PETER AND REGINA (SENNER) ALBRECHT: Their Roots and Branches
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. THE ALBRECHT AND SENNER FAMILY ROOTS
A. INTRODUCTION
Ancestral Charts: Peter Albrecht and Regina Senner
B. PATRIARCHS & FAMILY LINES - FAMILY GROUPS AND STORIES
1. ALBRECHT: Christian (d. 1793, Austria) and Barbara Albrecht
2. HEITINGER:Johann Heinrich and Barbara (Heberle) Heitinger (Germany)
3. KAUFFMANN:Jacob (b. 1709) and Marrey (Amstutz) Kauffmann (France)
4. STUCKY:Christian and Maria (Kaufman) Stucky
5. SENNER:Wilhelm and Fredericka (Heitinger) Senner
6. GRABER:Peter Graber (b. Switzerland, died 1723 in France)
7. KRAUBUHL:Peter and Catherine Kraubuhl (b. Switzerland) Peter and Charlotte (Nahrgang) Krepel (b. Switzerland)
8. SCHRAG:Johann and Elizabeth (Albrecht) Schrag (Germany)
Johann (b. 1777) and Suzanna (Zerger) Schrag (Volhynia)
9. GERING: Moses Gering
C. OUR SWISS-VOLHYNIAN MENNONITE HISTORY
Pioneer Experiences in America
Immigration from Volhynia to the Dakota Territory (1874)
Volhynia (1791-1874)
Family Roots before Volhynia
* Switzerland, Montbeliard and Alsace, Palatinate (Germany)
* Galicia (Austria), the Bruederhof and Michalin (Kiev)
* Ursulin-Michelsdorf (Poland)
II. BRANCHES: DESCENDANTS OF PETER & REGINA (Senner) ALBRECHT -
FAMILY GROUPS & STORIES
Mabel and Wesley Cutler
Viola and Henry Lund
Victor and Elizabeth Albrecht
Kay and Robert Ritchie
George and Pauline Albrecht
Louis and Lydia Albrecht
Lauretta and George Robinson
Dale and Robert Isabell
Esther and James Campbell
Oscar and Doreen Albrecht
Gladys and Milton Anderson
Frances and Albert Penley
Laverne and Lawrence Lambert
III. GENERAL HISTORIES, THE SWISS MENNONITES
A. Background in Switzerland
(Kaufman Family Record, pp 3,4)
B. Related Family Stories
Dakota Territories
Volhynia
(Kaufman Family Record, pp 4-21
with notes by G. Anderson)
C. Tobias Unruh's Diary
D. Swiss-Volhynian Mennonite Cultural influences in America [A Century of Mennonite History in America p 32ff]
E. The Way it Used To Be
(Kaufman Family Record, pp 931 -941)
IV. APPENDIX
General Genealogical Sketch & Historical Setting
How To Discover Your Ancestors
V. REFERENCES
THE ALBRECHT AND SENNER FAMILY ROOTS
PATRIARCHS
Aunt Mabel (Alrecht) Cutler, the oldest daughter of Peter and Regina Albrecht, is in large measure responsible for this book; she sparked my interest in our family roots. She has kept open lines of communication among her generation, has kept records of each new birth to the Peter and Regina Albrecht family, and symbolizes to me the cohesiveness of the Albrecht family. Many of the early family relationships have been taken from Mabels research.
According to Mabel Cutler's "Christian Albrecht Famielien Register", our Albrecht roots began with Christian (died 1793) and Barbara Albrecht, a German family with Swiss Mennonite roots. Mabel cites that "Christian died March 14, 1793 in Einsiedel, Austria; then the family went to live in the vicinity of Munich 1797; to Edwardorf Russia, 1815; Horodisch and Waldheim, 1837; Kotosufka, 1861." A number of Christian Albrecht's descendants immigrated to Kansas and the South Dakota Territory in 1874.
Other Albrecht lines likely related to Christian Albrecht are those of Joseph and Margarate (Schwartz) Albrecht [Joseph is cited in the work of Mabel and others] and Elizabeth (Albrecht) Schrag [refer to Johann and Elizabeth Schrag notes].
Mabel's "Senner Family Register" shows that our Senner roots began with Wilhelm Senner (b. 1812). He was born 1812 (probably in Germany), married Fredericka Heitinger and their first of 13 children, Katherina, was born May 1838. These children were born in Russia; four died there. The Ship's List indicates that Wilhelm immigrated with his family to the Dakota Territories (1874) as an elderly man. The List also includes Jacob Senner (b. 1806), Elizabeth Senner (b 1811)[m. Jacob Graber), and Theresia Senner (b. 1812) [m. Joseph Graber]. They were likely siblings or cousins of Wilhelm Senner.
The well recorded history of the Swiss-Volhynian Mennonite community, of which Christian Albrecht and Wilhelm Senner were apart, shows that other roots extend back in time from Peter Albrecht and Regina Senner. Refer to the Descendants Charts showing our relationship to the following families:
Christian (d. 1793, Austria) and Barbara Albrecht
Johann Heinrich and Barbara (Heberle) Heitinger (Germany)
Jacob (b. 1709) and Marrey (Amstutz) Kauffmann (France)
Christian and Maria (Kaufman) Stucky
Wilhelm and Fredericka (Heitinger) Senner
Peter Graber (b. Switzerland, died 1723 in France)
Peter and Catherine Kraubuhl (b. Switzerland)
Peter and Charlotte (Nahrgang) Krepel (b. Switzerland) Johann and Elizabeth (Albrecht) Schrag (Germany)
Johann (b. 1777) and Suzanna (Zerger) Schrag (Volhynia)
Moses Gering
THE SWISS GERMAN IMMIGRATION FROM RUSSIA TO SOUTH DAKOTA
The Albrecht Family Immigration
Andreas Albrecht Family
Peter Albrecht's parents, Andreas and Froni Albrecht and two children Johan and Anna (Infant) emmigrated from Russia to the United States with other Swiss Volhynian Mennonites. They came in the third group of Russian Mennonites, aboard the S. S. City of Chester (Jas Kunnud was the ship Master) leaving from Liverpool and Twendown England and arriving in the Port of New York on 24th of August, 1874. A distant uncle Andreas Albecht, as well as distant cousin Catherine Albrecht and her family were in this group. This Mennonite group was led by Elder Johann Schrag and Rev. Christian Graber and included the congregations of Horodischtz and Waldheim.
