, Mr. Gastfer in 1803, 1804 (copies).
  10. An order from the Department of the State Economy and Public Building to the Guardianship Office concerning the use public incomes. Correspondence from the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the business manager of the Odessa Settlements on the same subject.
  11. A list from an order to the inspectors and district offices that includes information about the division of public monies among districts. An order written by the business manager of the settlements, Mr. Lashkarev, in connection with this. The order contains information about the sources of income of the public monies in the colonies, such as from the sale of wine and from Spanish sheep breeding.
  12. Lists containing information about the expenditure of public monies. The compiler of these lists was the business manager of the settlements, Mr. Lashkarev.
  13. Lists containing information about the salaries that were paid and about office expenses. Lists containing information about public establishments in the colonies, about labor and rent, and about the revenue of the public monies in the colonies.
  14. A report written by the business manager of the settlements, Mr. Lashkarev, to the Department of the State Economy and Public Building about the public monies.
  15. An order from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Guardianship Office to account for the low rent rates for the land belonging to the Molotschna colonists. Report written by the Guardianship Office in connection with this.
  16. Instructions for the Main Inspector of the Bessarabia Colonies (copy).

These documents are written in both Russian and German.
18 Dec 1814 to 19 Mar 1817. 297 pages. 549 frames.

File 973. Statistical information regarding the welfare of colonies from January to April, 1815.

  1. Lists containing information about the number of births and deaths, the number of sick colonists, the number of departing colonists and colonists who had recently arrived in the following colonies: the Chortitza, Josephstal, Danzig, Swedish, Crimea, Jewish, Smolensk, and Molotschna Colonies from January to April, 1815.
  2. Extractions from the records of the births, deaths, and marriages of the colonists in the Swedish colonies: Klosterdorf, Muehlhausendorf, and Schlangendorf.
  3. Summary lists containing information about the welfare of the colonies in the Odessa Settlement from January to April, 1815.

These documents are written in both Russian and German.
30 Jan 1815 to 20 May 1815. 143 pages. 225 frames.

© 2002-05 Mennonite Historical Society of Alberta
Last Updated 20 Dec 2005

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