The following is compiled from the Mennonites Ship List Swiss (Volhynian) 1874 written by Harley Stucky.
The Albrechts immigrated from two congregations:
A. Horodischtz Congregation and Waldheim Congregation - 3 Albrecht Families
(Third Group, CITY OF CHESTER, 8/24/1874)
1. Andreas Albrecht 30 [other records suggest he was 25] Laborer (69); wife Froni (Frances) Kaufmann (76); Johan 4 (73); Anna, Infant. [Apparently Andreas' first wife Elizabeth had died; infant Anna is not shown in previous family records and probably did not survive early childhood.] Andreas Albrecht had (according to our family records) 5 brothers and sisters; the Ship's List shows that three immigrated with Andreas in 1874.
2. Andreas' *distant aunt, step son and daughter: Catherine Albrecht 34, wife (706); Tobias 18, laborer (705); Anna 15 Spinster.
3. Andreas' *distant uncle (apparently unmarried): Andreas Albrecht 50 Laborer (526)
B. Kotosufka Congregation - The Ship's List cites other Albrechts who came in the fourth group (Kotosufka Congregation) aboard the CITY OF RICHMOND August 31, 1874.
1. Andreas' oldest brother Christian Albrecht 63, Farmer (65); wife Magdalene 63 (Madge Waltner 419); Maria 26, Spinster (423).
2. Andreas' older brother Jacob Albrecht 60, Miner (66); wife Maria 50 (Goering 427); Jacob 8 (428)
Andreas' married sisters and their families: Note that neither Barbara (Albrecht) Prieheim (68) [m. Solomon Prieheim (532)] nor Johann (67) [m. Katherine Krehbiel (429)] appear on the Ship's List; they may have therefore immigrated later. It is known that Barbara died in 1924 in South Dakota and that her last child was born in 1862; no current records of when or where Johann died.
3. Anna (Albrecht) Flickner 29 (70) - m. John Flickner (433) [not shown on Ship's List] From the Kotosufka Congregation.
4. Andreas' nephew Jon (Johann) Albrecht 30, Miner (446?); wife Maria 25 (448?). [Note that our records show that Johann was 27, not 30.]
5. Andreas' nephew Josef (Joseph) Albrecht 33, Laborer (421); wife Anna 25, [Spinster, sic] (434); Christian 5 (435); Froni 3 (436); Jacob 1 (437).
6. Andreas' *distant uncle Jacob Albrecht 37 (?529), Farmer; wife Maria 37 (707?); Froni 11 (708?); Johann 9 (709?); Anna 2; Maria 1 (710?); Catherina 1/2.
7. Andreas' nephew, Johann Albrecht 33, Laborer (431)[son of Johann]; wife Catherina 31 (Schrag,474); Anna 9 (475); Catherina 6 (476); Maria 3 (477).
8. Andreas' nephew, Christian Albrecht 26, Laborer (447); wife Froni (Waltner) (455); Christian 4; Johan 1.
* Note that these individuals and families descend from Johann Jopseph Albrecht (524) [m. Margaretha Schwartz (525)]. The relationship between Johann Joseph and the Albrecht patriarch, Christian, is not known; he was probably Christian's nephew.
"They left in late July by train from the station Slavuti, a Russian city about 50 miles from the Austrian border. When they arrived at Razavill, the Russian border city and they transferred to the Austrian border city of Brodde. They spent two days sleeping in the depot at Brodde and experienced a very touching situation when one member of the group, a Peter Graber, decided to go back to Russia to straighten out a real estate deal in which he was wrongly accused. Meanwhile, the group went by train to Lemberg, Austria where according to J.J. Gering in the volume After Fifty Years 'a few of the group fell in love with the place and decided to locate there.' From there they took the train to Breslau where they spent the day in the city park and slept in an annex next to a big saloon. They had considerable trouble sleeping that night because of the noise, the insults, and the lack of beds and covers. They took the train from there to Berlin and on to Hamburg where they stayed in an immigration house. From there they went by boat to Hull, England, by train to Liverpool where some who were afflicted with eye trouble were forced to stay behind temporarily. They crossed the Atlantic on the S. S. City of Chester which belonged to the Inmann line that traveled the Liverpool to New York route. It is said that David Goerz was in New York to meet them. It is also believed that they waited a week in New York until the arrival (August 31) of the Kotosufka group on the S. S. City of Richmond, another ship on the Inmann Line. Approximately 14 families from the Kotosufka group joined them and settled with them in the Freeman-Marion area."
From Recent Conversations: A letter letter from Rachel Senner (Feb 1993) of Freeman S. Dakota indicates, "The Albrechts and Sutters first arrived in Moundridge (Kansas) and their names are inscribed on a very nice monument there." While they were certainly related, the cited Albrecht family was not our great grandparents, Andrew and Frances Albrecht; they appear to have settled directly in South Dakota.
The Senner Immigration
Regina (Senner) Albrecht's grandfather Wilhelm Senner and his family, well as her father William Senner and his young family, immigrated from Volhynia to the Dakota Territory in 1874 with other Swiss Volhynian Mennonites. It does not appear that any of William's immediate family stayed in Russia. All four of the Senner families appear to have lived in the Sahorez Congregation (Dubno area of Russia including Gorritt, Futter, Hecker, and Sahoriz villages) and immigrated in this Second Group.
Our family records show that Regina's grandfather Wilhelm had 13 children, 8 surviving childhood; 5 are shown in this family group and 3, married, are shown below.
Wilhelm Senner Family
Wilhelm Senner 62 (the Senner Family Patriarch), Laborer (100); wife (Fred-Male [sic]) Fredricka 58 (101); Anna (wife*) 28 (106); Francis 24, laborer (107); Maria 19 Spinster (108); Barbara 16, Spinster (109); Christian 12 (110).
*The implication in the Ship's List is that Anna is Wilhelm's wife; Fredricka was listed as a male; Anna was probably a spinster at this time since Anna married George Rupp and "Rupp" was not a name listed in this immigration.
Note that Wilhelm's youngest son, Christian, and his family lived in Forestburg at the same time as Regina (Senner) Albrecht and her brother Peter Senner and their families lived there.
William Senner Family
Regina (Senner) Albrecht's parents were William Senner 32, Farmer and Catherine Senner (Schrag) 32. The Ship's List shows the following children immigrating with the family in 1874: Maria 7, Franz 5, Jacob 3, and Peter 1.
The following is from Mennonites Ships List Swss Volhynian (1874).
The congregation of Sahorez was comprised of two groups. The "First Group", had been led by Andreas Schrag, leaving April 10, 1874 and arrived in New York on May 18, 1874. William Senner came with the second group aboard the S. S. City of Richmond (Samuel Brooks was the ships Master) leaving from Liverpool and Queenstown England in June and arriving in the Port of New York July 27, 1874. This Mennonite group included all the Senner immigrants.
This second group of the congregation consisted of those living in two of the four villages in the Dubno area of Russia, probably: Gorritt, Futter, Hecker, Sahoriz. Both groups settled in the Freeman-Marion area of South Dakota. (Refer also to Jacob Senner notes in PAF for his brother's story.)
William's married sisters and their families:
1. Johann Schwartz [Johanna Spinster sic] 28; Elizabeth (Senner) Schwartz 28 [Spinster sic]; Maria 2; Anna 1. [It is likely that this is the Johann Schwartz and Elizabeth Senner family - not two spinsters and two young children traveling together as indicated in the Ship's List. They are also listed as part of the Sahorez Congregation.]
2. Peter Graber 52 Farmer; wife Catherine (Senner) Graber 36; Jacob 21, Laborer; Maria 18, Spinster; Franz 14 M (no occupation); Anton 16 (no occupat'n); Joseph 11; Catherine 9; Johanna 5; Daniel 2; Johan 1.
3. Future brother-in-law Johan Graber, 26, Laborer - Horodisch and Waldheim Congregation [m. Francis Senner]
Williams brother Jacob, his second wife and son Peter, and a son from the first marriage: Jacob Senner (Sohner) 34, Farmer (103); wife Catherine Sohner (Sutter 499), 25; Christian 6 (502), Peter 2 (503).
William's (likely*) Uncle and cousins: Jacob Senner 67, Farmer (544); Maria 26, Spinster (681); Anna 18, Spinster (682); Peter 15 (683); Johan 9 (684).
William's (likely*) Aunts and their families: Elizabeth (Senner) Graber 54, wife of Jacob Graber 68 Laborer; Theresa (Senner) Graber 50, wife of Joseph Graber 55 - Laborer, Johann Graber 18 - Laborer, Anna Graber 16 - Spinster, Maria Graber 15 Spinster, and Catherine Graber 11 child.
The Volhynian Swiss Mennonite Immigration
Aboard Ship
Andreas Schrag wrote of his journey aboard the S.S. City of Richmond departing on the 10th of April, 1874:
"I heartily rejoice to be able to inform you, that we arrived in New York yesterday at 5 o'clock, and are all in the enjoyment of good health. The voyage was pleasant, although during the first few days most of us suffered from sea-sickness. Soon after our ship anchored Bro. Warkentin came on board and took us in charge. We have no complaints to make; were well treated, but our chests were injured considerably by being pitched from side to side by the roughness of the sea. With the exchanging of our money Bro., Warkentin rendered us every assistance..... We took our tickets direct to Yankton and at four o'clock this afternoon we are to embark for the west, and by Saturday evening are to be in Yankton. If any more of our people come, please have them take gold drafts the same as we did, and only get in Hamburg, as much in greenbacks as they will need on the voyage.
We thank you sincerely for your kindness and labors on our behalf; the Lord reward you. With sincere greetings,
Yours Respectfully,
Andreas Schrag, Christian Miller
New York, May 19th, 1874"
Fares and Documents
"The Swiss Mennonites were poor; to emigrate they needed money and the necessary legal documents. Securing passports was difficult since the information need was not always readily available and included such things as: the name, address, and age of each person; the date of entry into Russia and why; the religion; the privileges enjoyed; and the reasons for leaving Russia. The petition to secure the necessary passports also required the number and names of all who wanted to emigrate....The petition with all the necessary information was sent to St. Petersburg (Leningrad) and in spring of 1874 the passports came which allowed them to leave Russia. These passports cost each family approximately $50.00.
Besides a passport each person had to have a ticket which cost about $80.00 per person. Children from ages 1-15 went for one-half rate and infants under one year old were free. These rates covered passage by steerage which provided few amenities, if any. In some sources we are told that passage was secured for $35 to $40. Many of the poorer families did not have the money to pay for these tickets. So many of the Swiss Mennonites, as well as other Mennonites, came to the United States on money advanced largely through the Board of Guardians. Some of the Swiss Mennonites came on the Inmann Line because the Board of Guardians had been able to arrange for cheaper rates with this company. In view of their poverty it is not amiss at all to suggest that it was something of a miracle--that they managed to scale the legal and economic hurdles. Incidentally, those who secured the necessary tickets were allowed about 20 cubic feet of freight for each adult ticket and the railroad companies generally permitted 150 pounds for each adult ticket."
An article published in the Herald of Truth, Elkhart, Indiana September 1874 cites:
"...There are now 53 families on their way, over the Innman Line, coming at the expense of the Mennonite Board of Guardians, and then the remaining half of Bishop Tobias Unruh's church will come over the same line, 75 families of which also will need the Aid of the Board. All these will require a sum of not much less than $20,000. Thus we see that there is still something for us to do and that we must not yet grow weary in the good work. There are some still who have reported moneys collected last winter who have not yet paid in. Those we ask, if possible, to send in what they have; others have paid considerable and have promised to do more if necessary. It will now be needed if they can give any more....Many, too, have done all that can be reasonably asked of them, yet we would still extend to them the invitation if they feel to give any more, to do what more they are able. We ask this only as a loan according to our first request on seven years time, and hope that many will feel themselves prompted to cast in according as God has prospered them , and thus assist the poor oppressed brethren, who for conscience' sake are seeking a home among us."
Mennonite Settlers in South Dakota
Four ships brought 159 Swiss Mennonite families from Volhynia to South Dakota and Kansas. Unlike most Russian Mennonite immigrants, they did not speak low German, but rather their own peculiar Swiss-German (another author indicates a southern German typical of the Palatinate region) dialect.
"In South Dakota the Horodischtz group organized the Salem Congregation in 1876 under the leadership of Christian Kaufman and Christian Mueller while the Waldheim group organized the Zion congregation at the same time and built their meeting house in 1881 which was known as the Spitze Kirche because of its high tower. Their ministers were Joseph Kaufman and Jacob Schrag. In 1894 the Zion group joined the Salem Congregation which then took the name Salem Zion, but services continued in both church buildings until the Zion Church was destroyed by fire in 1902."
VOLHYNIA (1791 - 1874)
The following sections have been compiled from the The European History of the Swiss Mennonites From Volhynian written by Martin H. Schrag.
Volhynia during the 19th century was a province of Western Russia, bordered on the east by the province of Kiev, on the north by the province of Polesia, on the west by the province of Lublin, and on the south by the province of Podolia. The southern portion is upland and plain country, steppe like, and covered with rich soil. The norther part has sandy, sometimes marshy character, with considerable woodland. Here cereal crops are replaced by livestock farming. Most or all of Volhynia is now within the Ukraine. For simplicity, the villages of Volhynia may be considered in four groups:
1. In the west is the Eduardsdorf complex - Eduardsdorf and villages colonized from it, including Zahoriz, Hecker, Gorritt (Koryto) and possibly Futtor. (These villages are all within 15 miles of the town of Dubno.) This was the town of the William Senner family in 1874.
2.Waldheim is about 80 miles east of the Eduardsdorf complex.
3.In the east are Kotosofka, Neumannovka; they are 35 miles north-east of Waldheim.
4.The town of Horodyszcze (Horodisch) is about 40 miles north-west of Waldheim and 40 miles north-east of the Eduardsdorf complex. The Andreas Albrecht family came from Horodisch.
Wignanska (Dubno area) - The Swiss group at Michalin (Krehbiel, Mueller, Schrag, and Zerger) migrated in 1801-1802 to Volhynia, settling in the village of Beresina, near Dubno, at the invitation of Prince Edward Lubanirsky. There stay here was cut short since the Prince built a paper-mill which necessitated a dam, and flooded the village. The Mennonites were moved north of Dubno to the village of Wignanska, where they lived for some time. Descendants of these families probably moved to the village of Futtor, a few miles west, and some are known to have moved to Eduardsdorf in about 1807, when that settlement opened. Farm land was rented or leased from the Prince and church services were held in the homes.
Eduardsdorf (Edwardowks, Poutschy)
The major portion of the Mennonite group at Urszulin and Michelsdorf moved to Eduardsdorf about 1807, partly on reports of good working relations between Mennonite settlers in the Dubno area and Prince Lubanirsky, and because of poor productivity of the land in Michelsdorf. The wooded land needed to be cleared, land was rented for 24 year periods. The productivity of the land led to the growth of families and increasing populations in surrounding villages. Among the family names noted in this village were Albrecht, Gering, Krehbiel, Schrag and Stucky; Graber and Kaufman were not mentioned. In the first years, the church was dominated by Amish principles.
The increasing size of the Mennonite families in Volhynia necessitated a search for more land, which was becoming scarce in the Dubno area in the middle of the 19th century. The village of Futtor had Mennonites as early as 1829 with Joseph Schrag and Andreas Schrag living there at that time.
Horodischtz (Horodyszcze) and Waldheim
Mennonites remaining in Michelsdorf after the Edwardsdorf move, left in 1837 for the village of Horodischtz. This was a rather large village, and not solidly Mennonite. Family names found in the Michelsdorf-Horodischtz church book for the stay at Horodischtz included Albrecht, Senner, Graber, Kaufmann, Preheim, Gering, Schrag, Stucky, and Krehbiel.
The Senner name is first associated with the Swiss Volhynian tradition around 1837 when it was mentioned in the Michelsdorf-Horodischtz Church book (after the second migration of Mennonite families from Michelsdorf to Volhynia in 1837. The first move had occurred in 1807.)
Shortly after the arrival of the group at Horodischtz, twelve families moved to the village of Waldheim (Post Office Swahell.) Waldheim may have been taken over from Dutch Mennonites. This was wooded country and the first place that Swiss-Volhynian Mennonites owned their land.
Kotosufka
The progressive Czar, Alexander II, signed a bill abolishing serfdom on February 19, 1861, and opened large tracts of land in Eastern Volhynia for peasant ownership. Several hundred German colonists migrated east, many of the Mennonites settling in Kotosufka. This reduced the size of Eduardsdorf and left the center of this complex at the villages of Sahorez and Futtor. Again the wooded land, once cleared, yielded productive farm land. Ownership of the land legally resided with the village and land was parcelled out to the farmers.
Life in Volhynia
The Swiss Mennonites had considerable interaction among themselves even though they lived in different villages. The church books show intermarriages and relocation of families. Visitations, meeting of religious leaders, and marriages between young people from different villages were common.
The Swiss people maintained closed communities in which the traditional and cultural patterns were perpetuated. The Swiss Mennonites shared with the German colonists a common culture and perhaps, an attitude of superiority toward the non-German Slavic peoples. This led to fraternization with German Lutherans, as evidenced by periodic marriages; the family names of Senne and Strausz were introduced into the community by this means.
In the smaller settlements like Waldheim there was a greater degree of Russianization than in the larger settlements like Kotosufka. The younger generation in the 1860's and 70's were more conversant with the Russian language than with German. Several Russian Bibles are in the possession of the Swiss folk in America today. The young people sang Russian folk songs, and many Russian words were made part of the German dialect spoken by the group. The few Swiss Mennonites remaining in Volhynia after 1874 increasingly felt the pressure of Russian culture.
EARLY FAMILY ROOTS - PRIOR TO VOLHYNIA
Volhynia was a region included within the boundaries of modern day Ukraine. Our earlier ancestors from Volhynia, the "melting pot" of Mennonite brethren, were ethnically Swiss and spoke German.
Mennonite Beginnings in Switzerland
The following notes have been taken from The European History of the Swiss Mennonites from Volhynia by Martin H. Shrag. The Mennonite religion traces its beginnings to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century. Martin Luther, a Roman Catholic priest, initiated a series of events beginning October 31, 1517. Ulrich Zwingli, a Swiss priest, instituted similar reforms in Zurich in 1520-1523. A rift grew among Zwingli's followers and by 1525 Anabaptism under the leadership of Grebel was a reality. Zwingli and the Zurich City Council instituted a program of intense persecution against the Anabaptists, driving many of them into surrounding countries. The Hutterian Brethren take their name from Jacob Hutter who joined the group in 1529; a Catholic priest in Holland, Menno Simons, joined the Anabaptist movement in 1536; his followers were eventually called Mennonites and were centered in Holland and Switzerland. Menno Simons effectively organized the many scattered and confused Anabaptist elements into a common movement or church. The early anabaptists were educated and urban, but persecution drove them to remote and inaccessible areas including the highlands of the Canton Bern.
The Anabaptists were idealists; they were uncompromising and radical in their attempt to renew unadulterated original Christianity based on the Gospels. Entrance into the faith was by a voluntary, conscious decision, and was followed by the believer's baptism. Accordingly, they rejected infant baptism. Church members guilty of sin and unrepentant were expelled from the brotherhood.
Introduction to Early Migrations
Prior to arriving in Volhynia, they had migrated from Switzerland in two groups to:
A. Montbeliard and the Alsace region. This migration includes the Kaufman, Graber, Flickingers, Stucky and Gering families.
1.Ursulin & Michelsdorf, villages in (present day) Poland, (1791 - 1837. Our Albrecht and Senner ancestors lived in these villages.
B. The Palatinate (the modern Rhein Pfalz region of southern Germany - from 1670 to 1786). This migration includes the Albrecht, Senner, Schrag, Krehbiel, Miller, Zerger, and other families. This is area of Germany near Heidelberg. Mennonite families (including the Krehbiel, Schrag and Zerger lineages) moved into the area west of Worms near Kirchheim-Bolannden (present village of Weierhof located near Marnheim.)
The Albrecht family and the Schrag family moved from the Palatinate together, and due to two inter-family marriages, appear to have immigrated from the same locality. The Johannes Schrag family immigrated from Albisheim on the Eis River.
The Senner family, appears to have immigrated from the region near Kaiserslautern since Wilhelm Senner married a Heitinger; the Johann Heitinger family is traced to Trippstadt bei Kaiserslautern.
1.Einsiedel, Galicia (an area of the modern-day Ukraine which at that time was part of Austria - 1784 to 1796), the home of Christian Albrecht following his immigration from Germany.
2.A Hutterite Bruderhof Colony in Russia (1796-1797), one of the stops for Barbara Albrecht (Christian Albrecht's widow) and her family.
3.Michalin (then the western edge of the province of Kiev - 1797 to 1801), one of the stops for Barbara Albrecht (Christian Albrecht's widow) and her family.
Montbeliard (1709-1791) and Alsace
Alsace: Anabaptist settlements had been formed by the Swiss in the Alsace shortly after 1525; these were virtually wiped out by the persecution and destruction of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). More Mennonite settlers moved to the Alsace as early as 1643; a large group came in 1671.. In 1712 King Louis XIV of France informed his local authorities that Mennonites were not to be tolerated in his domain. Many of those fleeing the Alsace at this time proceeded to Montbeliard, a duchy not under the jurisdiction of King Louis, but was under the jurisdiction of Wuerttemberg.
Among the families living in the Alsace prior to 1713 were Gering, Graber, and Roth. In the split of 1693-1698 the Alsace Mennonite churches became Amish.
Montbeliard (1709): The earliest Swiss Mennonites arrived in Montbeliard in 1709; additional Mennonites came from the Alsace in 1713. The unscrupulous and somewhat queer Prince Leopold-Eberhard welcomed the capable, hardworking Mennonites to Montbeliard. By 1723 there were sixty families. During this time, there was continual movement of individuals between Montbeliard and Alsace. There is agreement on dates and names between the Montbeliard and Swiss-Volhynian Church Books, and with the Montbeliard passport issued to six Swiss-Volhynian Mennonites when they left for Ursulin-Michelsdorf, Poland.
The Mennonites at Montbeliard formed a tight knit socio-religious community; the Swiss German cultural pattern persisted. They considered themselves pilgrims and strangers and never felt completely secure. They practiced mutual aid, assisting one another in time of need. In time of public misfortune, they contributed liberally, lending money to brethren without interest.
Church officials were elders, ministers, and deacons; meetings were held in different homes. Baptisms and marriages were performed by the "servants of the Word," baptisms administered at age 15. At first the dead were buried without monuments to mark the graves. Services were held every two weeks but Sundays were strictly observed as a day of family visitation. The Swiss dialect was used in worship and conversation. While they were given permission to have their own school and cemetery during this period, their request for a church was turned down.
During the 18th century Mennonite relations with the government were fair, but with the neighbors things were worse. Their religious views, refusal to take part in the public welfare, and jealousy over their abilities as farmers have been cited as reasons.
A party of Amish Mennonites left Montbeliard for Poland on February 8, 1791. The passport issued to the five families stated that the immigrants were entering the serviced of Prince Adam Czartoryski, the Great General of Podolia. In 1782 Prince Czartoryski inherited his father's vast land holdings, including manors in Volhynia and Podolia. The passport issued by the Montbeliard Government is quoted in full below:
The government of the Duchy of Wuerttemberg at Moempelgard asks all and everybody concerned to let the following German-Swiss people -- Moses Gering, Johann Graber, Johann Lichti, Peter Kaufman with Elisabeth Graber, his wife, and Anna Rothe -- who are on their way to Poland -- to pass unhindered, and asks all who are responsible to render to these people all assistance which they might need on their trip, considering the voluntary offer of reciprocity in equal cases. As a legal document hereof the present passport is issued with the seal of the chancellory and signed by the secretary of the government. So done in a government session, February 2, 1791.
by Order
Signed: Wolff
The Swiss people and Anabaptists whose names appear in the above-mentioned passport have in part entered, or are entering now the service of the Prince Adam Czartoryski, Great General of Podolia, and therefore are, on his request, and in his name, befittingly recommended to the good will, advice and deed of all concerned by the undersigned, considering the assurance that his Serene Highness, the Prince, will do the same under equal circumstances. Castle Moempelgard, February 8, 1791.
J.B. v Macular
the colonel of the Duchy of Wuerttemberg
and the Lord High Steward of His Highness the Young Prince.
Poland
Ursulin-Michelsdorf (1791 - 1837): One new Amish settlement was north of Galicia in Ursulin and Michelsdorf. These were two small villages situated a mile apart, are fifteen miles northeast of the city of Leczna, itself 15 miles northeast of Lubin, Poland. The Swiss Volhynia tradition erroneously locates Ursulin "a few miles northeast of Warsaw."
There is evidence that the party of Mennonites leaving Montbeliard stopped temporarily in Einsiedel (Galicia), then to the Province of Podolia (directly south of Volhynia) and arrived in Ursulin sometime after 1795.
Andreas Schrag and family (Christian Albrecht's widow Barbara and family) lived in Ursulin-Michelsdorf in 1802 and along with Joseph Muendlein,the Elder of the village. They had changed from one group of Swiss-Volhynians (the Palatinate-Galicians) to the other (the Montbeliard-Ursulins.) The Albrecht family name was brought to this town by Johann, son of the widow Albrecht and progenitor of our family.
The Senner family name was added to the Swiss-Volhynia records during the stay in Ursulin-Michelsdorf.
The two villages were locate on marshy land, better adapted to grazing than to grain production. The Mennonites specialized therefore in dairy and cattle, selling their products in the sjurrounding larger towns. Their needs were met but opportunities for economic advancement were not good. They were required to submit birth certificates for each child born. They spoke Swiss-German liberally sprinkled with French words. They are said to be "honest people and unacquainted with proper manners of culture."
The church was under the leadership of Muendlein until his death in 1810; other officials were Christian Graber (died 1808), Christian Stucky (b. 1762), Johannes Flickinger, and Johan Graber. The church subscribed to the Amish discipline of 1779. The larger portion of th Ursulin-Michelsdorf community moved to Edwardsdorf in Volhynia in 1807. Those remaining (apparently including the Senner families) left Michyelsdorf in 1837 and settled in Horodischtz, Volhynia.
Adampol in Podolia
Another Amish settlement was east of Galicia, at lAdampol in the province of Podolia. This was the home of Moses Gering and family.
The Palatinate (1650 - 1786)
Almost all if not all Palatinate Mennonites in this period were Swiss or descendants of Swiss Mennonites, since proselyting in the Palatinate was forbidden as was also the acceptance of all voluntary applicants for church membership by rebaptism. Furthermore, the church book begun by the Galician Mennonites about 1810 states that the settlers in Galicia were originally from Switzerland.
Origins of the Albrecht & Schrag Families in Germany: The Schrag family is important in our family history because Regina (Senner) Albrecht's mother was Kathy Schrag. In addition, it is the marriage of Johann Schrag to Elizabeth Albrecht and the subsequent marriage of their son Andreas Schrag to Christian Albraecht's widow Barbara Albrecht that connects these families, and probably their origins within the Palatinate.
From The Palatinate to Galicia: Excerpts from the Journal; Mennite Family History IX, 1,pp 28ff.
The Albrechts in Galicia are connected with the Muendlein, Schrag, and Krehbiel families, and others - from Kurpfalz Germany, settling in Falkenstein, Einsiedel, and Rosenberg, Galicia (Austria). Joseph Muendlein (Mindelheim) had been born into a wealthy Catholic family. His father may have been a count (Graff), perhaps Phillip. Galician records state that Muendlein came from Gruenstaedtisch - an area near Gruenstadt in the Kurpfalz. He joined himself to the Mennonites of the palatinate and accepted their faith and way of life. He married Elisabeth Mauer (Maurer) on 11-18-1781; the Amish Maurer family may have lived in the Dalsberg Herrschaft, and area near Gruenstadt. The Muendleins were among a group of 6 Mennonite families leaving Kurpfalz for Galicia in 1784; the Schrag and Krehbiel families were in this group.
Austria had taken the Galician region from Poland in 1772; Kaiser Joseph II was taking land away from Catholic religious orders in Galicia to give to new German settlers. This 1784 group settled in Nikronkowice, a Ukrainian village 28 km southeast of Lemberg ("L'vov" today), Galicia. A new village, Falkenstein, was built at the west end of Nikronkowice for the Palatinate settlers. The six Mennonite families moved into their new village in April 1785, along with 20 Lutheran and 6 Calvinist families.
Austria
Galicia (1782 - 1796): The Polish province of Galicia was annexed by Austria in the 1st of 3 partitions of Poland (1772). The provincee was impoverished due to internal political strife; the misrule had emptied cities, ruined trade, oppressed the serfs, and stifled education.
The Austrian government (Joseph II) on September 17, 1781, issued a colonization patent contaqining liberal provisions designed to revive the economic and political order in the Galicia. Provisions included:
1. 10 year exemption from varous taxes and rents.
2. 6 year exemption from non-military state service.
3.Exemption from military service for the settler and his oldest son.
4.Hereditary lease to 35 acres of land upon the settler securing a minimum number of livestock.
5.Financial assistance to purchase livestock when necessary.
6.An equipped farmyard, includding house-barfn, shed, and basic implements and equipment.
A religious toleration patent followed which granted freedom of worship to Protestant (Lutheran and Reform groups.) The response to the two patents, circulated throughout Germany, was strongest in the Palatinate.
A total of 3,300 German families immigrated top Galicia between 1782 and 1789. A total of 28 Mennonites families moved from the Palatinate to Galicia in the years 1784 and 1786. These colonists were transported at Austrian Government expense. They were located in newly built villages. The villages were scattered because the colonists were placed on lands confiscated from the church....They proceeded eastward in three groups, each settling in a different village. The three villages were named Falkenstein (see Andreas Schrag notes), Einsiedel (see Christian Albrecht notes), and Rosenberg, all of which are located a few miles south of Lemberg (modern L'vov, USSR). [M Shrag, p29]
The first group of six Mennonite families left the Palatinate in the Spring of 1784 and traveled the route of Regensburg, Linz, Vienna, Biala, and Lemberg. They were placed with 29 Lutheran families in the newly built village of Falkenstein, named after the duchy of Falkenstein [the region directly east of Nassau-Weilberg] from whence many of the settlers came. The six Mennonite families settled in the west end of the village. The heads of the six families were Michael Bachman, Christian Ewy, Daniel Ewy, Peter Krehbiel, Joseph Muendlein, and Johannes Schrag. The last 3 families joined the group in a few years. [M Shrag, p27-29]
The second Mennonite group of eighteen families, also from the Palatinate, traveled to Galicia in 1786 and settled in the village of Einsiedel. Two Lutheran families were also settled in Einsiedel. Among these eighteen Mennonite families were the following who later related themselves to the Swiss-Volhynian group: Christian Albrecht*, Johann Mauer, Heinrich Mueller [born in Obersheim], Jakob Schmidt, Christian Sutter*, and Johannes Zercher [born in Potzbach, Palatinate, Grafsschaft Falkenstein and left from Kaisernslatern** to join the migration.] [p 23: Others left for Galicia from the immediate vicinity, as substantiated by the name given to the first village in Galicia--Falkenstein, the name of a Palatinate duchy bordering Nassau-Weilberg.]
The Mennonites who came to Galicia were without an ordained minister at the time of their arrival. Describing them as sheep without a shepherd, Jakob Mueller pointed out (in a letter to the Palatinate in May, 1785) that Joseph Muendlein was disqualified because he was mayor of the village and Krehbiel because he was married to a Lutheran. In a second letter (May 1786) we are informed that Jakob Mueller had been elected Minister. This letter also mentions that other Mennonites in the community had separated from the Amish in church services.
The government issued a statement on June 30, 1789, including three points:
Mennonites and Amish were considered as Lutherans, since their case was not regulated by public law. They had not been required to join one of the recognized creeds.
Like other non-Catholics, they were permitted to build their own little church as soon as they had 100 families.
As long as they remained Mennonites, they and their descendants were exempt from military service.
Freedom to leave the country was given, but in such cases, initial aid given the settler would have to be refunded.
No other Mennonites would be admitted to Galicia; no member of a tolerated church was permitted to join the Mennonites.
In addition, Mennonites were not allowed to maintain their own church record; they were required to report every birth and death to the Dornfeld (Lutheran) pastorate; marriages required the services of a Dornfeld pastor; and they were forced to give financial support to the Lutheran pastorate. Upon protest, they were eventually relieved of this obligation. Farmers in the area sent out a small detachment of troops to surroun d a grafeyard as the Mennonites buried Mr. Rupp, the first Mennonite settler, who died in 1787. The same year the provincial government issued an order stating that the graveyard was open to all Christians.
Most of the newly built villages in which the German colonists settled were taken from monasteries. In his letters mentioned above, Jakob Mueller states that the taerrain of Poland is level, that the Mennonite land was not stony, contained many bushes, and was very productive. In contrast to the Palatinate, it did not have abundant wild game. The Polish people were poor and Mueller noted the low prices, low cultural level, low quality of livestock, and poor condition of farm buildings. Tables, benchs and beds were not found in Polish homes; clothing was of poor quality, men wore large mustaches and the haircut consisted of one level clip around the head; hair has not been touched by a comb.
The house-barn and shed were constructed of wood, with clay brick walls and thatchedd roofs. The house consisted of a kitchen, three larger rooms, and a utility room; the barn was under the same roof. The shed was divided in three sections. Surrounding the viullage were the fields cultivated by the farmers.
The Mennonites were accustomed to working under adversity and were acquainted with pioneer life. They soon made more economic progress than their neighbors - native and German. They excelled in animal husbandry, were honest, sober folk, and were prompt in meeting financial obligations.
The Christian and Barbara Albrecht Family
Christian and Barbara Albrecht were among a group of twenty more Mennonite families who arrived from the Kurpfalz in August, 1785. In this group were , Johan and Anna Marie Maurer, Christian and Anna Suder (apparently Sutter), Huwen, Mueller, Zerger, and other families. All of them apparently crowded into the Falkenstein houses until the new villages of Einsiedel and Rosenberg were ready in March 1786. In early 1786 two unmarried young men, a Mennonite Daniel Merk, and a Lutheran Peter Andres came from the Kurpfalz.
During 1786 the Galician Mennonites separated into two groups; Muendlein was ordained the elder minister of the Amish congregation. Christian Albrecht, Joseph Muendlein, Christian Suder, and Johann Maurer of Einsiedel had signed the 1779 Essingen statement of church order in the name of the "Lemberger Gemein," the Lemberg congregation. This statement showed a desire for strict adherence to the traditional order and discipline within the Amish congregation. The known Amish men did not sign a letter sent by other Mennonites of Einsiedel to Kaiser Joseph II in 1786 thanking him for his aid and asking for guarantees of recognition of their religion.
According to a letter written by Jacob Mueller in May 1786, only three of the eighteen Mennonite households in the village of Einsiedel (by implication, Albrecht, Suder, and Maurer families) were Amish. The Amish were known as "Haiftlern" because of their use of hooks on their clothing; the Reistish Mennonites were called "Knoepflern" because of their use of buttons.
Joseph Muendlein corresponded with, among others, Hans Nafziger of Essingen. Nafziger, in correspondence to Christian Schowalter of Pennsylvania in 1787 or 1788, indicated: "Muendlein took his Testament along to the governor (Herrschaft) so that he could prove his faith with the Gospel, and thereupon received written privileges. . . . Even though they are 400 hours round trip from us I received their letter in good condition in 19 or 20 days. They write that the war with the Turkish Kayser and Moscow is still far from them, therefore have had very little loss."
The Mennonites of Galicia also corresponded with those of Poland and Prussia; through these contacts they also began to correspond with the Hutterite colony at Vishink in the Chernigov Province of the Russian Ukraine. During 1790-91 a group of Amish-Mennonites from Alsace and Montbeliard moved to Poland. They were in communication with the Galician Mennonites, and may have stayed with them temporarily, before settling on lands of the Polish Czartoryski family. North of Galicia, in two small villages of Urszulin and Michelsdorf, 50 km northeast of Lublin, in the southwest corner of Lithuania was the settlement led by elder ministers Christian Graber (d. 1808) and Christian Stucki (b. 1762). Another settlement east of Galicia at Adampol in Podolia province, included the Moses Gering family.
Christian Albrecht lived in Einsiedel for about 8 years and died in March 1793.
The Johannes and Elizabeth (Albrecht) Schrag Family
Johannes Schrag and wife Elizabeth (maiden name Albrecht), located on unit #14. He came with a family of five children, two of which were sons. The elder was named Jacob, and was nineteen upon arrival in Galicia. Two years later he married a Linschield, and located on unit #15. The younger son, Andreas, was married November 2, 1794 to Barbara Albrechtin (widow, of Christian Albrecht). Andreas joined the group that moved to Russia in 1795. According to the Edwardsdorf-Kotosufka church book (p.2 Johannes Schrag had six children after 1797. [M Shrag, footnote 10, p. 95] Johannes Schrag left for Galicia from Albisheim on the Eis River. [M Shrag, pp. 23]
The Johannes Schrag family moved to the Bruderhof and then to Michalin (Kiev Province) prior settling in Dubno (Volhynia) in 1801-1802.
Hutterite Bruederhof: Hutterian Brethren had established a Bruederhof at Alwintz, Transylvania in 1621. A second bruederhof was established in the village of Creuutz in 1761. Persecuted and driven out of Transylvania, the group finally enteredc into a contractual relationship with the Russian Field Marshal, Romanzov. In 1770 they settled on one of the his manors at Wischanka on the River Desna, in northern Ukraine. This Reditscholff Bruederhof was the temporary home of the Amish Galician Mennonites in 1796.
Two Hutterites from Vishink visited with the Galician Mennonites in 1793 as they returned to their colony from a trip to Hungary, loaded with books, including a copy of the old chronicle, and several Zurich Bibles. The Hutterites discussed matters of faith with Muendlein and the leaders of the other congregation. In 1795 two Hutterites again visited, but they did not mention Muendlein by name in their report. It is possible that the Muendleins had left Falkenstein by 1795.
In 1796 it appears that most of the Amish families left the settlements in Galicia. Nine Galician Mennonite families hastily sold their land and moved to the Hutterite colony, led to the Hutterite colony by Mennonite minister Bergthold.
The Andreas and Barbara (Albrecht) Schrag Family
Andreas Shrag and family, including his wife Barbara (Christian Albrecht's widow) was the only clearly Amish family among these nine. Other families, including Peter Krehbiel's, left Galicia directly to West Galicia, following Amish elder Muendlein. The Amish probably did not move to Vishink, but to Urszulin directly, except for the Shrag family. [M Shrag, p47]
Urszulin-Michelsdorf: Austria took the part of Poland including Urszulin and Michelsdorf in the final partition of Poland in 1795, after the Russian invasion of 1794. The Austrians called this region West Galicia. The Napoleonic wars eventually brought armies through this borderland area, and in 1809 West Galicia fell to the Russian-sponsored Grand Duchy of Warsaw. By this time, an Amish congregation had been organized in Volhynia, and some of the Michelsdorf community were considering moving east. Russian rule in Poland was confirmed by the 1815 treaties, and ensured easy relations between Michedlsdorf and Volhynia.
The group going to the Bruderhof returned to Galicia after that sad incident. Although it is known that not all came back, this would verify that some did. [M Shrag, p. 105 footnote 28: Mennonitische Blaetter, p. 29.] The most logical route for Andreas Schrag would have been to return temporarily to Galicia after the Bruderhof incident, and then proceed to Urszulin-Michelsdorf. This would have been in 1797.
Andreas Schrag and family were living in Urszulin-Michelsdorf in 1802.... Andreas Schrag was an Ostgalisichen Ansiedler whose daughter, Anna Albrecht, was being married.
"Ostgalizien" was the designation of the area referred to in this paper as Galicia. It was used to distinguish it from West Galicia -- the territory that went to Austria in the third partitioning of Poland.. That Schrag had a step-daughter named Anna Albrecht was shown in the quotation on P. 34, regarding the reimbursement of Andreas Schrag to the Government when he left Galicia. (M Shrag, p. 105 footnote 27 )
The fact that Andreas Schrag is identified as a settler from Galicia, as Swiss, and as having a daughter named Anna Albrecht, proves beyond any doubt that he is the same individual we have noted earlier in the paper as coming with his father to Falkenstein .
